Game roll-out

[Harneloot]

I think this question is probably answered somewhere else, but I thought I would ask the question here so others like me can easily find the answer.

It seems we are getting close to the game being rolled out, yes? How exactly is that going to happen? What is *Crowdforging* and how does it fit into it?

Here is what I think I have gleaned so far - please correct me as I am sure I am mistaking/missing things.

Early Enrollment:
Alpha phase (for highest level pledgers)?
Beta Phase (first month; available for certain pledge levels)?
Beta Phase (second month; available for other pledge levels)?

Open Enrollment:
Available to anyone/everyone?

Is Crowdforging going to happen during Alpha & Beta phases/early enrollment? Based on my pledge, I should be allowed in during the first month of early enrollment...what will be happening then? Is early enrollment really going to go on for 9 months as was said in th KS?

Thanks!

[T7V Avari]

EE could go as long as a year+ I understand it.

What is really unclear to me is where they plan on getting the other 20K or so players that are supposed to join us during EE.

[Tyncale]

Yes, alpha starts Q2 (hopefully by the end of April) and start of Early Enrollment somewhere in Q3 this year. Then EE is supposed to last for 1-1,5 years, so Open Enrollment in Q1 2016.

There are about 9k original backers of which 5,5k are entitled to join EE at month 1(they allowed all crowdforger + higher backers in month one when 1 million was reached).

Furthermore there will be the people who buy the Pioneer pack in the new Goblin Store, who will be able to start in month 2 of EE.

And then there is this very important quote from Ryan:

Quote:

I think we are going to explore a Steam Greenlight campaign and we'll evaluate the option of using it for Early Enrollment vs. Open Enrollment once we get a sense for how effectively we're able to seed Early Enrollment from our own Crowdfunding tool.

So they will ramp up PR/advertizing if they need more people for EE.

[Lifedragn]

Crowdforging is intended to be a system of player-driven feedback to help establish development priorities for all of the systems they hope to one day get into the game. This happens in three forms...

The first is simple forum discussion. Our feedback and personal discussions about various mechanics have cause meaningful iterations in the past. This is not so much about working to the crowd so much as it is allowing the crowd opinions to give yourself more reflection on your own designs. Something of a psuedo-crowdforge.

There is a vision for Minimum Viable Product that does not get modified by crowd-forging. This is still under development going into Alpha. Completion marks Early Enrollment which is where crowd-forging truly begins. There is a secondary product checklist of items that need to be checked off before claiming the product ready for Open Enrollment. Crowdforging will help refine systems on that checklist and potentially help drive which features show up sooner rather than later.

After Open Enrollment, there are still a number of planned features to be developed. The order will be more dependent on crowd-forged priorities. Additionally, the ability for new feature ideas and concepts to form within the crowd and be raised to the front of the queue will allow for new and unplanned features to show up in the development roadmap. It is at this level that the will of the players will have the most liberty in driving the direction of the game itself.

[AvenaOats]

Hello Harneloot: You may find the Nihimonicon of use also,

Frequently Asked Questions wrote:

Pathfinder Online Prelaunch Questions

Q: When is Pathfinder Online coming out?

We are planning to begin Alpha testing in the 2nd Quarter of 2014.

We are planning to begin Early Enrollment in the 3rd Quarter of 2014.

Open Enrollment is scheduled for early in 2016.

Q: What is Early Enrollment?

Q: What is Open Enrollment?

Alpha = Backers >1,000$ (any above, incl.)

Early Enrollment = Backers >100$ from the Kickstarter (month 1) OR >100$ from the goblinworks store eg Goblin Squad Pioneer—Month Two

There's no "traditional beta". See: "Q: What is Early Enrollment" & "Q: What is Crowdforging?" You can also:

Open Enrollment = Goblin Squad Open Enrollment from the store. See time-line given in the faq above = 2016 or about ~18 months from EE start.

Open Enrollment will be open to all.

Quote:

What is Crowdforging?

Crowdforging is a commitment from Goblinworks to the Pathfinder community to engage directly, continuously, and meaningfully on all aspects of the Pathfinder Online project. Some examples of this will include ways for the community to vote on matters involving the direction, scope and pacing of development, systems to provide feedback on the design as it progresses, two-way communication between the community and the developers to ensure transparency, player councils who will represent the whole community and be consulted on a wide variety of matters both involving the design and the development of the community itself, and regular, formal communication to the community from Goblinworks that will track the progress of the game and identify places where community input is desired. Unlike a lot of traditional game designs that are delivered nearly feature-complete and where feedback from players is limited to bug hunting and mechanical balancing, Pathfinder Online will have a much more community-driven development process. Many game features will be developed and implemented based on prioritization choices made by the community and they will be added to the game through a process of continuous iteration during Beta - the Crowdforgers who are Early Enrollees will be involved not only in playing the game but in shaping its very nature.

Even after Release this process will continue and the community will remain fully engaged with the development team as we shift from building basic systems towards adding additional content and making refinements and improvements to the game.

[Lifedragn]

T7V Avari wrote:

EE could go as long as a year+ I understand it.

What is really unclear to me is where they plan on getting the other 20K or so players that are supposed to join us during EE.

We the players will be able to have a much bigger hand in this then. I don't know about you, but the people I talk to tend to not be as interested in a game they can't jump into and play. But some may be willing to actually consider it if they can buy into it and play the same day. I imagine there will be plenty of room for such folk in Month 2 and Month 3 and beyond.

[Harneloot]

Thanks for all that info, it was very helpful...I feel like I am very slowly getting up to speed.

[BrotherZael]

nope. two days and look how far you've gotten