Apparently it's a closed beta, only certain individuals will be beta'ing it.
Same here, I still have the original Beta pathfinder pdf. It has grown so much.
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Sorry to say I have it on good authority that Starfinder will be starting it's beta testing on a very small scale, mostly with in house players and some other very lucky few others who've been invited to help run the system through it's courses. I'm sure we'll see a decent number of people from around hereabouts getting access to the playtest data but it won't be the kind of huge "everybody plays" kind of experience they have traditionally done in the past with Pathfinder products. I personally snagged an invitation to the TBA date beta test from working with the great folks at Paizo, and I'm more than a stones-throw from working for the Golem on any formal basis, but I expect closer to it's release date the fans will be able to get a playable preview if only to help find the remaining rough edges for the product.
And by keeping it closed, there's less backlash from not listening to the public playtesters.
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In addition to our in-house playtesting, we'll also be doing a closed playtest for Starfinder that's invite-only and will feature other RPG designers and third-party publishers, Pathfinder Society members, and various key members of the industry and community. While we wish we could open the playtest up to everyone, the timeframe involved and scope of the playtest simply make it impractical. (Unlike Pathfinder's class playtests, in order to make this one work, we have to give people the *entire* game.)
That said, we've got some cool ideas on how to give the community previews and get feedback, which we're looking to roll out here in the coming months. So stay tuned!
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And also, lest that answer seem too cold and corporate... you can't imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth around here as we came to that conclusion. We *really* wanted to do a full public playtest, and overturned every rock in our search to make it feasible. But in the end it was a trade-off we had to make. :\
This saddens me
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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In addition to our in-house playtesting, we'll also be doing a closed playtest for Starfinder that's invite-only and will feature other RPG designers and third-party publishers, Pathfinder Society members, and various key members of the industry and community. While we wish we could open the playtest up to everyone, the timeframe involved and scope of the playtest simply make it impractical. (Unlike Pathfinder's class playtests, in order to make this one work, we have to give people the *entire* game.)
That said, we've got some cool ideas on how to give the community previews and get feedback, which we're looking to roll out here in the coming months. So stay tuned!
James, one thing which would be really cool and I know I'd appreciate is blogs, posts, or what have you which talked about what you changed based on playtest feedback. Getting a behind the scenes look at the evolution of the rules would be great, something in the format of:
1) here's how some rule or subsystem worked initially
2) here's the feedback we got
3) here's the new/final version of the rule.
Problem there is I'd people like the original stuff more, they won't be thrilled worth the new answer
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And also, lest that answer seem too cold and corporate... you can't imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth around here as we came to that conclusion. We *really* wanted to do a full public playtest, and overturned every rock in our search to make it feasible. But in the end it was a trade-off we had to make. :\
Remembering the Core alpha and beta playtests I find this understandable. But, whatever you do, please don't make 1st level abilities(like Claws from Sorcerer bloodlines) anything but at will in this one!
So, in that light, I expect the min/max powergamer munchkins (I suppose I might fall into that group at times) will find a way to break the game in a week.
I figure if it was a public beta people would find a way to break the system a month afterwards.
So not too much of a loss. :P
(In all truth, I am not one that normally complains about broken systems and such, I am not overly bothered by what some find "broken" about Pathfinder. Plus, if people are going to break it, they'll break it whether there's a public beta or not, which was my actual point of my joke post. In that light, pretty easy going. However, that said, might be nice to have some new toys for those who are not spellcasters).
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watch out for yes-men!
*fantasizes about what it would be like to have a yes-man on his team... even just for a few minutes...*
Don't worry on that front. Arguments—I mean, *impassioned debates*—is something we have no shortage of here at Paizo. :P But point taken!
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watch out for yes-men!*fantasizes about what it would be like to have a yes-man on his team... even just for a few minutes...*
No! Stop it!
Maybe there will be a Yes Man snake like thing that will say "Yes, Boss, before the BBEG morphs into something.
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*fantasizes about what it would be like to have a yes-man on his team... even just for a few minutes...*
*fantasizes about landing a job at Paizo, wandering around saying "Yes!"*
In addition to our in-house playtesting, we'll also be doing a closed playtest for Starfinder that's invite-only and will feature other RPG designers and third-party publishers, Pathfinder Society members, and various key members of the industry and community.
So not to change your mind but more to keep the thread fresh:
Would love to beta with my team. We can't wait! Buy the beta?
I wouldn't mind putting down a couple dollars for access to an unfinished product, even if I didn't get to put in any official input into any official forum for official playtesting, and just got updates to every iteration of the beta version the official playtesters get.
Thank you for your response James and I look forward to August!