Platinum Package - BETA CLOSED

ladybird · 2023-04-11T15:07:45.937Z

Platinum Package

Platinum Package is a 500,000-word contemporary drama by Emily Short, with additional content by Hannah Powell-Smith

As an employee of Platinum Concierge, it’s your job to find the unfindable and do the impossible for the world’s wealthiest people. Charter a helicopter on fifteen minutes’ notice to bypass LA rush-hour traffic? Transport a priceless emerald-and-diamond necklace across three continents? Arrange a candlelit dinner in a cave with waiters that rappel down the walls? All in a day’s work. You have your pulse on every brand, trend, and connection of the still-new 21st century.

But you also get to see the darkness behind the glitter: the excess, the waste, the callousness of the overly wealthy.

As your slate of clients grows, you’ll need to bring every bit of professional skill that you’ve got. When clients’ requests take you close to the edge of legality - and sometimes, over it - will you grant their wishes no matter what? Will you try to convince them to walk a different path? Will you join them for the ride, basking in the luxury of their lifestyle - and possibly even becoming fabulously wealthy yourself? Will you help your fellow concierges rise along with you, or will you betray and undermine them at every turn?

Romance a rebellious trust-funder (whose mom just happens to be one of your most high-value clients), an idealistic journalist, an ambitious co-worker, a visionary and whimsical tech billionaire - or even your suave and experienced boss.

How far will you go to help your clients? How close will you get to them before your judgment starts to cloud? How high will you climb in your own search for wealth and power? Remember, it’s your job to pull out all the stops and give every client the perfect Platinum Package.

—
Directions for beta testing:

Email us, beta AT choiceofgames for access.

DO NOT POST ASKING WHAT THE BETA EMAIL ADDRESS IS. The first test to becoming a beta tester is inferring what it is based on how we describe it above.

Do not send DMs/PMs through the forum mail system, Discord, text message, carrier pigeon, or any other method than email.

When you send your EMAIL, include:

the game you want to test in the Subject line of the email.
your forum-name
your real name (first and last).

Please indicate if your family/surname comes first as well. Beta testers’ names are listed in the game’s credits, which are accessed with the “About” link you’ll see within the game. If you don’t want to appear in the credits, or you want to be credited under a name other than your real one, please let us know.

Do not email us multiple times about joining a beta. If you don’t email us as soon as we post a beta, you go into a queue. As we post new drafts, we admit more people from the queue. Eventually, we will get to you. Some beta processes last longer than others, and it may take up to a few weeks to reach the front of the queue.

When you have been admitted to the beta, we will send you a link, a username, and a password as a reply to your email.

Please read the Beta Testers FAQ if you have more questions: Beta Testing FAQs - Please Read Before Applying!

When you have feedback to submit:

Return feedback as part of the same email thread where you were admitted. Sending your feedback to beta@choiceofgames is the best way to make sure your comments are seen as soon as possible.
Please send screenshots or copy/pasted quotes whenever you can; it helps us track down whatever observation you’re making. In particular, the author may see things that you don’t, and/or the screenshot may contain more information than you realize.
If you’re submitting feedback using the Bug/Submit button in the game, make sure you include your handle/name in the body of the email. The Submit button obscures your email address, and I can’t give you credit for feedback if I don’t know who you are.

A few more notes:

You can only test one game at a time. If you are already testing one game, send in feedback on that game before you apply to another. If you apply for multiple games at the same time, you will likely be admitted first to whichever game has testing slots open up first, and we won’t be able to admit you to the other one until you send in your comments for that one. (From an admin standpoint, it’s easiest if you don’t apply to more than one game at once – applying to multiple games makes it more likely that we’ll miss admitting you to one of them.)
If you’re admitted as a tester but realize you won’t be able to send in feedback for that game, please let us know! You won’t be penalized in any way - we’ll just take you off the list of testers for that game. But if you sign up to test a game and don’t send comments or withdraw, it will affect your chances of being admitted to future betas.
There’s no standard length of time for a beta testing period to last, and we usually don’t know exactly how long a game will be in beta when it opens. The best way to know how long a beta will be open is to follow the thread for updates.
It’s fine to send multiple feedback emails, but if you have a lot of quick comments, it’s easier to keep track of them if you bundle them into one email.

Tips on How to Give Feedback
We’re looking for “high level” and “low level” feedback. Not mid-level feedback.

Low-level = typos and continuity errors. A continuity error is when a character’s gender flips, or someone comes back from the dead, or you run into a plotline that just doesn’t make sense (because it’s probably a coding error). For these low-level issues, screenshots are very helpful. If you see a problem, take a screenshot, or copy and paste the text that is in error, and email that.

“High level” feedback has to do with things like plot, pacing, and characters. “Scene A didn’t work for me because x, y, and z,” is useful feedback. “B character was entirely unsympathetic, because u, w, and v,” is also useful feedback.

“Mid-level” feedback describes things like grammar, style, word choice, or the use of commas. As mentioned above, we do not want mid-level feedback. In particular, DO NOT WRITE TO ME ABOUT COMMAS.

Be SPECIFIC in your feedback. General comments like “I had a great time and saw only a few spelling errors,” is not useful feedback. In fact, it’s the sort of thing that results in you not being given access to future betas.

Some examples of useful feedback:

In Choice of the Dragon, you get to choose what type of wings you have: leather or scaled. Someone wrote in and asked about having feathered wings. Great suggestion! Done!
In “The Eagle’s Heir,” someone asked about Eugenie. They said that the romance moved too quickly–because she only appeared in the last third of the game–and wished they could have had an opportunity to meet her earlier. So the authors added an opportunity to meet her and start the romance earlier in the game (in a scene that already existed).
In “Demon Mark: A Russian Saga” several people commented on how the PC’s parents were unsympathetic, so the authors added a choice or two to deepen the relationship with the parents in the first chapter, to help better establish their characters.
Pointing out a specific choice and saying, “this is who I imagined my character was at this particular moment, and none of these options seemed right for me. I would have liked an option to do X instead,” is also really helpful feedback.
If you choose an option and then the results of that option don’t make sense. Like, if you thought an option might test one stat, but it seems to have tested a different one.

ladybird · 2023-04-11T15:07:58.131Z

ladybird · 2023-04-11T15:08:09.692Z

ladybird · 2023-04-12T15:06:54.861Z

New draft! Mostly small typos and minor continuity errors, but also one big continuity error has been fixed: the embezzlement crisis no longer happens if the person responsible for it was already fired.

This is version 33486

ladybird · 2023-04-18T14:03:48.647Z

NEW DRAFT! Lots and lots of updates.

General changes:

Added explanations and descriptions to stats page
Lots of typo fixes and clarifications
Standardized format of option text
Clarified romance-initiating options, and added more opportunities to start romances
Fixed some looping choices
More callbacks to the PC’s previous actions

Specific events and plots:

If you change your mind and decide not to leak the rumors about Downey then the game reflects that rather than the initial decision; and you can no longer leak this secret if neither you nor Platt know what it is
The game now correctly tracks whether Charelle asked you to attend the masquerade or not
After the masquerade, the PC’s interactions with Ax correctly track whether you and Ax spent time together there
There are no references to Ax and MJ’s tour if it doesn’t actually happen, and if they do go on tour together, the problems arise correctly
You no longer have a meeting with Platt if you’ve already quit
The “Betray a colleague” achievement should now fire correctly

This is version 33527

ladybird · 2023-04-19T16:19:10.645Z

Quick update!

Assorted typos fixed; stats screen tweaked slightly.

The most notable change is to fix a bug where you chose MJ’s gender multiple times: you should now only choose MJ’s gender once.

This is version 33558

ladybird · 2023-04-21T15:22:13.751Z

Another small update! That bug with MJ’s gender should now be really and truly fixed: you should be able to choose MJ’s gender, and only need to choose it once.

This is version 33602

ladybird · 2023-04-24T17:47:23.074Z

New draft!

Global edits:
-Removed various repeatable options
-Corrected salary bump if promoted, and made the money variables more pleasant to read
-Tweaked stats page
-Various typos, minor wording changes, and paragraph format corrections

Specific edits:
Ch 1:
-Finally - finally! - fixed the MJ gender setting bug. Really and truly this time!

Ch 2:
-Continuity correction in Platt interview
-Improved continuity about office atmosphere if you’re enemies/awkward with Felixity

Ch 4
-Improved continuity about whether you’re focused on MJ or Ax

Ch 7

Fixed continuity about whether Ax called you about zir mother earlier

Ch 11

If you aren’t an Elite, your conversation with Ax now reflects that

Epilogue:
-You should no longer be able to reveal Downey’s secrets in your epilogue memoir if you didn’t uncover them
-If you said you wanted to wait to become CEO until later, that gets followed up

This is version 33630

ladybird · 2023-05-05T12:43:38.897Z

HUGE GIANT UPDATE!

Changelog includes:

Content:

added more opportunities to flirt with Gabriella
added option to focus on tours instead of going over accounts; and added followup to tours if you did focus on accounts
made some branches of Ax’s storyline more easily accessible and added more lead-in to zir other late-game events
Lots of additions to the epilogue! This was a frequent request, so if you were one of those people wishing for more in the epilogue, please check it out!
clarified Chapter 1 Felixity interaction so they don’t shoot you down unintentionally
added more optional MJ positivity
added more references to gender-selectable characters and/or the PC being nonbinary

Continuity/bugs:

Improved continuity around whether you asked Felixity for a reference letter
If you’re Catholic, improved continuity around Gabriella knowing that
Corrected asking Gabriella out multiple times if already accepted or turned down
Gated off close/friendly Ax interactions if ze fired you; ensured Ax isn’t approached as an investor if ze’s no longer a client
Improved continuity around whether Ax agreed to a mediator
Corrected who you got fence leads from
Improved Elite Concierge continuity during investor meetings
Corrected Felixity sometimes being given a job with the Falters by default
Corrected repeated section in MJ conversation

General:

Various typos and minor wording changes
Fixed some stray page breaks
Corrections to chapter saves/loads

If you have already played, this is a great time to go a second time to see what’s changed!

This is version 37361

ladybird · 2023-05-17T14:22:28.017Z

New draft! Changelog includes:

-Corrected continuity on one of the MJ storyline branches
-Corrected continuity around F’s recommendation letter
-Corrected continuity in mid-game Downey and F storyline
-Corrected continuity around recording conversations on F storyline
-Corrected continuity around having joined Angela’s household
-Added more responsiveness to a late-game Platinum pivot
-Made it slightly easier to start dating Robert after Chapter 3
-Changed a minor character name which unintentionally matched a public figure in the real world
-Salary input and bonus bug should now be fixed
-Added options to be vegetarian or vegan regardless of religious affiliation (please flag if your PC is inadvertently eating meat or animal products when they shouldn’t!)
-Tweaked requirements for late-game romances so a minor early flirtation isn’t incorrectly treated as a more serious connection
-Various typos, paragraph-breaks, and pronouns corrected

This is version 38284.

We’re coming down the home stretch! If you haven’t gotten your feedback in, please do so now. If you’ve played already, this is a great time to do a second playthrough to see what’s changed.

Thanks to everyone who has tested so far!

ladybird · 2023-05-22T16:04:55.946Z

NEW DRAFT

Lots of continuity edits in this one! Most notably:

fixed the sequence of events regarding the company’s fate in the epilogue
fixed the memoir choices

And also lots of the usual typo fixes.

This is version 38309

LAST CALL FOR TESTERS! We’re hoping to send this game to copyedit in the next week or so. If you haven’t yet gotten in your feedback, please do that now! If you’ve played once, now is the time to get in a second playthrough to see what’s changed.

ladybird · 2023-05-25T17:56:43.415Z

New draft!

Mostly small continuity issues this time. Notable changes include:

fixed a bug that caused the game to forget that MJ and/or Felixity was with you when you’re on the lam
adjusted difficulty of tests in Ch 8 regarding the plot with MJ and the stolen painting
It is now more likely for Gabriella to do well in her future career
various other stat test recalibration

This is version 38765

LAST CALL FOR FEEDBACK! Please send in your feedback by TOMORROW, MAY 26!

ladybird · 2023-06-01T15:35:41.823Z

This beta is now CLOSED! Thank you to everyone who tested!

Stay tuned for the release of this game - now titled Elite Status: Platinum Concierge - in July!