Questions on Post/Updating/Releasing WIPs

[Havenstone]

@Darkovika

I assume putting the entire game free of charge and available on the forum, even for testing, must have limits

I’ve always been an advocate of keeping your WiP up until publication. Let the forum community test the whole thing – the ones who like it will probably buy it anyway. A few years ago there was a discussion on this and I wrote:

@Havenstone

I’ve been writing a game for the CoG label for the past six years, and have had it open-tested on the forums at every stage – including now, when it’s basically complete. It’s strengthened the game significantly, and I’m confident that when we do publish later this year, whatever customers I lose because they played it at beta will be a cost well worth the benefits of the test. (If I’m wrong and it’s a flop, then I’ll make sure to update this thread and PM you a warning.)

The sales have been better than I could have hoped-- which is mainly to do with genre, but it’s definitely a better game for the feedback it received here, including on the endings. If I lost any sales from people who read the whole thing on the forum, they weren’t at a noticeable level.