There are already several topics regarding the beta process and how to conduct it here. Please give them a read and post in one if they don’t answer your questions, but they are pretty thorough!
Hi!
Welcome to the CoG writing and readers community forum. Most of us are both writers and readers, so you’ll see both open WiP (Work in Progress) threads from us and us volunteering as beta readers.
There are two different beta processes - the first is the official process if you are writing a story under the CoG label - that is covered in the contract and such that CoG would send out to you but basically, your project manager will set it up and run it for you. @Gower is a published author …
I’ll focus on 2.
The short answer is no, it does not poach the market. Let’s say you have 100 people read it via open beta. And let’s assume that, because they read it, they will decide not to buy it. (This is not accurate, but let’s just say it for sake of argument). And let’s say your HG is released for $2.99. You just lost the princely sum of $52.33. Seriously, that’s all you lost.
$2.99 x 100 x .175 = 52.325
And in reality, many beta testers here DO buy games upon release because they w…
Several people (@Mirabella , @FairyGodfeather , and others) mentioned an interest in a thread to discuss beta testing, beta testers, and authors’ thoughts on the process. So here we are!
First things first: CoG’s post on beta testing has lots of helpful guidelines.
And now, to answer @HalfOfLancelot ’s questions to me taken from this thread (and sorry for the wait!), and also some from @Shockbolt .
Some authors do, some don’t! One author in particular - just the one - responded to my feedback po…
So, I have a few questions regarding public and private game testing here on the forum, and how to get the most effective feedback from both.
For public testing:
Is there any way to maintain a steady stream of feedback?
While the activity of a thread is a good indicator for excitement and hype, in many cases, it’s simply discussion regarding the game and characters in ways that are nearly divorced from genuine feedback. It can certainly be heartening for authors to see people so excited abou…
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