Beta Testing Guide

Hello! It's time to get more specific about the beta testing coming up and what I'm going to need from potential testers.

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What, Where, and When:

• The beta testing tier of patreon will be opened at 10:00AM DMT [ GMT-6 ] on Monday Morning, June 9th! The beta testing will begin immediately [ or I guess as soon as I get 150 slots filled and get the codes sent out to everyone ]

• Beta testers will need a Discord account and a Steam account [ Your discord account must also be entered into the correct spot on your Patreon account https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/212052266-Getting-Discord-access ]

• Beta testers will receive their early access code through the email they used to sign up with Patreon so you will need access to that email!

• Beta testing access will be through a new Patreon tier that will appear on June 9th that will cost $10 and will be limited to 150 people [ first come, first served ]

A potential beta tester will need to change their Patreon tier to the new beta testing tier on June 9th, when they will be automatically added to the new temporary beta testing server. Within that server, I will hand out Steam access codes so testers can download and play the beta version of the game.

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What I am looking for in a potential Beta Tester:

I know people are excited to play the game, but I really need testers who want to engage with the [ often boring ] work of testing. Being a serious tester can actually somewhat ruin your experience with a game by turning it into work, so please carefully consider this.

In general, I would like to have testers who have enough free time to play the game fully and repeatedly over the month. I'd also love to have anyone who has experience testing games, experience with proof-reading/editing, and ESPECIALLY anyone who is native/fluent in German [ because there's a few tiny bits of german here and there and I really don't want to be cringe or offensive ] [ But awkwardly, anyone actually IN Germany won't be able to beta test. This is because Steam won't display any adult games in Germany due to their laws prohibiting adult games. People in Germany will be able to get the game when it comes out from itch.io instead ]

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Code of Conduct [ sorry this is so long LMAO ]:

• You will be expected to coexist peacefully in the temporary server with the other testers. I will not tolerate hate speech or harassment. If you have outside-based beef with another tester, you are encouraged to block them.

• I would prefer that people act politely. In my past experience as a server runner, I saw a lot of people use shock humour, typing rude messages and immediately deleting them, or being extremely edgy for attention. I'll be frank- I don't have time for this. I just want to get the testing done and I will simply boot anyone who is causing stress.

• Please do not ask me to create or promote a callout post. I still constantly deal with this even today via people messaging me here and on Etsy. I cannot be judge and jury for situations I'm only hearing about second-hand. I have zero authority over other people outside of this Patreon and the testing server. And most of all, I am no one's weapon. I have spent too many years watching the absolute destruction of callout posts. They either harm the innocent or drive the guilty into the arms of the guiltier. I will boot anyone who tries to drag me into this behaviour. [ I understand that the average person taking part in this simply wishes for bad situations to stop, and I sympathize with that. However, the reality is that you are asking me to harm someone under threat for my own reputation. I will choose to harm my own reputation over harming another person. ]

• Please treat me like a regular person. Obviously this means I will fall under the same harassment protections as everyone else, but the main issue is that I really don't like being treated like 'a god' or a monarch or a favourite person either. When people act obsessively about me, I get very anxious. I've had a lot of bad experiences with people becoming obsessed with an 'idea' of me, some sort of perfect image based on what they know about me. In those experiences, when I inevitably fail to match that image, positive obsession flips to negative obsession. This has been the source of the vast majority of my internet-based trauma. If you want to enter beta testing to get closer to me and become my best friend, please don't enter. It will only spell misery for us both.

• Please don't decompile the game to read the code and cheat and then tell everyone else how to cheat. This has happened before 😂 Beta testing isn't just about looking for bugs, it's about seeing how hard the game is for people. I need to observe people playing it naturally so that I can make adjustments if things are too hard or too easy.

• Please don't leak the game content. I can't possibly monitor 150 people, so this is simply a personal plea. A lot of people probably want to play with no spoilers, so don't be a dick to them for a bit of social media clout. And don't be a dick to me either. I spent 2 years making this game and I'd really like to be able to release the content on my terms. You can catalogue and edit a playthrough all you want- I just ask that you wait until the game is officially released to post it. It's literally only days to wait. Please.

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I think that's everything, sorry again for the long read ^^; I've just been through too much shit and I admit I am extremely nervous, maybe terrified, of having to open a discord again.

It will of course be deleted on July 9th when beta testing is over.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask in the comments of this post!