Just wanted to write a quick update on the happenings around here lately. I'm sure you've noticed my flurry of activity in the forums has dwindled a bit. That's indicative of how hard we're working to get AG3 out the door. And me playing admin-bully and having to ban some users who weren't behaving. Grr. Folks, we have chosen our mods for a reason: we trust them. Please listen to them and follow their guidance.
Our beta sign up page design contest was a huge success, and we picked a winning design. Right now we're anticipating that the sign-up page will go live on November 8th, and you can sign up to join the beta. We'll contact people in the order they signed up, in batches, to assist with the beta. No word on when that public beta will begin yet.
Right now, that sign-up page works, the Email notices work, and the page you land on when you finally get to enter the beta works. Larry and James have done some spectacular work on the front end while I slave away on the back end of things (database, systems, etc). We've had all user and game data migrating for several weeks now, so that's all ready to go. I *just* finished the game play page today, and James will be working hard to get that ready for your viewing pleasure over the next week or so.
We've been re-evaluating the whole armor points / reputation systems this week, and trying to decide what sorts of content will count towards reputation. It *may* change drastically, and I will clarify this more throughout the month of November. Please, no speculation just yet, we've had to go back to the drawing board on some of it based on Dan's feedback.
Let's see, what else...
We're looking at several new game ratings features which we'll talk about in November as well, things like rating a game based on art work, music, game play, etc.
Larry's still hard at work on the whole 'activity feed' system and how that works to display news bits all around the site and let you comment on things that happen. He's having a blast with it, and I'm sure everyone will be excited to see it in action.
In our "alpha" testing just here in the office alone, we may be running into some conflicting cookies between our regular site, our current administration site (which we use to administer some areas of the existing site, games, users, high scores, etc) and the new beta site. We're hoping to work out the kinks before the public beta starts so nobody has trouble getting into the beta without wiping their cookies.
When you say 'contact' - do we get some sort of log-in code, a link to click, etc or some specific set of instructions? (I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel for questions)
[quote=Avorne]do we get some sort of log-in code[/quote] Everyone that signs up will be assigned a unique code tied to the Email address you use to sign up. That code can be used a few times to "activate" your web browser for the beta. We're allowing a few activations because we'll need everyone to help us test as many browsers as possible (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari, Opera, etc) on several operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux).
As I mentioned, the sign up page will go live some time on November 8th.
When (or if) you get into the beta site will depend on how many people sign up ahead of you, and how many people we need to help.
For example, if we send out 100 invites every day, and you're the 1,000th person to sign up, you might get your activation code 10 days after you sign up.
Thank you for answering my question. (here comes more barrel-scraping) Could you give us an indication of roughly how large the batches will be? Will there be any set space of time between contacting each new batch of people?
I think that only leaves me to thank you and the rest of the staff for your continued hard work, while I can't speak as a representative of all users, I'm sure most of us appreciate it.
I think he means the open beta Freakenstein, but I'm actually a little sad with this news, because this would mean I'd have to stay up all night to try and get in with the first few batches... I live on another continent you know... *boohoo*
But I'll be a good sport and post it on my personal 'ArmorLeaks Blog' and notify my followers of the news!
I interpreted it to mean that you'll sign up for the beta on November 8th and then you'll be contacted at a later date to take part in the beta - I don't think it's the start of the beta itself.
I'm actually a little sad with this news, because this would mean I'd have to stay up all night to try and get in with the first few batches... I live on another continent you know... *boohoo*
At least you'll be on the computer, and probably won't be at school. D:
