Playtesters

So, RC playtesters, how’s it going? Everything working out well, or are there some noticeable kinks that need to be worked out? No details, obviously, but just a general statement of progression?

I made the mistake of thinking Spite would be simple, and attempted to take him on with two heroes (specifically, Mr. Fixer and Expatriette). Without saying too much, it didn’t turn out so well.

From what I’ve seen so far, there are very few kinks that need working out. I’ve seen 3 of the 4 villains so far and they all have cool, new mechanics. The Chairman is particularly my favorite. The environments and heroes are also cool and different.

My biggest problem with the Rook City cards is that I can’t fit them into the box where I store the core game cards and dice.

Going great so far I think. Good communication back and forth. Spite is a nasty man. So nasty… And just when I thought he was bad I am now setting my sights on Plague Rat. How back could he be? He’s just a silly rat man. Yeah, a silly rat man who basically gutted me. The kickstarter pic with him clawing through Bunker’s armor I’m pretty sure came from my game. He is not a nice rat.

keep the torture coming for us non-playtesters. :o :-\ ;D

Just be happy that aren’t talking about the awesomeness in the new heroes. The video Christopher made describing their mechanics was really dead on with how little details it seemed to provide.

The Matriarch has to be one of my new favorite villains. You see, her deck is interesting becauCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAW

foxtrot2620, that is the most accurate description I have ever read of The Matriarch!

hahahaha! Foxtrot, It’s good I was reading this BEFORE anyone else got to work, because I’m pretty sure those giggles would have required explanation.

Foxtrot has successfully made me laugh out loud. I like that description. Bravo! But I don’t mind knowing next to nothing about the new heroes, because just hearing how good they are from the PTs is fun enough. But one question that can be answered:

Does Mr. Fixer use a lot of kung fu/karate type cards? That’s what seems to be heavily implied, but I simply can’t stop envisioning him as being the “Shaft” of SotM. If you all could tell me he’s NOT a loose-cannon renegade vigilante, that will probably stop my misinterpretation of him.

Though if he was a loose-cannon renegade smooth-talking ladies man vigilante, that’d be pretty neat too…

Somewhere between Shaft and Miyagi. His smooth-talkingness or lack thereof does not appear to be addressed in the cards.

He is a man of VERY few words. And at his age, who could blame him?

Mr Fixer is the duck that quacks in the night! A totally cool Hero though and fun to play as well.

Did you mean the duck that flaps in the night? or are you refering to something else entirely?

I could be or maybe I was just misstating it on purpose. Either way it works.

Shaft and Miyagi? I can dig it. I’m very excited to play as him. But more excited about Expatriette. I won’t say too much, because not much has been planned, but since my friends and I have a hobby of making movies (being a film major of course), and since we’ve got some decent quality equipment, we’ve been tossing around the idea of making a short action movie with Expatriette as the main character. That’s all I’ll say.

Blah… seems I got it wrong too (kept feeling off). I was thinking of “the terror that flaps in the night.”

Do I live close enough to you (I’m in Indy) to be in this movie?!

Uhm… Ditto.

Me 3!!! I am in Northern Illinois but I can get to Indy if I have to to be part of this.

Well hang on… Like I said, we haven’t planned really anything. All we have is the idea. We still need to find a time when we can do this, and we need other things in general, like costumes, sets, actors, script etc. I for sure really wanna do this, but I don’t want to be promising everyone a cameo in the movie, especially if you guys are somewhere else and our filming locations are too far away. But once my friends and I work more things out on this, I’ll let you all know. We’ll probably start writing the script this summer, because I’d rather wait and have more details on Expatriette and her backstory. So starting in May/June, I’ll begin putting this together, and let you know if there’s any way you guys can help. And really, I’d love for you guys to be there and be extras or something. You could even be one of the bad guys: you get to wear a suit and pretend to fire a gun! And I know for sure we’ll need more extras, so for those of you in Indiana, we can probably get you in. Especially because I’d like to make sure that not every character is played by one of my friends or one of their friends, otherwise we’d have a movie where every character looks like they’re 18-20 years old. And I’m also gonna need to find someone who can actually be Expatriette, but again, I’m gonna need to know her general age and such.

I’m also going to have to beg Christopher and the guys to let me use their characters…

If I’m understanding IP law correctly, you are allowed to use anything that may be copyrighted or trademarked in a movie you want to create. However, issues arrive if you wish to distribute or present said movie.

Anything I say would be safest to ignore, as I am not qualified to give legal advice.

WE WILL CHARGE YOU ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!

Ok, honestly, we’ll work something out if it’s a thing you guys are super wanting to do. We’ll have to look into the right way to do it and all, but regardless, I can promise you that we will NOT charge you one million dollars.

That number is way too low.

;D

ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS!!!

Here is an entire post that I had made, just so you can see the awesomeness of what is discussed on the Playtester Forum.

Now you all have been included in part of a topic. Now the information is false because I have taken on Plague Rat since then, and now I am distracted with Disgaea 3, so I am not back to playtesting full time.

Not Skyrim? :o

Dare I say? Never got into Oblivion, it’s fun and all but I prefer my Tactical RPGs.

Ronway, you should look forward to Jagged Alliance: Back in Action then.

Jagged Alliance reminds me of Frozen Synapse, but with color! Gonna have to look into the first one now too.

Now to get the topic before we get introuble for derailing it too much.
Playtesting is still going strong. It’s really fun because some characters are actually getting altered if enough people complain about them enough, pretty neat huh?

Well, I would say it’s more based on constructive feedback and such more than complaints (there are certain things we aren’t changing [no, The Matriarch isn’t going to get any easier]) but still, yes, the purpose of this playtesting is not just playing the game before it comes out. This is absolutely imperative to our process and we are excited to be able to bring you guys along with us for the ride!

Constructive feedback, complaining, all the same to me. besides I don’t want The Matriarch to get any easier. I like villians hard for the picking. Gives a sense of accomplishment when you have to take a hundred times to beat someone.

Ok, how about you lucky playtesters tell us your difficulty rankings of the villains? Include all villains in the base game, and a separate list for basic and advance mode. For instance…

Basic mode
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Advance mode
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Oh, especially for Chris, feel free to include the alternate Baron Blade into the list.

I don’t have enough experience on any of the villains on advanced mode to comment, and also haven’t played Plague Rat enough to comment, but for the others, assuming four heroes:

Omnitron
Blade
Spite
Voss
Chairman
Dawn
Matriarch

I don’t want to say too much, as I like people to discover things on their own, but I will say that, on Advanced Mode, Blade bookends the list.

As I was just telling some of my friends, “These small time criminals are NASTY. Those world dominating types have got nothing on these new guys.”

I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say, but there was this one game:

I was playing [CLASSIFIED] against The [CLASSIFIED] and I was doing so well when [CLASSIFED] and we lost. It felt like I blinked.

Wait a second!!! I spent like 20 minutes writing that post. Who classified it!?!?!?!?!?

I would rank the villains in Basic mode as follows (from easiest to hardest):

1. Omnitron, Baron Blade
2. Grand Warlord Voss, Plague Rat, The Chairman
3. Citizen Dawn, The Matriarch
4. Spite

Such disparity in Spite’s ranking!

I’ve just noticed… In the base game, the 4 villains all have “minions” to do the fighting for them. In the expansion, The Chairman probably controlled a battalion of henchmen from behind the scenes, the Plague Rat probably controlled rats, and The Matriarch probably control birds. That leaves Spite. According to his story revealed on kickstarter, he don’t look like he is going to have any “minions” fighting for him.

So, is Spite a lone villain kind of character? Meaning, his villain deck will probably work like a hero’s deck, consisting of one-shot attacks and probably some equipments and ongoing buffs?

Guess you’ll have to wait and see! Mwhahahaahahahahahahaha

So neither Spite nor PR have minions, I’m guessing.

And based on the two cards of Spite’s that I’ve seen, he’s got some really cool new mechanics going on that aren’t like anything else in the game so far. He’s definitely not just an anti-hero.

So, I guess I’ve been away for a while, but the Matriarch is really that difficult? Chris kept giving me the impression that The Chairman would be the most difficult. Now I’m really afraid… Who knew birds could be so troublesome?

They all seem difficult in their own way. If you can’t stay ahead of The Chairman, he can just topple you with constant pressure. The Matriarch has an ebb and flow which just keeps coming at you. Spite gets more powerful as the game goes. Plague Rat likes to leave a lasting impression on you which makes it difficult.

All bad, All the time. That’s why they call them Baddies. (Ok maybe I just cal them that…)

I haven’t played all enough to rank, but I do feel it safe to say that the Rook City villains on average are tougher than the Base Set villains. And when I say this I mean on average. Certain matchups are easier or tougher, but that’s one of the many things that keeps me coming back.

The Chairman is my favorite thematically. And I think is quickly becoming my personal nemesis. Hmm, I wonder if the guys could just put a picture of me as The Chairman’s nemesis…

That was an accurate and epic description Gnipp.

G hire this man!