Development Diary #6

Hey Y'all,

Sorry for the delays on these posts. Life, as always, gets in the way.

Act of Treason has been progressing nicely, and we are nearing the end game. 3rd party reviewers are almost all lined up. The biggest two things on my plate are Marketing/Promotion and the Kickstarter page.

We really need to try hit 1,000+ followers before launch day (which will be revealed very soon). In order to help us hit the goal, I'll be looking to up my social media presence, release more videos, and increase my spending on advertising. Hopefully the holidays will allow me to make some great progress in this arena.

I am also toying with ideas for an additional social media goal that will apply to the Kickstarter. eg: if we hit 2,000 followers before launch day, then I'll unlock a stretch goal for free, or something to that effect. So stay tuned for updates to that! It's looking very likely I'll do something on that front!

I've also done some work on making a placeholder box for the prototypes, see below. Note that this isn't the final as with all of the game assets you've seen so far. It's just nice to have a box that I can hand to people to review, instead of a blank cardboard box.

That does it for this week, I have scheduled a blog post for later in the week regarding a certain "Act of Treason Design Journal" that you may be interested in checking out, especially if you are interested in game design.

Until next time my dudes.

Cheers,
 Tyson

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Development Diary #5

Hi all,

It's been a while. A lot to cover off since the last update.

For a start I've been in hospital with a collapsed lung (spontaneous pneumothorax) - just felt a spike of pain and shortness of breath on my way into work a few weeks ago. It was kinda scary at the time. Spent roughly 5 days split over two visits getting it sorted. There was also the strong possibility that I would need surgery, but after further review this is not happening (phew!).

x-ray of a collapsed lung!

The final prototype has arrived and it's looking glorious! I've been prepping the game for blind playtesting - I have a group all set and ready to go. A prototype is on rout to them as we speak. I'm very much looking forward to hearing how they get on. I'm looking into getting more blind playtests set up too. As much as I'd love to jump into third party reviews, I need to make sure all the blind playtests go smoothly.

Prototype looking very shwifty if you ask me

There was a great update that I put through on the website recently as well. It was mostly quality of life stuff, and should hopefully get more people pointed through to either the email forum or the twitter page. Which was a major goal of the update - trying to land more conversions to the Kickstarter hype lists buy improving the user experience and clarity of message for the 'purchase' page. The Email list and Twitter page will be the core ways I'll be tracking 'hype'. Not that the other social media isn't important! It's just negligible at this stage in comparison to the others.

You can't tell me that that doesn't look amazing

My main efforts right now are getting the word out and marketing - Blind playtests and 3rd party playtests are a bit of a "set it and forget it" kind of deal, but I'm actively tracking tracking the ones I have ongoing. Honestly, my traditional advertising has been working the best so far it seems, but that's mostly due to me not being a "Social Media" kind of dude. It just doesn't come naturally to me (heck it barely comes along as a learned behaviour).

I'll also research around to see what's my best approach for advertising - It's one of those things that I've researched in the past, but since it's not my forte I'm in definite need of a refresher - stonemaiergames.com actually seems like an amazing avenue for this. The guy behind it seems like a bit of a genius when it comes to marketing and running a successful Kickstarter. I'll definitely be spending some time this weekend going through their countless articles and using the insights to fine tune my approach.

Oh, and I almost forgot - A very cool update is that I've put more rules for public consumption on the official Act of Treason page! Feel free to check them out and stay updated on our social media so you can see when I publish the next batch of rules.

Read the rules update at www.playaot.com

Until next time friends.

Cheers,
 Tyson

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Development Diary #4

Hi all,

Sorry for the bit of a hiatus since my last post. There are a few reasons for this which I've detailed below. Nevertheless things are still getting done and I'm very proud of how things are turning out - Rules are really coming along and everything is lining up for blind playtesting - I'm sure that when everything is done and dusted we will have a fantastic looking product with streamlined mechanics that Loyals and Traitors alike will really enjoy.

I've been quite unwell as of late. I managed to get sick *twice* with a nasty throat bug since last blog post. I've been feeling better at times... feeling much worse at other times. I think some of this has to do with exercise, but I'm beginning to suspect that it's been mostly diet related. I'll be starting up a food diary and tracking what I eat and how I feel each day to see if I can isolate if it is certain types of food that are the cause. Feeling tired, low energy, bloated, among other things. I don't wanna whine, but it's something I need to work proactively towards. I'll also be trying to cut out as much sugar as I dare to. I'll let you know how I progress and if I notice any major differences - who knows, it might help someone out.

Example of me working hard on Act of Treason

Those of you who follow the blog, you'll know that marketing isn't my forte. I'm trying my best to figure out what works and what doesn't. Twitter seems to be *the* number one place for people who are interested in upcoming Kickstarter projects like board games and so forth. I don't actually don't like Twitter for a number of reasons, the main one being that they seem to be quite political, often silencing people wherever possible who disagree with their companies political stance and views. Google and Facebook are just as culpable here. Since I'm a strong proponent for free speech that kinda rubs me the wrong way. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of Twitter, most of my followers seem to be coming from there. As much as I dislike Twitter I will focus my efforts to gaining followers on Twitter and staying in with the followers (other than this blog of course). So please make sure you follow me on Twitter to stay up to date with any major developments. Naturally I will also be echoing out the other important updates over my other social medias listed here.

One message I need to remember to push is how Act of Treason is going to be a great game for those who love that social deduction styled games like mafia and werewolf but are looking for even more opportunity and ability to deceive, bluff, persuade. I think that's the strongest part of Act of Treason. Act of Treason was designed specifically to allow players to flex their social deduction and prowess as much as possible, And that's purely because that's exactly the game I wanted to play! I got tired of playing games like Mafia and Battle Star Galactica where the opportunities for social deduction are limited. Playing Act of Treason is very humbling. Just when you think you've got a handle on how to play well, someone will show you that you can still be fooled and maybe you don't know everything you think you do. It's not an easy thing to fit all this into a soundbite however. "Act of Teason - Betray your friends, Deceive a Kingdom." It's close isn't it? it's certainly the best I've heard so far.

Example draft of the rules

I've been fixing up all the assets so that they are as close as they can be to the final product. This helps as the less changes I have to make, the less something will go wrong in the drift from the prototype to the final revision. I always try to follow the adage "Train how you play". I think that is fantastic advice that is applicable in so many parts of life - and definitely applicable here. The Act of Treason Prototype is close to the final product in everything other than the final art. It should just be a matter of 'dragging and dropping' in the new artwork to make the game look as nice as possible. Everything else is already in place. Part of revising the assets involved me getting the Rulebook as close to the final as possible with the layout, diagrams and references in place - this is actually a major task surprisingly, and I don't doubt that blind playtesting will reveal even more changes that I need to fit into the rulebook to help smooth out any sore points. I've just been working on the rulebook all of today, it's surprising how the tiniest of details can help to smooth out the explanation for new players. I look forward to having the best rule book possible, as well having the rules online, and in a video, at www.playaot.com.

Example of the online rules

We are getting very close to the Kickstarter. Once I get the Rulebook checked a couple more times by third parties, and I get my prototype from Game Crafter delivered and checked, then I'll be ready for blind playtesting! After that it's third party and then right onto the kickstarter! Very close folks! I can see the horizon and It's looking glorious!

I also want to give a shout out to Shem Phillips (@garphillgames on twitter) who I met at Boardgames By The Bay, a local board game convention in my area. He has given me some great advice on how to progress towards the Kickstarter. Feel free to check out the awesome games he has made here. I also found out about the Game Artisans NZ Facebook Group at the same convention, which will be a great resource for me going forwards.

I've not forgotten about some of the other topics I promised to cover in previous posts. I'll be doing a big recap over some of them closer to the Kickstarter - or after. It will depend on the topic. But that's plenty for this week.

Cheers all,
 Tyson

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Development Diary #3

Hi all,

Just wanted to keep you informed of a few updates that have been going on behind the scenes. I'll try do it quickfire, as there is a lot to cover.

For a start, I've been trying to fix up the website and the google search a bit. This has been more time consuming than I would have liked. The thing is that AoT, Act of Treason, playaot, are all not showing near the top of the google search page. As you might imagine this is a serious issue. This will WRECK my online visibility. I'm still trying to find out what happened and why it isn't showing up. I'm currently working through guides on how to correct this, but unfortunately the cause isn't clear. All I know is that if I do everything to secure the SOE for my site fortifying my position on the list as best I can, which can only be beneficial. It's painful, but like most painful things, it's worth doing. So I'm doing it.

For the website, the main thing I've fixed is the video link, that would take the user out of the website and to the YT channel. This may seem minor, but is it very unprofessional and a disconnect to the reader if they are navigated away from the site like that. We should be keeping the user there as long as they need to start soaking in the information there, and to hopefully convert them into a patron of our excellent product. Keep an eye out for our next video, it will be coming soon!

How the video appears now

Ultimately, I'll be doing more beatification of the site and the product as I feel that it should at the very least lead into more shares. People will be more inclined to share a link to something of high quality. Almost all shares come from a space of "Hey this looks awesome, I saw it and thought I would share it with you because you might think it's awesome too". This is where being 'good' or 'alright' doesn't really cut it. Having a great product is one thing. But demonstrating that the product is great - totally different story.

A mockup of the game box and setup I've made

Anyway. I've also been coming to grips with online paid advertising using very small dollar amounts, but making sure that I'm still getting eyes on page + gearing up. I want to make it so that when the big day hits I've already have maximized my advertising potential.To this end I have a couple of ideas that will help me to get a rough projection on conversion rate, which will be useful in determining how effective advertising will be, and if I should amp it up, or just let it simmer.

I've also filmed some more footage with the help of my brother and his company bbgroup.net.nz. This is all a bit of a learning curve, but I think video is definitely the way forward and I will be trying to use as much of that medium as I can. I need to make shorter snippets and use them in posts. Something like a live play through and having the rules 100% exposed on the website are examples of this, which is definitely something I have planned to do.

An Actual Act of Treason Advertisement

I'll also be trailing videos to use for advertisements, I think the current one I'm using is good, but it needs a much better readout and a call to action to drive those who are interested to join the mailing list, or follow on the social media. It could also be a lot shorter. 30 seconds would be ideal.

I've decided to release a public schedule of things I have still to do with a rough time frame associated with each block of tasks. Bear in mind this is a ROUGH outline of the things I have left to do. But it will hopefully provide some clarity as we move forward. Bear in mind that timelines may get vastly pushed out depending on what blind playtests reveal. But at the same time, lots of these tasks can occur concurrently.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, I had a playtest last Friday, which went awesome. The changes added to the game seemed to have fixed things. As mentioned in Design Diary #1, I would shed some light onto what I was testing, why, and my findings.... But not just yet. That was plenty to cover this week and I have a lot to say on the design choices and my thoughts behind them - So I'll save that for my next post soon. Super excited for everything to follow!

Be sure to follow this blog or out other social media below and make sure to sign up to the Kickstarter Mailing list so we can let you know when the game comes out!

Until next time friends.

 Cheers,
 Tyson

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Development Diary #2

Hi all,

Just a quick update.

Working on more videos with my Brother who runs BBgroup.net.nz so I'll have plenty of content going forwards. Also working on a bit of a secret gambit which will pay off in spades if I can pull it off. I won't share any details here, but I will in time depending on the outcome of it. Needless to say for a somewhat small sacrifice in time I have the change to gain a LOT of exposure, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to pull it off. Time will tell.

In case you haven't seen it. Video below explaining in brief what Act of Treason is - More to come!:

I've got two playtests lined up over the next two weeks and development has been going well. Once these playtests are done I’ll be in good place to begin blind playtests – I’ll ask groups of completely new players to pick up the game and understand/follow the rules without any assistance from me. I’ve run blind playtests in the past and the results can surprise you. People get snagged or confused about something you wouldn’t have guessed. It is mostly to ensure the game components are easy to follow and intuitive as well as the rulebook is clear. Blind playtests are crucial though, as you won’t pick up such issues before it’s too late without them.

So I'll be spending some time on revising the old rulebook which has become a bit of a tangled mess - The new draft I've been preparing is far slicker and hopefully will be a much better rulebook once I'm done with it.

Make sure you guys are getting enough rainbow

After blind playtests, I’ll be able to send the game out to 3rd party reviewers, which will be important step as not only do they have their own followings that they can bring to the kickstarter, but if they do a good endorsement of the product, it will significantly help to convert more visitors to the Kickstarter page into pledges.

Lots to be done whiles all that’s happening though - Website is up and is undergoing updates. I’ve also put out a video explaining what Act of Treason is and all the social media is in place. I’m slowly gaining followers, especially on twitter for some reason. I’m doing some learning as I’m prepping things, as I've mentioned, marketing is very new to me. Reading books on the topic, etc. For the most part I’ve just been preparing assets such as images and videos for promotional use later.

One plank at a time

All in all, things are progressing well. It feel a little like one man building a house at times. Yes there is progress, but there is so much to do it just feels like it will never end. Nevertheless I'm slowly ticking things off of my to do and inching closer and closer to a very polished and very slick final product that I know I can be proud of.

 Cheers,

 Tyson

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Op-ed #1: Socrates

This is something I posted to my facebook page just now.

I'm posting this because it may be of interest to you, the reader. I also think it's a shame that we can't share our opinions in the modern world. If we keep dividing ourselves based on what we believe we will continue to divide ourselves down to the individual level. This is no way to form a functioning society. We need to be able to work together to make the world a better place.

I'm just posting this now because I just wrote it, but I will be posting another on Jordan B Peterson in time. I would also like to do book synopsis where I read a book and then do a post, summarizing all of the useful information contained within down to just 1 blog post per paragraph.

Anywho, we'll see if that ever happens:

-------------------

There was this dude called Socrates, born about 470 BC. He is credited as one of the founders of western philosophy. There is no doubt in my mind that we owe a fair amount to Socrates and to the works he did throughout his life.

What did he do you might ask? Well he asked questions. Lots and lots of questions. From Wikipedia:

“Perhaps his most important contribution to Western thought is his dialectic method of inquiry, known as the Socratic method or method of "elenchus", which he largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts such as the Good and Justice.” “The dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to establish the truth through reasoned arguments.” “Socrates favoured truth as the highest value, proposing that it could be discovered through reason and logic in discussion”

In fact Socrates exposed so much through his questioning that it started to piss people off. It pissed people off so much, that a jury of his own peers voted to execute him. This time from Time magazine:

“was put on trial for impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. At the time, Socrates was a controversial figure in the city and not particularly liked. He challenged anyone's thinking through his endless and circular Socratic dialogues, and he publicly questioned the gods Athenians worshiped at the time… …Socrates supposedly could have escaped Athens after he was found guilty by an Athenian jury. Instead, he chose to stay on principle. He would abide by the law and apparently didn't even try to convince the jury he was innocent. Socrates performed his own execution by drinking hemlock poison.”

Now that is a dude with conviction.

I would never dare to compare myself to Socrates, but I try to adhere to his principles. I strive for truth because through truth we learn more about what is right and what is wrong and how best to conduct ourselves and navigate ourselves through life.

So, I'm going to continue to share my opinions freely. I'm not going to shut up just because some people don't like what I have to say. I'm more than willing to discuss things if you'd like, who knows, you might even change my mind.

Otherwise, If you’d rather not see what I have to say then you are more than welcome to unfollow me.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day :)

Cheers,
 Tyson

Development Diary #1

Hi all, just a quick update on how things are progressing with Act of Treason.

I won't be sharing too many mechanics with the game this time around as I've not had a chance to try out my latest changes - that'll be in two weeks or so. Once I've tried the new mechanics I'll do a full dissection on what worked, what didn't, and why. But honestly, this week I've just been so focused on getting the groundwork for the promotion going I've not had much time for anything else.

Global Progress chart - blue arrows show recent progress

As you can see from above we are getting a lot done, it just unfortunately takes a while! Each one of these is a large project in and of itself. A 'three level' system really doesn't do it justice. I might update that to have 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% levels. Very easy to track progress then for both me and you! (This is actually live on the site right now -> you can check it out at the bottom of the about page)

Last week has been mostly geared toward prepping for my next play test. The design pieces are done there. The important conceptual work is done, I just need to do the boring labor part of cutting a hundred cards or so and slipping them into sleeves. This week has mostly been devoted to an update of the website, and a few other minor things as well such as cleaning up wordings and the look of various things (cards, website, rules, you name it), and making new promotional art.

Just one of the many updates to playaot.com

Now don't get too excited, it's not a total overhaul to the webpage. Ultimately I still love the very minimalist design of my website, so it's just a few minor quality of life enhancements. For example, the 'featured wall' (as seen up above) on the about page will be added. I think the featured wall is important as it provides for a very easy 'hierarchy of information' for a new reader to follow.

We don't consciously do this - but we are constantly assessing our surroundings and categorizing the importance of all the information we come across. Things of minor importance we don't track and, things of major importance we do. The number of lights in the room might be of very low importance for example. The number of people might be highest importance, or the nearest exists, or a person of interest. Everything fits somewhere on that spectrum. The featured wall gives the uninitiated a sample of things that indicate that they are of 'high importance'. Otherwise there is just a sea of information and the reader could quickly become frustrated and rightly so if they can't find the information they are looking for. But more importantly, the user isn't shown what is deemed to be important. 

Why is this necessary? Well without this you're sending the message that effectively all information contained within the site is equally important - which is profoundly not true. You're not providing direction, which can be fairly annoying to a reader who simply wants the answer to a would be simple question "What is this about", or perhaps "Where can I learn more?", or maybe even "I'm looking to purchase one of these as I have learned enough from else where". These are likely the three most common questions a new website user will have when coming into the website for the first time (I haven't done the research, but, you know, it's likely true or near enough to truth). I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a website with the simple question: "What is this Business, Product, or Brand about?" and the website seems almost intentionally vague. What, where, how, why, when and who should be answered somewhere on your website, not necessarily in that order.

Another lovely snippet from the website

All of this is nothing new. Many websites do something similar, flagging important information to the user. It's just fascinating to me as it's a whole new world that I now have to be open to and think about.

Oh I also am adding analytics to the site - which I can't believe I didn't add before. I still don't know what I'm doing with it all too well. But at least so far I have managed to get some rudimentary analytics and reports running with it. So will hopefully be able to expand on that in the coming weeks and get up to speed with it before I start rolling out the serious advertising.

I have to say things have really begun to progress rapidly with Act of treason, and it's really hard to pin point exactly why. I think there are actually multiple factors that have all culminated into giving my the motivational groundwork to push off from. I think Jordan B Peterson with his Self Actualizing Suit really helped - you can learn more about him in the op-ed I will be releasing asap. I think my exercise regime really helps. I think having just a little bit of extra time away from work really helps. And I think the added weight of responsibility helps - having responsibility for others who rely on you really does change the dynamic of the situation. Altruism kicks in and you're not just in it for you anymore, you're in it for those you love and those whom you want to support. This is one reason why married people tend to earn more and be more prosperous - they likely have more children, and thus more responsibility.

Anyway that's enough for today. Thank you for reading and see you next time.

Cheers,
 Tyson

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