Updated Our Journal (56): Beta Access for All Backers, About the Release Date

[sam2s]

So, about that beta...

1) Is it already fun to play? Or is it only meant for people who want to help with bug testing?

2) Will the beta come out for Linux within the next few months, or will only the final game be cross-platform?
(Asking in order to decide whether it makes sense to go through the trouble of installing Windows. I do own a WinXP and a Win7 license, just haven't installed them on any PC currently... )

[Luzeryn]

I really hope your partner for the localization of Torment is not the same as Obsidian's. PoE localization was terrible in various languages (German especially, but the Spanish translation was really bad too), which made it hard for me to play since, while I can play games in English, the vocabulary was too complex for me sometimes to fully enjoy the game.

I don't mind the delay, I want Torment to be as polished as possible. But I hope we get the Mac version soon, I'd like to try the beta.

[anonymous6059]

I'm just hoping to get a few questions answered please:

• Was the Comic book by Pat Rothfuss given to all backers as well (as part of the beta for all backers move)?
  Will we be receiving all of the Novellas before the Final release next year?
  Will the Beta be under going several more updates before completion or was this the final one?
  If the Beta does get updated again in the future will any of those version allow players to complete the game or access additional content?

I know that these answers might be top secret information, but hey I had to try...

[Rink]

So, about that beta...
1) Is it already fun to play? Or is it only meant for people who want to help with bug testing?

While it may be meant for bug testing or marketing purposes, I have to say:
Oh yes, it is really fun to play and while there are some bugs still (well it is a beta-version), they didn't affect my enjoyment of the game at all. This version of the game already had a closed beta a few months ago, so it is in good shape for a beta.

[Homer Morisson]

So, about that beta...
1) Is it already fun to play? Or is it only meant for people who want to help with bug testing?

While it may be meant for bug testing or marketing purposes, I have to say:
Oh yes, it is really fun to play and while there are some bugs still (well it is a beta-version), they didn't affect my enjoyment of the game at all. This version of the game already had a closed beta a few months ago, so it is in good shape for a beta.

I agree, it is heaps of fun to play even though it still has plenty of bugs and some rather nasty blocker bugs even - but I would ask any player nonetheless to not only play it for pure enjoyment, but to at least provide feedback on all bugs they encounter while just playing the way they want to - ultimately, all of use can only benefit from giving the Devs as much information as possible about what bugs are still in the current build and how they might have been triggered.

So while I can appreciate that not everybody likes to go actively bug-hunting, even just reporting the bugs encountered while playing regularly would definitely be a huge help for the Devs. =)

[tonurics]

• Was the Comic book by Pat Rothfuss given to all backers as well (as part of the beta for all backers move)?

Nope; it was only given to users who got the Beta or Comic Add-ons specifically. [Or if it was part of their normal rewards from the start.]

[Arcanist]

Hello guys, I dont know if this is the right topic, but wanted to ask if you know the (planned) length of the game? How many hours of gameplay will be provided?

I know only that the Beta shall contain appr 6-7 (or 10 in some sources) hours of gameplay which is the first Act of the game. It seems to be short for such a huge place such as Sagus Cliff (or in other words: the game shall have at least 4-5 Acts in order to achieve a solid length)

[anonymous6059]

Hello guys, I dont know if this is the right topic, but wanted to ask if you know the (planned) length of the game? How many hours of gameplay will be provided?

I know only that the Beta shall contain appr 6-7 (or 10 in some sources) hours of gameplay which is the first Act of the game. It seems to be short for such a huge place such as Sagus Cliff (or in other words: the game shall have at least 4-5 Acts in order to achieve a solid length)

I don't think they will give you a exact number even if you beg. The game most likely has 3 acts and will take between 25-50 hours to complete, but you might be able to speed run it in much less time. They specifically stated somewhere that they want to focus on quality instead of quantity. The game should also have a fair amount of replay value. The Beta contains about 1/3 of the game most likely.

How long it takes to complete I guess would depend heavily on how fast you can read.

[Fionavar]

Just logged in with my shiny backer badge and so excited for how this is coming along! Thanks for your passion and creativity. Looking forward to 1Q 2017!

[Gold Dragon]

I don't normally bother with betas (I prefer to wait for the full game) but this is very tempting I am planning to ultimately redeem the full game on GOG. Is the beta key completely separate? Or will I be locked into the Steam version of the game if I redeem the beta? I can wait if I have to, but I didn't want to impulse-download the beta now without knowing if I can still choose the GOG version later.

[sear]

I don't normally bother with betas (I prefer to wait for the full game) but this is very tempting I am planning to ultimately redeem the full game on GOG. Is the beta key completely separate? Or will I be locked into the Steam version of the game if I redeem the beta? I can wait if I have to, but I didn't want to impulse-download the beta now without knowing if I can still choose the GOG version later.

We will have a way to exchange keys later on, so don't worry about locking yourself into Steam.

[Gold Dragon]

I don't normally bother with betas (I prefer to wait for the full game) but this is very tempting I am planning to ultimately redeem the full game on GOG. Is the beta key completely separate? Or will I be locked into the Steam version of the game if I redeem the beta? I can wait if I have to, but I didn't want to impulse-download the beta now without knowing if I can still choose the GOG version later.

We will have a way to exchange keys later on, so don't worry about locking yourself into Steam.

Awesome! Thanks