Want to go Commercial, but don't know where to start?

[Shaz]

I'm just pointing out that bug finding is the responsibility of the developer, not the publisher. If the publisher WANTS to play through to make sure there are no game-stopping bugs, that's all well and good, but offering to do this as part of the service could see you spending MANY hours playing and reporting, and if a developer assumed you were going to do it (and do it well, which you may not) they might be a little lazy about testing before they handed it over.


I'm not talking about the odd bug here and there that always seems to somehow get through. You just wouldn't want to be in a position where a game is released, lots of bugs are found that really should have been picked up, and YOU are blamed for letting them get through, because you offered to test.

 

[Indinera]

As far as bugs are concerned, trained players can achieve the amount of work of 10's IMO.

We are just 2 on the betatesting of ALL my games.

 

[Zeriab]

But you can only be sure of the existence of bugs, not the lack. This also holds true for game-stopping bugs.

In terms of blame and accountability, well... as a publisher a would take a bigger cut for it. Using the complementary service of extra QA takes a cut. Taking on more responsibility and possible also some support naturally increases the cut. The exact cut is a negotiation matter between the publisher and developer. What's fair and the legalese in the matter I don't know.

Indy has a good point. Testing isn't just testing. Having a structure approach can help a great deal. And you can experience how some people are a lot better at this. Personally I am good a functional testing, but I am not good testing whether the balance between the power of different skills, monsters and etc. is good.

*hugs*

 

[byrdbones]

For big projects and on paper sure your idea is nice, but when this is geared towards RPG Maker Projects which are typically smaller ones which typically means a smaller take-in all around, I think most will shy away. IMHO I would, and I don't mean that to sounds bad towards you, just how I would react and perhaps others too. As already stated I'm sure everyone would like to see the difference between someone contacting Aldorlea and publishing their game through there or on their own vs. your campaign. Again not saying it's a bad idea, but maybe not the best fit for this market?