Disclaimer for alpha version - need opinion

Berserker...

The disclaimer looks very good; no need to change anything...most alpha testers should already know this kind of stuff anyway...

I am willing to assist in the alpha testing...have been a gamer for a very long time (ever since I owned my first Pong game decades ago)...I am accustomed to precision documentation in my career and am extremely computer literate (originally majored in Programming in college)...being semi-retired at this time affords me extra time to assist with your needs...if you need additional background, let me know...

I recently found your website by accidentally running across the Totem Tribe Gold application for the Nook...actually, my wife found the game first, then we downloaded Totem Tribe and Totem Tribe Gold and really enjoyed them both...I really have never cared too much for the MMOs, but am looking forward to TT2...

So, if you need additional alpha testers, let me know...if not, then I still look forward to the release of TT2...good luck either way...and no, I am not seeking compensation or recognition; just willing to help if needed...

Disclaimer looks great bers , hope all is going good with the game cant wait to come join the TT2 community when it gets going :)     (luke1976 gunrox player)

More obvious how? What I am trying to say, that you should not worry about game restarts when spending Enkord Cash, cause when the game is restarted, your cash balance will be reverted, so you will have the amount like you haven't spend anything and can spend it again. Naturally this remark makes sense only after I've mentioned that there will be game restarts, therefore if I put remark about cash to the top it will not be clear. Maybe I've misunderstood you or something...

All I meant was that the bit about the Enkord Cash should be higher in the text, since most people will tend to just not read this at all. If the information about what happens about the cash is higher up, it has a better chance of being read. People have a self-interest to read about the use of their donation/money in the test version of the game. Which means if you post it up top they will be more inclined to also read the rest of the disclaimer. You can be brief, and then explain more about the restarts below. For example:

ATTENTION!
You must read the disclaimer below carefully and accept it before you proceed!
You have been chosen to participate in the alpha test of Totem Tribe II: Jotun.
Your progress in Totem Tribe II: Jotun ALPHA will be wiped many times and the game will be shut down many times throughout the game as we fix bugs and install improvements. Those who donated money and have received Enkord Cash virtual currency will have their points refunded and you will have the full amount of Enkord Cash back when the game restarts AND when the official game is launched. Don't be afraid to spend your Enkord Cash even in the alpha test, because you'll get it all back at the launch. More information about the alpha test game restarts is given below. Please don't skip over the rest of this disclaimer, there's more important stuff we have to tell you!

I don't think there will be restarts more often than once a day. Honestly I don't want to have any restarts at all, but alpha stage of the game is intensive development and if restarts is acceptable at any stage, it's on alpha stage. Not being afraid of shut down or reset the gaming progress will allow us to fix bugs more intensively and thus making beta stage to come up sooner.

Good to hear. I think once a day is ok, but maybe if it's possible to also include an announcement of what time, what timezone, and how long the restart is. Ie. We will have to restart once a day at 10pm GMT, and will be back online at 11pm GMT (so offline for a total of an hour). I don't know how feasible that is, but it's an idea so we're not all suddenly yanked from the game with no idea when it will be back. I'm guessing you might not know when the restarts would happen up until they happen, so if you can't do that it would be good to have an announcement as and when a restart happens somewhere on the site.
Happy to see bugs fixed of course, I'm not grumbling about that really, but it can have an effect on us reporting bugs too: if we're in the middle of something and see a bug, and the game suddenly disappears, then it's harder for us to document the problem for you.

Would love to test how do I sign up?

I can't wait for the game to come out, but being a tester is just as good, would love to have a go.

A..........A its awesome you dont need to change anything though oh and how many people you will select for the alpha test ? because many people go as beta tester etc just to play the game before anyone else and be a know-it -all so..... i was wondering :P

Any news yet if they have announced the launched date already? 

Any news yet if they have announced the launched date already? 

Sigh... answered elsewhere, but for easiness' sake: No. We are all currently waiting on the edge of our seat for the imminent *alpha* testing which could happen any day now. (The current news post on the home page has Berserker mentioning that the next news post will be the announcement of the alpha test launch)

As for official release there is no known launch date.

PS. Berserker, if you see this: is it worth adding this question to the FAQ somewhere?

Fair enough. I was actually thinking that having some place on the home page - obvious - for the latest info on a launch date. I know a lot of game developers post a percentage bar (LDW do) somewhere so that you can keep track of where they're up to. That way there's no official date attached to it, but you still know roughly how far away they are from finishing. And it's posted on its own page or somewhere on the game page itself, so you don't have to hunt the forums/blogs for news.

(To be fair, LDW are pretty crap at updating and I recall theirs went without updates for a good couple of years. I also know of others who are very good at updating the percentage.)

Yeah, I had this idea about percentages too, except I thought having separate page with progress-bars on every major feature, but then I thought it will be too cubersome to keep them up to date and they will be too subjective and people will be nitpicking on why we managed to make 90% for a month and then adding the rest 10% of the feature for a year, and so on.

However single percentage towards the next major goal might be not hard too manage, but still I am not sure how helpful will it be, because like I said, the major part of the progress might happen pretty soon, and then something happens, like we realize that we seriously underestimated the scale of work and last final few percent will be going on very slowly. In such case people will be annoyed, because they were encouraged by the fast progress before.

Overall - prominent progress bar is a good, but ambiguous idea and I don't have my final conclusion on it. For now I am skewing towards opinion that it is better not to promise anything and spit out updates from time to time, instead of giving some promise in form of release dates or updating progress bar and then for some reason fail to deliver or keep up with progress rate. I think lost hopes and broken promises are worse than obscurity of no specific details.

Good points. I agree a simple bar is much easier to handle, but yeah, if you don't want to be seen as breaking promises that's fair enough to steer clear of making any sort of announcement. To be honest, I've been very impressed with how you've managed to keep up regular announcements. Even with percentage bars or announcement pages, a lot of game developers I've followed don't update regularly, leaving fans to wonder what's going on. At least you guys give us teasers from time to time and encourage us all that there is progress even if there is no obvious timeline as to when things will be finished.

I would love to be a tester . I just read your disclaimer and it sounds awesome (no need to change that). 

I played The two original TT a lot and I am not new to alpha testing (actually i like to do it).

Ive been following the news on your site for two years, hungry for  the sequel so I'll repeat, please add me as a tester or put me on the list to be one