Secret Alpha Games

[poserLX]

I appreciate the helpful comments people have made here, but I'm unfortunately left a bit confused. It seems the term "alpha" encompasses a number of different situations. What is the difference, for example, between "pre-alpha" and "private alpha"?

Or for a more specific example, what state is Tapestry currently in, and did this change recently? I thought, due to the now-locked thread here, that Tapestry was in "private alpha", but then a couple days ago someone posted on Facebook that it's now in "public alpha" even though there has been no announcement in this forum. Turns out Tapestry is now in a list of games that those who qualify to be reviewers can see.

That's fine, I understand there are different stages. But what really throws me for a loop is that Space Base shows up for me with the "alpha" tag in the image, even though I don't yet have 750 games and can't see the list of alpha games that includes Tapestry. It's just so confusing. Can anyone help to clarify things for me?

Thanks

[Cappster_]

Pre-Alpha, Closed Alpha, Secret Alpha & Private Alpha are the all same thing - essentially, the devs are building the game and need a couple people that they know will give good feedback to do so. It is unlisted so the devs have absolute control who can play and provide feedback.
This is to make sure that the game actually kinda works.

Reviewer Alpha (Public Alpha) - is the alpha stage where the game "works" - but the dev thinks there are some edge cases that need polish or some interactions that need to be played through to make sure everything is working as intended.

The tricky part of Reviewer Alpha/Public Alpha - if you are NOT a BGA reviewed (750 total over 50 unique) you will not have access to the Reviewer group or tab (where the list lives). However, if you are invited to a game in Alpha by a Reviewer, the Alpha game will show up in your games list with the Alpha banner. You can even start tables of that particular Alpha game, but only with people that you have previously played that Alpha game with.

Beta is always Open Beta, and it essentially mean the game is ready to play, but Devs want to keep it "unreleased" so the masses have a chance to break it. If it goes a few weeks without any issues, then it is released.

Closed Alphas are also necessary because devs don't want someone playing a game under development and having a negative experience because the game breaks. If they aren't of the mindset to provide actual constructive feedback, it actually can create more work and headache for the Dev. And then there is also the off chance that someone goes off and flames a game on social media, all because they don't understand they have access to an unfinished work in -progress.

[paramesis]

Pre-Alpha, Closed Alpha, Secret Alpha & Private Alpha are the all same thing - essentially

That is incorrect. Pre-Alpha refers to the phase BEFORE testing begins when the game is not completely implemented and is not ready for Alpha testing. Unlike Private or Public Alpha, the project does not exist on the production servers. With some very limited exceptions, testing by those other than the developer does not happen during this phase.

The other terms can be considered synonymous, but in all official communications I've had with BGA admins, they have referred to it as Private Alpha

[Pipernation22]

Is there a disgruntled comment in this entire thread other than the folks who seem unsettled by the fact that I had the audacity to ask the question?