Promisense: a complete package

A Complete Package
Just to be clear, the title doesn't imply that the site is done, it's to simply state the new direction the site is going in (yet again... I know).

After a few weeks of talking with various web game managers around the internet, I had a very difficult time finding anyone who was interested in my project. As I described in a previous post, I wanted to be a facilitator for developers to reach a gaming audience. I didn't want to actually run the game myself.

So because no deal was finalized before my deadline, I've decided to re-package the Promisense website once again. It's now back to its original goal of being the best damn web-based game out there. And because of it's previous focus, it'll have the feel of a social network with a game built-in.

This, I believe, is a good thing. Most games focus entirely too much on being just games. I've said this time and time again, games are nothing without their community. And because Promisense does so much to stimulate community interaction and lets users communicate, share, and interact in more and better ways, it can only mean positive things for the game it's all about.

The Dark Side
Promisense was going to be a very bright and colourful community. It had Facebook-like theme (white with blue highlights), but honestly, for a game I thought that was entirely too boring. The gaming sites around the web are known for their darker themes, and this is especially true in the fantasy realm. Guild Wars' official site is a good example of that.

So I decided to go with a more dark theme that resembles the old MyWGZ site I designed. I think in the long run it'll pay off. Especially once I have an artist do some art for the game. It'll look much better on a darker theme, that the Facebook-esque design that was up before.

Open Alpha Test
In a rather unorthodox move, I decided to have an open alpha test. Yeah, that's right. Alpha. Not even beta. Which means most of the site doesn't even work yet.

Why do this? Well, as I develop, I'll be publishing updates to the live site and I'll be taking in feedback. Most people do this during a beta test, but I've started this process early just so I can let people who are interested give me their opinions to help shape the overall design and functionality of the Promisense site & game.

If you're interested in helping, sign up @ http://www.promisense.com

iProm & Prombook
Along with developing the website, I'm also actively developing an iPhone & Facebook version of the website. Why does this matter? Well, the neat thing is, all of these versions will be run on the same backend. Which means, you'll be playing with Facebook users, iPhone users, and other website users all at the same time.

This ultimately means a lot of exposure for the game, and it being available on these platforms provides more playing options for people.

It's going to be launched in stages, though. First will be the actual website, of course. Then once all the kinks and bugs are worked out of it, and once beta testing is complete, the iPhone and Facebook versions will go into beta.

Each of these platforms are designed to function as a separate entity entirely. Meaning, you can go through the entire experience (from sign up, to playing, to socializing) all within the platform. And they, of course, will be able to be used all at the same time from an individual user.

So if anyone signs up for Promisense at the main website, they can play there. Then if they use Facebook, they can link their identities so they can access the site entirely within Facebook (Facebook sign up also works without an existing Promisense account). And lastly, if they're on the go, they can use either an iPhone or an iPod Touch to play, check messages, view stats, and all the features the other platforms have to offer.

This is truly going to be a revolutionary thing for not only Prom games, but text gaming in general. I don't think anyone has done that before, so I'm exciting to be a part of something rather unique, and I hope the users who take advantage of the site on either platform can have a better experience because of this all.

That's all the updates I got so far. Go see the website and let me know what you think.


-Sam