Goko

Goko
Info
URL	[1]
a.k.a.	FunSockets
Type	Game
People
Founder(s)	Ted Griggs, Kevin Binkley
Admin(s)	Goko Team

Goko is an HTML5 gaming platform which holds the rights to create online versions of a variety of Euro style and other games. Initially known to the Dominion community as FunSockets, Goko's Dominion is the official online implementation of the game. The software is currently in a public beta status, and once it is fully released, will cause all unofficial versions of Dominion (including Isotropic) to shut down.

Goko Dominion

Gameplay

Features

• The official version features AI in the form of a variety of different bots to play games against. There is also a campaign/adventure mode where the players have to overcome disadvantages to win the game. There are rumors that the product will eventually offer some way for users to create AI's.

• Goko Dominion features two separate leaderboards, a Pro Leaderboard and a Casual Leaderboard. Based off of discussion with Goko , their skill rating system is functionally very similar to Isotropic's ranking system which is based off of TrueSkill.

• The promotional swipe cards which come inside of the recently released Base Card expansion and Dark Ages allow you to receive a free promotional pack of 5 cards for use on Goko's platfform. The cards included in this pack are Nobles, Haven, Hoard, and one (yet to be determined) card each from Hinterlands and Dark Ages. It is said that you can also get these cards by accessing Goko through the website https://www.goko.com/games/promocard.

Cost

• The base set is free for the public to play with. To offset this free play, there will eventually be a video ad once every 15 minutes or so between game launch and start of game.

• Cards from the expansions will be able to be purchased for use a half set (or full small set, about 13 cards either way) at a time. These mini-sets currently cost about $4 each (slightly cheaper for package deals) and require the use of the intermediary currency of 'Gokoins'.

History

Speculation

Speculation about the eventual existence of an 'official' online version of Dominion began years ago, likely before the existence of the blog and forum. Unfortunately, for a very long time little was known beyond that. Individuals would try to piece together information from comments by Jay and Donald X. but nothing was known for sure. Speculation was wide ranging and rampant, and led to the creation of "rrenaud's Law", an observance of how much Dominion discussion inevitably descended into speculation about the eventual online version.

FunSockets and Beta Testing

Putting an end to some speculation, Jay Tummelson leaked some information in May 2012 about the official online Dominion platform in a BGG thread discussing the Origins Convention. He revealed that the name of the company working on the game was Funsockets, adding that there would be playable versions of the game on display at the convention. The first images of the game leaked during the convention, prompting further discussion. Though Jay reported that the platform was near its release point, there was no further word on that front for a few weeks.

In late May 2012, it was noted that there was a change on the FunSockets website. The site offered a form to sign up for further information when it became available and offered a contact address for questions. A week or two later rumors sprang up about BGG having access to some Beta test accounts. Dominion Strategy Forum members were immediately interested in taking part in the testing, prompting the creation of an unofficial list of interested individuals. Just days later, theory announced that Beta tester signups would occur on the blog, with preference being given to individuals who wrote articles for the blog followed by a mix of first come first serve and active Forum members.

Beta testing was slowly rolled out to the Dominion community starting in late June and continued through the eventual release in mid-August 2012. Beta testing was attractive to many Dominion fans as it allowed them the chance to be among the first to use the new Dominion platform. Later in the Beta testing cycle, interest was renewed when it was revealed that Dark Ages cards were available to the Beta testers.

Failed Release

The official online version was expected to finally launch to the public on August 16, 2012. This date was chosen to coincide with the release of Dark Ages at Gencon, and Goko's press release found its way to the front page of blogs and news outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Kotaku, and Mashable. However, there were a host of issues at the time of release, including security issues, server load troubles, failure of the game to load, and inability to register.

Goko attempted to keep the site running but had difficulty doing so, working through the night and emailing users to apologize for the issues with their service. After realizing that they could not keep up with the maintenance of the site, they eventually decided to bring the release back into beta status. There are a number of blog posts/articles and forum threads related to the failed release and return to beta status.

Public Beta Status and New Release Date

On September 21, 2012, Goko quietly released their Dominion product in a public Beta. At this point, there are still a number of bugs, and updates are still coming regularly as the problems are solved. They are at a point where they are accepting money for the purchase of expansions, with the prices significantly reduced (from ~$6 to ~$4 per half set) from the previous release.

Goko has at this point not released a date for an official full release. The continuing uncertainty has led to forum members (prior to the beta release) making a guessing game of when the product will fully release.

Goko Interaction and Current Online Dominion

Much to the dismay of many on these forums, there has been little information flow from FunSockets about their product, a problem which dates back to the first hints of an official implementation. Fortunately, the volume of interaction has increased in recent weeks. There have been two separate Q&A sessions so far, both exclusively catering to members of this forum.

• Q&A #1 - Submitted Questions, Video Response, Transcript

• Q&A #2 - Submitted Questions, Answers

At this point, people are free to play Dominion on FunSockets as well as unofficial implementations such as Isotropic. Trisha from Goko stated that Isotropic (and presumably all the other versions) would not be shut down until "Goko is completely up and running, open for everyone, and completely stable." Presumably, the Public Beta does not qualify as 'completely up and running', so existing implementations will remain unaffected. dougz, creator of isotropic, stated that the shutdown date would likely be one week after the eventual Goko release date. At this point, all online versions would be required to be taken down, per the agreements with Donald X. and RGG.