Game Title: Dominus Automa

Playable Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/

Platform: PC (Windows, Mac), Steam

Description: Dominus Automa is an Idle Multiplayer RPG meant for busy adults who still love online gaming but don't have endless hours to play anymore. Shape your hero's decision-making process, define their strategy with the Combat Matrix system, and let them progress 24/7 - even when you're offline.

From the very beginning, we've designed Dominus Automa around one simple idea: your gaming schedule should never dictate your progress. Play whenever it suits you, enjoy the game at your own pace, and never worry about falling behind or a FOMO feeling.

Free to Play Status:

Playtest is now live, featuring:

• 14 days of open Playtest

• 25 levels to achieve

• 10 locations to explore

• nearly 20 enemies and 3 bosses to slay

Involvement: Dev and community manager

Playable link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/

Dominus Automa is an Idle Multiplayer RPG meant for busy adults who still love online gaming but don't have endless hours to play anymore. Shape your hero's decision-making process, define their strategy with the Combat Matrix system, and let them progress 24/7 - even when you're offline.

The Playtest, being a fairly early version of the game, is primarily focused on testing its core systems, most importantly the 24/7 hero persistence, idle (offline) gameplay, and never-ending world progression, as well as the Combat Matrix system, allowing you to create your own battle-logic. You will be able to test and share your opinion about them all while enjoying:

• 14 days of open Playtest

• 25 levels to achieve

• 10 locations to explore

• nearly 20 enemies and 3 bosses to slay

We would also love to hear your feedback on the gathering, crafting, hero progression, (early) itemization system and game balance as a whole. Thank you for your help!

Playable link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/

What started as a conversation between a few passionate MMORPGs veterans has evolved into a world that's finally ready to be explored by genre-loving, engaged and adventure-hungry players (we already have over 7000 of them signed-up, logging in right now!)

From the very beginning, we've designed Dominus Automa around one simple idea: your gaming schedule should never dictate your progress. Play whenever it suits you, enjoy the game at your own pace, and never worry about falling behind or a FOMO feeling.

How does it work?

Have some free time to play? It's time to take control. Plan your strategy, make meaningful decisions, and guide your hero toward their next adventure. Be it the zone you command them to explore or stick to their Combat Matrix rules, they will continue to grow 24/7. One of your tasks is to define exactly how your hero behaves in battle. The fun part? No two heroes fight alike. No two players have the same approach. No two encounters are identical - whether solo or in a group, in a PvP or PvE scenario.

Create combat conditions based on:

• Health and Mana (both yours and your enemies)

• Distance to your foes

• Positioning

• Number of nearby opponents

• Ability priority

• Skill categories

• Chain your abilities to perform combos

• Maximize your utility when around other players to fulfill your role

You see, while some players may choose to smartly debuff their enemies, empower their own hero, or adopt a defensive playstyle using supportive spells, others can go all out with devastating offensive abilities, embracing a high-risk, high-reward approach. Your playstyle can be (and will be!) completely unique - an explosive mix of your favorite strategies, skills, and combat temperament.

What if real life gets in the way and you can't play? This time is not lost, your adventure goes on even while you are currently offline. Your hero will faithfully follow the strategy and decision-making rules you've created, continuing their adventure without your constant input. Once you log back in, they will report the results of the idle playtime, showing you all the sweet loot, experience and other bonuses they earned during your offline time. Instead of spending hours repeating the same actions and grind, you'll focus on what truly matters.

But getting back to the Playtest

The Playtest, being a fairly early version of the game, is primarily focused on testing its core systems, most importantly the 24/7 hero persistence, idle (offline) gameplay, and never-ending world progression, as well as the Combat Matrix system. You will be able to test and share your opinion about them all while enjoying:

• 14 days of open Playtest

• 25 levels to achieve

• 10 locations to explore

• nearly 20 enemies and 3 bosses to slay

• numerous mechanics like gathering, crafting, hero progression and more

We would love to hear your thoughts on the game and see you online in the Playtest, so if you want to try something quite new, now's the time. Thank you!

- Julian, dev of Dominus Automa

The game link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/

Dominus Automa Steam Multiplayer Playtest launches in 3 days, that is August 7th.

The number of registered playtesters has already exceeded our initial projections, and reaching the 6,000 mark would be an extraordinary achievement for us. That is why we need your support. Wishlist the game, sign up, and meet us online in three days.

About the project:

Dominus Automa is an Idle Open World RPG built for players who still love online gaming, but don't have that much time to play anymore. From the very beginning, we've designed Dominus Automa around one simple idea: your gaming schedule should never dictate your progress. Play whenever it suits you, enjoy the game at your own pace, and never worry about falling behind or a FOMO feeling.

In the upcoming Playtest, your adventure goes on even while you are currently offline. That doesn't mean your hero will be wandering the world aimlessly - not even close! Just like with the other aspects of Dominus Automa's gameplay, you're the one making all the crucial (and fun!) decisions.

And so, your hero will faithfully follow the strategy and decision-making rules you've created, continuing their adventure without your constant input. Be it the zone you command them to explore or stick to their Combat Matrix rules, they will continue to grow 24/7.

Once you log in, they will report the results of the idle playtime, showing you all the sweet loot, experience and other bonuses they earned during your offline time. Instead of spending hours repeating the same actions, you'll focus on what truly matters. Plan your hero's progression, optimize their Combat Matrix, unlock new builds, send them to new dangerous zones, complete quests, gather resources, craft, slay (or at least try to) bosses, or wage war against other players in PvP or... well, you get the idea!

Dominus Automa isn't about pressing abilities faster than your opponent, like numerous games in the MMORPG genre have accustomed us to. Instead, this is where the Combat Matrix system comes into play.

Using our Combat Matrix system, you'll define exactly how your hero behaves in battle. The fun part? No two heroes fight alike. No two players have the same approach. No two encounters are identical - whether solo or in a group, in a PvP or PvE scenario.

Create Conditions Based On:

• Health and Mana (both yours and your enemies)

• Distance to your foes

• Positioning

• Number of nearby opponents

• Ability priority

• Skill categories

• Chain your abilities to perform combos

• Maximize your utility when around other players to fulfill your role

You see, while some players may choose to smartly debuff their enemies, empower their own hero, or adopt a defensive playstyle using supportive spells, others can go all out with devastating offensive abilities, embracing a high-risk, high-reward approach. Your playstyle can be (and will be!) completely unique - an explosive mix of your favorite strategies, skills, and combat temperament.

For a bit of context, we're based in Eastern Europe, where Windows has long been the overwhelming standard. In fact, there are approximately 200 to 300 Windows users for every Mac user. Just to be clear, this isn't about comparing operating systems, it's simply how things are in our region.

Either way, for us, that user is Maciej. One of our indie team members, he first discovered the Mac in high school and immediately fell in love with it. Even though Windows was the default choice for nearly everyone around him, he insisted to follow his own path - and remained a dedicated Mac user ever since.

As a talented game developer - and I genuinely mean that - Maciej decided that Dominus Automa should be available on Mac from its earliest public builds, including the upcoming Steam Playtest. So, in his spare time, he took it upon himself to port the game to macOS. I suppose that's just what passionate people do.

One way or another, once the news reached the Mac community, interest in the game grew rapidly. Today, over half of all our traffic comes from the United States, something we never expected for an indie title built by a handful of friends. In case of smaller projectes like ours, that kind of boost is nothing short of incredible, and surely is a step forward in the never-ending struggle to gain at least some attention on Steam.

That's why I wanted to tell this story. It's a lesson that passion, dedication, and a "little" extra effort can have an incredible impact. If you'd like to join the fun and support our project, please consider wishlisting Dominus Automa on Steam and signing up for the upcoming Playtest, which begins in just 6 days. We would love to see you online then!

You can visit the Store Page at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/

About the project:

Dominus Automa is an Idle Co-Op RPG designed for busy adults who don't want to give up their love for online gaming but no longer have endless hours to play. Your adventure doesn't have to end just because you logged off. In Dominus Automa, your character follows the logic, priorities, and behavioral patterns you've designed, continuing their journey 24/7 alongside an ever-changing world.

No more pressure to keep up, rush through content, or suffer from the fear of missing out. And the best part? You can plan with your friends, enjoying the game whenever you feel like it. Whether you enjoy PvP battles, PvE encounters, crafting, exploration, challenging dungeons, or epic boss fights, you'll find all the core genre experiences you like. We have over 5500 players already signed up for the upcoming Playtest, and we would be honored to see you online on August 7th. Hope to see you there!

The game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/

Context: About a week ago, I opened sign-ups for my game's playtest and received a reasonably satisfactory number of registrations. However, yesterday I experienced a massive surge (several thousand) in Playtest sign-ups, and I can't say where they might have come from.

I checked TikTok, YouTube, influencer content, press coverage, and our other social media channels - nothing unusual. The Steam Marketing dashboard and wishlist count also show no signs of anything out of the ordinary. The burst was over in a few hours. It ended just as suddenly as it began.

Is it possible that this is bot traffic? Did Steam feature my game in some new, strange place? Or perhaps one of you has encountered a similar situation?

If anyone has experienced something similar or has any ideas about what might be causing this, I'd really appreciate your input. Thank you!

Note: Sorry for covering the number, I'm not really allowed to share them as for now

Steam sign up link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/

The Multiplayer Playtest will launch on August 7th.

Until now, you may remember Dominus Automa from the prototype phase, however the Playtest takes things much further featuring:

• Automated gameplay - design your hero's logic and let them act on their own

• 24/7 character persistence - even while offline

• Numerous core MMORPG activities - boss fights, exploration, quests, PvP and PvE content

• Hero progression - plan your character's development, skills and priorities

• A varied world full of biomes, enemies and challenges

Your support during our recent server stress test helped us get ready for what's next. The servers are now ready to handle hundreds of players simultaneously, so every tester is most welcome.

Steam sign up link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/

The Multiplayer Playtest will launch on August 7th.

Until now, you may remember Dominus Automa from the prototype phase, however the Playtest takes things much further featuring:

• Automated gameplay - design your hero's logic and let them act on their own

• 24/7 character persistence - even while offline

• Numerous core MMORPG activities - boss fights, exploration, quests, PvP and PvE content

• Hero progression - plan your character's development, skills and priorities

• A varied world full of biomes, enemies and challenges

Your support during our recent server stress test helped us get ready for what's next. The servers are now ready to handle hundreds of players simultaneously, so every tester is most welcome.

Sorry for the long post, but I believe our example might prove helpful to many game developers out there.

Context and the game:

Like any game in this genre, our indie automated MMORPG needs stable and reliable servers.

And so, we turned to our community and asked them to help us push the servers to their limits. At first, around 200 players signed up to take part in our Steam Stress Test, but we knew that realistically, only about 30% of them would actually show up. It wasn't a bad start, but we needed more players to truly see how our game would perform under heavy load.

With the build still too early for press / influencers, we promoted the event through social media, Discord, Steam, devlogs, and smaller Reddit communities. The turnout was encouraging, but we were still hoping for more.

What really worked for us:

The magic happened on the day of the Stress Test launch, when we published a post on the r/MMORPG subreddit. Our post announcing the start of the event reached over 200 upvotes and 121k views (1st spike on the chart). Players were discussing and commenting our game for hours. Our Discord server exploded. More and more people signed up. Not to mention the Wishlist.

To make a long story short, the Stress Test turned out to be such a great success, that we decided to announce the second round of testing. It was smaller, but still fine.

During both rounds, we managed to gather loads of interesting data and statistics, so we thought, “Hey, remember when Baldur’s Gate published infographics summarizing interesting insights into player choices and stats? Maybe we should do something like that too.” And so we did.

Once again, we posted on the r/MMORPG subreddit, expressing our gratitude to the testers and sharing some interesting stats from the Stress Test. It turned out that players really enjoyed them! Once again, the post went viral, this time receiving nearly 300 upvotes and reaching 90,000 people (2nd spike on the chart).

Conclusions:

- For events like this, timing is everything. Don't announce an event and make people wait a week or two for it to start. In our case, emphasizing that the Stress Test was happening “TODAY” made a huge difference.

- Catchy hook – we didn't simply say, “The Stress Test starts today, please join” Instead, we used a much more attention-grabbing message: “We want you to destroy our servers!”

- It is important to identify key Reddit communities that genuinely align with your title and are home to people who make up your potential audience

- If you see your post going viral and sparking discussion, be sure to respond quickly to comments and encourage further conversation

- Timing again. We held the first round of testing on Saturday, and the turnout was great. The second round took place on Wednesday, and we quickly noticed that many players simply couldn't make it

- Once you achieve one success, try to turn it into another - just as we did with the Stress Test summary

I really hope this short case study will help you guys in promoting your games.

If you want to learn more about our project and support it, visit: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/

Thank you and good luck, everyone!

Sorry for the long post, but I believe our example might prove helpful to many game developers out there.

Context and the game:

Like any game in this genre, our indie automated MMORPG needs stable and reliable servers.

And so, we turned to our community and asked them to help us push the servers to their limits. At first, around 200 players signed up to take part in our Steam Stress Test, but we knew that realistically, only about 30% of them would actually show up. It wasn't a bad start, but we needed more players to truly see how our game would perform under heavy load.

With the build still too early for press / influencers, we promoted the event through social media, Discord, Steam, devlogs, and smaller Reddit communities. The turnout was encouraging, but we were still hoping for more.

What really worked for us:

The magic happened on the day of the Stress Test launch, when we published a post on the r/MMORPG subreddit. Our post announcing the start of the event reached over 200 upvotes and 121k views (1st spike on the chart). Players were discussing and commenting our game for hours. Our Discord server exploded. More and more people signed up. Not to mention the Wishlist.

To make a long story short, the Stress Test turned out to be such a great success, that we decided to announce the second round of testing. It was smaller, but still fine.

During both rounds, we managed to gather loads of interesting data and statistics, so we thought, “Hey, remember when Baldur’s Gate published infographics summarizing interesting insights into player choices and stats? Maybe we should do something like that too.” And so we did.

Once again, we posted on the r/MMORPG subreddit, expressing our gratitude to the testers and sharing some interesting stats from the Stress Test. It turned out that players really enjoyed them! Once again, the post went viral, this time receiving nearly 300 upvotes and reaching 90,000 people (2nd spike on the chart).

Conclusions:

- For events like this, timing is everything. Don't announce an event and make people wait a week or two for it to start. In our case, emphasizing that the Stress Test was happening “TODAY” made a huge difference.

- Catchy hook – we didn't simply say, “The Stress Test starts today, please join” Instead, we used a much more attention-grabbing message: “We want you to destroy our servers!”

- It is important to identify key Reddit communities that genuinely align with your title and are home to people who make up your potential audience

- If you see your post going viral and sparking discussion, be sure to respond quickly to comments and encourage further conversation

- Timing again. We held the first round of testing on Saturday, and the turnout was great. The second round took place on Wednesday, and we quickly noticed that many players simply couldn't make it

- Once you achieve one success, try to turn it into another - just as we did with the Stress Test summary

I really hope this short case study will help you guys in promoting your games.

If you want to learn more about our project and support it, visit: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/

Thank you and good luck, everyone!

The first character model comes from the prototype phase, the second was introduced in the initial playtest, and the third will be featured in the upcoming multiplayer build. How do you feel about the character's visual evolution? Do you think I am moving in the right direction?

Your feedback is most welcome!

You can join the Stress Test at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/

The goal of the first round was simple - put the infrastructure under heavy load and find out whether it could survive. With more than 100 players online at the same time (which exceeded our expectations) the challenge was certainly real.

Today's goal is to test server layering (sharding), so every additional tester helps a great deal. Your presence today at 7:00 PM CEST / 1:00 PM EDT / 10:00 AM PDT is most welcome, even if for a few minutes.

Thank you for your help!

What is Dominus Automa anyway?

Dominus Automa is an automated IDLE MMORPG created for players who love deep progression systems but no longer have time for endless grinding.

Your hero lives on the server 24/7 - training, fighting, crafting and growing stronger even while you are offline. Explore a living online world filled with thousands of players, interacting and progressing together regardless of who is currently connected.

What's more, you can talk and establish relationships with your hero using an advanced AI-personality bot. Will you become their mentor? Friend? Or maby ruler?

One way or another, you are in complete control of your hero's behavior: skills, combat style, priorities, reactions to danger, and long-term goals. Through smart automation, your hero acts independently, following the logic you design. Choose your own path and specialize in PvE, PvP, exploration, crafting, gathering, or any other activity that suits your playstyle.

The goal of the first round was simple - put the infrastructure under heavy load and find out whether it could survive. With more than 100 players online at the same time (which exceeded our expectations) the challenge was certainly real.

Today's goal is to test server layering (sharding), so every additional tester helps a great deal. Your presence today at 7:00 PM CEST / 1:00 PM EDT / 10:00 AM PDT is most welcome, even if for a few minutes.

Thank you for your help!

What is Dominus Automa anyway?

Dominus Automa is an automated IDLE MMORPG created for players who love deep progression systems but no longer have time for endless grinding. Your hero lives on the server 24/7 - training, fighting, crafting and growing stronger even while you are offline. Explore a living online world filled with thousands of players, interacting and progressing together regardless of who is currently connected.

You are in complete control of your hero's behavior: skills, combat style, priorities, reactions to danger, and long-term goals. Through smart automation, your hero acts independently, following the logic you design. Choose your own path and specialize in PvE, PvP, exploration, crafting, gathering, or any other activity that suits your playstyle.

Playable Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/ (the "Request Access" Button will be available at 7:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT)

Today, for the first time ever, players of our automated, incremental indie MMORPG game Dominus Automa will meet online and take part in the game's inaugural multiplayer event. Our goal is to test our server infrastructure and see if it can handle the influx of players. And that's where we need your help.

At 7:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT we will enable the "Request Access" button on our Steam page, which will allow you to download the Stress Test build. Once you run it, you are in!

Every tester is most welcome, and we would love to have you in the PvP arena designed specially for this event. See you there.

Playable Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/ (the "Request Access" Button will be available at 7:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT)

Today, for the first time ever, players of our indie MMORPG game Dominus Automa will meet online and take part in the game's inaugural multiplayer event. Our goal is to test our server infrastructure and see if it can handle the influx of players. And that's where we need your help.

At 7:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT we will enable the "Request Access" button on our Steam page, which will allow you to download the Stress Test build. Once you run it, you are in!

Every tester is most welcome, and we would love to have you in the PvP arena designed specially for this event. See you there.

Thank you all for being there. The number of testers exceeded our wildest expectations - over 100 testers logged in! The next Stress Test round will take place on Wednesday, 7:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT.

Game Title: Dominus Automa

Playable Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795810/Dominus_Automa/ (the "Request Access" Button will be available at 7:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT)

Platform: Steam

Description: Today, for the first time ever, players of our indie MMORPG game Dominus Automa will meet online and take part in the game's inaugural multiplayer event. Our goal is to test our server infrastructure and see if it can handle the influx of players. And that's where we need your help.

For this special occasion, we have prepared a large pvp arena where our testers will be able to compete with other players. Any sign-up and help will be greatly appreciated, so be sure to be there... in just 5 hours! Thank you in advance, and see you there soon.

At 7:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT we will enable the "Request Access" button on our Steam page, which will allow you to download the Stress Test build. Once you run it, you are in!

Free to Play Status: Free

Involvement: Community Manager

If you want to learn more about Dominus Automa and the upcoming Stress Test, visit - https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3795810/view/695388311148036132