Re: Playtesting "Trojan War"

From: Steve Pritchard <Steve@spelbind.demon.co.uk>

Date: Mon, 14 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000

In article <40o0bs$9mm@nuclear.microserve.net>
           bmclain1@khan2.dandelions.com "
" writes:

> In article <40lvpn$e3t@cnn.Princeton.EDU>
> Steve@spelbind.demon.co.uk writes:
>
> > Now, though there are players who stick in normal games to the bitter
> > end, it seems even harder to find those whole do it for FREE in a
> > playtest. Why? Surely if you are getting the game for free, and have
> > the chance to decide the course and design of a new game, it's worth
> > sticking in there and finding out how everything turns out, isn't it?
>
> It's only worth it if the game is good.  I won't stick with a bad game, not
> even for free turns.  As a playtester in many games over the past fourteen
> years, I've seen perhaps 20% of them reach the market, usually with very
> little modification from the original "unplaytested" design.
> A playtest ought to smooth rough edges; it's not meant to overhaul a bad
> design.

So ironing out bugs is what? A redesign in the game, a smoothing of rough
edges? Trust me - if players make suggestions on a game, and it looks like
a good idea, it will be included in the final release. We poll our players on
our football game EVERY season, and any changes they suggest tend to get
included in the new season if they are good enough. I _do_ listen to my
testers, whatever you might think.

> > LTWARS, HAND OF THE DEMON and our newby Apocalyptic game are all under
> > playtest and the first two have suffered from useless testers. The
> > third is on its very first turn - wonder how many of the people who
> > asked to test it will not get around to sending in their first set of
> > orders? I'll bet on 10% of them!
>
> It's your fault if you've got useless testers.  The dumbest way to pick
> playtesters is through advertising.  Any numbskull will jump at the chance to
> play a game for free (I should know, I play lots of games for free!).  You
> need to *select* playtesters.  Ask Nicky Palmer, ask other moderators, ask me:
> we'll give you lists of folks who have playtested many games.  Then you send
> them information about your game, invite them to join it, and hope they
> accept.

Nice one Bob! You have no idea who I am, no idea of how many games I have
designed and run in the past umpteen years, but glibly tell me that I'm dumb!
Thanks for the idea about selecting my playtesters from those that reply (gee,
i'd never thought of that one!) - this only filters out some of the "numbskulls"
though. Basically, if you're not interested in seeing a game through it's
design stages, then why ask to play it? I ask for testers for an Apocalyptic
war game and get a bit peeved when a tester drops out with the reply "it's not
the game for me". What exactly are such people expecting??

> I think we need a change of perspective here.  Moderators don't do playtesters
> a favor by letting them play a new game for free.  Playtesters do moderators a
> favor by sharing their expertise for free.

Yes, I appreciate that playtesters go to time and effort too, and I don't
recall saying that this should be ignored. All I ask for is reliability. It's
odd that players are allowed to tear a company to shreds when a turn arrives a
day or so late, but players (in this case, playtesters) are allowed to do
exactly what they please and how they please.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, you'll not be on our next list of
testers, just in case you think it's bad game and decide not to stick with it.
Thnaks for your help though!

Steve Pritchard
********************************************************
* The only thing in life that's guaranteed is failure, *
*    To succeed you must be willing to take risks.     *
********************************************************

Arutha ConDoin - Prince of Krondor

References

Playtesting "Trojan War"
Steve Pritchard <Steve@spelbind.demon.co.uk>
Sun, 13 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Playtesting "Trojan War"
desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins)
Sun, 13 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Playtesting "Trojan War"
bmclain1@khan2.dandelions.com ()
Mon, 14 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Playtesting "Trojan War"
Steve Pritchard <Steve@spelbind.demon.co.uk>
Sun, 13 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Playtesting "Trojan War"
desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins)
Sun, 13 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Playtesting "Trojan War"
bmclain1@khan2.dandelions.com ()
Mon, 14 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000