Re: CHARGING FOR PLAYTESTS

From: madcentral@aol.com (MadCentral)

Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000

>>I thought it about time I placed a valid subject into the boiling pot after
reading a few comments earlier about this subject.<<

Cool.

>>Does anyone have anything to say about PBM moderators charging customers for
playtesting a game?<<

Lots.

>>My own opinion (being a moderator) is that playtest games should not be
charged for. Would you go to a shop and buy a 3 leg table? Or a car that is
going through its crash test dummy stage? Would you pay for an unfinished
product? I think not. If a moderator is going to charge for a "playtest"
then the product should not be called a playtest.<<

Nonsense.  If more companies ran  playtests the way we do then not so many
would go bust and not so many would release crap bug-ridden games.  The sheer
fact that hundreds and hundreds of players signed up for the Dungeon playtest
and are all still happily playing proves that people don't mind paying for a
good playtest.  In fact, we have an extensive list of players who want to be on
*all* our playtests.  We've always run them this way... and I'd say that's why
we are still in business when many others have disappeared... or disappeared
and returned.

>>Prime example - Madhouse (sorry steve) they have been playtesting dungeon
here in the uk and now its seems this playtest is coming to an end. If this
is the case then why is there a need to have a US platest now the game is
being launched over there? Is'nt all playtesting complete?<<

Not at all.  Haven't you ever licensed a game?  It's important to make sure you
don't suffer from your own lack-of-knowledge on the system.  We *always* run a
playtest on a new game... its not fair for players to come into the game and
suffer from mistakes you make due to unfamiliarity with the system.

>>It seems to me to be yet another marketing ploy and I suppose this is as
fair in PBM as it is in any other business.<<

Of course, it's a marketing ploy.   But its still a valid playtest.  Nobody eve
said otherwise.  You'd have been wise to do the same yourself... Darkstar is a
big game, right?  So you're telling me you could test *everything*... and I do
mean *everything* with a few guys and some turns at home?  We like to be
sure... so we threw hundreds of players into the test and really tested
everything... because Dungeon is absolutely HUGE.  But how could we have run a
300-strong player playtest for free?  For 12 turns!  That's Sixteen Thousand
Pounds worth of turns at normal rates... or Eight thousand at the reduced
playtest rates.  If we ran that for free we'd be bust in a month!!  But
instead, we have made a really stunning game and a healthy profit... whch means
we can go on make more good games.  And bette still, the game is thoroughly
tested and ha a strong player base for the commercial launch.  If that doesn't
seem fair ... and also good business sense... you're in the wrong business!
<grin>

>>So back to my original comment. Who likes paying for playtest?<<

Nobody *likes* paying for anything... but I could give you rather a lot of
people who are quite happy paying for a *good* playtest.

Steve
-Madhouse UK

References

CHARGING FOR PLAYTESTS
"Warrior Games - News" <warrior@zen.co.uk>
Thu, 05 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

CHARGING FOR PLAYTESTS
"Warrior Games - News" <warrior@zen.co.uk>
Thu, 05 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000