WotC_PeterS talks about his "aggresive playtest" (with Le Rouse, SKR, & Noonan)

Kraydak · Dec 19, 2007

Scott_Rouse said:
OK...did you read my other posts? I thought this summarized the extent of the play test:

Yes. Did you, mine?

We are playtesting the heck out of this game and have been doing so in earnest for the better part of two years. I find it funny, bordering on the ridiculous, that from one playtest report that people assume we have our heads in our butts and don't know how to develop and playtest a game. We have hundreds of years of combined game development experience on the 4e team with some people like Bill Slavicsek and Kim Mohan having experience going back over multiple editions. So instead of being a jerk in responding to criticism I decided to inject some humor (albeit sarcastic) into the thread.

You know, a simple: "the blog was poorly written, we have done an order of magnitude more stress testing than the blog suggests" would have sufficed. It would not have been being a jerk.

I note further that you have explicitly not made, and appear to be deliberately not making, such a statement.

In fact, the blog post is the *only* hint that any form of stress testing has been done. It fairly explicitly suggests that the "aggressive playtest" is the only such playtest occurring. Such playtesting is so basic that I would not have worried had the blog not been posted. I wouldn't be as worried as I am had you not proceeded to respond to concerns with irrelevant (albeit amusing) humor.

So, what *is* the answer to: "how much more stress testing has occurred than is implied in WotC_PeterS's blog post"?

The_Baldman · Dec 19, 2007

Stop it Stop it Stop it Stop it Stop it

<hey it works on my 4-year old>

TerraDave · Dec 19, 2007

I had no idea this thread would be so lively....

Kraydak: that was just one staffers blog, but there have been many other refs. to playtesting since the gencon anouncement, including "non-campaing" play testing.

Le Rouse: encore merci!

WampusCat43 · Dec 19, 2007

Lighten up, Francis.

Jedi_Solo · Dec 19, 2007

Scott:

Thank you for the greater detail and for the fact that you are still willing to hang around here. It's very nice to know a WotC staffer is actually reading what is here.

P.S. I also enjoyed The Funny. Please bring more of it.

Slander · Dec 19, 2007

Kraydak said:
how much more stress testing has occurred than is implied in WotC_PeterS's blog post

Scott said:
There are enough playtests happening

I thought the answer was pretty clear. Seriously, I'm not being flippant. If you don't trust WotC to do their job, there is no acceptable, quantifiable reply that won't get someone in a tizzy. If you do trust them to do there job, then in their professional estimation there are enough playtests happening.

tenkar · Dec 19, 2007

Scott... thanks for the funny... but...

Game making is serious business damn it!

mhensley · Dec 19, 2007

Kraydak said:
So, what *is* the answer to: "how much more stress testing has occurred than is implied in WotC_PeterS's blog post"?

Why on earth do you think he owes you an answer? You do realize this is a game we're talking about? You stress test bridges, computer programs, buildings - you know important stuff. This is a game. Nobody dies if it breaks. Calm down.

crazy_cat · Dec 19, 2007

mhensley said:
Why.... *snip*
.....This is a game. Nobody dies if it breaks. Calm down.

You try telling that to Black Leaf !!

architect.zero · Dec 19, 2007

Another thanks to Scott Rouse for his willingness to drop by and just hang out in a thread. Very cool.

I couldn't imagine having the time OR the inclination to hang out in a forum about my company's products.

Also: the negative nellys and the doomcriers really need to lighten up and put things into perspective. It's only a game. This is not Medical equipment. This is not an aerospace product. Lives ARE NOT at stake here. There's no need for ISO9000 levels of detail. Yes, you deserve the best possible product, but you're only paying, what... $40 per book? Compare that to the half-mil (or whatever) for a piece of moderate medical equipment? Give you head a shake.