Public D&D Playtests To Begin On May 24th

EmbraCraig · Apr 26, 2012

Delighted to hear that the play test is coming soon - assuming this'll be them putting the starter rules on the website to use at home, I'll give myself a couple of weeks to digest whatever they put up then look at running a game for one of my regular groups... one has a mix of people who really like 4E, and some who really can't get on with it, so it should be an interesting test.

As to the timing of the announcement - maybe Monte made his intention to leave known at WotC a while back, but decided to wait until this first phase of development was done before he actually went? I know if I was working on a big project that I actually cared about (as Monte Cook genuinely seems to do), then I'd try give plenty of notice and leave at a sensible point in the project cycle, rather than on short notice, right in the middle of whatever was going on.

fjw70 · Apr 26, 2012

Greatwyrm said:
I could be mistaken, but didn't they say in the PAX video that they were only like 10% - 20% done with the first real draft of the rules? Something like six weeks later, we're ready for public playtesting? Somebody show me I've missed something, please.

I believe they said they were about 20% done with the final product.

Kobold Boots · Apr 26, 2012

Experience tells me that when you have a negative working situation; it's due to a combination of people working in dissonance with each other. So I'll ask this:

Does it make sense to assume the following?

1. That a game that is trying to give people options will have discussions about what is core and what is an option?

2. That different design voices on different teams are going to have different opinions about what is core and what is an option?

3. That different designers are going to have different levels of maturity in how they choose to voice their opinions?

I sense that this matter wasn't a design issue because at some point a decision was made to go a certain way and the design matter was solved. This doesn't necessarily mean that people weren't harping and otherwise creating a toxic work environment through continued politicking.

If I'm "new design guy" looking to make a name for myself then I stick around because I don't have any other option but to work on D&D Next. It's my calling card for the next gig.

If I'm Monte and my publications list is large, my reputation intact and knowing that I can work elsewhere; I wait until a project milestone where my input is complete and I move on. There's no extra pay for being harassed and no benefit to my work if I take the risk of my reputation being ruined by public bashing or continued exposure to the situation.

The key is being able to leave on a good note, because the voices that are part of an "all-inclusive" game design won't be in play when the rules are finished and there's still good work to be done writing for the game when the weather changes.

P1NBACK · Apr 26, 2012

How do you guys know that Monte didn't time this little announcement to coincide with the WotC announcement?

avin · Apr 26, 2012

Because Wotc could delay that announcement.

It was a response.

Radiating Gnome · Apr 26, 2012

I'm looking forward to the playtest because I hope it will change a lot of the discourse in the D&D Next forums -- here and elsewhere.

Not that I think the rancor will go away -- we're passionate nerds with smelly feet, we'll bitterly disagree and snipe at each other as long as there are interwebs on which to do it.

But I think it will be a great relief to ratchet down a lot of the more dramatic *new* mechanics ideas that are being pitched and kicked around. I think there will be innovation in the playtest and in DDN, but I don't think it's going to look much like the very dramatic changes suggested by some of the posters over in the DDN forums. We'll be able to talk about what's actually in the draft, and that will be a relief.

I'm sorry to see Monte go -- but after a year working on the project, I can't help but imagine that his influence on the finished product will be quite strong. It's not like they're going to yoink out his ideas root and branch in the final hour.

-rg

Vyvyan Basterd · Apr 26, 2012

mhensley said:
I wonder if he's talking about any one voice in particular?

I took this to be a response to a common criticism leveled at 4E. That the game took such a wide departure from previous versions due to the single-minded vision of the designers, not delivering what the fans wanted.

Tom Servo · Apr 26, 2012

Mercurius said:
I am not saying that WotC is handling this well, or has handled other issues well in the past--the haven't, at least in the past--but it amazes me how no matter what WotC does, people will quickly jump to the conclusion that they're handling X Issue "horribly." Come on, what are they supposed to do? What can they do? I haven't read the 12-page thread, but it sounds like we don't know exactly why Monte is leaving--whether it is an OGL or design thing, or even personal (maybe he doesn't like Bruce Cordell's shoes).

Obviously Wotc, at least in the Bill Slaviscek era, has a history of bad PR. No, horrible PR. But my point is that it is a bit hasty (that is, knee-jerk) to say that announcing the 5E playtest right after Monte quits as "horribly dealt with" by WotC.

What do you think they should do/have done?

I take your point, and fair enough my post was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. They were definitely in an awkward situation with few ways to "spin" the news for the good. I still think they should have made those as two separate announcements, maybe a week apart. By making them together it gives the appearance that they weren't really ready to announce the playtest yet but had decided that they had to throw something out there to distract us from the bad news. Perhaps it was the perceived bluntness and transparency of it that rankled me. I am no PR expert, all I know is that it had the opposite effect they were hoping for on me.

Agamon · Apr 26, 2012

Timing of the announcement aside, I think the timing of the playtest itself has been etched in stone. The NDAs from DDXP run out in May.

So yeah, I think they did announce it now to belay fear of Monte's departure. I think even Monte would agree that it was a good idea to that though. Jumping to conclusions is a popular sport on the interwebz.