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

[JohnSnow]

No need to apologize, not even if I can produce a link, since I cannot just believe you've never read what I was talking about; it was overdebated, everyone had a blink on it if he read this board with your frequence.

Oh I saw the debate. And I thought it was absurd then.

And every comment that anyone was able to dig up could be read multiple ways. There were no outright lies, except in the context of people interpretation of phrases like "soon" and "now."

I fully expect them to be "working on 5e" (in the sense of playtesting changes to the game) from the minute 4e is released. But IMO, it only becomes "5e" when that product gets put on the schedule.

And that has no bearing on how far back they've been working on it and playtesting elements of it. My opinion.

 

[nerfherder]

I cannot provide a link to the specific quotes as I'm not a bookeeper (sp?) of 2005/2006 boards, but I can assure you the statements exist -if you want proof, read this board at the time 4E was announced and I'm sure you'll find the specific links, together with hundreds of guys debating upon them-.

You're the one accusing someone of lying, so I suggest the burden of proof is on you to back up your claim, not on me to prove that someone didn't lie.

Furthermore I'm curious too, to ask you if you ever read any of these statements -or their debating-, to come to question their very existance.

I remember claims being made, but whenever the actual quotes were tracked down and read in context, they never said what was claimed.

[edit] I see I was typing too slow, and missed the mod comment. Back to the original topic, I guess!

 

[jdrakeh]

I have been wondering about this all day. . . does anybody know who "PeterS". I have reason to believe that it may very well be one Peter Seckler, though I can't confirm (my reasoning is that the Peter in question is a long-time chum of a design team member and a very avid supporter of D&D). If I'm right, they have some kick-ass (read "relentlessly thorough") playtesters on the job, which further piques my interest in 4e.

 

[Fifth Element]

I have been wondering about this all day. . . does anybody know who "PeterS". I have reason to believe that it may very well be one Peter Seckler, though I can't confirm (my reasoning is that the Peter in question is a long-time chum of a design team member and a very avid supporter of D&D). If I'm right, they have some kick-ass (read "relentlessly thorough") playtesters on the job, which further piques my interest in 4e.

I believe The Rouse mentioned that he called "Mr. Schaefer" to discuss his playtest.

 

[jdrakeh]

I believe The Rouse mentioned that he called "Mr. Schaefer" to discuss his playtest.

Ah, missed that bit. Slightly less enthused because I have no Idea who Peter Schaefer is. I know that Peter Seckler, on the other hand, is a former indie-ish game designer (Pumpkintown!) with ties to Mike Mearls and other GO (Gaming Outpost) regulars whose unbridaled enthusiasm for D&D is rivalled only by his unusual talent of hacking the old Nintendo GameBoy into a full-blown midi processor with which to make recordable music. And dammit, people like that should surely be involved in D&D 4e playtesting.

 

[inkmonkeys]

I believe The Rouse mentioned that he called "Mr. Schaefer" to discuss his playtest.

Indeed. Though, technically, I called him.

OMG! WotC liez!

 

[smetzger]

What do you base this on?

1) The fact that 3e got a lot of play testing

2) There was a much longer time from when 3e was anounced to when it was published.

3) When 3e was anounced there was already a considerable amount of testing done.

4) They are saying they are not done with the system yet.

 

[mhensley]

1) The fact that 3e got a lot of play testing

2) There was a much longer time from when 3e was anounced to when it was published.

3) When 3e was anounced there was already a considerable amount of testing done.

4) They are saying they are not done with the system yet.

WOTC bought TSR in 1997 and released 3e in 2000 - three years with an entirely new management and a huge change in personnel to boot.

WOTC has been working on 4e since 2005 and will release in 2008 - three years with a stable team of developers.

I would say the advantage is with 4e.

 

[Scott_Rouse]

Hye Scott;

Since you've been paytesting the game and all and are up2date with the crunch, could you answer two small q's I've had for a long time?

1) Will Paladins get a domain equivalent? That is, depending on their deity, do they get different powers/abilities? It would suck if a Paladin of bahamut and Paladin of tiamat had no difference due to the deity they choose.

2) Will ranger and paladin spell casting (finally) be removed or at least, optional?


Regards.

So I went to talk to R&D for answers but they had just finished their latest playtest:

I was told they were going to get barbecue for lunch (and the go to the comic book shop). I thought I could catch them in the parking lot.

I thought this was Andy Collins car but when I jumped inside it was full of Magic R&D.

So I went back to the building to look for the answers but I had trouble with the door.

Finally some one let me in the building and I headed to the second floor to see if someone in digital games might know the answer.

The place was empty.

I think they were off playing Rock Band or Guitar Hero or something.

I thought Events/Organized Play might know but they were at some team building off-site

So I headed to the fourth floor (home of Brand)

Legal was empty except for some guys caught downloading bootleg PDFs.

So I went to the executive offices:

But they were empty too (sort of)

Everyone in Brand was busy

So I just could not get an answers to your questions.

Seriously though more will be revealed soon.

Check out D&D Insider on Friday for some scoopy goodness

Happy Holidays

 

[Azegoroth]

Hullo, been lurking on the boards since shortly after they started posting 4th ed news, and decided to join so I could personally thank The Rouse and Mr. Schaefer for taking the time to fill us in on parts of the design process.

That said, Get back to work, you slackers! *cracks whip*