D&D 5E So... what happened during the playtests?

[Gnarl45]

I'm still not sure why this is a bad thing?

Getting user-input from surveys isn't perfect, but at least it's a good method of getting usable input. You have some basis in fact that these individuals are involved in the playtest, and that they care enough to fill out the surveys to express their preferences. You can make certain adjustments based upon rate of response, etc.

The internet is more like a bunch of howler monkeys. It's possible that you are getting valid opinions. But it's also more likely that you're just getting a lot of noise (and little signal).

Why do you guys have the impression that I'm saying it's a bad thing .

I think it was a good decision to ignore the howler monkeys' opinions! But people shared more than opinions, they also shared ideas. Some of these ideas were really good. Some were possibly better than the ones they came up in house and the only way to know for certain would have been to ask us (in the surveys).

I'm not criticizing the design team's decision either. I think they sincerely did their best and I'm sure there's a good reason they ignored the online discussions. Maybe they figured that spending hours reading obnoxious edition warring and mediocre ideas wasn't the best way to use of their limited time and budget. That would be a perfectly sound business decision.

Online discussions are a group of 4-10 people with fringe opinions howling at each other over minutiae and is *really* not representative if the general fanbase. There's a poor signal : noise ratio and a lot of squeaky wheels.
It's not worth paying real attention to.

True but you know better than most that sometimes fans have ideas that are worth your money.

Are you of the opinion that there were people passionate enough to post opinions online that were not also contributing to the playetest feedback? And if so, in large enough numbers as to be significant?

I don't think anyone that participated in the discussions didn't also participate in the surveys and I have no idea how significant the howler monkeys are.

 

[ChrisCarlson]

I don't think anyone that participated in the discussions didn't also participate in the surveys and I have no idea how significant the howler monkeys are.

So how do you get from there to the part where you say that the internet voices were ignored? If you believe the vast majority of howler monkeys were also involved in the surveys, that's where their voices were counted.

Or are you saying some people should have been given more than one vote, by participating in the survey and by posting opinions on forum discussions?

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Sacrosanct]

, "A Ninja class would be awesome and needs to be included") whether it is a great idea or not.

Ahem....But seriously, the DM's Guild is a wonderful tool for people to share what they think is missing/needed

 

[Tony Vargas]

I don't think anyone that participated in the discussions didn't also participate in the surveys and I have no idea how significant the howler monkeys are.

We (mostly) got to see what the surveys asked, but have no idea how many people answered them, or what those answers were, while we do known (all too well) what topics fulminated on the boards. In contrast, WotC knew what was blowing up their little corner of the internet, and what the results of the last survey were - and decided what they wanted to ask on the next survey.

 

[feartheminotaur]

Absolutely this. One of the guys in my group is building his own low magic 5e system and he incorporated several of the things he liked in the playtest that didn't get ported over. My favorite is he retained "forbidden lore" as a knowledge skill.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Sacrosanct]

Ah! But the problem is, if someone was posted a class to the DM's Guild that was true to the Ninja, you wouldn't be able to see it.

Chicken and egg man, chicken and egg.

Maybe I should release a ninja class with white text on a white background. That way you'd have to pass your perception check or be creative to see it lol.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Sacrosanct]

Wouldn't a true ninja have black text on a black background?

The Ninja: It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.

Amateur. Everyone knows the really cool ninja wear white, like Cole from Enter the Ninja and Stormshadow

Because ninja isn't special snowflake enough. Gotta make them wear white lol.