Depends on what you mean by "participating". You think people who haven't done the bare minimum and read the playtest document should reply to a survey asking specific questions about that document? Relying on secondary sources can give rise to opinions formed from a game of Telephone. And only relying on secondary sources would actually increase the odds of opinions formed in an "echo chamber"
Yes. That said, I will be very surprised if (after 1st level) you don’t still have the option to improve an ability score instead of taking a Feat (more specifically, I expect that +2 to one ability score or +1 to two ability scores will be a feat you can take multiple times).
Yes, it absolutely is. Though, as a fan of anthropomorphic animals myself, I don’t like Ardlings either. The upper planes connection feels wildly out of place to me, and while the spectral wings will appeal to a certain type of furry very strongly, it’s definitely not my kind of thing. I wish they’d have gone with something more like Hengeyokai if they wanted a general furry race in the PHB, and/or Aasimar if they wanted an upper planes counterpart to Tieflings in the PHB.
By participating I mean actually playing the playtest rules. If I have other sources, such as official statements from the developers on rules and aims, reviews by friends, reviews from trusted reviewers, and so forth, I can make an informed opinion as to whether or not it is for me.
Boy oh boy, do I have news for you.
I think it's also a matter of placement for me. I would not mind seeing the Ardlings in the Planescape book. In the core PHB, however, it strikes me as an odd choice for trying to consolidate and reorganize popular choices from the past 8 years for an evergreen edition.
Very good point.
Nothing wrong with that. Sounds like a good time, in fact.
