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<blockquote data-quote="arscott" data-source="post: 4136159" data-attributes="member: 17969">I have a feeling that cutting the 3e designers out of the playtest was a good move from a design standpoint (though, obviously, not that great from a PR standpoint).Why?&nbsp; Because designers probably make terrible playtesters in general.I've seen screenwriters and playwrights talk about test audience feedback.&nbsp; Invariably, some of the least useful comments come from other writers.&nbsp; They say things like &quot;The villian's motivations are weak&quot; or &quot;The drowning scene would be more effective if it took place before the gunfight.&quot;&nbsp; But what they're really looking for is &quot;I liked the part with all the explosions&quot; or &quot;It wasn't funny enough&quot;.They've already got a bunch of people to offer insightful criticism elsewhere it the process.&nbsp; The point of the test screening is to see how the Hoi Polloi feel, and the writers aren't really giving that.You give a game designer a playtest, and they're going to try to tinker with it--to redesign it.&nbsp; Heck, a lot of playtesters who aren't designers do just that.&nbsp; And that's just not the sort of feedback that an open playtest is designed to collect.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="arscott, post: 4136159, member: 17969"] I have a feeling that cutting the 3e designers out of the playtest was a good move from a design standpoint (though, obviously, not that great from a PR standpoint). Why? Because designers probably make terrible playtesters in general. I've seen screenwriters and playwrights talk about test audience feedback. Invariably, some of the least useful comments come from other writers. They say things like "The villian's motivations are weak" or "The drowning scene would be more effective if it took place before the gunfight." But what they're really looking for is "I liked the part with all the explosions" or "It wasn't funny enough". They've already got a bunch of people to offer insightful criticism elsewhere it the process. The point of the test screening is to see how the Hoi Polloi feel, and the writers aren't really giving that. You give a game designer a playtest, and they're going to try to tinker with it--to redesign it. Heck, a lot of playtesters who [I]aren't[/I] designers do just that. And that's just not the sort of feedback that an open playtest is designed to collect. [/QUOTE]

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