People need to take these play-tests for what they are, and not what you think they should be.
This isn't them trying railroad the community into rolled stats-- its a way for them to get feedback on what people think about rolled stats. If you hate rolled stats, then you're gonna use a point-buy. They know this and encourage it.
I'd say there's a 90% chance the final rulebook will have all the options people are discussing, but you can't get feedback on something until you put it out there, and you're not going to get focused feedback if you give people a bunch of familiar and comfortable options.
The point of the playest is not to say "This is what we're leading the game to" or "This is how you should RP for the rest of time", its saying:
"For a short play-test game, open your mind a little and try it out a few of these options, after you've played a few sessions with the rules-as-written, tell us what you think"
They don't want a lot of feedback from biased Web-forum theorizing, they want suggestions/comments backed by play-experience. Throw a few weird things out there and see what feedback you get.
Also, something to note, a lot of prominent Dm's swear by 'rolling for stats', it takes emphasis away from power-gaming and gives you a more realistic and believable "character" (all fighters are not equal in strength!). Everyone should play the game in a way that makes sense to them-- and no one is suggesting you shouldn't, but a lot of credible Dm's believe its a more rewarding way to play and, as well, keeps the game more a little more balanced. They're listening to these DM's and trying it out.
And I prefer point-buy myself, but see why they used it as the only option.
This isn't them trying railroad the community into rolled stats-- its a way for them to get feedback on what people think about rolled stats. If you hate rolled stats, then you're gonna use a point-buy. They know this and encourage it.
I'd say there's a 90% chance the final rulebook will have all the options people are discussing, but you can't get feedback on something until you put it out there, and you're not going to get focused feedback if you give people a bunch of familiar and comfortable options.
The point of the playest is not to say "This is what we're leading the game to" or "This is how you should RP for the rest of time", its saying:
"For a short play-test game, open your mind a little and try it out a few of these options, after you've played a few sessions with the rules-as-written, tell us what you think"
They don't want a lot of feedback from biased Web-forum theorizing, they want suggestions/comments backed by play-experience. Throw a few weird things out there and see what feedback you get.
Also, something to note, a lot of prominent Dm's swear by 'rolling for stats', it takes emphasis away from power-gaming and gives you a more realistic and believable "character" (all fighters are not equal in strength!). Everyone should play the game in a way that makes sense to them-- and no one is suggesting you shouldn't, but a lot of credible Dm's believe its a more rewarding way to play and, as well, keeps the game more a little more balanced. They're listening to these DM's and trying it out.
And I prefer point-buy myself, but see why they used it as the only option.