D&D 5E Final playtest packet due in mid September.

[Vyvyan Basterd]

The only problem is that the COers don't play the same game everyone else plays. This is worrisome in its own regard.

The Twitter quote was noted as 'possibly' and mentioned expanding the internal playtest group. That doesn't mean CO will be the only group playtesting the game. And any playtest that attempts to include more styles of play is going to have a better chance of succeeding, IMO.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Yes they do. They play D&D just like you or I. Just because they play it differently than you or I doesn't mean it's a different game anymore than playing in Ravenloft or Dark Sun does. The game should support their playstyle at least as much as it supports yours or mine,

...which is to say, not all that much. After all, how many of us have a published rpg tailored to our original tastes? That's what houserules are for.

The charop-heavy groups shouldn't require any less houseruling, interpretation, adjudication, and finagling than your game or mine does. My game requires a lot.

and they are the best at finding the broken stuff that needs fixin'.

Certainly, that does have some value; it's just important not to overestimate it.

 

[adamc]

There is certain methodological problem with doing surveys o so long as you get mostly positive results. Let me ilustrate.
...(snipped)...

Statistics of this kind is very dangerous thing. Unless the surveys are very much controlled for the number of participants this might be very nasty surprise at the end. If you wish DnD happy future (and I do) you might not take this with light heart.

Good point. These aren't random samples, so it's a little hard to deduce what the survey reports mean. If you don't like the look of the packet but don't bother to respond because you haven't playtested it, you aren't included.

Sounds like we'll know soon enough, though. ATM, I'm going to pass.

 

[Warbringer]

I appreciate focusing in part on a group that is most likely to break the system, but there is much of a system to have mastery over.

I am concerned by the "we will invite posters from the char op boards" ... Future tense,... Are you frigging kidding me?

It feels like the end of the public playtest was not a planned event, at least not yet.

 

[Hussar]

...which is to say, not all that much. After all, how many of us have a published rpg tailored to our original tastes? That's what houserules are for.

The charop-heavy groups shouldn't require any less houseruling, interpretation, adjudication, and finagling than your game or mine does. My game requires a lot.

Certainly, that does have some value; it's just important not to overestimate it.

Umm, my 3e game had maybe two house rules. My 4e games have none. So, I'd say both 3e and 4e are pretty strongly tailored to my tastes.

If your game requires a lot of house rules, it might be time to start investigating other systems.

 

[billd91]

I'm not sure it will be GenCon -- there will be something big I assume at GenCon, maybe a Red Box or something. One of the cool things about NEXT is that the way it is being funded (independently of Hasbro, purely by MtG money), is that the designers have much more leeway in getting it "right". The rumor around WotC is that 4E's reaction got Hasbro to go completely hands off on the development of the game; for better or worse.

I certainly hope that's true. I was thinking that's the only way D&D survives in the long term under Hasbro - getting out from under the $50 million core brand structure.

 

[dd.stevenson]

Good point. These aren't random samples, so it's a little hard to deduce what the survey reports mean. If you don't like the look of the packet but don't bother to respond because you haven't playtested it, you aren't included.

This shouldn't be a huge problem, insofar as they know who is looking at the packet and not taking the survey. Which they do know, since one has to login to download the packets.

 

[dd.stevenson]

If I were running the internal play test, I would certainly invite Charop guys to break the game. Even if I had no intention of acting on their input, knowledge of the "worst case scenario" would be valuable.

Not sure I would advertise that fact, though.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Umm, my 3e game had maybe two house rules. My 4e games have none. So, I'd say both 3e and 4e are pretty strongly tailored to my tastes.

If your game requires a lot of house rules, it might be time to start investigating other systems.

Why would I do that? Houseruling is one of the best parts of DMing. I extensively rewrite pretty much every game I come into contact with. It's not a flaw in the game, and it doesn't mean that I expect that the game be written for everyone the way I would have written in.

 

[Warbringer]

Why would I do that? Houseruling is one of the best parts of DMing. I extensively rewrite pretty much every game I come into contact with. It's not a flaw in the game, and it doesn't mean that I expect that the game be written for everyone the way I would have written in.

My D&D game is more house rules than rules, but we aren't the "average" gamer for whom marketing and design is focused on.