D&D (2024) GenCon 2023 - D&D Rules Revision panel

[Reynard]

They'll follow up with an actual book for DMs, though, right? Right?

 

[MockingBird]

I wonder how they plan to do that one while only thinking about players until the entire PHB & core system rules are finalized. 2014 5e was written with a lot of areas assuming that a significant chunk of DMs were some flavor of horrible sterotype & the playtest packets aren't showing too much growth on that point

The OP shows that packets 10+ will be used to playtest DM facing items.

 

[Emberashh]

No, WotC designers brainstormed and then put them out to see what sticks.

I was being facetious in regards to calling their experiments "brainstorming".

What a ridiculous take. They are having the public, people who play the game regularly, test their brainstorming not do it for them.

Which will never see the light of day again. Ie, pointless waste of time for everyone involved.

 

[Reynard]

Which will never see the light of day again. Ie, pointless waste of time for everyone involved.

That isn't how creative development works. A LOT of stuff never sees the light of day. That doesn't mean it was a waste of time.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Which will never see the light of day again. Ie, pointless waste of time for everyone involved.

A few of the ideas sticked. So it is not wasted time.
Also, they were open about that. So if you wasted your time, it was your own choice.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

That isn't how creative development works. A LOT of stuff never sees the light of day. That doesn't mean it was a waste of time.

Nah, you know, we forum people never have bad Ideas. This is why everyone of us has their own perfectly balanced houserules to fix the failures of the "professional" designers.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Trying something to see if it works and whether there is an audience for it is not a waste of time, even if it turns out the answer to both questions is no.

 

[Stalker0]

The OP shows that packets 10+ will be used to playtest DM facing items.

There is no way they are going to get through that many packets before the 2024 books right? This is going to have to be after the release tweaks, probably to online tools

 

[UngeheuerLich]

There is no way they are going to get through that many packets before the 2024 books right? This is going to have to be after the release tweaks, probably to online tools

I don't think we will have a simultaneous release of all 3 books. I guess they try to get out the PHB in time and then release the rest when they are ready.

 

[Emberashh]

That isn't how creative development works. A LOT of stuff never sees the light of day. That doesn't mean it was a waste of time.

No, pushing things out for "playtesting" and then never bothering with it again isn't how creative development works.

Iteration matters. Not testing it once and then throwing it away if it doesn't start a hype train on the internet.

A few of the ideas sticked. So it is not wasted time.

And more than a few that should have didn't. Its a waste of time and opportunity, for that matter.

Throwing away good (and in a lot of cases desperately needed) ideas is not sound design.

This is why everyone of us has their own perfectly balanced houserules to fix the failure of the "professional" designers.

Its fallacious to make appeals to the idea that "professional game designer" means diddly squat. We can evaluate what they're putting out on their own merits, and for reasons already given, their ideas for how to go about this are distinctly lacking in sense or conviction.

And lets not pretend either that Im the lone voice in the wilderness pointing out the ridiculous way they're evaluating feedback and now, retroactively trying to recontextualize what they were putting out. Going nearly a year into a playtest only to recently go "oops, all experiments " is incredibly transparent and they don't get a pass just because they get paid to do this.

In fact, that they get paid actually demands better than that. Much better.