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<blockquote data-quote="Kobold Stew" data-source="post: 9086949" data-attributes="member: 23484">Concerns about the testing and surveying process are legitimate but I feel overstated. Two things stand out as being under-represented in this discussion.First, in addition to being a a playtest, it is also marketing. We'd be fools not to remember that. Surveys are creating investment in the brand among the clientele, and the discussion in this thread shows that the sense of &quot;ownership&quot; (= investment in the IP) exists regardless of what you think if the individual playtest packets. Second, they are under no obligation to share their numbers with us, or to adhere to their own public statements. Even things like the 70% threshold do not need to be followed if there are reasons not to (and I can think of many). This is true regardless of what they say in public (see point 1). We know the company is going to monetize the game aggressively, and that Hasbro is willing to burn goodwill in that effort. At the same time, I think we've seen that there is a design team that wants the game to be good. Are they perfect? Of course not, but I believe the goodwill is there, and that it can survive the corporate marketing push. A final point: the survey procedure is pretty limited, but it does mark clearly what isn't working. It may not clearly be indicating why it isn't working (failing to distinguish &quot;too weak&quot; &quot;too strong&quot; &quot;too niche&quot; and &quot;bad idea&quot;, unless that information is volunteered), but it's possible that doesn't matter. I recently came across<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHHZSNw9J2o" target="_blank"> this discussion of writing</a> from comedian Bill Hader. The takeaway: &quot;When people give you notes on something... when they tell you it's wrong, they're usually right. When they tell you how to fix it, they're usually wrong.&quot; The surveys are really good at telling the design team what's wrong. It may be that they're not interested in our ideas about how to fix it. And while they are getting the information they need, they are also successfully keeping the game that had its reputation so tarnished only 8 months ago in the conversation. That's good marketing.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Kobold Stew, post: 9086949, member: 23484"] Concerns about the testing and surveying process are legitimate but I feel overstated. Two things stand out as being under-represented in this discussion. First, in addition to being a a playtest, it is also marketing. We'd be fools not to remember that. Surveys are creating investment in the brand among the clientele, and the discussion in this thread shows that the sense of "ownership" (= investment in the IP) exists regardless of what you think if the individual playtest packets. Second, they are under no obligation to share their numbers with us, or to adhere to their own public statements. Even things like the 70% threshold do not need to be followed if there are reasons not to (and I can think of many). This is true regardless of what they say in public (see point 1). We know the company is going to monetize the game aggressively, and that Hasbro is willing to burn goodwill in that effort. At the same time, I think we've seen that there is a design team that wants the game to be good. Are they perfect? Of course not, but I believe the goodwill is there, and that it can survive the corporate marketing push. A final point: the survey procedure is pretty limited, but it does mark clearly what isn't working. It may not clearly be indicating [I]why[/I] it isn't working (failing to distinguish "too weak" "too strong" "too niche" and "bad idea", unless that information is volunteered), but it's possible that doesn't matter. I recently came across[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHHZSNw9J2o'] this discussion of writing[/URL] from comedian Bill Hader. The takeaway: "When people give you notes on something... when they tell you it's wrong, they're usually right. When they tell you how to fix it, they're usually wrong." The surveys are really good at telling the design team what's wrong. It may be that they're not interested in our ideas about how to fix it. And while they are getting the information they need, they are also successfully keeping the game that had its reputation so tarnished only 8 months ago in the conversation. That's good marketing. [/QUOTE]

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