D&D 4E How to playtest 4e?

[HeinorNY]

Perhaps you mean feedback about 3.0e went into 3.5e? That would be true, but wouldn't really be relevant to 4e.

-- N

Yeah, all the feedback they received after realeasing 3E that resulted in 3.5.

All that feedback did result in the ultimate version of the 3rd edition D&D, 3.5, so maybe the same kind of feedback could antecipate the definitive version of the 4th edition D&D.

They already said there won't be any 4.5 and I believe them, but I don't believe things won't need changes in the coming years after they released 4E, so maybe they could antecipate most of these changes opening the playtesting now for everyone.

But they know what they're doing so if they didn't do it, maybe it's not that easy and useful as it looks like. Playtesting things that are done is different from playtesting things that are on the flux. I dunno.

 

[WhatGravitas]

Where's the John Cooper option?

I'm thinking the same.

And otherwise, the choices WotC has done were pretty good and reasonable.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

SRD. Only fair way.

 

[Festivus]

I think at least as a first cut, what they are doing is the best way to do it. Since there will likely be an NDA, they need to control the boards where discussions of the new version are held. That means their own boards. RPGA also makes sense, they have a ready made set of playtesters out there who know the current edition, including what doesn't work easily from a strict rules standpoint (I don't wish to discuss the flexibility of RPGA type scenarios), but you got to admit, if they picked GMs with a lot of games under their belt, they will have opinions about how smoothly something will work in game.

Later, I hope to see an SRD released... my money is on the day they release it, the SRD will be out there for everyone to take a look.

 

[Nifft]

Yeah, all the feedback they received after realeasing 3E that resulted in 3.5.

In that case, you're confusing the work done before development, and work done during development. After the release of 3.0e, I wasn't play-testing D&D. I was just playing it.

Later, I hope to see an SRD released... my money is on the day they release it, the SRD will be out there for everyone to take a look.

Mine, too. They'll obviously have the rules done months before hand, but it would be unwise to release the SRD and kill potential excitement for the books.

It wouldn't be a bad idea for them to pay John Cooper (or similar) to sit through a day-long math-heavy rules pitch, and give them feedback.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Daztur]

They're got to use the char-op board people for playtesting. If 4ed comes out and the char-op people figure out a way to recreate pun-pun et al within a week because nobody bothered to ask them to playtest I'm going to pound my head against a wall.

 

[blargney the second]

it was actually quite a while from the advent of 3.5 until the invention of Pun-Pun. It required the addition of supplemental books for a couple of different settings.