Losing Interest in the D&D Next Playtest?

[Morrus]

And it's not the same task but very similar.

Well, at the risk of us repeating ourselves over and over again: I still very much disagree with this. I will however many times we repeat it.

 

[Brix]

Simple question: why?

* To keep people busy. Busy people don't complain
* To test out new stuff
* To create buzz

 

[Mercutio01]

They do release new stuff every week. Several times a week, in fact. But if you mean new mechanics and stuff to test, that's a bit absurd. My game group doesn't even meet once a week (every other for right now).

 

[Zaran]

Eh. My group played through the playtest packet. We took the surveys. There really isn't more we can do. So it's not that we are losing interest. Once a new packet comes out we will test that out. Until then we will play 4e.

 

[Morrus]

* To keep people busy. Busy people don't complain
* To test out new stuff
* To create buzz

The purpose of the playtest package is not to keep people busy. Nor is it to create buzz. It is to gather quality feedback data on specific points.

 

[Morrus]

Eh. My group played through the playtest packet. We took the surveys. There really isn't more we can do. So it's not that we are losing interest. Once a new packet comes out we will test that out. Until then we will play 4e.

And that's exactly how it should work.

 

[WiredNerve]

I agree 100%...

 

[El Mahdi]

The purpose of the playtest package is not to keep people busy. Nor is it to create buzz. It is to gather quality feedback data on specific points.

I understand what you're saying, and from a strictly playtest perspective this is correct.

But it's not the whole story.

WotC has made a point of talking about and showing how they are doing things different this time around...and that's a good thing. But one of those things they've highlighted is "Look at us now. This time around we're doing it right, learning from our mistakes, and taking a page from our most successful competitors playbook by conducting an open public playtest and seeking feedback (and listening to said feedback) for the next edition of D&D."

Whether intended as such or not, that is marketing. And that makes the public playtest a defacto marketing tool for the next edition.

Marketing, as I'm sure you well know, is a tricky business. Too much, and you overload portions of your target audience to the point they lose interest...too little, and you bore portions of your target audience to the point they lose interest. It requires a balance...and doing so is as much art and luck as it is skill.

So whether the playtest was intended as a marketing tool or not, it now is one. And purposely ignoring that aspect is foolish.

However, I have no idea if they are ignoring the playtest as marketing aspect or not. And I have no idea if they are striking the right balance or not. Even in a perfectly balanced approach, there are going to be those at both ends of the spectrum...those that think there isn't enough releases or an insufficient pace of releases; and those that think there's too much or they're too fast.

But, I think threads or posts on both sides of this (whether too slow or too fast) are valuable feedback for WotC...and that's also a good thing.

So, although I think your statement is mostly correct, at the same time it's not. Whether intended or not, the playtest is now an aspect of the next editions marketing and buzz machine. And that's something that can't be ignored.

 

[DaveMage]

So, although I think your statement is mostly correct, at the same time it's not. Whether intended or not, the playtest is now an aspect of the next editions marketing and buzz machine. And that's something that can't be ignored.

Agreed.

And the timing was interesting. Monte Cook announces he's leaving and without missing a beat, WotC says "Don't pay attention to that! We have a playtest for you!" Now, it could certainly have been coincidence, but it sure looks like a marketing ploy to me.

Also, to keep public interest, you'd want a consistent cycle of playtest documents. They may have planned to do so, but maybe the Monte Cook announcement threw that plan out the window.

Even if Monte's announcement had nothing to do with it, letting interest die down and then start up again months later may work for some people/groups, but I'd wager interest in playtesting will wane unless the pace of the release of significant playtest materials is kept up.

 

[Morrus]

So whether the playtest was intended as a marketing tool or not, it now is one. And purposely ignoring that aspect is foolish.

WotC might need to take that into account. We playtesters definitely don't.

General interest waxing and waning a year before release is perfectly normal. It isn't a problem which needs fixing. It may be on a lower point now that it was three weeks ago; it'll go up again, definitely. And down again. And then this time next year we'll be inundated with stuff.