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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Scholar &amp; Brutalman" data-source="post: 3791035" data-attributes="member: 33642">To answer the OP, I can't think of a better place for WotC to find playtesters than the RPGA and random selection of others. Which is what they're doing The RPGA provides a pool of players that WotC already has data for, and knows the reliability of. As far as I can tell, they are not using the RPGA itself to playtest, but rather using the lists of RPGA DMs to select those who will playtest. One problem is that RPGA DMs are already a limited group that will tend towards certain preferences. The solution they are taking to deal with this is a random selection of players, and they're using the other easiest source they have have data for, their own boards.One thing WotC can't do is ask for people to apply to be playtesters. They will almost certainly get thousands of responses, they will need massive resources simply to evaluate them, and they won't be able to check the truth of the applicants claims without resorting to referees. A request for applications will also tend to preselect those people with very strong opinions on what they want from D&D, rather than any kind of representative sample.Another choice available to them is to choose the most prolific posters from various boards, such as their own boards or ENWorld, but here they will end up selecting people by their ability to produce thousands of posts. I suppose they can guarantee a lot of feedback in that case.My only concern is that they may not have enough of a random sample. Ideally, I'd prefer a purely random sample of selected playtesters, but I suppose they wanted the RPGA people because they can be sure they'll get some feedback.(Note, I'm not a statistician. I don't even play one on TV. I just like the idea of random selection.)</blockquote>

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