I've seen a few comments on this board which make me think there are people misunderstanding the nature of a playtest; and in the interests in keeping down the hysteria tomorrow, here are a few quick reminders:
Enjoy your playtesting! My playtest game is scheduled for two weeks' time, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm not running it, so I'll be seeing it from the player persepctive, which I'm sure will be a lot of fun.
- You're signing up to participate in a planned playtest program, not to receive a new edition of D&D for free.
- This means that the playtests reflect the specific elements the designers need feedback on at a given time. They're asking for your help with specific elements at specific times. You're not obligated to help them with what they need right now, but they're also not wrong for not including what you want right now.
- The fact that they haven't included your desired part (character generation, epic level play, soul-teleport-destroyer-nunchukus class, etc.) is not a reflection on the final game.
- The game is 18 months away. WotC is still writing it.
- It's fine if you don't want to participate because, say, character generation isn't in the initial playtest package; you can choose not to participate in the process for any reason you wish. That's OK. Hang on till next year and check out the game when it's released.
- You are very, very, very unlikely to be able to run a campaign based on tomorrow's playtest package. That's not what a playtest package is for. WotC is not giving you a free edition of D&D; they're asking for your help testing some very specific things. They need lots of input on a few things at a time, not a little input on a lot of things at a time.
- All that said, participating is awesome, and will help shape the game. I encourage you to take part.
Enjoy your playtesting! My playtest game is scheduled for two weeks' time, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm not running it, so I'll be seeing it from the player persepctive, which I'm sure will be a lot of fun.