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Confession: I'm a bad playtester
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- SuperflyPete
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That is literally the land of misfit toys.
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That is literally the land of misfit toys.
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A decade ago, when I was playing Warmachine and Hordes, I ended up in a playtest group for Privateer Press. At first it was really cool to play all the stuff in development and offer feedback. However, most of our play time was dedicated to playtesting, which started feeling like an obligation and being forced to play specific things. As I wasn't really playing for fun anymore, it kind of killed my interest in the game(s) altogether. It didn't help that it felt like they were ignoring our feedback on seemingly overpowered models that they just released that way anyway. But I'm not a designer, so what do I know? Shortly after that I got out of the game completely.
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SuperflyTNT wrote: KICKSTART THAT SHIT.
That is literally the land of misfit toys.
If I wanted my life to completely be absorbed by the nightmare of running a Kickstarter, I'd consider it. But I strongly feel that I would come out the other side of it all and say "nah, wasn't worth it."
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They’re like tooltips on software
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I also had a design on Vlad the Impaler and the Ottoman Wars. Again, another block game.
Then, I got on a few playtest lists...hated each experience. Downside, it turned me off the games I was playtesting, upside (I suppose) it made me realize no way would I want to be involved in having others playtesting one of my designs, so have lost all desire to create a boardgame. Seems miserable.
So now, as a creative outlet, I simply organize leagues or campaigns for games others have created and playtested, but throw in a few of my own kinks.
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ubarose wrote: I guess I must be an okay playtester, because with every game I've ever playtested, they took my advice. But I always say the same thing. "You'll cut 45 minutes off the playtime if you put the g-d damn information players need right in front of their f*cking faces. Also, you should be able to read the board state in glance."
I made 8.5 x 11 placemats for my Amber game, with a key to the icons used on the cards, a turn sequence summary, a list of the dozen different actions that a character could take, and a summary of the four types of challenges. Because of the quantity of information on the placemat, I went with readability over visual appeal, so they are drab. Maybe I should look at various player aids that Universal Head has done, to get some ideas.
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I’d rather be kind and help someone over not being inconvenienced. I consider it charity.
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- ChristopherMD
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I've had people brag to me about playtesting games like they've ascended to a level above Cult of the New and are in the Cult of the Upcoming.
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It really depends on the game though. I've largely worked on expansions to games that I already like, which is much different than trying to make an original game work correctly. Simple usability advice like the kind uba talked about is always good though. Obsessing over balance can kind of be a fool's errand, imo, but when you are trying to, you have to be very careful about your assumptions.
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Jexik wrote: Playtesting is weird, because in order to want to play it enough for the amount that you'll get paid, you need to have irrational exuberance for the product. Which means that you probably won't see it very objectively.
It really depends on the game though. I've largely worked on expansions to games that I already like, which is much different than trying to make an original game work correctly. Simple usability advice like the kind uba talked about is always good though. Obsessing over balance can kind of be a fool's errand, imo, but when you are trying to, you have to be very careful about your assumptions.
Great points. One way to deal with balance concerns, at least in a multi-player game, is to make it easy for players to directly interact with each other. If they see someone blatantly ahead, they can go after that player. But then that can lead to ganging up on a leader, unless there are some barriers to direct action, like say the geography of a board.
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