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Speaking at GenCon:People Really DO Care!
Super easy to submit talks Your description is your pitch Your description should match your
talk Supply contact information Make your slides available
D&D Next: Please Come Back
Reversing the “sameness” from fourth ed.
“Spiritual Successor” to third edition Everything is streamlined for fast
play “Experience” of play is the focus
Event-Centric Gaming:Experience is Everything
Artemis and True Dungeon “Full immersion” gaming Very expensive, always packed. Local Experience:
https://bigtf.webconnex.com/trapped
Eric Mickols@ickmiester
Listen to Your Game:Design Through Playtesting
Designing Through Playtesting
What is playtesting? How do I playtest? How do I use my results?
Playtesting?
Trying things in a non-final state Can be fully designed, or under
construction Can be guided or dropped off
Guided Playtesting
Play with your testers Requires no documentation Allows for instant feedback
Playtesting Cycle
Choose your goal Create your scenario Prepare for Feedback Choose your players Gather Feedback Act on the Feedback Iterate
Choose Your Goal
Be specific Write it down Focus on answering one question
Test function of new dice system in combat
Test feel of different choices in combat
Test the group outcome of combat
Did you make meaningful choices in combat?
Design your Scenario
Does not have to be the full gameplay loop
The smaller the better All players must interact with your
goal Easily replayed
One specific dungeon and combat Pre-generated characters and
enemies Enemies have set tactics Enemies selected for goal purposes
Prepare for Feedback
Prepare your questions (one listed in goals!)
List feature changes Brainstorm problems Brainstorm causes
Questions: Did your actions in combat feel significant? Did you ever choose to change how you rolled? Did you make meaningful choices in combat?
New dice system was added in features Possible problem:
Combat goes too slowly. Possible cause:
Players are used to a static dice system, choice may paralyze players.
Choose Your Players
Different Players play different ways How familiar are they? How will that match your goal 3 main player ideals, and 3 main
motivations
Competitive Player“Is that fair?”
Story Player
“That was so cool!”
Rules Lawyer Player“But wait, you said…”
Power Gamer“I bet I can beat him…”
Troll Player“It would be so funny if…”
Support Player“Hodor…”
Will: Very Familiar with RPGs, new to Guilds. Narrative ideal, Power Gamer Motivation.
Nathan: Very familiar with RPGs, new to Guilds. Competitive ideal, Power Gamer.
Adriana: Familiar with RPGs, familiar with Guilds. Competitive ideal, Support Player.
Jordon: Familiar with RPGs, new to Guilds. Narrative ideal, Troll.
Gathering Feedback
Record your session Talk to your players Take notes! What % rules coverage did they
achieve?
Asking the Right Questions Be Direct Let them know you want criticism Use examples from the session Did they skip content? Never accept “Its OK” or “All right, I
guess”
Don’t Shrug it Off
Player opinion cannot be wrong Small Clues point to big problems Don’t Take criticism of your game
personally Pay attention to the players
themselves
Player Tells
I don’t get it. That’s not worth it. <Leans back in chair> <Leans forward in chair> <Scrunchy Frown> <Scratches Head> I guess so, maybe? Lets check the rules.
Get to the Real Feedback
Remember player type Remember player motivation Listen, then think like a player Find solutions through play
Players used only one or two abilities There was no reason to change what
was working Players never changed their hit
percentage If an ability missed, a whole turn was
wasted Players took high damage
The enemies took too long to kill.
Act on the Feedback
Implement solutions Explain your changes Restart the scenario Keep gathering feedback
Scrapped the dice system entirely Changed to auto-success attacks Added randomness elsewhere
Iterate!
Act on your feedback Tweak rules Make changes Begin again
Long Term Benefits
Find holes in your design Fill those holes naturally Reveals “optimal” strategies Design based on play
So Please…
State a goal Prepare for feedback Choose your players Gather feedback Iterate
Listen to Your Game!
Eric Mickols@ickmiester