No. Don’t. Assholes.
Rolly the Rowl makes his triumphant return with a new nugget of wisdom.
Treading into the land of Non-Disclosure is a difficult process for some people. Especially if the product/material in question gets you excited. It’s easy to rip on something we do not like but it’s more difficult to keep quiet about something you are truly looking forward to.
I’ve been involved with playtesting in the past and it is always a fun experience. The newness of it all, the raw files, and the feeling that your input is helping to shape the game to come. Such was the case with the 3rd-edition playtest. It was a great feeling to see suggestions submitted by the groups taken seriously by the designers and implemented into the final game. I have a feeling the D&D Next playest will be a great example of this as well. As I mentioned last week, the WotC crew seem to be working hard to pull back the curtain and let us all in.
To the other playtesters out there I say this: Listen to Rolly.
Also, I highly suggest you read this fantastic post from David Flor of Darklight Interactive. It’s a very good read.
Brian
Wow, thanks for the link! I feel honored!
As a programmer I’ve had my share of NDAs. They work well when it’s a small group, but when you send out an NDA to such a massive amount of people there’s bound to be some leakage; Law of Averages dictates that there will probably be someone out there that will ultimately wipe themselves with the NDA.
My guess is that if a breach does take place, it won’t be intentional. When you get excited about your involvement in such a test, sometimes it’s just hard to know when to shut the hell up.
Once again, thanks!
I agree with David when I say that testers must be specific in their criticism, and to try to avoid using too many adjectives. Just explain to me what the problem is, I’ll take a look at it.
On that same note, testers should also realize that some things are just going to be in there, whether they detract from the game or not. Developers will force things through, whether they have a reason to be there or not. Regardless of the authenticity of the complaint against that stuff. For example – dozens if not hundreds of palytesters on 4E complained about the higher levels becoming stale for players, yet the game was already 90% out the door. Since it wasn’t a technical issue (a broken rule), it was going out as-is. Nothing you can do about that stuff save wait for the company to “patch” it if they think it’s detrimental enough.
I worked for EA as a tester for years. There were days I wanted to shoot myself because it was so repetitious. But at the same time, I was glad when I found a bug and it was fixed because I reported it correctly. At the same time, it is hard to stay within the NDA. Mostly since some NDA’s can be quite … obscure about what you can and can’t say. I expect a leak because of the common, “I wasn’t sure if the NDA covered that or not.” HINT: If you have doubts about what’s covered by the NDA, then don’t talk about it AT ALL.
KHAAAAAAN!!
The first rule of NDA Club is you do not talk about NDA Club!
… Actually, I guess it’s that you don’t really talk at all.
Anyway, I have a strong suspicion — just a suspicion, mind you — that the folks at WotC are not, in fact, stupid. They must know that with a large-scale, distributed playtest breaches of the NDA are bound to occur. I would guess that they’re banking on said breaches coming from people who are, as you say, just too excited to keep the goodness to themselves. Or, at least, they expect that the positive leaks (or even just the sheer number of “OMG THIS IS SO AWESOME BUT I CAN’T TELL YOU WHY!” posts) will outweigh any negative disclosures, resulting in a net-positive PR for them. But I suppose time will tell!
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