thread: 2011-02-17 : Ben Lehman: Playtesting: Stop
On 2011-02-18, Will wrote:
Ben, that's a hell of an observation re: social status and the infinite playtest. Do you think folks do that by design or by falling into it? I'll be sure not to do too much playtesting of any future RPGs, lest I seem from the outside to be status-fishing, I guess.
Let me ask you, why did you choose the voice and approach you chose for your playtesting article? The antagonism here is a didactic choice? Which design culture says playtesting is that "to which all other elements of design must bow down[?]" If a risk of playtesting is that it may cause new designers to feel inferior... why is it the right approach to cast your article in a way that suggests the reader, as another amateur game designer, is inept and inferior?
I personally think playtesting is an area where nuance and the ability to take in and critically digest outside voices is valuable?that it is not a "terrible tool" even if can be misused.
