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