1 Week Before Release

[Renaissance Man]

The problem I see with playtesting is that, as with any collective process, some people may have a tendency to make it their MISSION to perfect the game according to their preferences.

I'm going to run T5. I'll try to change things that come up as problematic, and I'll send whatever homebrew bubbles to the surface to FFE. If they like it, fine. If they don't, fine. Once I get that CD, my T5 is mine, and FFE's T5 is theirs. We can take, borrow or leave behind whatever we like. As long as they spend the bulk of their time developing and I spend the bulk of my time gaming, the $35 is justified.

 

[aramis]

I will probably order the CD... but only once it ships. Not a day before.

As to playtests, I've been in several. There are chunks of T20 that are essentially my ideas edited by hunter. Likewise for Dr. Skull, and all the other "lead playtesters"... Dr Skull came up with the Ship Hit Points breakpoints. big chunks of the T&C in T20 originate with me, and most of the rest with Hunter.

EABA (by BTRC) was a far more finished product when it went to playtesters, but one chapter wasn't working, and it was totally revamped by Greg. I caught several wording issues... and wasn't alone on several, and the product improved dramatically in playtest, but we didn't have a wide discussion.

WFRP 2, well, what Chris Pramas was allowed to see was acted upon... but Simon took to filtering what was on the board for Chris to see... Simon felt that a playtester should make no comments on how the game played, only on grammar, spelling and clarity. (and said so. He also said that Chris had no business reading the playtest boards!) I'm honestly relieved that BI is out of the picture now....

B5W: playtesters had no contact with each other. All the materials were sent out with feedback forms to be sent back to AoG. I really preferred draft 3 to the published draft, but both are excellent games. (Draft 4 was in-house only, and switched from d100 to d20)...

 

[robject]

...any forum type playtest needs to have its goals very closely defined and to have fairly tight administrative structuring; with an easy bar for both entry, and exit.

You're probably right. And that's one reason I won't be moderating it, if it comes to be. I'm too soft.

 

[captainjack]

You're probably right. And that's one reason I won't be moderating it, if it comes to be. I'm too soft.

Yeah, that's a problem. I'd volunteer, but I'm probably too new to be trusted...and quite reasonably so.

 

[Perseus]

I'm going to run T5. I'll try to change things that come up as problematic, and I'll send whatever homebrew bubbles to the surface to FFE. If they like it, fine. If they don't, fine. Once I get that CD, my T5 is mine, and FFE's T5 is theirs. We can take, borrow or leave behind whatever we like. As long as they spend the bulk of their time developing and I spend the bulk of my time gaming, the $35 is justified.

Yes. My thinking precisely.

 

[Whitestreak1]

The problem I see with playtesting is that, as with any collective process, some people may have a tendency to make it their MISSION to perfect the game according to their preferences.

I'm going to run T5. I'll try to change things that come up as problematic, and I'll send whatever homebrew bubbles to the surface to FFE. If they like it, fine. If they don't, fine. Once I get that CD, my T5 is mine, and FFE's T5 is theirs. We can take, borrow or leave behind whatever we like. As long as they spend the bulk of their time developing and I spend the bulk of my time gaming, the $35 is justified.

I've never run a campaign where I used the rules strictly from the book. As a GM, it's one of my responsibilites to interpret and/or modify as the situation requires. I don't think Marc or Loren or anyone ever involved with CT at GDW ever claimed that the rules were perfect.

If Marc is really trying to achieve perfection with T5, I expect he'll fail.

If, with T5 in hand, we can create characters, planets and solar systems; design and operate ships; create and meet other races; engage in trade, exploration or combat and just have a lot fun doing these things without glaring typos or holes in the rules, I think we'll all be pretty happy.

Frankly, that's what I want. I want to test, examine and see just how far these rules can take us. The only way that can be done is to get those rules into *our* greedy hands and let us loose. With electronic files, and easily available updated errata, I expect this can be pretty durn close to perfection.

If you can't tell, I want these rules, man.

 

[atpollard]

Based on the Mongoose playtest and TML 'noise to signal ratio' I would expect the same level of excited debate at a 'pre-finished release' of T5. The storm is inevidable, but Marc and his 'playtesters' should be [emotionally] prepared for it if they release an electronic 'peek' to those who pre-ordered.

 

[mondokhan]

Patience...granted its frustrating

If Mark Miller wants to wait till his product is a bit more polished I am inclined to sigh but gratefully understand. One of the few complaints I have had with Traveller products over the years is the horrific editing and multiple typos. I recall my first edition of Mega Traveller being so full of them it was almost unplayable. Many CT books, NGE, and Even T4 had so many that it just made it look bad when compared to others. If his goal in T5 is to not repeat this mistake I applaud it. I will have to pace and grit my teeth, but I will be more thankful in the end.

Just my Two Cents

 

[optimusv]

T5 Warts And All

I would prefer to see it even with the infamous typoes and edit problems of previous editions. Nothing is ever going to be perfect. After all, I understood CD as NOT a finalized version, just a draft (with some extra meat that would be cut out in the final draft). Releasing it would also allow other people to point out any errors(including mis-spellings etc.) prior to the hard print version.

In other words.....Just send it out, Marc! I'm going rabid in the mouth! Four months is coming close to Five months. I know you want it to be perfect, but we're dying out here. So Marc, for pity's sake, please...I'm on my knees, begging you. Send it out! Please!

Okay slapping myself...sorry people...next.

 

[Lizard_SF]

Well, it's April 10, and farfuture.net isn't updated yet..any news?

 

[Ross Heenan]

The suspense is killing me.

My guess is June.

I hope not .

 

[Renaissance Man]

I'm ready to wait. I've gotten used to the idea that this sort of thing is always riven with delays. I haven't reached my limit yet. What you don't want happening though is to push the date back so often that people don't know if you're actually sure how much work the project needs to be beta-ready, which in some scenarios could be pretty scary. If you need two months instead of one, it's better to take two full months rather than push things back twice.

Patience is something I think a lot of us have, and I can wait a long time if need be. Trust, however, in a world as dodgy as ours, can be in shorter supply. Not to say I've run out of that yet either

 

[mr fingle]

I'm guessing a September release, allowing my realism to overcome my desire for crunchy Traveller goodness.

I can't see a typo-ridden, half-finished, monstrosity being released; it was that which killed T4 for me. I read the rule book cover to cover the day i got hold of it and vowed never to spend any more on a product line that was happy to release something still in a draft stage and I haven't - and any BITS members here will know what a sucker for anyhting with the work Traveller on it I am).

Remember that this CD is a preview of the dead-tree version. Its content and standards will be taken as a direct reflection of the 'final' version and T5 cannot afford to lose future sales due to poor standards at the earlier stages. If people could make a generous living off selling Traveller products to us die-hard fans, there would be a lot more of it out there, unfortunately that's not the case. This release also needs to appeal to people who have never played the system or certainly not touched it for many many years and they will not be as forgiving of errors as the Traveller junkies will.

 

[Renaissance Man]

I'd just like to take the opportunity to thank Robject, Hunter, MWM and anyone else who was involved in setting up the T5 pre-release.

It was a sound idea that I didn't expect anyone would have the koyach to pull off. Y'all proved me wrong.

I am naturally rubbing my hands together in delight and anticipation, with the caveat in mind that this is pre-release, so rough edges are expected.

Kudos and gratitude.