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
Listen to Your Game:
Design Through Playtesting
Eric Mickols
@ickmiester
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