Some quick updates before delving into Capt. S' proposal:
- I should now have editing privileges in this subforum. This should make it easier to maintain momentum and keep threads up-to-date even with many of the older Pod Leads having left.
- I plan to create prototype cards for every unit in Playtesting and put them in the OP. This change is a bit overdue to be honest and admittedly more of an aesthetic quirk, but I think that it will help to visualize the project and had many prototype cards created already anyway.
- I'm also planning to add synergies for every unit in Playtesting, to make armybuilding easier to follow. This should also improve the process a bit: some people like
@Blue Trails
have caught synergies like the Honored Soul-Guides and Sir Gilbert that I don't think were fully considered before. Making synergies publicly stated makes omissions easier to spot and intended roles clearer.
- Life's a bit hectic on my end right now, so the above two bullets are unlikely to occur very soon, but I'm hopeful that everything can be set up in the near future.
With that out of the way...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Stupendous
@ Astroking112
@ NecroBlade
@ Scytale
@ flameslayer93
Tagging all the current pod leads to propose a change to our process. Currently, designs can't enter playtesting until after going through the Editing process. I think the editing process is very important, both in guaranteeing the quality of designs and increasing the legitimacy of the project as a whole (especially in terms of VC compatibility). However, I'm not sure it still makes sense to hold playtesting until after the checklist has been run, given the current backlog of designs waiting in editing (Alabaster Sentinels entered editing February 1, and Katryn Vade entered editing February 26).
What I'd propose is that, if the checklist hasn't been run within 2 weeks of a design entering Editing, the design will proceed to the Playtesting phase, and the title of the thread changed to reflect that design's unedited status. So, the thread title for the Alabaster Sentinels would read: [Pod 2] Alabaster Sentinels (Rhox Veterans) - Playtesting (Unedited).
The design would still need to pass the checklist before leaving Playtesting, but at least this way designs wouldn't be stalled out for 6+ months before officially entering the playtesting phase.
I realize this solution isn't ideal, and there's the chance that Editing might reveal a significant flaw in a design after a significant amount of playtesting has already occurred. However, I think at this point I'm willing to take that risk if it means maintaining momentum on designs. |
This is very persuasive, and I do think that it would be good to help maintain momentum. My primary concern is that some types of designs or mechanics might inherently not work--things like being able to attack out of turn, certain types of reactions to Special Attacks, et cetera--and Scytale is undoubtedly the best at catching that.
Given that Pod Leaders must move designs forward, though, I think that I'd be okay with changing up our procedure to allow for more immediate playtesting after a design is ready, so long as a careful eye is kept on
any potential interactions like this. The hope would be that between so much collaboration, Public Feedback, and the second Design pass, pretty much every kink has been ironed out and any mechanical changes ensuing from Editing would be fairly minor and incur just a bit more testing.
I would like to hear from Scytale on this as well, though; my thought is that this might save him more time to avoid potentially multiple editing passes if something changes in playtesting, but he could very well disagree and have a preference for the current (or a different) order.