#dnd tips for playtesting: so, how do you FIND playtesters. Playtesting can be fun, but it is also work. Good playtesting results in notes that take time and energy to create compile. A good playtesting group is gold to a designer. Or even platinum! (1/6)
— Shawn Merwin, descending into Avernus (@shawnmerwin) June 18, 2019
Start your search by asking. Ask friends, and ask people you meet via social media. You may just find more people than expected who are interested, because while it is a chore, it is also a great learning opportunity. I've learned much about #dnd design through playtesting. (2/6)
— Shawn Merwin, descending into Avernus (@shawnmerwin) June 18, 2019
Start a co-op with fellow designers, and playtest each other's works. Again, this can be valuable to them, but it can also be instructive as you see the brilliant design–and the mistakes–of others in the field. It is time consuming, but so is everything worth doing. (3/6)
— Shawn Merwin, descending into Avernus (@shawnmerwin) June 18, 2019
Offer some incentives to playtesters if possible. Money may not be feasible, as game design is not lucrative. Free copies of the final product are nice. Buy dinner for the playtesters. Let them name NPCs in your work. Ask them what would make it worth their time. (4/6)
— Shawn Merwin, descending into Avernus (@shawnmerwin) June 18, 2019
Ease the load by making feedback easier. Provide online tools (even a Google doc helps) to receive feedback. Help them set up a live or recorded stream that you can watch and remove the need for people to write too many notes. Talk via the 'net to gather data. (5/6)
— Shawn Merwin, descending into Avernus (@shawnmerwin) June 18, 2019
Here's the thing about game design as a freelancer: for every hour you write, you might do 2 hours of other stuff: bookkeeping, networking, project management, marketing, etc. Playtesting is part of that; it can seem like wasted effort, but it usually pays dividends. (6/6)
— Shawn Merwin, descending into Avernus (@shawnmerwin) June 18, 2019