Hi, actual #WotCStaff and D&D Designer here. I am credited on several UA releases—and I’ve made edits to that content based on both qualitative and quantitative survey results.
Let’s walk through what happens behind the scenes of a UA, shall we? 🧵
Let’s walk through what happens behind the scenes of a UA, shall we? 🧵
https://twitter.com/DnD_Shorts/status/1615806825198194708
1. We design player-facing mechanical elements that we hope to include in a future product. We then place those mechanical elements into a UA document and release it, to see what our player base at large thinks of it.
2. We release a survey about the UA.
2. We release a survey about the UA.
3. The survey information is collated by members of the team. It’s broken down into two parts: quantitative satisfaction expressed as a percentage, and a summary of qualitative feedback trends noticed in the comments.
4. That summary is reported back to the product teams. The designers on the product teams then make edits to the mechanical elements based on the feedback summary.
5. If satisfaction doesn’t meet our quality standards, we’ll rerelease mechanical content in a followup UA.
5. If satisfaction doesn’t meet our quality standards, we’ll rerelease mechanical content in a followup UA.
This is a proven process. Take for example the Mages of Strixhaven UA, where we tried to create subclasses that could be taken by multiple classes. (Fun fact: that was my first UA.)
Did we, as studio designers, want that to work? Yes! But it didn’t.
Did we, as studio designers, want that to work? Yes! But it didn’t.
And we learned that it didn’t BECAUSE of the UA process. We learned that it wasn’t something a majority of our players wanted; we also learned what small elements of that design DID bring joy.
We salvaged those elements, redesigned them, and put that changed design in the book.
We salvaged those elements, redesigned them, and put that changed design in the book.
If we didn’t read or listen to feedback, we would have put those polyclass subclasses into the final book, and the product would have been worse for it.
Yes, of course we want to know if you like something—we’re game designers! We’re creating something that is meant to be FUN!
Yes, of course we want to know if you like something—we’re game designers! We’re creating something that is meant to be FUN!
And yes, sometimes we get frustrated when people tell us how to do our jobs, or use those feedback opportunities to belittle us; we’re human. But despite all that, we’re still going to listen and always strive to improve.
That’s the truth. /end 🧵
That’s the truth. /end 🧵
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