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From: buzzard@world.std.com (Sean T Barrett)
Subject: Re: [Comp00] Apology etc.
Message-ID: <G1zM0L.8px@world.std.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2000 02:38:44 GMT
References: <8rek9b$9vv$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <8rgkrq$su$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <8rihbh$nk4$1@newssrv.otenet.gr> <8rjant$78n$1@nnrp1.deja.com>
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Lines: 34
Xref: news.duke.edu rec.games.int-fiction:57191

In article <8rjant$78n$1@nnrp1.deja.com>,  <bredon@hotmail.com> wrote:
>IMO, and at the risk of costing myself points in the comp, this has not
>been demonstrated to me. Its not smaller of better feedback, its comp
>feedback or little to no feedback.  And I aint in this for the money :)

If lots of comp authors end up with this attitude, I hope
that in future comps a lot of judges take the attitude of
"if a game seems obviously unbeta-tested, I will give it
a 1 without providing any further comments beyond the fact
it was un-beta-tested", simply to stomp this attitude back
down.

[I have removed the title of the game that triggered this
 thread from the subject line in the hopes that nobody will
 infer any particular vote for any particular game from
 the above comment; I certainly don't plan to let my vote
 be influenced by the above quoted comments.  I would hope
 that the use of a future hypothetical would be enough, but
 you get the subject elision and this disclaimer to be on
 the safe side.]

That was roughly how I voted last year, anyway (which is a
matter of public record, really).

I think a lot of people here (certainly me) feel like it
is an inappropriate (even more strongly: immoral) way to
"use" the community resource (playtime) available--it
consumes time without providing very much fun, compared
to proper betatesting.  If you really feel that comps are
the only times games get meaingful feedback from far and
wide (as opposed to from beta testers), far better to hold
it for a year so more people can actually enjoy it.

Sean
