Re: [DL] Offers of help [Goff]

["John Goff" <JohnGoff@deadlands.com>]

> Do our friends at Pinnacle have any suggestions?  Can
> you give us an idea of what you can trust us with?
> After all, they're the ones who need help!

Not really. Honestly, we're not really looking for that kind of
help--really. I know some of you have issues with typos in the book, and
it's a legitimate gripe, but that's an editor's job, not a volunteer's.
We're in a business, so we shouldn't be taking pro-bono work to polish a
product.

I have ethical issues with that, myself.

We'll just keep at it until we get it right. And, even with a proof-reader,
there are going to be mistakes. That's a fact of life, plain and simple.
GURPS Warriors, which I wrote with the input of a bazillion playtesters at
SJGames and an editor, has it's share of typos. Honestly, about as many as
you'll find in the Agency or Hexarcana.

Could we reduce them? Sure.

As to how to set up a playtest, well, I've already got a few groups that I
rely on. Setting up a _really_ large-scale playtest is a righteous pain.
Steve covered it quite well, and I've experienced similar projects doing
work for SJGames.

Is there a benefit? Sure--there's no question.

Is the benefit worth the time and expenditure to derive it?From my
experience, that's a tough call. In fact, so close that I can't say. Steve
was also right that it take a chunk of time out of the designer/writer's
day--which adds to the crunch.

Right now, we're a small company. If we were a larger organization, we could
look at managing that sort of thing. Of course, if we were a large enough
organization to consider that, my own preferred first priority would be
getting a demo team coordinator...

But that's me. :-)

John