sburke Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 50 minutes ago, wgbn1968 said: Only if you take it seriously. When I last tested the script at the author's request, and then told him what I thought about his script, he was offended that I did not appreciate his efforts. I believe that testing is carried out primarily to correct deficiencies. That is unfortunate. The whole point of having a tester is to get feedback. As a tester it is important to know we all have our own preferences about what we like to play. I may not like the scenario someone is creating but my responses should be relevant to what they are trying to do, not necessarily what I like. After that it is mostly checking to make sure the briefing is clear, objectives are labeled correctly etc. creation is a tough thing and turning over your work to someone else to pick apart can be difficult. You have to have a fairly thick skin and be able to accept the critiques. You don’t have to agree but you do have to appreciate that someone took the time to help. The first scenario I ever did was very shaved down from what I’d originally intended it to be. The feedback I got was very helpful but also meant I had to be willing to accept that the scenario I had designed might not work very well but the original germ of an idea did make it through. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 The sure-fire method to get yourself noticed in the olden days used to be to churn out lots of superior (or at least fun) 3rd party scenarios. They're always looking for decent scenario designers. Unfortunately, the more evolved the QB system has gotten over time the fewer 3rd party scenarios are getting made, which reduces the pool of available scenario designer recruits. I'm a victim of that tendency too. I hardly did any scenario work at all the last couple of titles, but CMSF2 Beta brought me back into the editor. Now I'm going CRAZY concocting fancy AI orders sets for scenario upgrades. I'd forgotten that playing in the editor can be more fun than actually playing the game! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splinty Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 sburke, Benpark, you know it's heresy or blasphemy or sumfink to give away beta tester secret initiation rites don't you? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benpark Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 "...And the Golden Goat shall lead the way to the Portal. This shall usher in the DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS!"- that stuff? Since you had a bad experience, I'll try to help explain from my experience what seems to go awry in the process, and how to avoid ineffective user-made testing/sceario creation- Critique (or tester feedback) is a skill that people need to actually learn and practice to be effective at. Anyone can have an opinion (even an informed one), but to effectively help someone improve something systematically is another matter. The goal is to help the thing improve, For the tester, critiques should convey specific information in the case of testing first and foremost. General feelings should be saved for last impressions, and take a backseat. "I like" or "I don't like" should always be specifically qualified, or not used. That's where things get "personal" for some. "This works" or "this doesn't work" is a start- but again, specifics keep things informational and less vague. The person that makes something should also be prepared for critique. If it is done with generosity and specificity, it can make a scenario far better than it was initially. You may need to disassociate yourself from the work a bit, if that helps- think of it as if someone else made the first iteration, and you an the tester are "fixing it", if that helps. Be aware some advice isn't always what you may want to end up doing- and that some testers are more adept than others. And have multiple people test something- if 3 people tell you something is a problem, they are probably right. And some people just shouldn't be testing other people's work if they can't at least do the aforementioned. And so on. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgbn1968 Posted August 28, 2018 Author Share Posted August 28, 2018 Maybe I was being imprecise. It's not about like-dislike, but about a numbered list: What's wrong, why, and what to do to fix it. And he was interested in rave reviews. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MG TOW Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 1 hour ago, wgbn1968 said: Maybe I was being imprecise. It's not about like-dislike, but about a numbered list: What's wrong, why, and what to do to fix it. And he was interested in rave reviews. Well that's showbiz for ya! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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