Not So Fast (Or So Slow)
I was this close to wrapping up this phase of the Microscope playtest, but now I’ve had an epiphany and found some other changes I want to try out. The target this time: Legacies. Assuming it works in my local games and emerges as Playtest Update #3, it’ll be only the second actual rule change since this playtest started, because apparently I carve each one by hand from raw diamond.
From the very beginning I’ve had a pile of theories about how Microscope works and why, and I thought that after months of playtesting I’d learn less and less about the game, that there’d be a diminishing return. There have been plateaus, but overall it’s been quite the opposite: the more I play and ponder, the deeper insights I have into what is going on. It’s coming into even sharper focus, if you’ll excuse the obvious metaphor. It’s like my better ars ludi articles: I could just blurt out an idea to the internetz, but the longer I sit and let it percolate (often months at a time. seriously.), the more likely something truly interesting will emerge. Which in itself is not exactly a rocket science observation.
Yes, I could have just bundled Microscope up and released it in March, and it would have been a fine game. But the instructions of how to play the game would be completely different than how I would write them now. Like I was writing in another language, different.
Which begs the question: if I wait and ponder it for another whole year, will the rules be a huge leap better? Or maybe just a tiny bit better? Now we’re talking diminishing returns…
Leave a reply to ben robbins
After two sessions with the new Legacy rules, I have to say I’m pretty happy with them. We’ll see what the external playtesters say…
Shipping is the most important feature!!
Of course you could just keep it in a sort of perpetual playtest, sending out updates every so often. Or if you wanted to sell microscope it could be on a subscription model with updates every couple months. (just kidding)
Seriously at some point (soon?) you need to say that shipping it is more important than that final piece of tuning. If there is not anything left that you do not like or do not think is ready, then I think you should release it, even if there are things that you think could be better. Waiting for it to be perfect is going to mean staying in playtest mode a long long time.
If it makes you feel better you can think of the release as an extended playtest open to anyone for gathering feedback to help with the “real†release (aka “the revised edition†). Not saying that that should really be your plan, just that you should think of it that way so that you can let go without having to get it absolutely perfect.