Yesterday I held a playtest at a local Panera for my games Conglomerate and Battle Stations. I decided to experiment and record audio notes instead of relying exclusively on my notepad as has been my modus operandi. My hope was that I would be able to record more information as I wouldn't have to interrupt conversations to jot things down.
I listened to them last night and discovered that it is also going to help me hone my post-playtest interviewing skills. I definitely need to make sure I am less stifling, something I would not have realized but for this method.
I found the recordings interesting enough to post here. I probably won't make a habit of this unless it generates interest among you. So, if you want me to post more recordings of playtests, let me know by saying so in the comments to this post.
Some notes about the audio: the microphone was much closer to me than anyone else, so even though it might sound like I'm shouting, I'm not. There is a five second pause about a minute into the Conglomerate recording, that is where I pasted together the two files. Also, I have edited the recording of the Battle Stations playtest somewhat to remove some things I don't want posted online. Nothing removed was gameplay-related, just sensitive information relating to the business end of things.
Click on the green arrow to play, or right-click on the underlined text and choose "Save" to download the recording to your computer.
Conglomerate Playtest
Battle Stations Playtest
I listened to them last night and discovered that it is also going to help me hone my post-playtest interviewing skills. I definitely need to make sure I am less stifling, something I would not have realized but for this method.
I found the recordings interesting enough to post here. I probably won't make a habit of this unless it generates interest among you. So, if you want me to post more recordings of playtests, let me know by saying so in the comments to this post.
Some notes about the audio: the microphone was much closer to me than anyone else, so even though it might sound like I'm shouting, I'm not. There is a five second pause about a minute into the Conglomerate recording, that is where I pasted together the two files. Also, I have edited the recording of the Battle Stations playtest somewhat to remove some things I don't want posted online. Nothing removed was gameplay-related, just sensitive information relating to the business end of things.
Click on the green arrow to play, or right-click on the underlined text and choose "Save" to download the recording to your computer.
Conglomerate Playtest
Battle Stations Playtest
I'd like to hear more of these. I find stuff like this fascinating.
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