No Goblins Allowed :: Introducing: Play Design!

markrosewater said:

Play Design

Several weeks ago, I said that we were taking steps to improve the processes behind the scenes in R&D to ensure that we don’t repeat some of our mistakes of the last year. I’m happy today to talk about one of these changes – the creation of a new group within R&D called Play Design.

The purpose of Play Design is to be a group solely dedicated to the health of tournament environments, to make sure that playing Magic in structured settings is as enjoyable as possible. This will, of course, impact the quality of these formats even for players playing outside of tournaments.

We recently hired Dan Burdick to run this team and are currently staffing it up. This has included moving current R&D members onto the team as well as converting two of our playtesters (welcome Pro Tour 8’ers Melissa DeTora and Andrew Brown) into fulltime employees. We are also looking for additional experienced players outside of Wizards to bring onto the team.

Besides having a team solely focused on this task, we’re also changing how we build sets from the ground up to make sure that Play Design is involved at every step. Design, for example, will be working with Play Design to make sure that we are creating mechanics that can be properly balanced.

Dan is just settling in, but he’ll be writing an article (appearing in June, I believe) that will formally introduce the team and explain its philosophy.

Author:	AzureShade [ Wed May 17, 2017 1:02 pm ]
Post subject:	Introducing: Play Design!
From MaRo's Tumblr: Quote: markrosewater said: Play Design Several weeks ago, I said that we were taking steps to improve the processes behind the scenes in R&D to ensure that we don’t repeat some of our mistakes of the last year. I’m happy today to talk about one of these changes – the creation of a new group within R&D called Play Design. The purpose of Play Design is to be a group solely dedicated to the health of tournament environments, to make sure that playing Magic in structured settings is as enjoyable as possible. This will, of course, impact the quality of these formats even for players playing outside of tournaments. We recently hired Dan Burdick to run this team and are currently staffing it up. This has included moving current R&D members onto the team as well as converting two of our playtesters (welcome Pro Tour 8’ers Melissa DeTora and Andrew Brown) into fulltime employees. We are also looking for additional experienced players outside of Wizards to bring onto the team. Besides having a team solely focused on this task, we’re also changing how we build sets from the ground up to make sure that Play Design is involved at every step. Design, for example, will be working with Play Design to make sure that we are creating mechanics that can be properly balanced. Dan is just settling in, but he’ll be writing an article (appearing in June, I believe) that will formally introduce the team and explain its philosophy.

Author:	Tevish Szat [ Wed May 17, 2017 1:53 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Introducing: Play Design!
So the ffl is getting an upgrade.

Author:	Mown [ Wed May 17, 2017 3:16 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Introducing: Play Design!
Were they playtesting team unable to determine whether the format was fun or not? Is this team going to be able to understand that Felidar Guardian combos with Saheeli?

Author:	AzureShade [ Wed May 17, 2017 3:21 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Introducing: Play Design!
I guess we'll find out in June when the explanation article drops.

Author:	LilyStorm [ Wed May 17, 2017 6:05 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Introducing: Play Design!
Probably will end up being bad news.

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Author:	Yarium [ Wed May 17, 2017 6:37 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Introducing: Play Design!
Probably will end up being good news. Edit: Sorry Lily, you know I love you. ;-). Couldn't resist.

Author:	Knifethrower [ Wed May 17, 2017 7:02 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Introducing: Play Design!
When the company that owns you asks you why profits are down, the answer is that your business didn't have enough committees.

Author:	LilyStorm [ Wed May 17, 2017 7:17 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Introducing: Play Design!
Its really a matter of what criteria they put up to determine what makes an archetype "fun." So many card games these days have neen straying away from combos, especially infinite ones and thats really concerning to me. Especially with the recent things and with the state of modern, combo decks get a bad rap and a stronger playtesting committee may mean even less combo decks. It could also mean faster formats if that ends up being what sells. Magic is not the game it was when I started playing.

Author:	Edacade [ Wed May 17, 2017 7:23 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Introducing: Play Design!
Tevish Szat wrote: So the ffl is getting an upgrade. Might be a downgrade. Only time will tell.

Author:	Cato [ Wed May 17, 2017 9:12 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Introducing: Play Design!
Hiring people whose job is to discover the most imbalanced things on the format to tell you what's imbalanced in your format sounds like a good idea.

Author:	Yarium [ Wed May 17, 2017 10:41 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Introducing: Play Design!
I think the issue is that, on the surface, players like the idea of "battlecruiser magic". If you do surveys and ask people what their favourite moments are, they'll tell you it's the times they slammed big spells against their opponent's big spells. Those definitely ARE memorable moments, but they're only fun when the format makes those moments special. It's like KFC. I love KFC now and then, but if I have it every day it becomes terrible. Well, Wizards is becoming KFC for its card game. It's giving people what they are saying they want; greasy delicious chicken. But often, what people say they want and what they truly desire aren't the same. The reason people like "battlecruiser magic" moments is because they are intrinsically memorable. They are the cherry on top of the ice cream; the moment that said it was all over. But you can't get to that point unless there's a buildup to it. In my mind, Standard has just completely out-competed itself - there's no room for learning and experience because you just HAVE to play to pushed cards. And if you're constantly pushing cards to make sure you have control over the environment, you lose more control when those environments go wrong. I think this is a good idea for trying to keep things status quo, but I think a shift needs to happen in terms of creating environments where you purposefully don't have complete control. Put in some cards that you know are good, but pepper the scene more with things that aren't good. Felidar Guardian was a very interesting card because it broke the card in a way they didn't expect. Yet for as much as it dominated the environment alongside Saheeli, people constantly said that the play between the top two decks was incredible. Maybe I'm along in this, but if they made a few other "whoops" mistakes along the way, maybe there'd be a few more decks on top of that. Combo is an important part of the trifectra. You need some kind of combo to keep other decks honest. I don't know... maybe I'm just rambling...

Author:	Cato [ Thu May 18, 2017 12:34 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Introducing: Play Design!
I think you guys are reading way too much into this. Quote: The purpose of Play Design is to be a group solely dedicated to the health of tournament environments, to make sure that playing Magic in structured settings is as enjoyable as possible. It sounds more like a roundabout way to say "We need to stop printing cards that we need to ban later" than it does like "We're completely changing our design philosophy with regards to what style of decks we want to be viable at any given time".

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