HappyGhecko wrote: ↑Thu Jun 07, 2018 4:21 am
First ISTP, reporting in.
Excellent! I hope you'll stay, too. For a group to have a real diversity of ways of looking at the world, and differing gifts for handling the variety of challenges and opportunities the world throws at us, is really helpful -- and in the case of humanity at large, a survival feature, I think.
In fact, there's one way in particular that people who are nearest the ISTP pattern are absolutely vital to making good games: they are among the most brilliant testers and QA geniuses a game can ever hope to have.
Other types (and I'll stick to temperaments here) can be helpful because of their own innate understandings of what's important. SJ Guardians excel at making sure every requirement has a corresponding test procedure, and that all unit test and integration tests are performed and passed. This gets you to your baseline of confirming that the game is working as designed. (And they make sure that every change gets documented and version controlled and tested, too.) These are also some of your best testers for finding out how the majority of gamers (Achievers in Bartle's typology) will perceive your game, especially in its mechanics. Are the rules of play clear? Is how to accomplish goals described simply and comprehensibly? Are the mechanics easy to use and fun even when repeated for hours? Is success rewarded with a satisfying set of extrinsic rewards, such as good (and occasionally great) loot or leaderboards? SJs will make sure you know.
NT Rationals bring a different interest to testing; what they're most interested in seeing is how the world of the game surprises them. In a way, this is the opposite goal from the SJs -- where the SJs are assessing clarity and stability, NTs want to see dynamic systems banging together to produce unexpected (but plausible!) consequences. And at that point, they'll start mapping the behavior of every system -- if your crafting system isn't interesting, or there's not enough variety in opponent behaviors, or the world isn't complex enough to support a consequential decision-making feedback loop, they'll spot these things almost immediately... and then have pages of suggestions for "fixing" these "defects."
NF Idealists are the visionaries. They're not that interested in mechanics or dynamics; what grabs them is when a work of art
means something. Is there a gripping story? Are there interesting characters they can care about? NFs will instinctively know immediately whether your game says something, whether it delivers a deeper theme beyond action and exploration. Articulate NF game testers, should you be lucky enough to find some, will be your best source of knowing whether the overall "feel" of the game you dreamed of making is coming through or not. Which really is the point of making the game.
And then there are the SPs. Oh, my. Love 'em, hate 'em, whatever -- you need 'em. Because they're the ones who will, without even trying, IMMEDIATELY break your game completely by doing something that no sane, ethical human being would ever think to do. These are the jaw-dropping speedrunners, the glitch-finders, the NPC-tormentors, the system-confusers, the rule-breakers, and the balance-destroyers. Let's say you've designed part of your game around no character ever having more than X amount of something. The SP tester will write a script or a bot that gives their character 1000X to see what kind of mayhem ensues. And that is exactly what you as a game developer need, because it is a 100% certainty that if there is a way for your game to fail -- or be made to fail -- there are gamers who will find this way within minutes after you release your game. And then they'll make sure the gaming press know about it. Your goal as a game developer is to attract SP testers who'll perform these horrifying feats
before you release your game, so that you do something about the worst cases before the thing goes live.
So it delights me to see non-INTPs active here. Not just because I think Josh might benefit from their testing results, but because they make a forum more interesting.
I mean, as someone who's very close to the INTP pattern, it's a hoot to me to be around so many other people like me. That's... reeeeeeally rare. Even so, I think this forum (and any other group of any meaningful size) is better off with a good mix of temperaments. As long as they understand there are moderation rules (especially for the Idealists and Guardians), getting all these perspectives on the various subjects of interest helps to insure that the important questions get asked.
...and yes, we need the Judgers, too. Somebody has to haul the worst theorycrafters back down to Earth where their less-crazy ideas might find some application.