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Valve on playtesting: 'It's not their fault, it's ours' photo

Given that I'm not generally attracted to the FPS genre, the fact that Valve is quickly becoming one of my favorite and most-respected developers is telling. I like their games, I like their business model, and I like their design philosophy.

Imagine my glee, then, when Left 4 Dead writer Chet Faliszek spoke with Gamasutra about Valve's policy of extensive playtesting and the stages of acceptance:

"When you first encounter using outside playtesters, you go through these stages," Faliszek explained. "They're stages of denial. The first time you go, you see the guy not looking at what you want him to look at, and he's not going to the right place. You're like, 'You're an idiot. We got idiots for playtesters. Who is this, somebody's friend? Let's get somebody who knows how to play games.'"

"Then the second group comes through," he continued, "and you're still saying, 'Alright. Alright. You're stupid. What the hell? Who are these people?' Then by the third or fourth time, all of a sudden you're realizing, 'I'm an idiot. This is pretty obvious this doesn't work. It's not their fault, it's our fault.'"

The rest of the interview is an interesting peek into game development and is worth a read.

When so many games come out feeling broken, unintuitive, and unfinished, Valve's approach to playtesting -- which can start as early as the first week of development -- seems to be common sense, even if pushes the release date back a few months. Maybe I'm a sucker and a fool, but I can tolerate some delays if Left 4 Dead matches the caliber of Valve's other offerings. 

[Via Gamasutra








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25 comments | showing # 1 to 25
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DaedHead8's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:00
DaedHead8
Thats such a great quote. I've always been of the opinion that you have to be rather intelligent to realize that you're an idiot. I love valve and they can take as long as they want to release left 4 dead. It'll be awesome when it comes out.
Great Heat Engine's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:03
Great Heat Engine
still doesnt lessen my amount of WANT
Holyetheline's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:03
Holyetheline
I'm stoked for that game. I love Valve a lot!
mikeyed's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:05
mikeyed
I imagine just wave after wave of play testers driven in and out like cattle. "You ignorant slobs, you better be smarter than the last batch!"
parrothead's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:10
parrothead
Par for the course with Valve, they never release anything on time. It would be news story if the headline read, "Valve delivers game on promised date"

That being said, they almost always deliver great games, so we give them a pass on having to wait longer.
mix's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:12
mix
It's refreshing when people realize that "Hey, I made a mistake" rather than pointing the finger at others.

Left 4 Dead, do want!
AaronLindes Neighbor's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:18
AaronLindes Neighbor
I have seen the personal involvement Valve has with getting local gamers into the office. What a treat. They are truly great.

Thanks a ton Valve. Now how about making TF2 on 360 not lag.
RICHARD BLOCKER's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:19
RICHARD BLOCKER
The game is basically done and it's not coming out for four months? I don't want to be forced with the choice between L4D and Gears2. I realize that this is Valve, but I'm really hoping for a release date a little earlier than November. Perhaps the ass-end of October? I'd be okay with that.
mr moustache's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:27
mr moustache
go valve!
Lightthrower's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:41
Lightthrower
Since this is my 4th year in QA, I am delighted to see that Valve finally give recognition for our work! If developpers would listen more to the QA, less crappy games would come out that's for sure!
FrogWhoIsFinal's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:46
FrogWhoIsFinal
Valve is the most sensible developer in existance. Listen to the commentary for their games and you'll realize that their success is more tied to a deep understanding of how to polish a game the right way, than any kind of magical inspiration that lets them do things right the first time through.
The only other major developer I know of who shares this understanding is Blizzard, who you'll notice shares the standard of Valve Time.
king3vbo's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:56
king3vbo
What a great quote
Flakor's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 13:59
Flakor
Valve is pretty awesome, I like to think that they play games during their breaks and weekends, finding flaws and saying "We're not going to do this"

I would love to playtest for them in the future
Sharpless's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 14:01
Sharpless
A lot of people could learn from Valve.

*cough*Eternity'sChild*cough*
The Bozz's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 14:08
The Bozz
Valve FTW. I don't care how much time they take to release their games, the time and care they take always shows.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind waiting Valve Time (see FrogWhoIsFinal's post above) between releases from other developers if their games were all so polished.

More on the Valve Time topic: props for honesty and being able to laugh at themselves.
CBunn's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 14:23
CBunn
@RICHARD BLOCKER
I once read in a book, that you could buy games months, even YEARS after they were released. Sure, it must be crazy talk.
Darren Nakamura's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 15:03
Darren Nakamura
<3 Valve.
RICHARD BLOCKER's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 15:04
RICHARD BLOCKER
@CBunn

Thankyou for the insight. I am truly enlightened. There is one point that you may be missing though. You must get certain games around launch time. There is a very quick learning curve with map knowledge. If you get a game even a few weeks late, all the little retards without jobs/lives have time to learn all the chokepoints and best sniper positions. (this pertains more to Gears than L4D)

By God, I can't let that happen. I SHALL NOT!!!!
xenon's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 15:14
xenon
As a gamer, it should take exactly zero time to choose between a delay and a lesser quality early release. Isn't that obvious?
SnakeDude4Life's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 15:23
SnakeDude4Life
The mods for Left4fordead will be CRAZY!!!
Skylance's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 16:23
Skylance
@ParrotHead:

But see, those delays, frustrating though they may be are precisely why Valve is as good as they are. Their entire company's foundation is based around a damn near obsessive-compulsive dedication to perfection (not that they've ever achieved it, but they're often way closer to the mark than 99% of other devs). It's the reason *every* game created by them is late. Every single one. They absolutely cannot let shit slide.

But you know what? When they do finally let one of their babies out the door, it's worth it. Every time.
Eschatos's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 16:24
Eschatos
Valve is one of the few gaming companies I truly respect.
Face's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/07/2008 16:49
Face
Surprisingly humble, considering what they have already created.
Matthew Blake's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/08/2008 07:15
Matthew Blake
When I grow up, I want to be like Valve.
Rosseh's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/08/2008 09:00
Rosseh
It's always great to see people taking the right approach. It's so easy to overlook something when you have a specific thing in mind. That's why a 3rd party opinion is so important, they allow you to take a step back and look at the whole product.
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