They were not the only beta testers...

We tested in the very early stages, and weren't timed. We were just looking for accuracy and general assessments of difficulty.

Of course, there was some imformal observation of time. So when the version of the Disnyland quest (which I guess was cut?) took over an hour, even with 3 people splitting up and combining efforts, scaling back was definitely immediately discussed.

Yep, that was the one. Well, they can always use it at a future M.A.

GC - yes, the Brother Bears are definitely Bears. Very cool guys. I wish they posted - they're not even on MP, I don't think.

Beta testing was annoying for me because I had to go to work in the middle of it. I missed most of that day, but it hardly matters because I was completely useless anyway. They had us do puzzles only, which everyone knows is GD's turf. All the other stuff that I usually help with wasn't there so I was revealed to be a puzzle idiot. Alex handed both of us a copy of each puzzle and I was forced to work alone...I was rather embarrassed to be so completely outed as a moron. I'll take a page out of iSm's book and add my excuse - Alex said the beta versions are always harder, because scaling back is easier.

iSm - I totally feel for you on the bad start in DCA. I did work on that puzzle, and got it wrong too. It's so awful to start off on the wrong foot, especially in Scramble.

Even so, enough with the excuses! Next time is another chance for true glory, as they are doing an Enchanted Race, which means us Masters will have to cough up the mothballs and really compete. I predict we will destroy your excuse #53 - "I skipped an MA and lost the feel for it." ;) We'll be back in the fall!

The Brother Bears (from Spring 2005)

I agree with that. People who have been successful in previous games cannot give an accurate estimate of the time an "average" team will take. Some of the beta quests seemed to go quicker than they should have. Part of that may have been from redoing a quest that previously had bugs. So, one person already had an idea of the expected outcome, and could non-verbally nudge along the other tester to the clue locations. Love you Bro! :fej:

But, I think it is good to use them for getting out the bugs. A more experienced player knows the game and can really overthink the possible scenarios ahead of time and make sure it works. Then the players (and staffers) don't have to run around like chickens with their heads cut off on game day.

Yeah, which is why we weren't really looking too much at time when we were doing it. It was more about finding errors, looking for ambiguities, and getting a general "easier than average" or "harder than average" feeling.

As for the ESPN zone one, I had major trouble doing the puzzle part of that, so by the time I found out what it was asking, I didn't pay much attention to the question itself. Speaking of...was there a "starter piece" to that puzzle already placed in the grid?

Ponine, do you know who you spoke with about access issues? Everybody should have been very clear that there were access issues (I tried to track down everybody in a wheelchair specifically to tell them) and then when you took that specific quest there should have been another warning (though I overburdened the people at that station so I wouldn't be suprised to learn that it was inconsistently given). The other Redwood Creek quest could be done without ever having to use stairs or other inaccessible areas of RCCT.

Steve, I wasn't present for your expression of disagreement on the ESPNZone quest. So I don't actually know how you read the question. I have on doubt you had a valid reading that I never thought of, it happens all of the time. Could you explain?

What's an enchanted race?

November 5th? (Marks calendar)

Suicidal Madness.

We were cripples afterwards. For days.

Consider yourself warned.