Hi, Kevin. Regarding playtesting all posted games, I'd like to offer some comments. In general, there are very few people who play chess variants. This is a sad fact of life. And of those who do play variants, only a subset are of value as playtesters. How do you find them?
Often, you find hem by posting a game and seeing if people will play it. My experience has been about as contrarian as many of my views. The games I posted without any playtesting have in general done better than the games I've posted after playtesting. Nobody plays Hyperchess or my "activator" variants, which have been fairly extensively playtested. My shatranj variants not only get played on occasion, some people even like them! They were not playtested at all before posting, because I knew they would work, and I didn't really have anybody to playtest them with, except people here.
Yes, playtesting will eliminate a lot of unplayable games.But it would eliminate such gems as Salmon P. Chess or Stanley Random, also. And it would eliminate a lot of games that may have flaws, even major ones, but also have an idea that is worth saving. Of course, I have a prejudice toward more ideas, not fewer. Not everyone agrees with me. ;)
Hi, Kevin. Regarding playtesting all posted games, I'd like to offer some comments. In general, there are very few people who play chess variants. This is a sad fact of life. And of those who do play variants, only a subset are of value as playtesters. How do you find them?
Often, you find hem by posting a game and seeing if people will play it. My experience has been about as contrarian as many of my views. The games I posted without any playtesting have in general done better than the games I've posted after playtesting. Nobody plays Hyperchess or my "activator" variants, which have been fairly extensively playtested. My shatranj variants not only get played on occasion, some people even like them! They were not playtested at all before posting, because I knew they would work, and I didn't really have anybody to playtest them with, except people here.
Yes, playtesting will eliminate a lot of unplayable games.But it would eliminate such gems as Salmon P. Chess or Stanley Random, also. And it would eliminate a lot of games that may have flaws, even major ones, but also have an idea that is worth saving. Of course, I have a prejudice toward more ideas, not fewer. Not everyone agrees with me. ;)