Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Path: gmd.de!xlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!usenet.ucs.indiana.edu!sun2!peabody.iusb.indiana.edu!mkinyon
From: mkinyon@peabody.iusb.indiana.edu (Michael Kinyon)
Subject: Re: Last message till Jan 12th.
Message-ID: <CI32zo.G4s@sun2.iusb.indiana.edu>
Sender: mkinyon@peabody.iusb.indiana.edu (Michael Kinyon, Champion Playtester)
Nntp-Posting-Host: peabody.iusb.indiana.edu
Organization: Indiana Unixversity South Bend
References: <2emovp$9u6@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1993 15:57:23 GMT
Lines: 63

In article <2emovp$9u6@agate.berkeley.edu> whizzard@uclink.berkeley.edu (Gerry 
  Kevin Wilson) writes:

>I can take jokes better than a lot of people think.  He actually weaseled his
>way into my list of betatesters with that.

"Weaseled"?  Au contraire, I embarrassed you into it.  What choice did you
have after I accused of being a shameless self-publicist?  At least you didn't
deny it.

>Of course, revenge is mine now.
>We've got a wager that he can't find Elvis in Avalon without hints.  It's
>double or nothing on the betatester discount of 5% (Or was that 3%?  ;>)

Yes, now our wager is public, so you won't be able to welch.  :-)

>But you must
>beware not to get too caught up in your creation, because there are those
>who will vent their petty frustrations on it, all their small-mindedness and
>banal lack of reason will be bent on destroying your soul.  They are called
>betatesters.

I'm rubber, you're glue; bounce off me, stick on you.  (Yep, small-mind,
big ego.  As Hans so aptly pointed out.)

>(The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Net states that betatesters are
>a group of barbaric villains who go about slashing and burning text as they
>see it, transposing their own misconceptions onto other's games, and making
>a big mess all over.)

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

>Never bare your soul to a betatester, that's what they eat.

Picture that famous scene in "Angelheart" when Robert DeNiro explains to
Mickey Rourke that an egg is the symbol of the human soul and then takes a
big bite.  That's how I see myself when I'm testing games.

BTW: I always think of that scene when I play an Unnkulian game!

>But your game must survive these fiends if it is ever going to
>make it to market.  So pack away your dignity and self-worth for a few weeks
>while they hammer away at it.

Yes, it will be worth it.  Just ask all those people who love me so much in
my famous advertisement. :-)

Michael Kinyon	
Dept of Mathematics & Comp. Sci.    phone: (219)-237-4240
Indiana University South Bend	    fax: (219)-237-4538
South Bend, IN 46634 USA	    mkinyon@peabody.iusb.indiana.edu
'"Bonvolu alsendi la pordiston - lausajne estas rano en mia bideo", and 
I think we all know what that means.' - Rimmer










