Cause and Effect - Interview with Ben Peal

Thanks for interview. It made me feel that Ben Peal is amazing choice as design team leader. New pdf set sounds much better now. Also I didn't have a problem with sound quality.

I love your guys' show, but I am afraid you are not helping the VTES community to get the best results from potential new sets released by VEKN or to get the full story on the matter. In fact you seem to be brushing aside the very well founded and articulayed concerns expressed by former Design Team Member Jeff Kuta and preferrentially toeing the VEKN line.

Jeff's posts have been lenghty but I take away from them a very important fact that hasn't been adequately addressed by these interviews and that seems to have been reinforced since his posting. Remember, we are talking about a radical change to the game, the VEKN CREATING NEW CARDS that will be as legal in Tourney play as your Jyhad Govern the Unaligned's.

The Design Team Leader was mostly absent during the time when the Phase 1 cards were developed/vetted. He was granted, despite his lack of work, with full authority when he returned of creating new cards. This shines through glaringly in the difference betweem Phase 1 and Phase 2 playtest cards IMO (I am a plytester, and I think I can make this general comment without violating NDA).

Never did Johannes or Ben Peal address this issue in your interviews, why it should have been OK for Ben to be gone for so long in such an important role and still have so much authority to design brand new Tourney legal cards. You lobbed them a bunch of softballs, but never really got at why we should accept radical changes to the game based on their judgment.

The results of Jeff's efforts, so far as I can see, is that he has been fired and the dysfunctional design process that motivated his initial postx has continued.

Sorry, I love this game and take it really seriously. I don't want radical changes made to it without MORE THOROUGH trial and error than probably existed when LSJ ran things.

Teach the Controversy! Have Jeff Kuta on your show! You've had his principal detractors on. Give him a chance to speak. He's a great player and a smart guy!

This is probably a great interview, but the sound quality of Ben's mic is so horrible that I can only make out about half of what he says. While I could rewind and try again (and again and...), that quickly gets very annoying (especially since I'm trying to listen in the background while working...)

So, could anyone who actually understands what is being said do a very quick summary of what is actually being said, please?

Lambach wrote:

Never did Johannes or Ben Peal address this issue in your interviews, why it should have been OK for Ben to be gone for so long in such an important role and still have so much authority to design brand new Tourney legal cards. You lobbed them a bunch of softballs, but never really got at why we should accept radical changes to the game based on their judgment.

Ummmm because Ben was the boss? Because he was in charge?

When your supervisor's home is destroyed by a hurricane and is sitting in 4 feet of mud, and he comes back after a 2 month absence, do you harass him when he decides that you haven't been taking the approach that he believes to be the best (as Jeff has been said to have done with Ben)?

Lambach wrote:

The Design Team Leader was mostly absent during the time when the Phase 1 cards were developed/vetted. He was granted, despite his lack of work, with full authority when he returned of creating new cards. This shines through glaringly in the difference betweem Phase 1 and Phase 2 playtest cards IMO (I am a plytester, and I think I can make this general comment without violating NDA).

SNIP

Sorry, I love this game and take it really seriously. I don't want radical changes made to it without MORE THOROUGH trial and error than probably existed when LSJ ran things.

Hi Lambach,

i'm Hugh the Playtest Co-ordinator.

Irrespective of the rest of your post:

Please can you ensure that any comments you have relating to how you perceive Round 2 cards or changes to Round 1 or how/why you think this relates to Design Process are passed through your playtest liaison so the feedback can actually be heard and collated with the feedback from the other 33 playtest groups.

thanks,
Hugh

KevinM wrote:

Lambach wrote:

Never did Johannes or Ben Peal address this issue in your interviews, why it should have been OK for Ben to be gone for so long in such an important role and still have so much authority to design brand new Tourney legal cards. You lobbed them a bunch of softballs, but never really got at why we should accept radical changes to the game based on their judgment.

Ummmm because Ben was the boss? Because he was in charge?

When your supervisor's home is destroyed by a hurricane and is sitting in 4 feet of mud, and he comes back after a 2 month absence, do you harass him when he decides that you haven't been taking the approach that he believes to be the best (as Jeff has been said to have done with Ben)?

I am truly sorry that this happened to Ben Peal. This is news to anyone who doesn't know these parties personally.

Since this seemed to happen to him in the midst of initial design of potential new cards and prohibited him from doing any work on the project, he probably should have been replaced by someone who could focus their attention on the task at hand. Or maybe the whole thing should have been postpomed until he could devote his attention to it.

My only hope with this post was to maybe get Jeff Kuta on Cause & Effect.