The Sea Eternal -- BETA TESTERS NEEDED

[Packet]

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@Doctor

@jasonstevanhill, you always say high level and low level, but no mid level. Out of curiosity, what is mid-level feedback?

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Oh boy, I figured this question would eventually turn up somewhere, here or there.

I’m, uh, actually to blame for Mr. Hill incorporating the

@jasonstevanhill

I’m looking for “high level” and “low level” feedback. Not mid-level feedback.

portions in his posts.

I was, a while back, beta testing for @JimD for A Wise Use of Time, and I had the most annoying habit of pretending to be JimD’s copyeditor.

Mr. Hill finally spoke up in an attempt to correct me.

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@jasonstevanhill

While the level of detail is great, the beta is going to start winding down this weekend. Which is not to say that it will be closing, but I’m going to start continuity testing with the next draft, and stop accepting new testers.

Remember, we do pay a copy editor to go over this after beta and continuity. The goal of beta testing COG games, therefore, is to identify typos and obvious grammar errors so that the copyeditor can deal with the “Big Stuff” ™. Which is to say, you don’t need to wrestle with every grammar error or infelicity.

Secondly, continuity errors are very important w/r/t beta: if someone’s gender flips, or is engaged with w/o being introduced, or comes back from the dead. These are hugely important and need to be pointed out (in detail).

Further, if there’s a passage that you feel is flat or needs to be rewritten, do point that out, because that’s a “line edit,” and usually beyond the scope of a paid copyeditor. Similarly, your thoughts on story issues are useful.

But, do you understand the distinctions I’m trying to make? Sort of, the top stuff and the bottom stuff is for beta testing, but the middle stuff is for the copyeditor.

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To answer your question:

Mid-Level Feedback is stuff that a copy editor is paid to do.

@Wikipedia

Copy editing (also copy-editing or copyediting, sometimes abbreviated ce) is the work that an editor does to improve the formatting, style, and accuracy of text.

@jasonstevanhill

Mid-level is grammar issues.

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In my case, I had a lot of grammatical suggestions, for JimD, that went way beyond the scope of pointing out simple typos and errors.

Mr. Hill was also trying to prevent me from overworking myself on trivial details.

I mean, I had a lot of stuff packed into those reports; I think some of the chapter reports I sent in were about 6 pages long; keep in mind that I usually sent feedback only when I finished a single chapter, so most of my reports were absolutely gigantic yet only covered a relatively small portion of the game.

(Normally, the ridiculous tediousness associated with my actions would kill the average person; but, since I’m a dog, I managed to survive albeit only clinging to the last shreds of my life and sanity.)

What made Mr. Hill decide to begin including the additional information in his future Beta-Test Announcements was my insane determination to continue imitating JimD’s copy editor despite constant deterrence from the Big Man Up Top (@jasonstevanhill).

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[quote=“jasonstevanhill, post:78, topic:8562, full:true”]
Gawddamnit.

Okay, Packet, you don’t seem to be getting what I’m trying to get across to you.

It’s not that hard but I’ll spell it out for you anyway.

STOP IMPERSONATING JIMD’S COPYEDITOR.

I swear to the Lord Almighty–
Oh, wait. That’s me.

I swear to MYSELF that if you e-mail me another one of those 12-page reports, I will beat you with a leek!! And, I’ll freeze that unholy smack-stick to really make it sting!

In the meantime, I’ll update the information that I include in my announcements; now you’ll have to live with the fact that, because of your actions, you are the reason why I am compelled to meticulously explain to everyone that mid-level feedback is something that we are not looking for!

Every time you peer into one of my beta test threads, you’ll have no choice but to be overwhelmed by the immeasurable shame of your miserable failures.

And, that’s pretty bad right there.
I mean, this company is called Choice Of Games, but you’re forcing me to take away your choice in this matter.

... That... actually sort of makes me feel bad... in a peculiar manner that I can't quite describe...

… But, I’ll get over it.[/quote]

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(Mr. Hill proceeded to take a sip of his tea.)

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@jasonstevanhill

Oh, goodness, my apologies; I’ve neglected to address the most pressing issue of our assembly.

How many lumps would you like?

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I answered “two lumps” and was given two black-eyes for my troubles.

Then, I was assigned to swabbing the deck for 200 days as additional punishment for my crimes.

Also, in hindsight, I’m surprised that @JimD didn’t decide to whoop my a** for making him read all that stuff I repeatedly sent to him.