On Second Thought: The Proof is in the Reading

by Ross Fertel, Director of Second Edition

12th February 2019

Every month, I post a blog. Here are the first paragraphs for February.

Words simply can not express the gratitude I have for the proofreading tam.

Having fresh eyes on cards is extremely useful. Let's face it, after living with these cards for months, it's hard to see something wrong with them. Unless it's really out there, the chances are that if some is not correctly worded exactly as it should be, I'll miss it. It's not just me, there are several groups of testers and an entire team dedicated to rules in addition to the designers. There are just some things that are missed. Mind you I don't specifically hand off a bad file for proofing. I'll give it a pass (or eight) to make sure that it is on the level, but without fail, proofreading will point out the errors that have slipped through into the file.

So when they say that this period is in the wrong place, or ask if that should that be bolded or point out that these icons need to be switched, I break a few plates over my head, mutter a few choice words under my breath and thank them profusely. There are over forty sets, so there are certainly plenty of precedents out there. We know what order Keywords, skills and the like come in. But every now and them, a style question, for lack of a better term, comes up.

Take one of the cards in Qpid, for example. A Bad Case of par'Mach specifically lists named personnel in addition to species. For most of the pre-production cycle, this dilemma gave you card draws for a Jadzia Dax, a Klingon personnel or Quark. Makes sense to be alphabetical in the order of things, right? After all, Skills and Keywords are in that order as are a whole bunch other things.

Read the rest on my blog.

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