Not signed in (Sign In)

Vanilla 1.1.9 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.

Welcome Guest!
Want to take part in these discussions? If you have an account, sign in now.
If you don't have an account, apply for one now.

Games and Gaming: What would you do with $1000

Bottom of Page

1 to 80 of 103

  1. <
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. >
    • CommentAuthorValamir
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009 edited
     # 1
    So over in this thread folks are talking about indie design globally. What caught my eye was Elizabeth's comment that Mist Robed Gate was produced on a budget of $50...which seems pretty extraordinary given how fine a book it is.

    Many, if not most, indie games are produced on a pretty limited budget. So I thought what would you do with $1000?

    If some RPG benefactor with money to burn were to offer you $1000 for the purpose of producing the best RPG you could (assuming the honor system is fully sufficient here)...what would you do with it? What would the additional money allow you to do that you couldn't do or would struggle doing now? Anything?

    Imagine said benefactor announced "Pitch me your game ideas and the designer whose idea I like best will get $1000 to bring it to fruition", what would such a grant enable you to do that you aren't already doing for Game Chef or your own private projects (again assuming a functioning honor system where the money was actually being used and not just taken and spent).

    If you've already published, what would you do differently if you'd had an extra $1000 to spend on the project?

    Go ahead and think outside the box here...but I am looking for serious possibilities.

    What if it were $10,000?
  2.  # 2
    Art, layout and book design. An extra $1000 could make a quantifiable difference there. I know that's not outside the box but that's where I'd put the money, for sure.

    $10,000 - maybe start an imprint and spread that around a little, rope in some other smart people to produce high quality stuff that looks great and has some sort of unified appeal. I wouldn't spend it on marketing - somebody giving me ten grand is marketing.
  3.  # 3

    Hey Ralph,

    I'd sink a significant chunk of that 1k into babysitting. Y'know, so that I can playtest more frequently and shorten the design phase; easily $500.

    I'd hire someone to code up a great Stories database for Black Cadillacs, too.

    D

    • CommentAuthorElizabeth
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009 edited
     # 4
    I'm looking to make Blowback a full-color, landscape book. That can be expensive. It's a labor of love, so I'd want the book to be as beautiful as it could possibly be (which means not skimping on the art). I can still get beautiful photography for cheap, though, so that's not where all the money would go.

    I'd like to do something guerrilla marketing style, maybe a mystery to solve with a cool prize, or a "can you find this guy/object/etc in the real world?" It'd probably have to be at a con, but it'd be fun and hopefully good marketing (the whole idea is to feel like a badass spy, so even if you're not the winner, hopefully playing spy for a little while makes you want more).

    I'd put some of the money into hiring a programmer to turn the It's Complicated java app into an iPhone and an android app, too.

    With ten grand, I'd probably just hit the road Luke Crane style. Hit every convention. Play the hell out of 2SP games and spread the word. Maybe set up a pay-it-forward style of publishing loan with part of it, to help people with a great game defray the initial cost of printing their game. Or maybe a matching-funds scholarship with no payback, I don't know.

    And as far as Blowback, specifically, with ten grand.. You can bet part of that money would go into spot-varnishing a matte hardcover, glossy coffeetable-style paper, yum. Or I might just use it to license the rights to actually make it the Burn Notice game.
    •  
      CommentAuthorBen Lehman
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009
     # 5
    I'd drop it into art and printing.

    Like I'm doing. Now.

    yrs--
    --Ben
    •  
      CommentAuthorblankshield
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009 edited
     # 6
    I'm probably with Jason: Art and layout. Also more editing.

    The other thing I would consider doing is investing it in some infrastucture. With $1000 and some frugality, I bet you could get a fair ways towards the equipment needed to do POD.

    ETA: this would give you a wider margin that outsourced printing, and you could potentially return the investment.
  7.  # 7
    Art. Layout. Mostly art.

    Think of all the awesome, talented artists I could hire!
    • CommentAuthorValamir
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009
     # 8
    Keep the thoughts coming.

    For those saying art and layout, a follow up question.

    Would the money primarily let you buy better / more art? Or primarily to pay the artists you'd already use more than the token amount we often pay today.


    Ben, I didn't fully understand your answer. Did you mean that there's nothing more you'd want to do that you'd need $1000 to accomplish? Or that you already have $1000 that you're using now on art and printing?
    • CommentAuthorthor
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009
     # 9
    I think I would get my cutter serviced. It has been a year since I have been able to use it properly. Then I would get the press serviced and start offering cheap printing for ashcans then a good cheap computer so I could lay things out well. Or I would put toward an office so I don't have to do everything out of a spare bedroom and start selling my services legitimately.
  10.  # 10
    Posted By: ElizabethI'd put some of the money into hiring a programmer to turn the It's Complicated java app into an iPhone and an android app, too.
    (Brief aside - I bet you could figure out how to do this yourself, but access to the iPhone dev kit is... tough... and pricy. Android is a different story--should be basically free to develop for it. And if the main app is a Java app, then you should be able to port it to J2ME, which runs on, like, every phone made these days (except maybe iPhones, thanks to Apple's pathological NIH attitudes.)
    -----
    $1000 would let me host SEVERAL weekend-long playtest events for GLASS at no charge to participants, so I could definitely get the rules tested to the breaking point for a few common genres. The leftover cash would go to long-term web hosting, for the Game and Character Database I hope to provide to organizers and players.

    $10,000 is a-whole-nother story. Those funds mean I could travel to host free events, potentially testing GLASS in the UK and Scandinavia, with the LARP sensibilities of those major regions. I could also afford to give away quite a few books, to long-running games, in the hopes of building a game-crossing community/living world. There's a fair chance I'd do some major(ish) advertising with those funds as well.

    I don't see spending on art, because I intend to use heavily processed photos of existing games/characters/places. I know how to do that photo manipulation in GIMP or whatever. Layout is what I do professionally, so no need to contract THAT out. No... my main barriers to really growing the GLASS properties are availability of large groups to do long-running play tests, so I'd use the money to remove folks' barriers to entry (mainly cost of a facility and props or weapons).
    •  
      CommentAuthorBen Lehman
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009
     # 11
    By print, I mean: My most recent print run is going to run almost $2k, when you include freight costs.

    By printing in larger quantity (I wouldn't recommend this to a new publisher, but at this point I'm pretty confident I can sell a copy or two) I can drop my print costs substantially, and thus the cover price of my book even further.

    yrs--
    --Ben
  12.  # 12

    It's not enough time to hire me away from other work for more rounds of playtest and tweak, but it's enough to go through several rounds of editing. I might be able to buy more art.

    With $10,000, things get different. I could do larger print runs, which means either lower cost or higher production values. I get stars in my eyes thinking about spot varnishes, die-cut dust jackets, belly bands, and endpapers.

    • CommentAuthorElizabeth
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009
     # 13
    Well, as an example, with Mist-Robed Gate. The cover I ended up doing worked really well, but initially we wanted to license this image from Aya Kato:




    For Blowback, I'd be able to buy more expensive stock photography (there's some amazing stuff in iStockphoto's new Vetta collection, which ranges from 10-40 credits instead of 1-12), and do more multimedia promotion (youtube videos, etc). So my art costs wouldn't just be illustration, it'd include audio and video mediums.

    And if I needed them, I'd be more likely to pay my friends a going rate as opposed to negotiating trades, unless they'd still prefer trading. Oh. I'm also doing this thing where anyone who posts an AP of Blowback gets a free PDF of the finished game. With $1000 I'd up that to a physical copy of the book.
  14.  # 14
    I just paid $900 for cover.

    $1000 doesn't even get me started any more. :(

    Art, editing and print costs run me at least $2K for even a small book like Blossoms.

    Though, it'd be nice to get paid $1000 for convention appearances. It'd cover hotel, car and flight and give the illusion that someone actually cared. It's not really that much money in the grand scheme of things (but it is a lot in our "industry").

    With $10,000? I could pay for the production costs for a nice, full-color, hard-cover, glossy-assed book. I'd use preorders to pay for most of the printing.

    Or if I already had a nice shiny game and was given 10,000 to invest in it? I'd take out some ads, have a nice booth at Gen Con, do some sweet promo/premium stuff and possible even host a mini con for the game. I'd do lots of grassrootsie stuff to invigorate hardcore fans.

    I can write/design a game for free. It's the producing the game that's the costly part.
    •  
      CommentAuthorOgremarco
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009
     # 15
    Half on editing and layout as my art is all public domain photos, and the other half on promotion. That's above what I was planning to spend to begin with, right?
  16.  # 16
    With $1000 I'd probably splash out on great artwork, put aside a good amount for printing and advertising, and distribute through Indie Press Revolution instead of Lulu like I'm usually stuck with. For $10,000 I'd be into the area where I might be able to afford an official license for a popular property. Failing that, it'd be full colour art from recognised artists. With that kind of cash I might even be able to get Lofgren for the cover.

    -Ash
  17.  # 17
    That's a pretty good question, Ralph, very thought provoking.

    If I had $1000 extra, I wouldn't spend it on my own game. I'd find a group of cool young designers and pay them some money to put together a game, say the same crowd who worked on Sexy Deadly with me for the game design contest (I know that Joe probably has 12 dozen game ideas lying around). I'd be the producer. I could pay a designer, writer, and artist $323 each to collaborate on the game. Then I'd come up with some kind of half decent marketing plan and put it out there. If it works, maybe I'd do it again with another crowd. $1000 isn't enough money for me to realize anything I can't already realize with resources I have. Now if you could get me a month off work, that would be a different story.

    For $10,000 I think I could create something pretty awesome that I can't create properly with the resources I have. With $10,000 I could hire some programming resources and take it online. For example, I have a spec I've written for a "room-a-day" online dungeon exploration / sports management game. You manage a dungeon delving party in which you are the primary investor. Every day you get a room/encounter in your inbox, prioritize your resources, create a plan, set your party loose and see what happens. And I've got another version that's a planet-a-day. Basically you explore a planet each day, and all the planets are stored persistently online. Think of it as Oregon Trail meets Galactic played online. I can't create either of those unless I can buy development resources or take a bunch of time off my day job.
    •  
      CommentAuthorHalfjack
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009
     # 18
    I'd spend it on risk -- it would allow me to move to a print-and-distribute model instead of the zero risk Lulu one. That'd let me control print quality better and improve distribution.

    Either that or sex and drugs.
  19.  # 19
    $1000 would get me art work for a couple of projects. That would be nice.

    Or I could buy a couple of machines. I'd love to get a wallpaper hanging pasting machine (that would be $400 plus maybe $300 shipping) It would speed up pasting boxes and let me see if I could use it to apply acrylic varnish (the other slow task).

    Alternately I could stock up on materials like paper and binders board.

    So many things but $1000 would only be a few.

    $10,000 would be more than I should spend on the business. I don't think I'd know how to spend it well. Probably getting the workshop better set up but actually I think I would apply it to my debt (how boring).

    All this machine buying and experimentation has been coming together. I mailed out a copy of Mongolian Goat Rodeo yesterday that I'd varnished with a new product and it looked good. Just like a game from a store. I'm certain the flaws of the process will emerge later. For now though I feel good!

    Chris Engle
    Hamster Press
    • CommentAuthorJ. Walton
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009
     # 20
    $1000 more really isn't that much when you're trying to finance a print run, even a small one. I guess I might use it to print more copies, initially, as long as I was relatively sure I could sell them. That would lower costs across the board, being able to print on a larger scale.

    Also, $1000 doesn't generally buy you much in the way of really good art. Maybe 3-4 images if you're lucky. Less than that and you're probably under-paying the artist or getting work that's less good, in my experience.

    Honestly, though, in the same way that I wouldn't want to sell my creative property to someone else, I don't think I'd want someone to give me money to help with production costs on my games. Production is possible on all sorts of scales and, honestly, people should stick with a scale that works for them. You know all the horror stories about people sinking $2000+ into a print run and not being able to sell their game? That's what happens when people's financial resources -- including what they can borrow -- exceeds their ability to find an audience. Being an indie game designer-publisher is as much about suffering through the process and making hard decisions as it is about having a product available for sale. And, just like constraint in game mechanics can be beneficial to your play experiences, financial constraints can actually force you to make smarter decisions about how to publish your game.

    From working as a sub-contractor for the federal government and having made some rookie publishing mistakes, it's been my experience that people with more money to waste on something end up wasting that money. It's just harder to make prudent financial decisions when the consequences for mistakes are not that high.

    (This is not meant as a condemnation of this thread, Ralph. I'm just saying that, if your hypothetical situation were real, I'd still run the other way.)
    • CommentAuthorTim Gray
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009
     # 21
    Probably also in the art camp. Maybe also buying some convention sponsorship - though that and advertising are not great uses of money - and bringing in good demo people because I have a mental block about that.

    Though the wiping out debt idea mentioned above would be psychologically useful.
    • CommentAuthorMatt Snyder
    • CommentTimeOct 2nd 2009 edited
     # 22
    Art, no question. I'd figure out the rest.

    Would the money primarily let you buy better / more art?


    Yes. Better. Not necessarily more, but whatever I could get.

    Or primarily to pay the artists you'd already use more than the token amount we often pay today.

    No. Well, not really. I have hired artists I probably can't afford anymore. So, sure, those guys' best work for a kinda-sorta reasonable price (for them).
  23.  # 23
    Well first you want to make a totally pimp game but then you have to think what about your second game? Once you set a standard you should meet it, so one awesome book out the window.

    $1,000: Set up an rpgnow style site but with more of a selective process like IPR with the goal of having less poo, and developing more funds to create more awesome stuff.

    $10,000: As above but with a small print on demand set up. I would also fuel cash into creating street teams ala privateer press, and then con presence.

    The general idea would be to put myself in the position to be able to publish for a more prolonged time.
  24.  # 24
    $1000 wouldn't do anything for my processes at this point. I'd actually probably spend it on marketing by hiring somebody to plan and execute some useful marketing for the product, that being my weakest point. Or I'd keep it and claim that it "motivates" me to work harder or something.

    $10,000 would do nothing, either. If getting the money were dependent on me prioritizing some project or something, then we might say that the money would hasten my schedule. I'm actually in this very situation with my 9000 € game design grant right now, and it's a bitch: instead of doing whatever I want, I have to work on the specific project to fulfill the grant project. If the grant didn't require me to actually finish the game, it would progress much slower, or I'd work on other projects instead.

    $100.000 would make me jump, but the way I'd jump would depend on what the benefactor wanted - left to my own devices I'd just pocket the money and continue working on my own schedule on my own projects. Significantly this wouldn't cause much impact on my production quality or anything like that - it makes no sense to me to invest in unsustainable production gloss that won't pay the investment back. Makes more sense to pay myself a salary and keep the money. I also might do some well-considered marketing endeavours - perhaps start my own rpg tv show or something like that.

    The culturally best way for me to invest this sort of capital would be to disperse it in smaller cuts to beginning designers with easy loan conditions. Money is not a factor in the plans of established indie designers, but even modest amounts can motivate beginning authors to great deeds. So probably I'd start one of those crazy rpg design contests like the Ronnies, where I'd get to offend people and give them money for writing games I like.

    Probably the reason for why so many of us wouldn't do anything interesting with that sort of money is that our processes have been developed to not require or have an use for such influxes of extra capital. My answer might be quite different if I routinely overspent on production quality or print runs or dreamed of doing so. Then I'd already have a plan for how to use such money. I don't know if that'd be any better than giving the money to myself, though. I'm currently underpaid for my game design, so it's not entirely unreasonable to just keep any extra money that comes my way.
    • CommentAuthorJ. Walton
    • CommentTimeOct 3rd 2009
     # 25
    Ditto everything Eero said. Money isn't what's standing in the way of me publishing 5-6 games. It's other life stuff and just not getting around to finishing and playtesting those 5-6 games. If the games were done, I could find the money to make them happen.
    •  
      CommentAuthorDevP
    • CommentTimeOct 3rd 2009
     # 26
    It occurred to me that if the question were how to use $1000 to improve the quality of play around you, there are interesting possibilities that would open up (though nothing that would return the investment, but still). For example:

    - subsidize local groups in your social network renting nice quiet-ish spaces for weeknight gaming
    - childcare for weeknight groups
    - more one-day weekend cons like JiffyCon (making it easier to rent nicer space and secure childcare)

    Actually, investing more money into your local minicons seems interesting. It's hard but not impossible to see that as returning the investment in some sense; the tricky is keeping it to a minicon size/feel.
    •  
      CommentAuthorjason
    • CommentTimeOct 3rd 2009
     # 27
    I would spend it all on commissioning Creative Commons-licensed art. I want to create setting books the way Wil Huygen and Rien Poortvliet did in Gnomes, or James Gurney did in Dinotopia: a big, rich book of illustrations. And I want to make it an open-source game, so I'd want to make all the art Creative Commons licensed. That requires a lot of art, and I haven't met too many illustrators who feel comfortable with this kind of arrangement as far as the "IP" goes.

    All of it to illustrate ecotopian visions of a post-civilized, feral world, 400 years in the future.
  28.  # 28
    >>The other thing I would consider doing is investing it in some infrastucture. With $1000 and some frugality, I bet you could get a fair ways towards the equipment needed to do POD.<<

    $1,000 and some frugality still won't get you close to any sort of real POD set up.

    Trust me, we tried it back in the day. Got a B&W digital duplicator and a case of ink on liquidation for about $450. Would print booklet interior sheets and hand collate (shudder). But there existed no good color machines you could get cheap for binding. Later we got a really old industrial style binder on auction for about $900 (which was a good deal) and cost abotu $500 to personally go pick it up and bring it back. So we printed book interiors and did our own cutting (old used stack cutter for like $300). But even doing all that on the super cheap, it was still over $2k and we still had to farm out cover printing to offset presses (which these days could be done via POD).

    Its a little easier now, but still can't be done for anywhere near a grand. The cheapest "new" binder I know of runs about $1,200. Its slow and can't handle books over about 250 pages. A decent table top unit that is more automated and can bind up to 500-600 pages runs about $6k to $7k. You can still get affordable digital duplicators of fair printing quality (but not great) used for about $1000 for cost, transportation and supplies. Of course, we're big fans of Xerox digital presses for their image quality, but those are definately more costly. And a decent quallity color laser printer for doing your covers can be had for $500 to $1000, for a machine with lower volume capacity output.

    So that $10K figure can mabe get you a feasible low volume POD set up, if doing things on the cheap. But $1000? No way. Not and get you any product you would dare want to sell.

    I think the more interesting question would be, what kind of RPG and business to back it up would you build if someone landed you $1,000,000 to get started with. That opens up a much more interesting range of posibilities.

    Ryan S. Johnson
    Guild of Blades Retail Group - http://www.gobretail.com
    Guild of Blades Publishing Group - http://www.guildofblades.com
    1483 Online - http://www.1483online.com
    •  
      CommentAuthormisuba
    • CommentTimeOct 3rd 2009
     # 29
    $1000: market research.

    $10000: more market research.
    • CommentAuthorTim Gray
    • CommentTimeOct 3rd 2009
     # 30
    $100000: market 'research' involving Derren Brown and a high-powered transmitter.
    • CommentAuthorWillow
    • CommentTimeOct 4th 2009
     # 31
    My gaming white whale is Warriors from the Mystic Mountain, a wuxia, crunchy, system-matters, all-out gamist game with lots of special rules for kung fu powers. Influences are Exalted and Weapons of the Gods.

    But then D&D 4th Edition came out, and did system-matters high-character-option gamism better than I ever could.

    But with a budget and funding? Maybe! Get some freelance writing, so I don't have to do it all myself. Try to get a big crunchy book writer like Mike Mearls or Luke Crane to write a section. Get some art. Get Micah Bauer to do the layout again, but pay him this time.

    $10,000? I could probably get a whole bunch of good minds to help me out. More art. Shiny paper!
  32.  # 32

    Being an indie game designer-publisher is as much about suffering through the process and making hard decisions as it is about having a product available for sale.

    That's ridiculous. I'll tell you what: You suffer. I'll figure out how to price my games so I can eat food.

    The idea that artists live off their own suffering is such a staggeringly bourgeois affectation with such obvious benefits to those who buy the art(ists) that I find it laughable that everyone doesn't immediately see through it.

    I note that a lot of people are saying, "buy art!" How much do you think it costs to buy art?

    I also note that the people who have been publishing for a few years, with the exception of Matt Snyder (who's stopped publishing) are talking about ways to use the new resources to make a better game. People who haven't been publishing for long, or don't publish at all, are talking about making it shinier.

  33.  # 33
    I'd say "You can't buy me, you capitalist piece of shit!" Then I'd kick him in the nuts. Or the tits, whatever.
  34.  # 34
    Posted By: Simon PetterssonI'd say "You can't buy me, you capitalist piece of shit!" Then I'd kick him in the nuts. Or the tits, whatever.

    He/she is only buying you if you keep the money for yourself, or if he/she tries to place restrictions on what you make using it. If you're free to do what you want with it, and choose to spend it all on making a better end product, I'd say that he/she is a patron of the arts, not a capitalist.

    -Ash
    •  
      CommentAuthorThunder_God
    • CommentTimeOct 5th 2009 edited
     # 35
    Posted By: Joshua A.C. NewmanI also note that the people who have been publishing for a few years, with the exception of Matt Snyder (who's stopped publishing) are talking about ways to use the new resources to make a better game. People who haven't been publishing for long, or don't publish at all, are talking about making it shinier.


    Not seeing it.
    Check Ben's comment, check Luke's comment, check Jason's comment,
  36.  # 36
    Posted By: DestriarchHe/she is only buying you if you keep the money for yourself, or if he/she tries to place restrictions on what you make using it. If you're free to do what you want with it, and choose to spend it all on making a better end product, I'd say that he/she is a patron of the arts, not a capitalist.

    The situation is: "some RPG benefactor with money to burn were to offer you $1000 for the purpose of producing the best RPG you could ". It'd be a totally different situation if he/she offered me $1,000 and said "Here's a thousand bucks. I like what you're doing". That'd be swell. But with the money for a game not yet produced, there comes expectations, and I'd have to work on it even if I don't feel like it. I wouldn't want that.

    So he/she DOES place restrictions on what I make. I have to make an RPG.
    •  
      CommentAuthorWilhelm
    • CommentTimeOct 5th 2009 edited
     # 37
    *Update for the real $1000 that came into the discussion after this post was first made*

    With $1000 I would bring my game Höstdimma to the English speaking market. It is already completed in Swedish.

    Höstdimma (Autumn mist) is a game that bridges the trad and indie styles of games. Use it to ease trad players into indie-gaming or vice versa. It is a traditional GM + players game, where players are handed some controll over things that usually are in the GM's domain.

    The setting is fantasy 18th century post apocalyptic agent action. Think Brotherhood of the Wolf with the Three Musketeers in the lead and a hint of Final Fantasy. The Swedish release is 150 pages 6x9.

    Money would go to proof-reading if I translate myself or proper translation if I can find it, paying the artist for using the illustrations in another project, editing, a full colour cover instead of the B/W one the game uses now.

    I think I can do the project under budget, if there is $400 left I will release the game for free download and provide at-cost printing through Lulu. If less than $400 I will hand the remains back to the community in a similar challenge.
    • CommentAuthorValamir
    • CommentTimeOct 5th 2009
     # 38
    That's an interesting angle Simon. What would motivate someone to just hand you $1000 and say, hey dude, here's some money...do whatever you want with it...I just think you're cool and want to give you some cash...

    I mean, barring rewarding you for something you've already done...which is already pretty fairly handled by just buying your game and talking them up and playing them and posting about them...why would anyone just hand you a check for nothing.

    Given that, isn't it reasonable to expect at least some strings to be attached? I had assumed "make the best rpg you can" to be a pretty broad an minimally intrusive string to ask for. I can understand the position of turning it down because you don't want the strings...but to leap from "not interested" to "you're a capitalist piece of shit for even offering" strikes me as pretty indefensible.
    • CommentAuthorElizabeth
    • CommentTimeOct 5th 2009
     # 39
    Yeah. I mean, I have long fantasized about how, should I ever come into a couple million bucks, I will approach Barry Hughart and say "I know the reason you said you'll never finish the Master Li series is because publishers won't publish them hardback and you can't make the money to make it worth it to you, so here's a million bucks. Is that enough?" I've never thought about the idea that he might turn that down because, as he's said in interviews and told me personally, it's something he would love to be able to do.

    Likewise with the codicil of "make the best RPG you can." Isn't that something you'd like to do anyway? I mean, honestly, the bigger gift than the money would be the way it'd force us to sit down and do an honest assessment of what our capabilities are and plan out, from the very beginning, how to make something at the far end of our capability. That would be awesome.
  40.  # 40
    Posted By: ValamirGiven that, isn't it reasonable to expect at least some strings to be attached? I had assumed "make the best rpg you can" to be a pretty broad an minimally intrusive string to ask for. I can understand the position of turning it down because you don't want the strings...but to leap from "not interested" to "you're a capitalist piece of shit for even offering" strikes me as pretty indefensible.

    Yeah, that's what I should have written. I'd probably say something like "I'll gladly take the money, but I'm not promising I'll write another RPG again, ever. I probably will, but only if and when I feel like it. I understand if that makes you not want to give me the money. Tell you what, go to Story-Games.com. There are lots of talented RPG designers there who'd love to jump at an opportunity like this."

    I've never actually kicked anyone in the nuts.
  41.  # 41
    Posted By: ElizabethI mean, honestly, the bigger gift than the money would be the way it'd force us to sit down and do an honest assessment of what our capabilities are and plan out, from the very beginning, how to make something at the far end of our capability. That would be awesome.

    I totally get that position. For myself, I don't think I'd want that. Making RPGs is a hobby for me, something I do because I love it. If I start getting money for doing it, it turns into more of a "job". And I don't want that.
  42.  # 42
    Pay off some gambling debts and hit the bar... Drinks are on me...

    In all honesty, with what I would like to be able to do, $1000 just doesn't cut it. It isn't enough money to buy me the time I would need to do something interesting. Just designing and printing a book is "yaaaaaaaaaawn" where as boat drink money would open the door for some interesting experiments in communication, distribution, and creation.
  43.  # 43
    Also, I don't want to sound like a complete pussy: "Oh, $1000, that's such a small amount of money fuh fuh fah."

    If someone handed me $1000 and said, "that's your budget; do it." I'd make a fucking sweet game with gorgeous art, a nice cover and a small print run.
  44.  # 44
    Posted By: Luke WheelAlso, I don't want to sound like a complete pussy: "Oh, $1000, that's such a small amount of money fuh fuh fah."

    If someone handed me $1000 and said, "that's your budget; do it." I'd make a fucking sweet game with gorgeous art, a nice cover and a small print run.


    Would you give said hypothetical person the choice of three pitches?
  45.  # 45
    Posted By: Luke WheelAlso, I don't want to sound like a complete pussy: "Oh, $1000, that's such a small amount of money fuh fuh fah."

    If someone handed me $1000 and said, "that's your budget; do it." I'd make a fucking sweet game with gorgeous art, a nice cover and a small print run.


    Would said hypothetical person be allowed the choice of three pitches?
    •  
      CommentAuthorWordman
    • CommentTimeOct 5th 2009
     # 46
    OK, Luke. Whisper me where to send the $1000 and you got it.

    I'm not kidding.
  47.  # 47
    Posted By: Simon Rogers

    Would said hypothetical person be allowed the choice of three pitches?


    Sure, but...

    ...three strikes you're out at the OLD BALL GAME.
  48.  # 48
    Posted By: Luke WheelAlso, I don't want to sound like a complete pussy: "Oh, $1000, that's such a small amount of money fuh fuh fah."

    If someone handed me $1000 and said, "that's your budget; do it." I'd make a fucking sweet game with gorgeous art, a nice cover and a small print run.


    Well geeze Luke, now you've shamed me into taking one of these game ideas I'm sitting on and developing it into a fucking sweet game. If I'm not waiting for someone to write a check, then what the hell am I waiting for, exactly?
    • CommentAuthorValamir
    • CommentTimeOct 5th 2009
     # 49
    This is something I've actually been thinking about off and on for awhile.

    Folks who frequent here have heard my rants about game competitions and how I think their focus on the fun early brainstorming part of design has created a culture of really bad habits among designers over the years. I don't want to revist those rants here, but one of the reasonable questions that arose from such is "what could you do to encourage things differently?" (*)

    One idea I've been contemplating is more of an incubator approach. Where a design that was past the "hey this is fun" stage and needed the extra effort, and potentially guidance and motivation to get to the "really truly fully baked and done" stage (as opposed to the "not really fully baked but I'm tired of working on it done stage").

    The potential of a more patron / grant model to encourage...dare I say...healthier...design habits vs. the game competition model is intriguing to me.


    (*) which I why I'm very interested in seeing how JW's revamped Game Chef does or doesn't encourage different design habits than previous incarnations.
  50.  # 50
    Hey Ralph, this sounds really interesting cand cool. I think this needs a new thread!

    http://story-games.com/forums/comments.php?DiscussionID=10632
    •  
      CommentAuthorGraham
    • CommentTimeOct 5th 2009
     # 51
    I would buy several bottles of good champagne, then hire a hotel room and a couple of excellent prostitutes. Hopefully, this would inspire me to write a game. If not, oh well.

    Graham
    • CommentAuthorthor
    • CommentTimeOct 5th 2009
     # 52
    Graham - Haven't you done enough research for that game?
    • CommentAuthorptevis
    • CommentTimeOct 5th 2009
     # 53
    Posted By: ValamirOne idea I've been contemplating is more of an incubator approach. Where a design that was past the "hey this is fun" stage and needed the extra effort, and potentially guidance and motivation to get to the "really truly fully baked and done" stage (as opposed to the "not really fully baked but I'm tired of working on it done stage").

    The potential of a more patron / grant model to encourage...dare I say...healthier...design habits vs. the game competition model is intriguing to me.


    Like MacArthur Fellowships? Yeah, that would be great.
  54.  # 54

    Posted By: Joshua A.C. NewmanI also note that the people who have been publishing for a few years, with the exception of Matt Snyder (who's stopped publishing) are talking about ways to use the new resources to make a better game. People who haven't been publishing for long, or don't publish at all, are talking about making it shinier.


    I already make games as best I can without any kind of cash reward. The only way I can use money to improve my products is to make them shinier, advertise / distribute them better, or pay someone famous to write them which kinda negates the whole point of the exercise.

    -Ash
  55.  # 55
    A thousand bucks would let me test out my Artisanal hippie-rules minis games as Friendship bread thingieconcept at no particular monetary risk to myself.

    Here's the rub: I don't think I want to make general purpose rules. I do think I want to make games that use minis, because I think minis are awesome ( I'm perfectly content to play games that have no point of minis use, however).

    The thing is, trying to show other folks what I've done is a PITA. really, unless you happen to be someone actually playing with me, some of the stuff, the fun, the craic, doesn't come through in write-ups. Not even if I add pics.

    And, frankly, since it involves minis and sometimes fairly strange combinations of minis that folks aren't likely to already have, it would be equally unlikely for even an interested person to go out, collect everything I used ( or close to it) and have a go at it.

    OTOH, for a grand, I could put together 10 or so different game kits, complete enough to play with and ship them off to ten different interested groups to try out, no risk, provided they agree to a couple of conditions ( honor system):
    1) They'll play the game within a month of receiving it or touch base and put it back out for other people to try.

    2) They'll add something to the kit.

    Something for the game would be nice, but just some pixs of themselves and the group that played it and feedback would work too.

    3) They'll pay shipping to someone else whose group wants to have a go at it after 30 days and who will agree to follow these rules.

    I'd just co-ordinate the thing through a simple Yahoo group.
    • CommentAuthorJ. Walton
    • CommentTimeOct 5th 2009
     # 56
    Joshua, I'm not sure how you interpreted my post that way but I wish you luck in dealing with whatever issues it brought up for you. They obviously matter to you a lot. All I said was "financial restrictions can force you to make interesting / smarter publication choices." If you wanna call me a counterrevolutionary, that's your deal.
  57.  # 57

    I'm not sure why I'm being crabby in this thread, but it's stupid. Sorry everyone!

    •  
      CommentAuthorWordman
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009 edited
     # 58
    After some whispering, Luke has indicated that his schedule doesn't allow him to take advantage of my offer. So, let's try something else...

    This post started with the following hypothetical:

    Posted By: ValamirImagine said benefactor announced "Pitch me your game ideas and the designer whose idea I like best will get $1000 to bring it to fruition"


    Other popular game design forums maintain, however, that debate about hypothetical situations are useless and only "actual play" matters. So, let's play...

    As of now, there actually is a benefactor (i.e. me) saying "Pitch me your ideas for how you would use $1000 to either make a new game or improve an existing one that hasn't been released, and I'll donate $1000 to the idea I like best to help make it happen".

    Conditions:

    • Only pitches made on this thread, publicly, will be considered.
    • No pitch made after 15 October 2009 will be considered.
    • Donation will be made on or before 31 October 2009.
    • If your pitch is selected, you have until the last minute of 31 October 2010 to make good on the idea. At that point, the world will know if you are person of your word, or a failure.
    • This donation in no way affects any rights you have to your work. Nor does the donation create any liabilities from your work for the donator. Succeed or fail, you're on your own.

    • CommentAuthorValamir
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009
     # 59
    Lester, nice.

    Should bullet 4 reference some year OTHER than 2009?
    •  
      CommentAuthorBen Lehman
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009
     # 60
    In 16 days?

    Fuck off. Not even for a grand.

    Or did you mean 2010?

    yrs--
    --Ben
    •  
      CommentAuthorWordman
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009 edited
     # 61
    You guys are too fast. Edited, but not soon enough! The intention was one year, so, of course, 2010.
  62.  # 62
    Well well, not bad. I think I'll play along just for the comedy.

    For a $1000.... tell you what, I'll make an English edition of Eleanor's Dream, my game of childhood dreams. (You can search the Forge for the details, if interested.) The game's currently in design and has been since 2006 or so; I already have a grant for the writing and art, but more money never hurt anyone. Most significantly, the current publication plan concerns only a Finnish edition of the game. I don't say that I won't make an English edition even without an extra grant, but a $1000 would make a translation nicely worthwhile. The game is supposed to be finished next year, ideally in spring; plenty of time to translate it as well through the summer.

    ...

    Damn, no. In all seriousness, I can't take money from a stranger like that. I'm sure you need your money more than I do. Start a foundation first, then I'll consider applying for it.
    •  
      CommentAuthorWordman
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009
     # 63
    Posted By: Eero TuovinenI'm sure you need your money more than I do.

    If that were the case, I wouldn't have offered.
    •  
      CommentAuthorDavid Artman
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009 edited
     # 64
    I'll give it a shot, Lester.

    GLASS: Generic Live Action Simulation System On $1000
    GLASS has been long-stalled in development because it is a large-population LARP system built along the lines of HERO for tabletop: highly flexible, customizable Abilities on a framework of three key stats. While I have been able to do "paper tests" by making up PCs and Packages and Templates and estimating how they fare relative to each other (for cost balancing), there is nothing as effective as having 30 to 50 people make characters for a weekend-long game (or series of games) and actually fighting and throwing packets and using the system. And breaking it, so I can fix the unbalanced bits.

    So what I propose is simple, really: I would host at least two and up to five weekend events, in my area (unless hosted elsewhere and within 8 hours drive) at which all expenses other than food are covered by me (and that $1000). These events would be open to both new and experienced LARPers, and I would focus on testing a different genre interpretation each event, perhaps with a Rift-like multi-genre setting or just by re-casting characters into the genre's color (GLASS is a generic system, so most Abilities should translate to an appropriate counterpart, from genre to genre). The short list would begin with high fantasy, then do modern horror, followed by post-apocalypse. If I have spare funds, I'd really enjoy doing a Neolithic game and a "Dangerous Liaisons" style of game.

    So, then, you see that--at a BARE minimum--a few score people would enjoy fun weekends, being out in the sun and rain, getting exercise with full-speed combat (safe weapons), and stretching their improv legs. And at the end of the process, the world will have something I have not yet seen commercialized: a LARP system that is both simple and flexible and which, therefore, allows for fast convention play prep (due to common rules) and easily managed Living Worlds for traveling LARPers (i.e. you could have a single character in multiple games with different hosts that you attend throughout the year). The LARP community seems to develop for one of two extremes: laundry lists of genre-bound effects with considerable handling, resource, and verbal requirements that leave new players totally lost... or non-structured freeforms or minimal rulesets that essentially codify improv practices or Pass The Stick. GLASS offers simple techniques and rules to provide emergent complexity for simulating almost anything that you can't just do (e.g. pick a lock) while not trying to simulate that which folks can barely imagine (e.g. the tactical information and increased defensibility available when in flight).

    I anticipate as many scenario-play paintball and Airsoft players as SCA and boffer LARP players, in my final market; and I intend to aggressively market to both of those hobby groups. I have also recently considered GLASS's applications for Serious Gaming, but I doubt that emergency responders and the like require as much structure for training (i.e. they need props and actors, not systems and abstractions). But it's still a thought, perhaps something I'd design as "modules," hiding GLASS under the hood, so to speak.

    Thank you for the opportunity to apply!
  65.  # 65
    Posted By: Wordman
    If that were the case, I wouldn't have offered.

    However, how do we know that you're offering in full consideration and out of worthy motives? I seem to have unexpected scrupples about taking money from others. At least tell us that you have a much better paid job than I do, or something like that.

    A surprising barrier to my efficiency in the post-IP patronage economy, to be sure. Luckily David seems to swing a pretty interesting project, there.
    •  
      CommentAuthorThunder_God
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009 edited
     # 66
    Lester, I suggest splitting and pointing to that other thread. People might still want to say what they would have done with $1k/$10k here, even if your most generous offer doesn't work for them at the time being.
    •  
      CommentAuthorWordman
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009
     # 67
    Posted By: Eero Tuovinen...how do we know that you're offering in full consideration and out of worthy motives?
    I suppose you really don't. Even if I offer all the assurance that I am (which I do), you have no reason to believe me. I suppose that once this experiment goes to plan, in public, there will be some evidence of my reliability.

    Posted By: Eero TuovinenAt least tell us that you have a much better paid job than I do, or something like that.
    I have a much better paid job than you do, or something like that. 2008 was particularly nice to me.
    •  
      CommentAuthorWordman
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009 edited
     # 68
    Posted By: Thunder_GodLester, I suggest splitting and pointing to that other thread. People might still want to say what they would have done with $1k/$10k here, even if your most generous offer doesn't work for them at the time being.

    Might as well just keep it here at this point. This thread's subject works well enough.

    I've also received a few requests to clarify "what I like". I'm not going to do that. The whole point is do something you like.
    •  
      CommentAuthorGraham
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009 edited
     # 69
    Could you perhaps reconsider and split the thread? I've got a pitch, but I don't want to derail Ralph's thread further, and it makes it easier to keep things together.

    Graham
    • CommentAuthortadk
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009
     # 70
    Well being the johnny come lately to the thread

    On the original topic of the hypothetical $1k / $10k
    My first thought is to spend money on art. Right now I have what I can do, what Free stuff and what stuff I can barter for.
    With money I could spend about $75 on my DBA License, $125 to pay for my domain for a whole year out (I can afford it but all at once is one thing off my mind), spend a good $120 on clipart collections from RPGNow and where ever else, takes me up to $320.
    I would commission Kimberlee Traub to do the cover work and interior, how ever much I can afford for $380 give or take.
    That takes me to $800, leaving $200 to help get a couple of bills even up, making my life easier.

    The game would be as weird, surreal, steampunk/cyberpunk/strange as I could make it. With huge overtones of Alice in Wonderland thrown in just because.

    With $10k hell, my small bills are gone, sizable dent in some other bills, and still leave the $1k to do what I detailed above.


    Now on the second portion of this discussion.

    My pitch is for Boilerplated

    It was to be my GC 2009 entry, still is, but I have not the interest right now to finish it. I have lots of other things online. But Boilerplated is intended to be my house/home/all the stuff I like in a system for myself.

    The core setting is to be steampunk/surrealist/modern world similar to my in progress Capacity without the more aliens / SF feeling to it.
    • CommentAuthorElizabeth
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009
     # 71
    Here's my pitch for Blowback, my Burn Notice-inspired spy game.

    Blowback is a labor of love and the project I've most enjoyed working on in all of my forays into indie game design. It's got all of the human, falliable relationship stuff that's important to my enjoyment of characterization, as well as the enjoyment of spy stories like the afore-mentioned television show as well as things like the Jason Bourne movies and Spy Games. I'm pretty proud of the Momentum mechanic, which works in a way I kind of always wished Exalted successes worked (when you win, you win gloriously, when you fail, you fail gloriously). It's important to me that the book be a wonderful thing to hold in your hands, and that the book is a strong source of reference for more than just the game's mechanics: I want to include a bunch of "spy" information, as well as a full glossary of important vocab (for instance, the names of all the major analogues to the CIA in the world, as well as other organizations, and the lingo used within them) so that people can feel like they're badass spies right out of the box.

    The $1000 would go to a few different things. First of all, art: I'm doing a full-color book with gorgeous photography. My goal is for the photography to be mostly, if not all, produced by women, and for the art to skew subtly towards sexy, badass depictions of men in danger and non-slutty, sexy-because-they're-badass girls saving the day. (Some people are doing similar things with fantasy, but the spy genre continues to be male-dominated, both with authors and depictions of successful spy characters. The closest I can think of are slutty, badass archaeologists, which isn't quite the same thing.) Having more money would give me the flexibility to be choosier about my art, and commission pieces from female photographers I admire instead of relying completely on already-existing stock.

    Furthermore, I'm fascinated and excited by the idea of utilizing technology in ways to make my games more accessible and to enhance the play experience, both face to face and for online play. I'd use a portion of the money on an iPhone developer kit, to allow me to create play aids for the iPhone-- I enjoy games with boardgamey and other chart-type elements, and so there's a good chance that Blowback will utilize something along those lines. If not, access to the diagrams, character dossiers you can fill in, save, and transfer to other phones alone would make gaming on the go easier.

    Finally, I'd be remiss in taking that much money from the community without giving back. I'd be willing to distribute iPhone applications for other designers through the SDK I would purchase with the money, and also start a new blog which would outline all of the successes and failures of designing a game with the $1000 budget, as well as something that's been really hard to find out in public lately: hard numbers. I will talk about deals I find, money I blow, things that paid for themselves and mistakes I never should have made. We can see if Jonathan's right that someone with a bunch of money to blow on a game would just waste the money, and what can be done with $1000 no strings attached. I will be no-holds-barred honest, keep a running total, and a countdown to my deadline. My hope would be that other people would learn from my experiences, and good discussions could arise about some of the choices I make that would help us all. And even if the game turns out to be no fun, the information gathered would be worth the cash.

    ...

    Except the game will be fun. Because I've played it and it's fun already. So really, win win.

    Thanks for doing this!
  72.  # 72
    Just because it seems weird.

    Ralph didn't ask what you'd do with $1k or $10k. He'd ask what you'd do if these were given to you. That is, you can add them to what you'd already spend anyway. No one said these have to become your upper limit.

    At least, that's how I read it. Likewise with Lester. No one said you can't add another $1k of your own dime.
    • CommentAuthorElizabeth
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009
     # 73
    Well, sure, I wouldn't discount the money I've already spent on my game, or refuse to spend more. I mention the $1K as a budget as more of a ballpark figure. Although it's good to have a budget and stick to it.
    •  
      CommentAuthorBen Lehman
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009
     # 74
    Shoot.

    I had a couple of proposals kicking around (one for Bliss Stage and one for a project code-named HGMO) but I'm not sure I can compete with Elizabeth. Or that I'd want to.

    yrs--
    --Ben
    • CommentAuthorkomradebob
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2009 edited
     # 75
    Okay Lester, here’s my pitch:
    Brownstein’s Mini-Muffin Games
    I like playing games with miniatures. I also like all kinds of dirty-hippy mechanics in games. I’m convinced these kinds of things can go together. Unfortunately, you can only go so far describing this stuff online or in rules write-ups. To see the thing actually function, you need to be able to bust out some toys and have a go at it. And that’s where things tend to reach a stopping point. Unless one of the interested readers also has a biggish minis collection and a willingness to hack together a scenario, everything is left as purely theoretical online ponderings.

    I have solid test of the concept, my Low Budget Mexican Horror Film Game that says those things can go together successfully.

    I also own a few thousand dollars worth of miniatures of different kinds already.

    My idea is that I put together small, one-shot games like Maladicion as kits. Each kit is a unique game that I’ve scratch built, and includes everything you need to play. That means all the terrain, all the minis, and any special widgets I’ve made for use with that particular game. Maybe dice, too.

    Here’s the kicker: I don’t plan to sell these kits at all. Instead, I want to mail them off to folks (at my expense) who are interested and want to try them out. A recipient would need to agree to a couple of conditions to get a game from me:

    They can only keep the game kit for up to 30 days after receiving it.
    After that, they need to either mail it to another person on a list of interested parties, or back to me ( optimally, none would ever return to me, instead going onward like an Amish Friendship Bread batter starter). Tracking and insurance would be required.

    They have to add something to the game.
    It could be a hack for another game system using stuff from the kit, it could be extra physical add-ins if they’ve got some, it could be an upgrade of the minis and terrain if that’s where their talents lie. Or, it could just be some pics of themselves and their game group trying the thing out and a bit about themselves.

    I’d run the whole through a simple freebie site like a Yahoo group and just let things spread by word of mouth.
    The site would be used to house info on the different kits available, including any add-ons in electronic format, and be a contact point for folks to get in on this game trying and trading project. I’d add a donation button along the way for folks who wanted to see the project continue or expand, and I would add regular disclosure of how any donations were spent to further the project.


    What $1,000 would do
    It would let me make full kits.
    I already own the vast bulk of the miniatures that would be used. The rest of the money would be spent to make simple terrain and board pieces, as that’s the sort of stuff that would need to be created to go with the minis to complete the set up.

    It would pay for shipping to the first set of recipients.
    As folks pass it along, that end would be covered as it went.

    It would give me enough money to take the initial risk and send this stuff off to give it a whirl.
    Hey, I'm a blue-collar guy. This stuff was pricey for me to create. If I should fall flat on my face with this experiment, I'd like to fall a little less hard out of the gate.

    Scale of project:
    In addition to the complete Maladicion braunstein, I have three near complete one-shot scenario games on the back burner, and another four or so in less developed forms. By the beginning of January 2010 (or sooner), I could have all of those kits ready to ship, and the Yahoo group ready to fly.

    If the initial send-out proves successful, I’ll just keep adding to it on my own. I already buy and complete minis and create these scenarios for my own pleasure, and those would get added on as well.

    Hopefully, as participants try these things out, they’ll decide to have a go at making their own kits and putting them up at the site for sharing as well.

    Like David Artman’s idea, this is essentially a non-profit venture designed to share a kind of gaming I like with other people who may be interested in experimenting with it, but who have not had the time or budget to try it out.
  76.  # 76
    Ok here we gooo!
    I want to have Ad Infinitum (my generic Sci-Fi game) completed along with a supplement by next year. The core book will come in a two pack with the first being everything you need to play, and second being the GM guide (primarily) and design toolkit. Supplements will be along the lines of BESM supplements in the sense that people wont need them but a plethora of additional options and work has been done for the group as well as tons of fictional goodness.
    To begin things will be digitally published and have the "Digital Pimp" program in place. My idea is asking some one to buy my products then go out of their way to write about it (including responding to posts) kinda makes me feel like I am socially whoring my fans out. (<-- totally just my opinion) So the idea is if the purchaser runs a game and writes an AP about it I will give them 5% store credit; if some one lists having made a purchase as a result of reading an AP by some one they get another 5% store credit. If some one completes both of these at least once they will get the official "Digital Pimp" title in the forum I will be setting up. If it is found out that some one cheated in some way they will receive a backhanding on their forum status which can never be wiped away. <-- subject to thematic change though I kinda like it this way.
    Another thing I will be doing along side publishing the core book is trying to wrangle some lovely animator student to do me up a music video for the song that I commissioned a band to make specifically for my setting. The hope is that some stills will be able to be taken from the music video animation/slide show and used in the final project of the source book.
    That being said the money (along with my own) would go to three places, and directly influence another.

    1. Core book completion
    2. Programing of the basic frame work for the affiliate style program so I can at least manually keep track of things and then move on to automated system when I have the money. <-- or off the bat depending on the price I get.
    3. A slide show/animated video for the song Born which will act as promotion for future development and some art.

    Once operational I would like to skim 10% off my profit until I amount $1k and then gift that in the same manor as I got the funds. I would proceed to do this a second time in a pay it forward manor in hopes of keeping the spirit of this awesome idea going.
    (I wanted to keep things short and sweet as it seemed less that the product was important to show off but how the funds would be used. For more info (if you even want it) on the setting, or a pre studio recording of Born whisper me. <-- that goes for anyone really.)
  77.  # 77

    Ben, yeah.

    Money has a funny way of defining relationships once there's an economy of any sort therein.

    • CommentAuthorDestriarch
    • CommentTimeOct 8th 2009 edited
     # 78
    Ok, this is the game I'm working on at the moment. Already got some art, but a bigger budget would let me get more images and make it far more pretty. I'd probably split the budget down the middle, plough $500 into art and retain the other $500 for the initial print run and web advertising through likely-looking venues, postage for review copies and the like. I already have $500 of my own personal money earmarked for the project, so that should be sufficient.

    Velocity

    Imagine a city in which imagination is illegal.

    It's an undeterminate time in the future at an undeterminate place, a city of gleaming white skyscrapers and technological marvels. But behind the facade of perfection, its culture is stagnating. The governor of the city, known almost universally as 'the Gray Man', is obsessed with controlling every aspect of his city and its inhabitants. People are taught what the government decrees, take the jobs they are told to, wear only the clothing that the state deems appropriate. They listen to government music (bland) watch government movies (soulless), even sport has been subtly adjusted to remove any sense of competition. Because it upsets people when they lose. And when people get too upset, they tend to disappear. Stifled under this torrent of laws and regulations, the city's culture is crumbling away to nothing.

    Enter the rebels (who still need a good name, but I'm working on it!) This illegal group oppose the government not with violence, but with style. They organise parties playing illegal music, they spray graffiti on every wall they can reach, they leap from rooftop to rooftop pulling crazy stunts while they do so, anything to get people's attention and spread their message. The laws must stop. But they never kill anyone, for all that the government call them terrorists. Where's the victory in killing some mother's son? It only turns the people against you, and it's the hearts of the people that they have to win. So when the authorities turn up to arrest them, they run. And they've gotten good at running. Almost supernaturally good. Which is lucky because some of the things coming after them don't look too human either. Cops, SWAT officers, MIBs, giant robots, mysterious demon-like entities, flying skyscrapers and the Mystical State of Everblue are only the start of it.

    This is a game about the chase. Call it Parkour / Free Running the RPG if you like. It's also a game about loud music, crazy art, personal freedom, and sticking it to the Man.

    -Ash
    • CommentAuthorHiQKid
    • CommentTimeOct 8th 2009
     # 79
    Well, dang, I've been thinking of a pitch of my own, but Ash, I seriously want to play that game now. Any ideas on if/when a playtest will be available, or a rough ETA (not given the extra 1000, as that'd probably change the release date one way or another)?

    This sounds like the kind of thing I'd love to play.
  80.  # 80
    Thanks for the kind words :)

    Not wanting to derail the thread too much, the system is more or less done bar a bit of last-minute tweaking and I'm about halfway through the background and equipment chapters. The GM's chapter needs the most work before I can put together a reasonable playtest document. I usually prefer to be present at playtests but I'll certainly let you know if I decide to make an exception this time around.

    Release date... well, I'm hoping to be ready to go to print in late March next year, but depending on resources the street date may be two to three months after that, which is the usual lead time for a printed and distributed book. I might also get slowed down by real life, or if the artist I'm currently working with has similar RL problems and needs to take a break. (Got my first art images the other day and they look fantastic!) If it just ends up on Lulu of course it'll be available about a week after it's finished when I've checked a proof copy, but it'd be nice to get this one into print.

    -Ash

1 to 80 of 103

  1. <
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. >