Forge Assisted Games

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

Is there a compiled list of games that made it into print that were aided in their development here on The Forge?  I'm just interested to see the titles and numbers if anyone has that kind of inormation.

Peace,

-Troy

[TonyLB]

I'd be interested in the information too, but I think it will be strangely hard to get.  

The question may (and I stress may) be a category error.  The Forge isn't an organization that goes out and aids people.  It's a resource that people draw on.  So it's a little like asking "How many test pilots were inspired by the National Air and Space Museum?"

I still find the question fascinating though, because (unlike Air and Space) there are so very few RPG design resources that it's easy to imagine a designer who had the Forge as their sole resource for formal theory.

[Andrew Morris]

Tony, would you consider Capes to fit in this category? If so, I'd mention Schrodinger's War, which is a long way from finished, but was initiated as an attempt to actually create a game at the Forge.

Troy, check out Tony's sig for Capes, and mine if you want to get involved in Schrodinger's War (a.k.a. the GroupDesign Project).

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

Troy, check out Tony's sig for Capes, and mine if you want to get involved in Schrodinger's War (a.k.a. the GroupDesign Project).

I will check it out.  Thanks for the tip :)

Peace,

-Troy

[Blankshield]

Death's Door is not in print until the new year, but is designed "post-forge" - which is to say, after I came here and spent a lot of time reading and absorbing.  It's heavily influenced by things I've read here, but the single most important effect the forge has had on me is:

You don't need to be a monolithic game company to make a game.

I do certainly fall into Tony's catagory of designers who have the forge as the sole source of "formal" theory.  Inasmuch as anything is formal around here.

James

[timfire]

I'd be interested in the information too, but I think it will be strangely hard to get.  

The question may (and I stress may) be a category error.  The Forge isn't an organization that goes out and aids people.  It's a resource that people draw on.  So it's a little like asking "How many test pilots were inspired by the National Air and Space Museum?"

Yeah, there have been a number of threads here and elsewhere that have discussed what should and shouldn't be considered a Forge game. There are, of course, games like Donjon or MLwM which were discussed, developed, and even playtested here at the Forge.

But then you have games, like Ron's Sorcerer or MJ Young's Multiverser or Jake Norwood's TRoS that were technically written prior to the author's involvement with the website. But these games were fully embraced by members of the forum, and often held up as examples of Forge theory. Should they be considered "Forge games"?

You also have games that were written by members of forums - like lumphey's Dogs in the Vineyard - that were never actually discussed on the forums prior to their release. (I don't believe DitV was ever discussed, but I may be wrong. Nonetheless this type of thing does happen.) Should they be considered "Forge games"?

And lastly, you have members of forum who particapte, but don't actually discuss their projects, like jdagna and Pax Draconis, or Marco and JAGS. Should those be considered "Forge games"?

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Hey, all.

I think calling a game "a Forge game" does a disservice to the person that actually put their pen to paper and wrote the damn thing.

I don't post or read that much here nowadays but I don't see many groupthink projects ("Hey, the rec center's gonna get shut down unless we raise $10,000 by next week -- let's all get together and put on a show!").

The Forge is a wonderful community of people and ideas and it's a great "go to" brand for indie games. But when the identity of the hive mind threatens the identity of the individual, I gotta slam on the brakes and say, "Let's just put the puppy down and talk about this, Jim."

And there's always the possibility that the "Forge Games" in the coming months/years are going to suck royally and then your brilliant idea gets branded with a big steaming "F."

Remain independent.

- J