Game brewing: where to discuss ideas for games

[Spooky Fanboy]

Where on the Forge is it acceptable to discuss and refine basic ideas for games, rather than games where the work has already been accomplished and need to be reviewed?

To illustrate: I have a game concept for which I need to know a suitable mechanic (System Does Matter!) to make it playable. I want it known that the game has onlythe basic premise nailed down, but that I need input to flesh it out. This game will be worked on, but due to the nature of it's subject (hyper-humans) will have ramifications that I need critical eyes on, so that I include what is necessary and exclude what doesn't fit.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Yeah, that's fine for Indie Game Design. But try this, to make it extra fine.

Imagine five people in the same room, playing this game. What does it look like? How often do they consult papers, books, or tables? Do they use dice or any other objects? How? What sort of stuff is tracked in writing, if anything? And among the people, how often does each person talk relative to everyone else? Does one person do most of it? Does that person have to be the "hub" of interactions among everyone else? Finally, regarding the imagined material that they are creating, what must they be talking about? Is fighting the main thing they spend their time on? Building a "case file" of clues and hypotheses? Social interactions and relationships among characters? What actually occupies the real people's attention, time, and conversation?

Clearly, there are no wrong answers for any of this. But without it, if you provide "my premise," no one will know how to help you, and the thread will be in danger of becoming a babble of many people trying to design individual games.

Best,
Ron