squad rpg design

[Petter Sandelin]

While checking out free indierpgs lately I've been thinking about how you could apply a "squad model" for the design process. A squad would consist of people with different skills(programming, graphics, writing etc.) who concentrates on the same project(s).

I think this way of working would add a number of benefits..

First of all you can get more people intrested in the game in a way that will give feedback and playtesting. If you do this outside your regular gaming group I imagine you can get some playtesting from other squad members gaming groups.

The squad can provide you with skills you need to get your idea out there. Stuff like fancy sites and layout is something that isn't really needed but would enhance the experience and add prestige.

If the squad would want to and has a fanbase for it, a transition to charging for games would come more naturally as you have all the people you need for making a commercial game.

The number of good sites with games is getting big and can be difficult to handle when checking for updates etc. I guess squads would concentrate games to a smaller number of sites.

Being a member of a squad could push people who have their old projects lying around, just waiting to be written down(that's me:))

The last benefit is that being a member of a squad sounds sooo cool and gives that punk-art feeling.

On the other hand collective projects like this is famous for coming to a abrupt halt(see zines). The squad also seems like something a bit too close to work for people joining for fun but the idea has been used sucsessfully in other forms and I think that if you could keep the work bit to a minimum it would work.

This may seem like some kind of manifesto, demanding that everyone get's organized but that's just because I'm in a hurry and try to keep it short. It's a sudden thought with pros and cons that would  suit some but not others. Thoughts?

[FilthySuperman]

I've put thought into this alot..
Right now, I'm sort of undecided as to how I feel.
Let's face it, no matter what you call it, group... squad... team... it's an independent roleplaying game design company. Maybe not in the legal business sense of the term, but alot of us just throw together a website, pick a pretty name, and call ourselves a company anyway. It's if and when we make a dime that we might go legit. That's besides the point though..
The point is.. you get a group of people together who enjoy creating roleplaying games and do it just for the sake of making something enjoyable to share and that's a good thing. Bottom line, however, is that we all would like to be getting paid to do what we love. So no matter the outcome, expected or otherwise, we do 'dream' of seeing our game go into print and become 'the next big thing' (emphasis on dream). Most of us are more than happy to get a few good comments from peers and ecstatic if someone downloads the game and says "good job, my group loved it." But there's still the  'dream'. When it comes to selling an RPG, for the most part you are selling ideas. So the debatable question here is how much of an RPG is the initial inspiration put to paper, and how much of it is "the skills and formatting"? I'm sure this question could be debated for days.
Essentially, an RPG is written by one person and playtested by multiple. I write, I get some feedback, I revise. Once the writing and playtesting is done what you have is a group of ideas that needs to be formatted and marketed. Occaisonally two or more people will collaborate to compound the creation process, but that's the exception not the rule.
I'm not totally against your idea though, it does have it's merit. It would allow higher quality presentations to be completed in shorter periods of time. It allows a larger base of games to come from one group of people. However...
Let's look at it this way...

Essentially a squad would consist of:

writers
artists
developers
marketers
play-testers
web designers

If you get all those people amassed you'd be able to increase productivity immensely, but what are the odds of finding this amount of people to perform thier tasks for free without a viable contract, and (I'm sorry to have to say it) what are the odds you'll find all these people to be trustworthy?

Here's another example for you.
I come up with an idea for a kick-ass new game.

1) I post on the Forge and ask what people think
2) I write up some quick rules on my own and ask a few people (using BB and NewsGroups) to playtest them.
3) I ask someone to help me with a webpage. (I know people are out there that will design web pages for free, I will for indie game companys/designers)
4) I finish writing my game and ask if someone can distill it to .pdf (if that's the medium I choose) for me.
5) I ask for more input before I "release" it.
6) I search for semi-pro artists who want a little free exposure and are willing to provide some free artwork.


Both examples get it accomplished, the second just takes longer. Howerver, with the second you deal with less variables. Again, I'm undecided on the "squad" method. I haven't seen it work yet. I'm just saying that it's always seemed easier to do it myself than to rely on others.

Also, and please don't take this harshly, It comes off to me that someone who isn't willing to work through thier own projects to completion won't be willing to work on larger scale projects through to completion. So generally when someone asks me to help, I do, but when they tell me they want me to "partner" with them I'm skeptical.

Finally, here's my suggestion:

DIY it all the way at first. Get a good website, create and finish your own really good game. Get some feedback and a name for yourself. Then once you've gotten your stuff out there, start looking for people.
In all honesty that's sort of a "goal" of mine. (a dream maybe?) I'd like to take my game [Any Town, U.S.A.] and use it to promote my "company" [Demi Human Games] and eventually have other people "working" for Demi Human Games. I visualize three or four of us working on different projects at the same time, exchanging advice and ideas.. I can just see the webpage "Coming soon from Demi Human Games: John Doe's newest game!" "Filthy Superman's Game is finished!" "Download the free game from Demi Human, written by Jane Doe!"

anyway.. I know this was long.. but it's a subject that, I too, have spent alot of time thinking about.

T