[cracked idea] SharePlay Magazine Manifesto

[DevP]

I had a silly idea, but I want to share it before we go back to NormalForge and I'm forced to back up my arguements with facts. Quickly!

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SharePlay Magazine
The premier mainstream magazine of storygaming hobbyists.

A monthly 16 page magazine, with exactly 3 pieces of inside art (plus cover art). The break down:

[*] 1 page, letters to editor
[*] 2 page, random cultural reviews
[*] 1 page, something funky written in New Games Journalism style
[*] 12 pages: 3 fresh games, each taking up 4 pages, including rules, flavor text and tearouts.[/list:u]

Each game is very much like some of those Iron Game Chef entries. I imagine most will be something like a MLwM knockoffs with new chrome and slightly different rules, or in any case will be a different take on a "finite" RPG game. Each game is very focused for playing out a certain kind of story, and while repeated play can be cool/fun, it's not necessary, and not the scope here. The games in SharePlay will have a certain aesthetic:

[*] "party game" aesthics - "Mafia" is a storytelling game, and that's starting to get mainstream these days. You could say Mafia is the most popular RPG in America.
[*] one evening's entertainment - Like renting a movie with friends, although slightly more stimulating and challenging
[*] sharp focus - You don't rent "Some Thematic Drama with Realistic Effects of Violence", you rent Traffic or Narc or something specific.
[*] superfast play aesthetics - Avoid very abstruse mechanisms & noncommon materials, have clear rules, reduce memorization, have lots of easy-for-play tearouts.
[*] welcoming - Avoid major terminology, and appear no more intimidating than learning rules for Monopoly.
[*] new game economics - By their nature (for production, testing, use in a group, overhead, prep) RPGs can easily be timeconsuming and their consumers are conservative. The games created here can be played & consumed more cheaply, encouraging more designers to make them.[/list:u]

Target markets: well, depends, but I see two kinds of mainstream folks this could break into: (1) Young post-college grads, yuppies, hipsters? They were all geeks anyway, or something. (2) Post-geeks -- If marketed right, people who "used to play RPGs in high school" but were too busy / uninterested as they grew older, may find that these new designs are more what they want now. (3) Families looking for family-centric enterainment (like a board-game, but more interactive)?

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In truth, once I had this idea, I was worried about postingthis because it's territory folks have already considered. Lots of folks have tried hard (much harder than I have) to put RPGs into the "mainstream", and even that conversations goes into a rabbit hole of no return, so I don't want to pretend that a relative neophyte is going to suggest some answers.

However, if this does sound like a good idea to someone else...

[Brendan]

It sounds like a good idea to me, although I don't know how "mainstream" you'd be able to go with a sixteen-page magazine.  I'd say go quarterly, free, PDF and Google ad sales and do it for the love, and this could be a fascinating project.  I'd contribute.