What type of game do you want to see???

[mallninja0088]

What do you all want to see designed here on the Indie Game design forum?  I am looking to design a system, then a setting.  I know that probobly isn't the best way to do it, but I would rather design mechanics.  Setting or world creating just isn't my thing.


Thanks.  :-)

[Andrew Martin]

mallninja0088 wrote:
> What do you all want to see designed here on the Indie Game design forum?  I am looking to design a system, then a setting.

How about a system that's basically invisible? A system that allows one to take a character description from a book, and play that as a character.

[mallninja0088]

i like that idea...maybe a little dice too.  speaking of taking a character from a book or other source...doing that with star wars sounds fun...a good way to do it would be to list in any way possible what your character is like, whether with a paragraph or stats or whatever...free form sorta...

[Clinton R. Nixon]

First, that system exists. It's called Story Engine, and it can be found from Hubris Games.

Second, the Indie Game Design forum is for actual games in actual development. We've strayed from that recently, but this can be considered an official statement: we're about to enforce this strictly.

If you want to know what kind of games people want to see developed here, I'll let you know now: games in which the system heavily supports the goals of the game, whether that be cinematic action, competitive story-creation, deep character exploration, or a team effort to overcome fantastic obstacles.

[Ron Edwards]

Hey,

Hi Brad,

I need to chime in on this thread as well, to say that your opening post is "empty." It presents nothing for us to consider, being more of a call just to chat and free-associate.

Game design can certainly occur from the ground up at the Forge. There are lots of examples of people who start with one idea and get lots of feedback about it. However, given your post, there's nothing to focus on - we'd end up with a big mess of preference-comparisons, like "I like this," "Oh really? I like this other thing," "That's funny, I like that thing over there." Plus any amount of equally-unfocused debate, for instance if anyone decided to get picky about what "transparency" might mean in Andrew's post.

I strongly suggest that you consider this a working space, or maybe a workout space - imagine going into a training gym or workshop, going to the middle of the floor while people are busy all around you, and yelling, "Hey, what do you think I should make [or do]?"

The Forge is a great place to get "spotted" (in the sense of working out) or to be sparred with, or to compare one's work with that of others. It's not so good for free-associating.

Best,
Ron

[mallninja0088]

I didn't mean to offend anybody by posting that.  If that offended you that is.  Is there a forum on the Forge that is about starting games?  I was trying to see what types of games people like and what they are interested in to see what type of help I could get.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Brad,

I think you're missing the point. No one is offended, and in fact, "offense" is not acknowledged as a relevant issue at the Forge, in terms of appropriate posts. The relevant issues are courtesy and focus. There was nothing wrong with your post in terms of courtesy, but it was supremely unfocused.

The point is that opening a thread like this one is not discourse (see the Guidelines, top post in the Site Discussion forum). Andrew tried to help out by giving it some concrete weight and an issue to discuss, which I think is good. I would not mind at all seeing a thread beginning with his point or suggestion. However, I'm afraid your post must become an example of how not to start a thread.

As far as "what people like to see," I suggest thinking about it for a minute - you'll realize, quickly, that preferences in role-playing vary really widely. Really widely, such that even if we all answered, no "answer" would emerge. It might be more valuable to express your own preferences, at least in terms of one game at a time, and then the experience or perspective of everybody can be enlisted in your service.

Best,
Ron

[mallninja0088]

Ok.  Thanks.  I will deffinatly refrain from doing that next time.  I believe I will set some things in stone and make a new thread.  If there is a way to delete this one, I will do it!!!!  LOL.

[Laurel]

Just as a hopefully helpful note, private messages are a really good way to ask someone you'd like to chat with a more general "what do you think about X" question, off the forums themselves, and there are forums on RPGNet that are active and address different, more broad issues than the narrow focus to the Forge if you are simply idly curious about something and looking for casual conversation or feedback.

[mallninja0088]

Yeah...I realized that and started to do it some!!! Thanks.