New to the Forge

[Brian T]

Hello all,
I'm new here, just looking for now while I try to absorb everything. I have been working on my own game for some time and figured that had to be others with a like mind. :)

[Phillip]

Welcome, BrianT.
In my (limited) experiences with The Forge, you are at THE place to be for indie gaming design and ideas.  I'll give you some observations that I have gathered in the short time I have been actively viewing this forum
- If you post an idea here, you should have it developed enough for constructive feedback and criticism.  You can include the basics in your post, or post a link to where you have it on the Web.  Don't post something like "Hey, I have cool idea for a resolution mechanic that uses fortune cookies, do you think it will work?"  There is another forum for basic mechanic ideas (I think it is the RPG Theory forum).
- Once you post, don't be discouraged if nobody replies right away.  This happens frequently, and I think it is mostly because the members take their time in reviewing your idea and composing their responses and questions.  Most of them only respond to the posts that particularly interest them.
- You will get very good advice and criticism here.  These people really know what they are talking about, and they will provide you with a lot of constructive input and questions on aspects you may not have thought about.  I have noticed that on other forums, the Forge has a reputation as being 'elitist' and 'snobbish', but that really isn't true.  The forums are professional and rational- you won't see any flaming or people posting stuff like "Your game sucks!".
- The best indie games I have seen here all have on or both of these things in common:
1.  The designer started with a core ideal or theme and came up with resolution mechanics to match it.  The mechanics are not just 'cool', they serve to reinforce the genre or central ideal the designer was aiming for.  I haven't seen many (if any) 'universal' systems (those without a genre or, more commonly, a central theme).  
2.  The game presentation itself is written to develop the central theme in a way that makes you say "I have GOT to try this!"
Some games that fit these that stand out to me are Capes & Cowls, Kathanaksaya, ocTaNe, Flash in the Pan, and Orx.  Some of these games can be found in the Resource Library, or they are (or have been) under discussion in this forum.  
- The discussions can sometimes be a little indimidating because they cover RPG theory like GNS, etc.- just do your homework (there are some great articles on theory here as well); a lot of the response you will get will be more 'informal', though (in other words, it will give specifics as it relates to those theories without necessarily getting technical).

[Mike Holmes]

I haven't seen many (if any) 'universal' systems (those without a genre or, more commonly, a central theme).

Well, there've been a few. ;-)

Generic games are fine, it's just that you have to do a really bang up job to make them superior or substantively different from the many other generic games that exist. Thinking of Generic games as a genre themselves (the non-genre) they are possibly the most populous genre that exists. And given that inspiration may be hard to find sans genre, this makes it the hardest area to attempt.

In any case, now that we've blabbed on generic games proscriptively about it, I'm sure that it'll turn out that Brian is making a Sci-Fi game or somesuch.

Good comments in general, Phillip.  

What state is your game idea in, Brian?

Mike