Round One - (almost) over that fast

[Troy_Costisick]

Wow, that was fast.  Ron, were you expecting the entries to come in so quickly?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Troy,

I didn't have specific expectations about that. I did think that interest in the activity would be far less than it apparently is, given that the Game Chef lasted much later than Jonathan planned and saw so much action, and given that the Solitaire Challenge is running at the same time. So I'm happy that this was attractive enough to merit the fast responses.

In case people are wondering, my main reason for this new deadline policy is my own sanity. The first round of the original Ronnies pulled in thirty-three entries, and the later two rounds were comparable. It totally wore me out; I couldn't keep that going in terms of simple effort. Given that I didn't know if this resurrected Ronnies would gain any traction anyway, I didn't want to set some arbitrary limit (say fifteen) and then be disconsolately staring at four entries at the end of two weeks, either. So I decided to try it this way, and I think I like it.

Another reason is that I always wanted the Ronnies to be an iterative thing, working with multiple sets of four terms nearly continuously. That gives the activity more of a workshoppy, try-it feel, in that if you don't make the 24-hour requirement or don't feel the creative engines rev in a given round, another one is coming right up. It also allows a given person, such as yourself specifically Troy, room to discover new zones of imaginative inspiration and mechanics inspiration. Therefore less games per round makes more sense toward this end as well.

For the next round, I am thinking that I'll time the start to be right before a weekend, so those with a traditional work-week schedule can get their needed window.

Best, Ron

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya Ron,

In case people are wondering, my main reason for this new deadline policy is my own sanity. The first round of the original Ronnies pulled in thirty-three entries, and the later two rounds were comparable. It totally wore me out; I couldn't keep that going in terms of simple effort. Given that I didn't know if this resurrected Ronnies would gain any traction anyway, I didn't want to set some arbitrary limit (say fifteen) and then be disconsolately staring at four entries at the end of two weeks, either. So I decided to try it this way, and I think I like it.

Another reason is that I always wanted the Ronnies to be an iterative thing, working with multiple sets of four terms nearly continuously. That gives the activity more of a workshoppy, try-it feel, in that if you don't make the 24-hour requirement or don't feel the creative engines rev in a given round, another one is coming right up. It also allows a given person, such as yourself specifically Troy, room to discover new zones of imaginative inspiration and mechanics inspiration. Therefore less games per round makes more sense toward this end as well.

It looks like you are making some really wise decisions.  I remember you talking about just how tiring it was to read all those games.  I think the current rules you set up are really good at encouraging the motivated people to participate and the "doing it for the heck of it/social aspect of it" crowd out.  I've also found that it makes the 24-hour time limit a very real thing.  You announced it on the first, here it is the fourth and the contest is (almost) over.  There can't be that much "cheating" the time constraints in that short of a duration.  Nine is a good number for the cuttoff; you'll probably only receive two or three games after announcing it making the total submissions somewhere between 10 and 15.  That's pretty good, IMHO.

I agree that the Ronnies is a great opportunity to try new things without fear of it taking time away from other projects or fear of...rejection?  I don't know if that's the right word, but the fear of your design falling flat because it's not well thought out.  There isn't much time to create a game for this contest so expectations are understandibly lower than they would be for a game that's been a year in development.  I feel it relieves a lot of the preasure designers sometimes put on themselves to develop a fully functioning, whiz-bang game on the first try.  I hope lots of new people join in on this.  I know the first series of Ronnies made a huge difference in my life as a designer.

For the next round, I am thinking that I'll time the start to be right before a weekend, so those with a traditional work-week schedule can get their needed window.

If I could offer a suggestion, you might think about announcing on a Thursday.  This way, we can have a day or two before the weekend to mull over the terms and really think about what we'd like to design rather than just make a knee-jerk decision. 

Peace,

-Troy

[M. J. Young]

I happen to like Thursday for personal reasons--it is the day of the week I am here anyway, and it is one of the lighter days on my work schedule.

But then, it is unlikely to make that much difference for me anyway, so don't do it that way on my account.

--M. J. Young