...because whether I participate in "booth" or not, I've determined to Be Like Paul: Come up with the game, make it as solid and tight as I can through playtests... then still take a year to post it and see what other people think about it in play.

I picked up just two games from the booth this year (honesty prevailed: I know that a lot of the games are hot, but I myself won't have time this year for real playtesting and feedback... save for just that small amount. I didn't want to pick up more and offer nothing).

So the booth got me thinking about how to go about making my stuff available, lengthening the playtest cycle to "Until it's Damn Good", and posting it free (or for a minimal cost) for folks to try.

Thanks guys! The seeds have been planted in me.

-Andy

As you all know, I love to happen upon pithy phrases or points that people say and capture them as haditha, partly for enlightenment, partly for fun. i think you just made one, Andy:

Be Like Paul = don't be ruled by a release date, strive for purity and a craftsman's satisfaction, playtest like a bastard, use your best judgment to distinguish between others' misunderstandings and one's own failure of insight

My other favorite one from GenCon is from Nathan:

Nothing can be awesome = critique text fairly and explicitly, do not treat playtesting and reading one another's games as a means to build false peer-groups and in-groups, do not blow sunshine up one another's asses

I'd been reading Nathan's points about that for a little while now, but something about the way he said it in person, sort of a "stupid is as stupid does" Gump way I guess, was quite compelling.

Best, Ron

It does sound like the Ashcan front was a success commercially, but I am more interested in knowing if the designers who used it are getting the feedback they need. Are people playing the games and giving feedback?

Cheers

Iain

I've played Acts of Evil and am now embarked on a fun, quite possibly multiple-session game of Path of Journeys. Most discussions of playing the games can be found at The Ashcan Front forums.

Best, Ron