Topic: You know, it's really weird, but....
Started by: Michael Hopcroft
Started on: 8/1/2002
Board: Indie Game Design
On 8/1/2002 at 3:47am, Michael Hopcroft wrote:
You know, it's really weird, but....
Even when a game is "finished" there are people who want to add to it.
One of my supplement writers wants to add a lot of new rules material to his HeartQuest sourcebook; rules on things like Threads between characters and "social combat".
Now I feel bad about releasing the game and having these important rules in the supplement....
Is this a common thing with RPGs that I shouldn;t worry mys pretty little head over?
On 8/1/2002 at 1:45pm, Mike Holmes wrote:
Re: You know, it's really weird, but....
Michael Hopcroft wrote: Even when a game is "finished" there are people who want to add to it.
One of my supplement writers wants to add a lot of new rules material to his HeartQuest sourcebook; rules on things like Threads between characters and "social combat".
Now I feel bad about releasing the game and having these important rules in the supplement....
Is this a common thing with RPGs that I shouldn;t worry mys pretty little head over?
My father-in-law had this little sign on his desk for years that read "At some point you have to shoot the design engineer and start the project."
Ask Ron if he thinks Sorcerer is perfect by his standards today. Or any designer who's finished a project. Ralph and I had a terrible time with this in regards to Universalis as we were breaking a lot of new ground, and didn't know where to find a functional endpoint to the design. Eventually we got to a playable solution and now we're publishing it. One can forever agonize about whether or not they could include more or better stuff in their product; at some point you just have to finish and be satisfied with what you have.
I am sure that in the first demo we run at the con, I will realize a better way to do something in the game. Oh, well, just something to put in the next game. As far as publishing stuff in supplements, as long as the rules published do not make the previous rules obsolete in any way, they are just an added value to the players buying the system; something that can improve the game should the players decide to buy the supplement.
In fact, I think this is one of the best things to put into supplements. Sorcerer can be playerd without wither of it's supplements. But after buying the supplements it's a better game. That's perfect.
Mike
On 8/1/2002 at 2:42pm, Matt Gwinn wrote:
RE: You know, it's really weird, but....
There are all kinds of rules that can still go into Kayfabe. If I had the luxury of a sizable budget the game would have never been printed. In a way, I'm glad I had to stick to 32 pages because it gave me a definit end point.
As long as your game works the way it is, I wouldn't worry about it.
I plan to add a few more rules to future Kayfabe supplements, but the current rules can easily take most possibilities into account.
I don't think there's a game system in existense that is 100% perfect.
,Matt G.
On 8/1/2002 at 2:45pm, Ron Edwards wrote:
RE: You know, it's really weird, but....
Hi Michael,
To me, the appearance of powerful new nuances to a game indicates its excellence. The ability to communicate these nuances so other people will see them too (and be excited by them) is what makes a great supplement.
By "supplement," by the way, I'm referring to supplemental materials of any kind: another book, a PDF for sale on a website, forum discussions, a posted freebie, etc.
So, congratulations. I'm really looking forward to getting a copy of Heartquest at GenCon. And now, without even having seen it in detail yet (besides the preview at Origins), I'm looking forward to seeing the future supplement.
Best,
Ron