This forum is devoted to notions about your own RPG design. By posting here, you should be at least 10% personally serious about developing an actual RPG. Your posts should let the reader know what sort of game it is intended to be - what kind of fun you're after. Try to avoid our gamer-subculture's jargon as much as you can. For instance, terms like "balance" and "realism" won't help, because they mean totally different things to different people.

Some available document is absolutely required, preferably through a link. If I don't see that, then your thread gets bumped to the Inactive File, do not pass Go, et cetera.

What you want to present, and what you want feedback about, is up to you. Some people like to provide a general overview of the game first, and others like to start with a single nifty idea. Some like to begin with setting, and others with aspects of the system. When you start a thread, present whatever aspects of the game seem logical and necessary to you, at your discretion. However: do raise a specific topic for actual discussion. Don't post a link to your rules (or heaven forfend, eat up 8 posts to detail those rules here) and ask, "So gee, whaddaya think?" When you start a thread, you're the discussion leader and should let everyone know what we're here for in your thread.

Discussions about playtesting experiences are especially welcome. Also, you don't have to be the designer in order to post about a game which qualifies for this forum, especially if you participated in some playtesting. However, please do not use this forum solely to seek playtesting for a game. If people are interested, they'll follow your link and do it themselves.

Also, I strongly recommend that you begin posting in the Actual Play forum, rather than here. When you talk about what published games you've played, and how it went for you, and what you like and don't like, that generates a useful portrait of your interests and priorities for everyone else, which in turn, lays a foundation for your posts here in Game Development to make a lot more sense. To follow up on my earlier point, if you define and illustrate what "balance" means to you in Actual Play, then you can use that as a valid reference for your purposes in Game Development.

When posting to reply to others' threads in this forum, ask questions that help you to understand where they're coming from, and provide feedback that helps their goals. Be aware that no one can explain their game notions in full, every time, and you should not badger anyone to keep explaining and explaining. Please remember that it's their game, not yours, and if you wouldn't like to play it according to their notions of what's fun, then your feedback is best left unstated. Also, if the game in design offends you, then again, simply do not reply.

If you're new to the Forge, here are some practical points. First, there is no "hey guys, hi there," posting at this site. You don't have to socialize to fit in. We're here to work on stuff and to share viewpoints, and that's it. Second, I'm Ron. Hello. I'm the co-founder of the site and the content moderator, but usually, when I post, it's merely as a fellow member with no special status. But when I formally moderate, it's law. You can appeal, using either a private message to me or a new thread in Site Discussion, but don't fight me. Also, if someone's responding in a way which frustrates you or belittles you, I don't care if they have 80,000 posts here and act like they own the joint or what, you hit that "report this post" button and I'll be on them. By posting here, you are a full member of the community. (Hey, can you report me to me? Yeah. People do it. I have in fact moderated myself in the past, when called out with valid criticism.)

A more detailed discussion of etiquette and site goals can be found in the Site Discussion sticky.

Please don't reply directly to this sticky. If you have questions about how to post at this site, or moderation, or anything else, bring them to the Site Discussion forum. Or send me a private message, but note that as anti-spam measure, you can't do that until you have three posts.

Best, Ron