Heya,
Back in the saddle after a nice long summer break. I hope all of you are well. It’s good to have you back at Socratic
Design!
This blog entry was inspired by THIS THREAD. Back when that thread was active, I just did
not have the time to sit down and write the kind of response I really
wanted. I was swamped. If I had said anything, it would have just
been something dismissive or insensitive to the OP, and that’s not something I
wanted to do.
For context, I highly recommend you read my oooooooooooold
article from 2006, What is a Heartbreaker?
I’m not going to critique Xarcell’s design in this
entry. I think the folks on Story-Games
did a pretty thorough job of explaining the potential problems, challenges, and
reception Xarcell could expect. Instead,
I’m going to try to offer some advice to him (any anyone) who wants to still
drive ahead and publish their D&D-like Medieval Fantasy game.
To begin, let me say I’ve been there. I’ve done it.
My first published RPG was a Fantasy Heartbreaker in every single
definition. My friends and I spend years
creating a derivative of Rolemaster. We
spend thousands printing up books. And
we sold probably less than a thousand.
So I’m not some ivory tower dude passing my judgment down on the great
unwashed. I’ve lived it. It’s not pleasant.
But if we’re going to go ahead with it anyway, what should
we do? There are five things I think a
person should do if they are going to publish a Fantasy (or Sci-Fi or Vampire
or Cthullu or whatever) Heartbreaker.
1.Play it! If you’re
not playing it when you go to start the publishing process, then I personally
think you’re doing it wrong. You must
stay in touch with what makes the game fun.
You must still be excited about it.
People get excited about things other people are excited about. If the game isn’t still worth your time, how
can it be worth theirs? Also, continuing
to play will improve the game quality, and you’re going to need the quality to
be as high as possible.
2.Put it up for free first.
You need to get the game out there somehow, even if it’s just a plain
text or PDF version. 1km1kt will
host your file for free, and it doesn’t require any special accounts or logins
for people who want to get your game.
It’s easy and easy is good. There
are plenty of other sites who will also do it, but that’s just the one I
like. You need your game on the Internet
for free because you’re going to have to do a lot of ground work to make this
thing successful. You’ll need to be able
to give everyone who hears about your game a frame of reference. A free copy does that, and it creates a good feeling in those whom you
contact. If you’re willing to give the
text version away for free, it must mean you’re confident in the quality of
your game.
3.Build up a community.
The first two points are easy.
This is where things get a little harder. You need to get people involved in your
game. You need a community who is
anticipating your game’s release and is excited about it. It may be tempting to go find a way to host
some free phpBB forum and try to get people to come there to talk about your
game. That is almost certainly going to
end in disaster. Messageboards require a
lot of activity and a lot of participants to be truly successful. A Heartbreaker game just isn’t going to
generate that much interest at the start.
Instead, I recommend starting a blog, Facebook page or G+ account for
your game. Start liking, friending,
circling, and linking other people.
Create lots of entries on your blog/Facebook/G+ about your game
INCLUDING actual play reports. Be
excited and promote other people’s games on it as well. It’ll make you feel good for helping others
and it may encourage others to link your game on their social media site. That’s what you need. Building a network and a community where
people can come, read, and easily comment on your work. Just make sure you get the people playing the
game with you from Step 1 posting and commenting as well.
4.Try a Kickstarter.
Kickstarter is great because not only does it get funds to ideas the
market wants, it denies funds to ideas the market doesn’t want. Once you’ve laid the ground work for your
game by posting it for free and building up a community, it’s time to see if
the market wants your game or not. I
can’t tell you what your goal should be.
You have to decide based on how much the cover will cost, how much the
interior art will cost, how much your time on it has been worth, and whether or
not you’ll offer a print version. If I
were going to do a Kickstarter for The Holmes and Watson Committee today, I’d
probably set the Kickstarter goal at $1,000 to get a new cover, new art, and
maybe a map of Victorian London. But
every person is different, and every game has its own needs. If the first Kickstart fails, you can try a
second a few months later. If a second
campaign fails, the market is telling you that your game is A) best left as a
free game on the ‘net or B) needs a lot more work.
5.Finally, even with a successful Kickstarter it’s important
not to keep sinking your own money into the game. More money does not equal more success. Vincent Baker made a great post on what to do
with a game once it’s published. Continue
steps 1 and 3. That will drive future
sales of your game (if continuing sales are something you want). But whatever you do, do not sink thousands of
dollars promoting or selling your game.
Do what you can for free and let the sales grow organically.
Well, that’s the best advice I can offer. Avoid using your own money as much as
possible. Stay excited about your
game. Help promote other people’s
games. And build up a community before
going to Kickstarter. If you do these
things, there’s a chance (just a chance) that your game will be a successful
business venture.
Peace,
-Troy
2 comments:
Troy,
I am aspiring RPG designer with hopes of publishing my first game next year.
Firstly I would like to thank you for all of amazing posts you have done. They have really helped to create and improve my game.
Secondly, This article speaks volumes to me as it was one of the biggest hurdles I have faced in my design thus far. I actually did a blog post about Fantasy hear breakers and how I handled mine a few weeks ago if you are interested. Here is this link.
http://mttjourney.blogspot.ca/2014/08/my-fantasy-heartbreak.html
Thanks,
Heya Patrick,
Thanks for the link! I'll definitely read it :)
I truly hope that you enjoy making your game. It can be very hard but also very rewarding. I am so thankful for the experiences I had in RPG design. They were tough, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.
Keep up the great work. And get to know people online. One thing I should have mentioned in my article is the importance of the design community. There are some awesome people out there at the Adept Press forums, Story Game forums, and on G+.
Good luck! :)
Peace,
-Troy
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