Tuesday 11 August 2015

Incentives & Plans

Greetings friends!

So maybe you saw my post yesterday about the Ghost Project?

One thing you may be wondering about is just how does this project work with the existing transparency of the design of First Law: Override?

Well first things first, I should probably address something that appears to be a bit of a misconception regarding the design process:

It was never my intent to break the mould with game design by posting left, right and centre about the game design process, it was just something that happened.

In fact when I have recently had two people who are pretty established mouthpieces in the wargaming world describe what i do with this blog as 'against the grain' or similar, I have to be honest, but I don't see it as that.

I suppose from one view point you could argue that it largely goes against Game Design 101, but unlike a lot of these people I haven't been on any game design course, I don't hold a qualification on how to write a rules pack or interpret the latest buzz words, but I also don't consider myself a games designer.

Am I designing a game? Well yes obviously. But that doesn't make me a game designer, and I would say it would be overly egotistical of me to refer to myself as such.

I guess as such I see myself as a hobbyist. Helping to write these rules and the fluff around them is a part of my hobby, much like writing this blog is. It's hard to draw the line where one starts and the other ends.

So now that is out of the way, there's the question of transparency, and I have to be honest, I haven't been as transparent as a lot of you think.

As has been mentioned before, we have a Book 2 planned and everything concept wise for that is pinned with a rough idea for a Book 3 as well. All of that is something that Tom & I have discussed in depth, but I have not blurted out on these pages as obvious 'in your face' rules. Instead hints have been dropped here and there, with nods to content in overviews and short stories.

But going forward a lot more of this is going to be pulled more and more internally.

Why? Because of the Ghost Project.

It is our opinion that the game First Law: Override is a terrific game. We have spent hours upon hours discussing fluff, rules, imagery, layouts, mechanics and everything in between. We have agonised over rule books, websites and more to try to bring this game to you in as good a format as possible while retaining some of the core aspects of the game project, namely accessibility & fun for the player, and affordability & fun for us the creators.

We wouldn't have done that if we didn't think the game had legs.

Hell; only yesterday we acquired (for a steal of a price) the domain firstlawoverride.com. In all the projects I have run before from games to blogs I have never once bought a domain name! But here we are now as owners of one!

This is why we need the help of Ghosts.

We're only two people, and despite already achieving more than I ever imagined with this game (have you seen the Rulebook? It looks beautiful!) we have our limits and can only be in one place (each) at a time.

In a matter of days our latest interview on our friend Bill's podcast GamersLounge will be posted and you get to hear more from both me and Tom and with hope you will all hear from my own voice the true enthusiasm we both have for this game.

It is our hope that at least some of the people listening to the show will download the rules, grab some miniatures and give the game a try and fall in love with it just as much as we have, as it truly is a game that has to be played to be fully appreciated for its simplicity and depth. And if these people then go and grab their game group and promote this game, then that's just grand! And maybe these people will look at the Ghost Project and go "Yeah! That's for me!"

But we want some way of rewarding these people while keeping with the core values of the game.
One of these is by giving them first dibs on new rules.

Is this detracting from what is posted on the blog and when? Yes of course, but like I said, I want to reward the hardened few who desire to take the game out to the masses!

***********

Maybe I'm just barking in the moon here, but in the spirit of transparency I wanted to be upfront and honest about the whole thing.

And yes, at some point I will look into a T-Shirt for Ghosts, just need to design one for me & Tom first!

And on that note; until next time, stay safe and be excellent to each other!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

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