Draining the War Chest

Aeternal Legends began its production phase today, which started with a bull session, signing contracts and handing out cheques.

I had to work my ass off to get the money together to do this properly. The frightening thing was that I could have easily done it *improperly*, without broad censure. I could have picked contractors who would work for nothing or next to nothing. I could have browbeat qualified people who wanted the work down. I could have roped in a motley crew of friends or an internet community and abused the spirit of volunteerism and friendship for the sake of getting a for-profit book off the ground. And virtually nobody would have given a shit.

Yes, as a matter of fact I *might* sprain something from patting myself on the back.

But the amazing thing is that the costs have been matched by the opportunities. Mob United Media is more successful than I thought (feared!) it would be, even if much of that success is outside of traditional gaming. But tossing around core creative ideas with Inter-Canel's president and talking about how to guide a team of actors, programmers, graphic designers and marketers through narrative concepts has made me feel that I'm going in the right direction.

On the side of traditional gaming, I've been floored by the people and ideas coming down the pipe for the AQ20 call. I've only got two duds; the rest were seasoned game designers, former Dragon contributors and a dude who used to do documentation for NASA.

Knock on wood and all that, but it's going well so far.

Draining the War Chest

Aeternal Legends began its production phase today, which started with a bull session, signing contracts and handing out cheques.

I had to work my ass off to get the money together to do this properly. The frightening thing was that I could have easily done it *improperly*, without broad censure. I could have picked contractors who would work for nothing or next to nothing. I could have browbeat qualified people who wanted the work down. I could have roped in a motley crew of friends or an internet community and abused the spirit of volunteerism and friendship for the sake of getting a for-profit book off the ground. And virtually nobody would have given a shit.

Yes, as a matter of fact I *might* sprain something from patting myself on the back.

But the amazing thing is that the costs have been matched by the opportunities. Mob United Media is more successful than I thought (feared!) it would be, even if much of that success is outside of traditional gaming. But tossing around core creative ideas with Inter-Canel's president and talking about how to guide a team of actors, programmers, graphic designers and marketers through narrative concepts has made me feel that I'm going in the right direction.

On the side of traditional gaming, I've been floored by the people and ideas coming down the pipe for the AQ20 call. I've only got two duds; the rest were seasoned game designers, former Dragon contributors and a dude who used to do documentation for NASA.

Knock on wood and all that, but it's going well so far.

You want Critique? I'll give you the Deal

So, over in small press land there's a bunch of drama about whether or not somebody's game sucked and was ready for show or not. There's fear of a culture of yes-people, versus fear that this is really camouflage for people wrestling for control of the scene.

I'd like to help. Here's the Deal:

Submission: You, the self-publisher, send me your game in word-processing manuscript form, to m AT mobunited dot com. I don't want its "ashcan" or more graphics than absolutely necessary to run the game.

Playtest: I will playtest the game with my group. I might also playtest with an open group of players drawn from my community. You will receive subjective documentation of each playtest culled from the game and post-game discussion.

Redlines: I will then redline your draft for conceptual and stylistic content.

The Honour System: You will get it back and do whatever the hell you want with it. Edit it according to my notes or not, I don't care. It's up to you.

But here's the honour system part: If you feel that I have assisted you in refining your game, I expect you, on your honour, to do two things:

Pay me 20 bucks. This is primarily symbolic; you acknowledge that you got something of financial value from the process and I buy pizza for my family or some widget for the house. I accept US, Canadian and Canadian Tire currency.

Credit me. Your published game will include the following credit:

"Developmental assistance via The Deal, by Malcolm Sheppard (http://www.mobunited.com)"

You should also add the names I give you to the list of playtesters.

Send me the revision.

Again, I don't need the published version, though you can send it if you want.

But aren't you some kind of mad-dog asshole who hates all things indie?

In certain contexts I probably am a bit of a jerk. Of course, if I really hate indie games I'm sure a fool for owning a bunch of them, aren't I? My opinions of individual games don't really depend on their source. They depend on how much I feel driven to use them, in whole or in part and how much I find them influencing my own play/design/writing process.

Here's a set of opinions that will help you get to know where I stand. I like Burning Empires, The Burning Wheel (though I like BE better), Truth and Justice, Dead Inside*, The Riddle of Steel and Spirit of the Century. I think Sorcerer's okay, though I used to like it a bit more. I like The Shadow of Yesterday a bit less than the Burning X's and such, but I especially like Keys (which are a more focused counterpart of a system I'd designed when I was working on Dominion). I didn't like Paladin.

And incidentally, I don't hold with strong pro- or anti-immersion arguments.

If I don't think I can give your work a fair shake I just won't talk to you. I can think of maybe 2-3 people that applies to and none of them are involved in any of the recent arguments. No, not even you, guy-who-thinks-I'm-talking-about-you.

No, I don't hold with the artistic or economic theories in the indie community. You won't get any commentary from me about Big Model compliance. You'll get comments about what my group and I liked and disliked. I have no interest in ad hominem input either way.

And if you want to mend fences or start conversations, this is the way to do it.

What if I break the Deal?

If I run across a published copy of the game that is substantially (not just slightly) altered according to my redlines but does not include credit or payment, I will loudly ask if that game's designer has broken the Deal. With examples.

Why are you doing this?

Because, believe it or not, I want the creator-owned tier to flourish, to the point where I've put a substantial amount of my own time and money toward helping creators I know bring out the best in their work.

It also serves as a promotional tool for me that's actually fun instead of onerous.

Do you want to steal my idea?

No, but I might want to pay you for it I like what I see. But nothing in the Deal makes that mandatory.

Isn't this just a backhanded way of mocking indie games?

Certainly not. I just believe I have a perspective on things that you might not get otherwise.

Fuck you, you arrogant bastard! I'm gonna mock you on a messageboard and/or send you hate mail!

I can live with that. Make sure you repost this in its entirety before you get on with it, though. Selective editing is for the weak.



* I'd love to see a second edition Dead Inside. It feels a lot bigger than its page count.

You want Critique? I'll give you the Deal

So, over in small press land there's a bunch of drama about whether or not somebody's game sucked and was ready for show or not. There's fear of a culture of yes-people, versus fear that this is really camouflage for people wrestling for control of the scene.

I'd like to help. Here's the Deal:

Submission: You, the self-publisher, send me your game in word-processing manuscript form, to m AT mobunited dot com. I don't want its "ashcan" or more graphics than absolutely necessary to run the game.

Playtest: I will playtest the game with my group. I might also playtest with an open group of players drawn from my community. You will receive subjective documentation of each playtest culled from the game and post-game discussion.

Redlines: I will then redline your draft for conceptual and stylistic content.

The Honour System: You will get it back and do whatever the hell you want with it. Edit it according to my notes or not, I don't care. It's up to you.

But here's the honour system part: If you feel that I have assisted you in refining your game, I expect you, on your honour, to do two things:

Pay me 20 bucks. This is primarily symbolic; you acknowledge that you got something of financial value from the process and I buy pizza for my family or some widget for the house. I accept US, Canadian and Canadian Tire currency.

Credit me. Your published game will include the following credit:

"Developmental assistance via The Deal, by Malcolm Sheppard (http://www.mobunited.com)"

You should also add the names I give you to the list of playtesters.

Send me the revision.

Again, I don't need the published version, though you can send it if you want.

But aren't you some kind of mad-dog asshole who hates all things indie?

In certain contexts I probably am a bit of a jerk. Of course, if I really hate indie games I'm sure a fool for owning a bunch of them, aren't I? My opinions of individual games don't really depend on their source. They depend on how much I feel driven to use them, in whole or in part and how much I find them influencing my own play/design/writing process.

Here's a set of opinions that will help you get to know where I stand. I like Burning Empires, The Burning Wheel (though I like BE better), Truth and Justice, Dead Inside*, The Riddle of Steel and Spirit of the Century. I think Sorcerer's okay, though I used to like it a bit more. I like The Shadow of Yesterday a bit less than the Burning X's and such, but I especially like Keys (which are a more focused counterpart of a system I'd designed when I was working on Dominion). I didn't like Paladin.

And incidentally, I don't hold with strong pro- or anti-immersion arguments.

If I don't think I can give your work a fair shake I just won't talk to you. I can think of maybe 2-3 people that applies to and none of them are involved in any of the recent arguments. No, not even you, guy-who-thinks-I'm-talking-about-you.

No, I don't hold with the artistic or economic theories in the indie community. You won't get any commentary from me about Big Model compliance. You'll get comments about what my group and I liked and disliked. I have no interest in ad hominem input either way.

And if you want to mend fences or start conversations, this is the way to do it.

What if I break the Deal?

If I run across a published copy of the game that is substantially (not just slightly) altered according to my redlines but does not include credit or payment, I will loudly ask if that game's designer has broken the Deal. With examples.

Why are you doing this?

Because, believe it or not, I want the creator-owned tier to flourish, to the point where I've put a substantial amount of my own time and money toward helping creators I know bring out the best in their work.

It also serves as a promotional tool for me that's actually fun instead of onerous.

Do you want to steal my idea?

No, but I might want to pay you for it I like what I see. But nothing in the Deal makes that mandatory.

Isn't this just a backhanded way of mocking indie games?

Certainly not. I just believe I have a perspective on things that you might not get otherwise.

Fuck you, you arrogant bastard! I'm gonna mock you on a messageboard and/or send you hate mail!

I can live with that. Make sure you repost this in its entirety before you get on with it, though. Selective editing is for the weak.



* I'd love to see a second edition Dead Inside. It feels a lot bigger than its page count.