Quote from: catty_big;620017Yep, see my self-promotion secti- er, sig.

Quote from: catty_big;620017Enough playtesting. [...] Mind you, how much playtesting is enough playtesting........?

Just enough, but not too much, of course.

Quote from: flyingmice;620033I will be publishing. You just won't hear about it.

Marketing, then?

(An aside to those more experienced in forum etiquette: is it rude to answer each post individually? I'm feeling a bit spammy here, but I'm also feeling too lazy atm to assemble all the

Quotes into one long post. If I'm being insufferable in the process, please let me know.)

Big issues with my mechanics. They're always inches from being resolved, but then I have to back up and start looking at the problem from a new perspective to get anywhere. I keep painting myself into a corner.

I still think I'm close, though.

Quote from: eykd;620042A part-time one man band--I can resonate with that. The learning curves can be killer--I usually go for the simplest thing that could possibly work. But tackling art without background or talent truly intimidates me. More power to you!

It's a learnable skill like any other. Maybe talent will make a master, but sheer bloody minded persistence will get anyone to a good level. This is a good no nonsense guide to drawing and art for beginners

http://lesswrong.com/lw/8mh/drawing_less_wrong_technical_skill/

Quote from: eykd;620051(An aside to those more experienced in forum etiquette: is it rude to answer each post individually? I'm feeling a bit spammy here, but I'm also feeling too lazy atm to assemble all the s into one long post. If I'm being insufferable in the process, please let me know.)

Use the multiquote button, right beside the quote button. Might not work if you're phoning it in so to speak.

Quote from: eykd;620051Marketing, then?

I don't know the meaning of the word!

-clash

Quote from: Monster Manuel;620083Big issues with my mechanics. [...] I still think I'm close, though.

Developing new mechanics sounds like the most difficult thing to tackle. Best of luck to you.

Quote from: The Traveller;620094It's a learnable skill like any other. [...] This is a good no nonsense guide to drawing and art for beginners

So many learnable skills, so little time. But thanks for the link.

Quote from: The Traveller;620094Use the multiquote button, right beside the quote button. Might not work if you're phoning it in so to speak.

I had idly wondered what that button was for. Multiquote, FTW!

Quote from: flyingmice;620135I don't know the meaning of the word!

Neither do I.

Quote from: eykd;620229Developing new mechanics sounds like the most difficult thing to tackle.

Designing mechanics in a vacuum satisfying some particular purely mathematical criteria, is actually not that difficult.

Whether they're useful in practice in a real game, is a whole entirely different ballgame.

Quote from: eykd;619983We're well into January, with elevenish months left in 2013. Here's my question for you: what's keeping you from publishing something this year?

By publishing, I'm casting a wide net, from full-on pro hardcover to self-publishing a PDF.

GMs: You're full of good ideas. Your players love your campaigns. What keeps you from writing up your best stuff and selling a PDF?

Designers: You've got a great set of tables for X, a great new mechanism for Y, and they'd be perfect with your setting Z. What's keeping you out of the Drive-Thru?

Small Publishers: You're already publishing something, but surely there's even more that you're not publishing. What's in the way?

I'm not looking to start a moan-fest, I just want to know the sticking points and the sources of friction that keep you out of the market. I recognize that these things are *hard*, but what, specifically, is hard to you?

Quote from: Black Vulmea;620013I don't choose to turn my hobby into work.

If you are talking about commercially publishing stuff, the above is my answer.

If youa re talking about slapping a PDF together and putting it for download in my blog, the answer is my newborn baby.

Quote from: eykd;619983It's 2013: what's keeping you from publishing something this year?

Nothing.

Quote from: flyingmice;620135I don't know the meaning of the word!

-clash

Nor do I. I'm only on one or two forums; I never talk about my own games in forum threads; I don't assiduously scan the forums for notices of new cons and games clubs where I could potentially demo my games. Nope, marketing- hopeless at it. Btw, check out my sig for games I'm currently working on .

Quote from: Black Vulmea;620013I don't choose to turn my hobby into work.

I don't think about game design as work, I think about it as something enjoyable that I do and for which I might at some point get some remuneration for. That way (a) it's not a chore and (b) I won't be disappointed when all my hopes and dreams of being the next Gary Gygax eventually crumble into dust.

Quote from: Imperator;620338If youa re talking about slapping a PDF together and putting it for download in my blog, the answer is my newborn baby.

My blog and my campaign wiki are as close to 'publishing' as I care to get.

Even putting together a .pdf is more work than I care to take on.

Quote from: catty_big;621047I don't think about game design as work, I think about it as something enjoyable that I do and for which I might at some get some remuneration for.

If I'm writing for anyone other than myself, it's work. I can take shortcuts when I'm preparing something solely for my own use.

Not worth it.

Quote from: Black Vulmea;620013I don't choose to turn my hobby into work.

I'm sad to say that since RPGs cannot feed me, put a roof over my head, or allow me to live in hobbit-like comfort, I choose to concentrate my energies on a career that does.  However, I pass the savings onto those with the cojones to publish their awesome RPG material

Also, I suck and have no good ideas

Quote from: Black Vulmea;621053If I'm writing for anyone other than myself, it's work. I can take shortcuts when I'm preparing something solely for my own use.

Not worth it.

Fair enough.

Quote from: The Were-Grognard;621059I'm sad to say that since RPGs cannot feed me, put a roof over my head, or allow me to live in hobbit-like comfort, I choose to concentrate my energies on a career that does.  However, I pass the savings onto those with the cojones to publish their awesome RPG material

Also, I suck and have no good ideas

Aw man, I'm sure that's not true . And, while I may have cojones, as an indie publisher I suspect I should get used to being frequently kicked in them by forum reviewers and having them broken by game stores. But, erm, as said indie publisher, I'm liking the idea of garnering a small fraction of those savings...

I hope to be publishing in late 2013.

I've had to deal with real life bullshit for the past couple of years that dared to take priority over my vanity publishing, but I should have that crap conquered soon enough.

I have given up on "acceptable" artwork. The ROI (return on investment) is very questionable. The baseline assumption of "good" artwork has gone insane in the past two decades.

Of course, its a double edged sword. If you don't spend enough on artwork, then how do you catch eyeballs? Because everyone is fucking liar and we all judge books by their covers.

My other problem is settling on which RPG to publish. I have 4 games that are in the 50% to 70% completion stage. All have been playtested, some with repeated "editions" as I rebuilt game mechanics.

I have a good eye for layout and did advertising-publishing way back when for business so I know the basics. More importantly, you can find so much layout advice and tool online for free.
 

Quote from: flyingmice;620033I will be publishing. You just won't hear about it.

That's a bad combo. There are lots of free guerrilla marketing resources on the web and at your local library. The ROI for your time might be quite good.