Am I wasting my time writing an rpg despite having no players (ie playtesters)?

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;395025Am I wasting my time writing an rpg despite having no players (ie playtesters)?

Not necessarily.

Every aspiring game designer should design their own rpg game, just to see how much work and effort goes into such a thing.  (Not necessarily publishing it).  The debugging phase will probably be the hardest and longest part to get done, whether it is a tabletop pen-and-paper rpg or a computer rpg game.

If one doesn't have any players, in principle one can write a computer program to go through encounters several thousand times, to check whether the rules work as intended.  Though real human players can find all kinds of unanticipated bugs and loopholes, which a computer program wouldn't be able to find so easily.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;395025Am I wasting my time writing an rpg despite having no players (ie playtesters)?

Beethoven could write gorgeous music despite being deaf. Unfortunately, I'm not even close to Beethoven, so I need my playtesters, both Alpha and Beta. I don't know if you are Beethoven or not, so I can't advise you further.

-clash

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;395025Am I wasting my time writing an rpg despite having no players (ie playtesters)?

You have an internet connection and belong to an rpg forum.  You shouldn't have trouble finding people to try your game.  Keep working.

Quote from: winkingbishop;395032You have an internet connection and belong to an rpg forum.  You shouldn't have trouble finding people to try your game.  Keep working.

HA! For every 10 people who Beta test for me, one of them actually gives solid feedback. This is with solidly Alpha tested rules - when it goes to Beta, the rules *work*. Distributed Alpha testing would be a freaking nightmare!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;395043HA! For every 10 people who Beta test for me, one of them actually gives solid feedback. This is with solidly Alpha tested rules - when it goes to Beta, the rules *work*. Distributed Alpha testing would be a freaking nightmare!

-clash

So if he gets 100 people on board that should be at least 10 decent reports, right? Could be worse.  Hey, just trying to encourage the man.

Quote from: winkingbishop;395044So if he gets 100 people on board that should be at least 10 decent reports, right? Could be worse.  Hey, just trying to encourage the man.

I know, but I don't want to sugar coat it either. It can be done, but it'll be a stone bitch. If GW is cool with that, at least he's walking into it with his eyes open.

-clash

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;395025Am I wasting my time writing an rpg despite having no players (ie playtesters)?

I don't think it would be a waste of time. If nothing else, it will give you some insight into the process and you are smart enough to translate that into playing and running better RPGs.

Write it and they will come...as long as the word gets out you will have no problem finding play testers.

Good God, yes!

Put that crap down and go drink something.  

Danger - always the voice of reason in these hurly-burly times

I'm wondering if i should put stuff up as a blog, though i tried that before and got zero interest!

the rules are nearly finished, albeit with zero playtesting.

codifying the setting comes next.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;395123I'm wondering if i should put stuff up as a blog, though i tried that before and got zero interest!

the rules are nearly finished, albeit with zero playtesting.

codifying the setting comes next.

Really, with all the online tools at your disposal, getting some playtesters to have a look at your game is eminently possible. Or, perhaps asking for feedback on chunks of the mechanics prior to even hitting that stage?

There's plenty of places to post (like right here!) to ask "What do you think of character creation?", or "Does this combat example hit the right notes?" If you go through a decent amount of feedback prior to even playtesting, that would give potential testers a much easier time of it, with rules that have been commented on and had a critical eye cast over them.

Don't despair though! Getting feedback can be a process of trial and error, but it's well worth it in the end.

Oh yes: I should mention that we set up The Collective Endeavour to help people with design and publishing issues, and to help people make the kind of connections that allow them to develop their games.

Cheers
Malcolm

coll. end. cool resource there...
Posting some of the mechanics to get feedback etc. before playing seems like a great idea. Here, The forge or wherever...sure you would get lots of replies and ideas!

I've posted a couple of ideas before but there was an issue about context - ie the whole rules needed to be seen. Im not sure a forum is the best place to dump that kind of detail.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;395170I've posted a couple of ideas before but there was an issue about context - ie the whole rules needed to be seen. Im not sure a forum is the best place to dump that kind of detail.

Having been down the same road quite a few times, I know how tough it can be to get meaningful feedback. One of the barriers that people often find is the reading of a lengthy document that hasn't had editing, layout, or anything done to make it more accessible. Like any first draft, it is what it is: a first draft.

I've found that breaking things down in manageable chunks and getting feedback on those chunks really pays dividends. You're asking people to devote less time to it, and you're getting feedback on specific things that you can work on while you post other system chunks up for feedback of their own.

So, you could split things down into getting responses on:

1) Character creation
2) Task/conflict resolution
3) Combat (if it has significant differences from number 2)
4) GM advice

And so on and so forth. From my own point of view, I really do like this approach. But, your mileage may vary, and everyone has their own preferred means of getting feedback that is genuinely helpful to them.

Cheers
Malcolm