Quote from: BalbinusThe Hex guys rock on toast.

Thanks for posting the link, Balbinus. I hadn't gotten over here to do it myself until now.

Also, thanks for bringing up that little oversight. I'm happy to fix those things whenever possible.

Jeff Combos
Exile Game Studio
//www.exilegames.com

Sample adventures don't really work for me, as a consumer or a writer. They're restrictive, don't get used very often and eat up space in the book. Maybe seperately as a download or something.

Quote from: David JohansenCheap entry point games.  Though I'll give ICE cudos.  HARP Lite is 100 pages and free.  That's what I'm talking about.

Yes. A thousand times, yes. Games with fat-ass quick starts (e.g., HARP, The Riddle of Steel) or a self-contained, one book, rule set with a small sticker price (e.g., C&C) are very attractive to hobby newcomers.

Quote from: GRIMSample adventures don't really work for me, as a consumer or a writer. They're restrictive, don't get used very often and eat up space in the book. Maybe seperately as a download or something.

See, I am entirely the opposite. I always include an introductory adventure to better convey what adventure is to be had in the setting. I like them in other games for similar reasons.

Bill

Quote from: HinterWeltSee, I am entirely the opposite. I always include an introductory adventure to better convey what adventure is to be had in the setting. I like them in other games for similar reasons.

I like them for basically those reasons—they tell me how the designers and authors think the game should run—but I, too, would rather they be available elsewhere.

Seanchai

Do books as 3 ring binder style so you can easily replace pages that have errors on them by printing out the page with the correction on it and putting it in.

Another thing would be to make books with a B&W option so they can be printed out more cheaply for gamers on a budget.

But mostly I'd like to see more companies do rulesbooks as 3rb products for ease of correcting ertta and adding updates wihtout having to leaf thru printed eratta and supplements.


(BTW, last time I brought up 3rb rulesbooks ideas I got shouted down by people claiming that in their countries they used 5rb or 7 rbs, so 3rbs wouldn't work there. Well, I've solved that problem: FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING FOREIGNERS!!! I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS OR NOT!!!! IT'S HOW WE DO IT AND IF YOU DON'T DO IT THAT WAY THEN YOU CAN GO FUCK YOURSELVES!!!)

There, the objection that other countries use 5-7 rb systems is solved neatly. Since that was the only objection to more 3rb products I hope more companies start doing their stuff in that format.

Quote from: SeanchaiI like them for basically those reasons—they tell me how the designers and authors think the game should run—but I, too, would rather they be available elsewhere.

Seanchai

Not everyone has access to the internet, believe it or not, and I am against putting necessary content somewhere other than the book as a matter of principle. Even if you don't use the sample adventure, I think they are important as an indication, at least, of what the game is supposed to be about: studies have shown that one page of sample adventure is worth approx. 10 pages of flavour text.

Ned

EDIT On binder products: My own publishing experience suggests that these things are significantly more expensive than ordinary bound books to produce. The are a number of arguments against them - they are, eg, the shittiest binding possible for books that are going to see a lot of use - but are think the sheer cost of doing it is the killer.

Quote from: Dominus Nox(BTW, last time I brought up 3rb rulesbooks ideas I got shouted down by people claiming that in their countries they used 5rb or 7 rbs, so 3rbs wouldn't work there. Well, I've solved that problem: FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING FOREIGNERS!!! I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS OR NOT!!!! IT'S HOW WE DO IT AND IF YOU DON'T DO IT THAT WAY THEN YOU CAN GO FUCK YOURSELVES!!!)

There, the objection that other countries use 5-7 rb systems is solved neatly. Since that was the only objection to more 3rb products I hope more companies start doing their stuff in that format.

I know it shouldn't have, but this really did make me laugh.

I am a terrible human being, also a foreigner as it happens.

That said, I don't like ring binders because I find them a bit bulky, I don't have any trouble getting hold of 3rb though.

Quote from: Ned the Lonely DonkeyNot everyone has access to the internet, believe it or not, and I am against putting necessary content somewhere other than the book as a matter of principle. Even if you don't use the sample adventure, I think they are important as an indication, at least, of what the game is supposed to be about: studies have shown that one page of sample adventure is worth approx. 10 pages of flavour text.

That's a good point. However, everyone does have access to the Internet. They just might not have it at home.

Seanchai

Quote from: Dominus Nox(BTW, last time I brought up 3rb rulesbooks ideas I got shouted down by people claiming that in their countries they used 5rb or 7 rbs, so 3rbs wouldn't work there. Well, I've solved that problem: FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING FOREIGNERS!!! I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS OR NOT!!!! IT'S HOW WE DO IT AND IF YOU DON'T DO IT THAT WAY THEN YOU CAN GO FUCK YOURSELVES!!!)

There, the objection that other countries use 5-7 rb systems is solved neatly. Since that was the only objection to more 3rb products I hope more companies start doing their stuff in that format.

Yeah! and on your way out take that damn metric system of yours too! it makes no sense and just confuses everbody. Damn Commies...

Quote from: Dominus Nox(BTW, last time I brought up 3rb rulesbooks ideas I got shouted down by people claiming that in their countries they used 5rb or 7 rbs, so 3rbs wouldn't work there. Well, I've solved that problem: FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING FOREIGNERS!!! I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS OR NOT!!!! IT'S HOW WE DO IT AND IF YOU DON'T DO IT THAT WAY THEN YOU CAN GO FUCK YOURSELVES!!!)

I don't know which binders are standard in Australia, but I reckon a good stationary store would have all of them.  Having said that, I prefer more rings than less.

Quote from: David JohansenCheap entry point games. Though I'll give ICE cudos. HARP Lite is 100 pages and free. That's what I'm talking about.

I like the TriStat model... the generic rules are free and pretty much complete.  If you want to play in a particular genre and/or setting, then you buy a supplement like Ex Machina.
 
Shame that I don't actually like the TriStat system

Quote from: Leo KnightConcrete examples of play, with the numbers, just to show a newbie (or someone confused by unclear prose) how the rules work in practice. Runequest 1st and 2nd editions had "Rurik's Saga", IMO the best example of play ever. Tunnels and Trolls 5th edition also shone in this department.

The best ever: http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/theory/examples/redbox_example.txt

If you're going to make a game available in a digital format, make it available in a screen reading friendly fashion.  PDFs suck dong for screen reads, though they can at least be tolerable if you stick to single columns.  Better to use a compressed HTML archive of some kind.  Most fanmade games have understood this for as long as the bloody internet has been available, so I remain baffled as to why it remains so difficult for commercial producers.

Further, I wouldn't mind some support for Palm/PDA friendly formats, like Plucker or Aportisdoc.

I'd like less game fiction. WW has gotten worse on this over the years, now opening supplements with ten page short stories I'm not particularly interested in. Even D&D has started adding more of the stuff to its supplements. A page or a paragraph here and there doesn't bother me, but it's not what I'm paying for when I buy a book for a game.

I'd like fewer crappy GMing sections. By this, I mean sections of GM advice that talk in overly-abstract terms about how to establish themes or how to plot out character arcs without telling you useful specific things like "Here's how you make combat interesting" or "Here's how you set up a mystery plot".