By which I don't mean systemwise, that doesn't much interest me, I mean conceptwise.

Recently on rpg.net Greg Stolze started a thread asking what wasn't out there that people wanted, there was a clear winner, an awful lot of people requested a professional sports rpg.

Not an rpg in which you play professional sports folk who get abducted into an interstellar war, or where they fight monsters by night, but one where the party are members of a professional sports team and the challenges are those sports professionals face.

It was interesting, a genuinely different concept to the bulk of rpg play and there was clearly appetite, but almost nothing caters to it and the few that do tend to be very freeform and indie which is not frankly what most people are looking for.

Similarly, there are no or damn few political or business based rpgs, I mean trad rpgs but ones in which instead of killing for profit you face political challenges (not necessarily in a democracy either) or where you are a startup trying to succeed in business.

I've been playing Sid Meier's Railroads recently, a flawed but interesting computer game, you could easily have an rpg in which the party are breaking into the railroad business in the old West.

And I'm not even touching on the bizarre lack of police procedurals in gaming, one Gurps book does not a genre make.

So, what other broad ideas are out there that are untapped?  I don't mean say Renaissance Italy or some specific setting, I mean concepts.  Police procedurals, politics, business, professional sports.  The only people even considering these tend to be the indie crowd and their game design precepts tend to leave me pretty cold, where are the trad design games for these concepts?

Also, what other concepts are not even being touched but would be well suited to party based cooperative play?

UN Inspection teams

SAR and/or Coast Guard teams

Firefighting crews

Alaskan fishing boat crews

Space Shuttle crews

It's interesting...I wrote a fun baseball solo RPG that I played through two full seasons of 96+ games. You made your team and played against other teams, there were playoffs, pinch hitting, pitcher modifiers, all that. It was moderately realistic. I so got off on rolling d1000 to hit when my guy came up to bat.

Never even considered writing it up for anyone else though, let alone selling it. One friend (a Harvard-trained lawyer) thought I could use the mechanics to predict games though.

For a long time I've wanted to write a Hussade RPG, but who'd buy it?

A Baseball RPG sounds awesome!

-clash

I still think that Doctors Without Borders idea is an interesting concept. The logistics of getting aid, the politcs of aid agencies , the danger of working in hostile area, etc. *shrug* I tried to do something like this and it blew up in my face.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: SigmundUN Inspection teams

SAR and/or Coast Guard teams

Firefighting crews

Alaskan fishing boat crews

Space Shuttle crews

Some of those are very specific, I was thinking broader concepts, so rescue teams I think is a broad concept but Alaskan boat fishing crew is really a specific situation.  

I'm thinking more fundamental genres here, I said professional sports for example, not Chinese athletics team.  That said, rescue operations are I think a real one and an example with real drama and risk, but make it too specific and you have no long term play value.

Quote from: David RI still think that Doctors Without Borders idea is an interesting concept. The logistics of getting aid, the politcs of aid agencies , the danger of working in hostile area, etc. *shrug* I tried to do something like this and it blew up in my face.

Regards,
David R

How so?  What went wrong?

To expand on concepts as opposed to situations:

If I have a game like say DnD, I can tailor it to a wide range of settings.  It is a good engine for adventure based fantasy gaming, and is flexible within that broad genre concept.

Similarly with Traveller I can run a wide range of different SF space opera type games.

With a game about professional sports, I could run a baseball game, or ice hockey, or soccer or whatever.

With a game about rescue professionals I could run firefighters, lifeboat crews, disaster relief teams or whatever.

I could set it in the 1960s or in modern day Thailand, whatever takes my fancy.

A concept is adaptable to individual taste, a situation you kind of play what you get given.  Most successful rpgs deal in concepts, not situations (and if you want to argue that please be my guest but please start a new thread on it so we can thrash it out there).

Similarly, with a good business rpg I could run a silicon valley start up game and then next month a 19th century rail barons game.

Or I could if anyone had ever written such a game...

Quote from: BalbinusSome of those are very specific, I was thinking broader concepts, so rescue teams I think is a broad concept but Alaskan boat fishing crew is really a specific situation.  

I'm thinking more fundamental genres here, I said professional sports for example, not Chinese athletics team.  That said, rescue operations are I think a real one and an example with real drama and risk, but make it too specific and you have no long term play value.

True enough... all that just popped out after about 20 seconds thought on the subject. So, drop the Alaskan, and say commercial fishing boat crew (or perhaps any small business type modeling). Also, maybe the firefighting and SAR game would be the same, with options for both styles... especially for forest fire-fighting.

Also, I think a sports game could be very difficult for some sports. Baseball would be perfect for a normal turn-based resolution system. I think American Football could be done this way as well. It's the faster paced sports like Basketball, Hockey, Soccer, etc.. that I'm thinking might be difficult to run without abstracting too much. I think my favorite sport of Pro Cycling could be done pretty well though.

Oops, didn't read the rest of the posts... you already mentioned combining rescue genres

Quote from: BalbinusAlso, what other concepts are not even being touched but would be well suited to party based cooperative play?

It's not even entirely my idea, but I'm trying darned hard to make a game about contemporary life and work at sea.  Basing the idea on Traveller, it's totally open-ended in its application.  My personal emphasis is on underwater salvage and search and rescue, but trade rules will allow for small-scale mercantile gaming, and combat rules will allow for national coastal patrol campaigns.  Feasibly, the game could be taken completely onto dry land, but that's rather not the point.

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaIt's not even entirely my idea, but I'm trying darned hard to make a game about contemporary life and work at sea.  Basing the idea on Traveller, it's totally open-ended in its application.  My personal emphasis is on underwater salvage and search and rescue, but trade rules will allow for small-scale mercantile gaming, and combat rules will allow for national coastal patrol campaigns.  Feasibly, the game could be taken completely onto dry land, but that's rather not the point.

!i!

That sounds extremely cool.  Are you planning on publishing?

Neat ideas.

Is there a game out there in which you play contemporary police? No magic, no aliens? I'd love to play a game about the thin blue line.

-L

Quote from: lukeNeat ideas.

Is there a game out there in which you play contemporary police? No magic, no aliens? I'd love to play a game about the thin blue line.

-L

 Yes...and imagine that campaign climaxing with L.A.-like riots of the 1992 variety...or a September 11th or Oklahoma city-type atack/disaster.

 OR Cops...patrolling just as a major Hurricane hits like Katrina - in the middle of a gang war fight scene.

- Ed C.

Quote from: BrantaiThat sounds extremely cool.  Are you planning on publishing?

That's been a complicated issue.  Currently, I'm limited to non-commercial distribution, and the project's close resemblance to Traveller (fully and openly intended) could still turn out to be a thorny issue.

!i!

[Edit: As of this evening, prospects are definitely looking up, both for completing MARINER without legal argument, and possibly for releasing it commercially. I'm very excited, if tentatively so. ]