Do game designers write books in the way they are actually used?

That is, I buy a game beause I intend to run it. COnequently I then have to teach it to my players. This means that games with massive infodumps or enormously complex systems are a no no (though that's not the only reason I choose certain games). Is this the norm or should designers accept that, per group, only one person will buy the game and that person is invariably the gm?

It varies. Some games (WFRP, D&D, Mutants & Masterminds etc.) are explicitly designed to be used at the table, and have a thorough breakdown of rules and their applications, backed up by a solid index. Others (Exalted: The Fair Folk) are a complete mess from a design pov, seemingly written as an extended fiction tract where one has to go spelunking to garner any useful information. A gamebook shouldn't read like a novel, there should be clear breaks between fluff and crunch, otherwise the entire point is defeated.

I think some designers are cognisant of the fact that many groups have a single person who maked the bulk of the groups purchases, but how they can translate that knowledge into a solid design approach beyond making things as accessible as possible-- including plenty of handouts and the like --is a bit of a mystery to me.

Sensible game design will include sections for both GMs and players (beyond core books) and delineate those sections so that they are immediately recognisable as such. At least in theory, this means that there is the possibility that more than one person in a group buys the books. It's a hazy theory though as the designer can never be sure who buys the end product. Some kind of questionaire as to who buys which books may inform them better and allow them to tailor books better. As i said though, it's an inexact science.

There are two variables in selling to players.
1) Do players want it?
2) Will the GM tolerate it?

Want is maximized by offering power bloat and genre drift. Players like being important. They like being powerful. They like being 'cool.' They like upstaging the plot and being different.
Tolerability is maximized by the appearance of play balance and continuity.

Systems are on a spectrum from least to most GM authority.
1) CCGs and Games Workshop where players are essentially powerless to resist the inclusion of new rules.
2) Fool proof games like oWoD and D&D 3.x where players can add just about anything to an existing campaign. Splatbooks are a big part of this market and written primarily for players.
3) GM heavy games like GURPS where books are written primarily to appeal to the GM. The inclusion of a new rulebook will have serious effects on the game world so it's padded with GM advice.
4) Strict simulation of a genre. The REAL rulebook is the original Star Trek series by which all others are harshly judged (and pinched).
5) GM fiat. The GM is the only one qualified to make rules.

If your players never ever buy rulebooks you're probably playing between 3 and 5.

I've never known players who also buy the game; we never play enough to warrant the purchase (rpg books are always designed to be as expensive as possible which i find strange) and as I run the game, no one else will. Not that they shouldn't but everyone has their games, just how it is.

Quote from: malleus arianorumIf your players never ever buy rulebooks you're probably playing between 3 and 5.

Hmm... Option #2 is probably the closest thing to Nobilis, even though it's splatless and I'd never expect any of the players to actually purchase the book.

A 2) would be where players spend RL money on rulebooks to buy in game power and options. By "add anything you want" I mean add anything found in a new rulebook.

Is Nobilis is a game where you "can play anything" but the GM has to approve whatever you come up with? That's a 5) in my way of thinking.

Quote from: malleus arianorumIs Nobilis is a game where you "can play anything" but the GM has to approve whatever you come up with? That's a 5) in my way of thinking.

The GM has the final say over initial character concepts in every RPG, but in Nobilis there's really no good reason to forbid someone from playing, well, anything, as long as it's been enNobled or has roughly equivalent power. In other words, anything between a common mortal and a true god is fair game: living cities or sentient viruses are just as valid PC possibilities as globetrotting archaeologists or corrupted alchemists, for instance, or you could easily play a freewheeling werecity who likes to explore the ruins of his ancestors...

All my players own a copy of SotC because immediately after generating characters it was obvious that we were all going to take turns GMing.  It's just too much fun on both sides.  I think the only other game that all my players have (or have tried to get a hold of) is Classic Traveller and that's mostly because the toolbox for system, wildlife, and starship generation is kind of nifty and also inspires one to GM.

So I think there's another category.

Quote from: signoftheserpentI've never known players who also buy the game; we never play enough to warrant the purchase (rpg books are always designed to be as expensive as possible which i find strange) and as I run the game, no one else will. Not that they shouldn't but everyone has their games, just how it is.

As far as expense goes, this is old, old, old territory and has multiple facets:

1) RPGs have lots of competition for the consumer's dollar. No matter what you think the superiorities of roleplaying as entertainment are, many others don't necessarily see it this way.

2) RPGs are a niche product. Production runs are often in the thousands and do not approach the numbers of, say, a number one best seller.

3) Game companies have had to adjust to financial realities and actually price books to make a profit.

#1 means that RPGs need to be able to catch and hold the buyer's interest. So we get full color, glossy pages, slick layouts, good art, good writing. Graphic design became a must have for rpgs. If you don't think this is important, market an RPG today with a manila cardstock cover, typewritten, no illustrations and held together with brass paper fasteners and see what happens. It's also a feedback loop - once the first company published a hard cover book with decent illustrations the pot was spoiled for everyone else. Consumers began to expect it. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if consumers pass up anything that doesn't meet the production standards they've come to expect.

Combined with #2, we get a relatively high quality product that cannot benefit fully from volume pricing - which drives the price up. When you put #3 into the mix, it means they can't sell you that hardcover, glossy full color book for $20 anymore. It's gonna be $40 or $50 instead.

Quote from: signoftheserpentDo game designers write books in the way they are actually used?

That is, I buy a game beause I intend to run it. COnequently I then have to teach it to my players. This means that games with massive infodumps or enormously complex systems are a no no (though that's not the only reason I choose certain games). Is this the norm or should designers accept that, per group, only one person will buy the game and that person is invariably the gm?

Game Designers who are trying to create games that are easy to use do.

If you are trying to write a game to be actually used it needs to be put together in an easy to understand manner and rules and information should be easy to find.

Quote from: GrimGent...in Nobilis there's really no good reason to forbid someone from playing, well, anything, as long as it's been enNobled or has roughly equivalent power.

The crux of the issue is, can the player force published rules on the GM and fellow players? It varies group to group, but the tendency of the audience taken as a whole has serious implications for the game publisher.

Think of it as selling food to children.

1) Ideally (from the manufacturer's point of view) the parents are powerless to prevent children from buying junk food. This type of customer makes candy companies rich. For publishers, this is an easy win. Players are all too happy to spend real life money to get in game power and options. No GM, group consensus or tourney official restricts their purchases.

2) Other children still want junk food but the parents act to prevent obscenely unhealthy purchases. This type of customer buys cereal that is mostly sugar but with just enough nutrition to sneak under the parental radar. This is less ideal since nutrition costs more to manufacture AND has less appeal to kids. None the less, it's the only way to reach children protected by nutra-parents. This is analogous to games where splatbooks attempt to appear "not totally broken" and "not totaly devoid of roleplaying"

3) Parents are the deciders so all marketing is designed to appeal to them. Ads for children are designed to teach them how to ask the parents effectively. As my kid brother once said "I want it because... it is filled with essential minerals and vitamins!"  Publishers target this market by hiding three pages of awesome psychic powers in sixty pages of GM stuff: "How psychic powers affect commerce," "psychic plot ideas" and so forth. For the most part, only GMs buy this kind of product (although I've had a couple of players give me copies in hopes that the GM sections would persuade me to allow the player stuff.)

4) Parents read health magazines and make the decisions accordingly. The only way to reach this market is by being featured in their health magazines. This is like a publisher of Star Trek games. They can only hope that the series features enough new stuff to write about. If Trek is canceled or recycles the same material this market is out of reach. (Groups 1,2 and 3 might buy non-canon Trek materials but group 4 will not by definition.) The point is, some authority beyond your control determines what you can or can't sell to these turkeys.

5) These parents grow their own food. You'll never see a penny. Roleplayers like this might be nostalgic fans with hearts full of luv or roleplaying geniuses that have long since transcended the limitations of roleplaying as we know it -- but they're useless from a revenue standpoint.

Anyway they're guidelines. I try to catagorize games before I get into them. Type 1 games are crazy expensive. Type 2 groups are easy to find. Type 3 games are a bargain if I'm GMing. I don't choose types 4 & 5 -- they choose me.

Quote from: malleus arianorumThe crux of the issue is, can the player force published rules on the GM and fellow players?

In the case of Nobilis, those published rules are exceedingly simple and comprehensive enough to cover everything from shopping to playing catch and toss with stars plucked from the sky. Everyone at the table knows what should be possible with any given power level. For instance, if someone really wished to play a man who can turn into a great city or vice versa, this shapeshifting ability could be customized during chargen as an uncommon Gift based on a Major Change of the Self, with a simple Activation, a local effect and the flexibility of just one trick, for the total cost of 5 character points. The cost could be reduced significantly if the player makes the Activation more difficult or only wants to become a small part of the city at a time (although that would also increase the Utility value); and of course if the PC is the Marquis of Cities or some such thing, he could just have the Elemental Gift and be done with it. This is not an ability that appears anywhere in the book itself, but it's nevertheless designed perfectly according to the system for creating personal powers and abilities. It's not unreasonable to expect the GM to use the rules as written, as well, and let you know about any possible houserules which might make a difference. That's true of all RPGs.

(And in case you are wondering how a werecity might come about... Well, there are many ways. Some godlike entity might descend to Earth and instead of claiming a city as its realm, he might pierce its soul with a shard of divinity, turning the entirety of it into a Noble. Or perhaps all of New York falls in love with a celebrated artist, and a little while later they have a very special child. Or maybe it's a nanotechnological construct from a lost timeline or an alien world, looking for a new home to the civilization which it shelters within itself. The possibilities are endless.)