OHT,
I've been an avid consumer of your now lengthy Stone Horizons thread. Through interruptions by questionners and breaks for breath, you've managed to keep your game on track. I know that you're compiling all the notes into a document (for eventual release) and I was wondering if you found designing in a forum style helps the process?

Does it make life easier?
Is the immediate feedback useful?
Are you worried that people might be put off: they see only the work in progress and not the final, groomed product?
Are there any tips or pitfalls you might want to share with others?
You've been at it for 18 months now. How do you keep your motivation?
Do you have a plan to set an end date?
Do you think you would have got this far designing in a more traditional method (whatever that is)?

My apologies for making this public. After writing it, I thought others might benefit from your answers - those thinking about designing in-forum and those who might fancy a new avenue of design to meander down. Feel free to ignore the questions entirely!

Quote from: Rob Lang;276288OHT,
I've been an avid consumer of your now lengthy Stone Horizons thread. Through interruptions by questionners and breaks for breath, you've managed to keep your game on track. I know that you're compiling all the notes into a document (for eventual release) and I was wondering if you found designing in a forum style helps the process?

Hi Rob! I'll endevour to answer your questions as best i can!

QuoteDoes it make life easier?

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Maybe some clarification?

QuoteIs the immediate feedback useful?

Definitely. If you're floating around an idea in your head, but aren't sure of its utility, having other opinions on hand (especially from experienced publishers) is great.
 

QuoteAre you worried that people might be put off: they see only the work in progress and not the final, groomed product?

Nope. Many people have doubtless been put off, and continue to be put off, but others have surely become interested, as well. I have had moments where i was worried that some of my ideas might be stolen (by other publishers, not forum users!), but if you choose to go this kind of public route, that's the risk you run. Take the rough with the smooth.

QuoteAre there any tips or pitfalls you might want to share with others?

Be nice. If someone disagrees with something you're posted, take it on the chin and thank them for taking the time to read your stuff.
 

QuoteYou've been at it for 18 months now. How do you keep your motivation?

Strange as it may seem, my development thread here has had a large bearing on my plodding onwards with Stone Horizons. This thread has kept my motivation going as much as any other factor (probably because this is my first solo effort).

QuoteDo you have a plan to set an end date?

Well, the first playtest is already underway. Once i have data from that, we'll see about setting a release date in stone.

QuoteDo you think you would have got this far designing in a more traditional method (whatever that is)?

You know what? I don't think i would have. This might be a combination of factors. 1. This is my first solo designing project, so my insecure self might have needed some reassurance from time to time. 2. Stone Horizons is, to my knowledge, quite unique in its scope and theme and therefore it has helped to have a public forum in which to air that and receive the thoughts of others on the development of the product.

QuoteMy apologies for making this public. After writing it, I thought others might benefit from your answers - those thinking about designing in-forum and those who might fancy a new avenue of design to meander down. Feel free to ignore the questions entirely!

No worries, Rob!

Thanks for the info. I am tempted to follow your lead on a victorian game I have in mind but I tend to plough through hundreds of paragrpahs in one go. A self propelled inertia.

By 'Does it make life easier', I meant is it easier to design in small chunks in separate posts rather than in a single, well organised document? Do you find you're searching a lot back through past posts trying to find out what you said about X or Y?

Looking forward to seeing it come to fruition!

Quote from: Rob Lang;276347Thanks for the info.

No problem.

QuoteBy 'Does it make life easier', I meant is it easier to design in small chunks in separate posts rather than in a single, well organised document? Do you find you're searching a lot back through past posts trying to find out what you said about X or Y?

Ah, gotcha. Perhaps what has been posted to the development thread gives the impression that i've been posting exactly what i have written for the product. This isn't accurate - i just post a taster or two of what i have written to give an idea of how that particular section is taking shape. I haven't been designing in note form and posting everything here. I write what i hope to see in the final product and post 1 or 2 snippets here. For example, yesterday i posted a paragraph explaining an Attribute for Lurking Menaces. That section is about 7 pages long in the document and includes guidance on how to create profiles for Lurking Menaces and building a suite of Attributes to give them a theme- i just wanted to post a taster of what you can expect from that section.

The document stands at over 200 pages at the moment - i expect this will be nearer 300 by the time of release (the total for both initial books).

I expect the total number of pages from that document found in the development thread is no greater than 20 or so from an actual game document of 200 or so (as it stands at the moment).

No need to worry that a publisher will steal your ideas, Dan! The one thing we all have is tons of ideas. I post my own in various threads, and I never worry that someone will steal them. That may be because the ideas suck, but I prefer to believe that other publishers would just as soon develop their own ideas.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;276379No need to worry that a publisher will steal your ideas, Dan! The one thing we all have is tons of ideas. I post my own in various threads, and I never worry that someone will steal them. That may be because the ideas suck, but I prefer to believe that other publishers would just as soon develop their own ideas.

-clash

Yep, that's pretty much it. I have no problem with sharing my ideas because so many others view my ideas as craptastic. Fortunately, I create games for selfish reasons. I enjoy the creation process. I enjoy seeing a project grow from an idea seed into a full blown work.

I have often toyed with the idea of making the creation process transparent in a public forum (just as One Horse Town has done). Evil Hat has had success doing it, generating buzz, etc. My ideas, however, generate little interest in the gaming public, so any forum thread would just be filled with my posts. And what's the point of that?

I have enjoyed the Stone Horizons thread, just I have enjoyed Evil Hat's transparency with the development of The Dresden Files.      

Keep it up!

Quote from: flyingmice;276379No need to worry that a publisher will steal your ideas, Dan! The one thing we all have is tons of ideas. I post my own in various threads, and I never worry that someone will steal them. That may be because the ideas suck, but I prefer to believe that other publishers would just as soon develop their own ideas.

-clash

Sure.

I know it's not a big risk, but as it's my first effort, i'd be lying if i said it hadn't crossed my mind from time to time.

As it is, if i had just worked away at it without anyone knowing, given that i'm an unknown, i doubt it would have gained more than a glance otherwise.

I'd steal your ideas, OHT. They're great! That is, if I wasn't obsessed with freeness.

I'd imagine that if someone made something popular with blatantly your content on it then the internet would be in uproar. There is nothing the internet enjoys more than ranting about some sort of social justice!