Here's the most frustrating thing about designing roleplaying games for me: in order for me to really sharpen the ideas, I need to play the games I create. In order to play them, I need to get together with other people.
This doesn't frustrate me because I'm an introvert -- I'm not. I'm very much a gregarious, outgoing individual, and I thrive on being around other people.
I'm frustrated because I CAN'T get together with people to play as often as I'd like. Most of the gamers I know are board gamers who only occasionally roleplay, and sometimes organizing a game takes weeks of date selection and preparation. And most of the hardcore roleplayers I know have a regular game with a dedicated group of people and usually can't game when I'm available because it would conflict with their standing game. Can't fault that, either.
But on top of that, I work 2 jobs, one of which is at my church, where I'm a worship leader. We have services on the weekends as well as midweek services, at one of which I'm usually serving. The other job is as an event DJ (weddings, parties, corporate events, etc.), which means I'm usually busy on Saturdays and most Fridays, which is when other gamers usually have the most free time.
Plus, I've got a wife who I really enjoy spending time with, so there are times that it seems crazy to hang out with other people when there's already a limited amount of time that she and I could be doing something together.
This doesn't frustrate me because I'm an introvert -- I'm not. I'm very much a gregarious, outgoing individual, and I thrive on being around other people.
I'm frustrated because I CAN'T get together with people to play as often as I'd like. Most of the gamers I know are board gamers who only occasionally roleplay, and sometimes organizing a game takes weeks of date selection and preparation. And most of the hardcore roleplayers I know have a regular game with a dedicated group of people and usually can't game when I'm available because it would conflict with their standing game. Can't fault that, either.
But on top of that, I work 2 jobs, one of which is at my church, where I'm a worship leader. We have services on the weekends as well as midweek services, at one of which I'm usually serving. The other job is as an event DJ (weddings, parties, corporate events, etc.), which means I'm usually busy on Saturdays and most Fridays, which is when other gamers usually have the most free time.
Plus, I've got a wife who I really enjoy spending time with, so there are times that it seems crazy to hang out with other people when there's already a limited amount of time that she and I could be doing something together.
I made a list last night of the games, scenarios, and systems that I've been working on, taking stock of which ones I want to share with my Patreon backers first and which ones I need to develop before sharing.
At Fear The Con 10 in 2017, I brought a game I'd been working on to the table. It was a time travel game that mechanically built in methods for you to make jumps in the characters' timeline. It was an idea that I thought would work, but when putting it into practice, it was way too open-ended for the game to have any real flow, or for the players and characters to have any real investment in what was going on. The mechanic was only half-finished. As of yet, I've not figured out how to make it better, but it's one I'm definitely going to come back to. "Make it fun" and "make it mean something" are the two filters I'm using on that one.
Last month at Fear The Con 11, I realized during the play of my game Roasters that there were a few things that worked really well, and a few things that, although nobody commented on, actually dragged the action out more than it needed to be. So I made some adjustments to help streamline the action so that the story doesn't stall when someone goes to roll for success.
I never would have been able to make these adjustments if I hadn't been able to see what the game looked like in actual play.
Last month at Fear The Con 11, I realized during the play of my game Roasters that there were a few things that worked really well, and a few things that, although nobody commented on, actually dragged the action out more than it needed to be. So I made some adjustments to help streamline the action so that the story doesn't stall when someone goes to roll for success.
I never would have been able to make these adjustments if I hadn't been able to see what the game looked like in actual play.
Taking the time to work on the games I'm designing means I have to set aside the already published games that I'd really like to play for that time, which is another frustration. But in this, being deliberate with my time is the key. I've discovered that the calendar can be my best friend. Jon Acuff, best-selling author and public speaker, talks about this a lot. Being deliberate with your time, actually marking down how you're going to spend your time throughout the week, makes the difference between merely wanting to achieve something and actually taking the necessary steps to achieve it.
This is where I'm at right now. It's a crucial time for me. Setting the dates is going to determine whether or not I'm successful in the game design venture. When my wife and I want to go on a date, we choose a day and say, "This is the day we're setting aside for us. We're planning the entire day around our activities together, and if we have time for something else, then fine. But otherwise, this is our time. It's OUR time DOWN HERE."
Same thing with game design. I usually set aside one night a week to develop an idea that I recorded during the other available idea times, but all that is for naught if I can't get the games to the table. So once a month, I'm dedicating a day or evening to testing out the games and scenarios I've written. I don't know exactly when that will be, but this is the reason I left my D&D group last year, so that I would have the time to do this.
So let's do it, already. TO THE CALENDAR!
This is where I'm at right now. It's a crucial time for me. Setting the dates is going to determine whether or not I'm successful in the game design venture. When my wife and I want to go on a date, we choose a day and say, "This is the day we're setting aside for us. We're planning the entire day around our activities together, and if we have time for something else, then fine. But otherwise, this is our time. It's OUR time DOWN HERE."
Same thing with game design. I usually set aside one night a week to develop an idea that I recorded during the other available idea times, but all that is for naught if I can't get the games to the table. So once a month, I'm dedicating a day or evening to testing out the games and scenarios I've written. I don't know exactly when that will be, but this is the reason I left my D&D group last year, so that I would have the time to do this.
So let's do it, already. TO THE CALENDAR!
Zach
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