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RPG Heartbreaker Quest

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vali said:
Having people actually pay attention to our game, and give it serious reviews, is incredibly unrealistic. And people are actually paying for our stuff? So far, I was assuming we were self-publishing, in which case the game would be published, our mother would buy a single copy, and it would be promptly forgotten. Are you telling me we're being backed by a real publishing company now?

I'm sorry, but if you aren't going to take this quest seriously, I'm not sure I can continue playing.
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No, I'm saying you're selling it on DriveThruRPG PDF only, like a lot of other bad RPGs are. :p

I have intensively researched this quest.

See?

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/138463/Kromore-Roleplaying-Game
 
MJ12 Commando said:
No, I'm saying you're selling it on DriveThruRPG PDF only, like a lot of other bad RPGs are. :p

I have intensively researched this quest.
See?
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/138463/Kromore-Roleplaying-Game
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... I was going to joke that there's only one review, by Ted, who's probably just a sock-puppet account for the guy that made the game, but apparently they had a kickstarter and backed by 300 people and they raised 20k. That's actually really impressive. I know in the book publishing industry, the average payment for your first book published by one of the major publishers is roughly $5000. So for an indie game studio to get 4 times that is pretty good.

I think most serious content creators would love to get bad reviews. Nothing is more crushing than spending all your free time for two years on a labor of love, putting it out there, and getting one review that's just "TLDR".
 
[X] Insinuate that the reviewers don't know what they're talking about.

Look, there's no way the reviewers know what they're talking about. I extensively tested this game with real roleplayers, not rollplayers, and they had things work fine! Like, come on, these guys are literally months behind. There's no way they've found bugs which our extensive playtesting hadn't found - and if they "found" bugs, they're clearly deliberately reading the rules badly. You just have to use your common sense to read the rules ... oh wait, my mistake. Yes, I could see why a lot of so-called "reviewers" might not be able to do that.

But you know, when it comes down to it, I'm a professional published game designer, and who are they? They're just a bunch of armchair theorists throwing popcorn from the back seats, so excuse me if I don't listen to them.
 
[X] Retreat to an internet hugbox.

Look, these reviewers are armchair designers who haven't got the first clue of what they're talking about. Let's find some people who actually appreciate our amazing game and all the effort we've put into it.
 
open_sketchbook said:
... that thing pulled 20k?

Jesus, what am I doing wrong?
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One of the backers donated at the $2,500 level. Final amount raised was $24,924.

Us bitter cynics don't stand a chance against the hopeless naive optimism of the world, I guess.

Reward for backing at 2.5k level: "Content Creator: Not only will these backers receive four collectors editions, but they'll help create a new race and planet that exists in the Kromore universe. Their ideas will then become the next adventure module content. We will include a small section of their ideas in the Kromore core book with custom artwork. A printed and custom one of a kind piece will be shipped to them along with their reward package."

[X] Start a kickstarter for our RPG. Get our mom to be the first backer.
 
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[X] Listen to the criticism, research game design, and do better next time.
-[x] Listen to ALL the criticism and wind up with a frankensteinien monster that manages to be worse.

This happens way too often. The criticism is often superficial, and generally a thinly veiled attempt to promote their own favorite mechanic. Or are good advice that happen to be mutually exclusive. Or Internet Experts talking based on stuff their favorite designers has promoted.

You need to design to a purpose, and one size fits all design...works best if you are designing a light structure to run collaborative storytelling on. Anything else, especially the game side of things...is complicated.
 
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Update 11: The End
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    • [X] Insinuate that the reviewers don't know what they're talking about.
    -[X] Through a drunken Youtube rant.
    [x] Retreat to an internet hugbox.

    How dare they disparage your brilliance! Didn't you give them exactly what they asked for? You post a scathing rebuttal to the reviews on their websites and youtube. It gets rather embarrassing and turns out to be a bad PR move, but by the time you realize it, it's far too late and you retreat to the handful of people who somehow like your game, no matter its poor design decisions or badly thought out setting fluff.

    Your game is forgotten a few years later except as an obscure in-joke. You eventually stop making games and find a different career. Unlike Raven c.s. McCracken, it probably doesn't involve pornography. It turns out this might be for the best, because you're making more money than a RPG designer does.

    THANK YOU FOR PLAYING
     
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