Hi all,
Ok, we've made it about 6 games into the Game Design Workshop, and have a nice backlog of games that will take us into the next year. I think this is a good time to ask whether people are happy with the format, whether things ought to change, etc.
The one thing I would probably be most open to hearing proposals on is whether 2 weeks still seems like a good length of time, or whether going to 1 week would be more appropriate. I think we have enough games that for the near future, we could handle going to one game per week; this would give all of us a chance to put second games into the rotation, which might be nice for the more prolific designers among us. And since new members are joining the site daily, and asking to have their games workshopped, I think we can handle the pace. Whether we want to go that fast, though, is another matter. I think the 2 weeks gives people enough time to have a thorough discussion of the games, yet in practice, it seems that most of the discussion happens in the first week.
So, I welcome your suggestions and comments, and as always, we'll let majority rule.
-Jeff
My personal opinion is that maybe a "lag" is overly complex. Why not just have a new game come up every week, and if you want to comment on an "old" game, you can? I know that even though my slot is over, I am perfectly willing to continue talking about my game if people would like to do that; I'm sure that's true of everyone else as well. I don't really think the approach of "I'll have a revision up after week 1" works or is desirable. But I do like to hear updates about how people's playtests have gone, and what changes they've made, what problems have come up with the suggestions we made. No need to try to lock that in to a 2 week schedule.
I don't think going to 10 days is a good idea. It's much easier to keep track of a fixed day of the week then a fixed day of the month. If it's "every Sunday, a new game comes out", I think that's a much better approach than "a new game comes out the 1st, 11th, and 21st of the month".
One thing I want to emphasize yet again is that this is a collaborative process, not a charity service. If your game is going to be Workshopped, PLEASE make an effort to give some input into other people's games. It is not necessary to follow the entire discussion that a game will generate; it's ok if you duplicate someone else's comments. Just read the game rules, and fire off a couple of paragraphs telling what you think about it. This is not a big commitment we're asking for, and it's only fair if you're going to ask people to do that for you that you'd extend them the same courtesy.
Finally, if you guys want to workshop the CGD it's ok by me, but I think that given that that one is a collaborative project anyway, and that people who are interested in it are already involved in it, I'm not sure how much feedback you will really generate. But, you could take a vote and decide if it's something everyone wants to do...
Anyway, I'm willing to make the change if there is a little more support. In fact, let's have one more day of discussion, then I'll place a vote up here and we can decide by the weekend whether we want to go with 1 week workshop sessions, or stick with 2.
-Jeff