I have recently come up with a game design, as far as this website goes what do I do with it? I heard about something called a game journal. Is there some where I can/should post the idea? I really don't know. Sorry for the Ambiguity of this question.
I have an idea for a game, now what?
Fri, 01/09/2015 - 19:12
Fri, 01/09/2015 - 19:29
#1
You can BLOG about it...
Another way is blogging about your game. I do that with my games and the ideas I have. As someone suggested, it's a good way of putting forth a design so you can call it your own. PLUS you can get feedback from other Game Designers that are on this forum.
Please note that forum topics are viewed and replied to more often than blog entries - but still people read Design Blogs.
I sometime check THIS website - because it has my most recent ideas on a particular game. Some of my local text files are out-of-date and the blog usually has the entries that are the most REFINED. It's only after I edit and review the text files, only then do I post the ideas up on BGDF...
I don't use the Game Journal - because well I prefer blogging than having all my ideas one after the other. The other thing is that I am working on several games at once (like five), so the blog allows me to explore each one and share the ideas when they come!
Fri, 01/09/2015 - 19:43
#3
Easy as pie
On the Left-Hand Side of your screen there is an option called "Create A..." and below it is "Blog entry". Click on this an you will be asked to provide a BLOG title and the content of your blog message.
Once you do that, on the Right-Hand Side of your screen, the blog entry will appear on the date your create it, add comments to it or when someone else adds a comment also...
Fri, 01/09/2015 - 22:54
#4
Echoing QuestCCG
DuelistofAges,
QuestCCG has provided you some excellent advice and I simply want to add-on that you'll have a number of players, designers, and developers who will provide feedback on your ideas. Definitely remain open to the constructive criticism and enjoy the venue for all that it has to offer.
Cheers,
Joe
Sat, 01/10/2015 - 00:49
#5
Game blogs?
Do you want to profit from your game, or do you want it in the public domain?
I'm confused about the idea of a game blog. Questccg said that it's "a good way of putting forth a design so you can call it your own," but my understanding is that this would be putting your ideas into the public domain with no legal protection whatsoever. Even with disclaimers, copyright law is so open in terms of game design that it doesn't protect mechanics in any way whatsoever, and story and setting are rarely so ingenious that someone couldn't cite a dozen other sources as their "inspiration." I could see a design blog as viable if you were a major game manufacturer, but for most people, someone could get away with ripping you off wholesale just by claiming ignorance of the blog, which would prove true 99.9% of the time. As with anything on the Internet, you're putting your idea out there so everyone else can have it for free.
I'm new to this site, but it seems to me that even if all of the registered users are wholly scrupulous individuals -- which they probably are -- there are still a lot of guests browsing the articles -- actually "Who's Online" tends to show 2:1 to 7:1 ratios on guests to users. If I ran a major game company, I'd have an employee farming sites like these looking for free ideas that my company could "coincidentally develop at the same time" and insights into potential competition. Am I the only person here with a binder full of non-disclosure forms?
As I see it, if you have a good idea then it's hard enough to get it to market before the hundreds of other people who legitimately had that same notion. Originality really doesn't exist, just the unique handprint that you can impart on your creation. It makes sense to ask questions, to discuss concepts, and benefit from the wealth of knowledge inherent in this forum; but think before you share. It's one thing to freely discuss a game that is 80% complete and launching in a couple months, but germinating a fledgeling idea online turns those hundreds of other people with the same idea into thousands. Don't put enough of your work online that someone else could say, "Wow, that's awesome! I could do it even better," and then they beat you to production by six months.
Sat, 01/10/2015 - 09:15
#6
You have a point, except ...
It's true, Soulfinger, that if you blog your ideas then there really is no hope of protecting them legally. However, the fallacy in your concerns is that your ideas have enough value that anyone would steal them, and that you could tell.
Ideas are a dime a dozen. Just scroll through the monthly Game Design Showdown contests -- every month there are 10-20 game ideas put forth, some of them very good, original ideas. Nobody steals them. Perhaps they are inspired by them, and make use of an interesting mechanic, or whatever, but nobody outright steals an idea.
It's just too hard to predict which of the hundreds (thousands?) of games under development is going to be the next Dominion for someone to see an idea, realize its massive potential, and then beat the developer to deliver it to the marketplace. If someone were unscrupulous enough and unoriginal enough to try to do this, their implementation would probably suck, anyway. Anyone with the talent to make a good game from an idea also has the talent and originality to make a good idea. Plus, by the time they made their own version, they would have changed it enough that you probably wouldn't recognize it.
Sat, 01/10/2015 - 11:55
#7
Getting back to the OP
You can watch Top Ten Tips for Game Designers by Tom Vasel. Fast forward to 7:30 minutes in the video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqqYxa3vTnU
This is good advice...
Sat, 01/10/2015 - 14:35
#8
Great Video!
Kris,
I've recommended this video to every designer to whom I've been a developer...great advice by a couple of guys who know a thing or two about solid games.
Cheers,
Joe
Sat, 01/10/2015 - 15:00
#9
You know what is the worst...
The worst thing I see is when a *NEW* member comes to this site with a game that is "almost complete" (in their minds) - so much so, that they can't even take basic suggestions for how to improve their game. I've seen several games where the designers are like "well if we did that, that would require us to create a new prototype and re-playtest the game..."
DUH? WHY THE HECK DID YOU COME TO A GAME DESIGNER WEBSITE FOR???
Do you want criticism and other ideas, or do you just want somebody to read your rules and tell you the game is PERFECT AS-IT-IS???!!!
Seriously!
Note: Had I met some of the Designers I now know BEFORE Self-Publishing, I would have ended up with a much better game and saved myself a ton of cash!
Sat, 01/10/2015 - 15:22
#10
Generational Bias
Kris,
One of the things that we've looked at in the military over the past few years is the changing complexion of our new enlisted members and officers. With the new generation comes a degree of entitlement or expectation that everything they do is great...it's tantamount to every member of the team getting an award to not harm little Johnny's feelings or self-esteem.
I haven't had the length or breadth of experience as many of the others out here, but I too have detected some peculiarities, stemming from the following Gen-Y characteristics:
1. Impatient: Younger game designers appear unable to wait for things to happen; they want to design, develop, and sell a game within months.
2. Thin-skinnned: Any criticism on the rule-set is a personal attack...it's necessary to separate the personal from the professional.
3. Less Commitment: Sticking with a game through its design phases for several years is anathema to a Gen-Y individual, who wants to make a mark and move on. Board Game design, unfortunately, isn't the right venue.
Anyway, I'm fascinated by the breadth of experience encountered out here and look forward to assisting whomever has a passion for board game design.
Cheers,
Joe
Sun, 01/11/2015 - 06:05
#11
Zag24 wrote:However, the
However, the fallacy in your concerns is that your ideas have enough value that anyone would steal them, and that you could tell. . . Ideas are a dime a dozen.
I totally agree with you. My mistake was characterizing it as protecting the actual idea, rather than the implementation. This didn't seem like the right forum to emphasize how most ideas aren't worth stealing, because the implication there is that they aren't really worth blogging about or developing either. There's an article to this effect on The Escapist, entitled, "Why Your Game Idea Sucks: Why A Game Designer Will Never Steal Your Idea." I've had to teach this concept to several aspiring authors, that book publishers will never steal their idea. Yet, I also tell them never to post their work on the Internet, because they've effectively thrown their first publication and digital rights out the window.
Still, It's healthy for someone's confidence to feel a little jealous about their ideas. Even understanding that nothing is original, you have to have faith in your methods. I can tell you that the implementations by those "unscrupulous and unoriginal" types you mentioned aren't necessarily going to suck, because they hire other, more talented people to do the development. Then again, I've only actually witnessed this in other industries where such theft is profitable. There's just not enough money in the gaming industry to draw in those win-at-all-costs sociopaths who do this stuff so well.
Dominion had a great idea, so we've seen countless clones lift the deck building concept, because copyright law doesn't cover that. Had they put most of the game into the public domain prior to publishing for input, playtesting, etc. then the expression of their idea, the part protected by copyright law, wouldn't have been solely theirs either. To cast my original point in a different light, nobody knows what the next Dominion will be, including its developer, so the last thing you want is to make it big and then see a clone implementing not just your mechanics, but your game board, your icons -- all of these things you had copyrighted -- and they just may have a defense for doing so in that they are referencing public domain postings published on the Internet while the game was still in development. Then again, you'll probably never make it big. Then again . . . again, do you really plan that way? People should be aware of the 10-20% of their work that they'll want protected if they attain even marginal success.
Sun, 01/11/2015 - 06:25
#12
The Professor wrote:1.
1. Impatient: Younger game designers appear unable to wait for things to happen . . . Less Commitment: Sticking with a game through its design phases for several years is anathema to a Gen-Y individual . . .
Then again, one thing I've been impressed with is how often members of that generation can actually achieve these goals by competently drawing upon the wealth of technology and knowledge available to them. Maybe it's a social demographic thing, considering that you are talking about kids newly enlisted in the military, and my experience has been with kids on a trajectory to at the very least graduate with a Masters Degree on their way to a promising career in the private sector. I saw one young person, for example, apply his experience in the pharmaceutical industry to developing a new FDA approved dog shampoo in maybe three months. These are kids designing tablet apps and tabletop games in a short time and moving on, because they can. It's part of the networking and knowledge-base building skill-set that makes them so successful. I find that dynamism impressive, and "thin-skinned" can certainly be applied to any age-group. I've known far more people in the 65+ bracket who were thin-skinned, both literally and figuratively, when it came to their writing.
Sun, 01/11/2015 - 10:15
#13
Painted with large strokes...
Soulfinger,
No doubt there are exceptions to every generational rule...and given the fact that less than 5% of the U.S. population has an advanced degree or higher, your observations are spot-on for the narrow slice of the population with which you have the greatest experience.
Back to the topic, however, I hope that none of us who have worked in the industry at its core or on its periphery say anything to a BGDF colleague which would inhibit them in their game-design pursuit. I can only hope that the dialogue we begin here will someday launch the next Knizia.
I've dealt with larger name companies, such as FFG and they're a nightmare in some respects compared to a small publishing house, where the principal does nearly everything. Here at BGDF, you have folks like James Mathe and others who share their expertise in an area with few subject matter experts. I work in a field where there are more SMEs in counterintelligence than board game design.
I've directed two designers for whom I serve as their developer to this site and as someone relatively new to the party, I'm enamored by the level of interest and passion for the profession...regardless of age.
Cheers,
Joe
Sun, 01/11/2015 - 21:43
#14
The Professor wrote:given the
given the fact that less than 5% of the U.S. population has an advanced degree or higher, your observations are spot-on for the narrow slice of the population with which you have the greatest experience.
Kind of my point though. Going by your user name, you are part of that 5%, so it would be more genuine to realize that young people within your demographic meet or exceed your standards than to rail against the ones outside of your socioeconomic group for not having the qualities that make you a successful, educated game designer.
Mon, 01/12/2015 - 07:51
#15
Millennial
Speaking as a retired game creation teacher, The Professor is spot on. His characterization applies to many Millennial game players, and has been a strong impetus toward reward-based rather than consequence-based video games (most MMOs, for example).
Recognizing differences between generations is common in business and academia. This is not a matter of trying to insult or build up anyone, it's a matter of making money (business) or of otherwise making best use of resources. There really are significant differences, and perhaps as many fortunate (good?) as unfortunate. In terms of game design, which requires patience and self-criticism, Millennial characteristics tend to be unfortunate.
There's some self-delusion, too. It's been shown over and over that multi-tasking results in more mistakes and poor results, but those who like to do five things at once delude themselves that THEY aren't subject to what happens to everyone else. (Multi-tasking on just two things evidently doesn't cause much degradation, btw.)
Tue, 01/13/2015 - 08:28
#16
much to learn.
Teaching game creation must have been exciting!
I hope to see more of your posts, as I'm new to this side of the gaming world at around 5 years of developing, designing, and play-testing. It would serve many of us very well to garner some knowledge from your experience.
Tue, 01/13/2015 - 11:51
#17
Copyright law
...see a clone implementing not just your mechanics, but your game board, your icons -- all of these things you had copyrighted -- and they just may have a defense for doing so in that they are referencing public domain postings published on the Internet...
I'm no expert, but I don't think that's how copyright law works. Posting something on the internet doesn't sacrifice your copyright of it. It looks like that is a common myth of copyrights though. http://petapixel.com/2013/08/03/10-bogus-excuses-people-use-when-they-st...
So, the game mechanics couldn't be copyrighted in the first place, and the unique visual art is copyrighted whether you put it online or not. Even if you're certain you will make a great game someday, it can still help to put it out there to get some feedback and grow as a designer. The article you named explains the reasons much better than I can.
I was going to mention the article you named until I saw you name it too. Great article. All of that said, I still feel like keeping ideas to myself a little more often than I probably should.
Tue, 01/13/2015 - 14:17
#18
Yet another opinion
As a member of "Generation Y", getting started in game design, and making my first prototype, was very difficult for me. I spent a lot of time on details that didn't matter, and I had a hard time just sitting down to create something. It was difficult to create without someone telling me that what I had created was good: it just was what it was. My first playtest was a bit of a failure, and we had to stop early.
The trick about getting into board game design is that you have to be self-motivated. I'll admit that many individuals from my generation, and in any generation, aren't self-motivated. But you'll never get anywhere if you're expecting people to constantly push you. It's a largely solitary endeavor. Worse, few people will give you advice that you need: they don't see things through a designer's lens, and few people are willing to give an honest evaluation for fear of hurting your feelings. You're on your own. Turning to a community such as this is essential to get some feedback.
Now, with regards to the discussion on intellectual property, I remember when I was first starting out in game design, I was working on a game about chemistry, where the players are trying to make molecules with atoms to score points. I spent months working on the concept and perfecting the rules, and while it wasn't perfect, some of my friends enjoyed it.
However, I kept hitting a roadblock in how to make it better, so I left it on my backburner while I worked on other projects. Then, as I was browsing the internet, I found the board game "Compounded", which used almost exactly the same theme, and had done it better than I was doing. I was a bit crestfallen, but I realized that honestly, game ideas aren't always unique: the same themes have been hashed up over and over again, and even when you come up with something new, it's possible that someone else will too.
And that's OK; I learned a lot from that chemistry game, and I'm applying what I learned to future projects. Posting my ideas online for others to see is a great way to get feedback. Sometimes no feedback (like what happened in my "Robots!" thread) is feedback in itself: maybe it just means that you need to differentiate your game a bit more. Maybe what interests you isn't all that interesting for others. Maybe those who just glance at your game can't see how it could possibly be fun, meaning that you've got some work to do before you could publish it.
It all boils down to practice and being willing to learn from your mistakes. Let's be honest, your first idea is unlikely to be published. By continuing to try, to post ideas online for feedback, and to playtest with strangers, you open yourself up to the chance to learn so that maybe one day, you will be successful. You don't have the skills to go into a chemistry-related job without a 4-years of focused study - why should it be different for board games?
Tue, 01/13/2015 - 14:48
#19
Just some ideas
Biggest thing I can say is try to have a friend or two to get involved on the game design. Having the extra brain around will make things exponentially better. You'd be amazed at how often a good idea in your head will sound terrible to someone else.
In my case, I've been working on a big game for 4-5 months now. It takes a lot of time, planning, working, re-planning, redesigning and then you still may be nowhere. Just have the mindset that you are doing this for fun, and try to keep having fun with the design process. If you start getting bored with it, walk away from a bit and come back so you don't get burned out.
Wed, 01/14/2015 - 09:42
#20
DifferentName wrote:I'm no
I'm no expert, but I don't think that's how copyright law works. Posting something on the internet doesn't sacrifice your copyright of it . . . So, the game mechanics couldn't be copyrighted in the first place, and the unique visual art is copyrighted whether you put it online or not.
Yes, your work is copyrighted "the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device."
However, "you will have to register . . . if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work . . . Registered works may be eligible for statutory damages and attorney's fees in successful litigation. Finally, if registration occurs within 5 years of publication, it is considered prima facie evidence in a court of law." Also, a registered U.S. copyright is recognized in several countries abroad.
Unregistered copyrighting hasn't been a viable option since the mid-'70s. You aren't sacrificing your copyright by posting online, but there's precious little that copyright does for you. If someone reproduced your work exactly, you may or may not be able to take them to court for actual losses (good look proving that) at your expense. If your "proof" is "Look, here are all of the designs posted for peer review on the Internet" then the best you have is a Pyrrhic victory, as your actual damages are $0 and you are out legal expenses.
I take "registered" for granted when referencing copyrights, so sorry for any confusion there. My fault for being lazy. The part of my post you were referencing was intended to address posting copyrightable materials (let's say the Monopoly board) on the Internet prior to actually registering them and the legally impotent state that puts you in.
I should also point out that most of these "You aren't worth ripping off" articles, like the one I cited before, are referring to publishers not ripping off your game. That's different from the risks with posting online, because copyright infringement is extraordinarily common online. It's practically taken for granted with art, articles, or fiction, as I'm sure that we all have visited sites hosting stolen content without our knowledge. I saw one of my articles for Kobold Quarterly reprinted word-for-word on some guy's blog a couple weeks after the issue came out -- he actually took the time to transcribe it. Flattering, but naughty. I do feel that some of you will have a different attitude once you see artwork from your game on eBaum's World with their watermark on it or the first time you see a 'Compendium of Games' ebook for sale with your design on the table of contents.
I'm more paranoid, I suppose, because of witnessing or being involved in these sort of legal processes in other fields. I register the shit out of everything now after an experience I had with EA Games calling me at home (through an intermediary service) to tell me that they were finagling a property out from under me without reimbursement because they could and because they knew I was in no position to oppose them in court. There's no money in tabletop gaming, so nobody seems to make an effort to protect themselves, but effectively throwing your rights to the wind still feels . . . weird to me.
* All quotes from United States Copyright Office.
Wed, 01/14/2015 - 10:53
#21
lewpuls wrote:Recognizing
Recognizing differences between generations is common in business and academia. This is not a matter of trying to insult or build up anyone, it's a matter of making money (business) or of otherwise making best use of resources. There really are significant differences, and perhaps as many fortunate (good?) as unfortunate. In terms of game design, which requires patience and self-criticism, Millennial characteristics tend to be unfortunate.
I appreciate your phrasing more than the '5 Things I Don't Like About the Kids On My Lawn' approach. Still, "recognizing differences between generations" for marketing isn't far off from marketing fried chicken to African Americans. It's catering to a stereotype, ageist in the former case, racist in the latter -- which is not to say that it isn't common practice. It seems to me though that demographic profiles are more valuable in business and academia (and have longer term applications), in which case age is a variable in an equation. Saying, "I find fault in Age Group Y" is like saying, "I don't like 5," because a demographic profile is generated from numerous pertinent factors; including sex, race, education, and social class. Demographic cohorts seem much more useful to me for the branding side of marketing or the lawyer ads asking "Were you ever involved in an auto accident?" i.e. We'll market the video game as reward-based, slam-it-in-your-face action (cohort), but our sales are going to be driven by 18-35 white, middle-class males (profile).
I feel that your "All people born between 1980 and 2000 have these qualities" assessment of Millennials holds up just as well as some of the assumptions made about my Millennial nephew for the dark complexion of his skin (lazy either way) or the criteria that landed my grandparents in a concentration camp.
I'm not sure how Millennial characteristics could be so "unfortunate" in terms of game design and yet fortunate in terms of motivating a 25-40% annual increase in board game sales these past three years. Maybe they can't design them, but they certainly can decipher them.
Thanks, but how do you start a blog on BGDF?