Thread by @SharangBiswas

I just saw a comment on DriveThruRPG complaining about the price of an RPG because of its low wordcount...

Do people know how much human effort goes into even one line of rules?

[Small thread]
#gamedesign #TTRPG

Take the 800 word RPG that @OneShotRPG commissioned me to make in 1 month.

Conceptualizing alone took days.

I did 5 playtests. That’s 25-30 person-hours of work. Then feedback.

I did a bunch of pseudo-playtests, just running the ideas by folks or making math models.

I wrote 4 complete overhalls of the game. That’s like 800*4= 3200 words.

Of course, words is reductive, because you have to think about the feedback you receive, spend time making mental models, THEN figure out how to communicate that succinctly.

Writing fewer words is HARDER.

It’s easy to just wax lyrical, fill your game with examples, explain in careful detail.

It’s hard to make sure the player understand everything in limited space.

Do you judge a poem by how many words it uses?
#writing

So please don’t judge the quality or price of a game by its WORDCOUNT.

A lot of effort goes into creating a well-thought-out work of art, and artists deserve fair compensation for their labour.

#gaming #art

And as always, support indie and marginalized creatives!