So, as requested here's a spin-off discussion about designing and selling games into the wargames market. Overall with my skirmish game Wildfire I've found it to be pretty good and a lot more forgiving than the rpg market. There are pros and cons of course, which are (as I see them):
Advantages…
The wargames sector has a long and honoured tradition of the small guy doing it for themselves. If you go to a con, some of the most popular games are on photocopied A4 sheets as opposed to the full-colour glory expected of rpgs. People are much more understanding about the contraints of art because….
…it's all about the minis. People buy games so they can play with their minis. The time investment is not in the game, but in the forces they bring to the table. Many figure manufacturers produce rulesets that they sell or give away that have no art at all because people are only really interested in the figures, the rules are just something to make them useful. I think this is a really important point - only the big boys (games workshop, privateer etc) make lovely glossy gamebooks. In the traditional wargames market it's even more prevalent to find cheap as chips print-out rules. In one way selling a game that relies to some extent on minis really helps - I'm a pretty competent painter and the first half of wildfire (the examples of play) has no art but instead shows photos of my figures. Cheap, instant art (if you have the figs!).
Compared to rpgs, the market is huge. There are loads of gamers out there willing to try new games. If you have something new and exciting, it's easy to make a splash.
Generic rules sell well. One of the things about rpgs is that explaining a new and novel background can eat up a lot of pages of your book. In the wargames world, people aren't so interested in backgrounds, they just want a decent set of mechanics so they can play with what they have.
Playtesting is easy! Another important one, playtesting is easier because it's a lot easier to find folks to do it and like boardgames and cardgames it takes a lot less investiment on the part of the playtester. Got a few hours and some counters? Then you can read and play Wildfire. Want to playtest Ruby? Here's a 400-page rulebook…
Pdfs are well accepted. With so many rulesets and shorter rulebooks, most people work with pdfs.
Of course there are disadvantages…
There are lots of games out there. Hundreds. Yours is just one of many.
Many games use the same mechanics and convensions dressed up differently. I think you've got to have something different otherwise don't bother.
It has to work. People tend to 'hand wave' or houserule bits of rpgs they don't like. In a wargame, if the mechanic is broken, no one will play.
Overall I've found it good. There are loads of conventions, and excellent sites like the miniatures page that are accessible and friendly. Compared to most of the places I frequent, the rpg.net boards are flame-tastic. There are also online sellers like wargames online who will sell .pdfs your books for a cut.
Anyway,
Thoughts or comments?
EvilD
Thanks
Submitted by Matt on Mon, 12/05/2008 - 17:45.
There's too strands to this line of questions, really.
Firstly, and this is the main strand, I'm busily working on revising my set of Pulp action skirmish rules. So any info on the good places to visit, good cons to go to, and general places to get noticed are useful to me. Specific links to online communities or news sites would be useful. Given that you've done this recently your info is probably more up to date than mine! Recommendations really appreciated.
The second angle is a more subtle one. In that I'm seeing a lot of stuff in your comments about how Wargames differ from RPGs. What interests me is that a lot of those elements, not needing background info, shorter books, pickup-ability making playtests easy, are exactly what attracted me to the Indie/Story Games community's approach to RPGs.
-Matt
Realms Publishing
What Matt said.
Submitted by JoE PrincE on Tue, 13/05/2008 - 10:17.
Except my skirmish game isn't pulpy!
Cheers
+++
JoE
+++
Prince of Darkness Games
Rock N' Role-Play....
What a Con
Submitted by Andrew Kenrick on Tue, 13/05/2008 - 11:21.
Obviously I get to look at this from a slightly different perspective nowadays, but in my opinion the best cons to go to are Triples in Sheffield, Partisan in Newark, and Salute in London.
All three are packed with enthusiastic, small-press publishers selling their wargames rules, alongside loads of independent miniatures companies selling their own minis, rounded off with demonstration games aplenty.
I don't know about the logistics of attending, but I can't imagine the buy-in is extravagant - especially not for Triples - and you might be able to make some inroads with partnering up with a like-minded minis company for some cross-promotion.
A fistfull of lead I've only
Submitted by Evil Doctor on Tue, 13/05/2008 - 13:33.
A fistfull of lead
I've only really been to the local Cons around Birmingham (can't remember the names off the top of my head, but a quick look in the back of 'Wargames illustrated' in your local WH Smith will reveal all), but that's how I perceive them also. I'm going to try this year to start pushing Wildfire at these cons, maybe with a demo game, so I'll let you all know what I find out about costs etc. I've tried to team up with some mini manufacturers, but the guys who do stuff in the scale I favour (15mm) are Ground Zero Games who sell their own rulesets and Old crow who haven't got back to me. I'm going to try striking up a relationship again at the Expo and upcoming cons.
There are lots of decent websites, but by far an away the best one to check out is the miniature page
http://theminiaturespage.com/ (also known as TMP)
Which has loads of reviews and news in the industry and gets a lot of daily hits. I also frequent
http://www.miniaturewargaming.com/ and http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/ which are also pretty useful. The webzine fictional reality is also worth a check as they review games and are generally very positive.
If you want to get noticed, first thing I'd do is start hanging out at TMP. A bit of positive feedback on your game can go along way there.
Check out other pulp rules (they are quite popular) before launching in. I think you have to have something a bit different to make a real splash.
Cheers,
EvilD
Ruby...Worlds beyond Dream, a science fiction roleplaying game from Fire Ruby Studios and available through lulu.com.
fireruby.co.uk
Lulu storefront http://www.lulu.com/firerubystudios
You're not so evil
Submitted by JoE PrincE on Wed, 14/05/2008 - 09:58.
Thanks Greg, they're some useful links!
JoE
Prince of Darkness Games
Rock N' Role-Play....