What should I work on next?
Hey guys, I hope you're doing well this fine Friday! I have a question for you, to see if you guys are happy with what I'm working on, generally speaking. I'm not promising I'll change my "planned" schedule based on your responses, but I it's important to me that we're on the same page.
So as you guys know, I'm wrapping up Riftbreakers 2e this month. I'm really happy with it, and I think it's going to be a great game. The next step is thorough playtesting, so I hope you guys are willing to help me with that! I'm a bit tight in funds right now so I'm even considering a small Kickstarter, to pay for the art (since it's a lot, and once finished it will be several thousands...). I'm not sure if it's a good idea cause taxes and all that are usually horrible, but if I make it just a DTRPG release, with no additional costs, it might work. Please let me know your thoughts on this!
As you know, I'm also working on Tales from the Green. Right now my mornings are dedicated to that, and the evenings to Riftbreakers. Tales from the Green is a relatively straightforward game, but I'm trying a couple of new things, and on top of that I'm working on a core ruleset that I didn't write, so I'm not 100% comfortable with it. In any case, it will be finished soon as well, definitely before the summer arrives.
So what's next? My idea is to work both on Machine Gods' Advanced Rules, and Across a Thousand Hollow Vaults. I don't know why I'm so damn lazy about working on ATHV, it's the sci fi theme that for the last few years just doesn't call me as much. I'm loving the game so far and I think it's going to be better than ATDW, though, and I'm close to being done with it so I must finish it this year, ASAP. The Advanced Rules for Machine Gods are a really fun project, but one that I can't really afford to wrap up right now. The game is overall a fun project and a cool Patreon reward, but if I would ever want to make it profitable I would have to sell it as a PoD, or make hundreds of offset copies and sell them myself directly. I'm not complaining! From the beginning I knew I would never really recoup costs with this game, but I thought it wouldn't matter as long as the other games sell. I'm not repenting from the decision, since I think it's cool to have something exclusive to this Patreon!
I also have Sacrifice 2e to finish this year, but Machine Gods got in the way and it has ended up pushing it to later this year. I also need to work on Ker Nethalas: Dominion, since I wanted to release that this year. The third Vaelorian Codex is done (as a matter of fact it will be ready to go for you guys soon!) and will probably be released in August, so that means I need another KN book for the last quarter of the year.
And of course, there's Broken Shores, with the half written expansion that I have for over a year, Warlord Ascendant with the also half written expansion, Salvage & Sorcery with the Companion expansion... I have too many games!
So what do you guys think I should work on once I'm done with Riftbreakers 2e and Tales from the Green?
Comments (18)
I wanted to vote for both Ker Nethalas and Across so flipped a coin and voted for Across. However, I'd also prefer you work on something you are passionate about so I guess my real vote is whatever you want to work on! :)
I'm always the most passionate about dark fantasy, so KN fits the bill, haha. But I really like what I'm doing with ATHV, as I think it's pretty unique in the solo sci fi world (it's always exploring derelicts, isn't it?). I'll most likely work on both in tandem!
I think you are doing fantastic work and putting out more than other creators. As far as ATHV, if si-fi isn't your jam and you aren't inspired don't rush it otherwise you might put something out you are t happy with. I am concerned with profitability. Maybe releasing two versions, a art light version (low cost) and an art version (high cost option). You can also cut back on the ammount of art in a book to help mitigate cost. To be honest, for me, art isnt as important. I look at the picture once and that's it but the content is what I turn to the most. Please don't think I'm anti art because I'm not, the art is amazing! Offering a no art version may help profits. Those who want art will pay more. I do realize you already pay the artists a set rate. Some may buy both copies, one to play and the art one to collect. Does this make sense? PoD makes sense because I don't think having to manage inventory helps. Being profitable is vital, not just for you but for us. We can get your amazing content and you can live in comfort.
Thanks for the suggestions! And don't get me wrong, I adore sci fi, as a matter of fact if you've asked me 5 years ago if I preferred fantasy ro sci fi I'd have said sci fi. But yeah, I'm definitely taking it easy and not trying to force myself, I want this to be perfect! As for the art question, I'm a really vane person and I love having my books with awesome art. I honestly buy a lot of stuff just cause I love the art, and if a game has art I don't like, I ignore it, even if it has cool mechanics! I always strive to put out the best version possible of my work, and that includes awesome art. I just need to be more careful and methodical, since lately I'm just spending left and right, and I have a lot of money tied up in projects that aren't released (ATHV, Sacrifice 2e, now Riftbreakers). Also, releasing an artless version wouldn't help much because I would always end up releasing a version with art, and the artless version would have to be sold for less, so a lot of people would buy that one. Furthermore, to make an artless book look nice you need a whole different style of layout, which means I would need to produce two completely different set of books (unless I just release a text-only Word document or something like that, and that would never happen, haha). I'm not hurting economically speaking, I just need to be more cautious. And i think that means returning to Kickstarter, even if I hate it.
Super hard, I support here because I want to help you work on whatever it is you feel you need to work on. So I say go with your gut. Sorry, I'm not helpful lol
Haha no worries, everything helps!
Trouble deciding between Ker and Across. So I vote for both. 🤪
Haha well I was going to work on those two games cause I must be responsible, so it's a win win!
I want sup for riftbreakers in the style karum station blues! Buuuut yeah business wise prob KN
The new edition has a nice starter quest, so there's that! Any future content will depend on its success, but I have a lot of stuff I'd like to add to the game that I can't justify adding to the core rulebook now.
I love Machine Gods and voted for it, but Across Thousand or Ker Nethalas is probably the better call.
Yeah that's exactly how I feel. Thanks for the feedback!
Empire Undying
You never disappoint. I almost wrote a note in the options about it just for you, haha
Oh man. And here's me thinking voting in the election on the weekend was going to be the hardest poll I had to do this week. 😂 Um, KN is always going to hold a special spot for me. It's what brought me into the Blackoath community. So more content is always nice. But the other options are also very appealing... The problem isn't that you have too many games. The problem is, you have too many GOOD games. 😁
Haha I appreciate it! The true problem is that I'm a butterfly developer, going from flower to flower instead of focusing on what works, like a professional
Don't you think you could work with Machine Gods being a timed exclusive? I don't know if backers would really care. Maybe with a 6 month or a year gap. I say this because it is such a cool project, but doubly harmed, you don't make the profit you should and the game doesn't get the attention it could.
Yeah, that would be the smart option but I don't like breaking promises, so it will remain a Patreon exclusive, with the occasional outside release via offset copies sold directly by me.