Love 2 Hate - the Editorial Pass and Going to print

I write this in a time of exciting news for Green Ronin - see http://greenronin.com/blog/2015/04/02/press-release-wil-wheatons-new-rpg-series-to-use-age-system/ for more...

At this stage of the Love 2 Hate story, Green Ronin was in possession of the full set and the list for Kickstarter expansion.  We had hoped to make enough on the Kickstarter to have the product printed in the US - it would have been *way* more expensive, but also quicker.  As we just got over the mark, GR had to look elsewhere to print, which added a small, but necessary delay.  This wasn't helped by a dockers strike, which i am not sure has yet been fully resolved, which meant a lot of cargo ships - including some containing GR products, were not being unloaded and there was (is?) a large backlog building up.

Chris was now to do his editorial pass.  I was not expecting this to be be fully honest.  I had thought, in my first-time-designer naivety that we had somehow wordlessly agreed on the final formation of the cards.  As it was, Chris suggested removing less than 10% of the cards and suggested replacements.  I was initially stunned a little. i looked at what was to be removed and felt it might dilute the nature of the game.  The purpose of this editorial pass was to remove any cards which could trigger upset in the players. Now I designed the game with the intention that it would not cause offence or upset so I was 100% behind this idea, but I felt that some of the cards should remain.

I emailed Chris back with what I felt I could be happy with, what cards I wanted, some alternate suggestions to his alternate suggestions, if you follow.  Chris, being the wonderful fellow that he is, was fully of compassionate patience at my newness and innocence and took on board a lot of suggestions and we reached a compromise with which we were both happy and, it is my earnest hope, with which the players will be able to thoroughly enjoy safely and happily.

I think the importance on not reacting to editorial passes and the willingness to compromise are so core to the realisation of any creative project to final product.  So, too, the realisation on the behalf of the creator that the final version is, indeed, a product and that the publisher has as much vested interest in its final incarnation as the creator, if not more so - the publisher has image integrity, company profile and the jobs of the people who work for the company to think about.

I have always said that when you create a piece - poetry, writing, game, whatever - it yours, but as soon as you send it out there, it becomes a fusion of you, the editor, the players, the publisher, the director, the audience and whomever else may be involved.  You cannot be over-precious and should always be willing to collaborate and compromise - it is not dilution of your ideas - it is rather their evolution to final form.  Having been through this process, I hold this to be true with greater certainty than ever.

The, it was off to print!  Which is exciting.  I can almost hear the click-clack of the printers.  in this, I am completely supportive of the delay for cheaper printing - it means that we can have the game retail at under $20, which was always a central desire of mine - and of GR's, I think.  People will pay over one note for a game in a market where the average price for a full game is well over $20.

All that is left now is to get the game, and go through a round of demos and see what I can learn from them!

Lessons Learned:

1. Editorial passes happen just before printing.

2. Always be willing to compromise - that goes for both sides I think - but realise that the final product is the companies game as much, if not more so, than "your" game.

3. If you feel that there is room to negotiate, and feel that it is required, be reasonable, polite, open and ready to have your suggestions rejected - in my case with L2H, I feel the compromise was fairly even.

Roll on the final game!