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!

Love 2 Hate : So - we funded. What next?

So, Love 2 Hate was funded on 9th August 2014.

The next steps largely took place within Green Ronin.  Hal and co came up with concept art which quite honestly blew me away.  Chris had asked me about preferred colour schemes but the design was purely there's and I really couldn't be happier with it.  The bomb/heart motif is fantastic.

We had previously got a few demo decks prepared - we had hoped to have them for Warpcon 2014 where Chris, Nicole and Kate from Green Ronin were attending, but they arrived in the hotel on the Monday after the con!  In the meantime, team GR also had decks in the US, so I could take the ones that arrived then.

These demo decks did a tour of cons as the kickstarter was going on and again  - I LISTENED TO PLAYER FEEDBACK.  The main issue was the font of the finisher cards.  I mean, there were a few typos, but these were only demo decks, so I was less worried about that.  So, the feedback went back to GR HQ and it was agreed that, in the final set, the font on the finisher cards would be block caps as opposed to cursive - thanks for that feedback guys!  Player feedback does (and should) inform the final product.

There was also the kickstarter pledges who wanted to be part of the game and paid for a card of their own to be included (thanks!).  Another lesson on kickstarter - there will be a surge of people coming back to on you on such pledges and then ... nothing.  I took on the job of talking to the pledges regarding their cards myself as the creative guy behind Love 2 Hate (man, that sounds more pretentious than I wanted it to be).  I wanted to say thanks to some pledges and work with them.

Some people pledged and didn't want cards, I guess, but we got the vast majority of the bidders' cards in and worked with them on their suggestions.  I then filled in the blanks and sent it to Chris for the final editorial pass.

I also finalised the card list for the main game, again based on feedback form players, toning some cards down and taking out others to produce a friendlier set - the game is fun and rude and naughty but genuinely (I hope) not offensive and we have done out best not make it a trigger for anything.

So the next step was work, more refining and working with the bidders.  Important lessons learned were:

1. Not all bidders will reply.

2. Have more cards / components than you need ready in the early design stage and keep them, as you never know when you will need them.

3. Bidders are not designers.  They ideas may not fit with your vision.  Accommodate them as bets you can - remember they *paid* for this and deserve their input.  But the are also people and understand compromise for the best product.  But be gentle and work towards their desires, rather than you own.

4. Keep refining.  Keep play testing.  Keep listening you your players.

Next entry will be sooner, I hope, and on the experience of the editorial pass up to current day!

Thanks for reading

Love 2 Hate: The Kickstarter Experience

Love 2 Hate: The Kickstarter Experience

 

Green Ronin (GR) and I decided to go down the kickstarter route to raise $15,000 required to print a few thousand copies of Love 2 Hate. 

The main reasons for this choice were:

 

1.       GR were relatively new to card games and possibly may not have had as many ready avenues to support card games as it did RPGs (preivous RPG kickstarter launches with GR were very successful).

2.      I was an unknown quantity in terms of games designer, though a little bit known in some quarters as an individual.

3.      It presented an opportunity of free marketing.

4.      To give GR printing capital up front.

 The usual desire is to hot about 40% of your target in the first few days of the kick-starter as the graph follows a bathtub design – that is hits high at the start, dips to almost static during the middle and rises to a peak at the end.  Hopefully.

 The start hit just under 30%, which was a little concerning, but it was early days. 

The middle bit was tough.  It is a tough balance to ensure it is life in peoples feed and mind without, frankly, p*ssing people off too much and seemnig too pushy.  I hope that we got the balance right.  There were a couple of small peaks after cons and publicity shots, but the middle was pretty static.

It is quite emotionally tough to log in every day or a few times a day and see no bids.  One tends to lose faith in oneself, the product and it is difficult to remain positive.  I had great friends around me and continuous encouraging words from GR, friends and the Irish Gaming Community at large, which was entirely invaluable.

 My kickstarter experience became a back issue in the middle of it as a personal family tragedy hit and hit hard.  I am not going to provide details here, but suffice to say it pretty much took me out of any monitoring of the kickstarter and related issues.  GR were fantastic in the support they offered here.  It means I cannot talk much about the science of updates, but I am sure there is good stuff out there on that.

Cutting to the end, we were actually approaching target.  As it was going to be a nail-biting finish, GR decided to run with the larger game (which had been a stretch goal) to get it over the line, which was very good of them and meant they would have to absorb a good whack of cash.  I think I spent about 6 nervous hours of refreshing that page, right up until about 2am (it finished at 3am my time.

 What I will never forget is the wonderful support of dear friends into the final hours, who were with me on various forms of social media, and the rush of dozens and dozens of messages and notes of congratulations once it was funded – which told me that there were at least 20 other people watching the bids as closely as I was.  I cannot over-emphasise the power of this support.  Put simply, I will never forget it and it truly meant the world to me.

We funded, which was great.

The main thing left open was those people who bid to have cards made and, several months after the close of the kickstarter, many have yet to contact me with cards!  I hope to resolve this delay shortly, but it is tough when one is depended on any quantity of other people :)  (anyone reading this who has a card outstanding, contact me).

The game release date has been pushed back to March – which I think is something people expect form kickstarter these days.  But there is good reason for it in terms of costs and also in terms of being able to get it ready and fresh for GAMA!

I am 98% sure I will be at Gencon Indy as well to actually have a game in my hands and sell the heck out of it.

 So, what I learned from the kickstarter experience

1.      It's tough to get a balance between publicity and annoying people

2.      It's a tough emotional journey.

3.      Nothing happens in the middle bit, which does not help the emotional level

4.      You may have to add more towards the end to boost it.

5.      Other people's signal boosts help exponentially and always remember to thank people when they do boost the signal.

6.      The end is exciting, but hold off drinking too much coffee to stay awake as you will NOT sleep at all that night.

7.      Post bidding delays happen, especially with things outside your control.

8.      Some bidders will be slow sometimes to add their bits, should they have bid for something to add.

Next time – the Game!

Love to Hate: Contracts!

So, I left off the last post at the point of the wonderful folks at Green Ronin wanting to publish Love 2 Hate.

I don't think they would mind me saying that Green Ronin are predominantly an RPG publisher, so card games were new enough territory for them and, of course completely new territory for me!  They asked me what I expected form the contract and I must confess that I blinked at the email blankly for some time.  Wow... I had no idea.

After a lot of time flicking through Google, I found a few useful sites about board game contracts, offered here without any associated recommendation or judgement, but solely as the ones I looked at:

www.leagueofgamemakers.com,

https://inspirationtopublication.wordpress.com

And, of course, www.bgdf.com and boardgamegeek.com

Not an exhaustive list, but they all seemed to have the same basics.  In addition, I approached people in the industry I had gone to know over the years (see previous post) and asked them the basics of board game contracts – obviously, I would never ask how much in terms of money, but such conversations were very useful indeed.

 I found these sites useful, so I thought I might emulate them briefly.

 So, the basics of a contract, in brief, from a designer's point of view:

 

1.      Designer's Rights:  In short, you are selling the rights to the company to publish and distribute the game and related derivatives in return for payment.

2.      Advance: Typically, you should be offered a small payment up front, between a few hundred to a couple of thousand depending on the product and the company.  This may be offset against future royalties, but it's a sure sign of commitment and you get it even if the game flops.

3.      Kill Fee: The above advance also acts as a kill fee – that is, once money is down you cannot offer the game to any other company to publish.  On that note, most contracts contain a clause to say that, before you sign, you are not in agreement with anyone else to consider publication.

4.      Payments: Typically, you'll be offered royalties.  If the company distributes directly, you might be offered a % wholesale, as opposed to retail.  Wholesale percentages are, from what I am given to understand, typically between 5% and 10%, maybe more depending on the company and product.  Retail percentages tend to be significantly lower (as they are a percentage of retail prices, as opposed to wholesale!).  The contarct will advise how often and by what methid these payments are made.

5.      Foreign Language and onward sale: The contract should contain a clause that the designer gets a percentage of revenue if the game is translated into foreign languages or sold outright to another company, and this can be fairly generous – up to 50%.

6.      Due Dates: A good contract will have a date by which the game is to be submitted to the publisher.  The company will tend to contract in complete approval of the final draft – after all, it is their reputation on the line as much as yours!

7.      Copies: You should get a few copies of the final product for your very own!

8.      Reversion: You should make sure there is a clause that, should the company not publish your game within a time frame (usually 2years), the rights revert completely back to you

They are the essential things from my experience, but I am not a lawyer and feel free to have legal people look over the contract before you sign.  Also, be sure to get a copy signed by all parties!

 In terms of contract negotiation, in every contract there is always scope to argue for more, but be sure you make a reasonable and reasoned case – if you ask for more in one area, be willing to compromise in others.  If you approach any contract with a "give me everything" view, you won't get anywhere.

Remember, this is the point at which the company can still walk away and say thanks, but no thanks!

 

The next instalment will look at the decision to go with Kickstarter and the journey to achieving funding!

The Love 2 Hate Journey: Beginnings

I decided that I would blog the journey of Love 2 Hate from idea to publication.  This first post is a rehash of the update I wrote for the Kickstarter campaign (with some addition).  I hope then to do a post on the development to get it to that level, the emotional roller coaster of Kickstarter, the final dev push to printing and what happens afterwards.

For now, the origins

The Origin of Love 2 Hate
I have been around the gaming scene for a long time. A long time. In that time, I have been lucky enough to work with many great committees on many wonderful cons, had the honour of taking the helm for one of Ireland’s biggest gaming charity auctions for a number of years, enjoyed spinning the discs at the after-hours events we attach to every con in Ireland, and generally had a lot of fun being involved.

On the way I met some great people in the industry, many of whom were guests at the cons and with many of whom I shared a jovial beverage or several. I volunteered as demo guy for a few of these companies and even ended up on the payroll of one for a time.
I always had ideas for games, but, like novels, unless you do the work, the ideas never materialise into substance. I felt I knew what game people seemed to like and, in the early 2000’s I began to dabble in games design, with no real positive results and one truly embarrassing (in retrospect) submission.

So, what does all this have to do with Love 2 Hate?

The preamble there contained all the ingredients for what I believe makes a good game designer, something I strive to be when I grow up. I enjoyed games; I was involved on the factory floor (as it were) of the gaming community; I was lucky enough to have met some people who gave me a little insight into what would work and I had ideas and passion and (eventually) time to work on them.
As my boss in my day job (you know, the one that pays the mortgage) put it, I spent 20 years to become an overnight success (pending). Not that I ever consciously “networked” – and I think that is key. I just love the hobby.

So, about 2008 I began tinkering with word games, not really sure where I was going. Cards Against Humanity came onto my radar in 2011 and while I enjoyed playing it, I found that it was little too in your face for some people. I started thinking – there must be a game with provides a level of titillation, or rudeness, or mild disgust that is a sort of half-way house between a game like Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity. I could not find one.

So, what if I could design one? But it had to offer a different gaming experience than these two games, and games similar to them. It had to have an angle, a shtick. So, ideas peculated in the recesses of my mind over a few months. I knew I wanted a sentence finishing game, rather than a version of “fill in the blanks”. I knew I wanted a card game that was quick and could include everyone. I knew I wanted it to be funny.

I awoke at 2 am one morning and hit on the Love 2 Hate mechanic. I sat at the PC that night until 5am and at the end of a frantic, exciting, exhilarating 3 hours I had somehow produced 200 cards. I was a mess in work that day but I really felt I had something.

The first version was label stickers glued to playing cards (I play poker and had a lot of old decks lying around). I had created about 400 cards at this stage and bit the bullet and began play testing it at cons with people I knew. It was a truly humbling experience to see cards that I thought were hilarious producing nothing. It was a huge rush seeing cards I really thought were funny produce laughter. It was interesting seeing some combinations people played. I took copious notes.

Over the next 2 years (2011 and 2012), I playtested it with random people, sometimes for hours at a time, sometimes a quick game in the pub. I removed cards which didn’t work, I dissected reactions and notes at home to learn why certain things were and were not funny. I listened to people’s thoughts, reactions and criticisms. I refined. A lot. And the game took shape into something about which I could actually… well, feel proud.

I was lucky enough, as I said before, to have met some guests along the ways and had a good time with many of them – the industry is blessed with good people. So I felt this polished (if not yet cut) stone could do with a professional eye. I sent it to a few folk, one of whom was Chris Pramas.  (http://greenronin.com/2014/03/ronin_round_table_the_benefit_.php ) His advice was invaluable and offered the polishing it needed. He also said that he wanted to publish it.

There were some emails about direction and feel for the game.  The GR team asked me about artwork - I had a vague colour scheme which Hal et all at the GR office turned into to an exquisite logo.  Chris and Nicole were at Warpcon, so ti was great to get some face time with them, as much to renew the friendship as anything.  There were more email and then the exciting exhchange of contracts (there will be a little more on that in the next post).

I did not until that moment realise that it was actually a dream of mine to publish a game – nor did I realise how important it was to me until that moment. When the demo decks Green Ronin produced came to my house, it was surreal. It was actually a game. Somehow, the Queen of Heart sticky labelled “Old Men” card had become a real game component, beautifully designed on real proper card stock.

Lessons learned:

1. Get involved in the hobby because you want to and because you love it.
2. Don't try to actively network with an agenda  - it certainly puts me off.
3. Ideas are great.  The will remain as ideas unless you do the work.
4. Playtests your game idea to death.  Then do it some more.  Then repeat for another year.  Listen to your playtesters.  Don't be precious - cut, chop and burn - remember that these people are your audience and this is a golden opportunity to get direct feedback from the players of your game.
5. Make sure the prototype you send it is at least passable in layout.
6. Components are not cheap - keep your prototype as simple as possible.
7. I am serious about the playtesting.

Depression and writing

I live successfully with unipolar depression after a long exploration through challenges to recovery – or a state in which I have learned to manage my condition well.  But this is not a post about depression or my story in that sense.

There has existed the romantic view of writers being the tortured souls, the often depressed often manic, borderline crazies who use their alternate spin on reality to craft beauty and art.  I do think that good writers have the ability to see things from multiple angles, different strands and divergent vectors, but I have often though about the relationship with depression and writing.

Does one need to be a depressive to be a good writer?  Absolutely not.

I think when one emerges from the black hole of depression to recovery it can (I say can) lend one a better understanding of emotions and, hence, the human condition.  Depression can offer a unique objectivity when one is able to live with it – when it turns off the ability to emote, you can see emotions clinically and coldly.  While this may not be, to put it mildly, pleasant, I think it can be useful after the event to bring such an understanding to ones writing.

In essence, I am saying that when you rec over from depression, it can offer useful insight into oneself and objective observation of the human emotive state.  If one has a tendency and ability to write, this can serve to infuse the writing with another angle – it can, in short, be another tool to add to the toolbox all writers have.  A better tool? Not at all.  A different tool?  Perhaps, but in a mater os state rather than scale.

Now that I am in a place of acceptance with my depression, I can see a positive use for my experiences through depression in my writing.  I am not saying it has made me a better writer – actually or relatively – but I feel it has given me an insight that I might not have otherwise had.

I wonder is this true of other writers who happen to have depression?

Still querying

Well, it turns out that seeking an agent ism, for me, a combination of fear-driven procrastination, avoidance and sporadic work.  And it is work.  It id going through lists upon lists, making judgement calls based on websites, recommendations and warning form other authors of notice boards.  Finally, one is left with a refined (?) list of agents to send the stuff to.  Then the varying submission guidelines, the selection of text for those that want you to select rather than submitting the first three chapters and then the emails or posting hard copy.  I must say, I do prefer posting hard copy.  Something more inky and tactile and old-world about sending a submission by snail mail.

 The challenge, for me, is to not being doing anything creative in this time - but using my "writing time" for hunt-and-peck research.  I have small projects to tide me over and got another idea for a novel the other day (yay), but I really want to sink my teeth into my next novel.  However, I have promised myself that I will not start until I have submitted "Valen" to the big bad wolf infested publishing world.  If I launched into the new one, the hard work of querying would never be done.

It is not exciting.  It is not even pretty.  But it must be done.  And will be done.

What I have learned in my infancy regarding this process, is:

1. Do not trust agents that charge a reading fee.
2. Text only websites or email only contact scream amateurism and are a big warning sign
3. Agents that are an umbrella contact for lots og agents worry me
4. As do agents that use too much flash or fancy web footwork, but have no list of authors.
5. I need to trust my instinct in this search.

I am sure I have more to learn.  Much more.  But if "Valen" is the fire through which I am to be tempered, then burn , bay burn!