Wednesday, March 14, 2018

The Importance of the *Correct* Research

I have been fairly quiet here I know.  Not by choice, but I have some projects I want to get done and get out to you all.   Today is the tale of woe of one such project.

A few weeks back I had this GREAT idea. No, it really it was. It was a game that I really wanted to play and write.  I am going into a lot of detail about here now because the game will not happen now, or at least not in it's current draft. 

See I did my research.  I have a Ph.D. (two in fact, but I am ABD) so research is something I know well and love. And I did do my research.  I looked into economic issues of the time to try to get a good idea of a monetary system.  I reread news items that I thought would give me better insight.  I also put together a must-read list of fiction and a must watch list of movies that fit the genre.
I even prototyped some characters.

What I *DIDN'T* do was see if this game already existed.
Which, as you can guess, it does.

What really sucks is that this game is also really, really good.  They went with a different vibe than I was going for, but what they did is fantastic.

Well.  Shit.

So now I have notes, drafts and a cool name.  Some friends suggested I go ahead and make it, but I don't want to field questions of "Hey have you seen BLANK?" or "How is this not a copy of BLANK?" 

So the ideas will go into ... well, I don't know yet really.

After talking with my kids I think I have some ideas for this stuff, but the focus will have to change.  So goodbye economic data. Book lists will need to be revised. I think the movies are fine though.

6 comments:

Pun Isaac said...

When I started working on Slashers & Victims I had a broader idea of what the game could be. Then I found out about the game that you're talking about and decided not to expand like I'd originally planned.

Greyhawk Grognard said...

Why let that stop you? In a world where we have dozens of versions of basic D&D, there's obviously room for different takes on the same subject.

Timothy S. Brannan said...

The concept was so close that I think it would be better to move on.
Plus I have a LOT of things to work on so I do not lack for projects!

JB said...

Having been burned this way more than once, the FIRST thing I check before putting down serious time and energy into a project is checking to see if the game already exists.

[a close second is checking to see if my preferred title has already been taken by a game or book]

Doesn't mean you can't continue with your project, but you have to know going in.

jdh417 said...

About the same thing happened to me. Right before I was about to post my set of RPG rules, I did an Internet search. I found myself having to quickly think up a new name and do a search and replace before posting.

Timothy S. Brannan said...

Yeah. I am not greatly concerned about the work I did; it will find a new home. I suppose this is good really, there are other projects that are nearer and dearer to my heart and I want to make sure I do the due diligence on them.