Questions, concerns, befuddlements
Ron Edwards:
Hello!
This thread’s for any and all questions about how the Ronnies will proceed.
Best, Ron
Troy_Costisick:
Heya Ron,
I'm very excited to hear you're doing the Ronnies again. It was a major growth moment for me back in 2005. I have a question. In the sticky, you wrote, "Your actual game creation should be conducted within 24 hours." I'm asking about the word, "creation" here.
Can a game that relies on some OGL or Creative Commons set of mechanics (D20, TSOY) qualify? Or does the author have to create all the rules and mechanics from scratch?
Thank you,
-Troy
Ron Edwards:
Hi Troy,
That's a good question. By "create," I'm talking about a role-playing game authored by you (the submitter) that might meet the standards I mentioned. It seems to me that using Creative Commons, OGL, et cetera material does not violate those standards, so that would be permitted.
However, that means I should clarify what I mean by "authored by you." As I see it, that means that you would have made the absolute best choice you could regarding those two terms and how you have decided to relate them, specifically in terms of the rules. It is possible that in those circumstances, using (say) the Solar System or original TSOY would be exactly perfectly right.* But I will be subjecting that decision to my own judgment.
Here's something to add to that regarding D20. Unlike TSOY, their open license contract stipulates that certain design features be left unchanged - six attributes, and a few other things. For purposes of the Ronnies, it is up to you to decide whether you will accept these stipulations as productive constraints or violate them, rendering your design "inspired by D20" rather than in accord with the OGL. Either is acceptable to me in principle, but that judgment I mentioned applies to this too.
That idea applies to a lesser extent to the details of any open license framework one might use. For instance, if you were to use the Solar System, I would probably consider it lazy, and more importantly, uncritical design, if you simply slotted everything you had in mind straight through the exact options and exact menu of Keys and whatnot that Eero provided. I'd expect you to work with the Solar System, not merely copy from it. (And all this said with the proviso that if, somehow, your concepts were so brilliantly tuned to exactly what is provided in the Solar System, then it would in fact be the best design choice to use what was provided. But that's subject to my judgment regarding the award.)
Best, Ron
* For instance, I am working on an elaborate setting and play-design using TSOY/Solar System right now. I wouldn't be doing that unless I thought that that system's features were not already well-suited, even ideally-suited for it.
Ben Lehman:
So, uh, when are you actually going to start?
Ron Edwards:
Hi Ben,
It's in the main thread, but there's nothing wrong with emphasizing it here. My current thinking is not to compete with the holidays, so January 1st is probably the best bet for the start. I figure a little clarification and prep time here might help too.
You've probably noticed that the timing is a little different, capping out the number of entries. I'm trying to avoid the burnout that kicked in so hard the last time, and which hampered my ability to mentor many designs further in the case of several authors who didn't receive it, especially in terms of playtesting.
Ummm ... on a related note, you wouldn't consider working up On the Ecology of the Mud Dragon (with art), would you? Maybe for a free download or something.
Best, Ron
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