Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
D&D Historian Ben Riggs on TSR's Salaries in the 1990s
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Staffan" data-source="post: 8490242" data-attributes="member: 907"><p>The problem is that it's much easier to tell good* art from bad art than good game design from bad game design. You can pretty much instantly look at an artist's portfolio and tell if they're someone you want drawing art for your product or not. It's not so easy to look at a game and say the same.</p><p></p><p>And of course, what we consider "game design" also includes a whole lot of fiction writing – and when done right, the two support one another. But the same thing applies there, it's a lot harder to tell good from bad than with visual arts. And there's also a big difference between having the chops to design a whole game, and for designing bits and bobs that work with an already existing game – it's easier to design a spell than a magic system.</p><p></p><p>That applies both on a company level and a consumer level. As a reader, I was at first mightily impressed with Coriolis, for example. The writing was great, the setting was something that really pushed my buttons (essentially "Firefly but with Middle-Eastern instead of Chinese tones [ISPOILER]with a bit of Cthulhu Mythos thrown in[/ISPOILER]"), but it took actually playing the game for me to realize that the mechanics really didn't work very well.</p><p></p><p>* "Good" is admittedly a nebulous term when it comes to art, but whatever either illustrates what it's supposed to illustrate correctly, or portrays whatever mood it's trying to inspire effectively.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Staffan, post: 8490242, member: 907"] The problem is that it's much easier to tell good* art from bad art than good game design from bad game design. You can pretty much instantly look at an artist's portfolio and tell if they're someone you want drawing art for your product or not. It's not so easy to look at a game and say the same. And of course, what we consider "game design" also includes a whole lot of fiction writing – and when done right, the two support one another. But the same thing applies there, it's a lot harder to tell good from bad than with visual arts. And there's also a big difference between having the chops to design a whole game, and for designing bits and bobs that work with an already existing game – it's easier to design a spell than a magic system. That applies both on a company level and a consumer level. As a reader, I was at first mightily impressed with Coriolis, for example. The writing was great, the setting was something that really pushed my buttons (essentially "Firefly but with Middle-Eastern instead of Chinese tones [ISPOILER]with a bit of Cthulhu Mythos thrown in[/ISPOILER]"), but it took actually playing the game for me to realize that the mechanics really didn't work very well. * "Good" is admittedly a nebulous term when it comes to art, but whatever either illustrates what it's supposed to illustrate correctly, or portrays whatever mood it's trying to inspire effectively. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
D&D Historian Ben Riggs on TSR's Salaries in the 1990s
Top