https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/334884471/killing-lee-garvin/
The annoying thing about being a game designer is that in addition to it not paying very well for most of us, there is no real safety net. The joke we tell each other is "what is the difference between an independent game designer and a pizza?" And the punchline is "a pizza can feed a family".
Some of you may remember the name Aaron Allston, either from his Hero System work or Star Wars novels. He had a heart attack in 2009 and had to reach out to the gaming community to help pay his bills. He died in 2014 at the age of 53. Loren Wiseman back in the Game Designer's Workshop days? Origins Award Hall of Fame inductee and well-known and respected game designer. Had to make a similar appeal to cover his insurance costs, without which he would not be able to afford his medications. He died last year at the age of 65. Richard Tucholka, designer of Morrow Project, Fringeworthy and lots of other titles? Died last year at the age of 63. Again, not enough money to deal with the simple combo of food, shelter, health. And these are not the only cases, but you can see the trend.
By way of a few consecutive medical emergencies, Lee Garvin (designer of Tales from the Floating Vagabond amongst other things) went from being passably well-off to living in his car (literally!), and this project is a game that (with his blessing) makes fun of his plight, getting you a fun game, giving him a leg up, and hopefully delays his entry onto the list of "former game designers".
So if you are reading this and want to get the game (because hey, it’s a fun game), fantastic! If not, at least tweet or link to this post or the campaign or mention it to others in your gaming circle. As I write this, we have 23 days left in the campaign. We're not funded yet, but we're ahead of the curve and every gamer eyeball this gets in front of will help us stay ahead.
If you’ve got any questions on the nuts & bolts of the game, please ask. If nothing else, it helps keep this thread bumped...
The annoying thing about being a game designer is that in addition to it not paying very well for most of us, there is no real safety net. The joke we tell each other is "what is the difference between an independent game designer and a pizza?" And the punchline is "a pizza can feed a family".
Some of you may remember the name Aaron Allston, either from his Hero System work or Star Wars novels. He had a heart attack in 2009 and had to reach out to the gaming community to help pay his bills. He died in 2014 at the age of 53. Loren Wiseman back in the Game Designer's Workshop days? Origins Award Hall of Fame inductee and well-known and respected game designer. Had to make a similar appeal to cover his insurance costs, without which he would not be able to afford his medications. He died last year at the age of 65. Richard Tucholka, designer of Morrow Project, Fringeworthy and lots of other titles? Died last year at the age of 63. Again, not enough money to deal with the simple combo of food, shelter, health. And these are not the only cases, but you can see the trend.
By way of a few consecutive medical emergencies, Lee Garvin (designer of Tales from the Floating Vagabond amongst other things) went from being passably well-off to living in his car (literally!), and this project is a game that (with his blessing) makes fun of his plight, getting you a fun game, giving him a leg up, and hopefully delays his entry onto the list of "former game designers".
So if you are reading this and want to get the game (because hey, it’s a fun game), fantastic! If not, at least tweet or link to this post or the campaign or mention it to others in your gaming circle. As I write this, we have 23 days left in the campaign. We're not funded yet, but we're ahead of the curve and every gamer eyeball this gets in front of will help us stay ahead.
If you’ve got any questions on the nuts & bolts of the game, please ask. If nothing else, it helps keep this thread bumped...
