By The Stars Confession — Week Eighteen

Another week without progress. The playtest got canceled again.

Forgive me, By The Stars, I am frustrated. It’s been one week since my last confession.

Why is my progress so glacial? Why do I get nothing done? Two reasons, the lesser one first:

My Day Job We’ve lost another person in our department recently, which means spreading the work among those of us unlucky enough to remain after this round of musical chairs. And it’s not just the hours. It’s the fact that to get through the hours, I need to focus only on the task at hand, work through my breaks, and switch off my soul. The funny thing with a soul is that its doesn’t switch back on so easily. Even once I return home, my creativity and enthusiasm are nowhere to be found.

I’m Not Playing Since GenCon, I’ve played RPGs seven times. And three of those sessions were on the same day at a convention, so we’re talking 5 days out of the last 126. If I can’t play my game, why am I even designing it? I ask myself. If I’m not playing any games, how can my game be any good? A game designer that isn’t gaming is like a blind painter or a deaf musician. I know that my playtests are going to be horribly unfun both because the game is broken and incomplete (as it should be at this point), but also because I’m out of practice. Role-playing, like any skill, takes practice. And I ain’t getting anywhere near enough.

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In other news, Brennan Taylor and Paul Tevis interviewed me for The Voice of the Revolution. It was quite enjoyable. I think we touched on some good stuff. Look for Episode 3 in the near future!