Well, it's December, so NaGa DeMon is done. And what a weird one it was. For the first half of the month I was kind of stuck. My first version of Dragon Dance was far better than I was expecting, reasonably well balanced and it played more or less how I was thought it would. That's unheard of for a first prototype of mine. I was playing it loads during lunchtime at work, alternating between it and By Election - my friend Sam's NaGa DeMon game. After about fifteen plays (including some from Konrad) I finally pushed the boat out and made a second version, incorporating some of the detailed feedback from Konrad and some ideas I'd had or that had been suggested by my playtesters.
That version, while a bit more interested, sucked. It was hideously broken, so heavily weighted in favour of the dragon that there was little point in playing it. So I had an idea of how to change things to fix it up, which I wrote up ready to post once I'd tried it.
Then I got sick (after it had swept through the family) then we had some bad news that put everything else on the back burner. My parents came up a week earlier than planned to help babysit The Daughter and my spare time ended up being spent entertaining guests rather than printing, designing or playing Dragon Dance. Also, after making big promises that I would get more involved with other people's NaGa DeMon efforts (including the aforementioned Konrad, who played my NaGa DeMon game one night in preference to his own) I did nothing. About which I feel quite bad - sorry Konrad!
With little time to practice the new fixed up v2, I posted it anyway and then finally another tweak right at the end of the month. The first hardly tested by me, the other completely untested. A very disappointing end to the month.
Page views were way down on last year as a result (though still my second best month in the eight year history of Creation and Play). However, I still managed to make four different versions and played it nearly twenty times. Plus, TGWAG was another huge success with nine participants, at least two people printing it out and Konrad playing it and given some excellent feedback. Thanks everyone, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. The final league table is as follows:
| Name | PIPs | PIAL | Free game? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sir Konrad/@pidaysock | 33 | Knight Sergeant | Yes |
| Derek Hohls/@gamesbook | 16 | Squire | Yes |
| Eblasco/@7isprime | 15 | Squire | Yes |
| Roberto | 8 | Footman | No |
| @MTTJ_Patrick | 5 | Footman | No |
| @kimacus | 4 | Serf | No |
| Mal | 3 | Serf | No |
| @toddderscheid | 2 | Serf | No |
| @thefrugalgamer | 2 | Serf | No |
So the free copies will be winging their way to Konrad, Enrique and Derek early in the new year. Thanks again!
Posts
5 comments:
I feel terribly guilty for not submitting one playtest report. November has been hectic work-wise and my usual victims, er family-playtesters, have been buried in exams. I WILL play this in December!
Hi, Jack. Thanks for the free game but I feel I don't deserve it. I couldn't provide you with the feedback you needed. Dragon Dance is a great game. Don't abandon it.
Your squire,
Enrique
Hiya Derek,
No need to feel guilty, real life got in the way for me too. If you do get a chance to play it I would really appreciate your feedback - and thanks for your proof-reading.
Hiya Enrique,
You definitely deserve it! As one of only two people to play it during November (and someone who frequently retweeted my blogposts and posted pictures of your version), you've more than earnt your copy!
Cheers,
Jack
Hiya Mr. Jack,
I'm sorry it didn't go as expected, but I'm happy I could participate a bit in the process :-)
I could print, cut and sleeve the second version of the game, but couldn't manage to play it. I tried in the lunch break time, but it's hard to get my co-workers out of Magic: The Gathering. And I stopped insisting when you mentioned that this version was clearly broken. And after that I had no chance to make a new prototype :-(
Anyway, it's been fun, and I'm sure that the game can work! It *just* needs more development :-). I'll stay tuned and try to give you feedback in the future as much as I can.
Finally, I've got something to add to my CV: "Footman level in TGWAG corresponding to NaGaDeMon 2014 - Dragon Dance by Jackson Pope" :-D
Best of lucks!
Roberto
Hiya Roberto,
Thanks for helping out, printing the game and trying to get it played. I've got to finish of the winners' copies now, but I've some ideas for the next version already.
Cheers,
Jack
Post a Comment