This process is important, and that's why our priority right now is to get the LSG forum back to a place where games can regularly run back-to-back. We want the new scummer who just made an MS account able to tell when the next game will run. We want the excited newbie who got voted out right before the merge to be able to jump back in the pool for the next game and try to improve right away. We want a healthy, sustaining community that provides the best environment possible for these online games that we all love so much.
Designing a game can be daunting, though. Between challenges, twists, forum design, graphics, and the day-to-day responsibilities of running the game it can be tricky for a potential modteam to feel comfortable with all the skills necessary to get a game ready to run. In order to both help moderators with designing their games and to provide a steady stream of games for players, us listmods are officially launching the
Let's Start Games Initiative
(or for short, the L.S.G. Initiative).What is this?
We, the Mish Mods, would like to help bring your visions to life! We want to be the Third Mod on a team that needs just a
little
something - be it advice, motivation, different skills, or miscellaneous fourth thing - to get your game out of the brainstorming phase and into sign-ups. Many of you out there have fantastic ideas for games that you want to run, but something is holding you back. If this sounds like something that resonates, then this program might be for you!Our role in this initiative is going to be to work with you throughout the entire design process. These games are ultimately your babies, and our goal is to help you shape and craft your dreams to help them become reality as the best versions of themselves that they can be.
We want to be clear - designing a game takes effort from everybody involved. If you are thinking “It would be kind of cool if somebody did a Christopher Nolan Films Survivor” then this program is probably not for you. But if you are thinking “I
want
to make a Christopher Nolan Films Survivor”, then heck yes, sign up! Let’s make Christopher Nolan Films Survivor happen!What you can expect of us:
We will take an active role in your design process. We will brainstorm ideas with you, help you curate the best ones, and assist in getting them into a playable form. We can help make sure your team is comfortable with handling day-to-day operations, and we can help navigate the flood of chaos that all game moderators experience at some point in their games. We can’t just design the entire thing for you, but as partners we will be invested to help you get your game running as quickly as possible.
Which listmod will I get?
That depends entirely on what your needs are and which of us you think you will work best with. All five of us are dedicated to rejuvenating the queue with you and will give it our all. We have collectively run 36 Large Social Games on the MS forums and have a wealth of general experience in getting games off the ground and running. There are no bad choices here.
If there is a specific thing you are looking for, though, here are some of the skills we have to offer:
Cephrir
would love to help a team with CHALLENGE DESIGN and IDEA REFINEMENT.
Haschel
would love to help a team with DESIGN PHILOSOPHY and BALANCE.
PrivateI
would love to help a team with TWIST DESIGN and CHALLENGE HISTORY.
Vash
would love to help a team with FORUM DESIGN and TWIST DESIGN.
xofelf
would love to help a team with GRAPHIC DESIGN and PLAYTESTING.Again, though, we aren’t limited to just those attributes; if you think one of us would be a good fit for another reason then by all means reach out to us!
How do I sign up?
There are five slots in this initiative, one for each listmod. Just PM or Discord DM whichever one of us you’d prefer and say “Hey, I’d like to work with you to create and run [Christopher Nolan Films Survivor] with me and [COMOD].” We’ll ask a few short questions about what you have in mind, and if it’s a good fit we’ll sign you up. If we are already signed on to a project in this initiative when you message we can suggest somebody else. It’s simple as that!
Because there are only five slots, though, it is important that
you treat this as a commitment.
We are going to hold everyone accountable to not letting things fall to the backburner. Make sure that this is what you want before you sign up.When will my game run?
Excellent question! The answer is “I don’t know”.
The more elaborate answer is that if all goes to plan we are going to end up with five completed games all in the can, ready to run back-to-back-to-back. And this doesn’t include any games that are developed outside this initiative, which we still encourage people to work on! So our plan is at any given moment we will look first at which games are complete, and then which ones are able to run. So if your work schedule means you won’t have time to run the game until next summer, that’s fine! We’ll just bump your game down in the schedule.
You are not committing to any specific timeslot, so please do not let that dissuade you from developing a game.
So it’s me and one of you, right?
Well, no. We will be the Third Mod, which means you should already have a partner going into this. We recommend checking out the Theme Test Market & Co-Mod Recruitment Thread or Ariel’s fantastic LSG Mod Matchmaking Quiz to find a second mod. Or, just reach out to somebody you think you'd work well with! That's actually how most teams are formed so don't be shy about reaching out.
That sounds great!
Right you are. It's gonna
be
great. Let's finish the year strong, have some fun, and most importantly*, Let's Start Games!
*
Okay I guess "have some fun" is the most important one. But you know what is fun? Starting games. So let's all have lots of fun.