A year and a half of Oz

It seems something of a tradition for me to look back on my accomplishments on the blog and the game every six months, and I'd hate to disappoint myself, so here goes.

Most notably, I missed my release date. I had intended to release the game on Ozma's birthday, August 21st. Unfortunately, that's about the time that I actually finished writing the game. When I first started this project, I had anticipated about 3 months of work, with a release in the fall of last year. I'm actually glad that it took longer than that. I've made friends and acquaintances over the last year and a half (heck, even over the last six months) that have helped enormously, teaching me all sorts of things about game design, being a Narrator, and being Ozzy. One of my players, the inestimable Kris "Fishgod" Newton, even wrote an awesome adventure for inclusion in the book. So while you may be waiting a while to get your hands on it, it will definitely be worth the wait.

If all goes well, the game should be released this month, maybe next. I have seen some of the early layout work and it looks good.

On the plus side, I've been getting some good publicity lately. Jared interviewed me for his podcast and I got a favorable mention on the Out of Character podcast. My brother got my message out at PAX, though he was only able to hand out one business card. Once he sends them to me, I might even put up pictures of all the awesome people he met that you've all never heard of.

Also, over the last month, I've been conducting a little bit of market research to figure out what my readership wants out of me. And my readership seems to want two things: Wrestling, and a setting supplement for Oz. I was surprised that the adventure supplement didn't do as well in the poll. Maybe because I didn't give it a very catchy name. I'll have to work on that. Or maybe because a lot of you are more Oz fans than gamers and don't have an idea of the value of a scenario book.

I know where the wrestling votes came from (at least 3 of them, anyway). Though it does mean that I'm going to have to watch some wrestling, it is something that does hold some interest for me. As I said, most RPGs combat rules are designed around the concept of hit point attrition, or "keep whacking them until they fall down" much like a video game. I don't see wrestling as being much like that, so it would have to be a unique system.

Just so you know, the poll should not be construed as a definitive statement as to what I will develop next. It will be a factor, but not the only one. There's also the question of the research I would have to conduct and where my energy and interests lie.