thread: 2008-03-20 : Mr Foot Goes to Mouthville, part 2
On 2008-03-25, Thor Olavsrud wrote:
You think you've got it bad Vincent?
We measure our efforts against stuff like Dogs in the Vineyard and In a Wicked Age. You keep raising the bar on us!
Right now we're chasing InSpectres. Talk about intimidating!
Ben, YES!
Jonathan,
We totally meant Burning Empires to be a finger in the eye...to mainstream game companies.
We wanted to make a book as good looking or better than anything that's come out of the mainstream companies, but totally indie and with gameplay as tight and demanding as focused design and our ability could make it.
In my view, the statement of Burning Empires as a product was that any schlub can make a pretty book, and if they want to differentiate themselves from us they better raise their bar for game design. They are not safe on the basis of production value alone.
Honestly, and with all respect to Chris Moeller (who is wonderful in all ways), I hate it when people praise Burning Empires based on its appearance and production values. I only care about that in as much as it supports and expresses the game. What I want to hear about is where it led you in play!
In a Wicked Age is exactly what it needs to be: beautiful, spare, lean and mean. And Burning Empires is exactly what it needs to be: baroque, saturated, difficult and subtle. I think the same is true of Sorcerer, Nine Worlds, With Great Power, Polaris and so many other games that have come out of our wonderful community.
