thread: 2005-06-24 : John Kim on Craft and Innovation
On 2005-06-25, Chris wrote:
Hi Brand,Most definitely, probably one of the best reads for me personally was Koestler's The Ghost in the Machine which addressed the concept of ideas evolving and building on each other. That's why I'm pointing to concepts as opposed to specific games, and in some cases I recognize that some of the ideas may have been independently developed.
I think a major portion of craft is the ability to look at your own work as well as those of others and know which parts to cannibalize and how to fit those pieces together. Consider Luke's modifications to Burning Wheel Revised, which took a rather solid game and added some stuff he saw work well for other games and ideas, and made it even stronger. The craft of the work wasn't just taking other ideas and welding them on, but making them a solid part of the whole.
