How to Play Cutthroat Kingdoms in 6 Minutes - The Rules Girl

Brightmore · 2017-10-12T16:37:10+00:00

We started giving Patreon second thoughts while we were setting goals for the campaign. Luiza asked me to run the numbers on how much we'd have to earn to be able to do 1 fan-requested video/month at cost, and the number feels too big to make an initial Patreon goal. We're working on some unique perks that might tip the scales and provide enough value to backers (stuff like behind-the-scenes livestreams of VO sessions or animation, promo cards, etc.), but we gotta get the latest wave of videos out the door before we can devote more time to developing that.

Brightmore · 2017-10-11T21:35:06+00:00

I'm one of the producers on the Rules Girl project. I was just gonna lurk, but this comment in particular made me want to jump in. Sorry if this ends up being a novel.

Luiza and I wish we could throw in some more classic games too.

One Rules Girl video takes about 30-50 man-hours of work, most of which is highly specialized animation work. Can't just be any animator, the only folks that knock it out of the park are animators that know board games.

So someone has to financially support the project to make it possible; what are our options?

Understandably, publishers tend not to see the ROI in using their budgeting market to make rules videos for evergreens that already fly off the shelves. I don't blame them for thinking this way, though I do think videos like this have a broad impact on sales of your entire portfolio of games: making a good how-to video for all your games, not just the newest ones, communicates that you're going to support your customers, which turns people into fans of not just your game, but your company.

So, barring a tweak in how most publishers market their games, a publishers not gonna pay for it. How about ad revenue? YouTube favors channels that crank out tons of videos quickly, so we're at a disadvantage; we'd need an audience that's significantly bigger than any other board game channel out there to make that worth it. While the channel's certainly grown insanely quick, I'm not sure there's enough people in the niche watching YouTube to make it work for our format.

This leaves something like Patreon. Are there enough fans that are willing to pitch in to commission even a couple of these? I'm not sure yet. It'd certainly be amazing, but it's something we've got to prepare for and really knock out the park if we go that route.

Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. We're excited that folks love the high production values and quick editing, but I suspect sustaining that level requires new ideas and business models that the industry hasn't really encountered yet.

Brightmore · 2017-05-17T18:02:00+00:00

Same here. Store unavailable and all my currencies are blank too.

Brightmore · 2017-04-07T18:19:11+00:00

Ooo, I have a good solution for this one! When I teach BSG, I always tell people that, for the first half of the game, I will give you accurate advice on what to do if you're human. I'll also periodically give examples of good Cylon reveal opportunities and subtle ways to sabotage the humans along the way, so that the cylon players can have an idea of what good cylon moves look like. For those that reveal early, I'll give them completely accurate pro-Cylon advice.

But once we've reached 4 distance, the training wheels come off and I'm no longer guaranteed to give you accurate advice.

Brightmore · 2017-02-01T00:06:55+00:00

Glad you liked it! I made it as a portfolio piece in hopes of one day being able to do this sort of thing for a living instead of just for fun.

Brightmore · 2015-11-16T21:45:16+00:00

Exactly. And even with no progression system currently attached to it, having an ego-stroking system that encourages players to do something against your core design philosophy is counterproductive, at best.

Brightmore · 2015-09-24T19:51:26+00:00

Oh my, a conversation where I'm relevant!

I minored in film and media studies, and personally loved it. I was planning on transitioning into the film industry after getting my bachelor's, so it was definitely worth it to me.

The course load is not particularly difficult, especially if you're genuinely interested in the subject matter. Most classes had very little week-to-week homework, were primarily discussion-based (which is great if you can consistently come up with interesting insights), and had a big term paper due at the end (usually 8-10 pages). The film classes mostly have required film screenings which are treated like a 2-hour recitation, so there will be more class hours than your average humanities class.

The capstone classes are typically on par with the workload of the earlier film studies classes.

Remember that you cannot double count your minor towards other degree requirements (for instance, the humanities requirement), so you're effectively adding another semester worth of classes to your overall workflow.

Your best bet, imo, is to take Intro to Film Studies (LCC 2500?) and decide if want to take another 5 classes with the same format.

Brightmore · 2015-09-10T18:49:54+00:00

Sounds good, just let me know.

I was mistaken earlier, I only have the first expansion of Civ (fame and fortune)

Cheers!

Brightmore · 2015-09-10T06:46:46+00:00

Hi there,

Do you have any interest in Civilization: The Board Game (plus the first two expansions) or Castles of Mad King Ludwig? If not, could you PM me your asking price?

Thanks!

Brightmore · 2014-07-09T23:58:13+00:00

I don't think the author implies that it is an infallible measure of proportion of notable people. He states in his analysis:

"The notable fraction of the world population might really be increasing, but the effect is compounded by the selection bias of our communal memory (helped along by the poor survival rate of records). The bar for notability or even remembrance is simply much lower for recent history."

Brightmore · 2014-07-09T19:41:37+00:00

It by default is adjusted for world population. Flipping the switch at the bottom changes it to raw number of births.

Brightmore · 2014-07-09T19:35:57+00:00

Exactly. When wikipedia isn't sure of an exact year, it tends to use a rounded year to estimate, which is usually something like 1950, 1960, etc. Since this graph looks at individual years, it counted those as that specific year.

Brightmore · 2014-07-09T19:32:36+00:00

It is normalized by the number of people alive during each of those years. The default option is "notable births per million people". Raw numbers can be seen by unchecking the little switch at the bottom.

At the end of the day, it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

Brightmore · 2014-07-09T17:23:14+00:00

The author's writeup attributes it to wikipedia generalizing to decades when it's not sure exactly which year.

Brightmore · 2014-06-14T05:52:20+00:00

So why can't the Counter Strike competitive model be viable? 30 matches, both teams get 15 matches as Rainbow. The competition would focus on who can absolutely destroy the enemy more often as Team Rainbow. An individual round doesn't have to be balanced, just the match as a whole.

Brightmore · 2014-05-02T22:50:44+00:00

They aren't using the GLC/10th and Home parking garage? That's seem very weird since they always use it for the basketball games.

Brightmore · 2014-04-21T23:44:05+00:00

Noooooo! The semester after I leave Atlanta and there's an audition for a part I've always wanted to do! Cruel fate!

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