What do you want from a Designer's Notes article?

[Mailanka]

I mainly read the design notes for additional rules and optional material.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Buzzardo

The designer's notes that I've enjoyed in the past have been the ones that explain the choices the designer had to make. Like most things, a game design is a series of compromises, between realism and playability, between the designer's vision and what's possible (in terms of both game mechanics and affordable printing), and so on.

Yes.

A good example is the MMO computer game EVE Online. In the forums, there are often huge fights between players, with one side saying that the game is hugely unbalanced and broken and needs to be fixed, while the othe side says that the game is fine.

The designers have never come out openly and said what their actual goals for the game is, e.g. whether it is a goal for them that all the spaceship hulls should be attractive. This makes it difficult for players to argue that, e.g., the expensive and high-tech Hawk assault frigate hull is underpowered, because the other side can just tell us "if you don't like it, then don't buy it, don't fly it".

Same with RPGs.

Is it okay for GURPS to have an unattractive Limited Use Limitation? Is it all right that the Affliction advantage is built such that players are extremely unwilling to buy more than one level of it?

We don't know. We can only have individual opinions. There has been no official statement about what the goals and ideals of the design process were. We don't know what the intended outcome is, with any specificity. If we did, it'd be much easier for a player to approach the GM and ask him to please fix broken and unbalanced design elements.

[Exxar]

Hi Paul!

The thing I find most useful in Designers Notes are under the hood explanations of how certain stuff was built and why. Take Jason's DN about Psionic Powers from Pyramid 3/9 as an example, specifically the Strange Psi Techniques and The Technique of Which We Do Not Speak boxes.

I like extra material that was left out of the final draft too, but that I can just use as is, while I can use under the hood explanations to better my own understanding of the design process and make my own stuff.

[thrash]

In addition to explaining the choices that went into the product (as already mentioned), I would like to see the rules behind the rules. That is, when the published rule is a simplification of a more complex relationship, or a table is published instead of a formula, I would like the Designer's Notes to reveal the original relationship or formula in all its complexity.

Similarly, if there are sources that the designers consulted that weren't suitable for the bibliography because they don't assist with game play, but could be of use for others trying to follow the design logic, include them with the Designer's Notes.

[nondescript handle]

My favorite Designer's Notes are:
1) the discussion about alternative 3D-star-mapping in "DN: Traveller - First In."
2) small example campaign settings (e.g. "Second Gaze" in "DN: Dragons," "Agents of PSION" in "DN: Psionic Powers," and "Wild Life" in "DN: Space").
3) extra gear/templates/characters for gear/template/character-heavy books (e.g. "The Xigana" in "DN: Shapeshifters").

I can't really think of many "why we did it how we did it" DNs that I found especially interesting. Can those who wish to see those cite some examples?

[greatamericanfolkhero]

I would like to see the thought process of the rules design for a game. Why a bit of rules is this way, why a previous attempt doesn't work, if a rule is a patch for some problem what that problem is, that sort of thing.

I tend to think that you can use the rules of a game better when you know the "why" behind them.

[Lord Carnifex]

I'm mainly with Buzzardo here. I like reading why things are why they are, and why the decisions made were made. I like it when the writer points out the nifty little things hey did that don't look all that clever on the first reading, but reveal a glorious cunning when explained. I also like reading about the heartbreaks and the triumphs and the funny moments that led to the finished project.

My best example is from Roleplayer #15, August 1989. (I don't know if it's available online anywhere, but I like to imagine that SJG has a climate controlled archive in a subbasement in Austin. Possibly accessed by twisting a snowglobe on Mr. Jackson's desk, going through the now open bookcase, and sliding down a fireman's pole.) Loyd Blankenship wrote an entertaining piece on how the original GURPS Supers came to be, and the pitfalls on the way.

I prefer to see additional material, cut rules, and so on as Pyramid articles or supplementary PDF's. I like to assume that the author/editor cycle knows what it's doing, and that stuff was cut for a reason. If, at a later date, it's deemed polished enough to publish, then publish it on it's own. Or so my opinion goes, YMMV of course.

[Christopher R. Rice]

I would really like to see more like the GURPS Powers and GURPS Martial Arts designers notes. Both had:

• Explanations on why certain things were left out, why others were included, and why some ended up in the Designers Notes.
  
• New (untested) options and rules, the Disadvantageous Alternate Forms from GURPS Powers comes to mind. When I saw that on my computer screen I just knew I had to try it out and tweak it.
  
• A general history of writing the book, any obstacles to be overcome, etc. These are the things I like to know.

I know the designers notes are typically at the last of the to do list, but what if you offered them in a separate PDF form in certain issues of Pyramid, and then freely on your website later on. That way those who bought Pyramid get a sneak peak (like before) and everyone gets it too, just later on.

Ghostdancer

[Buzzardo]

In the interests of getting the Illuminati to smile on me, here's links to a couple sets of designer's notes that I like:

Revolution and Magic Items 3

[roguebfl]

Deftly the big whys on the the path was taken. And contender ideas that migt have work by did not fit the chose path, and stuff the was cut from lack of space but not big enough to be expanded on it own.