Season 2 Interview Questions
From Wiki
This page is where Mitch and Mike will save proposed interview questions to ask guests on season 2 of the Ninja Vs Pirates Podcast.
Contents |
Minimums with Ken Burnside
Interview Date: June 11th 2009
- "Team work means flipping your cards as early as possible" What did you mean by this?
- Considering the other subsystems in the game, why are the combat rules complicated with math equations?
- Were you trying to discourage combat in any way?
- Why did you decide to allow the players to narrate failures?
- Are there any limitations to your character creation system? For example: too few players? too many? boring players? etc?
- What is the design intent behind the character creation system? Where there any problems from other games that were you trying to solve?
- What is the intent of the character map? How does it support this intent?
- What dynamics does the benny system encourage?
- How do the clarifying questions work in practice? Are there any limitations to the clarifying questions? <A specific example is, what if I asked the GM "Are we under attack by the Klingons?" Is that too specific to the potential action, or are clarifying questions supposed to be about the setting?
The Several Journeys of Remus with Jay Ziebarth
Date: June 16th 2009 "What was your inspiration for Journies of Remus?"
Here are questions specifically about your game
Journeys of Remus follows a long tradition of adventure games, Which games, if any, did you draw on for design ideas. Where there any traditional aspects of adventure games that you sought to depart from? The greatest aspect of your game, in my opinion, was the high level of feed back. What went into the process of decided when and how much feedback to give the player?
What was the core experience you wished for a user to take away from your game?
Each stage of the game is of limited scope, for example in monkey island you can wonder all over, but in journeys of remus, you can only deal with the immediate task at hand, Was this a intentional design decision.
Would you describe you game as aesthetically more problem solving, Narrative, or seance pleasure. For example i would classify a game like rock band or your game, The Visitor as primary scene pleasure.
Dogs in the Vineyard with Vincent Baker
Interview Date: June 25th 2009
Mitch
- Could you give us a brief summary of Dogs in the Vineyard?
- Your conflict resolution system is able to describe all manner of conflicts starting and persuasion and ending with gun fights. Why did you take this approach as apposed to the traditional approach of having separate systems for combat, skills etc.?
- The concept of Escalation during conflicts feels so organic as you play at the table, what did you have to do during design and play testing to get these dynamics so spot on?
- In the conflict resolution, specifically the escalation of a conflict, i noticed a dynamic of desperation emerge. The players were only willing to escalate from, for example, talking to physical if they wanted very much to win, but didn't think they had the dice. Was this dynamic specifiably designed for and if so, how did you approach its design?
- In Dogs in the Vineyard you present concrete mechanics for story structure, something that few RPGs do. Why did you feel it was necessary to include these mechanics?
- The idea of constant travel between towns seems to suggest to me a lack of recurring NPCs. When you play the game what do you do regarding recurring characters?
- What exactly did you have in mind when the Dogs returned to the temple instead of going to the next town?
- To my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong, RPGs like yours; Indie RPGs, Storygames etc, are still somewhat controversial in the RPG community. Why do you think so many people have yet to embrace them, or even accept them?
- How do you respond to the criticism of "We don't need rules for story or Role Playing" or "I just have them role play it out"
- The older I get, the more difficult it is to schedule 4 or 5 people for the same night of the week. How would you handle a dogs game where not all the players would make it each time?
- You mention in the character creation section about encoring the PCs to collaborate, and in the GMing section for the gm to say yes to the players as much as possible, What impact does this mechanic have on the gameplay?
- What is the most important contribution of Dogs to the state of the art?
- When we ran the test of skill, in our case on character proposed "if i can beat you in a shooting contest will you keep my secret?" where what was at stake was "Does Dog A keep the secret", it devolved into just pushing dice around the table. How would you handle this? could you run us through a test of skill scene right now?
Mike
- When we played the game, two of the players wanted there dogs compeet in a shooting contest, we ran into a snag. one of the dogs needed to take fallout from the conflict. What size fallout die would you asign?
- What is the significance of the title?
- When you take multiple blows during a conflict, do you roll for fallout twice or roll all dice together and only take one instance of fallout?
- Since your game is story driven, do you find your game deters min/maxing?
- Besides the limit of how much a person could conceivably carry, is there a reason you don't limit the quality of belongings?
- Were there any mechanics that didn't make it into the final version that you were sad to see cut?
- How do you view your rule of what's at stake as compared with typical rpg "target scores"?
- The idea of "give" is very interesting. Typically rpgs, and most miniatures games don't allow you out of a conflict without incurring a major penalty. What was your reasoning behind this?
- In Fallout you can take either a relationship at 1d4 or trait at 1d4. If you lose the conflict, do you find players take traits or relationships that could be seen as flaws to their character? Should the GM veto any of these items?
- With Fallout, any 1s grant a character something positive from the conflict. What was your reasoning behind this?
- I noticed in the GM section about stakes that you encourage small stakes. What does a session full of big stakes do for or against DitV?
Kill Dr. Lucky with James Ernest
Interview Date: June 30th 2009
Mitch
- When thwarting a murder, each player plays cards in turn, adhering strictly to this rule, the situation has come up for me where one person refuses to help the group, then the last player simply cannot put in enough to keep the game going. This design seems intentional, what kind of play experience were you trying to foster with it?
- In the Titanic Games release, there was a new mechanic for spite tokens, why was this added, and how does it effect the gameplay?
- In save Dr lucky one key mechanic is changed, you must save Dr. Lucky while someone is watching. how does this simple change effect the gameplay.
- Is save Dr Lucky, there are mechanics to shrink the board in size over time. Whas this add for some need of the game or just to differentiate it more from kill Dr. Lucky?
- The being out of sight mechanic seems to be very dependent on the number of players in the game. How does the number of players effect the outcome. how is the game different with 3 players compared to the maximum recommended (7?)? Whats the sweet spot and why?
- what was the core game play experience you wanted Kill Dr Lucky to have? What mechanics did you implement to bring this about?
- How did you finally decide on the values and quantity of the cards in the deck? what was the play test / update process like?
- How do the turn order and board layout interact. What considerations went into finalizing the board?
Mike
- Having non-player characters is easy for computer games because of the AI, but this is not so for board games. Did this present a challenge to the design of Kill or Save Doctor Lucky?
- How did you settle upon the method of movement in Kill Doctor Lucky?
- Kill Doctor Lucky seems to have influence from Clue. Were you influenced by Clue, or did the idea come from somewhere else?
- Do you have any other games in the works that use the same movement mechanics, or was that particular to the Dr. Lucky series?
Fluxx with Andrew Looney
Interview Date: July 6th 2009
Mitch
- What inspired you to make a game about changing rules?
- How would you describe the key Aesthetic, in other words, element of fun in Fluxx? It certainly dose have an aspect of competition, in your mind is that most important, if not, what aesthetic does it take a back seat to?
- The object of Fluxx to 'complete the current goal' is a little abstract. Did you find during play testing that some players had a hard time with it?
- The first time i played Fluxx i had a really hard time warping my mind around keepers. For some reason i just didn't get what to do with them. Am i the only one who was confused?
- The draw and play cards max out at 5, how did you settle on this number?
- What rule differences are there between each kind of Fluxx, Zombie, Stoner, Monty Python, and what effects do they have on the gameplay experiences?
Mike
- I think it is interesting that foreign language versions have more artwork than the original Fluxx, did you work on those, or was that the publishing company?
- Unfortunately, I am only familiar with the original Fluxx, are the theme versions supposed to be compatible with the original?
- Since Fluxx is about constantly changing rules, were there any rules, or mechanics that did not make it into the final version?
- What kind of challenges did you face with a game of fluctuating rules?
- What, if anything, do you think Fluxx has done for the gaming industry?
- How do you handle situations where you have contradictory cards? (To Mitch--Is that in the rule book, and I am forgetting?)
- Do you create all of the Fluxx expansions?
- If you wouldn't mind talking about it, are there any new versions of Fluxx in the works?
- Are there any rules that you would consider innovative, or new?
Battle Star Galactica with Corey Konieczka
Interview Date: July 8th 2009
Mitch
- Question One: Are you a fan of the show?
- How did the incensing of the property work? Did Fantasy Flight come to you and say "we acquired this property" and tell you to run with it or did you decide to make the game and asked someone to try and get the lenience for you?
- The fellowship dynamic that emerges during play is so spot on. The first time i played i was blown away by how i just felt i was in the show. What was the process you went through to tune the mechanics in this direction?
- How is the fact that you can never really know who is a cylon until they reveal them selves is important to the game?
- Could you talk about how specific mechanics help to foster the feeling of desperation and paranoia.
- Some people did not like the sympathizer mechanic, what was your original design intent for the sympathizer. How is game play different in a 4 player game with and with out the sympathizer in play.
- A sentiment i noticed amongst players was that, the first few times they played, they thought the cylons had it easier. But the people who had played a lot of times thought that the humans had it easier. Do you agree that for a new group of players the cylons have the upper hand, and the more experience the group gets, the easier it is for the humans to work together?
- The skill challenge mechanic is unique for board games, even cooperative ones, because it keeps all players active at all times. Why did you choose to include such a mechanic?
- What do you think is the best way to play a cylon, both from a "i want to win" point of view and a "whats the most fun" point of view?
- Questions about the expansions
- I realize that you may not want to talk about the expansions. Please read these questions carefully to make sure we are not asking for more that you want to tell. If you rather not discuss the expansion fine by us, just let us know ahead of time.
- The announcement for the expansion mentioned new boards for the Pegasus and New Caprica. When the show reached New Caprica there was a distinct change in the feel and tone of the show. It was still desperation, but of a different sort. Can we look forward to a similar change in tone?
- The preview mentioned Treachery cards. Are these cards just normal skill cards? or something special for the Cylons.
- Does the expansion include components to play with extra players?
Mike
- Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of experience playing this game. What about Battlestar the game would draw in a non-fan of the show?
- Are there any particular elements from the show that made into the game mechanics? (Besides the Cylon aspect)
- Are there any mechanics that had to be cut from the final version that you were sad to see go?
- Did you have to change anything from the show to fit the game?
- What are the design challenges to creating a game based on a popular t.v. show?
- Do you think that Battlestar has advanced the gaming industry in any way?
- Did you have to work on this game alone, or did you have help with the show research?
GNS Theroy with Ron Edwards
Interview Date:TBD
Mitch
- Could you give a brief description of the GNS model?
- Could you quickly summarize Gameisit Narativist and Simulaitonist?
- When you use the terms Gamiest Naratavist and Simulaitonist, are you describing the mechanics of the game, the actually play at the table, or the kind of fun derived from playing the game?
- How do you respond to the criticism that a theory of game design, specifically RPG design, is unneeded, or even impossible?
- You observed that for a given play instance, one of the three stances is primary, even if elements of the other two are present. What lead you to this observation and how does this inform you design of new games?
- How can observations you have made be used to help a designer create a game?
- Should a designer say to him self "i want to make a naratavist game"?
- How can the three stances be use to analyze mechanics on a individual level?
- In your discussion of Character and System you mention that many game designs will leave out one of the elements of character in there rules, could you provide a concrete example of a rule set that does this?
- How big of an effect do the rules of the game have on the actual play at the table?
- In one of your essays you mention that an RPG that does not wholly embrace one of the three category will end up being an Incoherent game, could you explain incoherence, could you give some examples?
- You described post-tourney D&D as a "halting and incoherent mix of Gamism and Simulationism" Explain this mix and how it lead to incoherence? How did this incoherence effect the ultimate play experiences?
- In the standard DnD prewritten adventure, what is the typical primary focus of exploration?
- Have you ever played murder mystery party games? How does GNS apply to those games?
- You observed that when people bring a Narrativist approach to systems that include both detailed pre-play settings and characters (like Vampire and Legend of the 5 rings) they must discard one or the other in order to play enjoyably. Why does and why must this happen?
- The articles of your i read were published in 2001. have you had a chance to play DnD 4th edition, and how would you characterize that game?
- Could you please explain "The Great Impossible Thing to Believe Before Breakfast" (: that the GM may be defined as the author of the ongoing story, and, simultaneously, the players may determine the actions of the characters as the story's protagonists)
- What is your view on the oft mention "roll-playing" and "role-playing" dichotomy.
- Lets talk about social contracts, What are they and how do they effect play?
- are the terms of the social contract as important as the game's written rules for shaping the dynamics of game play?
- Could you describe what happens when a group of players come together and there goals, in a GNS sence, don't match?
Mike
- Do you see GNS, or the Big Model as tools for game design, or analytical tools?
- Would you encourage such a use?
- When you wrote your essays, did a specific game inspire you deconstruct role-playing, or was it gaming as a whole?
- You mention misunderstandings of GNS. Did you find that people, perhaps incorrectly, ascribed a greater authority to GNS, and then railed against it for telling them what to do?
- What kind of impact has GNS had on the art of game design, and in gaming communities?
- Any guess as to why gamers misunderstand the GNS theory, and its parts?
- Can you name any game that has been designed after the GNS was written that may (or definitely) have been influenced by GNS?
- Quite often in your essay "GNS and other matters of role play" you provide questions of items that need further discussion. Have you continued working on those questions, and if so, are they published?
- How do you view games considered "story games" with regards to GNS?
- What type of mix of elements do you think can create "the one true game"? Is "the one true game" only a pipe dream, or thought exercise, and not truly attainable?
- Do you find that certain types of players mix better than others? Or is it just dependent on the game?
