Okay but how the actual fuck does a one page RPG that sounds like a Game Chef entry circa 2004 get this kind of coverage.
I don’t understand nerd media, like, at all.
https://io9.gizmodo.com/a-new-tabletop-rpg-lets-you-play-as-your-friends-1825116376
But, Paul!, this: I left the game feeling a new and unique connection to my spouse.
Don’t you want some of that?
Nerd media has a six month memory is all.
Well that and the current wave of newly maturing gamers is, say, 20? So 6 in 2004. We’re doomed to repeat this endlessly.
Just wait until they discover relationship maps, or that different players like different things when they play games.
I didn’t even make it through the article. It was horrible. Felt like a shit paid commercial for a shit product by a half baked celebrity. The kind of thing anyone in the know wouldn’t touch but people with no clue would flock to.
Hey Guys! Let’s all come up with cool MIrror hacks. I call Steampunk with Feels!
Bylines should have the writer’s age.
Someone discovered indie RPGs and is blogging about the very first one they found
Why would I buy a game that sounds like a therapy session?
Taking one step back and looking at this as a good thing, more positive RPG press is a good thing even if those of us in the know can look down our noses at it. If this brings more people in and helps break down the stigma then good.
Wow did you look at it? Besides the horrible font and near unreadable colors it’s not even a complete game, in any way. It’s more like an odd skin you can put over any other fantasy RPG. I would say all of my 24 Hour PRGs are better written and more playable than this.
I would 100% think this is advertainment but the fact it’s pay what you want makes me question this.
My feeling is it’s probably allllll who you know.
Oh my.
So does anyone know how this site’s editorial, writing, and payment process works?
Because a lot of answers we’re looking for are going to come from who noticed the game, who they had to sell the hook for the article to, what that editor is wanting to do with their publication, and how much time/money it was to all the folks involved.
The designer works for Space Safety Magazine, which I imagine would be a publication (however minor) io9 would like to have positive relationship with. For this designer it was a “who you know” situation. If only other indie designers had such ins with the press.
Also, pr. you get to know journalists and bloggers and give them stories to write about. Simple.
I wouldn’t read into it too much. The author posts almost every day on all kinds of minor topics related to geeky media, and it includes various gaming experiences. I found her posting about Tales from the Loop, for example, and other games.
Probably she played this game with her husband and some friends, and then wrote about it (like she seems to have done with lots of other games she’s played).
…or is there a reason to be particularly worried here?
(Not that I would ever play Mirror, having said that…)
I’m not “worried.” It’s just crap coverage of a topic I know really well and I’m feeling resentful that there are far better examples that could be covered.
… and thus came Paul’s career change, moving to the glamorous 1 cent a word world of writing about RPGs for crap blogs.
I could make dozens of dollars on this!
Brand Robins io9 used to be a must-read sci-fi blog. What the hell happened to them?
I dunno, they still may be. It’s not like I know shit about sci-fi blogs. I’m all old and out of touch with cool new things like games where you play your friends.
“Feels like therapy” doesn’t seem much of an endorsement to me.
The comments on the article are pretty good, too…
Gizmodo is crap. I don’t expect any good coverage or professional working from them on any subjects.
I had this same kind of freaking question about getting an article on a one pager. Some games I could see, but I dunno about this.
Note: I am pretty much universally bitter that I don’t have the time and energy to write simple reviews like this and actually get paid for them with potential for a future in that. (My blog pays okay, but it’s also never going to get me hired for a bigger publication.)