Interviewing Matt (by Bobby Joe)
Q: What is the central concept?
A: Beyond making the game, the central concept is approachability and accessibility. I want people to be able to easily enter my thesis and engage with it. For Dungeons and Dragons the first E is there, people are enticed by it, but then they get intimidated. They don’t know how to enter and engage with it.
Q: Why is that of interest to you?
A: Largely personal interest. From personal experience, I was interested in role playing games but I didn’t know how to get into them. I ended up getting into RPGs because people in my friend group were interested in it. When I was in Florida, my friend group had dispersed. It was difficult to meet and sometimes it was awkward. Role playing games were a way for all of us to engage with each other across distance and without being awkward.
At first, it was hard for us to get into RPGs because we had never played D&D before. We learned through a podcast. D&D has pretty extensive guidebooks, but if we hadn’t listened to the podcast we wouldn’t have known that they existed.
Q: Is the subject relevant on a political, social, personal level?
A: I don’t see it as political, but it’s definitely social. Not in terms of social justice or in a way that helps people in a grand sense, but I think it helps people that are looking for this. I like to think I’m being helpful.
Q: How has RPGs impacted your relationships with your friends?
A: We all became friends in undergrad. Some of them would graduate and move away. Some were still and town and I would be able to see them. The main thing we had in common was design and being in school, so once that went away we needed a new way to engage. D&D gave us one more thing in common. Before D&D we would see each other but not that often, but now we see each other every Monday. I don’t know for sure, but we may have all grown apart or found other things to do were it not for D&D.
Q: How is the selected medium related to the content?
A: So far the work that has been done has been some publications (1 sheeters), and now I’m going into branding and illustration. I want it to be a cohesive system that goes together, with illustrations to add flavor. I want to get into more digital applications like a website and things that would be on that website for download on the computer or phone. Going back to accessibility, some people might not have a printer. The one thing I haven’t been able to get around is if someone doesn’t have a computer. I want this to be both approaches— physical and digital.
Q How would you produce it?
A: As far as the book goes, I’ve made a few before. In the past, I’ve used blurb and was pleased with the results. As far as web goes, I’m not a web designer, so I’ll probably use WIX.
Q: Where do you see the work living in display?
A: I picture this work in physical and digital. I have been leaning more towards the physical, but I really want both. Make a webpage for it to be on that can be downloaded. I also picture a booklet. This is mainly because all of theses RPGs tend to come in books, but then I want to subvert or move beyond that by making a digital version.
Going back to the thinking of the dwelling, I can see this in person or online.
Q: What is its audience, ideal context?
A: This is the question I’ve had the hardest time answering because the answer always sounds lame, but honestly, the audience is me. I want to get more people into these games. I’ve been teaching people D&D, and teaching other my game, and then I’m going to switch the group. My audience is anyone who is interested. I don’t think there is one audience for role playing games. Any group of people who get along, or even like strangers. A friend of mine is playing with a group of people he met on facebook.
Q: How do you think other people perceive RPGs?
A: Some people still view role playing games as overly nerdy. I think there are some people that don’t have an interest. I’m not trying to convert people who are not interested. I want to give people who are interested a foot in the door. I want to make their entry into RPGs easier than my own.
Q: How is the work related to design?
A: All of these games are published. They are publications which are designed, and there are illustrations. Using design to make things clear. That’s what I like to do with design. I like clarity over obfuscation. Making these guides with examples and illustrations and figuring out the best way to do that is the research I’m doing. For example, the one sheeters I’ve made; initially, people who had never played D&D before couldn’t understand how it was used, though I could. That was a learning experience where I had to redesign.
Q: Are there differences or similarities between graphic design and game design?
A: They are similar ways of thinking, but they are not exactly the same. I found some good books on game design. One talked about different games and why they worked. I’m taking something that already exists and pairing it down. I’m making a big game smaller. If I were designing something from the ground up, it might be a more difficult process. But, I’m using what came up for me as a reference and for inspiration. So far, my play-tests have worked. What didn’t work were the instructions, so I need to figure out how to write them better, which is also design.
