[Icehouse] Time's Running Out on IGDC Winter 2008 Polls

[Andy Looney]

> I need everyone who cares--and in particular a Looney rep, who can speak
> to business advantage to them--to go to the IGDC Talk page and chime on
> on two polls:

Feel free to quote this message on the wiki, but I'm going to assume I can 
just post my thoughts on this here.

> Design Restriction - By mechanic (specify), by product(s), or by
> word-associative theme (make suggestions).

The restriction I'm most interested in seeing is games for a 
single-Treehouse set. From a biz standpoint, we're very keen on being able 
to rattle off a list of other games the new purchaser can play with a 
Treehouse set and nothing else (except commonly-owned materials).

My second choice would be games that use 2 Treehouse sets (or parts 
thereof). As we pitch people on the system, we look forward to being able 
to say "here are some games you can play when you get your second set," 
just as we can now say "here's a great trio of games you can play when you 
reach the 3 set level." I could someday imagine a series of other booklets 
like 3HOUSE: 1HOUSE, 2HOUSE, 4HOUSE, etc.

> Designer Ballots - Never rank your own game, assumed to be ranked first,
> or free to self-rank however.

I don't have a strong opinion here. I guess I'd say never rank your own 
game.

> Next Contest Timing
> As Andy has pointed out, Looney Labs undergoes two seasons: Origins and
> Christmas. It only seems natural that the IGDC span those times as well.
> More than any other time of year, Icehouse fans will be surrounded by
> gaming supplies and willing gamers. These seem like great opportunities
> advantageous to voter participation. Furthermore, doing so may help serve
> the Looneys' interests to help boost product awareness during those big
> sales periods. I suggest we time future contests around these critical
> peaks in 'gaming season', the December 15 - January 15 timeframe for the
> winter holiday season, and June 20 - July 20 for the summer convention
> season. (Good arguments against this include not wanting to compete for
> gamers' attention from larger distractions, and wanting contest timing to
> coincide with college schedules.)

It's true our calendar year is dominated by Origins/GenCon and the winter 
holidays. As such, we're awfully busy at those times (and for awhile 
afterwards, recovering) so these to me aren't the ideal times to be setting 
these events. I'd rather see them offset by 3 months, to our quiet(er) 
times of the year, when I'd have more time/willingess to actually test out 
the entries. But that's more of a personal opinion... I don't care that 
much about this. Really what matters is the times of year when the largest 
number of people would be most likely to be able to fully participate in 
the judging.

So those are my thoughts about that. Sorry about taking so long in speaking 
up.

-- Andy Looney