Of Games (Studios), Policies and Hot Dogs

"Laws are like sauages, it's better not to see them being made. To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making."- Otto von Bismarck

Anyone who has ever taken an introductory course on Political Science or Government has likely come across this quote (though it appears to be generally misattributed to Bismarck - see citation for an interesting discussion on the matter). There are days that we look at Critical Snail and Aggressor and realize how new a baby it is to the world and we fret about all the little things that WE know were troublesome or problematic about bringing it to life, but nobody else knows. "Which factions do potential players want to learn about? What rules matter to them? What do they look for when window shopping for a new game?"We fret about these decisions at our day jobs and do our best to bring you our best and hope that we're just fretting because we've seen too much of the sausage making process.

Before long we remember what we actually care about, we care about our players and supporters. We care about leaving communications open and giving you, the players, a voice in the development and future of the game and we care that we should be responsive to that feedback. Recently we have received some feedback in the forums, as well as on some industry sites that we don't ever go into specifics about the game, that we just load everything up with buzzwords, puffery and empty language. This is an absolutely fair criticism, and we take it to heart because none of us are professional marketers in our day jobs, we're just a bunch of guys that have an idea, love the idea and sincerely think that everyone else will love it as well. In response to that, the Notorious DEV responded in our (now retired) forums. Also, we have begun to redraft much of the content on the website to firm up the language and provide more concrete descriptions of the game(s) we are offering. You should start seeing this new language in the coming week or two.

As we press onward with outreach (we have shipped several copies of Aggressor: Recon to multiple game review bloggers and play groups throughout California and the Mid West) we will continue to listen with open minds and ears. Our goal with Aggressor has always been to provide a fully supported table top wargaming experience like we wish we had available to us when we first started to play tabletop wargames. Our plan is to do this through face to face interaction with our players personally or from our volunteer Vanguard (email us if you're interested!), and be open to the criticisms that may come from those interactions. Do you dislike how the game balances? Have an idea for a game play mechanic you think would be a great addition to the rule set? Know an independant sculptor that does fantastic Armitide incarnations? (really seriously, we are developing an independant sculptor network, hook us up). Maybe you just wrote some fan fic for your favorite faction and you want consideration to include it in the cannon? Whatever it is, we WANT to hear it, consider it and possibly include it in the game or game lore. Aggressor and Panhumanic Space does not exist without a robust and energetic playerbase, those don't come along just because you have Orks driving red trucks. :)

As you go through our website, games or forums, if you have anything productively critical to share with any of us, please e-mail us, or post in the forum and let us know so we can arrange a more thorough discussion. In the mean time, I've got to go scarf this sausage with some peppers and onions, I'm hungry.

~Salty Ben

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/07/08/laws-sausages/