Galactic Encounters Role-Playing Game

[toddlyons]

So, the name...

I saw a video recently where the presenter gushed about BFPRG while blowing off the name as unimaginative. I actually think it's genius. How do people discover a game that isn't advertised because it's not a profit-driven venture? They type some terms into a search engine that describe what they're looking for. By being so descriptive, Basic Fantasy RPG seems like it was named with SEO in mind.

Flashing forward to the present, the retro games market is a lot more crowded now than it once was. If someone types "science fiction role playing game" or "sci fi role playing games" into their browser, what hits do they get? For me, the first that isn't an ad is Wikipedia's category:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category: ... ying_games

"Galactic" isn't a bad choice. There's only two other games and (for now) the G column in the list of pages is near the top of the screen. A numbered name, like 1st Foray, or an "A" name like Aeon Expedition, would keep it at or near the top of the list.

A listing in Wikipedia isn't as good as direct traffic, but unless you'd consider the Basic Sci-Fi Role-Playing Game as a name...

(The "B" list of names isn't actually very crowded. Don't start with an "S" though).

[Solomoriah]

How about

Unknown Stars RPG

Nothing I can think of wrong with USRPG.

... I liked Starfarer, but I found a free RPG from 2000, no longer maintained it seems, using that name.

[Solomoriah]

Not interested in ranking, to be honest. Never was with Basic Fantasy. I prefer the slow build over the fast buzz.

[Solomoriah]

Did some more stuff, and uploaded a new version (R4).

This rush of creativity will run out sometime...

For anyone who ever gets the urge to work on the ODT: Heading 2 and Heading 3 styles are the same, and they are used in the same kind of places. However, Heading 3 does not appear in the Table of Contents. Heading 4 is provided when you need a heading that is "less" than Heading 2 or 3.

[rredmond]

I think toddlyons hit that "S" nail on the head, anything with "Star" in it, you'll be hard pressed not to have it compared to something out there.

BSRPG actually sounds good to me. :/
Maybe S = Scifi, or even Starfarers

How about Scifi Fantasy RPG? Or Skiffy RPG
SFRPG or SRPG

Or off the beaten path, how about something like "Artificial Gravity"

[Bumblepig]

How about Basic Futuristic Fantasy?
That would make it your BFF--not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

[daryen]

Or go bold and generic at the same time: Science Fiction RPG.

You can't get any more basic than that, and it is very presumptuous to claim that this is *the* science fiction RPG.

[Solomoriah]

Nobody had a comment on Unknown Stars? It's about the only thing I've thought of that's not used somewhere...

[toddlyons]

Not interested in ranking, to be honest. Never was with Basic Fantasy. I prefer the slow build over the fast buzz.

Rather than fast buzz, I'm thinking long term. Unless the plan is that everything will build by word of mouth over the next 14 years, it would only help to make the project more discoverable.

While BFRPG was one of the very first old-school revival games, it's not the biggest or the most popular today, and yet it had a good head start. Today, the field is crowded, and this new game has a much more arduous road ahead.

OK, it doesn't have to be the most popular. That's not what matters, I know. But enough people should be able to discover it to create a community that loves it for itself, not as the kid brother to their favourite game.

A lot of those people might be like me, who typed some words into a search engine, bought 12 books, then decided he might narrate some of them for free.

That aside, none of the names so far have really 'popped' for me.

[Solomoriah]

Yeah, me either.

Basic Fantasy RPG has been plenty successful; we've always had enough writers and editors, and right now we're flush with artists (but that varies a lot). I would like that for this game, but I'm not concerned about buzz at this juncture. Needs to work first.

I've spent a little time reading old Traveller adventures, and I'm surprised, I have to admit, how Vancian they are. The adventure writing seems to downplay the roleplaying aspect, which would be the best part of imitating Vance's scifi. Seriously, almost every character the heroes of the books encounter while on an investigation represent a challenge... it's never easy, and rarely cheap, to get information. And these adventures are investigations most of the time, with fighting tossed in here or there. Possibly why I have always sucked at writing them.