The Problem of Class Proliferation

[danbuter]

Shooting down new classes "just because" is silly, especially since it shows you take a game way too seriously. I suspect 90% of the people who play BFRPG only use the main rulebook, in any case (with a few of their own houserules tacked on).

Giving people more options is a good thing, even if it doesn't fit your own personal ideas of what new submissions should be. If people are "forced" to only submit stuff they are not interested in, they just won't submit anything, and BFRPG will be the poorer for it.

[Solomoriah]

I don't prohibit class submissions... the download page is adequate proof of that. But long experience has shown me that nothing can screw up a campaign more royally than a badly-designed class. On that basis, I hold class submissions to a higher standard.

Further, we have already seen the confusion caused by too many versions of the "same" class. I'm trying to head that bugbear off at the pass as well.

You are, of course, welcome to create whatever you want to create, and use it as you see fit. You can share your creations as you wish, even here on this very forum. But I feel I am well within my rights as the owner of this figurative house to decide what things I pin up on my wall for all to see and marvel at, and what things I merely stick to the refrigerator with a magnet.

[dymondy2k]

Solo I do understand your concern but I think you've built a solid foundation to play from.. You just need to add that any additional supplement they use is a 'play at your own risk' proposition. It may or may not unbalance the game...

[Solomoriah]

I was reading a blog post the other day from a guy who had just visited both an Apple and a Microsoft store.

He went into the Apple store first. It was bright and pretty, not surprisingly, and full of people using and buying Apple products. The products were logically and attractively arranged, and it wasn't hard at all to find what you wanted or to know what you needed to buy to meet your needs or desires.

In the Microsoft store, everything was bright and pretty, but the place was packed with numerous different brands of equipment; each computer, phone, etc. had a long list of technical details densely printed on a small sign beside it, and if you wanted to know what you needed to buy, you had to read all those details and make comparisons based on statistics you probably didn't understand. (Well, I would, but you get the point.) And in the Microsoft store, he saw far fewer people actually buying.

I am not a fan of either company. However, I have to say, I get the Apple way. Reduce the number of decisions to a humanly manageable number so that people who land on our downloads page don't wander off without trying anything because there are too many things to read before they can decide. Not everyone is like us.

My approach is to limit the number of distinct things on the downloads page. Honestly, we may already have too much, but I'm not advocating trimming anything... I'm just holding the reins.

I have a plan to create a sharing hub, separate from the main downloads page, where authorized users would be able to upload their own work to share on the site. Items would be organized either by author or by item type, for convenience. I would limit the users authorized to post there based on their demonstrated ability to create good quality works; however, there are a great many people who already qualify. It would be a sort of a showcase for favorite authors. I would exercise veto power there, not so I could remove things I didn't like, but more to allow me to remove items that violate someone's copyright or license. From the Showcase (there, it has a name), I would sometimes promote items to the main download page. This would allow me to have one "official" Ranger, for instance, yet still support other visions.

[SmootRK]

I still like the idea of a 'set' of advanced options to get made.
That said, a more 'free and loose' fan creation download page (Fan Showcase) will be nice to see as well. Like I said previously,

I think the big picture is that we want to foster an environment where everyone can collaborate and contribute to a BFRPG Community... where such participation is welcomed and encouraged!...

...yet figure out a way to make clear for new people to BFRPG or Gaming itself, that nothing extra is needed. And for those with some old school "Advanced" Game experience, a few standardized options can be available (but even then, is not necessary).

Solo, you might consider some sort of introductory paragraph that explicitly declares that "No Supplements are official or necessary to utilize with BFRPG; that any such use is firmly up to the individual Game Master to decide whether to use or not"... I have written some such paragraphs for my own supplements... but perhaps a 'required' official declaration (from you) that appears in each and every supplement would help to promote the distinct separation between the 'official or suggested supplements' and the Fan Creation set. Feel free to plagarize me if you want... the Bard Document has a pretty good such paragraph that you could use as a start:

The Basic Fantasy Community has a tradition of sharing various iterations of classes written by individuals. Each Game Master is the ultimate arbitrator of which (if any) classes or other supplemental material are used in his or her games. When there exists duplication or overlapping of such topics, there is no “right or wrong”, “official or unofficial”... as all such material is completely optional to begin with. When a supplemental option is desired in one's game, the Game Master is strongly encouraged to choose one distinct incarnation of the topic in question and stick to it, rather than allowing multiple varieties of the same subject.

[Hywaywolf]

Chris, this is what I have always recommended. 1 downloads page for all BFRPG officially sanctioned rules, modules and supplements and another section for community created material that hasn't yet reached official status (I didn't think about limiting it to a select few proven contributors, but I see the value in that.) Then for all other user created material we have the forums for download and discussion. That would be how users become official contributors.