It’s true that I’m using time I could be productive to play a computer game. I could be finishing one of my in progress stories. I could be working on improving one of my in progress RPGs. I could go back and improve one of my existing RPGs. But I’m playing computer games.
Here’s the thing: I’m less and less motivated to produce RPGs for anyone outside a very small group of people, mostly my local group – though they likely just want me to stop designing shit and stick with one campaign for more than 10 months.
And there seems to be a very, very small group of people interested in reading my fiction, which is the one thing that I might actually feel guilty for not producing.
Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a sob story. This is a liberation.
I likely won’t bother with another Kickstarter after Nefertiti Overdrive is done. I love writing and playing RPGs. I am getting really tired of producing them. It is a huge effort to project manage these, especially since I am very personally invested in them. For Centurion: Legionaries of Rome, I got paid less than 5 cents per word for my writing and nothing for project management.
Yes, I love writing RPGs. I also love playing computer games. And they don’t cost as much.
Will I ever publish again? I’m making plans. I’m thinking about it. I have at least two games and a setting I want to get out. I bloody well have stories I want to get in front of readers as well. Do it for free? I might. The effort that goes into getting games or stories presentable makes it just easier to do stuff for myself and hold it close. So I’ll be looking at ways I can get paid something decent and get my work out to people who care.
I’m a mercenary hack. It’s what I am.
Now, back to Borderlands!
You can see the financial for the Centurion Kickstarter here.