Did you know that I also tell STORIES?
You can buy the finished and expanded versions at Amazon, Smashwords, Lulu and so on, but you can read the rough-and-ready first versions raw and dripping with metaphorical inky-blood over on the blog.
Here’s the last few stories from the blog:
Rink Rash – Post apocalyptic, spicy, lesbian roller derby (no really).
The Dastard – Sword and sorcery, thievery and adventure.
Cichol’s Children – Mythos horror.
We’re just barely short of the editing fund and I would love to take us on further to 3k if at all possible.
I’m not asking you to donate more moolah, you’ve already given. What I’d like you to do, rather, is to take your belief in this project and your trust in me – that you’ve already displayed – and take it on to your social networks, your friends, people you know who might be interested.
We’ve got 15 days left in this project and another big push will come in the last five days.
The project is going to happen now, for certain (unless I get struck by lightning) and every extra cent is just going to make it better and better and better.
Thanks in advance for your help!
So, I’m sure you’ve heard by now that a bunch of concern trolls have managed to get a previously approved and rather innocent ‘Tentacle Rape’ card game Kickstarter pulled.
This is censorious bullshit and I intend to talk a lot more on this subject. There’s a critical mass of puritan bullshit and self-hating flagellation going on and I’ve had enough of it.
Still, I find the best way to say ‘Fuck you’ to censorship is to vote positively, rather than negatively, with your wallet.
Soda Pop have worked out another way to fund their product drive on their own site and as for myself, I’ve doubled what I had pledged before.
I suggest you do the same.
For my part, solidarity Soda Pop, you’re going through an (oddly) more vociferous version of the beasting I got over Hentacle and Cthentacle.
If you want to show that there are more open-minded, libertine, anti-censorship people out there who can tell the difference between reality and fantasy, you can pledge HERE
In fact, you know what? I’m going to pledge more money to them based on Hentacle and Cthentacle sales for the rest of the month too. Think of it as monetarily flipping the bird with BOTH hands.
So… THIS popped up on my stream today.
I was, shall we say, nonplussed.
I was also nonplussed, but not surprised, to see the RAAAAAGE going on HERE and HERE about it.
From what I can see this game is really, tame as anything. There’s no graphic depictions here, it’s pretty much suggestive and there’s certainly no ‘Carrots’ cards amongst this lot, and yet RAGE.
Personally? Well, I suppose I’m a little upset that someone else is taking my idea commercial. Over it’s lifespan the rights to Hentacle have been negotiated with three separate companies, all of whom chickened out at one hurdle or another. Now, not only have Soda Pop made tens of thousands of dollars from a crowdsourcing, but they’re going to make a shitpile more money from a much tamer execution of a game idea that’s so damn close to mine it’s painful.
Do I begrudge ‘em? No. Not really. I’m just annoyed at seeing another success story go past with ideas stemming from or similar to mine. It’s happened before (Munchkin) and I’m sure it’ll happen again. I’m just one unlucky motherfucker apparently.
I’ve backed ‘em and best of luck to ‘em.
They’re still idea-stealing bastards though.
Give a washed up old game designer a break and BUY Hentacle or Cthentacle while you’re at it, eh?
Why would I go to all this trouble to create this project? Isn’t it like rubbing salt into a wound? Isn’t it a lot of pressure? Why do this to yourself? Who would want to play such a thing?
I went to all this trouble to set up this project – and this is an idea that has been percolating for some time – because I think it can be useful. I know that me talking publicly about my mental problems has helped quite a few people. I know that lots of people find it hard to talk about their mental issues or to describe them to others. I also know that a scarily large number of creative people suffer from depression or similar issues. I think it has the potential to help people, spread understanding and break the ice. Primarily though, I think it can be a fun an interesting game.
Yes, examining all this is going to be difficult for me. The pressure I’ve put on myself by making it crowdfunded is enormous and the amount some people have put in and the level of expectation they have is tremendous. I think it’s worth the pain though.
Who would want to play such a thing? People read books of surreal or mad imagery, Alice, Kraken, anything by Burroughs. People’s pain enhances their work and can make it gloriously engaging, at a cost to the creator. I’m not saying that I’m a genius or anything but at the heart of ImagiNation is the idea that there’s a price to be paid for power, for the ability to create or alter reality and that’s what part of being depressed is like. The ability for deep self reflection, for honing one’s craft through being insecure about it can lead to great things or at least an effort to make something as good as it can be. This is an up, not that it compensates for the down side, but it is there.
They say the internet leads people into over-sharing but I want to share something with you that may help you understand the why’s and wherefores of me and the project.
For quite a while now I’ve been going to CBT therapy (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) a lot of it doesn’t work for a sceptic or cynic like me but simply having someone to talk to has been of tremendous benefit, as have some of the mental exercises you go through. Support, of any kind, knowing you’re not alone is the most important thing whether that comes from friends, family or professionals – who you sometimes need so you don’t feel like a burden.
I’ve just come to the end of all that, sorting out my cocktail of drugs, getting – finally – to a state of mind where I don’t need to be supervised so much following a suicide attempt. I’m not cured, I’m just better. Able to cope and even if one does end up feeling ‘cured’, you’ve got to be watchful, vigilant, to be sure you don’t fall again. You’ve also got to judge constantly, daily almost, whether the effect of the drugs is better than the depression or vice versa.
A game where my failings, my vigilance, my choices are a strength, where my talents – such as they are – make a difference can only help. If it helps me, it can help other people. If the game can help other people and be something great, all the better.
The project is funded, but can be made better. Please do all you can help hit our stretch goals. Tell your friends about the project and ask those friends to tell their friends.
The IndieGoGo link is HERE.
The stretch goals are listed below. Yes, you can donate, even though it’s over the target.
Oh shit…Let me tell you one thing. If you have anxiety and depression issues, creating a massive amount of pressure on yourself by creating a money-drive to support your project is not a great idea. Expectations are high and the pressure to get it ‘right’ is immense. In many ways by creating the ImagiNation IndieGoGo drive I’ve made a rod for my own back, but I knew that going into it. Still, ‘the shit is real’ now the money’s raised and there’s a lot of expectation.
Dang.
I’m pretty intimately knowledgeable about Neverwhere and the concerns that Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry had in putting it all together. There was a real concern about glamorising homelessness and making it seem cool or appealing to people. At the same time there was the desire to draw attention to homelessness and the issues surrounding it.
My concern is that I don’t want to glamorise mental illness but rather to foster understanding. I know there are people who view their mental issues in a positive light, but I’m not one of them and I don’t know that it would be fair to anyone to do it that way.
I want to show the bad side, but it is a positive within the context of the game. The mental issues are a price to be paid for the creative talent combined with the (relative) immunity to the psychic virus that allows them to operate on the mainland.
I think the system is accessible and easy enough for non-gamers to grasp relatively easily but I’m trying to gauge whether I should go for accessibility or usefulness. Even as a free game I don’t know if it is going to get any sort of penetration outside the gaming community, though it is my hope that it can reach beyond.
These are all difficult concerns and concepts to grapple with in putting this together and I would appreciate assistance and ideas from people who are invested in or following the project.
Thanks.
ImagiNation has hit its basic funding and has exceeded it. I have taken a couple of days to think about stretch goals which can both improve the game and add value to people’s donations.
Several people in the RPG industry have also offered to help provide value to the game book through fiction, scenario writing etc and I thank them but at this stage it’s a little too early to be sure precisely how much room there will be in the final product.
