A Company with Passion (Part 2 of 2)

All my life, I've met people who were smarter, richer or more talented. But only a fool gives up just because there's someone out there who's more qualified. If we let that stop us, we'll never get anything done. Many of the greatest achievements of man would never have come to pass. Just because someone's smarter, doesn't mean they are the right person for the job. Just because someone has more money than you, doesn't mean they can do what you can do. Just because someone has more talent, doesn't mean they have your vision, your passion, your creativity, your potential. I've met many people who seemed to have loads of potential, but never seemed to get anywhere. Because Potential is not dependent upon intelligence, money or even talent. Not really! Sure, those help, and I'd like to think that the team and company we've put together does have a reasonable amount of each, but true potential often requires other, less obvious traits.

Look back over history and you'll find numerous examples of people that seemed to have little or no potential, yet they accomplished far more than anyone could have imagined. The exciting thing for those of us, who are smart enough to know there are smarter people out there, is that there's far more to being successful than having a high IQ, piles of money, and a big resume. Passion and faith can move mountains, conquer kingdoms, produce works of art and literature that touch their fans to the core, and accomplish more than intellect, money or talent could ever hope to achieve alone. We are our own greatest enemies. No one can defeat us but ourselves. QT Games may never produce an award-winning RPG or board game, novel or other product. We may never win the hearts of millions, inspire someone to make a movie about our storylines or setting, but our potential can only be snuffed out by losing faith, giving up, and cowering in the face of great odds, never chasing our dreams nor giving it all we've got. All it takes for us to be defeated is for us to do just that.

Intelligence is hard to come by. Wisdom is cheaper and will often get you farther. But if you must have someone who is smarter on board, get someone. Money is hard to come by, but it should never be considered insurmountable. There's lots of money out there. If we need more money than we have available, we'll move toward acquiring more. If you think for a moment about how much money you likely throw away on entertainment over the course of the year, you likely have more money than you realize. You might have just enough. If we need more talent, we'll work hard to develop it, and bring more talent on board as needed.

Figure out what you need, and go after it. Do your homework. Be positive. Be realistic. Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses and if you have a team, then those of your team as well. Be motivated. Be prepared. We've done these things to the best of our ability. We'll keep doing them. We'll likely make mistakes, get beyond them and move forward in faith. Believe you can do it? Great, then follow your dream!

Success requires movement. Action. Sacrifice, Passion and Faith. I have all that. My team, according to his or her own passions and goals shares these to one degree or another. Each will have to face the future with their own eyes and make their own decisions. Indeed, these are exciting times. As success is not dependent upon being smarter, richer or more talented, I believe we have little to fear. Just as I can use improvement, so can they, but we are not giving up. We refuse to allow our weaknesses to overcome us, stifle us. Come what may, I have no regrets and I don't believe they will either, not if they share my view of potential and success.

Of course, not everyone is meant to write the world's greatest song, paint the world's greatest painting, win an Oscar, etc. and that's OK. We may never win anything, become rich and famous, but we can accomplish much if we're willing to - if we don't give up! Being happy is nothing to shirk at, and we may well accomplish more than we even dream, if we're committed - If we share the qualities I've described. Regardless, you can never let others drag you down, stifle your enthusiasm, rain on your parade, and if they do, you don't have to choose to give up, throw in the towel, allow others to diminish your potential, drag you down.

Each member on the QT Games Design Team, just like you, has the potential for greatness. It may not seem that way to you, but as history shows us, potential often lies not in those obvious, visible qualities, but in the invisible. It only seems like the most successful people are the smartest, richest, most talented, best looking, whatever. How many at the top have fallen? How many through history have risen from meager beginnings to topple empires and change the world. How many talented people do you know that have never been on American Idol or who had potential, but never followed up on it? Do you have a passion for producing a great RPG game and the faith to follow up on your dreams? Contact me. I'd love to talk with you!

Together, we can accomplish anything, period. It doesn't mean we will. We are our greatest enemies after all. We can shut down our own dreams; let our passion fade away as so many people do. We can let ourselves become distracted by meaningless pursuits, that's what has defeated so many around us. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm too driven for that outcome. I'm too ... stubborn. The future is a great mystery, but if we don't try, if we don't give it everything we've got, then we've already failed.

People of passion don't let little things get in their way. We all have setbacks. Life doesn't always go the way we want it to. Things don't always work out, but people of passion have true potential and can accomplish much. The most powerful things in the universe, such as love, hate and faith, are invisible. So if someone tells you that you don't have what it takes. If you look at yourself and you don't think you have what it takes, don't believe it! The heart can be deceiving above all things. If you don't have passion, find it. If you don't have faith, find it or ask for it. Hang out with people who have it! If you need to improve your education go back to school, read a book, do something! Think. Dream. Pray.

If we don't chase our dreams, we'll always regret our inaction, always wonder what could have been, and never live the sort of lives we were meant to live. And if we do reach some measure of success as the world sees success, well that will be cool, but success should never be the goal, nor riches, nor being the best at something - just doing our best at something. So, yeah ... these are exciting times indeed!

A Company with Passion

This 2-parter digs into what it means to be a company with passion and even a person with passion. Even if you think your company has it together or that you personally have it together, I think you might still find something to sink your teeth into or at least something interesting here.

The dynamics of developing a product line by yourself, with just 1 freelance artist to assist is far different than working together with a full team. I knew this when I set about to pull together a large team of talented artists, designers and others to develop not one game book, but an entire line of gaming products. With relentless determination, despite a questionable budget, unshakable devotion, despite knowing that my competitors include big names like Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, Mutants & Masterminds and others, we are moving forward, finding our way, and going against the odds to publish the Cosmothea Roleplaying game. We are driven, passionate, and excited!

Are we nuts? Are we stupid? You may have your own opinions on this matter, but we're pretty sure we're neither nuts nor stupid. Don't you realize how hard it would be to compete in the game industry? Haven't you researched the market, trends and cost factors? Don't we realize how few people break even; much less make a serious profit when they enter the industry with goals as ambitious as yours?

Those are reasonable questions, and I'll address them, but let's take a step back for a moment. Just what are our goals?

Having designed over two dozen board and card games that I'm still dreaming of getting on the market one day, you would think that QT Game's first offering would be a board game, especially when we do plan to publish board and card games. Nope. Our focus is currently on our initial release, a complete roleplaying game. Not some 30 page mini RPG either (not that there's anything wrong with those), but we've got our sights a lot higher. Is this unrealistic? We don't believe so.

WotC is not the only ones who know how to put out a good product. Paizo, Green Ronin, Steve Jackon Games and others have made a name for themselves, and we believe that with a quality product, passion, good marketing strategies, the right timing, and a host of other factors, even a small-time game company can follow their dreams, and put out a high quality product line. Drawing on the combined experience of a large team, insisting upon high quality art and design, despite a tight budget, we're not willing to back down just because it's hard work. And we're not starting from scratch either. The Cosmothea RPG is not a new game, as I discussed in a previous post.

The game may be rough around the edges, like any game still in its Alpha stage, but we have faith, are working our tails off, keeping our eyes open, and believe the game has the potential to be something great. Maybe not the best game ever made - it's too early to make such claims, and we'd rather the public makes such claims for us, once the game's been on the market awhile. There's plenty of room for multiple games on the market. Every game on the market from the smallest to the most popular, has people that love it and people that hate it. We aren't asking ourselves questions like, "Can we really topple D&D 4E? Can we go toe-to-toe with Star Wars?" Such questions are neither necessary, nor truly helpful. Instead, we ask ourselves questions like, "Does the market have a need and room for a game of this type, one that covers fantasy, science fiction, superheroes and all the sub genres in one huge setting when there are already so many games out there?" and "Is Cosmothea the sort of game that a large number of people could get excited about?" To these and others we've asked ourselves, the answer in each case has been, "Yes, and in some cases, "Heck Yes!" Or something to that effect.

Ok, back to the top - if you're still with me ... we know that this is going to be hard - very hard. Yes, yes, the odds are stacked way against us! Are we wrong to follow our dreams? Don't answer too fast! It's more complicated than you might realize! People have become very successful (millionaires in fact), with far less visible potential than we have as a game company. There are many factors that go into having a dream, and then seeing it fulfilled, having potential, and realizing that potential to its fullest – becoming truly successful. Heck even the definition of "success" is way more devious than one might imagine.

Success to one person is making a million dollars. To another, it's being happy. Oh, wait. That's it - Bob's basing his definition of success on the notion that he's easy to please. He'll put out a pdf of Cosmothea, let it languish on RPGNow or some other Indie Store for a year and half, sell a dozen copies to friends and family, know he's done his best, and find satisfaction in that; his definition of success. Ok, next blog - no, wait! That's not what I mean - not exactly. I do believe that you can be poor and more successful than many rich folk, and I do believe that doing your best is something to find satisfaction in, but we are not interested in publishing a game to stroke our egos or put something on our resume in hopes of getting a "real job."

Then why are we doing this when we know the odds are stacked against us, and that there are smarter, richer and more experienced people out there?

QT Games: Alive and Well!

Here's some quickie updates for those who have little time, like myself, but still want to be In-the-know:

• QT Games is now QT Games LLC now that I've got all the legal docs out of the way!

• We're up to a team of 10 talented designers, writers, artists and supplemental staff and have a slowly expanding base of playtesters.

• The Art Department at QT Games is continuing to pop out beautiful paintings that will make the Cosmothea rpg pop off the page. We are doing our absolute best to avoid compromising on quality, preferring a page without artwork to one with mediocre artwork just to fill the gap. We're putting this thing together right, and while we're bound to make mistakes (and likely already have), the game is looking very nice so far, and plays nice too, and we'll be playtesting it for some time to come, to get the kinks out).

• Our Cosmothea Tabletop playtest games are going full steam ahead, with lots of excitement generated and smooth sailing thus far! The Cosmothea Play-by-Post playtest games slowed down a bit during my talent search and forming of the LLC, but now we're about back in full swing. These long-running games were first introduced on the WotC site and now run on the QT Games Forums, where you can also find out more about the company and our first offering, the Cosmothea Roleplaying game.

As for me, I'm looking forward to the days ahead. We're staying above water just fine, and will hang on tooth and nail, despite the economy, the 800 pound ape in the room, and whoever else wants to step in the ring.

The Future Looks Bright

It's been awhile since I posted. One could assume that QT Games fell off the map, but actually, we've been busier than ever - hence posting has nearly halted. I will continue to use this blog from time to time, moreso as we get more followers. Currently, most followers are using the QT Games Forum to keep up on the latest news, ask questions, etc. This blog will serve more for the purpose of Game Company diary and general State of the Union, for now at least.

After two Open Calls for team members (and a significant response, dozens of emails going back and forth, reviewing resumes, samples of work, considering contracts and negotiating with hopefuls to join the QT Games Design Team), we've finally completed the team! Now, as soon I get over this bad cold, we'll start the ball rolling at a faster clip!

Of course, just because I'm no longer the only one designing the Cosmothea Roleplaying Game doesn't mean that progress makes an immediate leap forward. If it takes me 1 month to design something, that doesn't mean that adding a second designer results in twice as much output or a third designer results in three times as much output. It's much more complicated than that and will likely never yield such output for a variety of reasons. Still, it's a good thing, and our team is much larger than 3 members.

It takes time to train a team on a new game system and a new setting - now Cosmothea is not new, but it's new to them, as it is not on the market yet. This is Cosmothea's 4th version - a major revamp, but there is much already done, so there is much for them to learn before they are able to move forward effectively. And my own time is diminished as I now have a team to manage, teach, assign tasks, review, edit, meet with, motivate, etc. So, the larger the team, the more time you spend doing things other than game design. Still, this is a good move for QT Games, and fulfills our first company goal. I have been saying for a year now, that the only way an RPG game company could be truly successful - even a small one, was with a dedicated team. I still believe that, and while it remains to be seen how dedicated each member is on a team, I feel really good about those on board currently. Good stuff is coming, but it's going to take some time.

There are other factors to consider with this move, of course. I didn't have to worry about paying myself or how committed I was to the project. Now there is the matter of paying writers and designers, drafting contracts, spending money, spending time communicating with others, team dynamics and juggling differing personalities, etc. but I was expecting that, and have been doing some legwork in that regard, so we should be OK in that regard, though such factors should not be taken lightly.

The game is shaping up, despite the lull while I spent a couple months or so, forming the team and also becoming an LLC (Now called QT Games LLC). With that behind us, we can turn our attention to the reason QT Games was formed. :)