Just Right

Posted on Feb 10, 2010 | 0 comments

Recently, a friend saw a presentation from on the founders of Pixar that talked about what made them so successful. The presentation focused on people, they posited that good ideas don’t always make good games, often they don’t make anything at all. The right people on the other hand can take a plain, mediocre idea, and through correct execution make something good.

Now, I’ve heard this argument many times, when I was at EA I heard it all the time and you can’t really disagree with it. Ideas are easy to come by. Who doesn’t come up with ideas everyday of things that could be amazing? Obviously, most of these great ideas don’t become anything. So, on a simplistic level it is the people. If all the right people are out there making good games from mediocre ideas, then why are there so many mediocre games? Are some of these people the wrong people? Or is it something else?

First, what factors make one better at creating RPGs then the next?  Is it one’s number of years experience playing games or the number of different games one has played? Could it be one’s education in games, math, or specific subject matter? Is it one’s involvement in the RPG community or ability to market the project?  Could it be one’s experience at big companies like White Wolf or WoTC or the amount of money spent on the project? Perhaps as the romantics believe it is the one who cares the most or works the hardest?

When put this way it seems that it has to be a little bit of each: idea, experience, education, money, community, marketing, passion and hard work. All of the above is usually the right answer, but I’d have to add timing and luck to this list.

Perhaps, it all has to be just right, but I doubt any of us can say what that looks like.