05 Jan We Are All Weird – And That’s a Good Thing
I read a great little book a little while ago, called “We Are All Weird” by Seth Godin.
I wish I had read it a few years ago. But I feel its lessons apply to everyone trying to create something – whether that’s a book, a blog, a YouTube channel, a business or anything else.
What I took away from it is pretty simple, yet profound.
You get weirder and weirder, the topic evolves, more people get interested and ultimately there is a market to sell to.
In the past hundred years or so, industrial mass creation led to mass marketing towards a “common ground.” If you had slightly different, or quirky interests, then you were considered “weird” because you and people like you could not easily be marketed for. You also didn’t have any way to easily meet up with like-minded people.
Enter the internet, and suddenly a community for anyone with any unusual interest. Now not only can you easily find others who like that same stuff as you, but seeing other people push these interests further then makes you able to consider pushing yourself further in that field.
You get weirder and weirder, the topic evolves, more people get interested and ultimately there is a market to sell to.
Seth Godin likened it to a bell curve of similar interests, with the most common interests naturally being in the centre. But now, that bell curve is flattening out and the periphery interests are gaining more and more traction.
There’s Never Been a Better Time to Be Weird
Here’s where it applies to us. In the past you had to conform much more closely to social norms, and normal interests. It was harder to take a chance. But these days, if you’ve got an unusual idea there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find people who share that interest.
It’s not that you shouldn’t try to hit a broad consumer base. Rather, that by being unique (aka weird), you’ll find fans who love your particular content.
There are some pretty cool examples of this – Kingdom Death Monster is a concept that I would initially consider unviable. Heck, the core game costs around $400 USD, and the models are incredibly freaky – horrific even. Show them to my mother and she’d think they were weird.
However, there are a lot of people who love the nightmare-horror world of KDM (I also think it’s pretty cool). People who love minis, who love horror games, who are into deep rules, are all now able to find this unique game, thanks to the web. And did they ever find this game! One of its Kickstarters hit the $2 million mark. Woah.
Take my own book Infected! for example. It’s kind of unusual. The rules give more nuance to things like weapons and characterisation than. Some people find them intuitive and love them. Others… well not so much.
My game is weird, and I should appeal to the people who like that sort of weirdness
I used to find that quite dispiriting. After all, I was quite proud of my rules, had worked on them for years, and at the time thought that they would revolutionise gaming. Lofty ideals!
Instead of aiming for everyone with my game, and pitching it as a totally universal system, I should have instead looked at what unique experience my rules provided and how they could do an even better job of delivering the experience of this setting of post-apocalyptic scavenging, horror, war and survivor-politics. My game is weird, and I should appeal to the people who like that sort of weirdness, by making it deliver on its premise even more so.
It can be hard to be brutally honest with yourself on what you did well, and what you screwed up. But I’ll try.
What did my game deliver, and how could I have enhanced that?
My game delivered realism, nuance and customisation. You could create any character, without restrictions, and no two characters are the same. Combats are internally consistent – weapons and armour are handled in a fairly realistic way – and there are many subtle tactics you can use in combats, as well as in character creation. Your backgrounds, and your experiences in the game can mechanically affect the way your character plays.
Who is this game for?
This is for people who want depth in their games. They want their characters to feel unique, and they didn’t want to be bound by arbitrary rules of “class.” They’re also likely the sort of people that rail at action scenes in movies for being ridiculous or unrealistic (I’m definitely guilty of this).
How could I enhance this?
Players of this game may want totally customisable characters, but it can be hard to know where to start. I could add random charts which give background info, character traits, history and other things that would give players somewhere to start.
I could also simplify character creation with quick-gen templates. Pre-set numbers players could slot where they want, without needing calculation.
Other things I could add to really double-down on the nuances of this game is to put in group-building mechanics. Structure for how to build your community, and how to then add in conflict and further adventures and plots. I could also add further content – adventures, extra settings, places, people and things that will inspire people to make great campaigns.
Deliver on Your Weirdness
It’s important to find out what your target audience wants. But when you do, make sure to deliver on it. Perhaps you think your content is too weird. Don’t discount it just because you haven’t seen it done before. It may be you’ll be the first one to do it!
~Oliver R Shead
And Now For Some Shameless Self Promotion
I’m doing a big sale. It’s the biggest sale I can do! I’ve been buried in my game shop for so long that I have barely touched my RPG work for the last five years. Terrible I know. So now I want to move some of the books I’ve still got left – and, you know, spread awareness of my product for the next Kickstarter before too long.
I may also have been asked to remove my books from my USA warehouse… which is a bit awkward.
You get 50% off the physical books, PLUS heaps of PDF goodies. You get a PDF of the main book, and PDFs of FIVE scenarios. And my undying gratitude.
Use the Code INFECTEDXMAS to get all the PDFs.
Let me get into full salesman mode for a second.
Did I mention these are the first edition? Only 1000 copies printed, with now only a couple hundred copies left. Glorious full colour (hideously expensive to print, let me tell you), beautifully bound… and probably well written. That remains to be seen.
Oh and if you ever want to get in touch with me personally, I will reply! I love to hear about the games people are running, and am always happy to hear feedback, or explain anything you find quirky in the book.
Still need a reason to grab one? Shucks I’m all out, but I hope you have a great day!
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