What is this all about & FAQ

[Scroo]

I'd pay 30 bucks for such a book, seriously. Good luck with that project! Maybe I can write a review for Fate: Gates of Dawn, since that HAS to be in the book. I need to replay it first though for a bit and since this is probably the largest RPG ever made... oh well.

 

[Zed]

a attractive

GOOD LUCK WITH THE BOOK, LOL

I jest. Really -- good luck.

 

[Jaedar]

You are a brave man for trying to pull this off, but what ever happened to rpgcodex chronicles?

Anyway, I'd probably buy this for a decent price.
I might consider trying to write something for Deus Ex or MOTB if for some strange reason you don't have good content for them and no one more qualified to ask.

 

[Delterius]

Great idea, even the brief reviews on the top 70 list were really interesting to read. Will you consider having more than one review/opinion per game, as in the top 70?

Let me vent you something from the bottom of my heart: for this, books are shitty and outdated.

I'm in a constant battle to make stuff fit the goddamn book. A average RPG Codex front page review would take 8-10 pages of my book, with no screenshots. To be able to fit many reviews, I'll give only one page to most games. On one meager 8x10" book page I want to fit 2 big screenshots AND the full review. UGH.

I always imagined the RPG Codex as this impossibly huge hard cover grimoire full of gibberish that can only be partially read with a microscope, a super monocle if you will.

Felipepepe if you accomplish this feat of heroism, your deeds alone will redeem the souls of every marketting graduate for the last 50 years.

 

[Rivmusique]

Did you ever finish that video series?

This does sound good though, I look forward to reading it.

 

[evdk]

You are a brave man for trying to pull this off, but what ever happened to rpgcodex chronicles?

Did you ever finish that video series?

Please, save these questions for the inevitable Kickstarter.

 

[laclongquan]

With book, you want to start small. Less chance of fail that way. plus, with top 70 you have what you want to write already, just puttin the effort into major edits and small rewrite. I repeat, a 300 page book is no joke.

After that crucial first step, if it's successful, you can have energy to tackle that monster of 600 page known as man-killer, as in a smash from it can kill a man, and writing it surely will kill the author.

We dont even touch the issue that is a top 200 (even that a concept?!) game still unrealized, for now.

 

[Zdzisiu]

I will pay good potato for this book and I will cherish it dearly.

 

[felipepepe]

You are a brave man for trying to pull this off, but what ever happened to rpgcodex chronicles?

Did you ever finish that video series?

Please, save these questions for the inevitable Kickstarter.

Simple, with the current Wasteland 2 beta, this doesn't make sense to me anymore:

There's enough hype going already, let all the "saviours" deliver first. I'll do the video later.

a attractive

GOOD LUCK WITH THE BOOK, LOL

I jest. Really -- good luck.

BTW, I feel a strange lack of bitching about the page's layout.... where's ART DIRECTION CODEX?

With book, you want to start small. Less chance of fail that way. plus, with top 70 you have what you want to write already, just puttin the effort into major edits and small rewrite. I repeat, a 300 page book is no joke.

After that crucial first step, if it's successful, you can have energy to tackle that monster of 600 page known as man-killer, as in a smash from it can kill a man, and writing it surely will kill the author.

We dont even touch the issue that is a top 200 (even that a concept?!) game still unrealized, for now.

I don't get this "600 page" thing. I have a excel sheet here with all the games and how many pages they will each have. It stands 268 games on 334 pages so far (I'll tweak with it a bit more before posting here)... not really that impossible, considering the list on the front page has over 150 reviews and was done in a month. I'm in no hurry, just want to get this out this year.

 

[evdk]

BTW, I feel a strange lack of bitching about the page's layout.... where's ART DIRECTION CODEX?

I like it. I will bitch just for the hell of it, if it makes you happy, I guess.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

If You are going to put in so many games, all with long reviews, than You should also add to each a chart which will explain in few simple worlds why this game is fun. Otherwise many may not bother to read about some obscure gems.

 

[Gregz]

felipepepe

I understand a physical book will impose many design constraints, but I really like having different people offering multiple reviews per title. We all love these games, but it was interesting for me to see a completely different perspective on the same game, appreciating and focusing on something that another reviewer may not have mentioned at all.

I guess my point is, a single writer has an agenda and preference bias. He/She is more storyfag than combatfag for instance, or they have certain pet peaves that don't bother others. A single reviewer is flawed in the sense that if you don't think the way that reviewer does, you might dismiss the game based on the review. I don't know, it's hard for me to articulate, but I think the very diverse review styles give dimension and depth to the game descriptions.

 

[felipepepe]

You realize that 2 reviewers per game not only cuts in half the amount of text that each one can write, bur also doubles the amount of reviews that I must gather, fro ~250 to fucking ~500?

I agree with you that it would be cool, but there are some things that I just can't do.

 

[norolim]

If you accomplish this, you will become a true legend in these lands. You'll fail, though. You must fail...because everything is shit, after all.

 

[Kane]

BTW, I feel a strange lack of bitching about the page's layout.... where's ART DIRECTION CODEX?

I like it. I will bitch just for the hell of it, if it makes you happy, I guess.

I am always available for bitching. My rate is $10/h.

Edit: I tried to throw something together but actually there is not much wrong with this layout-wise, I'd just reduce the size of the introductory images a bit.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Interested in buying this, of course.

Also:

NEOFAG IS FOR BROWNNOSERS AND FRUITCAKES

 

[80Maxwell08]

Maybe to solve the bias problem have people vote on what reviews to put in? Also I would totally buy a physical copy if this ever comes to fruition.

 

[felipepepe]

Maybe to solve the bias problem have people vote on what reviews to put in?

I'm doing this for free, I at least reserve the right to be as horribly biased as I want. :3

 

[Koschey]

Maybe I can write a review for Fate: Gates of Dawn, since that HAS to be in the book. I need to replay it first though for a bit and since this is probably the largest RPG ever made... oh well.

Please do. I was pretty intrigued when I looked it up after you mentioned it in the top 50 thread.

 

[felipepepe]

Maybe I can write a review for Fate: Gates of Dawn, since that HAS to be in the book. I need to replay it first though for a bit and since this is probably the largest RPG ever made... oh well.

Please do. I was pretty intrigued when I looked it up after you mentioned it in the top 50 thread.

400 words for 1 page reviews, plus 2 screenshots and their description.

 

[Pony King]

How do you intend to decide on which games get the most space? I've noticed that Skyrim gets a full double page in your preview, and while I don't hate the game (in fact I've played it quite a bit), I fail to see how this isn't an artifact of the times. Skyrim will be as forgotten as Oblivion once the next TES game rolls around. Insert standard Codex commentary about Fallout deserving ten times the space of any other game.

Also, developer reviews? While I have no doubt that JES could do an amazing one for Darklands (doesn't JES love Fallout? Seems like a more interesting review.), will anyone who isn't a Larian diehard give a shit about Sven Wincke's opinion about any Ultima game? This might reveal me as very naive about Larian (I don't follow news about them), it just seems to me that with as famous a series as Ultima you could get way cooler people to review games.

Are you aware of this book series? It does practically the same thing for different mediums and could provide inspiration. It even has one for video games, though I've never read it and have no intention (preface by Molyneux, lol).

In closing, you're a brave little toaster for doing this and I have much respect for the whole endeavor.

 

[felipepepe]

How do you intend to decide on which games get the most space? I've noticed that Skyrim gets a full double page in your preview, and while I don't hate the game (in fact I've played it quite a bit), I fail to see how this isn't an artifact of the times. Skyrim will be as forgotten as Oblivion once the next TES game rolls around. Insert standard Codex commentary about Fallout deserving ten times the space of any other game.

Games like Skyrim are easy, they will have two pages because of the mods recommendation box. Same for modules recommendation for NWN 1 & 2, FRUA and Mount & Blade. All the devs reviews will also have 2 pages.

The rest will just be based on how interesting is the game; if it's impossible to make justice to it in one page, I'll give it two. I.e., I think that Wizardry 4 is a very important game, but the crude edit I made of Bee's review fits in one page and sells the game well, so one page it is. It's really a case by case thing.

Also, developer reviews? While I have no doubt that JES could do an amazing one for Darklands (doesn't JES love Fallout? Seems like a more interesting review.), will anyone who isn't a Larian diehard give a shit about Sven Wincke's opinion about any Ultima game? This might reveal me as very naive about Larian (I don't follow news about them), it just seems to me that with as famous a series as Ultima you could get way cooler people to review games.

Bro, you have no idea of how cool Sven is and what a Ultima 7 fanboy he is. I asked Jay of Rampant Games what games he wanted to review, and he asked for U7. When I told him I wanted Sven to write it, he said "Oh, hell yeah, I'd love to hear what Swen would say about U7! I'm totally in favor of this plan, if you can convince him to do it."

Are you aware of this book series? It does practically the same thing for different mediums and could provide inspiration. It even has one for video games, though I've never read it and have no intention (preface by Molyneux, lol).

Yeah, I have the Album and Movie ones. The game one is pure shit, they had fucking 1001 games to list, but don't mention A SINGLE WIZARDRY OR TROIKA GAME!



Things lke this is why I make this book.

 

[tuluse]

I don't think you should worry too much about the mass appeal of every single reviewer or game. This is obviously a niche appeal product. People who care want to read what Sven has to say about U7. People who don't, but still end up with this book somehow, will want to read an interesting article on it.

 

[VioletShadow]

Great idea!

I'd be interested in getting this/backing for sure. If there's anything I can help you with, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[laclongquan]

If you want to make an ebook of top 70, yes, I can say you have a chance of finish it.

If you want to make an ebook of top 200, or oh god, top 250, yes, I can say you have no chance in hell of finish it. Even after you complete the above top 70 book, I still say the odds are EXTREMELY stark against you.

Making a book is unlike writing an article. it has its own idiosyncratic rules and challenges.

Oh well, I tried~