MG details (response to MS)

[Karol Boyle <karol@...>]

On 1/4/04 5:48 PM, "Mike Schoessow" <mikeschoessow@...> wrote:

> Hey Karol, the new products look very nice! Best wishes for increased sales in
> 2004! This is truly something that is a win for all of us. I get the feeling
> that piecepack is sort of "turning a corner" if the number of posts is any
> indication, and the new product releases can only help.
> 
> I do have two suggestions; 1) I think pictures of the pawns, saucers, and dice
> would be good, both for sales, and so that I can see what the saucers look
> like :-)  2) Could you make it possible to buy an extra set of pawns alone (or
> buy pawns by color)? There are some games (including one I'm working on) that
> would really like more than four pawns to play well.
THANKS! 
1. Pictures of pawns, saucers, dice, tiles and coins, as well as the CD w/
Sleeve are going to be posted soon.

2. Yes we will be making pawns and pawn saucers available for purchase soon
as well.


> I have a number of games I've been working on and play-testing over the past
> twelve to twenty months, and hopefully I'll be able to add six to ten new
> games to the data base at piecepack.org this year.

The more games the better!
Authors can expect to hear from me privately about upgrading the look of
their games on piecepack . Org as I did for the MG rulebook, with the added
benefit of my digital camera for shooting images of set up. This would
benefit the entire community - though I do have a hidden motive which is the
betterment of the MG rulebook! (not so hidden)

> Now that the quantity of games has grown so much, I think it may be a good
> idea to organize them a bit more in the future (looking at things from the
> viewpoint of future Mesomorph customers really; we piecepack veterans know
> what's out there no matter how they are listed).  I think it would be a good
> first step to categorize the games by type. An example of categories would be,
> abstract games, race games, dexterity games, thematic games. This shouldn't be
> very controversial I would think. Further breaking down of the thematic
> category would also be possible. Giving ratings to games IS controversial, but
> some sort of rating system (such as the ones employed at boardgamegeek or
> funagain) would be useful in my opinion. I'm not in favor of a system that
> lists "best" games; that's just asking for trouble. However, I think it would
> be good if a point system (1 to 5, or 1 to 10, for example) could be agreed
> upon, and then a system could be set up where people who have played games
> could rate them, with the quantity of ratings and their mean being displayed,
> and perhaps even comments included, just like at Funagain and boardgamegeek. I
> would be interested in hearing comments and ideas on this subject, including
> how it could be implemented, by who, and where.

See the quick Reference lists that are including in the rules CD as stand
alones and in all rulebooks as far as MG goes. Dave is going to turn
attention to piecepack.org and implement a few things that will also include
lists and such.

I've wanted to categorize the games by type for a long time - haven't had
the time, if someone wanted to volunteer to do this for us that would be
awesome! We could post in on the piecepack site as well as on the CD and
Rulebook for MG. 

Rating system, that's more a question for Dave, last time we tried that at
the piecepack site it was a disaster. Personally I think just organizing by
category as well as the quick lists I already have are a good start. (you
should order a new CD and see what I mean! :-)

Thanks!

There are other things in the works at MG - we just don't go public until
they are ready to ship! :-) We do appreciate suggestions for new
products/accessories so folks should feel free to email privately if they
wish to share those.

snip