Cactus Game Design Message Boards

Hey guys,

I've been looking for some design projects to do in my spare time, and I started thinking about putting together a Newsletter (probably on a monthly or bi-monthly basis). However, I would need to be supplied with content in order to make this work.

Here is a very rough draft of what this could look like:


(For those unaware, the Latin looking text is a method of filling space to visualize a layout)

Here is my question to you all. Is there enough interest in a project like this? Would you guys (A) Read something like this, and (B) be willing to write and gather content for me to build these?

If you guys are interested, what sort of content would you like to see in it? Content that I could see being included:

Tournament writeups from both an overall (host) and individual (players) perspective
Upcoming Tournament information
Calendar of Events
Misc. events such as the new T.O.S.S. tournament.
Deck lists and descriptions
Card of the month - write about fun or unusual ways of using a card.
Bryon's articles about upcoming sets.
Player-Made card ideas and images.
Rule and REG changes.
Play-by-Plays of memorable games.
Various important events in the lives of players (Marriages, Children born, etc).
Prayer requests.

Let me know what you think about this whole idea. 

My thoughts (roughly in order):
1 - Another side project...these usually don't end up going anywhere...
2 - This is Lambo...he did get the wiki thing to finally be useful, and could pull this off
3 - The sample looks pretty good (makes me wonder what all the latin is actually saying)
4 - I would read something like this
5 - I would be willing to write something if someone gave me a specific prompt
6 - It will be important to not duplicate content from the forum
     A - tournament writeups already frequent the forum
     B - upcoming tournament info is already on Cactus site as well as on the forum
     C - calendars haven't worked well in the past as hosts don't keep them updated
     D - covering stuff like T.O.S.S. sounds interesting
          i - you could get decklists from people as they are eliminated
          ii - you could keep track of how people's bracket predictions are doing
     E - card of the month is cool.  You could get the playtesting history,
          Biblical tie-in, and gameplay strategy
     F - Byron's articles are already on Cactus site as well as on the forum
     G - player made cards are already on the forum, but it would be cool to
          have a top 5 cards that have been created since the last newsletter.
     H - rule and REG changes are already on the forum, but it's worth repeating
     I - it could be cool to announce marriages/births/etc. but it could suffer the same fate as calendar
     J - prayer requests are already on the forum, and some people might not like them in print

1 - Another side project...these usually don't end up going anywhere...

Exactly why I'm trying to gauge interest before devoting time to it. This is also why I'd like to make it a monthly or bi-monthly publication. It'd be a fun side project for the whole community to participate in without requiring insane amounts of time or effort.

2 - This is Lambo...he did get the wiki thing to finally be useful, and could pull this off

Did I also mention that I do page layout for a newspaper now?  My first priority with this mock-up was to use what I have learned while using original design elements.

3 - The sample looks pretty good (makes me wonder what all the latin is actually saying)

The latin is all nonsense generated by InDesign. 

6 - It will be important to not duplicate content from the forum

Very good point, however, this could be a mix of original content and important posts on the forums for each month or two. I know I don't look at the tournaments section very often, but this would put that content into a quick and easy to view format.

J - prayer requests are already on the forum, and some people might not like them in print

These would be published by request only.

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The issue with something like this is that virtually all of the information that would be in the newsletter would be available on the forums. The only two ways to fix that is to encourage people to contribute new information (which would be better off on the forums so nobody is waiting for the information) or have less information on the forums (self-explanatory for why this is a bad idea). The biggest thing I could see this working for is new rulings (since many fall through the cracks), but again, that's something best done by simply posting the information on the forums (in a more easily found space).

True, and this is one of the reasons I asked for opinions before putting a ton of work into it. We would need enough original content to justify this project.

If the newsletter was available from Cactus' website then it might reach out to more people than just those that visit the forums.

This is a really good point.  Perhaps your audience should NOT be us on the forum, but rather use this newsletter as an opportunity to pass on the best info from the forum here to the general populace that doesn't come here.

The downside is that there would be very little likelihood that you would ever know if anyone actually read your newsletters that you put so much time into.  But as long as you're enjoying the process of making them, I guess it really doesn't matter.

Quote from: browarod on June 05, 2013, 02:09:48 PM

If the newsletter was available from Cactus' website then it might reach out to more people than just those that visit the forums.

This is a really good point.  Perhaps your audience should NOT be us on the forum, but rather use this newsletter as an opportunity to pass on the best info from the forum here to the general populace that doesn't come here.

The downside is that there would be very little likelihood that you would ever know if anyone actually read your newsletters that you put so much time into.  But as long as you're enjoying the process of making them, I guess it really doesn't matter.

The other audience could still be people on the forum. Like I mentioned before, this newsletter would be a summary of all the important information for easy viewing, rather than having to discover it on your own on the forums.

Regarding time spent, the most difficult part will be the initial template design. I've laid-out 12-14 full-size pages in about 5 hours at work. So, if I have the content, assembling these wouldn't be very hard at all. It'd be about half a day out of each month or two, and that's probably how long it'd take for each person to write up their articles.

including Switzerland Nationals.

I was waiting for someone to catch that. 

If it didn't run too many pages, this would be a great item to print out and have available at tournaments so players who may not be on the forum but play locally could catch up on Redemption news. Maybe some experienced players could write articles giving tips on various styles of play, deck construction, combos, etc. to help out newer players. (Of course, they'd never give away their best secrets...would they?) Maybe somebody could do some humorous content, too. (The new card format is just screaming "Time for RNJ Graffiti to return!")

Just suggesting maybe a paragrapjh/devotion type thing to add to it to with the card of the month 

I'd read this. I don't have time to sit and read every rule discussion and such anymore, and it'd be nice to have a summary of what was going on in the Redemption community.

Maybe somebody could do some humorous content, too. (The new card format is just screaming "Time for RNJ Graffiti to return!")

... I must have missed something.

Just because im curious could you make up a quick portrait oriented version (since its landscape currently) on the layout you have?

Right now it's a short tabloid size (10.75" tall by 11" wide when closed [so technically, it IS portrait  ]).

If it didn't run too many pages, this would be a great item to print out and have available at tournaments so players who may not be on the forum but play locally could catch up on Redemption news.

For printing purposes, it seems like it would be best to be 1 or 2 pages that are both 8.5x11.