Musings about spreading MF0

[Vitoria]

I really love MF0 (if you haven't noticed it by now). it impacted my life in such a positive and multidimensional way that I'll probably write a separate topic about it in the future. I want it to thrive and survive in our contemporary ever changing culture, so I stopped to think: "What can be done?"

I claim no authority here, it's not my business to tell the community, Joshua or anyone, what to do or how to enjoy MF0. But I still believe I could start an interesting conversation.

I'm also not interested in changing MF0, it's a bloody good concept and a solid game experience. It suffers from being in a niche of a niche, so it's quite natural it will never have the mass appeal some games have. Still, I believe it could reach further if the right conditions are met.

Part 1: New book

I've been part of online communities of other games to know that the main stirer of new conversation are news about official expansions and versions of their respective games.

From what I talked with Mantisking and other old members, the peaks of conversation in the community were around the book kickstarters.

So, should we simply pester Joshua a lot until he comes up with something new? Unfortunately I'm afraid this is not very feasible, or polite. In the end of the day, Joshua is really only one person and there's only so much he can do at one time, and it seems he is very busy with other projects right now (which are just as valid and interesting as MF0, as I said, I'm not here to tell Joshua what to do).

An aggravating factor is that selling the two existing books doesn't seem to be all that profitable for Joshua, even the Kickstarter era ones (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong and you're reading this). So I'm not sure how much of an incentive he has.

We could try to counter that by releasing fan made material, but making those in a polished manner demands real work and it's not for everyone. I myself always toyed with the idea of coming up with a full on new book myself, but I sincerely don't have the expertize to do so currently, and that would demand some self imposed training and learning that I'm not sure I could commit myself to alone right now.

Still, if anyone has a project idea, I would be glad to talk about it and help a little if possible.

Back when I made the 2017 frame instructions, I was super happy to see how many mof0s were able to help directly, making instructions and renders in a truly coordinated and organize manner. It was truly an honor, and I would be glad to take part on something like that again.

Part 2: Old book (kinda)

Maybe Joshua could simply release a revised version of RA, IO or both. Maybe something as simple as including an extended frame/ship instructions roster, some mild clarifications based on the errata written on this very forum and other minor inclusions would be enough to attract attention. Let's face it, most game companies release things like that every time.

Would be cool to see RA 001.1.

Something that needs to be addressed is that Joshua still has copies of the old versions to sell, but I suspect that it would actually boost the selling of those on the long run.

Again, if Joshua isn't available, we could talk about trying to build those ourselves in the near future.

Part 3: Social media

Something that we all already do to some extent is expose MF0 to the interwebs, the very act of posting here already counts. But I believe we could go further.

Something that's super hot right now is youtube reviewing videos. Maybe one of us could mail a package of frames to a mildly famous internet unboxer/reviewer hoping to get some exposure. Again, I toyed with the idea of doing that myself but... I live in Brazil... Shipping would be expensive for me, to put it mildly.

Talking about videos, lore videos are somewhat hot around nerd circles as well. Videos talking about the setting or the vehicles of MF0 made by some of the bigger lore channels could raise the exposure of MF0 exponentially.

Part 4: Real life

Go play the thing in real life, of course! Somethings never really change after all, and actually playing the game will always be the best way of keeping it alive.

It always saddens me reading people saying they have nobody to play. You know what, they are wrong!

People are more open minded that they seem sometimes. I, as pretty much the only Brazilian person who knew MF0 even existed at the time, had to build groups from scratch, and, you know, it wasn't as hard as it sounds. Most people, even complete non geeks, from all ages, will delight playing it, even if they don't enjoy the game all that much in the end. Having a nice new experience and something to talk about is something most of us can enjoy.

Back in my college days I would pull random people I found in my matches, most of them never came back (some certainly did), but they sure all smiled all the way and had a great time, even if just for the novelty of the situation.

That's all for today, what you folks think about the subject?

[The Hydromancer]

Part 1: New Book
Something I've thought about is how DnD type games these days have their rulebooks online for free, but charge for campaign/setting books. I would pay cold hard cash for that. Sadly, I think the game would need a larger, more active player/fan base before that would likely be economical feasible for Joshua. A stretch goal of this potential push, if you will.

Part 2: Old Book
I think an anniversary copy wouldn't be too far fetched, particularly if it was updated and 'remastered'. I know I was confused by some of the placement of rules and such, and while I'm slower than most I'm sure there's a decent bit of errata that's been generated over the years that could be applied. Again this suffers from the problem of economic feasibility, even as a pdf. I'm no author or editor, but I'm sure the time and investment Joshua would need to put into even such relatively 'simple' process could be better spent on projections that are more viable and likely to put food on the table. Bonus Points: Mayhaps get Soren to update/add more official frames?

Part 3: Social Media
I think you have an interesting point in leveraging already established talent with a guaranteed audience. I think it would especially beneficial if it was a show that Joshua could be a guest on/skype into to help explain/sell the game.

Part 4: Real Life
I think this is always going to be the strongest approach in the short term, long term, every term. I've had my demo kit built and boxed ready to deploy at the local game shop, but alas I've yet to make it out. I really need to act on that. If PAX taught me anything, its that playing will draw plenty of curious folks. With a lil prep work to generate handouts/easy rules I'm sure we could convince a few merely curious folks to dive deeper into the social media around the game/try it for themselves. I think playing should always first most be for our own love of the game/friends, but with minimal effort we can be ready to add more mof0s to our ranks.

[Starflower]

That's a tough one.

One thing is, it's not very alluring for game stores where people play miniature games. They want to sell stuff, and there's just not that much to sell in MF0... unless they'd start to dabble in bricks, and that's not always simple.
Other games get promoted a lot since there are always new minis, new rules, more stuff, more sales. I don't really see that happening with MF0, it's contrary to its straightforward nature.

But some kind of new material does sound intriguing. I think I'd like to see a collection of homebrew rules and extensions... if they're good, that is, instead of just cluttering up the game. I know there's been a lot of ideas, but have any become tried and true enough?

[Starflower]

campaign/setting books

Ohhh, that's a nifty idea.
They wouldn't even need to be that big, just varied.

[The Hydromancer]

Imagine getting the player base to be active enough to sanction official games that could influence which factions control the various systems a la WH 40k.

[Vitoria]

Thanks for the quick feedback, folks, you are really the best!

I believe that chasing game store support is beyond our scope, as it was said already, it's simply not all that profitable for them.

Most game stores I know sell RPG books and other games you need nothing beyond the "core" product to play, but those are usually restricted to the big, famous ones.

[Mantisking]

I'll touch on part 3 because that's the easiest right now. Hashtag, hashtag, hashtag. Posts and pictures, tag them appropriately so search engines find them. I've mentioned this before. We, as a community, also need to make more inroads to Twitter and Instagram. It's something I've been thinking about ever since I heard G+ was going to be shut down.

I had more worked out in my head but it's late and I'm tired. I'll give it another crack again later.

[Mantisking]

I may have an idea to cover part 1 and 2. New/old books. Strip the setting info out of the main book and publish that and the rules separately. Add in all the new setting info and the rules clarifications that have been published on the Hangar. That should help pad both books out. Having the rules and setting in two books may even expand sales.

[Vitoria]

Nice points, Mantisking!

A "rules only" official book is something I'm always asked about!

[zeekhotep]

Yes, a rules only book would be nice. The setting being included in the rule book has many people thinking that seven plate scale is the scale of the game. The book should say that the rules work in relation to themselves, not in relation to how tall your model is in your imagination. It could then go on to briefly describe seven plate scale as being a close approximation of Heavy Gear and Votoms, five plate as close to Battletech and Mechwarrior, and one plate as an epic super robot/kyju scale where a stack of four stud squares is a skyscraper.

That being said, I would love to see a community produced mechwarrior/Battletech style source book.

A campaign book would also be a great addition to the library.

[Vitoria]

Nice to you around, zeek!

I completely agree, any step towards accessibility is great.

I'm currently cooking part 5 and 6, and I will be releasing them soon.

[Blorf]

I don't know much, but there are some plans for the book in the works.

For my part, I'm trying to get the revised handbook out into the world as soon as possible. I'm held up right now by Joshua, or more likely by people he's working with. I'm really hoping it will offer a boost to the community when it finally drops: it's a rules only reference containing all known errata, it's official, and the player finder should be far easier to use than any social media or forum. There's also how it just makes the game easier to play by doing all the bookkeeping. Many don't mind doing it themselves, but the option of having it done for you makes the game more accessible.

It's killing me that I'm just sitting on it right now and waiting for others to make the release possible. I'm hoping Joshua will get back to me soon on a call we're supposed to be having about this. When that happens, I'll direct him to this thread and maybe he can weigh in.

[Vitoria]

Nice to have some new from you, Blorf, even if somewhat vague!

...I'm held up right now by Joshua, or more likely by people he's working with...

Interesting, any idea why? I believe that having things so secretive can be somewhat counter productive. Some hype could help us right now!

[Blorf]

Interesting, any idea why? I believe that having things so secretive can be somewhat counter productive. Some hype could help us right now!

Unfortunately, I don't have more information that I can share. I'm hoping he'll respond soon so we can have that discussion.

[CmdrRook]

...That being said, I would love to see a community produced mechwarrior/Battletech style source book...

Well, I have been playing that fancy new computer game an awful lot, recently, and it would be a shame if those weight class rules I've been agonizing over never got any use...