Something I'm tossing around.

Imagine that you have a game that can be easily applied to different settings.  I'm thinking of Dogs in the Vineyard, and Spirit of the Century here, offhand, but that's just my biases.  GURPS, maybe?  Somebody d20ish, possibly.  Heck, if people like the idea, I might do it for Perfect Century (though that's pretty likely about the same as doing it for SotC).

Now, imagine that you build a PDF form, fillable, that would contain the basic stuff for "an alternate setting".  So, if you filled in the form, you'd have guidelines anyone could use to run that setting with your rules.  You don't just whip this thing up, though; you discuss it with others openly, making them aware of what comes next as you do so, and use their input.

The next bit is that, form in-hand, you run a contest.  Free stuff or cash for the coolest alternate setting form submitted - give people a month to submit ideas, plant all the filled forms up on a host, and then judging is done by everyone, collectively (not sure how the votes would be aggregated, but I'd look at Game Chef and see what they do).

The game owner gains:
1) Interest and attention
2) Possibly some fun public discussion
3) A lasting game resource to direct everyone over to in the future, even if it ends up only being a smallish one.

It costs them: 
1) Some product or money
2) Time spent coordinating
3) Webhosting.

The Participants gain:
1) Chance to win something
2) The opportunity to advertise their ideas, their site if applicable, their name if desirable.

It costs them:
1) Time.
2) Some creative effort.

So....

Genius?  Idiotic?

Normally I regard Chris Mathews as a destructive force in the US political conversation, but here he uses his powers for good instead of evil. Watch him, sniffing out the telltale scent of historical ignorance, mete out a cruel, relentless, and utterly deserved humiliation.



(If you prefer, here's the unedited version of the same segment, with the comments by the second guest, Mark Green, left in:)

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FlamesRising/~3/291578265/

http://www.flamesrising.com/mythos-encyclopedia-preorder/

Elder Signs Press is excited to announce the title The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia by Daniel Harms, available in summer 2008. This is the third edition of his popular and extensive encyclopedia of the Cthulhu Mythos. Updated with more fiction listings and recent material, this unique book spans the years of H.P. Lovecraft's influence in culture, entertainment, and fiction. The voluminous entries make The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia invaluable for anyone knowledgeable about the Cthulhu Mythos and necessary for those longing to learn about the Cosmic Horrors from past and present decades.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FlamesRising/~3/291573672/

http://www.flamesrising.com/bites-the-dust-review/