RPG Setting Poll Results

After a week we've had 21 responses, not bad considering this requires more effort than a single question Google+ vote.  I figured I would tabulate the current results and post them and probably do so again next week if there is significant numbers of new replies.

Q1: What genre are you most interested in a 3rd party setting?

• 10 votes for: Science Fiction (includes Cyberpunk, Transhumanism, Space Opera)
• 4 votes for Transhumanism
• 4 votes for Soft Sci-fi / Space Opera
• 1 vote for Hard Sci-fi with a galactic setting
• 1 vote for Any/all of the above...sorry
• 4 votes for: Fantasy (includes Low & High Fantasy, Pirates, Wuxia)
• 2 votes for High Fantasy
• 1 vote for Low Fantasy
• 1 vote for Science Fantasy
• 4 votes for: A combination of two or more
• Western, Steampunk, Space Opera
• High Fantasy, Transhumanism, Near Future
• Pulp, Supers, Space Opera
• Steampunk, Black Powder/ Pirates, Transhumanism
• 3 votes for: Something Else (like Western, Steampunk, Supers, Horror, etc)
• 1 vote each for Supers, Steampunk, Western

Wow, I guess Science Fiction needs to represent. As interesting as it is to see that nearly 50% of voters want some more sci-fi, I find some of those smash up suggestions just crazy! Steampunk transhuman pirates? That's pretty wild. Steampunk western space opera? Sounds like The Millennium Firefly needs to be a thing! 

Q2: What kind of tone do you want a setting to play in?

• 11 votes for Fantastic / Pulpy
• 8 votes for Dark / Grim
• 2 votes for Bright / Hopeful

Kinda polar here, not really sure what to make of this all just yet.

Q3:  What level of detail are you looking for in a 3rd party setting's history?

• 11 votes for: Detailed world/setting history
• 9 votes for: Brief world/setting history to allow you to fill in your own detail
• 1 vote for: Lots of setting location details as adventure seeds but with room to play in each

Seems like setting history and location are important to people with a near even mix as far as detailed vs. brevity. The nice thing here is that those who like brevity can usually just pick what they want from a more detailed setting I guess.

Q4:  How about the NPCs?

• 18 votes for: Major NPCs with full stats (1 pg), Minor NPCs with sidebar stats  (just a level and major notes)
• 2 votes for: Only Major NPCs with sidebar stats (just a level and major notes)
• 1 vote for: Major and Minor NPCs with full stats (1 pg each)

Wow, this one is pretty clear. Thankfully NPC stats in Cypher System are a piece of cake with a side of pie. 

Q5: What kind of detail are you looking for in setting locations?

• 15 votes for: Major locations with a great deal of detail and Minor locations with minor detail
• 4 votes for: Major & Minor locations with minor detail
• 2 votes for: Major & Minor locations with a great deal of detail

Another landslide. This jives pretty well with the results of Q3 so I guess that makes sense.

Q6: We all like maps; how important are detailed location maps to you?

• 12 votes for: 4
• 6 votes for: 3
• 3 votes for: 5

I'm not surprised by this, people love maps. 

Q7: How important is professional level cartography to you for a 3rd party setting?

• 10 votes for: 3
• 4 votes for: 5
• 4 votes for: 4
• 3 votes for: 2

This is nice to see. A small publisher could bankrupt themselves on paying too much for art and maps, that said there is a clear "better is better" trend here too. 

Q8: What kind of adventure support are you looking for in a 3rd party setting?

• 11 votes for: Story ideas/seeds
• 5 votes for: A complete campaign
• 4 votes for: A complete adventure
• 1 votes for: Adventures and seeds

Kind of a mixed bag here. A good hefty lean toward ideas and prompts only, though clearly a statistically relevant number of folks wanting something bigger. 

Q9: What kinds of system support are you looking for?

• 12 votes for: New, setting specific, Foci
• 6 votes for: New, setting specific, Descriptors
• 5 votes for: New, setting specific, Cyphers
• 5 votes for: New, setting specific, Artifacts
• 4 votes for: New, setting specific, Flavors

So this was a pick 2, and I just counted every vote for an item for that item.  Clearly new Foci are the big winner. There is a good even spread for the rest though, with even new flavors being desired. 

Q10: How important is professional quality artwork to you for a 3rd party setting?

• 8 votes for 4
• 5 votes for 3
• 3 votes for 2
• 3 votes for 5
• 2 votes for 1

Interesting spread here as well. Good art  makes a game look great, but clearly a few people are willing to accept lesser art if the product has good content (I assume).

Q11: If released as a 3rd party PDF product how much would you pay for a Cypher System setting you were interested in?

• 7 votes for $10
• 5 votes for $7
• 4 votes for $8
• 2 votes for $2
• 2 votes for $4
• 1 vote for $6

It seems that $7-$10 is the sweet spot here for a PDF setting with a 30 page count. That's actually rather encouraging to see. It's a reasonable fee, I think, from a cost to content ratio, though I haven't any idea what kind of profit margin a company could make out of that. 

I'd like to thank everybody who has voted thus far. I personally find this stuff interesting, and I may try and do something in the 3rd party space at some point in the future. If I do this kind of feedback provides a nice directionality for somebody like me who isn't really integrated with the industry.

If you have not filled out the survey and want to please CLICK HERE to respond.