Update: All Part 1 polls are closed! Results found below.
Original: We’ve got an exciting announcement to make! With the upcoming release of RPG Maker MV, we were presented with the opportunity to partner up with the folks behind the program to offer a fun and interactive way of experiencing what their latest edition of the popular game creation software has to offer. The developers of the program, KADOKAWA and Yoji Ojima, have teamed up with their US publishing partner, Degica, once again to localize the latest and greatest edition: RPG Maker MV, and we not only got early access copies to the program itself, but have received the greenlight to create community-sourced project with your help. First, a bit of background. RPG Maker is a program that provides you the foundation and toolset needed to create your very own roleplaying game. While relying upon the included resources is acceptable for rapid development and prototyping, the best games that have come from this program (such as Corpse Party, Lisa, or To The Moon) often employ dramatically inventive and unique ideas to really help their creations stand out. That’s not to say you can’t make a great game using only the included resources, but people tend to expect more, especially if you’re looking to charge people for your game. Now with all of that being said, it’s incredibly powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use, with the possibility of added complexity if desired. Simple to learn, difficult to master. You get the idea. 
Help The Koalition Make an RPG!
Which brings us to the primary purpose of this article: you’re going to help us make an RPG! And I really mean that. Every few days, we will pose new poll questions to you, our beloved community, for you to voice your thoughts, vote on options, and provide feedback about the direction of the game and how it progresses. This way, it’s not just a game that we’re creating, it’s a game that you want us to create. It will also provide the best opportunity to really put the program through its paces so that we can try and incorporate as many of the voted features as possible. Without your input and feedback, this process would be far less enjoyable.
Guidelines
But just like anything that’s reasonably fun in life, there are some guidelines we need to put in place. These are mostly to help set expectations and explain the process:
- All assets (visual, audio, and otherwise) will be sourced from the prepackaged materials in the RPG Maker MV engine. This means we won’t be including things if they don’t exist in the base package already. That isn’t to say that we are limited – resources are included for an enormous variety of settings and possibilities – but this will help keep the scope smaller and ensure it’s a project that we can actually accomplish.
- All polls will be closed after 24-48 hours. This is to make sure responses are locked-in in a timely manner, so we don’t end up having a choice overtake another choice retroactively after one response has already been incorporated. That would be a huge pain.
- We are not professional game developers, nor are we experts with the RPG Maker program. Hopefully our game doesn’t suck, but who knows, it very well could be awful.
- First and foremost, we were provided a copy for review purposes which means we are primarily seeking to evaluate the program and provide critique and recommendations. That being said, it’s a lot of fun to use and hopefully our excitement is communicated in this process.
- The game we create will be rather short. Probably only a couple of hours long, max. The goal isn’t to make the next sprawling epic JRPG, but rather just make enough to get a feel for the program, have some fun, and ideally be able to post a finished and reasonably polished final product.
There are probably more things I forgot to mention. If you have any questions, at all, please feel free to drop a comment down below and we’ll respond as soon as we can. Remember: this is a super collaborative process and we’re excited about the possibilities! 
Part 1: Laying the Groundwork
Alright, now that we’ve got all of that out of the way, it’s time to talk about the actual series itself. Every couple of days, we will post articles like this (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, etc.) with the goal of sourcing your opinions and your feedback on the development process of our community-built RPG. Think of it like an interactive game development session or one of those Choose Your Own Adventure books, except you have more direct and immediate control. For the first edition, we need to get the groundwork out of the way by answering some super basic and simple questions about the game, the setting, and the story.
UPDATE: Result shown below!
- Which race will the main character be? Elf – 23% Vote
- Which gender will the main character be? Female – 46% Vote
- Main character alignment? Something in between a hero and a villain – 60% Vote
- How many other party members? Three – 50% Vote
- Setting theme? Mixture of Fantasy and Sci-Fi – 50% Vote
- Where will the game begin? In the Middle of an Action Scene – 39% Vote
- Popular RPG tropes to flip around or avoid completely?
- First dungeon is a cave and/or forest area
- Silent and/or amnesiac protagonist
Thanks for your feedback and support! For more information about RPG Maker MV, visit their website here, which includes a 10% discount and bonus DLC if you preorder. You can also find the program on Steam here. I can’t wait to see what we come up with!
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