I am proud to announce that, a joint effort with my Publisher "Outer Limit Games", we are piloting the first "XTG3" product using this designation.
Now XTG3 is more than just an acronym for "eXpandable Tabletop Game", it is an Open designation to identify and distinguish games that have been designed for Expansion from Day 1 (Design & Inception).
For now we are using BGG as the landing page for our site: www.xtg3.org
However in the future, we will be wanting to complement this with our OWN website featuring a listing of all the games and their level of licensing.
We are happy that our pilot project will be the FIRST XTG3 licensed product to be on the market...
Note: If you want more information concerning using the Open designation, please feel free to respond to this notice or PM me directly (questccg).
Ever wanted to design an expandable game? Well if so, you'll note that there is a designation for "Card Games Only". It's well known and call Living Card Game. Or LCG for short. But this term A> Applies only to Card Games and B> Is copyright "Fantasy Flight Games".
So there was a terminology used to describe "Expandable Card Games" but the designation cannot be freely used. So what I have done to rectify this - is create an OPEN designation, FREE to use by qualifying games (and what I mean by qualifying is ensuring that the games are designed for expansion) and will provide three (3) different levels of licensing.
So 1> It's FREE and 2> It's good for all Tabletop Games that were created with the goal of having expansions.
There are three (3) levels of licensing
Level 1: Closed licensing.
This means that the game will be expanded upon by the original designer and/or his/her publisher.
Level 2: Partial licensing.
This means that the a point of contact will be made available to submit new expansion ideas. This opens up the possibility of expansion submissions by other designers in addition to being expanded upon by the original designer and/or his/her publisher.
Level 3: Open licensing.
For this last level of licensing, the designer and/or his/her publisher will make available content to help brand and create expansions freely and release them to the public. Guides and templates may be provided to ensure that end-users can create designs of their own for a particular game. It also includes the possibility to be expanded upon by the original designer and/or his/her publisher in addition to providing a point of contact for submissions.
Each game using the XTG3 licensing will be protected by an EULA (End-User License Agreement) which will protect both the original designer and/or his/her publisher from "undesirable" content being branded as part of a game's family.
This ensures that while offering the opportunity to collaborate, this does not tie the hands of the original designer and/or his/her publisher and force them to publish content they feel may be "inferior in quality", is in some way "undesirable", or even "inappropriate" for a particular brand/game.
To mark the games XTG3 we provide Hi-Res logos that can be used by "core" products and their "expansions". As such two (2) logos are available for immediate use on boxes and in rulebooks.
Well from past experience, if we educate the store owners about the "Expandability by design" of certain games - this means that people might become more aware of the OPEN STANDARD. It also means that a product can be extended in lifespan by using the different levels of licensing.
For certain we are going to use it for "Tradewars - Homeworld" and all the various "cores" and "expansions" made available for the game. We're hoping this positive use of the open standard will encourage other people NOT to create their own designation but use one that has a family of games and also stands to protect the original designer and/or his/her publisher
Over the years, I have heard many designers use their OWN terminology: Expandable Card Game (ECG), Semi-Collectible Card Game (SCCG), Designer Card Game (DCG), Expandable Modular Game (EMG) to Growing Card Game (GCG).
While all "nice" they don't offer a PLATFORM for "growth" via licensing as XTG3 does. They also offer no protection because there is no licensing that comes with those designations.
The EULA will be made pending the outcome of our sale of "Tradewars - Homeworld". If it is a success, I will contact a lawyer and have the EULA officially written up and make it available on BGG.
Only time will tell how many people are willing to adopt this open naming standard... It's far more organized than just a term: it means something that your game is governed by XTG3 licensing.