Session 04: Page Copy
Hey, hey, hey! Welcome to this session of the 2019 Road Map project where I am creating a list of the milestones needed to take Cryptiquest to a state of “brand realization.” In the previous session, I defined “brand realization” and drafted a list of milestones. In this session, I am going to create the body copy for the company’s website.
Let’s begin by looking at what was developed last session:
Brand realization is the point where the first edition of each of Cryptiquest’s brands are released to the public.
The road map to get to Brand Realization looks like this:
- Project Management Documentation
- CQ StoryHammer game system, First Edition
- Tales from the Wilds, First Season
- Imbue, First Edition
- Copperwealth Saga, Act I
- Copperwealth, First Edition
Okay, that looks pretty good; nearly ready for putting on the page. The only thing that is really missing descriptions of each stop on the road map and I pretty much described those in the last session as well. I’m not putting dates on there which honestly feels “icky” to not do however, as explained in a previous session, arbitrary dates have been troublesome.
At any rate, I’m thinking instead of a numbered list to display each milestone, the road map should have numbered headlines with a description of the milestone underneath.
1. Project Management Documentation
One of our core mission objectives is to share content creation tools with with the world. While project management documentation might not jump out as tools that can directly lead to content creation, they are incredibly helpful in guiding creators (of all experience levels) from idea to product. In addition, formally creating and sharing these project management tools will create an opportunity for dialogue with the creator community, leading to revisions and stronger project management tools, which will foster creativity all the more.
2. CQ StoryHammer game system, First Edition
The root of all our brands is the CQ StoryHammer game system, a core set of rules and tools for players to create and host their own table-top role-playing games. The CQ StoryHammer game system uses standard poker cards to solve actions which are available at most corner stores in the U.S. The game system also has tools for creators to generate characters, plots, encounters, settings, etc. Any content usable in the game has a tool for generation.
3. Tales from the Wilds, Season 1
The Tales from the Wilds podcast is a collection of short stories written from the perspective of characters from the Imbue role-playing game. This project serves multiple purposes: introduce the unique setting that is Imbue, demonstrate the kinds of adventures in which players can participate in Imbue, and provide a platform to educate listeners about us, our services, and our products.
4. Imbue role-playing game, First Edition
The Imbue role-playing game uses the CQ StoryHammer game system to support a practical-based, high-magic setting of planetary colonization. In Imbue, players are charting the Wilds for safe passage or rival on enemy settlements or foiling the plans of sinister organizations within a new colony. And as they do, they use advanced technology and tools all based on practical-based magic – which is completely customizable and craftable using tools that come with the game.
5. Copperwealth Saga, Act I
The Copperwealth Saga story is a serialized epic that follows members of seedy organizations in a gritty post-steampunk, super villain setting. As of yet, it is unclear what the final product will be – but an audio media (podcast, audio book, etc.) has been explored. This project serves multiple purposes: introduce readers to the unique Copperwealth setting, demonstrate the versatility in genres for which our content creation tools can be used, and provide a further platform for informing readers about us, services, and products.
6. Copperwealth role-playing game, First Edition
The Copperwealth role-playing game uses the CQ StoryHammer game system as the foundation for a unique superpower based setting which utilizes skill trees in a whole new way. In Copperwealth, players are trying to negotiate conflict of several villainous organizations who will hire them to carry out sinister missions. “In Copperwealth, you are either a villain or a victim. Most folks are a bit of both. Some folks ain’t so lucky.”
That’s the first draft. It took longer than I expected but I like it so far. I should also probably flesh out a proper introductory paragraph. Something along the lines of…
We here at Cryptiquest have an ambitious plan for fulfilling our vision (to responsibly unlock and inspire creators of any and every identity). We have established six steps towards putting the vision in motion, as explained below.
Once these six steps are complete, Cryptiquest will have produced tools to help creators implement projects and generate their own content while also providing diverse, engaging, and responsible examples of what could be produced using such tools.
The next step is to get feedback on this verbiage though how to present it is a challenge. Perhaps creating a Google doc is ultimately the easiest thing to do so that is the approach I’ll take.
I’ve been working on the Google doc and some new ideas have cropped up that are worth exploring:
- Branding the project management documentation.
- Absorbing the media projects into their brands.
Branding the project management documentation
Doing this offers three things: it increases product identity and awareness, cements project documentation as a core brand of Cryptiquest, and opens an opportunity for personality that would otherwise seem unexpected. This last part – the personality – supports a new idea: designing guidelines in a fun, approachable way.
The brand name I came up with in the Google doc is “CQ ProjectMage” project management guides. CQ (which stands for Cryptiquest) is also used in the CQ StoryHammer game system, which will help reinforce that identifier. ProjectMage is obviously derived from “project” and “mage” and the reason why Mage seems to work is because a mage is a fantasy staple while also approximating an acronym for “management”.
With a brand like “ProjectMage” the guides and documents can have a less formal approach, which may make something as dull as project management more accessible to a wider audience.
The problem with this is it is clearly outside the scope of this current project. Redefining Cryptiquest brands was decidedly not to be done during this project. So I will create a new kickoff project for explore this in the All Project Deliverables table.
Absorbing the media projects into their brands
The idea here is that Tales from the Wilds is a sub-project of Imbue and so is Copperwealth Saga a sub-project of Copperwealth. Both media projects serve to support the brand and are planned to be worked on in adjacent time blocks to the matching role-playing game. I think that collapsing the projects down to their brand won’t lose anything while helping readers better digest the milestones.
Here is the updated content from the Google doc (before feedback):
Road Map: Our Strategy
Our vision is to responsibly unlock and inspire creators of any and every identity and we have an ambitious plan for fulfilling that vision. Four product lines have been established for putting the vision in motion, as outlined below. Once these four product lines are complete, Cryptiquest will have produced several tools (to help creators implement projects and generate their own content) and various media (to provide diverse, engaging, and responsible examples of what could be produced using such tools).
The four product lines are as follows:
1. Project management guides
Project management guides are surveys, forms, and other documents used to facilitate the creation of projects. One of our core mission objectives is to share content creation tools with with the world. While project management documentation might not seem to directly lead to content creation, they are incredibly helpful in guiding creators (of all experience levels) to advance from idea to product. In addition, formally creating and sharing these project management tools will hopefully foster dialogue with the creative community, leading to revisions and even stronger project management tools.
2. CQ StoryHammer game system, First Edition
The root of all our brands is the CQ StoryHammer game system, a core set of rules and tools for players to create and host their own table-top role-playing games. The CQ StoryHammer game system uses standard poker cards to solve actions which are available at most corner stores (in the U.S. at least). The game system also has tools for creators to generate characters, plots, encounters, settings, etc. Any content usable in the game system has a tool associated with it for customization and generation.
3. Imbue role-playing game, First Edition
The Imbue role-playing game uses the CQ StoryHammer game system to support a practical-based, high-magic setting of planetary colonization. In Imbue, players are charting the Wilds for safe passage or actively spy on rival settlements or foil the plans of sinister organizations within a new colony. Whatever adventure is afoot, characters use advanced technology and tools all based on practical-based magic – which is completely customizable and craftable using tools that come with the game. Imbue is designed for all audiences as an optimistic view of magic, industrialization, and relationship between human and environment.
4. Copperwealth role-playing game, First Edition
The Copperwealth role-playing game uses the CQ StoryHammer game system as the foundation for a unique superpower based setting which utilizes customized skill trees. In Copperwealth, moral quandaries are abundant as players negotiate multiple villainous organizations who control everything and commission them for sinister quests. Copperwealth is purposefully designed to be gritty and dark; to create material purely for mature audiences while upholding Cryptiquest’s vision to create content responsibly.
I will now send this out for feedback and add the “PM Guide Brand” kickoff project to the All Projects Deliverables page. In the next session, I hope to implement the copy to the Road Map on the company page. See you there!