Board Game Preview: CARD TYPES and COMPONENTS!

It's time for another awesome preview of what's in the New York edition of the adventure game, Galaxy Zento. For those who need a little catch up, it's a 2-6 player game that utilizes an event deck and interactive board to simulate an adventure where you are trying to complete a random goal for good or evil before anyone else. So much has gone into the creation of this game that gives nods to classics like Talisman and other event deck games. If you liked Talisman you will love GZ. The game is packed with action and options. Even as today's post gives you a solid view of that, it only scratches the surface. So lets dig in! (click on image for better view)

Player Characters: The first thing you get when you set up for play is a random player character type. There are 18 of them with GZNY and they all have cool abilities to help you on your journey. Some of them are even predetermined to be good or evil (otherwise you would have a choice). Some of them have special cards that go with them to boost them even more. The symbols are for attack (star), defense (shield), recruit (speech bubble) and evade (arrow). While red and green are part of their color scheme, the symbols are colorblind friendly. Next you have stats for Spells, Traps, and Obtain. Not all PC's can start by playing spells, but all have a stat for them should they become able during game play. Traps are for escaping trap cards and obtain is for artifacts. Each of the numbers, except defense are your modifiers to add to d20 rolls where they apply for each type of

encounter (traps, artifacts, combat, etc). Ways to build on your stats are all over the place and most players wind up pretty huge in just a few rounds.

PC Specials: These are identified on the back of the card by the word "special" and you only get them with certain player characters. There is another type of special card, but we will get to that in a few. The best specials are for the Elemental in this case with four cards. Each one is powerful but can only be used once per game. There are 11 specials spread out to 4 PCs. So there is a good chance of seeing them in play in a six player game.

Goals: These are the win conditions that are dealt randomly to players. Some team play options will be included. Goal cards also back you up with built in rewards as you play and earn your goal tokens. You can read much more on goals in my last post, linked HERE. In the next newsletter I will be spoiling more of the goal cards so be sure to sign up for that! If you can't get the link in the upper left to work, hit the links in the upper right and visit the Facebook page. You can't miss the pinned sign up link there! The newsletter comes with character spotlights, game spoilers and more! Resends of the first 3 editions will start next week and will only go to people who either are new or didn't open them in the first place.

Powers: These also have their own deck and there are lots of ways to get yourself a cool power. With 36 powers available and a limit of 3 in play per person, the combos are nearly unlimited. There are even a few you might call "broken". But fear not, nearly everything has a balancer in place. No matter how powerful you are, something out there thinks you're a snack. You'll be getting a solid example of that soon. The first two expansions had powers in the main deck and those are still good depending on how you want to run your game. Remember that the game is totally customizable so you can play it any way you want. Play or don't play any card you want.

Spells: The spell deck contains 90 powerful cards that make spell castors special in their own right. But there are several ways to wind up able to play spells. If you can play spells, at the beginning of your turn, you draw a spell card that you don't have to reveal. Spell cards are the only secretive cards in the game. You only have to reveal a spell when you actually play it. Everything else is full reveal. Spells serve nearly every purpose you can think of to the point of duplicating some effects. Spells can really be easy come easy go however as the game changes pace over and over again. Be careful when hoarding spells that something doesn't make you lose your hand. Spells can be used both in and out of combat with specific rules for each way of play.

MAIN DECK CARDS:

As if all that weren't enough, you still have the card types within the event deck itself to contend with. GZNY comes with a main deck of 126 cards that you can adjust to your whim. Want to play all death effects and see how far you make it? Go ahead. Want to make it super easy with only the simplest things? Same deal. These are the types of cards that you will have jump out you as you wander New York City.

Items: A simple freebie card. Who leaves a laser rifle laying around? Whatever, it's yours now. Found a power potion? Cool! Only at focal points do you have to worry about them not being a free pick up for your turn (if you reveal a threat with it because you reveal 3 cards at focal points- see the board explanation HERE).  Items can be weapons, armor, or just some cool gimmick. Either way, they add to your play abilities and help you on your journey.

Specials: Another freebie that can accent your play. There's one to help reveal more cards and another that allows you an extra ally. There aren't very many specials hence the term, but they are handy.









Artifacts: These are more powerful can common items and require a dice roll to pick them up. If you fail the roll, they vanish. If you make the roll, you have a new powerful trinket. Artifacts do all sorts of a awesome things to enhance game play but watch out for....

Cursed Artifacts: There is no roll required for one of these. In fact, they will attach themselves to you as soon as you reveal them. They will block you from using any other weapon items or artifacts. Some will send away your allies. Some will turn you into a monster. There are ways to get rid of cursed artifacts, but your best bet is to get your PC killed in action. Most of these will make you a danger to the whole table and a target anyway.

Event: An event card triggers as soon as it is revealed and before any other actions can be taken. They can be both good and bad when it comes to the game environment. In some cases, more than one event can trigger at a time. In those cases, the player whose turn it is gets to decide which is first. Many of the events mirror things that happened in the novels the game is based on. Check those out via the links in the upper right.

Gods: A god card is a permanent effect with special rules. Gods have a powerful effect on the game and offer a little more if you succeed at praying to one. You can appease a god with a sacrifice of a power or artifact followed by a dice roll, but be wary. Fail, and you still lose your offering. Just like events, some gods are beneficial to the table. Others raise the stakes considerably. There is an event and spell to help clear them out, but you have to draw it first.

Traps: Trap cards require a dice roll to escape. Failure to escape causes bad things to happen to you. Pretty simple.

Training Cards: A training card is another freebie that gives you a boost or two. They can affect nearly any of your stats and allow you to play spells, attack better, or hunt for monsters.

Beasts and monsters: These two types serve many of the same purposes with a few differences sprinkled in. Some have different rewards for defeating them in combat. The same to be said of the repercussions of failure. As you look at the card you see several stats like your own. They have their own attack and defense before giving a number to roll if you think you can evade them. Failure to evade any threat means going into combat. Sometimes, failure to evade makes the enemy stronger because they noticed you. Some rare beasts can be made into allies either by spells or special ability.

Good and Evil characters: This is where your alignment really matters. If your alignment matches a character you reveal, you may roll to recruit him or her as an ally. Allies give you bonuses listed on the card. If they don't match, you can either try to evade them or fight them. Combat involves being the first to hit the opposing defense three times. If a player loses, they take 1 damage (per combat, not hit) and sometimes, something else bad happens. When it comes to characters, you want to be careful who you fight. These are the heroes and villains of the GZ stories. There are plenty of them.

Team Memberships:  If you look closer at that character above, you will note a word under her name. That word is the super hero team she belongs to. There are a few teams represented both good and evil in the game. When you reveal a membership, it's a freebie and you belong to that team, making it easier to recruit them as allies when you come across them.

Special Enemies: Special enemies have no alignment requirements and are general enemies to everyone once they are triggered to a point. Some will attack everyone no matter who reveals them. Some will start with the player who revealed and move on to everyone else afterwards. All of them are dangerous and challenging.







Other components: Do you love lots of components? Well, this comes with colored tokens to keep track of your goals, health, achievements, and poison. There are special cardboard chits for the special enemies that you put right on the board when they appear. There are 38 cardboard chits and they represent some spells and some threats. The game comes with 2 d 20s and a d6. It comes with a fleshed out rule book and alternative play methods. The best part, as I write this, is that it's almost available! All I can say is to stay tuned. Hope you enjoyed this very revealing post! Got questions? Hit me up in comments anywhere!

Board game preview: HOW TO WIN!

Isn't that what everyone wants to know? How to win the game is the single most important key to nearly any game out there. Well, it's time for these previews to heat way up as I show you just a few ways to win at the Galaxy Zento adventure game!

As I've explained before, in game set up, each player is given a random goal. The first player to complete their goal wins. But not all goals are created equal. Thanks to the game being heavily customizable, the host should make sure the main deck is built to support the goals being used. There will be 18 goals with the New York edition, but you don't have to use all of them. For a 6 player game, having 7 to 8 goals possible is plenty. I will get more into main deck arrangements later. For now, let's look at just a few of those 18 new goals!

Achievement Hog:  Of course, the first one I show you is kind of a dirty trick. You might look at the player with this goal and think, "why bother playing any further?". Well, don't let a guy with a ton of achievement tokens deter you. There is a good chance this guy will have a bull's eye on him all game long. Since players can take damage and 5 damage kills a player, you know how to nerf this goal. Getting achievement tokens only happens when you win combats, escape traps, or obtain artifacts. And getting a lot of tokens isn't that easy to build up. But with the right build up of powers or spells, the achievement hog can do a lot to interfere with other players while building up their stash. He'll force you to pay attention around the table as you make way for your own win.





Archaeologist: Gain three artifacts from the deck. Seems simple enough right? The best way to win goals like this one are to utilized force points on the board to make those cards come out for you. If you caught the last posting of this blog, you got to read about them all. There are 7 points on the board that can up the ante for revealing cards from the main deck for any goal like this one. So what's to get in your way? Threats from the main deck and other player's goals of course. There are similar goals for hunting beasts, or fighting enemies. Of course, cursed artifacts don't count. Note that when you start pulling off your goal you get bonuses. Every time you obtain an artifact, you put a goal token on this card to keep track. The bonus allows you better chances at dice rolls to obtain artifacts. But some artifacts you have to fight for.

Combatant: First of all, please not the dedication to our nation's veterans. Then note the goal itself. It's simple. Just win combats. These can be from any assortment of enemies in the deck or other players. To get in combat with a player, you just move adjacent on the board and challenge them. With but a few exceptions, they can't say no. Then hope you win the combat via d20 rolls.

Power Monger: Remember what I said about goal tokens. Well, there are two goals that give them a slightly complicated twist. You will have to track your goal tokens two ways on this card. One is for the bonuses you gain and the other for what actually will apply to win. Powers come from their own separate deck and there are several ways to get your hands on them. Of course, if you get the original game and the expansion, powers can come from the main deck too. Totally up to you when you host a game. Power monger can get really beefed up once he starts cycling powers. The limit to powers is 3 so you have to have 3 before you can start changing them.

Serial Killer: When a player character dies, the player isn't out of the game unless they want to be. If they think they still have a chance. They can continue with their goal and player character card or change them both at random to try again. The Serial Killer is there to help players make those choices (I know. ha ha ha). As you can see, this goal also affects a player's alignment of good or evil. Also note the effect on achievement tokens, allowing this goal to challenge the Achievement Hog. The Serial Killer has to be very opportunistic to win, watching for players to build up toward fatal damage before diving in to take them out.

Strange Addiction: Some effects of the game will poison a player character. Apparently, some of them like it. With this goal, you want to see about getting poisoned without actually killing yourself. Watch out if the Serial Killer is on the table while you try this goal. Getting killed means starting all over again.

King of the Hill: For the last one today, I bring you one more dirty trick. The player of this goal will literally spend the entire game beefing up with items, artifacts and spells for the last combat of the game. Past that, it's wait for someone to call "winner" so the title bout can begin. The winner of that combat is who really wins the game that time around. It's not a guaranteed win, just a different one.











Want to know what the other goals are? Well, you can only find out two ways. One, wait for the game or two, sign up to the mailing list!  See upper left corner or links in upper right. Because that is where I will be spoiling some more of them.

About the artwork. You might wonder, in my universe of heroes and villains, why more of them aren't represented in these cards. That's because the seemingly random people in the cards are meant to represent YOU. You, the player who is exploring this aspect of the GZ universe. Thanks for reading. More to come soon!

Board game preview: HOW THE BOARD WORKS

I said I would and here I go. Time to show you the board for the New York edition and give you the scoop on how it works. By the way, if you haven't signed up for the mailing list, you're missing out content and stories that don't go anywhere else. This will include giveaways and contests. So what are you waiting for?

This is the New York Game board. It will fold in six sections.

Click on image for larger view

To re-explain the game a little bit, the object is to complete a random assigned goal before other players. A goal may have you hunting beasts or monsters, recruiting a number of allies, gathering artifacts, or just beating up other players. There are far more goals than even that, just to point out. Everything you try to gain in your goal will come from an event deck that you reveal cards from on every turn after you make a move. You might find that daunting to depend on luck of the draw to complete a goal, but fear not. The board will help you.

STARTING ZONES: The white flares around the edges of the board are the starting zones. Since the game supports 2-6 players, there are 6 zones. The player who goes first gets first choice of where to start. Starting at the right spot can put you closer to map points that support your goal. But even if you are on the losing end of that equation, there is a way around it.

AIRPORTS: If you look closely, you can see three airplane symbols on the map. When you land on a plane you can immediately continue your movement via any other plane on the map. Trivial fact: At least two of the airports are positioned where real airports are in the real New York City.

DRAW 2: When you land on a number 2, you get to reveal 2 cards from the event deck instead of one with no other restrictions. A normal move only reveals one card.

FOCAL POINTS: The red X's on the map are Focal Points. When you land on one, you reveal 3 cards from the event deck with a couple of restrictions. One, you can't evade or run away from anything that comes at you. Two, if there are freebie cards in the reveal, you can't have them unless you defeat any threats that appeared with them. The only control you have is if there are multiple combats or traps. In those cases, you only have to do one combat and you can discard the rest. Same for traps. But a combat and a trap will both stay and you must deal with both before you can take an item or artifact from the focal point. As an additional bonus to this, if you succeed against all threats of a focal point and there is an artifact, you do not have to make the obtain roll for the artifact. It becomes free.

FORCE POINTS: A force point is a location on the map that allows you to make a die roll on a d20 to force a specific card type from the event deck. For any of these points, you roll a 15 or more with no modifiers and you get to reveal until the specified type comes out. Then you shuffle the other cards back into the deck. A card forced cannot be evaded, so be careful. There is a symbol for each card type that can be forced from the deck to achieve your goal:

Pot of gold: Shop: force an item card

Ancient Ax: Museum: force an artifact

Paw Print: Zoo: force a beast

Tombstone: Cemetery: force a monster

Letter H: Hero base: force a good character

Letter V: Villain base: force an evil character

HOSPITAL: The red heart with a cross is the hospital. You can land there for a chance at healing yourself.

ZONES: Each colored location of the map is a zone that caters to a certain type of threat card (except Staten Island). In those zones, when a card of the zone type is revealed, you cannot evade it and it has +2 attack against you in combat. 

Bronx: Monster zone

Queens: Beast zone

Brooklyn: Villain (evil character) zone

Manhatten: Hero (good character) zone

The odd ball on these is Staten Island, the power zone. For each time you enter Staten Island (so long as you didn't start your turn there) you get to roll a d20. If you roll 15 or higher, you get a power from the power deck. The limit on powers is 3, so you might have to pick and choose. There are other ways to get powers built into the game so no worries if you can't get to that side of the map enough.

Any marked location on the map falls under a rule that you cannot start your turn on it, move away and go right back to it. You have to leave any one marked space for an entire round, before going back to it. If your movement allows you to reach another marked space of the same type, that is a legal move. 

And that's the board! What do you think? Enough action to go around? Tell me your thoughts in comments and thanks for reading! Remember to check out the links in the upper right for the books and the original game!

Woo Hoo! Summer Update!

I haven't posted here in a while but boy do I have stuff to talk about! I'm working on cards for the next step in the board game series on GZ and it's coming out awesome! So today I'm going to tell you about some of the new character cards that are going to be in this game. There's going to be more action than in a ring full of wrestlers on hyper steroids.

If you want to find out more about this and other GZ products, be sure to hit the links to the right!

This edition is going to become the new core edition of the game and it's setting is good ol New York City. It will be based on the characters from then main novel series for GZ that starts with Chaos Rising. That means the heroes of PAC will be there along with villains of all sorts. The power levels will be off the charts. Here are some examples.

Sandstorm: Good Character: 
Raw Power: If Sandstorm's first attack against you is a natural 17-20, he wins the combat.

So watch out if you play evil against this character. He may just blow you away before you can do anything. But check out what you get as a bonus if you are good and recruit him!

When another player attacks you, roll 1d20 with no modifiers. On a 17-20 move that player up to 6 spaces away in any direction and end their turn.

He also gives you protection from elements so no fire, wind, ice, lightning, or other elemental cards or spells can affect you while he's your ally.

Electrode: Good Character
Fast Combat: Every time you miss Electrode he gets +1 to attack for the rest of the combat.

And he starts out with a +8 attack value so you better be having a good dice day or he will catch up with you FAST. But, he gives allies a nice bonus as well.

If you roll a 6 for movement, you may move to any location on the board.

Having trouble catching up to another player? Even if that isn't perfect he still gives you +3 to your movement.

Blacktide: Good Character:
Disintegration Aura: When you hit Blacktide in combat, you take 1 damage.

Fighting this guy is a thorny concept. If you are playing a goal on taking damage, great, you have a way to win. If not, this is going to be worth 3 damage just to beat him. Be ready to heal. But as an ally, he gives you this:

Other players cannot challenge you to combat or stop adjacent to you.

They can still ranged attack you, but full on combat is out of the question. This is a very useful protection to have since a lot of nasty tricks involve adjacency. But what if you are the one who moves adjacent, right? No problem. Nothing happens. You can move adjacent to or challenge to combat if you want. Other players just can't return the favor.

Nyhtwulf: Good Character: (I'm still working on what makes him dangerous to fight, but check out his bonus:)

When a player moves away from being adjacent to you, you may immediately move adjacent to them after they move.

This depicts the character's ability of neuro tracking from the book. Once he's met you, there is no escaping him. But what if it's Blacktide versus Nyhtwulf? What if a player with Blacktide moved adjacent to a player with Nyhtwulf and on their next turn moved away? Could Nyhtwulf follow? The answer is NO. Because Blacktide's power prevents other players from stopping adjacent to that player.

I know some language may need to be sorted out, but this is the hash out phase if you know what I mean.

The God Pack

Actually, they are called Lord Entities and Entities in GZ rather than gods. Pantheon gods are actually a lesser power compared to the officially ranking entities of the GZ universe. But what is this about?

It's about a very special game accessory that I'm putting together. Players will only be able to get it under special circumstances. What it can do for customizing your game experience, well, check it out.

The lore: Way back in ancient times there was a war of the gods. The pantheons of Earth had become restless and took to fighting each other. Many died but not before the fighting reached out beyond the stars. The numerous deaths tilted and broke the balance of good and evil bringing Chaos into the universe. The remaining gods had to pool their power to contain Chaos and seal him away. They were successful, but the damage had been done. To repair the balance, a new universal pantheon was formed under the supervision of the four lord entities (Destiny, Time, Nature, and Cosmos). Three pantheon gods were promoted to entity status in order to govern their position of the balance. Set and Thoth, survivors of the Egyptian pantheon were given the positions of evil and neutrality. Thoth's position had the added requirement of protecting the balance as a whole, even moreso than simply being neutral. Thoth became the direct opposition to Chaos. Crimson King was a leading pantheon member of a distant galaxy, ravaged by the war. He took the mantle of good.

Each entity has their servants and agents to work for their perspective side of the balance. Who will you serve?

An entity or lord entity is put in the main deck. When revealed on any player's turn it acts like a super event. Some stay in play and continue to affect the game. Some grant you a special power, putting you in the service of that entity. These powers are huge, but let's take a look at the entities first, shall we?

Mother Nature (Lord Entity): When she is revealed, the player who revealed her is healed of all damage and negative effects (including spells). Nature remains in play giving all beasts +3 attack and defense.  -So yes, she helps and hurts at the same time. What would one expect of her?

Destiny (Lord Entity): When he appears, all players roll 1d20. The highest roll becomes a Herald of Destiny (whether good or evil) and gets the Herald of Destiny special power card from outside the game. After this, Destiny is removed from the game (does not go in the discard pile).

Time (Lord Entity): Does nothing on appearing but stays in play. At the beginning of each player's turn, that player must roll 1d6. 1: Lose a goal token (from a time anomaly), 2-3: Nothing happens, 4: Gain 2 achievement tokens, 5: Lose 2 achievement tokens, 6: Gain a goal token (Yes, 6 can cause you to win the game).

Cosmos (Lord Entity): When revealed, the player who revealed him must roll 1d6. On 1-3: Incur his wrath and all players take 1 damage. On 4-6, incur his benevolence and all players are healed of all damage. Cosmos is then removed from the game (does not go in the discard pile).

Karma (Lord Entity and daughter of Nature and Destiny): She does nothing on the reveal but remains in play. Every time a player hits another player with a ranged attack, they must roll 1d6. On 4-6, that player takes 1 damage. (Keep in mind that 5 damage is fatal)

The Four Horsemen (Sons of Nature and Cosmos):

War: Remains in play. Every time a player enters combat with an enemy from the deck or initiates combat with another player, they must roll 1d6. On 1-3 that player's opponent gains +10 to attack. On 4-6, the initiating player gains +10 to attack.

Death: Remains in play. All hits in combat result in damage tokens. (Normally combat only results in one damage token to the player who lost the combat)

Plague: Upon appearance, all players take 1 damage. Remains in play. On each player's turn, they must make a d20 roll of 12 or better or get another damage token.

Famine: Remains in play. All players modifiers and movement are cut in half rounded up.

Entities of the balance:

Thoth: The player who reveals him rolls 1d6. On a 6, that player gains the Guardian special power card and Thoth is removed from the game (does not go in the discard pile). On 1-5, that player gets that many achievement tokens and Thoth is shuffled back into the deck.

Crimson King: If the player who reveals him is "good", they get the Starknight special power card. If they are "evil" they lose all powers. If they have no powers, they lose all achievement tokens. When a player gets the Starknight card, Crimson King is removed from the game (does not go in the discard).

Set: If the player who reveals him is "evil" they get the Minion special power card (and Set is removed from the game). If they are "good", they lose all powers. If they have no powers, they lose all achievement tokens.

Chaos: The player who reveals him, rolls 1d6. On a 6, their alignment becomes Chaos and they gain the Chaos Lord special power card (and Chaos is removed from the game). On 1-5, lose that many achievement tokens and shuffle Chaos back into the deck.

That's just the main cards of this little pack of cards. There are a few events to add and yes, two of them can send entities away (remove from game). One of the events causes you to become a servant of one of the entities and gives you special powers.

So what do you think? Are there any suggestions you would make on the effects? Shoot me those comments!

When you have to do it yourself

I want to talk today about the realities of tackling huge projects by yourself. I'm going to compare to some professional advice in my talking points. The general consensus is that you should never do it all yourself. You should employ other professionals who have the skills where you don't (if you don't) to make your project (board game, novel, comic) the best shining example it can be. This is solid advice because the environment you are trying to enter is a no holds barred battlefield of very high expectations.

Now, truth be told, I'm not alone. I never have been. But in getting started, I was the only one to do all the writing, planning, and art. I'm a rare example that I do have artistic skill to tap into on top of my writing abilities. Not many people can be a one man band. There are factors to take into consideration here as well. Factors that most people don't think about.What I do also requires a solid work ethic and never give up attitude.

Why go solo in the first place? It's a fair question. Who in their right mind would want to do all this work on their own? That includes facing the critics of that work. Remember, this is the internet and critics aren't known for playing nice. You will feel like you've been ganged up on in the parking lot. We'll get to dealing with that later. For now, why go solo? The answer is deceptively simple:

Life. The issues of your life may prod you forward or make you decide it's just not worth it. What if you have a dream you want to make reality, but your life has become a ticking clock? Maybe you have terminal cancer? Maybe you have the onset of Alzheimer's? Or maybe, yes maybe, you have multiple sclerosis. My critics don't think MS is very serious. But then, they don't have to struggle with esophageal spasms that make it hard to talk, swallow, or breath. They can walk and will likely still be able to walk tomorrow. MS is a disease that destroys your nervous system. It's definitely a ticking clock. Over 400,000 people have MS in the US alone and it is robbing people of their life skills and indeed their very lives. See life expectancy results HERE.

So what do you do? In board games the experts say not to release your game to the public until it has the very top of the line graphic art and the structure is as perfect as you can make it. It even comes down to a money thing. If you didn't spend thousands on your artwork, you shouldn't release your game. But your own artwork is not stick figures. In fact you've been recognized for your work in the past and you can make a pretty passable product. Maybe not the Picasso of graphic art, but there's another plan for that. What do you do? Just give up and never bother because you can't cough up the funds they expect? Your life is not like theirs. You are on a ticking clock that may well mean you can't get all of your story out.

Turned up noses are frustrating, but you can't let that stop you.

My advice? Build it anyway. That's the path that will require the most courage and guts for sure. Not everyone can do it the way the critics expect or the way that the professionals suggest. Their's is not the only way. That's what I did. I did the very best I was capable of and made the game available. Why? Because at least I did it. It's my accomplishment, not theirs. If MS takes me out next year, I made an accomplishment. I beat MS to the punch. It wasn't about making a million dollars on my games. It was about putting out something fun, and doing it against the clock I have to live with. I would challenge any of my critics to live with what I live with and still manage to publish four books (soon to be five) and two games.

Granted, I've tried a lot of things that just didn't work. But doesn't everyone? The point you have to remember is that it's your accomplishment if your life has the same kind of issues in play. You can try to wait until you can pay your way in, or forge your own path while you still can. Under the circumstances, which way sounds better to you?

Another factor to how I have forged ahead, is that I have a product I can show in much fuller form to those who I may enlist to make it even better in the future. Here's an actual quote I received:

"If your project is so great, you should have no problems getting artists to jump all over it."

Spoken like someone who has never tried it. Don't listen to comments like this.

Everyone has to start somewhere and everyone has to take the factors of their actual lives into consideration. That's whether you dump your life savings into it or just your life. If everyone restricted themselves to only what is the most perfect of perfection to make the critics happy (can't be done), no one would succeed at anything. History proves that. The best of the best, forged their own paths even when told they would fail by onlookers and the "gurus who knew all". There is no reason that you can't do the same if you refuse to give up. That's when you just have to take it on yourself.