I attended Comic-Con in San Diego on Sunday–my second time going. I wasn’t able to get into any panels or teaching sessions like I did last year, when I learned a ton from the awesome lectures of Maxwell Alexander Drake. But I walked the entire show floor, browsed thousands of comic books, met with friends, and talked with other nerdy people like me.

It’s good to be occasionally reminded of the larger industry that we, as game designers, are a part of. We aren’t just making games, we’re building worlds that people want to live in–whether they prefer to do that by playing games, reading books, watching movie and TV spin-offs, or building elaborate costumes to show off at conventions.

With rare exception, I think people are attracted to games that fulfill a fantasy that they want to live out, or at the very least experience from a different perspective. It’s healthy to be inspired by heroes, intrigued by clever villains, and even enamored with imaginary worlds and characters.

As creators, we need to remember that our fans want to adopt the characters and stories we create. They want to find a new passion and invest a portion of their mind and enthusiasm into it. We need to make sure our work is worthy of it.

Inspiration posts highlight others’ creations that I find inspiring or thought-provoking. All of their stuff is theirs… obviously. For more about Comic-Con, check out their official site.