[Way With Worlds appears at Seventh Sanctum, MuseHack, and Ongoing Worlds]
Let’s talk pandering and worldbuilding.
You want the game to sell, you want the book to be read, you want the game to be exciting. But you also want to build an interesting world and a consistent setting. However, if you did just a few things you might just sell more, just a little fan service or . . .
Don’t. Don’t do it.
If you’re really serous about worldbuildingg, don’t go pandering. Don’t sex up your world for no reason, don’t go throw in something that doesn’t fit. Don’t go breaking your hard work for the vague promise someone will like it. Don’t wreck what you built.
I’m not saying you can’t focus on a reader’s needs or a gamer’s interests – I’ll address that in a bit. Instead I want to note that pandering is destructive to worldbuilding.