I've got a buttload of RTDs I've been planning to do (eight. Yes, eight.) but I usually get stuck in various places. Like, say, how much free will should I give to the player or how little I should give. What setting should I do? Should I base this on a already existing video game? Has this genre been used too much? Would this be too hard to GM? Why should I GM? What should the story be? Often, I get stuck and never come back to the RTD, or I keep coming back but never make any progress.
Here's one of the things I'm currently torn up on. Should I do a futuristic RTD (like all my other ones I've done before), or should I do a fantasy RTD? On one hand, I like Science Fiction. On the other hand, fantasy RTDs usually last longer and they aren't limited by logical barriers (Sci-Fi doesn't fit well with logical barrier breaking in my opinion). I don't plan on compromising between the two because two vastly different universes clashing will only end in tears. Sure, steampunk works in games many times, but that's because the two universes (medieval and ~WW1) aren't that far from each-other.
Another problem is: I don't know how much complexity people are willing to have/read. I usually get so carried away that most of the text on the game is about complexity and when I stop I realize that I don't think I'll be able to do that much complexity and neither will the players. On the other hand, if I cut down I feel like I'm simplifying the game too much.
And one, final problem that usually hurts me the most is, why should I make an RTD? I want to do stuff my own way, but I get more fun out of making the actions instead of making the results. And I'm dubious on if I should make a character for myself in my own RTD because I'm worried about being biased.