May
26
This article was written by Chris Kentlea from Ennead Games and a veteran player of Blue Dwarf.
First let me start off by saying this is all personal opinion. If you disagree with my choices, agree or have more ideas to add, the please use the comment section.
As you will probably guess the shows I mention are amongst my favourite TV shows. Read More
May
18
This is a screen shot from the game. I posted it because it’s like one of the many nights we’ve all had with the dreaded blank computer screen when trying to post with writer’s block
I have just recently played a demo for a very interesting game created last year by Galactic Cafe and released on the Source Engine. The game was called the Stanley Parable. The Stanley Parable is completely based off of choice and decision where you only have a few controls. WASD to move, mouse to look around, and the mouse 1 button to press buttons or open the occasional door. The game features three main factors. Stanley, the silent protagonist of the game. The Narrator, the faceless man with the British accent that narrates the story and Stanley’s actions. Read More
May
13
I replayed XCOM: Enemy Unknown recently, where you recruit lifeless characters and equip them to fight aliens in a pseudo-realistic game of chess. In the game, characters are nothing more than lifeless puppets that you dress up in armour, then toss a dangerous weapon in their arms, and send them out into the battlefield. Read More
Apr
21
This was originally posted by Steven Savage on his blog, but has allowed me to republish it here as I think it’s useful for roleplayers! This is part of Steven’s Way With Worlds series of articles. -David
We’ve all heard the saying that goes “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” made by the incomparable Sir Arthur C. Clarke.
I would ad a corollary, especially in the worlds of world building (and perhaps in an age of mind hacking and psychological techniques, our own). “Any sufficiently organized magic is indistinguishable from technology.” Read More
Apr
5
This might be even tougher then losing members. We hate to see our games go, but if we’ve finished the story, gone as far as we could go, and hit the limit. It’s time to pack it up and call it a day, we did our job and by god we did it damn well. But how do you do that? How can you end a game? Do we just delete it like a bad character? No! That is never an option! A game isn’t like a character, it’s something more. Imagine it a home. Imagine if Back To The Future had no ending, if Star Wars had no ending, if Breaking Bad just suddenly stopped, or you ended like the Sopranos and just cut to straight black. That’s not exciting, that’s boring. And ending a game like that, to be honest, it might tick off a few people. If you can’t think of a way to end your game, that’s ok. But if you can but don’t want to, that’s a little unprofessional. With this you can find ways and examples on how to either save or end a game. Read More
Apr
3
It’s a sad but true fact. Sometimes a game we might be a part of just may seem like it’s not the same or we’re just not interested in it anymore. This happens with most games and if for some reason it seems you can’t make peace with the problem at hand, you may feel like you want to leave. It’s a sad fact but it’s a true fact that some members just may not feel interested in the gameplay anymore and they want to leave. But how do you leave? Do you just unsubscribe? Do you delete your character and then subscribe? If you’ve answered yes to any of those questions, you’re wrong.
Mar
24
This was originally posted by Steven Savage on his blog, but has allowed me to republish it here as I think it’s useful for roleplayers! This is part of Steven’s Way With Worlds series of articles. -David
I’m going to start by assuming the setting of your story has intelligent life in it. If not, well that sounds like a challenging write, and feel free to skip this part until you need it. Or don’t because hey, you never know. Read More
Mar
16
This was originally posted by Steven Savage on his blog, but has allowed me to republish it here as I think it’s useful for roleplayers! This is part of Steven’s Way With Worlds series of articles. -David
So you’ve got the origin of your universe (or perhaps you used our universe as a template, which does save a lot of effort). So now that you know how it all began, it’s time to move things to the next level. Read More
Mar
14
This is a segment of an article written by Steven Savage from his blog. Worldbuilding is really important to us in roleplaying, and planning out your world’s history is a great way to make it feel authentic. Here’s Steven’s article about the origin of your world.
Image credit: Adam Benton
Worldbuilding starts with the beginning – sort of. We may not always spend time on the beginning when we start, we may be following a rush of creativity as inspirations form, but in the end good world building always comes back to the question “where did it all come from?” Read More
Mar
11
This was originally posted by Steven Savage on his blog, but has allowed me to republish it here as I think it’s useful for roleplayers! This is part of Steven’s Way With Worlds series of articles. -David
Writing your world up is one thing. You can take notes, document everything, draw up timelines, and so forth. That’s a matter of technique, imagination and, frankly, your ability to write everything down. Getting yourself to use all those notes? That’s another challenge. Read More
