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EmperorGrimm

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Mar 8, 2010
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I'd like to have a discussion with the forum game community on developing a forum game that would be the primary focus of the players. In the past we've had Eutopia a political sim set on a fictional island nation in the north Atlantic which lasted quite a while and had a large group of dedicated players. There was also the 1558 RPG which has been beaten to death but was fun to follow back in "the day" haha.

There's been great settings and games posted but many of them die out because we have five other games going on at the same time. They also seem to die out because a single GM is handling the whole game and since we all have our real lives to deal with it would be a step in the right direction to have GMs share the burden of handling stats, turn changes, and IC posts.

I'm not necessarily suggesting that we have only one game that last for a year or longer that all the players will play but I think we can develop a game with a setting that the whole community would enjoy playing in for awhile (6 months to a year).

Objectives Of FGOG

-Recruit willing and dedicated GMs that would share the responsibilities of running the game while allowing the them to participate as well
-Brainstorm ideas for a game and its setting
-Recruit players who can help with making maps and helpful visuals
-Recruit players to help with statistic programs if needed
-Ease tensions in Ukraine

I'll be posting my own ideas soon.
 
I've posted up a Zoroastrian thing I'm going to be working on for a bit to get it up and running. I'd really appreciate someone with experience to help GM and/or make it a viable idea.
 
I approve of this idea.

Lots of people have ideas for cool settings but don't know how to develop them and/or could benefit from partners.

For instance, there was a lot of interest in a potential gangster game, which never launched due to a lack of GMs with the experience and/or time to do it.
 
I actually had an idea for a new type of forum game in which instead of GM updates the Gm rolls on orders and then tells the players what they get via pm or IRC and a summary of what happened based on the orders they sent. Then the players do a IC expanding on the summary in whatever way they like. Currently it is just a idea and has many flaws but I'd be interested in hearing what people think of the initial idea.
 
Kind of unrelated, and I'm not the one trying to set it up, but I think someone is setting up a game in one of the sub-forums.
 
How about a game set in the New World, (or a fictional counterpart), with people playing as colonial governors or native chiefs/emperors?
 
I wonder how a create-your-nation forum game or what they are called in the Civfanatics forums would work on here.
I also remember fondly that God Game we had back in a while,but sadly it died.
I like tonkatoy5's idea as well,but maybe the GM should be more strict on what the consequences of the actions were before the players are to expand IC.
 
Imperium Offtopicum? That sounds fun.
 
Well, the main problem I see is that, in order to succesfully GM a game, you have to love and know very well the subject. And that could be the problem of this project of sharing ideas and then recruiting some "usual" and experienced GMs; each games has a very strong component of personal commitment, and it is hard to feel that if the idea was created and developed by another player, unless you love the subject or you get along really well with him/her.

Also, lately I have seen some games in which the GM puts no or few effort into it, with unimaginative updates and even unpolished ones; and it could work for a few weeks when everybody wants to play a new game, but not when a few turns have passed and each upated is just some scrambled lines. IMO, it is not possible to run a successful game if there are players who put more effort into it than the GM does.
 
Update wise, I was always torn between more elaborate ones that are better for immersion, and just putting the bare bones up there and giving the players more room to put their own touches on it.
 
I suggest AutoREALM for map making. Free and small download, very user friendly and allows nice maps to be made in a short amount of time.

An example...

avbk.png


h9lm.png
 
There have actually been a few of those. The steampunk Mars game was loosely based off it.

It was indeed, a far more elaborate attempt. I'd love to see a more grounded, simpler run at one. Either the original, risk-style game or the more rp focused Peshawar Lancers interpretation. Not with the Peshawar setting necessarily, but with elements like an overall theme and a tech system. All though you can make the case that that system favored those (like myself) with time and energy for excessive if writing.

An important point should be made: it should be clear that there is a difference between games where the 'gamey' aspect is just a skeleton for a communal writing exercise, and those where it is the point and any roleplaying is just gravy. Both are perfectly valid but don't necessarily appeal to the same players.
 
By the way,does anyone remember those Political Party based forum games with Ecuador and the USA?
Although the last one didn't take off, I believe such kind of games with a little bit more interaction between players and randomly or not generated events would help enrich such games.
 
By the way,does anyone remember those Political Party based forum games with Ecuador and the USA?
Although the last one didn't take off, I believe such kind of games with a little bit more interaction between players and randomly or not generated events would help enrich such games.

Election games used to be more common. And of course there is the late lamented Eutopia. May she rest in peace at the bottom of the Atlantic.

Trouble with such games is they rarely last past the first election. They can be fun though, and lend themselves to fun settings. My favorite so far was the one set in the aftermath of HG Wells' War of the Worlds.