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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

RPR Archive Revamping the Guilds - Now Discussing the Characters Thread

Discussion in 'Role Playing Resource Archive' started by DarthXan318, Aug 9, 2009.

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  1. Seremela

    Seremela Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2008
    I've said it before, peng, I think names *are* a big deal. They can give you the feeling that 'hey, here is a place I can ask my question', or, 'oh, you have to be a member, and it has all these members that are here already for a long time, gosh, I don't know enough to try and get in that group'.

    That's why I'm personally for very clear 'here you can...' kind of names. People don't come here and read the opening posts of the various threads, they look at the name and decide if it's the place where they can ask their questions - and maybe then look at the opening post, or just go ahead and ask.


     
  2. DarkLordoftheFins

    DarkLordoftheFins Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 2, 2007
    I think that people feel the need to keep the name Guild, shows names matter. Why discussing it otherwise? I think the argument of a fresh start is undisputed by now. I haven´t read anything saying a fresh start is a bad idea.

    If we wanna keep the name out of conservative ideas about how things shall be done here, this will lead us here


    And using dramatic words like "totally broken" is a bit . . . too much for my taste. Do succesful games come from the GDG? No. Tell me one.
    Have they come from it in 2007? Yes. They have. All great games went there first.
    It doesn´t even work as an interest gauge anymore. And as I said in discussions of the past, it is not the most modern institutuion, where promotion is half the game and networking is part of GMing.
    Does it mean it is totally borken?
    Hell, how shall I know? What do expect from it? What do you wanna get out of it? What shall it provide to the community? I don´t know if it is totally broken. It surely isn´t healthy.
     
  3. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    I don't quite understand where this is going here. Certainly we all agree that, in its current form, the Game Designers Guild isn't performing its intended function - yes? It has been very quiet there for some time now. That's why we're restarting it and the Character Designers Guild, which is coming up next.

    Regarding the name: opinions are split between those who think that names are no big deal at all, and those who think that the name 'Guild' is detrimental to the purpose of the thread. Thus we're changing it, because IMHO "I don't like the word Guild," beats "I really don't care either way," no matter how you look at it. I haven't seen much of a case for preserving the 'Guild' name other than nostalgia, but if there's any other reason ...?

    Regarding the purpose: it's about making games. To me it's really that simple. You go in with a game idea - preferably a well fleshed-out one - and come out with a working game. The fact that in its current form the GDG is not fulfilling this purpose is just another argument for a relaunch.


    So ... back to Imp's draft. Let's focus on specific changes/additions rather than comparing it to the old one. :-B

    I feel like maybe all the other stuff that could go on in designing a game could use a mention too - world-building, major plotlines, creation of major NPCs/factions (and why, and how best to do this, etc), and so on. This might be a bit of a grey area because you could technically create all major NPCs on the fly as you're GMing and so on, but it seems like most successful GMs think about this beforehand, so it could go under game design too. Maybe that could be #6 on the list?
     
  4. Seremela

    Seremela Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2008
    I think you have a very good point here, Xan. Because if I ever would get bold enough to try and GM, that's what I would need to learn about first, I think, the worldbuilding, backgrounds, plotlines that will leave the characters freedom of movement and independent decisions.

    As for the point of advertising, I think this group should be advertised itself as well. Because I have peeked in the GDG from time to time, out of curiosity what advice was given about games, see if I could learn something from it, and the games submitted there are mostly already very fleshed and thought out. So maybe the people who used to post there no longer need to, they need the GMG more now. But the ones who DO need the GDG, and would benefit from posting their games there first instead of directly on the board, for some reason don't do that.


     
  5. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    So are we cool with the GDG? Shall we send it back to Imp for final edits, and open the floor to LightWarden's Character Thread?
     
  6. LordTroepfchen

    LordTroepfchen Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 9, 2007
    I think the general critic was it is basically the same and needs to make a difference in it´s beginning. But yes, I assume we are. At least the people discussing on Hotmail are, but they don´t post it, so I do. [face_laugh]
     
  7. Imperial_Hammer

    Imperial_Hammer Manager Emeritus: RPFs star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2004
    I'll get the new edits up in a couple of days. Doesn't seem to be very much, so probably will not take too long.

    -I_H
     
  8. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    Honestly, I think "needs to be different from old GDG" is a bit too vague. :p Specific things can be changed, but asking Imp to rephrase the whole thing just to be different is a bit of a tall order.

    Anyway, LW, you're up. Fire away. :D
     
  9. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    Alright, LW tells me his thread isn't quite ready yet, so we'll move on for now and come back to it when it is. :D

    Next up: Game Theory!



    [color=darkblue][hl=silver][b]The Gaming Theory and Philosophy Discussion Thread[/b][/hl][/color]

    [image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/xany/gtp.jpg]

    [b]Introduction[/b]

    Welcome to the Gaming Theory and Philosophy Discussion Thread! Our purpose is to discuss all things theoretical about the RPFs. If you have an interest in talking about the reasons behind why things are done the way they are, this thread is for you.

    This thread is not for the discussion of the practical side of things. While examples that prove theories are welcome, our purpose is not to talk about the day-to-day issues in designing and running a game, or the properties of a good character. What we talk about is [i]everything else[/i] - essentially, if it's not to do with playing/running a specific character/game, it's fair game here.


    [b]Mission Statement[/b]

    [i]1. Theories and Philosophy[/i]

    As the title suggests, this is the place for all things theoretical. This includes game analysis, meta-RPing, board analysis, gaming advice, and any other sort of topic concerning things one would find in the RPF. Some examples of these are those articles currently in the Tips/Advice threads and the entries to the 3rd and 12th Summer Challenges.

    Note that posting a theory in this thread does not mean you can't also post it in the Tips/Advice threads, any more than discussing a game opening post in the Game Designers Guild means you can't then run the game. In fact, you're encouraged to post it in one of the Tips/Advice thread after discussing it here (or before, or during), so it doesn't get buried.

    [i]2. Discussion of Experiences[/i]

    Did you learn a valuable lesson in player management, and thus always split them up into groups of four or less? Do you repeat several rules throughout a game OP to make sure people read them? Do you always tell your GM what you have planned for your character? Do you avoid playing a certain archetype? What have you picked up over the months? Why? Tell us what you've learnt.


    [b]Membership[/b]

    This is an open discussion thread - everyone is welcome to come in and post new theories or comment on things. There are no membership requirements other than posting in this thread.
     
  10. Penguinator

    Penguinator Former Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 23, 2005
    Would this cover Player philosophy as well? I'm guessing yes, but clarification would be excellent. :)

    That's all I've got right now; looks good to me!
     
  11. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    RPing theory, certainly. In fact I'd love to see more of that around. :D
     
  12. DarkLordoftheFins

    DarkLordoftheFins Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 2, 2007
    It´s a solid intro-post. Though we might have to do an index to make the theories available for reading and approachable, I think. I actually love how eas to find Summer Challenge entries are.
     
  13. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    That's certainly doable. There aren't all that many theories (or theory threads, for that matter), so indexing them shouldn't be too difficult.
     
  14. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    Speaking of indexes, the Games Looking for New Players index is live!

    Note: It's a sticky in the RPR because quite honestly, while it might get more exposure in the RPF/NSWRPF, this is the sort of thing the RPR is here for. I've also linked to the current CDG/GDG in it because the new threads aren't up yet - that will be updated once they are.

    Feel free to PM comments/suggestions, post them in this thread, or post 'em there. :)

    ETA - Also, obviously, such an index is only as useful as everyone makes it out to be, so please spread the word, link it to people, send those PMs if you have a game looking for new players...
     
  15. SirakRomar

    SirakRomar Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 30, 2007
    Is it too late for GDG comments? Because I looked into it a few minutes agon and I don´t know if I already said so, I realized it suffered from a strange problem lately. Motnh of silence and if someone puts up a game, another three people come up and do the same. Now I wanted to comment on Ktala´s game and it made me feel like I ignored Sinre´s and Mib`s and therefore . . . I simply postponed it and probably never will do it.

    The GDG could really use some order of discussion. If a game comes up the next person to discuss his has to wait five days.

    That would be my approach. But just a suggestion.
     
  16. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    That sounds good to me, Sirak. Strange that these games tend to come in waves, hey. :p

    Anyway: everyone's had time to comment on the Gaming Theory thread, so I'll take it off the table to make way for the Characters Thread.

    LW, whenever you're ready.
     
  17. Imperial_Hammer

    Imperial_Hammer Manager Emeritus: RPFs star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2004
    While we wait for the new CDG, I've gotten around to doing what needs to be done here.

    Here's the GDG II again, with the changes from the last discussion.

    Last chance for points before it goes live. Get em in if you got em.

    -I_H



    [color=green][b]***The Game Designer's Group: 2nd Edition***[/b][/color]

    [image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/Imperial_Hammer/Prosperitythroughendeavor.jpg]

    [color=green][u][b]Introduction[/b][/u][/color]

    Welcome to the [b]Game Designers Group[/b], a group dedicated solely to the development of creative, and most importantly quality games to be used in the RPFs. Imperial Hammer will be serving as coordinator for this thread, an open-ended group of users united around the shared interest of creating high-quality first posts. First posts are an essential step in role playing. They are the first thing any player reads when considering joining a game, and lay the foundation for everything that is to follow.

    This is the second incarnation of [link=http://boards.theforce.net/role_playing_resource/b10757/23609947/p1/?3491]The Game Designer's Guild[/link]. There is a great deal of history and insight to be found inside this thread. If you put the effort into looking through it, you may learn quite a bit.

    [color=green][u][b]What we are and are not[/b][/u][/color]

    This Group is firstly not about characters. Discussions about characters take place in the Character Development Group.

    This Group is also not about GMing (Game Mastering). Discussions about that take place in the Game Master's Group. While your decisions in launching a game most certainly will effect your GMing experience, we do not talk about that experience here. When the GDG discusses GMing in a game, it shall be in a predictive/theoretical nature only.

    This group then discusses:

    1.) What type of games should/can be launched (themes and genres)
    2.) When to launch games (times in the year that work better than others)
    3.) How to launch games (do you use advertisement or not?)
    4.) Policies to add to your first post and their theoretical consequences (player caps, specific rules and system elements)
    5.) Artistic and stylistic elements of the first post
    6.) Interest tests about what type of games may be popular in the community at the moment
    7.) Elements of game design, including World Building, the structuring of main plotlines, factions (in-game integration, balancing, and dynamics), degrees of character freedom, etc.

    [color=green][u][b]Discussion[/b][/u][/color]

    Discussion is what we do here. We offer advice, we review first posts, we speculate on when to run games and what type of games to run. We all have different ideas and experiences in writing first posts, and therefore we call can learn from each other. Everyone in this group should work towards the end goal that no game should fail on start-up. Every game deserves the chance to live.

    So that this group is as open and welcoming as possible, discussion here will be entirely user-driven. If it falls under the umbrella of this group, anything can be talked about at any time. If there are two topics that want to be discussed at one time, the order of discussion will be first come, first served. [u][b]Once there is a topic of discussion in the queue, the topic currently under discussion will have 5 days to wrap up. If this is not a sufficient amount of time, topics can be repeated as many times as required. [/b][/u]

    [color=green][u][b]Review and Feedback[/b][/u][/color]

    Another core function of this group is to review and offer feedback for games. Unlike the Game Designers Guild, this group will focus more on this element. The Game Designer's Group should be the primary place for people who want feedback on games to give them. As usual, this group offers no protection outside of social scorn against idea "claim-jumping". While this was not a problem in the last installation of this thread, do keep this point in mind. Review and Feedback will be treated as a discussion, and subject to the same rules of discussion.

    Additionally, the Mod Team will be taking care
     
  18. Imperial_Hammer

    Imperial_Hammer Manager Emeritus: RPFs star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2004
    Okie dokie then!

    Two weeks and no response, hence silence is contentment, hence we're going live with it.

    CDG is up, if its ready. If not, I believe the next item on the list is Adoptions?

    Any ideas on its current set-up and performance so far?

    I will be PMing our emissaries in WNU soon to come in and give us their thoughts on how its going. :)

    -I_H
     
  19. DarkLordoftheFins

    DarkLordoftheFins Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 2, 2007
    I think adoption is a good topic. Maybe we should call it "newbie-welcome-comitee" as I tihnk the adoption doesn´t work so well anymore . . . as a concept. Though Ktala´s work there is simply great.
     
  20. LordTroepfchen

    LordTroepfchen Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 9, 2007
    I think considering we could soon have an input of players of greater scale, we should think about the "newbie"-processing first. I know Fin already gave away his idea of PMing them when they arrive here. That is a rather nice one, I think. Also we might want to have a newbie, dumb-questions asked here thing or something. A place highly visible that every newbie can approach. I know that dogmatic such a thing belongs here. But the new guys get first to the RPF, always. So why not make ONE exception from the rule and welcome them over there? Top of page and consider it just a special social thread. We could also simply RENAME the existing. I am not a shy guy, but I avoided it, knowing nobody here, until a year or so and only when I was directly mentioned there, I felt good to post. And I am not shy or very newbiish. So, why not take a "NEW GUYS COME HERE, BEER FOR FREE" or something from someone with a better sense of humor. Not my strong side, I agree. :p

    Then we can guide them all to programs and threads and what not from there. Right now this stuff happens over PMs too much. Some useres actively try to make players and games welcome. The community in itself has no real working institution HERE, despite us all loving new people around.
     
  21. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    Ooh hey. I really like the idea of a Newbie Questions Thread here in the RPR - I think we can make that work. :D

    As for the input of players on a grand scale: ;)
     
  22. LightWarden

    LightWarden Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 11, 2001
    The Character Thread

    What stands before you now is the nascence of a thread, with emptiness around you and uncertainty ahead. Bereft of form or function, bereft of drive and voice, all of its potential is contingent on your choice. It is yours to weave and bind, yours to mold and make; all that you will gain from this is what you choose to take. Cognizant of the potential, your efforts may begin; so reach into the untouched clay and release the one within.

    What motivates this shaping, what desires guide your hand? That choice is yours to make, one that you must understand. With purpose comes distinction, atop its lofty ledge, it adds direction to your labors and clarity to your edge. With that edge cut forth, slice cleanly to the bone, carve your vision freely from the depths of faceless stone. But forge your own identity, one you freely choose, for if you steal the form of others, it is yours that you will lose. There is always variation, no need to be the same, create with all the elements and give it its own name.

    But as you gaze upon the one you call your own, always be aware that it is not yours alone. The process of communion is one you should not halt, for what good is a work that molders in a vault? Yours is not the pedestal, the object to adore; yours is to inspire and be inspired more. So be mindful of the others and always seek to learn; what you give to others is what they will return.

    No limits can be placed on the expeditions of the mind, it does not matter what you do, but only what you find. There is no vision too grand, nor detail too inane, so try and try again to strengthen your domain. Potential is only wasted if you never ever try, so wander where you will, always asking ?why?? A million sights unseen, a million words unsaid, make of this what you will; it is, after all, your thread.
     
  23. DarkLordoftheFins

    DarkLordoftheFins Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 2, 2007
    I love it!

    Nothing more to say, really. :)
     
  24. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    Likewise. :D As I told you, LW, I think it's fantastic!

    I thought at first it might be a good idea to put dot points after it, but upon reflection, it works just fine as it is. :D
     
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