In addition, once the mechanics and persons involved in the game have been finalised. To facilitate restarting the game, game time could be jumped ahead by 10+ years.
----- Original Message -----
From: Kyle Schuant
Date: Sunday, March 16, 2003 10:47 am
Subject: [Cel] The state of the worlds
> Hello all,
>
> Games start up and then go kaput for a very simple reason: it's a
> lot of work for a GM, and gvenerally they don't appreciate this
> until they get into it. I speak from experience, having started a
> game, and having to abandon it due to lack of time.
> However, a year later I came up with another game, and with
> the experience of the previous failure, was able to know the
> amount of work I could handle, and adjust the rules and orders
> procedures to fit. This game is "Res Dura," which is set in 1880s
> Europe. Any frequent pbemers will know that games often collapse
> when a large war starts - since the workload for the GM increases
> dramatically then. Well, this one has 30 players, 18 countries,
> and a Great War, and is going strong with weekly turns, each
> newsletter having about 4,500 words.
> It CAN be done. It requires someone who is, in the words of
> one of my players, "dedicated, knowledgeable and objective." I do
> not fault other GMs for lacking the time or interest to do this.
> It's simply a matter of time. You have X hours free a week which
> you're willing to spend on the game, and it takes Y hours a turn
> to resolve. If Y is greater than X, the game cannot be weekly.
> Also, resolving a game turn can become like homework - the longer
> you leave it, the more forbidding it seems!
> What I am saying is that I can GM a game such as this. But not
> now. Res Dura will take another six months or so to run. I could
> look at running a game in September. That may seem hopelessly far
> away now, but will arrive sooner than you think, and it seems to
> me that Celandra is a game of such large potential that many GMs
> will be put off running it. Most prefer just more complex versions
> of RISK.
> I would also give months before a game start, even if I were
> not running Res Dura, because it's best to be completely prepared
> before jumping in, GM and players both. Res Dura took about six
> weeks of preparation, but that game deals only with economics and
> war - the players deal with the politics and diplomacy - and not
> culture. Additionally, I based it off existing rules, which I took
> time to simplify.
> The one caveat is that I am html illiterate. I run Res Dura
> off a yahoo group. There, I can stored all the maps, and so on. It
> doesn't look too impressive but the information is there.
> I should like to begin a correspondence of discussion between
> players, and other GMs, concerning the running of the game, and
> the possible set-up. My own preference is for my own world, begun
> from ground up, and a world of only humans, and no magic to speak
> of. There's enough drama in the mundane world without magic, and
> humans can be more alien to us than any non-human race.
> Best regards,
> Kyle
> kas@alphalink.com.au
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