On Fri, 24 Oct 2003, Shane Knysh wrote:
SK>I obviously missed some posts...
I'll direct this back to the group, since you probably haven't. And even
if I have, some of what I've got to say is probably good conversational
fodder.
SK>What is the Phoenyx Fantasy Game PBeM? Is it open to anyone? I can't find it on the
SK>regular Phoenyx games list.
I should probably put it there. I've been trying to recruit a Wiki
wrangler, since most updated content is actually in the Wiki, and I'd like
to make it (a published/static version, anyhow) the main page.
Anyway, the Phoenyx Fantasy Game is the result of a sort of wacky idea
that may or may not work out. Here's the deal: the Phoenyx has sort of
evolved a twofold purpose: first, to provide PBeM games that don't die
out prematurely, and second, to provide decent games. The second purpose
actually evolved out of the first: we started getting more and more picky
about the games we accepted, in an attempt to find gamemasters who were
reliable.
And then one day we looked back at everything and said: "You know... that
just doesn't work."
So we started brainstorming, and came up with a few conclusions and
hypotheses. Things like: "The problem with picking games based on
creativity is that 'creative' gamemasters are too likely to come up with
*other* creative ideas and want to move on." And: "'Sims' work better,
longevity-wise, than conventional single-GM PBeMs." And: "Those MMORPGs
sure are raking in the dough."
So I came up with the wacky idea I mentioned before: What if we scrapped
the idea of the Phoenyx as a roleplaying-specific list server, and stopped
accepting "rogue" gamemasters? What if we concentrated on building a
community where GMs actually had something in common? What if we put
together a multi-GM game where gamemasters could back each other up, even
fill in for each other during periods of writer's-block, share resources,
and even have crossover campaigns, where we could bring up gamemasters
out of the ranks of players who already knew and liked the gameworld and
(we should hope) the other GMs?
What if... we made a Massively Multiplayer Play By Email Roleplaying Game?
So we started doing that... um... about a year ago, I think. (checks
logs) Yep, just about exactly a year ago. Unfortunately, the rewrite of
the software (and Carl going back to college) diverted some energy from
it, since we sort of wanted to have the new software in place to launch
the game proper (and we still do; I'm getting really close...)
Anyway, we decided that the best thing to start with was something fairly
familiar, but not specifically Someone Else's World, so we've been putting
together, in random MOO sessions and mailing-list discussions and even,
with much protest, in test-web-forum threads, a Generic Fantasy World.
It's still mind-bogglingly disorganized, but it's starting to take shape.
There's no index; as things have been added, we've just mentioned them on
whatever forum development was taking place... so now that there's some
content, I'm going back and putting together something a little more
accessible. Right now, you can hit the Wiki web here:
http://www.phoenyx.net/cgi-bin/twiki/bin/view/Fantasy
and, once you've wandered around in the links from the Waiting List (and
subscribed to the mailing list), you can pick up all the unlinked bits
here:
http://www.phoenyx.net/cgi-bin/twiki/bin/view/Fantasy/WebChanges
Some of it is working notes, as you'll see, but when it comes down to it,
what we're shooting for is something anybody can bring their favorite
character to and have him/her/it fit in with minimal tweaks, so hopefully
the blank spaces aren't going to be too much of a problem.
And, of course, so far we haven't got even one more GM, so we have none of
the synergistic benefits yet, so right now it's just Yet Another Generic
Fantasy Game With A Half-Written Website. Hmph.
--
Karen J. Cravens silver@phoenyx.net
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