The basics
This is an experiment in interactive fiction. A short post describing a setting or situation will be added to the story section and then people will respond with what they think the person/people should do next. The next post will be a continuation of the last one but it will go in a direction based on the responses to the blog post.
History & Concept
Remember what if felt like to have someone tell you a story? Someone that knew you? I don't mean read a story, but to TELL you a story. It was a wonderful thing when the person knew you and tailored the story to you, or even if they just watched for your reactions and changed the story based on something you were interested in or something that you said. Since I was a child I have been on a search to share this wonderful tradition of storytelling with other people. The journey has led me all over the place and many of those stages have influenced this project.
Remember those old interactive fiction games? Zork? Wishbringer? I do. I played them on a regular basis and I even wrote a few of them. They were amazing pieces of fiction. They would describe a setting or situation and you would respond by typing in any command you could think of. It felt like you could explore the world and interact in all kinds of ways, however, you were limited by the ways the author thought you would respond and had programmed in to the system. Often I would know a solution but it was not the solution the author wanted me to find, or he/she had not thought of it themselves. I tinkered with these games for awhile and often found myself programming far to many options for the limited space that you were aloud for these small games.
MMORPG's, now these terribly addicting games drew me in with a vengeance. At first it was just a game like many others, but when I discovered the roleplaying community my world changed for awhile. Now I had a place to tell a story. A place to interact with others. I played MMO's for almost 10 years off and on. The ability to tell a story in multiple formats (forums, and in game) was amazing. I loved the interaction. I loved the thinking on your feet. I didn't like that you were stuck with the mechanics that they programed in. You couldn't do some things because the game didn't have those visuals programed in. We worked around it by typing what we called "emotes" but for the most part it felt clunky. I also didn't like being locked in to their setting. The community was amazing and I had some great roleplay experience, but all in all it felt like I was being restricted and I wanted to find something with more freedom. I often thought back to when things were just text and wondered what it would be like to roleplay in a setting like that. I soon found just that.
MUDs & MUSHes were my next stop, somehow I missed them when they were new and exciting but when I stumbled upon this style of game I did find an active community. These were text based games like Zork, but they were in a place that you played with other people online. They had amazing story lines in them and people who really loved story. I thought I found my heaven for story. I felt a twinge of doubt when it came to being stuck in their story and not something that I could create on my own, but I found it to be more of a setting then a story and I was able to make a number of story lines and had a lot of fun with it. I probably would have stuck with this for awhile but sometimes terrible things happen and I was confused for a cheater in the game. I was kicked and never could find another community that had the same level of excellence. In afterthought I can see that the game mechanics were still restrictive. You could do a lot of things but you could not do "anything". You couldn't solve a puzzle in a different way then intended. I liked these games and I would suggest them to others, but I moved on.
My last stop before landing here was Forum PbP (Play by post). This visit didn't last long but the stay was inspiring. These are simply forums and the beginning of the post is a setting or a room and you post what your character does in that room, setting, or situation. Moderators and other characters then respond and extend the story. This is an amazing concept, but in practice it leads to lots of time waiting on responses and only surface interaction. I liked the way they had you update your character. Anytime something happened to your character or if you lost or gained an item you would post it on your character sheet so that your character sheet would reflect the current time. This idea inspired the way that I created the characters sheets for this project. I have moved on from those games and now I have decided to try something new.
So, here we are. Now, what is the common thread? Great question. I present a lot of problems I had with roleplaying and one might think that my intention here is to solve all of those problems with a new type of game. I wish I were creative enough to do that. After lots of reflection on these issues and talking with other people, I discovered that some people have a story to tell and other people just want to play a part in that story. I don't think I need to solve the problem of the game. I think there are plenty of games out there for all kinds of people. The common thread is that I love story, and I love to tell a story, but I am not satisfied writing a book because it is not interactive. I fell in love with story when I was telling it to a live crowd and playing off of their reactions. These games were all attempts for met to find a way to do that with people who can't be here with me now. To tell my stories to a wider audience. I felt restricted by mechanics and by other peoples' story lines. This is my attempt at creating an experience where I can tell a story to a group of people and give them a way to interact with the story. I hope you enjoy it. I hope I enjoy it. I hope for lots of participation, because it is the interactions with you all that I am seeking. I have something to share, and for this sort of thing to be shared, I need not only your ears, but also your participation. Thanks.
Remember those old interactive fiction games? Zork? Wishbringer? I do. I played them on a regular basis and I even wrote a few of them. They were amazing pieces of fiction. They would describe a setting or situation and you would respond by typing in any command you could think of. It felt like you could explore the world and interact in all kinds of ways, however, you were limited by the ways the author thought you would respond and had programmed in to the system. Often I would know a solution but it was not the solution the author wanted me to find, or he/she had not thought of it themselves. I tinkered with these games for awhile and often found myself programming far to many options for the limited space that you were aloud for these small games.
MMORPG's, now these terribly addicting games drew me in with a vengeance. At first it was just a game like many others, but when I discovered the roleplaying community my world changed for awhile. Now I had a place to tell a story. A place to interact with others. I played MMO's for almost 10 years off and on. The ability to tell a story in multiple formats (forums, and in game) was amazing. I loved the interaction. I loved the thinking on your feet. I didn't like that you were stuck with the mechanics that they programed in. You couldn't do some things because the game didn't have those visuals programed in. We worked around it by typing what we called "emotes" but for the most part it felt clunky. I also didn't like being locked in to their setting. The community was amazing and I had some great roleplay experience, but all in all it felt like I was being restricted and I wanted to find something with more freedom. I often thought back to when things were just text and wondered what it would be like to roleplay in a setting like that. I soon found just that.
MUDs & MUSHes were my next stop, somehow I missed them when they were new and exciting but when I stumbled upon this style of game I did find an active community. These were text based games like Zork, but they were in a place that you played with other people online. They had amazing story lines in them and people who really loved story. I thought I found my heaven for story. I felt a twinge of doubt when it came to being stuck in their story and not something that I could create on my own, but I found it to be more of a setting then a story and I was able to make a number of story lines and had a lot of fun with it. I probably would have stuck with this for awhile but sometimes terrible things happen and I was confused for a cheater in the game. I was kicked and never could find another community that had the same level of excellence. In afterthought I can see that the game mechanics were still restrictive. You could do a lot of things but you could not do "anything". You couldn't solve a puzzle in a different way then intended. I liked these games and I would suggest them to others, but I moved on.
My last stop before landing here was Forum PbP (Play by post). This visit didn't last long but the stay was inspiring. These are simply forums and the beginning of the post is a setting or a room and you post what your character does in that room, setting, or situation. Moderators and other characters then respond and extend the story. This is an amazing concept, but in practice it leads to lots of time waiting on responses and only surface interaction. I liked the way they had you update your character. Anytime something happened to your character or if you lost or gained an item you would post it on your character sheet so that your character sheet would reflect the current time. This idea inspired the way that I created the characters sheets for this project. I have moved on from those games and now I have decided to try something new.
So, here we are. Now, what is the common thread? Great question. I present a lot of problems I had with roleplaying and one might think that my intention here is to solve all of those problems with a new type of game. I wish I were creative enough to do that. After lots of reflection on these issues and talking with other people, I discovered that some people have a story to tell and other people just want to play a part in that story. I don't think I need to solve the problem of the game. I think there are plenty of games out there for all kinds of people. The common thread is that I love story, and I love to tell a story, but I am not satisfied writing a book because it is not interactive. I fell in love with story when I was telling it to a live crowd and playing off of their reactions. These games were all attempts for met to find a way to do that with people who can't be here with me now. To tell my stories to a wider audience. I felt restricted by mechanics and by other peoples' story lines. This is my attempt at creating an experience where I can tell a story to a group of people and give them a way to interact with the story. I hope you enjoy it. I hope I enjoy it. I hope for lots of participation, because it is the interactions with you all that I am seeking. I have something to share, and for this sort of thing to be shared, I need not only your ears, but also your participation. Thanks.
About the Author
Chris works at a therapeutic boarding school for boys with behavioral issues. He works with the students, family, and staff to find alternative ways of dealing with issues and replacing the problem behaviors with positive ones. Often storytelling is the difference between someone who makes it in this line of work, and those that burn out after a short time. Before working in this field he refined his craft telling stories each week as a family pastor.
He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville NC with his wife Jill. He loves recumbent bike riding, sea kayaking, waterfall hunting, and his great big Saint Bernard puppy named Deojee (thats right, sound it out D-O-G :) He visits his daughter in GA, and his sister in OH as often as he can because they both inspire his creativity and his sister has even written a number of stories with him.
He loves story, particularly interactive story, but has found interactive storytelling to be quite elusive. Convinced that interactive story is closely linked with gaming in some form he has been an avid gamer his entire life. Always looking for ways of sharing his own creativity he has jumped from medium to medium finding flaws with each of the established storytelling mediums. Books are not interactive, Interactive Fiction is limited by the program, Muds/Mushes are too short in their responses to get the needed depth, PbP have too many people trying to tell the story to explore the story, traditional storytelling is perfect but it limits the crowd to current location, and so on. He yearns for something interactive, something that includes the audience. This site is his attempt to share an interactive storytelling experience. It is a work of love and work that will never be done, and always be evolving. Join him in creating something new.
He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville NC with his wife Jill. He loves recumbent bike riding, sea kayaking, waterfall hunting, and his great big Saint Bernard puppy named Deojee (thats right, sound it out D-O-G :) He visits his daughter in GA, and his sister in OH as often as he can because they both inspire his creativity and his sister has even written a number of stories with him.
He loves story, particularly interactive story, but has found interactive storytelling to be quite elusive. Convinced that interactive story is closely linked with gaming in some form he has been an avid gamer his entire life. Always looking for ways of sharing his own creativity he has jumped from medium to medium finding flaws with each of the established storytelling mediums. Books are not interactive, Interactive Fiction is limited by the program, Muds/Mushes are too short in their responses to get the needed depth, PbP have too many people trying to tell the story to explore the story, traditional storytelling is perfect but it limits the crowd to current location, and so on. He yearns for something interactive, something that includes the audience. This site is his attempt to share an interactive storytelling experience. It is a work of love and work that will never be done, and always be evolving. Join him in creating something new.