Not Really A Game (Facade)

A game that is not really a game but, rather, a simulation of people noise. Noise, by my personal definition, is anything that can or will lead to an argument. However, the fun with this is that there are no real repercussions for causing strife for the couple.

You play, yourself, who is a long friend of the couple. Known them sense college but have not seen them sense. You are invited to a party, of sorts, that is being hosted in the couples apartment. Eventually they start to argue and sorta ask for help on how to fix their relationship.

Facade Game Trailer


http://www.interactivestory.net

My personal problem with the game is that it is delayed and a bit non-responsive. The "AI" isn't as suggested and the couple only responds to a few words and hardly in context. Good for about a day or two but worth the "lulz" if you are into that sort of thing.

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Unstoppable Characters (Problems with being Invincible)

While writing among a group and each member of that group has his or her own character moving around the world there is bound to be a time when each, if not all, are worthless.

Upon creating a character it isn't always needed to show others what makes them weak or what they are already weak against but those weaknesses should be there. Even if these weaknesses make your character utterly worthless within the current settings of the story, you must play along.

Playing along can result in your character being injured or worse so you do have to remember that it is only a story and this character could, in a manner of sorts, "come back". Nothing says anything is truly permanent within any world including our own.

However having any weakness at all, can be counter acted by the "Nuh uh" behavior. This behavior is bad form and should be avoided. "Nuh uh" is a very uncool way to handle finally having your "uber-character" moved to a place where he or she is some what normal or even pointless. This also make others not wish to participate with you the next time.

Nothing is absolute and there is always a way to remove an obstacle but sometimes it has to be someone else who has to do it. At that point it is best to smile about it and let events transpire in a normal way. And remember, there is always next time.

See me "playing along" in a similar manner, here.

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The TWB of Cantr??

Firstly, less then half of you are asking yourself what Cantr is. All this while the other less then half is asking themselves what TWB is and there is one of you who knows what neither of those things are. Anyone else was looking for something else and find my blog on accident so has zero clue what this is about regardless of my acronyms.

Today there shall be talks of something that actually is a cause of the problem. However, talking about the problem is actually an amusement in itself so there is no harm in breaking function of the blog any.

The simplistic notion of this post, and its title if you were inside my head, is the problem of falsified elitism among writers. Generally speaking in the matter of creative writing here. The problem is you, once and awhile, get either a group of mind thinkers or just one really loud intrusion of a man, or woman, that makes others bow to his bored prowess. A more popular example would be the Harry Potter and Twilight books.

On both sides of each, be they for or with the stories the elitist are the ones who cause the trouble for the rest. Some may say the elitist is also the fanatic if writing and creative thinking were to be taken in that route. Any human being with half of a mind can tell you that fanatic behavior only causes strife. This strife, however, is external to the fanatic or elitist group. The thing with elitism and fanaticism are that they are not self destructive and actually self rewarding.

Now fanaticism is an extra extreme taking of the form of an elite but its notion and restrictions still apply.

• Only The Best
• We of the "elite" are always in the right/know what is best.
• An argument with one ends only in the non elitist giving up or the elitist attacking the non.
• The none-elitist is always wrong and usually insulted and claimed unintelligent or something of that nature.

These behaviors are common among some circles and, sadly enough, even encouraged but it is when the elitist is the poor example that one must surly slam their foot on the person's face; figuratively, of course. This is the problem I share today.

TWB is an internet play by post RPing site which is operated and controlled by an elite group of "creative writers" who believe a story may only work a certain way and only in a certain manner. Added to the fact that one must be in the "main circle" to even see most of the activity on the site and you have a clear problem of "my farts don't stink".

This is all well and fine if you do not bump into anyone with an open and free thinking mind. When you are the puppet master there is only room for stringed sheep. So once someone like myself comes along there is always deemed trouble. Quickly this behavior brings "out the troll in me". There is a constant stream of aggressive attempts to shatter the glass house of whoever has built this "I am Jesus" wall around themselves. Any expressive of free thinking would generally resort to such tatics on the eventual level but it is difficult for me to remain on my senses. An elitist's ego, especially those without any standing, is only a zeppelin filled with hydrogen gas. Easy to pop and easier to set aflame.

However, TWB is not the issue today. Today we speak of a game that wishes to share with Cantr in its game play., Faery Tale Online (FTO). The game does a well enough job but needs a lot of work. The problem with this is that the current community on FTO has a small elitist attitude toward anyone who is not willing to simply accept FTO in the manner that is now. There are some small consensus among the group but generally they wish to keep the game how they found it. That is a fine and well to do thing to want but it is not okay to futher more attack those who simply state that the game is not perfect.

Quickly anyone who has anything negative to say about the game is flamed and attacked by some of the sites "core members". This, of course, has a negative response to those giving an honest responce about the game, when it is negative. Soon those who do not wish to play by the games current unrwritten rules that the players have arbitrarily set down for no reason other then to make the game how they wish it and subject others to "find something else".

Extra trouble of this is that the elitist are not even that elite. The sites current "golden boy" is blandly average with his words and writing. I could not get through one of his paragraphs let alone a constant stream of RP responses from this person. The community thinks it has a 'huge troll problem" but the reality is that they bring on the noise they get for their elitism with poor backing to it.

Don't fall into the trap of group think and elitism. Think outside their box and your own, always advert the norms willingly and happily. Take those who think they "know better" and break their glass houses with large brick rocks made of world shattering logic. These people are only to be an annoyance, nothing more.

This is a sad fate for FTO as the game, once you get past some major flaws in its design, is very enjoyable. With a game that is so strictly based off of its player base when you are greeted with such hostility for explaining you are not exactly happy and only trying to help, it makes you not wish to enjoy something you were enjoying.

Suggestion and Recommendation: Play Faery Tale Online, wait out its long birth queue and deal with some of its broken mechanics but do not join its forum and participate in the community unless you are willing to become a sheep puppet.

Fairy Tales!?

A game that I have been personally fighting tooth and nail is slowly gripping my attention and pulling me deeply into its game environment. It is something similar to Cantr and while only Cantr needs the hype, I shall give the other game its small dues.

Currently I have chastised the game on its forums for not fitting a few simple needs for its players while forcing other things that are based on the developer, as there is only one, views of what constitutes a reasonable world right. This would not be a problem for the games selling point not its open and free form world. A world that is free to be created by its players while still being horribly limited by its developer is not a free world. It is only the illusion of free.

You may, or may not, have realized that the name of the game has yet to be actually said. This is mainly because I still am withholding a final thought on the game. Currently it is in open Beta but due to several very bad game mechanics it would be almost impossible to actually recomened anyone this game. Especially with a delayed ability to play, currently one must wait aproximitly six to nine months before the ability to play is opened up for them.

That "feature" alone, by itself, cripples the game from being a recommendation. If this, and a couple other flaws such as its cluttered interface, are worked on or even overhauled entirely then we shall see about a full honest review.

There is, however, the shinnning hope I see with this game. I am actually enjoying some of its quirks. A few of said quirks I had originally written off as broken in one manner or another. The quriks I refer to still need work but are in no manner broken beyond the ability to play the game.

Once more time with this game is had by myself and a few things cleared with the community and/or its devolper I shall fork over a biased review, as all reviews are indeed very biased.

Faery Tale Online

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Stretching the Truth

Roleplaying and other forms of collaborative writing all require its participants to play along with each others styles and manners by which they create. There is only a small problem with this and it is when does "truth" become "fiction" when one states a positive and another a negative from the same perspective. This is a good when trying to learn, have fun or "write by flight" but it can cause trouble among the group.

When one writer has something drastic or absurd happen* it can cause a catastrophic event among the rest. If others are not willing to play along with the sudden twist or alteration there quickly causes problems. Adversely when others do "play along" you start to break the line of truth. The truth of the story; its legitimacy, flow and general mood.


Truth

• The ability for a story to stay focused and on point.
  
• The believability to that the story has to its readers.
  
• The constant flow and easy to follow continuity of a story.
• No magic, lasers or anything not currently present in our reality.
  
• Can be found in science fiction and fantasy but is usually coined "Light Sci-Fi/Fantasy" and has little to no magic lasers etc and is "pushing" the line of truth.
  
• A stories general all around existence, if grounded in our reality.
• Requires similar minded individuals to keep truth at a constant.
  

Truth is something of a term I have "invented" for what I mean as I am unsure an actual word or phrase for what starts to happen. If a story is already on the border of the surreal then the truth is already slowly being lost and this was the point of the piece to begin with but a majority of writing, especially that of the collaborative nature, does not.

So far things sound well and good, right? Not exactly. Truth is needed to keep a reader in the story based on the reality of the world as he or she views it. This can be difficult as not everyone always sees, hears or tastes the same thing upon a similar situation. Some of us are even lacking the ability to use on of our senses so there becomes a true problem quickly.

Truth Problems

• Predictability of plot
• Lacking deep or well thought out plot
• Story is safe and appeals to a more general type of audience rather then a niche.
• A story with constant truth has no conflict or drive within it.
• Boredom for reader.
• Over use of truth leads to a lack as the reality becomes to Utopian and perfect.
  

While the truth of a story should be kept in mind and generally brought point it is good to drop the truth in favor of something more fun or interesting. This comes in matters where in stories something almost random happens and, at times, it can leave the reader a little out of the story. Abrupt change from truth to not causes an immediate removal of oneself from the world presented to you. This means that there must be balance.

So we must find truth in the stories we write while allowing it to also falter to the side without dropping it completely. This balancing act is, in itself, amusing to those who truly write a story with intent to amuse the rest of us.

*See Derailing Fiction for details.

Derailing Fiction

The act of actively derailing a fictional story is sometimes frowned upon by others as poor etiquette but it is something that sometimes needs to be done. At times the piece of fiction may need a kick in one way or another to get the others participating more involved. The problem is it may cause people to not wish to participate anymore after something "overly random" or "adversely destructive" has happened.

Most only have a problem with such derails when it is drastic. One of my two recent examples have been the killing of characters and changing of a setting. The easiest thing to do is change the setting as actually killing off a character usually kill the active project more then anything else.

Snippet From De Profundis Correspondence Game

Urgent Message to Sam Montgomery;

Due to an error that was made in the regards as to whom did or did not have any ties to the crystal formations your mother, Carla Montgomery, has been a tormentingly killed. She claimed no knowledge of crystals of any sort even after a letter you sent was found on her property. You, and the rest of the Botanical Dome Personnel are hence forth being noted as traitors. There is also news that Wallace has helped in assisting with the escape of Lily, both are to be put to death.

This letter has been sent because you are a minor and as of now have no living family, do not think your treatment is less because you did no wrong. We hope to be able to re-educate you with a more proper form of thinking.

You shall be picked up and taken to a facility for your safety, arguments will be met with force.

Secretary of Space Defense.
_______

While the post itself did not actually claim any other character dead as there was no visual scene of the death, others may find it poor form. It was done anyway for purpose of this post and to show the frailties in the current rule set of the game.

However, killing of your own characters for any reason is never poor form but it still may upset others. While changing the genre and setting of a collaborative writing project it is not always best to destroy your own character while doing so as it is then to simple for others to fully remove the character from the story. That is, of course, if the character was intergrated to begin with.

That is unless there is another character created in its stead that has forced itself into interaction with many of the characters as quickly as possible. This is usually done by something large rather then taking each character and addressing them individually. Crashes, explosions and other such devices work well but like all things, if the person or people you are trying to derail are better and/or more creative writers then yourself you will be the one who gets out matched.

Snippet From Milgram High <3

It didn't take long for Commander James Q. Waller to find the safety switch that would prevent the self destruction of his ship. In a panic he smashed it into the dash thinking it was a button. Commander James Q. Waller screamed out his toothless mouth letting his neon green, glow in the dark hair burst about the low gravity chamber he was sitting in.

The galaxy outside spun itself around the tiny capsule that held the odd looking captain but he was not phased. Pressing for time as the pod leaked oxygen into the empty space about he looked for the nearest planet that resembled his own, luck would have it that Earth was not far away.

Lucky was on Captain Waller's side as he broke the atmosphere with limited heat destruction and hull breaches. The ship would never fly again, even with brand new parts but the captain was going to be alive. His ship decended quickly and smashed into the Migram High, the lunch and science areas to be specific.

It was unfortunate for Robby that the ship incoming would smash him in the face and destroy half the school in its wake. Especially as one of the science club members found a cure for Robby's infliction. Worse still that the chemical discharge from the liquid was highly explosive, if not temporarily dormant. Captain Waller had no knowledge of any of this as he opened the pod door and sent it smashing into a lunch table.

"I am Captain James Q. Waller and I come... in peace," He said loudly through the cloud of white fume came from the pod, it was sterile atmosphere but only to the captain. One unlucky student passing by and choked to death on the cloud. It seemed, Commander & Captain James Q. Waller may not be coming in as peacefully as he thinks
__________

Tricks for derailing a thread are difficult to give or follow as it is dependent on each individual writer and the ones he or she is interacting with. Some fellows will try and resurrect the mess that was caused but most, if not done lightly, will chose to not want to participate with any further projects while you are present. Derail fictional works at your own risk. This will bring bad bread if done incorrectly or with strictly malice intent.

Reusing Characters (Shard's Shard)

A common abnormality among writers is the reuse of characters, be they main or minor. Each writer has their own personal reasons for doing so, some better then others, as well as their own ways of doing it. A good reason for doing this is continuity. Having a character you, the writer, know and keeping the stories consistent with in each other allows others to see the differences between the locations and situations the character is in. If the reader knows a character well enough they then expect certain aspects to come to fruition. This is with the assumption that all character repeats are clones independent of their reality. A case that should be avoided while using characters more then once as this brings about stagnation.

A Personal recommendation for writers who DO NOT stagnate is one by the pen name Shard. This writer uses a character with the same name she signs her literary works with, that name being Shard. A character that is only bound by the writer herself.

According to Shard (The Writer) her character has two main reasons for existence. One is to teach, be it herself or others, by means of actions she (the writer) could not normally do. The other is to entertain also by means she (the writer) could not normally do. The former is the most difficult of the two as it requires readers to be open to possibilities, the latter requires only a limited imagination as Shard paints a wonderful picture.

The Winged is the first time I had the pleasure of reading about Shard's Shard...

Exert From "The Winged" by Shard

Shard opened her eyes as the light flicked on in her room. She sat on her bed, staring with unfocused vision at what was to her a blurry outline of a man. She whimpered as he walked towards her, the blurry image coming clear as that of a tall man. His hair fell lightly on the shoulders of his gold inleid robes.

The Man kept his hands in his pockets as he nudged the door shut with his foot. He stepped over and sat down on the bed next to her. "How are you feeling this morning?"

Shard pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, folding her leathery black wings against her back "I..." She wasn't quite sure how to answer him.

The man reached out and put a hand on her cheek "It's alright, you can say what you want" The blond jerked her head away from him and watched as he glared at her.

To those who knew her only by reputation, Shard was a ruthless killer, she was the evil kings right hand man. Sent in the kings stead to missions and battles that were too great for even the highest ranking general, but too petty for the king to do himself. She would, on occasion, join the king when he went to address the public, though she never seemed to speak at these meetings.

... but soon I found the character to be more diverse then duck tape. The basics behind Shard's Shard become apparent very quickly to any who sees the character appear, but these things are only on the surface.

Exert From "The Chase" also by Shard

A blood red cloth fell over deep blue eyes, sliding down to cover a slender mouth. The blonde girl observed her appearance in the mirror, testing out the bandit look. Apparently her skinny tie look was getting old, so she had begun exploring her other options.

"Hmm, I think I Like this one." She said, turning to the tailor of the headquarters, still wearing the red cloth over her nose and mouth. The tailor nodded, and took down her name before handing her a set of similar red pieces of cloth.

"Thank you and have a nice day Commander Shard."

She was grinning slightly at her new look, though no one could tell, which made her smile even more. Shard exited the tailors shop and began to head towards her suite. Another hue of red crossed her otherwise all black attire... A Small Red dot became visible on her shirt, just over where her heart was.

The key with using characters over, and over again is versatility. Without this, you become repedative and/or stale. Shard solves this "problem" simply by changing the character's surroundings and environment.

Exert from "Hazard" once again, by Shard.

Shard had never seen any part of the Prison... The original verdict had her in for 12 consecutive life sentences (Life sentence; 35 years) But it was later decided that she would serve only seven of those sentences in exchange for her helping the King with his wars... For two week periods at a time she would be sent to help kill the oposing forces, and the rest of her time she spent in the prison. No, it wasn't because she'd never been to the prison that she'd never seen it, infact it could be argued she knew the prison better then most of the guards. Shard was a fire demon, and her eyes were her catalyst... If it wasn't for her agreement with the court, she would have been blinded upon entereing Hazard, instead she was fitted with a magically secured blindfold, the means of its safe removel were still unknown to her. When she went to fight, the blindfold was removed, but while in the prison, or on her way too and from it, she was kept blind.

How would any of us tolerate such an event as being drugged and thrown into a pit of criminals, magic eyes with or without? That is the challenge Shard (the writer) brings with her character. Bringing us into a situation we may not have ever even thought with one simple blond haired female. For the full effect of Shard's Shard, suggest reading "The Princess".

Character replication and repetition must be handled with a light glove, a glove that Shard (the writer) fits into very well.

Roleplaying (PbP)

There are many forms of roleplaying and one of those is known as PbP. Another acronym is being thrown at you here but I will, once again, fully explain. A PbP is simply a shortening of the three words Play, By, and Post. PbPs are commonly done via forums, visa vie threads and posting. Currently I am an active member of a PbP site known as The Roleplaers Guild. For short the comunity calls it RPGuild or just RPG.

Roleplaying in this manner has brought forth many questions with myself and within the community. One of the big ones is a difficult matter for me. Are you just playing a game or are we all writing a story together? In my opinion I see Roleplaying in general as only escapism, regardless of how it is done. A point in time where you may be that epic villein, grand wizard or in my case, the noble thief. This is, of course, a restriction on what PbP truly is as there is more then your typical fantasy.

Current Trends On Site Include: Vampires, Werewolves, High School Stories, Mild Fantasy (Moderately grounded in reality) & Heavy Sci-Fi (Barely grounded in reality). Observation made in personal assessment.

There are also many exceptions to the trends. A great example of this trend breaking is my own RP. It may be bad form to post a post about a post but I have decided to do that very thing anyway.

SNIPPET

Not far down the road from David was a semi-driver named Bob. He was working his second double shift, in less days, and didn't seem to be paying much attention to his surrounding. That was until he saw Evan and the several large monsters that were following. Slamming the brakes to his semi, Bob closed his eyes and prayed to every god he could think off as he heard a very loud SPLAT, "Jesus Buddha Crista please don't say I killed that kid."

Bob opened his eyes to see his windshield covered in red and green slim, "What da hell," Bob questioned as he opened up the cab door, unbuckled his belt and jumped from the high cabin. It took him only a couple of seconds to see what was on the front glass of his large truck but nothing more was seen as he was pounced on and taken away, "DA FUUU-?"

This snippet is from the current game I am GM/DMing (Game Master and/or Dungeon Master), aptly named When Flea F*****s Attack. Click the link to read more of this oddball collaborative writing or join the site and participate in it. Snippet edited slightly as there were/are errors in the original.

Cantr II (A Society)

An open world of vast possibilities waits those who have the stomach to tolerate such grandeur as the ability to influence a culture with the wave of a hand or a single word. Society as you know it, evolving and evolved in manners few could expect.

Picture a man spawning on his twentieth year with no memory of those before it, this is how each of the beings in Cantr II have started. Many took this lack of memory as an excuse to harm, kill and even maim their fellows, sometimes only out of fear. Others took arms against these and created the guards of towns. Thieves try to prosper but pick the wrong town and are met with being locked up or even killed. A guard chases a man out into the woods only to be ambushed by many more and have the favor returned. Holy men and women preaching of their gods, goddesses and other beings of power. Some are ignored, some gain followers and others may be met with harsh punishment.

Simple Farmers try and protect potatoes from pirates as both need the starch in order to survive. Neither side giving any head way but the simple farmers seem out classed. Perhaps they run for a neighboring town, perhaps they lock themselves inside and pray to any higher powers they may believe. Crowbars in hand the pirates try stealing from the simple farmers but help comes from a local queen. She has her army lay waste to many of the pirates but one some how escapes with his life in tact.

Queens and kings rules lands, as well as councilors, presidents and priests. Some leaders are more peaceful and well mannered then their people and others are cruel and ruthless in their actions. No one town the same as another as each character brings new life to a different location. Life is good, in some areas, food is plentiful and each town member is well cared for. Other places are harsh and only the rough usually last long. Those that do survive long in the hot and violent deserts or cold and barren mountains are praised for their strength or mocked for their stupidity.

The world of Cantr II lives and YOU, the player, bring it to life with each character you spawn. Each character a small extension of yourself, your personality or perhaps just a little quirky thing you found to amuse. Village idiot, master thief, simple farm hand, quirky lover boy; All these and many more will be found, only a mater of time before you see the Cantr world evolve, if only a little.

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