This is a copy of a post I just wrote up on TheMill. Though I never became a "friend of plaid," I still wanted to post here to say hi to some of the names I remember (and in a few cases, clanmates): Carch, Cinnibar, Deacon, Orca, Neurotic, Scrugg, Case, Spry, Alienate, 'Zilla, Conner, Kodiak, Muffinhead, Panamon, Wintermute ('mute), Sir Real (!),
When I started playing Myth, the "big gripe" was how all of the newbies were ruining the beta-community's happy home. How many years ago? Lots, I guess.
Many, many hours were spent screaming and laughing with my clan(s). My wife (my real-life wife) has her ancient email account still: mythwidow@...com. That was the nature of my involvement.
Our heroes then are probably forgotten now. Case, and the Total Codex, was the defacto alpha-fan and later became a champion Admin.
And later came the rift between the ranked and unranked fans. That debate was as pointless as "Nike vs. Addidas" but probably had more lasting power than any other sore spot.
When Myth2 came out, the community really didn't seem to handle it too well. Sure, it grew and new heroes were appointed (Santa's Head, Cinnibar, Deac, ), things were changing. News that Microsoft bought Bungie emerged.
That's about when I "really" quit playing. I went on to write Myth-themed articles for Dragon, TopDeck and The Duelist magazines (print) on matters like strategy and the beasts you might use in your D&D games. Regardless, my involvement with the B.net community was not really firm at this point. My clan had splintered into others and friendships faded.
Today, I finally set up my DSL in my new house. Tired with shooters, I thought it would be nice to bang around in B.net for the evening and see what was up.
I am too late.
So, although it was probably inevitable that B.net shut down, it seems strangely premature. I might buy Myth3 only to try to patch this sense of loss I'm feeling.
Hey, to all of you who are still here, my hat's off to you. Your dedication and passion for this game is enviable and respected.
I've been around since shortly after the TFL beta aswell (though I am not sure if we have met), and I thought I would just say that the void you speak of may be filled with Conner and Marius' creation: marius.net
Perhaps you've heard of it; it is a server for both TFL and SB, and is as good as bnet in every way (as far as I'm concerned).
Follow the link to find out how to install it. Hope to see you there!
Heh, I remember wayyyyyyyy back when I used to have a Dragon subscription. Really enjoyed most of those. Your Myth-related articles wouldn't happen to be represented in the "online back-issue excerpts" would they?
If you played D&D recently you would probably know that a new edition of the game was released a few years back. I was the art director for Dragon for about a year when they wanted a new look to go with the "new" game. I still work at the company that makes D&D, Wizards of the Coast (TSR), but I'm on other fun stuff now instead of magazines (which are a pain in the ass).
I can't remember which issue of Dragon the Myth Bestiary is in. Should be right around issue 263 to 273. The next issue, 274, was my first issue...289 was my last.
Speaking of the back issue CD-ROM, what a debacle! Those were produced before my time, but the story goes like this... Those CDs contain every issue of Dragon up to 200, including art. Marketing came to the periodicals department and asked if they foresaw any legal problems (intellectual property, copyrights, etc.) with the project. Periodicals responded, "Yes. It's illegal and unethical. Do not publish that CD." Well, they did anyway.
Authors, especially the fiction writers, were compensated for the "reprint" rights which was mostly just a token amount as a sort of charity. When the illustrators caught wind that the writers had been paid for the reprint they were understandably upset. There was a big strike and many illustrators refused to work for WotC/TSR for a while after that. It was a big problem, especially for someone like me who commissions a LOT of art and has to negotiate terms with the artists.
Well, maybe that wasn't so interesting. Next time you see that Dragon archive on your rack, think "huge scandal."
Yeah, I remember your name. I think that what you're doing with Marius deserves a standing ovation. Okay, now I'm standing and ovating (at the same time).
Once I identify my login problems I hope to toss a couple pus packs your way.
Pete / Petis
I've been around since shortly after the TFL beta aswell (though
I am not sure if we have met), and I thought I would just say
that the void you speak of may be filled with Conner and Marius'
creation: marius.net
Perhaps you've heard of it; it is a server for both TFL and SB,
and is as good as bnet in every way (as far as I'm concerned).
Follow the link to find out how to install it. Hope to see you
there!
I can't remember which issue of Dragon the Myth Bestiary is in.
Should be right around issue 263 to 273. The next issue, 274,
was my first issue...289 was my last.
Ah, thanks. Looks like it's issue 261. (That particular column didn't end up with much of an online excerpt though, just a blurb about it.)
Oh man, been a fan of Dragon for most of my adult life *8). Great work!
Being a peripheral D&D Player, usually just hanging around drawing other people's characters and eating college town pizza, I would always thumb through the mag and read the stories, check out the amazing art. These days there is an aspect of roll playing that is missing in computer games... Role Playing. You have some of it in the various MMORPGs, but you rarely have the control over your environment to get really really creative. Beasty runs in the woods, burn down the forest. Cut down the trees and make a boat if you need to get down river without a trail. I think that this inherant lack of absolute creativity is such a loss. I love slipping into a world I created, and with rare exceptions (the WWII thing maybe?) it is nearly impossible these days.
I suppose that is why I made those maps, and I suppose that's why I just bought a 60 gal. aquarium (game environments are just aquariums for people). But it seems like with all the technology out there, this aspect of Make Your Own Adventure would finally be realized. Instead these companies spend millions of dollars to create books you click through. *shrug* Perhaps it is a comment on the state of our culture and not just the industry.
Sorry bout the rant, *grin*, just getting old here and mumbling things about how good it was in the old days *8) (uphill, both ways)
Be well mate and nice work,
-Santa
Hiya Johnny,
If you played D&D recently you would probably know that a new
edition of the game was released a few years back. I was the art
director for Dragon for about a year when they wanted a new look
to go with the "new" game. I still work at the company
that makes D&D, Wizards of the Coast (TSR), but I'm on other fun
stuff now instead of magazines (which are a pain in the ass).
I can't remember which issue of Dragon the Myth Bestiary is in.
Should be right around issue 263 to 273. The next issue, 274,
was my first issue...289 was my last.
Speaking of the back issue CD-ROM, what a debacle! Those were
produced before my time, but the story goes like this... Those
CDs contain every issue of Dragon up to 200, including art.
Marketing came to the periodicals department and asked if they
foresaw any legal problems (intellectual property, copyrights,
etc.) with the project. Periodicals responded, "Yes. It's
illegal and unethical. Do not publish that CD." Well, they
did anyway.
Authors, especially the fiction writers, were compensated for
the "reprint" rights which was mostly just a token
amount as a sort of charity. When the illustrators caught wind
that the writers had been paid for the reprint they were
understandably upset. There was a big strike and many
illustrators refused to work for WotC/TSR for a while after
that. It was a big problem, especially for someone like me who
commissions a LOT of art and has to negotiate terms with the
artists.
Well, maybe that wasn't so interesting. Next time you see that
Dragon archive on your rack, think "huge scandal."
Thanks for the compliment. It was a pleasure to work with Brom, Lockwood, Zug...and all the rest. I still do, in fact, on various side projects.
Being a D&D hack for years, I'm sure you didn't miss all of the great early D&D references in Myth. I especially liked the Creep on the Borderlands. (An adventure called Keep on the Borderlands was one of the earliest dungeon crawls available and came with the starter boxed set from the late 1970s, for those who missed the reference.)
I agree with your rant's position. Though I also feel that computers are the way things are going to go and when a developer can make a game that allows the sort of invention you require in your tabletop games, I'm positive that people will buy it in droves. I have faith in that and I'm patient. In the meantime, other games are getting close. Although they don't necessitate role-playing, games like EverQuest or Dark Age of Camelot have really done a great thing in getting people together.
It is admirable that people still CHOOSE to roleplay in these games when there's nothing to encourage it. It is evidence that the tradition is still within us, as gamers, and it no longer carries the stigma that it had...well, maybe a little. But not as bad! So, that's good.
The BIGGEST challenge with role-playing, in my opinion, is more sensitive than whether the computers can handle it (or the developers can develop it). It has to do with why people play RPGs.
Acting like an elf takes a lot of chutzpah. It's best to do it around friends who won't "out" you as an elf when you're out having a beer with some cute girls. And you CERTAINLY don't want to spend a lot of time on a character, and in a campaign, alongside some guy who wants to "FUXUP SUM GOBLINZ!" or whatever. It's a private game played among friends with respect.
You just can't have "pick-up" RPGs like you can basketball, or Myth. You need that cameraderie to really kick it into gear. So, if computers can truly facilitate communities (and I think they can), then there's hope.
Perhaps games like NeverWinter Nights may offer some of that. WebRPG had some tools that had potential. Here are my two experiences with online-RPGing at WebRPG:
1. I decided to "spot" DM. Nobody knew my affiliation with TSR, it was just a "pick-up" game. I had recently run an adventure that starts when the party arrives in town to shuttle the tithe back to the local lord. To set the scene, I had a bunch of kooky stuff going on. One guy is carrying a yoke with tens of dead chickens dangling from it, there are tens of bodies hung by the neck of the sheriff's cabin, and so on. Everyone has gone nuts (due to poison in the well water). One of the "flavor" individuals was a naked guy who runs around in the woods.
As soon as I mention the naked dude, two of the players just left. No explanation. One of the remaining two PCs started asking me if I was gay and all that. The last guy was silent through the whole thing (and never once said anything, even as I declared that I was leaving).
So, it sucked. I told myself that I would never do that again.
2. But I did do it again, but I tried a different method. This time I was going to play, AND I was going to do a PBEM so I didn't run into kids who didn't have the patience to play the way I prefer. So I sent off my "application" to the most promising looking game posted. I was required to submit a writing sample that finished a story that the DM had written. Frankly, it was a bit silly...woman in distress, what do you do? So, I kind of mixed it up a bit and had some fun, and in the end I felt I'd written a pretty interesting scenario. Plus, I can spell more or less, and I type fast, and I write a LOT when I write (as you can probably tell).
So, this DM writes back and tells me that my "writing skills aren't good" enough to be in his campaign. Not only were my feelings kind of hurt (because I was looking forward to playing and it was becoming a little bit important to me), but I was pissed off that he writes back this little two sentence email after my story that I had drafts of! I'm still pissed!
That was enough for me. I'm waiting for the proper tools and the proper people. As the internet currently stands, it's simply too anonymous. That jackass wouldn't have told me that to my face.
And that's my rant. Wahoo!
Cheers,
Pete / Petis
Oh man, been a fan of Dragon for most of my adult life *8).
Great work!
Being a peripheral D&D Player, usually just hanging around
drawing other people's characters and eating college town pizza,
I would always thumb through the mag and read the stories, check
out the amazing art. These days there is an aspect of roll
playing that is missing in computer games... Role Playing. You
have some of it in the various MMORPGs, but you rarely have the
control over your environment to get really really creative.
Beasty runs in the woods, burn down the forest. Cut down the
trees and make a boat if you need to get down river without a
trail. I think that this inherant lack of absolute creativity is
such a loss. I love slipping into a world I created, and with
rare exceptions (the WWII thing maybe?) it is nearly impossible
these days.
I suppose that is why I made those maps, and I suppose that's
why I just bought a 60 gal. aquarium (game environments are just
aquariums for people). But it seems like with all the technology
out there, this aspect of Make Your Own Adventure would finally
be realized. Instead these companies spend millions of dollars
to create books you click through. *shrug* Perhaps it is a
comment on the state of our culture and not just the industry.
Sorry bout the rant, *grin*, just getting old here and mumbling
things about how good it was in the old days *8) (uphill, both
ways)
Being a D&D hack for years, I'm sure you didn't miss all of the
great early D&D references in Myth. I especially liked the Creep
on the Borderlands. (An adventure called Keep on the Borderlands
was one of the earliest dungeon crawls available and came with
the starter boxed set from the late 1970s, for those who missed
the reference.)
OhMiGawd! I ... almost ... remember ... that!
Gad, I'm so old, nostalgia is all that I have left.
Thanks for the compliment. It was a pleasure to work with Brom,
Lockwood, Zug...and all the rest. I still do, in fact, on
various side projects.
Being a D&D hack for years, I'm sure you didn't miss all of the
great early D&D references in Myth. I especially liked the Creep
on the Borderlands. (An adventure called Keep on the Borderlands
was one of the earliest dungeon crawls available and came with
the starter boxed set from the late 1970s, for those who missed
the reference.)
I still have the maps, and quest for that campaign at the house...it was the first D&D stuff that I did...Drew out the keep on graph paper, the main guild hall, everything...just couldn't find anyone that wanted to play...bummer...don't have the box anymore...but I do have everything else...man that was a long time ago...
I agree with your rant's position. Though I also feel that
computers are the way things are going to go and when a
developer can make a game that allows the sort of invention you
require in your tabletop games, I'm positive that people will
buy it in droves. I have faith in that and I'm patient. In the
meantime, other games are getting close. Although they don't
necessitate role-playing, games like EverQuest or Dark Age of
Camelot have really done a great thing in getting people
together.
It is admirable that people still CHOOSE to roleplay in these
games when there's nothing to encourage it. It is evidence that
the tradition is still within us, as gamers, and it no longer
carries the stigma that it had...well, maybe a little. But not
as bad! So, that's good.
Some are not games though...when I was stationed in Korea back from 95-96...I could get online (telnet actually, we couldn't get the real Net there...hell, the fastest we could download anything was 9600 baud...but anyway, I got interested in the PERN mush...that was my first experience with it...Had a good time...but it still wasn't a game though...was like D&D campaining without the battles...but it was a good time though.
The BIGGEST challenge with role-playing, in my opinion, is more
sensitive than whether the computers can handle it (or the
developers can develop it). It has to do with why people play
RPGs.
Acting like an elf takes a lot of chutzpah. It's best to do it
around friends who won't "out" you as an elf when
you're out having a beer with some cute girls. And you CERTAINLY
don't want to spend a lot of time on a character, and in a
campaign, alongside some guy who wants to "FUXUP SUM
GOBLINZ!" or whatever. It's a private game played among
friends with respect.
You just can't have "pick-up" RPGs like you can
basketball, or Myth. You need that cameraderie to really kick it
into gear. So, if computers can truly facilitate communities
(and I think they can), then there's hope.
True...I think that Diablo and D2 tried...but you still have the Player-Killer factor...it is no fun to go campaigning with someone when all the want to really do is kill your character and take an "ear" for a trophy...I never played Diablo on-line with strangers for that very fact...Diablo 2 was different in that they tried to stop the PK's...but from what I have heard, the PK's have found a work-around to the PK block that the makers of Diablo 2 designed to prevent it...I guess some people can stand it if they feel that they are not "The Best" and have to find a way to be the best, even if it means cheating...
Perhaps games like NeverWinter Nights may offer some of that.
WebRPG had some tools that had potential. Here are my two
experiences with online-RPGing at WebRPG:
1. I decided to "spot" DM. Nobody knew my affiliation
with TSR, it was just a "pick-up" game. I had recently
run an adventure that starts when the party arrives in town to
shuttle the tithe back to the local lord. To set the scene, I
had a bunch of kooky stuff going on. One guy is carrying a yoke
with tens of dead chickens dangling from it, there are tens of
bodies hung by the neck of the sheriff's cabin, and so on.
Everyone has gone nuts (due to poison in the well water). One of
the "flavor" individuals was a naked guy who runs
around in the woods.
As soon as I mention the naked dude, two of the players just
left. No explanation. One of the remaining two PCs started
asking me if I was gay and all that. The last guy was silent
through the whole thing (and never once said anything, even as I
declared that I was leaving).
So, it sucked. I told myself that I would never do that again.
That blows...but that also shows the maturity level of those on the Net...Everyone preaches how the internet is about freedom of speech or freedom of information...but let someone present an idea or comment that they feel does not fit into their preconceived notions, and they run like Satan is on their butts...
2. But I did do it again, but I tried a different method. This
time I was going to play, AND I was going to do a PBEM so I
didn't run into kids who didn't have the patience to play the
way I prefer. So I sent off my "application" to the
most promising looking game posted. I was required to submit a
writing sample that finished a story that the DM had written.
Frankly, it was a bit silly...woman in distress, what do you do?
So, I kind of mixed it up a bit and had some fun, and in the end
I felt I'd written a pretty interesting scenario. Plus, I can
spell more or less, and I type fast, and I write a LOT when I
write (as you can probably tell).
So, this DM writes back and tells me that my "writing
skills aren't good" enough to be in his campaign. Not only
were my feelings kind of hurt (because I was looking forward to
playing and it was becoming a little bit important to me), but I
was pissed off that he writes back this little two sentence
email after my story that I had drafts of! I'm still pissed!
Now that is funny as hell...Here is an individual that has written for Dragon Magazine and he gets a post saying that his skills are below par....Reminds me of the movie with Rodney Dangerfield when he went back to college and had a paper written "BY" Kurt Vonnegut(sorry if it is spelled wrong) about a book that "HE" wrote and the teacher
says it is poorly written and misses the whole point of the book and that the paper basically sucks...That friggin Blows!
That was enough for me. I'm waiting for the proper tools and the
proper people. As the internet currently stands, it's simply too
anonymous. That jackass wouldn't have told me that to my face.
And that's my rant. Wahoo!
Here! Here!! I agree with you...a lot of crap goes on on the Net because of the Anonymity of it...On the net you can be anything or anyone you want to be...Unfortunately, that gives the immature and psychotic the world's largest Crank Call system...
Comments
When I started playing Myth, the "big gripe" was how all of the newbies were ruining the beta-community's happy home. How many years ago? Lots, I guess.
Many, many hours were spent screaming and laughing with my clan(s). My wife (my real-life wife) has her ancient email account still: mythwidow@...com. That was the nature of my involvement.
Our heroes then are probably forgotten now. Case, and the Total Codex, was the defacto alpha-fan and later became a champion Admin.
And later came the rift between the ranked and unranked fans. That debate was as pointless as "Nike vs. Addidas" but probably had more lasting power than any other sore spot.
When Myth2 came out, the community really didn't seem to handle it too well. Sure, it grew and new heroes were appointed (Santa's Head, Cinnibar, Deac, ), things were changing. News that Microsoft bought Bungie emerged.
That's about when I "really" quit playing. I went on to write Myth-themed articles for Dragon, TopDeck and The Duelist magazines (print) on matters like strategy and the beasts you might use in your D&D games. Regardless, my involvement with the B.net community was not really firm at this point. My clan had splintered into others and friendships faded.
Today, I finally set up my DSL in my new house. Tired with shooters, I thought it would be nice to bang around in B.net for the evening and see what was up.
I am too late.
So, although it was probably inevitable that B.net shut down, it seems strangely premature. I might buy Myth3 only to try to patch this sense of loss I'm feeling.
Hey, to all of you who are still here, my hat's off to you. Your dedication and passion for this game is enviable and respected.
Cheers,
Petis
I've been around since shortly after the TFL beta aswell (though I am not sure if we have met), and I thought I would just say that the void you speak of may be filled with Conner and Marius' creation: marius.net
Perhaps you've heard of it; it is a server for both TFL and SB, and is as good as bnet in every way (as far as I'm concerned).
Follow the link to find out how to install it. Hope to see you there!
Mariusnet Installation Page
Heh, I remember wayyyyyyyy back when I used to have a Dragon subscription. Really enjoyed most of those. Your Myth-related articles wouldn't happen to be represented in the "online back-issue excerpts" would they?
Hiya Johnny,
If you played D&D recently you would probably know that a new edition of the game was released a few years back. I was the art director for Dragon for about a year when they wanted a new look to go with the "new" game. I still work at the company that makes D&D, Wizards of the Coast (TSR), but I'm on other fun stuff now instead of magazines (which are a pain in the ass).
I can't remember which issue of Dragon the Myth Bestiary is in. Should be right around issue 263 to 273. The next issue, 274, was my first issue...289 was my last.
Speaking of the back issue CD-ROM, what a debacle! Those were produced before my time, but the story goes like this... Those CDs contain every issue of Dragon up to 200, including art. Marketing came to the periodicals department and asked if they foresaw any legal problems (intellectual property, copyrights, etc.) with the project. Periodicals responded, "Yes. It's illegal and unethical. Do not publish that CD." Well, they did anyway.
Authors, especially the fiction writers, were compensated for the "reprint" rights which was mostly just a token amount as a sort of charity. When the illustrators caught wind that the writers had been paid for the reprint they were understandably upset. There was a big strike and many illustrators refused to work for WotC/TSR for a while after that. It was a big problem, especially for someone like me who commissions a LOT of art and has to negotiate terms with the artists.
Well, maybe that wasn't so interesting. Next time you see that Dragon archive on your rack, think "huge scandal."
Pete / Petis
Hi Conner,
Yeah, I remember your name. I think that what you're doing with Marius deserves a standing ovation. Okay, now I'm standing and ovating (at the same time).
Once I identify my login problems I hope to toss a couple pus packs your way.
Pete / Petis
Ah, thanks. Looks like it's issue 261. (That particular column didn't end up with much of an online excerpt though, just a blurb about it.)
Hey d00d,
We also have a Hotline server running at hotline.clanplaid.net, so drop by!
--Der Muffinkopf
I'm Coggs, and am in the clan "The Underdogs"(or 'uDogs'), a TFL clan that's been around since late '98.
Mariusnet Installation Page
Wow, hi Petis! You probably don't remember me (I played Myth under the name Cynder) but I sure remember you!
Glad to see you again, and hope all is well in your world!
-Cauldyth
Wow, heya Cynder, remember me? Those hours I spent delaying studying for my organic chem tests while on bnet payed off... I'm now a sociology major.
Whoot, heya Moon! Of course I remember you!
Hope all is well in your world! (Even though it must be a dark and dreary place now that the joy and exhileration of chemistry has been removed.)
-Cauldyth
Hello Petis. You might want to stop buy http://www.mythvillage.org/ for a Total Codex type fix.
See you on Marius.net.
p.s.: Twist someone's arm to get the D&D license back for crpg's!
[quote]
Hello Petis. You might want to stop buy
http://www.mythvillage.org/ for a Total Codex type fix.
See you on Marius.net.
p.s.: Twist someone's arm to get the D&D license back for
crpg's!
[/quote]
Hey! As long as Infogrames sticks with BioWare, they can keep the license as long as they like! :^)
woo!
Aye, is a sad, sad journey. On the plus side, my senior thesis is completely quanitative, not one of those wussy lit reviews.
MS
Oh man, been a fan of Dragon for most of my adult life *8). Great work!
Being a peripheral D&D Player, usually just hanging around drawing other people's characters and eating college town pizza, I would always thumb through the mag and read the stories, check out the amazing art. These days there is an aspect of roll playing that is missing in computer games... Role Playing. You have some of it in the various MMORPGs, but you rarely have the control over your environment to get really really creative. Beasty runs in the woods, burn down the forest. Cut down the trees and make a boat if you need to get down river without a trail. I think that this inherant lack of absolute creativity is such a loss. I love slipping into a world I created, and with rare exceptions (the WWII thing maybe?) it is nearly impossible these days.
I suppose that is why I made those maps, and I suppose that's why I just bought a 60 gal. aquarium (game environments are just aquariums for people). But it seems like with all the technology out there, this aspect of Make Your Own Adventure would finally be realized. Instead these companies spend millions of dollars to create books you click through. *shrug* Perhaps it is a comment on the state of our culture and not just the industry.
Sorry bout the rant, *grin*, just getting old here and mumbling things about how good it was in the old days *8) (uphill, both ways)
Be well mate and nice work,
-Santa
No matter how high a number you throw, when your finny friend goes belly up, no temple can bring it back.
Thanks for the compliment. It was a pleasure to work with Brom, Lockwood, Zug...and all the rest. I still do, in fact, on various side projects.
Being a D&D hack for years, I'm sure you didn't miss all of the great early D&D references in Myth. I especially liked the Creep on the Borderlands. (An adventure called Keep on the Borderlands was one of the earliest dungeon crawls available and came with the starter boxed set from the late 1970s, for those who missed the reference.)
I agree with your rant's position. Though I also feel that computers are the way things are going to go and when a developer can make a game that allows the sort of invention you require in your tabletop games, I'm positive that people will buy it in droves. I have faith in that and I'm patient. In the meantime, other games are getting close. Although they don't necessitate role-playing, games like EverQuest or Dark Age of Camelot have really done a great thing in getting people together.
It is admirable that people still CHOOSE to roleplay in these games when there's nothing to encourage it. It is evidence that the tradition is still within us, as gamers, and it no longer carries the stigma that it had...well, maybe a little. But not as bad! So, that's good.
The BIGGEST challenge with role-playing, in my opinion, is more sensitive than whether the computers can handle it (or the developers can develop it). It has to do with why people play RPGs.
Acting like an elf takes a lot of chutzpah. It's best to do it around friends who won't "out" you as an elf when you're out having a beer with some cute girls. And you CERTAINLY don't want to spend a lot of time on a character, and in a campaign, alongside some guy who wants to "FUXUP SUM GOBLINZ!" or whatever. It's a private game played among friends with respect.
You just can't have "pick-up" RPGs like you can basketball, or Myth. You need that cameraderie to really kick it into gear. So, if computers can truly facilitate communities (and I think they can), then there's hope.
Perhaps games like NeverWinter Nights may offer some of that. WebRPG had some tools that had potential. Here are my two experiences with online-RPGing at WebRPG:
1. I decided to "spot" DM. Nobody knew my affiliation with TSR, it was just a "pick-up" game. I had recently run an adventure that starts when the party arrives in town to shuttle the tithe back to the local lord. To set the scene, I had a bunch of kooky stuff going on. One guy is carrying a yoke with tens of dead chickens dangling from it, there are tens of bodies hung by the neck of the sheriff's cabin, and so on. Everyone has gone nuts (due to poison in the well water). One of the "flavor" individuals was a naked guy who runs around in the woods.
As soon as I mention the naked dude, two of the players just left. No explanation. One of the remaining two PCs started asking me if I was gay and all that. The last guy was silent through the whole thing (and never once said anything, even as I declared that I was leaving).
So, it sucked. I told myself that I would never do that again.
2. But I did do it again, but I tried a different method. This time I was going to play, AND I was going to do a PBEM so I didn't run into kids who didn't have the patience to play the way I prefer. So I sent off my "application" to the most promising looking game posted. I was required to submit a writing sample that finished a story that the DM had written. Frankly, it was a bit silly...woman in distress, what do you do? So, I kind of mixed it up a bit and had some fun, and in the end I felt I'd written a pretty interesting scenario. Plus, I can spell more or less, and I type fast, and I write a LOT when I write (as you can probably tell).
So, this DM writes back and tells me that my "writing skills aren't good" enough to be in his campaign. Not only were my feelings kind of hurt (because I was looking forward to playing and it was becoming a little bit important to me), but I was pissed off that he writes back this little two sentence email after my story that I had drafts of! I'm still pissed!
That was enough for me. I'm waiting for the proper tools and the proper people. As the internet currently stands, it's simply too anonymous. That jackass wouldn't have told me that to my face.
And that's my rant. Wahoo!
Cheers,
Pete / Petis
OhMiGawd! I ... almost ... remember ... that!
Gad, I'm so old, nostalgia is all that I have left.
Bert bin Laudin
I still have the maps, and quest for that campaign at the house...it was the first D&D stuff that I did...Drew out the keep on graph paper, the main guild hall, everything...just couldn't find anyone that wanted to play...bummer...don't have the box anymore...but I do have everything else...man that was a long time ago...
Some are not games though...when I was stationed in Korea back from 95-96...I could get online (telnet actually, we couldn't get the real Net there...hell, the fastest we could download anything was 9600 baud...but anyway, I got interested in the PERN mush...that was my first experience with it...Had a good time...but it still wasn't a game though...was like D&D campaining without the battles...but it was a good time though.
True...I think that Diablo and D2 tried...but you still have the Player-Killer factor...it is no fun to go campaigning with someone when all the want to really do is kill your character and take an "ear" for a trophy...I never played Diablo on-line with strangers for that very fact...Diablo 2 was different in that they tried to stop the PK's...but from what I have heard, the PK's have found a work-around to the PK block that the makers of Diablo 2 designed to prevent it...I guess some people can stand it if they feel that they are not "The Best" and have to find a way to be the best, even if it means cheating...
That blows...but that also shows the maturity level of those on the Net...Everyone preaches how the internet is about freedom of speech or freedom of information...but let someone present an idea or comment that they feel does not fit into their preconceived notions, and they run like Satan is on their butts...
Now that is funny as hell...Here is an individual that has written for Dragon Magazine and he gets a post saying that his skills are below par....Reminds me of the movie with Rodney Dangerfield when he went back to college and had a paper written "BY" Kurt Vonnegut(sorry if it is spelled wrong) about a book that "HE" wrote and the teacher
says it is poorly written and misses the whole point of the book and that the paper basically sucks...That friggin Blows!
Here! Here!! I agree with you...a lot of crap goes on on the Net because of the Anonymity of it...On the net you can be anything or anyone you want to be...Unfortunately, that gives the immature and psychotic the world's largest Crank Call system...
McGyver
Didn't I see you on "nowherenow" HL server? Have you gone and installed mariusnet yet? ;-)
Man, it's been almost 10 years since I played D&D, mb I should pick it up again sometime, hard to find people though :-(
Nice seeing you again,
-Coggs
Mariusnet Installation Page