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Disclaimer: Some/all of this will seem contradictory. I expect that all of this will probably annoy/anger/piss off/not sit well with/etc. each and every person reading the entry. And that is totally O.K., because we all like different things, different methods of play, and everyone interprets how the game(s) should be run differently. Everything after this sentence is just my opinion, and I don't expect any of you to agree with it- mainly because I don't think there are many people out there who would actually like the kind of game i'm about to talk about.
Every couple of years, it happens. Usually as a result of barely related conversations that lead to talking about games, that lead to talking about game systems, that usually end up being 'and this is why x doesn't work with b and it would all work out so much better if it was g'... I end up thinking about tinkering with this kind of shit and making a game that I would love to play, if it weren't for the fact that I already am terribly busy with otherstuff, and i'd end up putting it together/helping to run it.
And no, there is no way in hell I have any time to devote to something like this. None whatsoever. It's as time consuming and job-like as running a big larp. Which is something I will never ever ever ever do again.*
But if I were to do something like this, or if I were asked for suggestions concerning something like this, this is what i'd do/say:
Take this and this. Put them together. It will work, as long as you toss out all this shit. I know that by tossing all that out, you make a lot of work for yourself (and others), but it will be worth it in the end, because let's face it- no one has ever had the ability to keep enough staff/pc/npc/et all to actually pull it off, and I doubt anyone ever will. You will be better off in the long run, so cut it out before it can do any damage. Make this 10% of your player base.
Make this 90% of the player base. Do not treat them like scenery. Give them the stats they deserve, because they are (and have always been) capable of so much more than anyone has given them credit for in any game to date. If you need a reference for how they need to be, use this as an example.
Make sure that the 'happy shiny', pink pony people need not apply. In fact, ask anyone if they know about the pink pony. If they say yes, and they like(d) the pink pony, tell them to stick with their own kind.
When you build it, automate as much of the process as possible, so as to streamline game mechanics. You will not be able to do this with everything- let's face it, it's not going to be like this. But you can get ideas from this kind of set up.
Do not have your plot points tethered to only 1-5 people. They will stall-out/ be stymied if you do. Be flexible with your story. Let things happen all the time. Let people make things happen. Your player base, if you let them (unknowingly) will actually do the bulk of the work for you, they are often very creative, and their machinations can become stories/parts of the overall story on their own. So let them.
Give your players breathing room in their backgrounds. Game mechanics say one thing, in that they limit how much a starting character can have built into it, but that does not mean that everything should rigidly 'follow the rules'. Sometimes a character should be able to know things man was not meant to know, and be 15. This is not the same as allowing everyone to twink their characters on creation. That would be crazy. But you can find a happy balance.
And finally, consent does not exist in the table-top version of these games. It should not exist in the online version, either. If you died, you died. If something horrible happened to your character, it happened. Fade to black is ok. Ignoring ICA=ICC is not.
If you do all of this, people like me will show up, chomping at the bit to play. It may never be a large player base- I have my own serious doubts as to how many people would actually want to play something like this. But I can guarantee you, they'd be quite happy.
And as a postscript to all this, if anyone does know of a place like this, please let me know, because I would love to play there.
*And I mean never.
Every couple of years, it happens. Usually as a result of barely related conversations that lead to talking about games, that lead to talking about game systems, that usually end up being 'and this is why x doesn't work with b and it would all work out so much better if it was g'... I end up thinking about tinkering with this kind of shit and making a game that I would love to play, if it weren't for the fact that I already am terribly busy with otherstuff, and i'd end up putting it together/helping to run it.
And no, there is no way in hell I have any time to devote to something like this. None whatsoever. It's as time consuming and job-like as running a big larp. Which is something I will never ever ever ever do again.*
But if I were to do something like this, or if I were asked for suggestions concerning something like this, this is what i'd do/say:
Take this and this. Put them together. It will work, as long as you toss out all this shit. I know that by tossing all that out, you make a lot of work for yourself (and others), but it will be worth it in the end, because let's face it- no one has ever had the ability to keep enough staff/pc/npc/et all to actually pull it off, and I doubt anyone ever will. You will be better off in the long run, so cut it out before it can do any damage. Make this 10% of your player base.
Make this 90% of the player base. Do not treat them like scenery. Give them the stats they deserve, because they are (and have always been) capable of so much more than anyone has given them credit for in any game to date. If you need a reference for how they need to be, use this as an example.
Make sure that the 'happy shiny', pink pony people need not apply. In fact, ask anyone if they know about the pink pony. If they say yes, and they like(d) the pink pony, tell them to stick with their own kind.
When you build it, automate as much of the process as possible, so as to streamline game mechanics. You will not be able to do this with everything- let's face it, it's not going to be like this. But you can get ideas from this kind of set up.
Do not have your plot points tethered to only 1-5 people. They will stall-out/ be stymied if you do. Be flexible with your story. Let things happen all the time. Let people make things happen. Your player base, if you let them (unknowingly) will actually do the bulk of the work for you, they are often very creative, and their machinations can become stories/parts of the overall story on their own. So let them.
Give your players breathing room in their backgrounds. Game mechanics say one thing, in that they limit how much a starting character can have built into it, but that does not mean that everything should rigidly 'follow the rules'. Sometimes a character should be able to know things man was not meant to know, and be 15. This is not the same as allowing everyone to twink their characters on creation. That would be crazy. But you can find a happy balance.
And finally, consent does not exist in the table-top version of these games. It should not exist in the online version, either. If you died, you died. If something horrible happened to your character, it happened. Fade to black is ok. Ignoring ICA=ICC is not.
If you do all of this, people like me will show up, chomping at the bit to play. It may never be a large player base- I have my own serious doubts as to how many people would actually want to play something like this. But I can guarantee you, they'd be quite happy.
And as a postscript to all this, if anyone does know of a place like this, please let me know, because I would love to play there.
*And I mean never.
