As we get closer to the opening of DG4, planning becomes more detailed, ideas start to gel as well as spawn new ideas, and guidelines and schedules start to become real things. We are about to launch the maiden voyage of a new twist on an old concept, that of role-playing and storytelling in the forthcoming Demogame. It occurred to me after reading Octavian Xs post (Octavians been around a while and has witnessed two RGP launches), that some of you may not quite understand what were attempting to do here. So Ive decided to recap the Creative History Departments (CHD) concept with a bit more detail to try and bring everyone onto the same page.
One thing that has been lacking in recent Demogames is an historical timeline that tracks the nations origin and path through time. A couple of attempts have been made at opening and running a History Dept., but they usually fold after a couple of weeks from inactivity. Another problem that surfaced in the last Demogame was our inability to duplicate the success of our first RPG in Demogame 2. Actually, Im not sure if thats possible, as DG2 had a truly great RPG experience. But the RPG attempt in DG3 lacked the support and maintenance that was needed to keep it afloat as well as the original in DG2.
The CHD is an attempt to bring these two needed entities together. The original idea was to run a storyline that reflected the Demogames progress through time and allow the DG community to contribute to the storyline with their own characters and subplots. That is still the plan.
The CHD will open a Storyline Thread (ST) a couple of days before Christmas. The ST will remain closed to the public (you) until New Years Eve Day. During this week, FortyJ and I will be posting to the ST with a kind of pre-game history that will hopefully set the stage for Creation Day and the beginning of our Civilization. More on New Years Eve Day later.
The thread you are in right now is CHDs Office Thread (OT). This is where youll find the rules and guidelines for the Storyline Thread (ST). Other information will also be posted in the OT, to include the waiting list for Map Generated Entities (MGE). By map generated, I mean Goodie Huts (GH) and Barbarian Camps (BC) that pop up in the game and are beyond our control. These MGEs will be seen by the CHD as an opportunity to introduce new Culture and pre-histories into the Storyline. Any DG citizen may sign up for the MGE waiting list and receive authorization to begin their brief subplot within the ST. Their subplot should include the origin of the people there (their pre-history) and their current story up until their GH is popped by one of our units, or the BC is dispersed by our troops. Once either of these things happens, the independent nature of their storyline will cease, as they meld into our Culture. As a side note here, I would like to see the origins of these GHs and BCs extended out to any towns that spring up in that area, but this is just a wish. Once the entity melds into our Culture, the characters in the MGE subplots may continue their story as new citizens of our nation. Of course, if they are Barbarians they may have died in the attack, but who knows. Any extension from the outside world into the main ST is welcome. When your name tops the MGE waiting list and the entity you have requested shows on the map, you are entitled to begin your subplot in the ST. You will be assigned an icon to post at the top of your post to identify it for what it is. We are currently working on these icons now, but one might say GH1 or BC3. This is just to help the rest of us recognize this as your brief storyline for the entity, as you may already have a character in the main ST. So the icons are basically there to reduce confusion. PLEASE post you icon atop each addition to your subplot.
