Messages

61

SM General Discussion / Re: Background posted

« on: August 12, 2011, 12:50:31 AM »

Woohoo!

Thanks, Tom!

(sits down and starts thinking hard)

62

SM General Discussion / Re: I'm interested, but...

« on: August 06, 2011, 01:34:50 AM »

...I've never played a "play by email" game before. Can someone give me a quick run-down of how it all works?

Excellent questions.  Thanks for asking them.  While I've never played SM, I have played numerous email or forum-based roleplaying games.  It's not as hard as one might think. :-)

Who do my emails go to?

Usually a mail list or forum.  It depends on how we set it up.  It could easily be done using a forum like this one.  Or it can be a basic listserv where everyone just replies to the list.  Regardless, the players all subscribe to the list/forum/whatever and post their roleplays and responses there.

How do I keep up-to-date with what everyone else is doing?

Everyone's posting to the same mail list or forum, so you just read what's been posted.  It's really not all that different than logging into BM and reading the messages you get there.  The biggest difference is there generally isn't a concept of "turns" where stuff automatically happens. Players post and/or reply whenever they log in.  Actually, it's not all that different from playing a priest or adventurer in BM - they're not really tied to the turn changes like regular nobles are - they just do whatever whenever.

Won't I be getting tonnes of emails if there are a lot of players?

Possibly, but it's not normally overwhelming.  Again, it depends on how it's set up.  Generally it's a good idea to use mail rules or filters (or whatever your mail system supports) to route all the game messages to a folder (or label if you use something like GMail).  Conversation threading helps a lot, too.  If you see a thread that doesn't involve you or anyone your character knows, you can just skip it.  Forums are similar - just subscribe to the threads/topics that are relevant.

Will I get completely out of the loop if I go on holiday for X days?

No more so than you are in BM or any other game.  Generally if I know I'm going to be offline or unable to participate for a while, I post a roleplay about my character retreating to his tower for deep contemplation and meditation or something.  Send him or her on a long journey or something.  Characters need vacations, too you know. ;-)

That does prompt the question: how are we going to do the communication?  E-mail?  Forum?

Personally, I'd like to see it happen here on a forum.  But I'm happy to defer to what the group decides.

63

SM General Discussion / Re: Relaunch ?

« on: August 05, 2011, 07:45:18 PM »

Count me in.  I'll happily help with whatever moderation/GM duties are needed.

64

Roleplaying / Re: SpellMaster Revival

« on: August 05, 2011, 12:50:59 AM »

Woot!  We have a forum. :-)  Thanks Tom!

Anthony (and/or anyone else who has it), would you please post whatever archival stuff you have for backstory/framing/ground rules for those of us who weren't part of the original SM?  Or are we tossing canon out the window and starting fron scratch?

65

Roleplaying / Re: SpellMaster Revival

« on: August 04, 2011, 09:38:22 PM »

It sounds like we have at least a core of interested people.  What's the next step?  And how can I help?

-Greg

66

Roleplaying / Re: SpellMaster Revival

« on: August 04, 2011, 02:29:34 AM »

I used to see all sorts of oblique references to SM events about Jago and Dethargos in Outer Tilog and wondered what sort of mischief they were up to. :-) 

67

BM General Discussion / Re: Worldbuilding - BattleMaster at its best

« on: August 03, 2011, 11:28:10 PM »

I think a major change in the game is that the playerbase has aged. The oldest are now 10 years older than when they started--even those like me from 2007, are 4 years older. We've married, had kids, graduated highschool and/or college, gotten a job, etc. So we don't have a lot of time to write or even read long narratives--but we still love battlemaster, and so we become buttonpushers.

While I wouldn't go quite that far - I'm more than just a button-pusher - I did definitely scale back my participation.  I simply didn't have time to give the game the attention it deserved.  I paused all but one of my characters so I could spend what little time I had all on one.  Besides, anyone who's played in Outer Tilog knows that it's an addictively-unique sort of place, even on BM terms. I couldn't possibly give that up. :-) 

So many of us have too little time to do the game and its characters justice.  I love the game, I love the community. I think my BM account is older than just about any account I have on any service anywhere (except maybe my original Gmail account).  The fact that it's held my interest for close to 8 years is stunning given how little time I have to play online any more.

This idea of a freeform RP based in the BM/SM universe has definitely sparked my interest.  Enough so that I might even find reasons to make more time to play.

-Greg

68

Roleplaying / Re: SpellMaster Revival

« on: August 03, 2011, 11:13:48 PM »

Sounds interesting.  Since I never actually played SM, I should probably read up a bit on the backstory. :-)

Regardless, I'm game.  I don't have a ton of time, but I can find time to post most days.

-Greg

69

BM General Discussion / Re: Worldbuilding - BattleMaster at its best

« on: August 03, 2011, 11:10:43 PM »

I've played several forum-based freeform games with nothing but a map and a group of like-minded players.  It works quite well with the right group of players.

Count me in. :-)

70

BM General Discussion / Re: Worldbuilding - BattleMaster at its best

« on: August 02, 2011, 03:45:56 AM »

As one of those early FEI denizens, I'd love to see something like that again.  It was intense, it was engaging, and it was utterly irresistible.  It's been too long since I woke up in the middle of the night and got out of bed to post something Zhao just had to say right now before I'd forgotten it.
 
I'm game for anything that might capture that magic again - a freeform forum+map, "rediscovery" of one of the islands, or fighting the daemons of BT or the Blighted Lands using the current game mechanics - all sound very appealing to me.  How can I help? :-)

-Greg