But I will not let _another_ day go by without putting out some incoherent D&D thoughts. So here they are:
I wanted to put something more coherent here, but I simply don't have the time, so let's assume it'll shape up on its own, wiki-like...
Actually, that's point one. Is the blog format the _best_ way to implement a web-based D&D game? I've looked a bit at wikis, openRPG, and the crazily interesting Deme (on groupspace.org), and you should too. Had I been able, I wanted to make a little sample campaign deme site, wiki, and blog, and compare how they felt to use.
Seems to me some of the functionality you want from a D&D campaign website is:
A) effective character viewing/manipulation (probably have to be a dynamic webpage with a database backend)
B) an easy "post action" interface (which blog does well)
C) make it easy to see the current situation so you know what action to post: this ties in with seeing your character, but also might involve graphics: having a powerful way to view a map, maybe even draw on it so you can clearly indicate what you want, where you want, would rock. OpenRPG has this, but that's all XML and seems to be tied to the OpenRPG server, which makes it not as usefully asynchronous as the web (OpenRPG seems to need the players and DM to be online at the same time, interacting through chat.)
A downside to the blog is that it's hard to see what the deal is, _now_. I find myself flipping through the blog all the time, looking to see what got used when, scrolling down to the last map, etc. The nice thing about a wiki is that you can insert your action, the DM can shuffle them around on the same document, and you end up with a nice description of what started out as everyone's separate actions. Similarly, a map graphic (if not an interactive whiteboard) could at least be downloaded, modified, then uploaded by players to show their movement or lightning bolt or whatever.
Lemme know what you think.
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1 comment:
Ug twice.
Blogger has apparently misinterpreted a click of mine and rejected Jacob's comment when it should have accepted it. Here is the comment in full:
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Huh-- I had no idea about WebRPG/ OpenRPG. They seem way cool, and with terrific
interfaces-- but, as you said, suited for gamers who'll all be online at the
same time.
I'll be honest-- I don't fully understand "wiki" as a generic, which I know puts
me way behind the times. I know how wikipedia works, but don't understand how
that format carries over to anything else. Would it be like a blog with just one
post, that each user could edit and alter at will? That can't be right, but if
not, what?
I agree that dynamic interactive maps and character sheets, without having to
open new programs, would be ideal-- but they seem 'way complicated. If it's
goign to be a matter of people downloading, altering, and re-uploading files--
well, we already know how to do that, right? We just don't actually do it very
much, except when Scott makes maps and then edits them.
There should be a way to, at least, have a sidebar button "most recent map,"
such that, when you click on it, the most recent map pops up instead of
requiring scrolling down. I'll see whether I can figure that out.
I dreamt the other night that Scott had secretly invited a Wizards of the Coast
rep onto the blog as a silent observer, and that the end of the current battle
convinced him to buy-- though it wasn't clear whether he was buying our whole
campaign story up until now as the plot for a computer RPG, or buying the
blog-model itself, leaving the story to us. (It also wasn't clear whether he was
buying it from *Scott* or from *all of us*.) But one way or the other he'd
decided we were onto one of the futures of RPGs!
I will say that I like both the text-heaviness and the archivability of the
blog. It'd be nice not to *have* to go back through old posts as often-- but the
*ability* to do so is fun. The various synchronous options that seem to rely on
chat functions for dialogue might have fewer speeches-- but might also not save
the dialogue after the session's over. At least, I'd add automatic-archiving to
your list of desiderata.
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