Well what brought the thought to mind was the game I'm currently working on where characters advance through writing a very short story summing up the characters actions during the previous adventure.

The thread on that is here.

While thinking about how this might appeal to a player it occured to me that maybe a lot of gamers really are not that intersted in the story as much as I am.

I think it would be great fun to play a character that slowly builds his own mythic history as he goes. By taking a quick look around the internet, it just seemed that I may be in the minority that the idea is a cool one. :pundit:

Quote from: McrowWell what brought the thought to mind was the game I'm currently working on where characters advance through writing a very short story summing up the characters actions during the previous adventure.

The thread on that is here.

While thinking about how this might appeal to a player it occured to me that maybe a lot of gamers really are not that intersted in the story as much as I am.

I think it would be great fun to play a character that slowly builds his own mythic history as he goes. By taking a quick look around the internet, it just seemed that I may be in the minority that the idea is a cool one. :pundit:

That's similar to what I did with In Harm's Way - The PCs are supposed to make a report to their superior, who gives them Notice based on their report. I generally have my players give their characters' reports verbally, but they could also do it via despatches if their superiors are far away. One of my players has her character write newsy letters to his wife as well. My players seem to enjoy it, and they love telling old stories about what happened in the past.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceThat's similar to what I did with In Harm's Way - The PCs are supposed to make a report to their superior, who gives them Notice based on their report. I generally have my players give their characters' reports verbally, but they could also do it via despatches if their superiors are far away. One of my players has her character write newsy letters to his wife as well. My players seem to enjoy it, and they love telling old stories about what happened in the past.

-clash

yeah, that sounds similar to what I'm after. It just sounds like a lot of fun, but then I like writing stuff.

I could probably only get a couple of the guys in my group to do it that way, but I'd definitely play in a game where progress was counted at least partially through storytelling or your exploits. I'd rather have it as a bonus then a requirement though, that way I don't stagnate if I start to work a lot of overtime and can't make it to full sessions or squeeze time during the week. Or if I'm just lazy.

Quote from: McrowTheir imagination?

I have noticed over the last few years that most talk about RPGs over the internet seems to gravitate more toward mechanics and less about the exploits of the characters.

That could be a sign of increasing social awareness. I mean really, how well received is "telling you about my character"?

I dunno, it seems to me there have been mechanics-happy players for a long time. I really don't see a trend.

Quote from: James McMurrayI could probably only get a couple of the guys in my group to do it that way, but I'd definitely play in a game where progress was counted at least partially through storytelling or your exploits. I'd rather have it as a bonus then a requirement though, that way I don't stagnate if I start to work a lot of overtime and can't make it to full sessions or squeeze time during the week. Or if I'm just lazy.

It would only require a 5-10 minutes to write paragraph in story form. Of course you could write a few pages if you really like. There is no need to go into great detail, if two sentances convey your hero's part in the adventure well enough, that's all you need.

But we're all min-maxers. The ones that like to write will assume that word count matters and go buck wild. The ones that don't like to write would assume word count matters and get discouraged.

Quote from: McrowIt just seems that the value of the story has been lost on the newest generation.

Not interacting with children all that much, I don't know about that. I do feel, however, that there are more vibrant, interesting RPGs out there than ever.

Seanchai

My experience is that while the occasional vignette is funny or awesome or otherwise worth shouting out, long discussions of game story suck.  Games are not fiction and they don't generate good fiction.  It's like telling someone your dreams -- it seems interesting to you but it's not.  It's boring.  Perhaps as the gaming population ages they also mature, and part of maturing is noticing how boring your dream stories are to others.

Mechanism, however, is akin to engineering.  It's math.  It's geek.  It's arguable.  It's more fun than talking about being an elf.

Quote from: McrowI guess what I'm noticing is that when I was kid or when I gamed with Hinterwelt we were always talking about what happened in the game. What the characters did and about story and plot.

It just seems that so much of the RPG forum conversation revolves around talking about mechanics. Could just be me.

I kind of feel you. . . I've often been concerned that the "sense of wonder" has dissipated for me as I've grown older. I focus more on mechanics and the like now because, as an older gamer, these things fit into the work schedule that killed my free time and took its stuff. But I really miss the days of actual play discussion.

Quote from: McrowTheir imagination?

I have noticed over the last few years that most talk about RPGs over the internet seems to gravitate more toward mechanics and less about the exploits of the characters. It just seems that the value of the story has been lost on the newest generation.

Maybe I'm wrong, but from where I sit that's what I see.

Not supposing my oberservation is true, what do you think is the cause?

Is it the Video game generation?
Is there a shift in gaming products that has caused it?

what do you think?

I'm just going to respond to the OP because my eyes are tired. If this is already covered or if the topic has drifted, sorry.

Anyway, I always figured people talked about system (and to a lesser extent setting) so much because... well... that shit's hard. It's got numbers and stuff.

Whereas if you play RPGs... you know what you want to do... you find some other people with similar interests... you go ahead and do it.

Or, if you don't know what you want... how is anyone else going to help with that? Or, if you can't find players... same question?

In person, and assuming the person was interested... I might recount that one session with the necromancer drinking games and the orc with the spinning bread combat style. Online? Not so much. Not sure why.

Quote from: McrowTheir imagination?

I have noticed over the last few years that most talk about RPGs over the internet seems to gravitate more toward mechanics and less about the exploits of the characters. It just seems that the value of the story has been lost on the newest generation.

Maybe I'm wrong, but from where I sit that's what I see.

Not supposing my oberservation is true, what do you think is the cause?

Is it the Video game generation?
Is there a shift in gaming products that has caused it?

what do you think?

well i've posted ideas for settings and i've had precious little interest. Make of that what you will I suppose.