As we move through storylines & game strategies, it becomes easy to recognize patterns according to different players. Some players have fun stretching themselves, trying new ideas, moving in new directions. Others become entrenched firmly in a persona that sees & interprets game-world narrowly. And all take part in creating the tapestry of the game.For myself, I prefer the Big Picture. Because I have several characters that I'm moving around the board (and because I choose not to define the world only one way), it's easier to watch other players & appreciate what they're doing with their characters. It's also easier to respond according to the moves another player makes, rather than only according to one persona.Wait. Did that make sense? I'm not sure it did. Let me try again.The characters I create are not meant to put ME into the game. Instead, each character is meant to either react to or "comment on" a particular view of the world. Some may represent personalities I've encountered in real-time. Others are just expedient; they serve a short purpose (starting a riot, distracting another character, selling somebody food or clothes), and then they go away.This lets me keep some distance from the game (always good!). It also lets me stretch and try new things. One day I'm a 15-year-old girl coping with the death of her sister. Another day I'm an 18-year-old guy trying to convince the girl he loves that she should love him in return. And maybe just as important, all this keeps me seeing the game's Big Picture. I can see where we've been & where we're going, and sometimes whether or not where we're going makes any sense.If it doesn't? Well, they don't call me "Sister of Chaos" for nothing! It can be incredibly easy to toss a pebble in the river and create new swirls ... new currents ... new directions. (What's that old saying about "for the want of a nail a shoe was lost, for want of a shoe a horse was lost ..."?) If you see the Big Picture, yeah, one character can make such a difference & change the world.It's fun to watch how other players operate. It's fun seeing the broad landscape of our game-world, rather than just the small patch in front of my character's face. -ChynaPhoto source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"
I've got an anniversary coming up soon -- one year in the game. When "Chyna" walked into StormRiver camp a complete unknown, straight into her first major battle scene, we were in Season-1 on Post # 421. If I remember right, it was Game-Day-Two.I just recently sent out Post # 5354. It's Season-3, and the game has progressed almost two months. On the old-world calendar, it's December 25 & the turning of the year is close at hand.A lot of battles, a lot of personal drama, a lot of love and heartache and loss ... the story of these young survivors in an upside-down world has come a long way. Sometimes I'm not sure my fellow gamers realize just how far we've really come. All it takes is a cruise back through the story digests (in the files section - and yes, I know, I still have to finish up the digest of Season 2). Characters have grown up, grown apart, moved on or been moved into the "Book of the Dead." It's a fascinating read.Anyway, happy anniversary to me. Thanks for the invitation that started me down this road, Adear. And thanks, Xeno, for the ideas that brought us all together to begin with. I can't wait to see what happens next! - ChynaPhoto source: Webshots
Most of us playing KTDARPG are neophytes. This is our first role-playing game (me included), so we're doing a lot of learning on the fly.
The easiest part to learn is the writing. Some weren't very confident of their skills when they started, but they've come a long way in just one year! I should say for the record, we don't worry about misspellings or grammar or sentence structure. It truly is the "thought" that counts--building a character piece by piece, creating realistic dialogue, staying true to your character even in difficult situations.Those difficult situations can be...interesting. We're all different ages, so we have different levels of life-experience. So what some take for granted, others may not have experienced at all.For example, my first character was a 17-year-old girl who had to come to terms with her own impending death. Definitely not something I was familiar with. We have 3 male-players who decided to create female secondary characters--talk about a learning experience! (They also inspired me to try my hand at male characters...I'll admit honestly, I've had to call upon the guys several times to help me figure out "appropriate responses" in specific situations. Thanks, guys!) Another player is getting into a first-love relationship where the physical part is all new ground. And another's character is pregnant. Sometimes we skip over some details, or just infer that actions took place off-scene rather than trying to show everything in the game. Whatever works.Staying true to the character you create becomes the goal, in any situation. We ask questions of each other out-of-game, we research, we learn. We do the best we can. Along the way we've created a hell of a lot of really good storylines."Thanks" to our players who aren't new, the ones who always seem to know what they're doing and are generous with their advice. The rest of us appreciate your patience!-ChynaPhoto source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"
For all of us residents of Fort River, last season was rough -- almost all physical, with one major fight after another. First it was the Brotherhood, then the even more ruthless Anti-kids. There were some very major battle scenarios. A lot of people did a lot of stretching to make sure these scenes came off as realistically as possible. (Well, as realistic as it can be for a bunch of 21st Century players trying to create scenes we can't possibly have experienced!)
Anyway, we're trying to make the current Season-3 different. We've had enough of "Big Bads" and big battles. So ... what are our options?The most obvious one, a place we haven't gone yet, is politics. Think "The Tribe" Season-2 and Danni's crusade to have a bill of rights and a list of crimes-and-punishments that all the city tribes agreed to and signed off on.This is an area KTDARPG hasn't explored. I'm thinking we're due to head in that direction. Fort River is facing riots & an upsurge of anarchy. There is no control, but there is a desire for a future that's better than what we've had so far. We've just published a "Declaration of Independence." Now what do we do with it?My fellow players may be a bit skeptical, but bear with me. It's through politics that people have a basis to interact with each other. Yes, there are rules & structures & forms. Whether you're talking interpersonal politics or the kind where you give someone representative power over you ... the rules are pretty much the same. As are the outcomes. For KTDARPG, this can mean:- You develop new ways for characters to relate to each other.
- You create new situations & learn more about the game-world.
- You allow for a different kind of character growth that can be very revealing.
- You find out who you can trust ... and who you can't.
- You find out how good you are at judging other characters as well as other players.
- The maneuvering is much sneakier -- about as far from physical fighting as you can get!
As our players struggle for alternatives to the blood-n-guts we're tired of, don't be surprised if the view of Fort River & our characters gets more and more personal. Time to find out just exactly who some of the new characters are. Also time to gauge how our old friends have changed. We've loved and lost and grown up a bit (well, some of us have). I'm looking forward to seeing how these changes are reflected in-game, and to the new drama that grows as we get more personal with each other.-ChynaPhoto source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"
I don't know about the rest of you, but 2006 isn't going exactly as I anticipated so far. Ok, yeah, 21 days is hardly a fair enough trial period, but still...It's been a rough week, up & down, with enough disappointments to last me for awhile. So I'll deal with disappointment the way I usually do--build a fire in the fireplace, pour a glass of whatever's handy, and dwell on some of the words that have gotten me through other low points. This time around, I thought I'd share some of them with you.
> "Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." - Vincent Van Gogh> "When there is no peril in the fight there is no glory in the triumph." - Pierre Corneille
> "The bravest are surely those who have the clearest visionof what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yetnotwithstanding go out to meet it." - Thucydides
...and one of my personal favorites...> "There is no remedy for love but to love more. " - Thoreau
Tomorrow will always be better. I have faith. That's what tomorrow's for, right?Cheers. -ChynaPhoto source: Webshots
It only took me a year, but I finally figured out WHY this rpg (or any rpg you get attached to) is so tantalizing & keeps drawing you back. It comes down to control, and in the game the player is the one who has it.In KTDARPG, a player's characters are pretty much inviolate. With my characters, no one can injure or kill them without my permission. Actually, with our latest ruling in-game, no one can even touch them physically without my agreement & willing participation.That's huge.In a world where every day you're faced with the latest suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, the latest hostage situation in Baghdad, hurricanes in Louisiana, tsunamis in Indonesia, mine disasters, mudslides, children starving to death, the price of petrol ... and on, and on, and on ... Just to be able to feel like you're in control of one tiny corner of your life?That's magic. -ChynaPhoto source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe
Ah, my friends, Chyna truly wishes she had a dollar (American) for every time she's heard a player say: "Trust me." It's such a warm, cozy feeling to know you have player-friends who are looking out for your best interests & want to draw you into their interesting plots & strategies & game twists and turns.In case you had doubts? Yes. That was sarcasm. How stupid do I look? No, never mind, don't answer that one.I guess I've said it myself a time or two..."Trust me." Trust that I have a plan in mind that you're just PERFECT to help me with! Trust that I'll draw you into my web & either succeed with you or else have someone to cry with when it all goes to hell. Trust that I THINK I know what I'm doing. Trust that I may or may not change my mind half-way through & leave you holding the bag. :)One of the first lessons my mother taught me was "never trust a guy who says Trust Me." My mom would be proud--I learned that lesson well. Oh, sure, I slip up from time to time. Forget the cardinal rules for dealing with "bad boys" & actually think I know someone well enough that I won't get trapped. Silly me. But I get over it, move on, and probably will make the same mistake again somewhere else down the road.Bottom line? This is just a game, not world domination. And you know, if I went through life never trusting anybody because I've been burned a time or two? Seems like it would get kinda lonely after a bit. I think I'd rather be a trusting soul than a cold one.Also, I am generally trustworthy. At least I try to be. I'm not malicious, not vindictive, not so devious that I'll give a green-eyed smile & hope you're bemused enough to follow along just so I can use you and toss you later.Trust me.-ChynaPhoto source: Webshots
"Make it real." We hear that a lot in the game. "Make it true-to-life. No fantasy. No science fiction. Make this a real world."But I don't know how. It's outrageous that I'm even trying.What am I doing, creating characters who are kick-ass fighters with bitchy attitudes & few cares for tomorrow? Real? Hardly--how would I know? I've never held a sword much less fought somebody with one. Hell, "I've never" describes an awful lot about me. Never hit somebody in anger or defense. Never fired a gun. Never watched someone I know die violently. Never...well, that's enough. You get the picture.So how do I explain that I seem to be good at it, describing these kinds of actions & bringing scenes to life? I can choreograph a fight-scene with the best. I can torch a city & make you see it burn. I can fight & die & make you feel you're standing right there watching.I don't think being a professional writer is a good enough answer. I don't write for Hollywood or Broadway. I'm not a novelist with books in the "fiction" or "fantasy" section of all the local bookshops. I write speeches. I write annual reports. I write press releases & brochures & tech manuals. Not exactly fertile ground to grow the kind of writing I'm doing in-game.Maybe it's enough that I've been a student all my life. Watching people...listening, learning, loving, losing, letting go. It's not that I have no experience, because I do. When I write, I try to feel what a scene demands & hopefully find something inside me that resonates with it somehow. Besides, I do know what a 17-year-old girl feels... even if it was a bit ago. And you can get fight-scene tips from watching "Xena Warrior Princess" or the latest kung-fu movie. Wherever it comes from, I seem to fulfill that "make it real" command more often than not. So do my fellow players, from wherever they get their inspirations. Maybe we just all have imaginations that can make anything possible? And maybe I should just stop questioning & have fun with it? Sure...why not. -Chyna
Whatever it was I expected when I joined KTDARPG, my first role-play experience, I don't think it was for the game to be a place where I'd see democracy in action.Every game has rules & guidelines that structure player actions. We know when we start pretty much what's acceptable & what isn't. We know if a game is G-rated or PG. We know how many & what kind of characters a player can create. We know the nature of our world and most of its boundaries (and we usually spend a LOT of time pushing those boundaries and seeing what we can get away with!). But issues & situations are always gonna come up that the rules don't anticipate. We've had that happen many times in the past year. Some of the most noteable issues dealt with the portrayal of religion in-game, the proliferation of modern technology, and just how complete is a player's control over the characters & landscapes s/he creates in the game.It's the way problems & issues are resolved that I didn't anticipate.Rather than the game owner making executive decisions & the players having to go along with them, players were asked for their input & viewpoints. Through group discussions & the use of opinion polls, the game owner was able to gauge what the players wanted as we all move forward in the game. When a ruling finally was made & incorporated into the official game rules, it was something everybody could live with because we all felt we'd had a chance to be heard & have our views considered.I'm not saying we always agree. Hell no, we don't! We can be a pretty belligerent bunch of free-thinking individuals in-game, especially when it comes to plotting & trying to one-up the rest of the pack. We're also not very politically correct when it comes to how our characters interact with each other (to which I say thank god--there's enough of that out in the real world).It's just good to know that we can try to be fair with each other, when it comes to defining this game for which we all feel a degree of ownership. I admit, some of us are better at that "fairness" than others. (My hat's off to the Greatest of Players--those who are able to find a way to compromise their own ambitions & desires on occasion for the good of the game. Compromise is truly the hard part--thank you!) But at least we try. -Chyna
If there's anything the internet teaches us, it's that we're usually more alike than we are different in this 21st Century. Ambitions, goals, likes, dislikes--I'd say our desires are pretty universal.
But from time to time we still need to do a reality check & remember that we're NOT all alike in ALL ways.For example, it's easy to forget we're all different ages. Some people can be extremely young (chronologically speaking) & have "old souls" that the anonymity of the internet magnifies...so you tend to forget age differences. And degrees of education don't seem to matter so much sometimes. A player can be a high-school student & still be miles ahead of me when it comes to game strategies & tactics. (Ok, yeah, sometimes I feel like I'm playing checkers in a room full of chess masters!)Especially on the net, it's easy to forget we're not all from the same place. In KTDARPG, we're from different cities, different U.S. states, different regions & different countries.I recently caught myself guilty of the "we're all alike" assumption. What I forgot was that people react differently to game scenarios & tactics depending on their cultural background too. I admit I'm not the most well-traveled of people; I've only been outside the U.S. a few times in my life. But I work for a major university that prides itself on its cultural diversity, with thousands of students from all over the world on campus daily. So believe me when I say that finding myself making automatic assumptions was...disturbing. I owe at least one player a huge apology because of it.Why kind of assumptions? Well...hmm...Let's just say, when you get outside your own culture, even gender reactions change. I forgot that part. How an American male/female interprets a situation or a strategy can be totally different than a male/female from France or Germany or Australia. A move or an attitude or a strategy I might interpret as "devious" isn't necessarily what was intended--yet I see it that way based on MY cultural background.Ok, I'm not saying this right. Maybe I should just stop trying to. Maybe it's enough just to remind myself & my game-friends that we truly are all unique individuals inside this crazy game we play. And I'll offer two bits of advice: 1--Don't make assumptions. Things are not always what they seem to be. 2--Talk to your fellow players. Talking can lead to understanding which can lead to fewer misunderstandings & less arguing (and I'm certainly all for less arguing).Now, if you'll excuse me? I need to go make that apology. -ChynaPhoto source: copyright Cloud 9 "The Tribe"
10 Jan 06Here in the U.S. midwest we've had rain all day today & temps in the 45-60F range for a couple of weeks. Not our normal winter. No snow to ski, no ice to skate (unless you travel a few states away to find them). As much as people bitch about snow, at least it's pretty. If it has to BE winter, seems like it should at least LOOK like winter.
I don't think I'm alone in this blue mood. The rpg has slowed way down since the new year started. At one point we were averaging 30-40 posts a day. Right now? More like 10-12.
The slowdown could be because everybody's getting back to their real-world lives after the holidays--to new school terms, or final exams, or part-time jobs, or regular jobs after vacations. Maybe it's because we ended Season-2 & now everybody's trying to figure out how to move their characters into the new season. (That's what happened back in the summer, when we ended Season-1.) It's not easy making that kind of transition, as I well remember. The slowdown could also be a touch of burn-out making itself felt. That would make sense, considering the flurry of work all the players did before Christmas & the massive creative jags we lived through to end the season. Everyone pitched in & did some tremendous work, so if this is burn-out flaring up it's totally understandable!
I know Chyna's feeling the touch of all 3: real world, how to approach Season-3, and a bit of post-holiday burn out.
This break in the action does NOT mean nothing is happening. It's just happening behind the scenes. I've heard about some seriously wicked plotting going on. If half of what I've heard is true? Well, let's just say Season-3 has the potential for some killer drama.
So just in case anyone's worried that the game is playing out? Not gonna happen, guys! Wait and see! -Chyna
Photo source: Webshots
We recently published the new Tribe Awards for Winter. This was something we started at the end of Season One, to recognize our players' best character development, story moments & other accomplishments in a game that seems to keep getting more challenging every month. It's also a great way to remember our "roots" and pay tribute to the tv show that brought us all together.Here's just a few of the winners of this round of Tribe Awards:The Amulet Award - to Stacy & Gaz, who risked their lives to publish the special edition of the “Fort River News.”
The Guardian Award - for best fanatic to Shadow, leader of The Way.
The Jamber Award (Jay/Amber) - for “reluctant romantic” goes to Hawk. Took her long enough to realize what a prize Creed was!
The KC Award - for best little thief, to Banshee. We expect big things from this girl!The Lex Award - for absolute worst disguise goes to Prince. And if anybody actually has a photo of Prince in that bunny suit? We’re offering a generous reward…The Resurrection Award - Lion-F, for best back-from-the-dead performance.
The Tribe Style Award - for best makeup goes to the Reapers. Basic black & white--it rocks!Congratulations to all the winners! For a complete list, be sure to check out the files section of the KTDARPG site (link at right).-Chyna
As a moderator for KTDARPG, one of the tasks I volunteered for was taking all of the posts in each season & putting them into a summary story-form. We figured that would make the game-story easier to read when people needed to check back in history. A story-form would also make it easy for new players & readers to catch up with the current action of the game.
I had no clue what I was getting myself into.You can't just string posts together for the text-story. If you did? You'd have a story thousands of pages long & WAY too much for anybody to read! The idea is to summarize, to hit all the high points, to give a reader the gist of what's happened. This kind of digest can't do justice to the rich tapestry of the story we've created in the game, but it gives you a thread to follow to keep up with past actions.I'm glad my fellow players trust me because there are a lot of judgment calls to be made in digesting our threads & plots. What bits to include, what to leave out, what's important for the future & what really isn't. Like I said, this isn't easily done.But I have to admit, I've enjoyed the work as I've had time for it. Season One is complete in story form. Season Two isn't far from being done. The Season Three phase of our game is well under way & about to take us to the 5,000-post mark. That's a lot of words, guys!If you want to sample some of the story to date, the hotlinks are include at right. Just click, and enjoy.-ChynaPhoto source: Webshots
It's not easy to build a city. Especially when you try to do it with words, a piece at a time, through the needs of the characters you're developing inside an rpg.
But our city of Fort River continues to grow. In the last several months, people have found ways to add a zoo, a 2nd hotel, an agricultural center, and in just the past couple of days a movie cinema. (And with the River Rats looking for a new tribe home, that gives lots of chances to explore even more of how big Fort River is and what lies within it...)I know it sounds simple, but "growing" a city from the ground up is a hard thing to do. When I joined KTDARPG, there was a sketchy map of some boundaries for Fort River. It had a warehouse district, some strip malls, a train station, an army base, a VA Hospital and an airport. That was pretty much it. But step by step, we've added to the landscape, named the streets, enlarged the map. We've sometimes gone to the extremes of blowing parts of it up, just to force ourselves to keep broadening our horizons here.This is truly all part of building the game-world itself. You start small, a character at a time. Then you find ways to have your characters interact. Then you have to build the sets on which they perform--whether its a parade down Fort River Boulevard or a challenge in the Fight Club Arena.Our game-world is a complete "world" with sights, smells, sounds, atmosphere, weather. Hell, we've even got politics. Hard to get more "real" than that! -ChynaPhoto source: Webshots
Something unique about "Tribe" people--whether you're talking about the actors or the characters in the tv show, or the players in KTDARPG--is their style. And a huge part of that style is that they care. For the tv show, a large part of the action on set has to do with relationships, how the characters forge themselves into tribes that can survive in a harsh world. For fans lucky enough to meet some of the cast around the world, their friendship for each other is apparent.Same way with the rpg. There aren't a lot of us, but we've made some fast friendships in the 
last year. University students, high-school students, those of us who work for a living..."Tribe" brought us together & we've discovered an even wider range of things we have in common. Music is big--Sid's into classic rock & punk, Xeno's an Eminem fan, Prince has a taste for 80s metal. SciFi/fantasy is huge--a lot of us share a fascination for the world of "Dune." And who knows? Hawk may be the first of us to actually make it off the planet (!). Many among us have shared the trials-n-tribulations of just daily living & families or swapped photos or even had a chance to meet.So in our own way, we're a tribe for the 21st Century. Even with all the feuding & debating (and some of those debates can get pretty hot!), we seem to care about each other. It matters if somebody's sick...or somebody's having trouble in school or in a relationship...or if someone's in harm's way...We're still a bit cautious. You know, the old "beware cyberspace" and don't put too much personal info out on the net. But it seems the confidences have remained confidential; no one's reported any axe murderers showing up on their doorstep.Each member of this tribe is special--if I attempt to name them all, I'm sure to leave someone out so I won't even try. You know who you are. In the game or out, I appreciate the friendship I've found at KTDARPG. It's probably what's kept this game going so long, when other rpg's have fallen by the wayside.Thanks, guys. You not only have style...you got class, too.
-ChynaPhoto source: copyright Cloud 9 "The Tribe"
If you don't know the term, "meta-gaming" is when a player gives his/her character some knowledge or has a character act based on knowledge the character can't possibly have in-game. It's totally bad & usually in a game's rules that you can't pull that one on your fellow players. But still, it's a temptation and it happens.It happens because of one really fun part of role-playing -- players start to connect outside the game and build friendships & alliances.When I first joined KTDARPG, there wasn't much connecting going on. But within 3 months or so, the networks had come alive. You may contact another player because you want to do a specific scene with that player's character to advance the story. Then you get "joint posting" or some really wicked fun doing back-n-forth posting to create the scene.That sounds complicated, so take my word for it -- it's a blast. And it's fun to get to know your fellow players. You make friends, create partnerships, switch sides, and do all sorts of things that end up reflected in the game. It creates a richer tapestry of a story than you can get when everybody is playing from their own isolation.Then comes the danger. One player tells another about some upcoming plot twist or possibility that exists in a game-thread. Unfortunately, the other player then can see the possibility too ... and may decide to act on it before you can, turning that knowledge to his or her own advantage. Doesn't matter that the character involved has no way of knowing the knowledge that's used. You've been trumped. You've been screwed. You've been meta-gamed.Oh, you can yell & cry "foul" and piss and moan about it. But if the player who's screwed you has any talent at all? That player will find some way to "justify" the move & turn your objection back on you. Hey, you SAY you've been meta-gamed? Prove it. And the other can find just as many explanations for why the character did what he/she did.It can get ugly. If you push it? You could end up losing a friend. If other players agree with you and back up your objection? They could get hurt in the backlash too.Is it worth it, to press the point & demand a post be deleted to get rid of the meta-gaming? I honestly don't know. I guess it depends on the players involved, the egos involved, and the levels of both skill and maturity involved. Fair is fair...but I don't have so many friends that I don't value each one, and I don't like the thought of losing a friend over a game.-Chyna
Well, 2006 is one day old & I've decided on my game-resolutions. In this new year, I resolve ...> To be more generous in the game. To do more posting with the newer or younger players & help them gain confidence in this game we all enjoy.> To be more creative. To maybe bend logic a bit more and stretch a few of those boundaries I've let limit my play in the game.> To consider the possibilities instead of getting bent out of shape by another player's ingenius move that blows all my plans to hell.> To be more strategic in my play instead of just reacting to a partner's moves.> To be less predictable. I have to face the fact, after almost a year in-game, those who've watched me play are basing a lot of their moves on my past actions. Not a good thing!> To mean it every time I say, "Trust me."> To remember that I am, indeed, the Sister of Chaos ... and to live up to it!-ChynaPhoto source: Webshots
As we move through storylines & game strategies, it becomes easy to recognize patterns according to different players. Some players have fun stretching themselves, trying new ideas, moving in new directions. Others become entrenched firmly in a persona that sees & interprets game-world narrowly. And all take part in creating the tapestry of the game.
