so long, and thanks for all the fish

KTDARPG is a great game. I've tried to make "Chyna's Closet" an accent to the game, encouraging others to join or just read & enjoy, encouraging our players to remember their roots, sometimes just shedding a bit of light on game-play.

It's an awesome responsibility, and it's been a joyful one. Lately, though, have to confess Chyna's feeling a bit bruised 'n battered trying to keep up with everything.

So I've decided to give the blog a rest. It's almost December, so this is a good time. Maybe in a few weeks, hopefully everything will have sorted itself out. I hope so.

Until then, I can't say it any better than the Hitchhiker's Guide: so long, and thanks for all the fish.

-Chyna

Character Analysis

Every now 'n then, it's good to do a reality-check. Especially if you've been inside our rpg as long as I have (just shy of 2 years).

So I asked my fellow players to vote in a poll about my characters. I have 7 in-game (1 primary, 3 secondary, 3 lesser characters), right at the limit our game rules dictate. For each character I asked: should I kill off him/her? should I keep him/her? or should I send him/her out of the game for a rest? Hey, the players KNOW since they're the ones who interact with my characters on a daily basis.

Their answers kinda surprised me.

OK, just the raw tallies showed 52% voted to keep them all, 22% voted to kill them all off, and 14% voted to send them all away on vacation. I have to say, feels kinda good. Even at the bottom of the poll, where people could vote to just flat-out kill off all my characters or keep them--the only votes cast there were to keep them all.

A funny thing, though. The character that got the most "keep" votes--63% of the people who voted!--was one of my males, Creed. You have to understand, Chyna's been told time & time again that she can't DO male characters, that they come off too feminine to be real. Well, I've checked with some of the guys in the game & asked them to be honest with me. One guy put it in a way I'll remember; he said, "Just because a man is caring, concerned & considerate doesn't mean he's feminine." So I guess the poll proved the point--my most popular character is apparently a guy! (Yea, me!)

The other surprising piece of the results puzzle was the last question. I threw it in just because I needed something to end with. I asked: "Time for somebody new?" I couldn't believe that 50% of the people who voted in the poll voted that it was maybe time for me to create a new character! I mean, I've got my hands full, guys! Hmm...intriguing idea, though...

Anyway, thanks to everyone who took the time to vote in the poll. I appreciate your help. I'll take all the votes into consideration as I figure out the future for each of my current characters.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Gratitude

Today is officially "Thanksgiving Day" here in the U.S. An old tradition dating back a few hundred years. Pilgrims & Indians. Harvest. Family, friendship & appreciation...that sort of thing.

Each generation interpets this holiday differently. Most recently, it's a day of rest & getting ready for Friday--pretty much the official "hell day" of seasonal shopping. Just a quick look through the paper is all it takes: stores opening as early as 4 a.m. with "doorbuster values" that will bring out a stampede of people looking for that illusory Bargain.

Today just a few of us are having dinner, enjoying the usual turkey with all the appropriate side dishes. A bottle of wine. Some music. Maybe games after, or just talking. Tomorrow I'll leave the shopping spree to those more accustomed to the madness. I'll play with my dogs, read a book...think about the people who are far from me, the ones I won't be seeing for the holidays. Still, good memories. Shared memories.

Sorry, guys. Chyna's in a mood. Friends in the game, friends in life, family & loved ones. You're all precious to me.

Happy Thanksgiving.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright femalefirst

Early morning thoughts...

Very early morning ... still half asleep ... wondering ... If someone pretty much tells you he'd prefer you killed off all your characters in the game...

An intimation that the characters are boring?
An indication that you're too strong?
Or an invitation to leave?

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Paths

The Game Owner, Xeno, here.
In answer to recent happenings in-game & out-of-game
-----------------------------------------------------------

KTDARPG, our game, was started as an interactive role-playing game where anyone can try to lead the game & the story line. In the first 4 seasons I led the game-story until realizing with the 4th season that the "main" story I planned & created was not The Storyline. Rather it was a backstory, and it would've been impossible--and selfish--for me to continue that.

This 5th season, as I've told various players since Dragon*Con, I have no "story." If the game-story is lost, if the path forward is unknown, IT'S YOUR TURN -- you, our great players! -- to lead the game & create the story. To "Keep the Dream Alive."

Recently I've been working to enlarge our KTDARPG universe with the idea of a main internet site (see the poll at the gamesite), with the new "Tribe" toolbar, & with a wiki site. You're all invited to contribute to these ideas & generate ideas of your own to support the game.

-Xeno

Weather

I was up at 3 a.m. watching our first snowfall. Beautiful, cold, fresh, clean. Ground's too warm for it to last long, but it reminded me what I like about winter.

Also reminded me, "The Tribe" didn't deal a lot with weather. I remember it rained once in Season-1 when the Mall Rats were running out of water in the tank on the roof. I remember references to cold (mostly when somebody had a need for a coat or shoes). But I don't remember snow or any extremes. Weather in the show was kind of a non-entity.

We've done much better in KTDARPG. Rain, snow, wind...floods, hurricane, blizzard... there've been times when weather was almost another character inside the game.

I guess when you're visual (like a tv show), you don't have to worry about it so much. But in a text-based game like ours, you need all the environment you can get. It helps the players to "see" the scenes in their minds as they move their characters to the rhythms.

-Chyna

Familiarity

Familiarity is a great thing. As you get more familiar with the people you work & play with, you know what you can depend on them for. You learn about their strengths, their weaknesses, and you move forward depending on that knowledge.

We see that a lot in "The Tribe." You know a character, and you depend on what you know.

Examples? Easy.

You know Amber has a good head on her shoulders; she'll make decisions for the good of the tribe & not just her own good. Salene has a mother-complex; young or old, she'll be more than glad to take care of you. Dal is a wanna-be farmer & a hard worker; he doesn't do things for the credit but because he genuinely wants to help.

Once you know people this way, you depend on them not to change...and you tend to take advantage of what you know. Heaven help you if they ever break type, because you honestly won't know how to react.

Amber gets tired of always thinking of others first; she tosses it all for Sasha. Reaction? She's selfish, of course--how dare she! Salene tries so hard to take care of everybody that she winds up snared in the Guardian's trap, losing herself. Reaction? The girl's a traitor--never trust her again! Dal is so much a team-player that he winds up getting himself killed, sacrificing himself to help his friends. Reaction? Poor Dal, we'll really miss him. Who's next?

The same thing is happening with characters in our game, where examples are also easy. Arianna is our mother-figure. Hawk defends the innocent. Prince stays clear of long-term connections. Brena always lands on her feet. Sid shows up where you least expect him. Marionette is so unpredictable he's ultimately predictable. Krystal always thinks of others first. And so on...and so on...

Sometimes we depend on these characteristics because we know the characters so well & have seen the traits proven time & again. Sometimes, it's because we're familiar with each other as players so we're depending on the human behind the scenes to act to type. And sometimes, because of this familiarity, we push the envelope & take advantage of the characters/players because we KNOW them. How could they do any differently, based on previous actions? And good god, why should they resent being taken for granted? It's who they are, right?

As players, we're generally good about playing characters to type. But heaven help us when a player breaks type...and quite frankly? That's when it gets interesting.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Gossip

Anybody who knows Chyna knows how much I enjoy gossip 'n rumor when it comes to our game, our players & our characters. Here's one I picked up on instant messenger a while back.

Rumor has it that some of our players are seeing the educational side of "The Tribe" & our role-playing game. Chyna's heard on IM that pieces of KTDARPG Season-5 may wind up as someone's school play! This is very cool...not only turning on other kids to the show that inspired us, but maybe giving our game some exposure in the process.

If I hear anything more, I'll keep you posted. And if Chyna can get her hands on either a copy of the script or the disk...I'll share!

-Chyna

Guest Blogger: Hawk

...and now we have another guest-blogger, which happens to be Hawk (the player other than Sable who happens to have an animal companion or two...). Hawk says her entry is in response to yesterday's blog from Sable, so here it is:

Testing by Fire

What defines a story? Makes it memorable and worth reading and rereading?

Challenges, Conflicts and Connections.

When all is good clear and happy--there is a passitivity. You see a person's true character when faced by challenges. Challenges can bring the monster out or the goodness of a person. Look at Zoot in the TV Show ("The Tribe"). Before the death of his parents he'd been a quiet boy in the shadow of his older athletic brother Bray. His reaction to the trajedy was to refuse to face it directly and rebel against everything he once believed. "Power and Chaos." Death, ruling by fear, force, and psychological torture. (Look at what he did to Ebony.)

Then on the other side of the spectrum is Dal. All he wanted was to have a farm away from the city. Yet he gave up that dream to stay with his friend Amber. And later, he died fighting for the values they held dear.

Conflicts emphasize the two sides of life. You treasure the good times, after you have suffered the bad times. These can be emotional, physical or a combination of both. Nothing is every trial-free. And sometimes when all seems dark--the one ray of hope or small happiness shared between two people becomes all the more meaningful.

I heard somewhere the saying: "You can't see a candle lit in the sunlight--you need the darkness to show the strenght of that light." In the tv show "Tribe," they showed this too. Baby Brady born right after all adults were dead. Baby Bray born on the day the Technos took over. Amber and Bray banished from the city--had each other. Cloe playing with her calf. These are just a few examples... Connections underlie all of life. Whether in love triangles, Lost loves, Friends, Family or Tribemates. Relationships good/bad or the lack of them. Ebony always going for Power, yet in the end had only a series of lost loves and an estrangement from her sisters. Amber as Eagle returning to the city to help the Mallrats. Lex and his two lost loves Taisan and Zandra. Both he and Bray went through depression and drunkness.

These are what made "The Tribe" great--and I think what makes KTDARPG last so long. In writing, we bring things alive so that we in a sense feel what the characters feel. Gold is refined by heating, impurites float to the top and are removed until the essence of the metal is seen. The testing by fire always changes people, gives them a depth, as do our Characters. Some die--heroically, tragicaly. There are conflicts, have been wars, and dark times. They face real problems, issues and go through all the emotions that "real" people experience. Still they choose to find happiness where they can.

So look to the horizon, good will come out of evil. It doesn't mean there won't be consequences, but hope will remain.

And remember: in the darkest night, a small candle of light can seem very bright. -Hawk

Guest Blogger: Sable

We have a guest-blogger today. Hey, if somebody wants to say something about KTDARPG & has no other forum, "Chyna's Closet" is a good place for game-related thoughts. Sable joined the game in May 2006 & is one of the very few players who've included an animal companion for their character. Here's what she has to say:

Looking Thru Rose-colored Glasses

What made the TV Show ("The Tribe") so wonderful? Was it the story, was it the cool costumes? Maybe it was the campie soap-opera teenage melodrama. But the producer somehow always achieved a magic of looking thru rose-colored glasses with all the horrors around that were going on in the new world. At every corner, somehow the producer managed to get the idea across of "Keeping the Dream Alive". You knew deep down, the good guys would win. But it was also cool to see the fall of the bad guys. You knew the bad guys were bad, but the producer using his magic showed without showing, giving hints or clues to just how evil and what acts of horror they had committed. The producer used that rose-colored glasses effect on his show. Mostly because of his viewer audience. However, he achieved the creepy without being overly graphic. And just around the corner, maybe not in character actions but the music, giving an uplifting promise of "Keeping the Dream Alive".

Has this game turned too visually graphic, too dark, has our rose-colored glasses worked against us? Our path seems lost. Are we "Keeping the Dream Alive"? Isn't that the main story goal for this "KTDA" RPG Tribe game? -Sable

Test your Tribal-ness!

Ransom, one of our long-term & more experienced players, has devised a most devious test to let you gauge your Tribal-ness & measure yourself against those icons of our fandom--the stellar characters we know & love from "The Tribe"! Here are her questions. They're meant to measure how tribal our rpg characters are...or even how tribal our players are (hehe!). I thought you'd enjoy testing yourself. Score yourself 1-point for every time you can answer "yes" to the question asked.

1. Were you a famous or important person before the virus?
2. Do you sometimes have violent urges?
3. Did you have them before the virus?
4. Did you organize a secret movement against the government?
5. Were you in a secret movement, either for the government or against the government?
6. Do you believe the world was better with Adults?
7. Do you believe the world is better without Adults?
8. Are you considered the "bad" boy or "bad" girl?
9. Do you drink?
10. Do you drink to get plastered/forget?
11. Have you drank to the point you don't remember what happened the day before, or you don't remember how you got to that spot or situation?
12. Have you ever been intoxicated & killed someone?
13. "Alcohol in one hand, a weapon in another hand, and ready to pick a fight, or fighing while intoxicated!"
14. Been so drunk you did not care if you lived or died?
15. Made malatov cocktails! Vandalised a building?
16. Been arrested/rounded up after the virus?
17. Searched someone's room without their knowledge/consent or took something from their room, or planted something in their room?
18. Been a slave owner, a slave trader? Bought a slave or someone's contract?
19. Been a slave?
20. Drugged someone without their knowledge/consent?
21. Brainwashed someone or been programmed/re-programmed?
22. Do you consider yourself sane?
23. Do you ever talk to plants, animals, inanimate objects, or yourself?
24. Have you ever had a meaningful conversation with any of the above?
25. Do you hear voices in your head, or at one time did hear voices in your head? If so, do you ever talk to the voices in your head?
26. Do people tend to stare at you?
27. Do you ever change subjects in the middle of a sentence?
28. Do you name your possessions?
29. Are you obsessed with death?
30. Do you refuse to believe in anything but yourself?
31. Do you enjoy setting fire to things?
32. In this new world, do you consider this your chance to be its new ruler?
33. Have you ever eaten rats, or dog food, because you were so hungry?
34. Do you have multiple personalities that act independently? If so, do some of your personalities dislike each other?
35. Are you co-habiting in your own body?
36. Do you consider most of the people you know as completely mad?
37. Do you wear a hat?
38. Do you blow on a piece of food that has fallen on the floor before eating it?
39. Have you ever used a funeral pyre as a cooking fire?
40. Turned someone away when they are down on their luck, or sick, or when they needed your help, or food or shelter?
41. Kicked a tribesmate out of a tribe, or voted them out?
42. Been restrained for any reason with a (leash, chains, rope, duct tape, belt, etc.), or used any of the items on someone else?
43. Have you ever killed? Committed murder or planned or put a contract out on someone?
44. Been a contract on you, or a price on your head?
45. Lied to a Tribesmate?
46. In this new world, age does not matter any more, we make our own choices about love and marriage?
47. Secretly lusted after someone without that person knowing it?
48. Dropped subtle hints to someone whom you liked/loved/wanted, hoping that they would pick up on it?
49. Thought you might be, or might have caused someone else to be, unintentionally pregnant?
50. Do you pickpocket/steal for a living?
51. Do you causually eavesdrop on conversations around strangers or acquaintances just to improve your skills, or spy?
52. Did you/do you show off wounds/scars proudly?
53. Been in a fight with large animals?
54. Been in a cage match fight?
55. Do you own a dog collar, but not a dog?
56. Are you a goth, hippie, techie, nerd, geek, loser, pothead, deadbeat, recluse, misunderstoond social outcast?
57. Are you more than one of the above?
58. Do you smoke?
59. Do you have tattoos/piercings/wear outragous make-up?
60. Do you decorate your clothing with non-decorative objects (e.g. safety pins, duct tape, etc.) or regularly dye your hair colors not found in nature or have strange-colored eyes?

Now that you've got your score, come on over to our game-site (just follow the link at right) and check out the Answer Key in the "Files" section to see how you rate!

-Chyna

Is imagination the right way?

Those who know Chyna know she's a HUGE fan of imagination. I've willingly suspended my disbelief so often, "disbelief" is now a relative term to me. :)

However, there's one area where "leaving it to the imagination" may hurt our KTDARPG players more than it's helping them. That's when you're dealing with your Character.

Some players go very minimal when it comes to describing the physical-ness of a new character. (Some people actually go for "not at all" -- we don't even get a bio on which to start building our understanding of a character.) The reason I've heard is that this allows the Reader to "imagine" the character based on dialogue & action. The creator thinks too much detail might spoil the fun.

Ok. In theory? That might work. And that's an iffy "might." I mean, c'mon. When a player creates a character, he/she knows exactly what that character looks like. Based on that mental picture, the player develops dialogue, interaction, motives & emotions.

Now, you start leaving that to my imagination? You might have me writing that my character sees a chubby redheaded girl with freckles (when the picture in your creator-mind is a leggy blonde with bronzed skin) or a tall skinny boy with snaggly teeth & shaggy brown hair (when you-who-created-him see a muscular sexy guy with a great smile).

Seeing the challenge? It gets more challenging when you consider that EVERY PLAYER may see something different & then act on what they "see."

All this is just Chyna's way of requesting maybe a few more physical details about game characters. It really helps a scene when characters start describing what -- and who -- they see, so readers get a more solid mental picture. Hair color, eye color, height, build, distinguishing marks, tattoos, piercings, hair style, how a voice sounds or what a smile looks like ... every detail helps!

-Chyna

Photo source: Webshots

Have we lost our Tribal-ness?

It's a conversation that ebbs 'n flows. We've come back to it lately, the question of whether we've lost "The Tribe" elements that drew us to this rpg in the first place.

Valid question. Our game's been 2 years & 4-plus seasons in the making. Present time in-game is almost 3 years after the Virus outbreak & the death of all the adults. And while it would seem that the Virus defined both "The Tribe" & our game ... well, I would disagree with that wholeheartedly.

Yes, the adult-killing Virus was the beginning of everything -- the tv show, our appreciation for the creative ideas the show brought us, and KTDARPG -- but ONLY the beginning.

"The Tribe" was not about a Virus. After the show's Season 2, it was hardly ever mentioned again. Actually if I remember right, it took Our TV Heroes just one year to (a) lose the adults, (b) start organizing into tribes, (c) suffer a recurrence of the Virus, (d) discover an antedote for that (e) find out what caused the original Virus, and (f) deal with it & move on.

Let's not rush too fast past that "moving on" part. See, for me? That is what "The Tribe" was all about. How do you survive this catastrophe? How do you move on? How do you make a life when everything you depended on is gone? And most especially, how do you do all that when you're only 13/14/15 years old?

Those are exactly the things I find in KTDARPG. Those are the questions that our characters struggle with day to day, building lives for themselves the best way they know how.

I think I know where the question's popping up from. I could be wrong, but ... After 4 game seasons where the driving plot had to do with Big Enemies, Big Battles, Hurricanes & drama of the highest order, today we've brought the plot down to the personal. So far this season, our characters are more involved in just living. We're re-defining ourselves, meeting new people, developing relationships & discovering life on new terms.

Ok maybe that sounds tame after what we've been through, but it's really not. Go back & remember what scenes stayed with you from "The Tribe." For me those had to do with Bray & Amber finding each other, Salene's struggle with bulimia, Lex's drunkenness, Alice's doomed love, the Jack/Ellie/Luke triangle, Ebony's fears, Taisan's spacy ways, Dal's little trees. A hundred moments, all small, all very special AND all very personal to the characters.

Oh, the conversation will go on backstage among our players, but I'm not too worried about it. I think KTDARPG is as "Tribal" as it's ever been. Maybe even more so, since our timeframe has gone past what the tv show lived through ... and we're still here. :)

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe", courtesy of "TribeWorld"

Threads

They're called Threads, the most basic structure of game-play. Each thread ties all posts related to a specific subject/action/plot together. You follow a thread to follow one particular plotline. Together, threads add up to the game-story.

You identify individual threads by title...that's where the fun comes in.

Some titles are place-holders. They tell you where you are physically in the game. Some of these include the names of the characters currently included inside a thread. Like At the Warehouse - you know the location. At the Warehouse--Inside split the action to keep confusion down - some of the characters were interacting inside, others outside. Another place-holder is Market Day. Gives players information & is also a subtle invitation to come & play inside this thread if your character is at loose ends.

Some titles relate to specific characters. For example, Worm's Dream was simply what occurred to this character & was a single-post thread. Stranger at the Mall ran for many posts & played out the experiences of a new character (Tori) as she started interacting in a single place. Island Life is a bit broader; it involves one player's multiple characters & their journey from their island home into the heart of the game's storyline.

When a character-thread is being built & isn't ready to have others come inside, that thread may be closed. The most recent in-game example of this is Hopeless, marked as "Closed to Chyna." When that thread is ready for others to participate, the "closed" notice will come off & other characters can choose to interact if they want. (A cardinal sin of game-playing would be to violate the "closed" sign & have your character barge in on an unready thread. Our players are very good at honoring "closed" signs--thanks guys!)

Other titles are like the names of chapters in a book. These are the creative ones, the ones that describe or tease you with just a few words that point to the essence of what's happening inside the thread. These are also the hard ones! (Got any idea how hard it is to distill the essence of a plotline into just a few words?) Some examples . . .

= Moth. Flames. - Girl character drawn to bad boy. Will she get burned?

= Tortured Confessions - Self-explanatory. Torture. Truth. Pain.

= Broken Promises - People who make promises they can't possibly keep, and what happens when they try to make good on them.

= Coming Home - This one's kinda fun. The grand opening of a new bar in town named "Home." Invites others to join in & play along.

So now you know about Threads. Time to create one of your own?

. Chyna

Tools of "The Tribe"

Our Game Master has been innovating again.

This week he introduced something new: a web toolbar that helps connect you with KTDARPG and with all things tribal.

It's a handy little thing, customizeable according to individual needs 'n wants. I'm looking it at now. Across the top of my web browser, I have links that...

> search the net
> search the game
> notify when new game posts are up
> notify of new "Chyna's Closet" entries (thanks, Xeno!)
> notify re: updates from the toolbar-master
> show current weather in any place in the world
> help connect to any of our current "Tribe" game-links
> facilitate spell check & log-ins
> and a handy direct link to post to the game-site

There are other options, like a pop-up blocker and an email notifier that I haven't tried out yet. And you can connect to Youtube & more sites as they're added.

Anyway, just spreading the world about "Tribe" tools you might find handy, either in-game or just in your tribal-ness. :)

-Chyna