Online
"Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib'd
In one self place; for where we are is hell,
And where hell is there must we ever be"
- C. Marlowe
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, there lived a breed of online text-based game called a Multi-User Dungeon, or MUD. The MUDs thrived for a time, and then along came a beast called EverQuest, followed by its larger cousin, WOW. Together they killed the MUD forever. Or did they?
For the past five years, I've been involved in a little thing known as Play By Post gaming (hereafter known as PBP), and now it is my great honor to introduce you to this new, wonderful, and amazingly-inexpensive way to play.
Gamegrene would like to experiment with a forum-based play-by-post game here on the website. Although we are open to having multiple games running if interest is there, for starters we would like to do a trial run to see how it all goes. Gamegrener Lorthyne and myself are interested in running a game using the new Ninja Burger 2nd Edition RPG rules.
I hate electronic RPGs. I know that I'm somewhat old fashioned, but I grew up on roleplaying games that used pen, paper, books and dice. Games where people could use fake accents and props, tell jokes and say and do stupid things during the game. Games where the story was tailored to the players and their characters, where the dialog was spontaneous and no one, not even the GM, knew what would happen next. So what would it take to make an electronic RPG that's worth playing?
Eight months ago, Gamegrene launched an interactive worldbuilding and roleplaying exercise called Ghyll. Constrained to a small set of rules and the intent of building an integrated encyclopedia where Truth is further refined with each entry, Round 1 is nearly finished, and Round 2 is set to begin in the middle of May. If you're interested in playing, start reading.
Gamestop has an interview with one of the guys behind the forthcoming D&D MMORPG: "As another example, Troop explained that according to the standard pen-and-paper rules, high-level characters gain "base attack bonuses" that increase their chances to strike true in combat. This ability will be represented by special attacks that can be pulled off with good timing. So a fighter character with a +5 attack bonus might have a five-part sword attack that can be pulled off by clicking the mouse button in a correctly timed fashion."
This is a very special announcement here on Gamegrene. Would the owner of the car with registration plate T15 RQX please come immediately to the parking lot? Oh, and we're also starting up a new multiplayer wiki-based world-creation game for everyone to play. It's called Ghyll. Ghyll is only defined by entries in an encyclopedia, and it's the players' responsibilities to write that encyclopedia. There are four rules.
Recently I've been considering different ways of refreshing my gaming experience. After all, I've played for 15 years now, and although different games and different players have brought me varied experiences, eventually one settles into a rut and it can be a rough trend to buck. Gamegrene has a stable of writers who form a strong community to support the hobby, luckily. And for my part, I would like to add an experience with a (sort of) new and long-awaited aspect of our favorite pastime.
