Storium Will Change the Way You Roleplay and Write Online
- Thread starter JonB
- Start date
It seems intriguing, and I really like that one of the goals is "Storium for schools," but when I saw the whole subscription model, I got wary.
Stephen here from Storium. We are a small, independent team. The annual membership fee will allow us to maintain and improve Storium without resorting to advertising or other means. We've tried to keep it as low as possible ? it's just the equivalent of$2/month ? and if you only play a few games on Storium you won't need membership. Hope that helps!
I was really excited when I read this, but ya, the membership fee kind of threw some cold water on that flame. Even a small fee feels off putting. I mean I can find similar experiences for free in a lot of places from MUDing to simply opening up a google doc with some people online. I guess it's not a deal beaker with the ability to play for free in 3 games, but it's clearly a bucket of ice water.
Still I am excited. It sounds like a real good idea.
Still I am excited. It sounds like a real good idea.
Hmmm... It seems interesting, but most online roleplays already have a background and most players have no trouble filling a page. I don't know who this is for.
An experienced DM and players won't need help making strengths and weakness and roleplaying.
Inexperienced groups won't be going online to do it, generally.
Throw in a subscription fee AND pay for extra worlds as they are developed, and I'm now very off-put indeed.
I mean, it seems neat, but like Nomotog says, you can get this without paying for the privilege.
An experienced DM and players won't need help making strengths and weakness and roleplaying.
Inexperienced groups won't be going online to do it, generally.
Throw in a subscription fee AND pay for extra worlds as they are developed, and I'm now very off-put indeed.
I mean, it seems neat, but like Nomotog says, you can get this without paying for the privilege.
Me and a few friends of mine spend a lot of time on the RP section of the forums here. This looks really good. I'm just wondering how many players this could handle before this system becomes a clusterfuck. I might contribute to the Kickstarter, even if my friends aren't interested.
Co-Op writing seems to be the big thing in fanfic writing these days. I don't know when this happened, but it seems like most fanfics are collaborations now. I guess I'd blame google docs because it makes it really really easy to have more then one person writing to the page.Zontar said:
Oh stop your shifty eyes.Zontar said:
I stared doing fanfics again just recently and have been involved in a few Co-Op stories. (MLP if you are wondering.) Honestly writing with someone else is kind of a nice way to write. You don't have as many stuck parts because when you run out of ideas, your partner just takes over. Dialog and characters are really easy too because you can basically RP it out. (Then you want to go back and edit out any superpose dialog because rp tends to babble every now and then.) It also helps with a lot of the mechanics of writing. You know, spelling grammar and vocabulary.
I'll give you that, but because of how out-there some of my stories tend to be (works whose only relationship is they full into the "stuff I like" category which I smash together and make a narrative out of it. Currently working on an MCU/Evangelion that has other things sprinkled in because... well because I can) I tend to have a friend read it to help with errors, but do the rest on my own.nomotog said:Oh stop your shifty eyes.Zontar said:
I got a little nervous when I saw the word "subscription" too, considering what price point previous online tabletop type things have set themselves at... but $20 per year? That seems pretty reasonable to me. Of course, it depends on the end product, but it's enough for me to want to check it out when it's done.deserteagleeye said:
A lot of us are willing to shell out a lot more money per year for games that offer a lot less creative freedom.
Of course Storium is not for everyone, but for anyone who already enjoys storytelling and storytelling games, this is definitely an interesting entry. At $20 a year it costs less than half the cover price of your average storytelling game book.
Of course Storium is not for everyone, but for anyone who already enjoys storytelling and storytelling games, this is definitely an interesting entry. At $20 a year it costs less than half the cover price of your average storytelling game book.
I've seen a bunch of authors collaborate. Perhaps that's the aim?Zontar said:
Not that it matters to you, as you're not a fanfic writer.
Still, I have trouble seeing anything necessary that Google Docs or Dropbox couldn't do.
I'm not really seeing much in the way of "creative freedom" that would justify the 20 bucks. If I'm shelling out for an RPG, I'm buying the framework. So far, I see...A card game with some "storytelling" swished in. That's nice and all, but the "creative freedom" it appears to offer is the normal gamer's fiat.Rangarig said:
Look, I'm not saying this is a bad idea, and maybe it's not for me, but the video and the description don't seem to do a good job of selling it. The comments I've seen here and elsewhere seem to back that up. A Kickstarter campaign should be able to pitch the idea.
And honestly, since "the worlds" appear to cost money, and the KS even says so, you're paying 20 bucks on top of unnamed prices for the actual environments. At this point, saying "you pay more on X" seems more like rationalisation.
You are right with your criticism. I had to do quite a bit of digging to answer a number of questions for myself. And yes, the Kickstarter video could do a much better job in selling this project.Zachary Amaranth said:
I do still believe that the game/service has merit however. Unless it is strongly misrepresented, the game/service comes with a basic set of standard 'worlds'. In a sense, I would find the term 'setting' more accurate, since these worlds are defined by different themes, or because they are based on a particular series of books, etc.
On top of the standard worlds (cyberpunk, fantasy, space adventure, etc.), the kickstarter is advertising additional worlds from various authors as stretch goals. After release, users of the game/service will be able to create their own worlds and make these available to other players. I believe this is where the additional pricing is involved, similar to in-app purchases on many mobile titles, unless you are a higher tier Kickstarter donor. But yes, that all does seem a little hazy at this point.
Each world contains cards that describe locations, characters, situations, and also background information and narrative help similar to what you might find in an pre-written adventure for a pen & paper RPG, or in storytelling games like "Fiasco". It is a lot more than just a stylistic framework.
Of course you can do collaborative writing and storytelling using other tools, and I have done that myself, but most actual storytelling games offering settings and rules will cost you the price of at least a basic rulebook. So far the rationalisation and basis for comparison.
Also, unless this is to change after release, only the storyteller needs a subscription to host the game. Player access is free.
I like some of the ideas in place here, and I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it, but I personally don't feel compelled at all to get in on the ground floor of this. Once it's out the door and in the wild, I may look into it further though.