Monday, December 28, 2009

Someone, Somewhere, Has Already Done This, and For That I Salute Them

So what with Wave being the hot new thing, and smart phones being the other hot new thing, the thought occurs to me. With a game of D&D or what have you run on Wave (or, honestly, any PBP platform, but I'm currently enamored with Wave as a PBP platform for reasons of ease of set-up, interface, and flexibility; we'll see what I think once the 7th Sea game is in full swing but early tests look good) and a mobile device with internet access, one could conceivably play anywhere, all the time.

Screw animated miniatures and digital dice rollers. That's the technological revolution I want a piece of. No matter how bad of an idea it will inevitably turn out to be.

8 comments:

  1. So, are you proposing a constant, ongoing PbP style game, one that's always on and that you add to every few hours? You would need to find partners as, how should I put this, dedicated (oh yes, quite polite, that phrasing) as you.

    Though I suspect, with the right group, many little updates might inspire greater dedication than the once-per-day or every-other-day which is the current popular option.

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  2. Yup. And the really crazy, I mean, brilliant part is, with Wave, this would also improve the odds of having enough folks on to make it a chat game for a bit.

    Boytoy, by the way, thinks this would "be the death of me." And he's probably right.

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  3. Heh... And now I want to use Wave's threading feature to reply. ;p

    ...this would also improve the odds of having enough folks on to make it a chat game for a bit.

    Wave is going to have to get much better at handling live chat first. I suppose it works well enough if you do cut-and-paste, but I'm not sure how feasible that is when folks are replying via a handheld device.

    Boytoy, by the way, thinks this would "be the death of me." And he's probably right.

    I'm afraid he's probably right. When would you like to get started? ;)

    I tease, of course. Mostly. ;) But part of what makes RPGing manageable is that it does require a certain amount of preplanned organization to get folks together, which means you can fit it into your life, but it can't take over your life. This is why there are such things as WoW Widows, but no real D&D Widows.

    Still... tempting, no? ;D

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  4. I never wanted a mobile internet device...until I read this post.

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  5. I've been playing in a PBEM/PbP game for almost 1.5 years and DM'ing another game for just under 1 year now. I use Yahoo Groups and I have been contemplating getting a smart phone/BB/Driod or something so I can keep up with the pace of 3-4 games of this style.

    Currently I am capped with only two just because it would cramp my style to have to sit at my laptop for countless hours posting to all the different sessions. If I had a smartphone, I could use the countless hours that I spend in malls or Khols, or Macy's while my girlfriend is shopping to read and type posts... :)

    I just started a blog that will have at its center PBEM/PbP gaming since that is the only style of game I have been playing in the last two years. I've been looking into Wave as an alternative to the Yahoo Group and it really does seem to have some nice features for enhancing the communication & experience.

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  6. This bleeds into LARP, but I remember hearing about a live action espionage RPG where players would sign up for the game by giving their email and mobile numbers. And then they'd get "missions" to meet at a certain place or pick up a package or perform a dead drop or whatever. But another player would be performing the other end of the task. As I recall the tasks were set up by the admins. The game is no longer running.

    That's all I actually remember. You could incorporate encoding and decoding, stuff to do with data (modulating a .wav file so you can hear the voice instructions for example), that sort of thing.

    Of course, in a fearful US this would be viewed with utmost suspicion. You may even be "interviewed" by several real-life spies :/

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  7. I am on my droid right now and it is awesome and I am trying to get on wave so I can ruin my life by checking it constantly. Right now it is super slow but it is possible but it my be my connection. Also I cannot see the nested replies but again I might have been on a slow connection

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