Musings on writing for players.

I must be mad. It has just hit me, reading the posts about the past weekend’s Odyssey event that I have agreed to get involved with the writing of another freeform. I think it’s a freeform; it may be a LARP. Assuming it happens that is.

I have to admit to having a love-hate relationship with the idea of writing for events. On the plus side, it gives me a reason to write something and deadlines plus the knowledge that the rest of the team are depending on something coming their way from me gives me the focus to create something that would just die of natural causes if left to my own devices. Not to mention it is also damned rewarding when you hit the zone and the character is almost dictating itself to you as you write.

There is the camaraderie of an event, the pleasure of watching your babies develop as players take them in directions that never occurred to you or the rest of the team when you were putting things together. There is the excitement of watching it all unfold and the guilty pleasure of knowing in advance how sneaky the plot is. And let’s admit it, the wash up at the end, where you can get to explain the links no one made and fill in the blanks.

On the down side, it’s bloody hard work and after a day at the office I for one can find anything more immediately interesting than sitting down and writing a cohesive player brief. There are the times when you are sitting there with a looming deadline, a blank screen and no inspiration. Bad things, these.

But also, and this is what prompted me to ponder this, it’s the ungrateful minority who don’t appreciate the effort that goes into writing and prepping these things for no concrete reward. I do not miss dealing with the plums and dweebs who think that just because they have turned up, everything should be spoon fed to them and that we should be grateful to them for playing. I was reminded of this by unspoken grumblings undetailed, but alluded to in other posts about certain people. I don’t know the details; I wasn’t there or in any way involved. But I have been there in the past more than once. It’s a timely reminder of the negative side of gaming.

Musings on writing for players.

I must be mad. It has just hit me, reading the posts about the past weekend’s Odyssey event that I have agreed to get involved with the writing of another freeform. I think it’s a freeform; it may be a LARP. Assuming it happens that is.

I have to admit to having a love-hate relationship with the idea of writing for events. On the plus side, it gives me a reason to write something and deadlines plus the knowledge that the rest of the team are depending on something coming their way from me gives me the focus to create something that would just die of natural causes if left to my own devices. Not to mention it is also damned rewarding when you hit the zone and the character is almost dictating itself to you as you write.

There is the camaraderie of an event, the pleasure of watching your babies develop as players take them in directions that never occurred to you or the rest of the team when you were putting things together. There is the excitement of watching it all unfold and the guilty pleasure of knowing in advance how sneaky the plot is. And let’s admit it, the wash up at the end, where you can get to explain the links no one made and fill in the blanks.

On the down side, it’s bloody hard work and after a day at the office I for one can find anything more immediately interesting than sitting down and writing a cohesive player brief. There are the times when you are sitting there with a looming deadline, a blank screen and no inspiration. Bad things, these.

But also, and this is what prompted me to ponder this, it’s the ungrateful minority who don’t appreciate the effort that goes into writing and prepping these things for no concrete reward. I do not miss dealing with the plums and dweebs who think that just because they have turned up, everything should be spoon fed to them and that we should be grateful to them for playing. I was reminded of this by unspoken grumblings undetailed, but alluded to in other posts about certain people. I don’t know the details; I wasn’t there or in any way involved. But I have been there in the past more than once. It’s a timely reminder of the negative side of gaming.

Who? What? Where?

After years of not getting a sniff from Internetistas¹ in Latin America, I find that Brazil in particular has delivered me a half dozen hits since February and there have been others from elsewhere in the continent. I expect that it was my occasional post about the World Cup (remember that?), unless I only made them in my imagination, which is possible.

The consequence of the miniscule increase in interest from the non-US Americas is that the Karma Pixies have seen fit to remove any interaction with Africa. Not that I had much market share there, but there was a steady couple of hits here and there until February. Maybe my choice of Ghana to curse with my support soured my relations with the Dark Continent. I don’t know.

With a couple of billion or so inhabitants, I guess it was simply a matter of time and statistics before I got a hit from the People’s Republic, but Asia generally continues to ignore the existence of my favourite journal² and despite the fact that I receive a healthy amount of his email, my name sake in New Zealand has never, to my knowledge, shown an interest.

It’s a good job I’m not in marketing. In this global age, I seem to be increasingly local.



¹A term I have just coined. I’m quite proud of it. Bet it doesn’t catch on.

²Stop laughing at the back

Who? What? Where?

After years of not getting a sniff from Internetistas¹ in Latin America, I find that Brazil in particular has delivered me a half dozen hits since February and there have been others from elsewhere in the continent. I expect that it was my occasional post about the World Cup (remember that?), unless I only made them in my imagination, which is possible.

The consequence of the miniscule increase in interest from the non-US Americas is that the Karma Pixies have seen fit to remove any interaction with Africa. Not that I had much market share there, but there was a steady couple of hits here and there until February. Maybe my choice of Ghana to curse with my support soured my relations with the Dark Continent. I don’t know.

With a couple of billion or so inhabitants, I guess it was simply a matter of time and statistics before I got a hit from the People’s Republic, but Asia generally continues to ignore the existence of my favourite journal² and despite the fact that I receive a healthy amount of his email, my name sake in New Zealand has never, to my knowledge, shown an interest.

It’s a good job I’m not in marketing. In this global age, I seem to be increasingly local.



¹A term I have just coined. I’m quite proud of it. Bet it doesn’t catch on.

²Stop laughing at the back