Good day to all,

First allow me to say that this is indeed my favorite game concept I have ever seen. I believe it is educational, and for those who do approach it with a mindset of doing well can only see themselves improve their grasp of writing.

I believe your vision is one of intellectual assumption, however, in that all participants will approach a game equally. They will not, and they do not.

Before I continue further, I will apologize for the redundancy that this may bring to you - I can only imagine the mountain of feedback and 'do this, do that' mailings you go through, likely hearing the same things over and over. Hopefully, mine will have something of use in it.

When I create a game, and accept cast members, I only expect a couple of things - post at a pace that you agreed to post at when you submitted your character, and read the story so your post makes sense. I do like people who proof read their work, but even that I can live without.

Of the two issues 'Post at the pace you agreed to' is met less than I care to try and measure. It baffles me when I start a game that requires the completion of a scene in a week (which is Slow) and they don't even offer a single post for 4 days to begin with. Why join in the first place? The second issue is 50/50. I make moves that leaves hooks for the next writer to run with, but their posts read as if they are obvious tossing up words to get it out of the way.

What can you do about it? That is the grand question, and also the question that will decide if Storium is even worth the effort of supporting to a public community. (I say public because in an educational setting this would be sooooo great. I can only wish it had been available to me when I was learning English all through school - who knows how it would have changed my life?).

The first step is to stop thinking about it from the angle of an intellectual, which you undoubtedly are, and think about it from what you are trying to call it - a game. Games have consequences and rewards. From your current model, you are assuming that the people who are joining games have a concept of what it means to write a story, and are willing to draft, proof, fact check, edit, and post a thoughtful move to setup the next eager player. Unless the stars align, this will never, ever, happen, in a random setting.

As proof of this, imagine an MMO. We'll use World of Warcraft as an example. The game itself is mindless. It is simplistic beyond comprehension to be honest. An iteration of the same thing over and over, that infuses a skill set into the player. But that in itself isn't what 'locks' the players to the game. It's the numbers. The level. The rating.

Should a player reach a high enough rating, then they become strong enough to be considered for a 'boss' raid. And make no mistake, a Storium game IS a boss raid. A limited collection of players gear themselves to fill rolls, and attempt to reach the ultimate goal of finishing the raid.

With that same WoW thought process in mind I propose this:

Again: Do think as an intellectual. Think like a MMO gamer.

New players to Storium start without points and no access to them. You have a generic game setting(s) that the new players can sharpen their first proverbial sword on. They literally should be a single scene, and this story should instill the responsibilities that a player will have in a real game upon them - posting frequency, accuracy, fact checking, proofing, collaboration - all the things that make a Storium player great. Teach a new player how to be great before they can join a game where the narrator and other players are hoping they will be!

Likely, you could get volunteers to do this, players who have achieved a certain 'level' based on their accumulated points. These new players, having completed their first 'quest' so to speak are now free to choose a 'guild', which in this case is simply the ability to join real games. Or, the starter game could be scripted on your side and auto-create for the player and assigned to a willing 'elder'. Even if a staff member had to do this, it wouldn't be an insurmountable task.

Once a player reaches 'real games' they get 0 points - IF THEY ELECT TO GO INTO COMPETITIVE PLAY - if they do not elect to, then they can continue playing Storium in the exact manner it is now - without consequence. In their submission, they agree to post an average of 'x' amount of times per week. If the pace suits the Narrator, then they will take on that player. As the game proceeds, the player receives points for meeting the pace, and loses points when the pace is not met. The rating is for everyone to see. A narrator gets bonus points for their successfully moving the story at the pre-agreed pace. Trust me, as a once avid MMO player, if someone begins to lag, they will be written out pretty darn quick.

In 'competitive play' a player should also require the right to unlock larger and larger games. They get short stories first, then move up from there.

If you are going to call it a game - then make it a game. The game isn't measured by stories began and not completed, it is measured by points. And the writer with the most points is King of The Hill!

Regardless of how you approach the issue of narrators accepting players who have the freedom to not give a reasonable effort to a game, or to post whenever they feel like without consequence to themselves, which in my mind is as rude as leaving a flaming bag of dog-poo on your doorstep, it has to be approached. I cannot, in good faith, pay for this, nor encourage friends and family to potentially pay for it either. I do love the concept, however. It is brilliant. Unfortunately, the collective pool of those you wish to sell it to, for various reasons, do not, or cannot, embrace it as it is.

Good luck, Storium folks. I am indeed hoping that before my free year from the Kickstarter donation runs out, you are able to invoke changes that make it worth buying it again.