Consider Branches, Sub-Areas, and Setting Decks
This mechanic would address situations normally approached by creating multiple games to contain private, individual, or side action. (If what I'm typing sounds convoluted, I've visualized the larger ideas with my extremely pedestrian MS Paint/GIMP abilities for clarification).
The feature would add a "Create Branch" option to the narrator's game interface that effectively splits a single scene into two or more smaller, contemporaneous scenes with individual settings.
The narrator would have UI controls allowing them to:
(A) Assign/move characters to sub-scenes and control whether or not the players can move themselves freely between scenes (e.g., the difference between moving between rooms of a house vs. locations in a city)
(B) Control the visibility of the branches (e.g., "Players can only view branch activity that took place while their character was present" / "The following characters can view this scene" / "Players whose characters are not present for this branch may only view it after the scene is complete") for the sake of private conversations between characters and character prologues
Challenges and Branch Decks
This feature would also allow the narrator to add Sub-Areas to a Place card and have the option of opening all areas of the Place to players from the get-go so their characters could move freely between them.
For example, the hypothetical Dive Bar used in the attached image might be introduced as a single setting or have sub-areas like Patio, Restroom, Interior, etc., from the beginning of the scene, between which the characters could move freely.
On the issue of challenges, the narrator's UI would allow them, at branch creation, to select which branches would include challenges (e.g., a branch created for private dialogue between two characters may not require challenges). During the scene, the narrator would divide their allotment of challenge points among its challenge-enabled Branches.
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blanc commented
Steven, you're right about that. Looking back, I'm not sure why I said the "disable" thing now.
I'd thought about the time thing as well. I feel like this cross-branch challenge thing you're talking about could help bring people together at the end. :] Thanks for reading and responding.
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Stella
commented
There's no reason to have certain branches disabled for challenges. If the narrator doesn't want a certain branch to have challenges, they can just... Not add any challenges. Disabling them ahead of time will only lead to narrators changing their minds and being unable to play challenges when they want to.
Also re: challenges, the narrator should have the option to play challenges that span multiple branches. Like if you're exploring a house for clues to a murder, it might not make sense to have each room have a separate challenge. (Or, other times, it might.)
Also a potential hurdle: time may pass more quickly in some branches than others. I could especially see this being an issue with blind branches. This can be addressed somewhat by not having the player officially enter the new branch until they make their post, but that doesn't help if moving from a slower to a faster branch.
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> We shouldn't need additional UI controls for that. Just let the player select the sub-scene card when posting a move.
The provision for narrators to move characters is there for situations in which, for instance, a group of characters decide to tackle a problem from two geographically separate angles.
For instance, let's say cows are getting abducted by aliens. In Scene 1, it happens in two places on the same night. Near the end of Scene 1, the party decides they'll split up and a few will go investigate each location. At the beginning Scene 2, the narrator would create two branches (one for each location) and place the characters in the appropriate branch based on where they decided to go. On the same note, if this system were used for character prologues, it seems natural that the narrator would create those individual scenes and place each character in their respective scene. It's an administrative feature that's there for practicality. And, again, it's an option.
By contrast, turning off that feature would allow characters to move organically between sub-areas if they were doing something like searching the rooms of a house.
> I don't think hiding part of the story from the people writing it is a great idea.
There are certain genres (investigative horror, mysteries, etc.) that benefit greatly from all players not knowing the same thing at the same time.
For example, let's say Bob, John and Steve are searching a murder suspect's hideout. Bob takes the "upstairs" sub-area, John and Steve take the "downstairs" sub-area. The narrator changes the viewing options so that players only see posts made in a sub-area when they were present.
It turns out Steve has been the killer the whole time. While Bob is gone, he attacks Tom and drags him to the basement. Meanwhile, Bob finds a bloody pocket knife in a drawer upstairs with Steve's monogram and realizes that Steve's the killer. The narrator informs Bob of a door slamming downstairs. When he runs to the downstairs sub-area, John and Steve are gone. As the scene or act closes (depending on the settings), all players gain access to all details.
The value here is that players themselves are temporarily isolated, which creates a more immersive horror/mystery experience. It also makes reading more interesting, as the reader can choose to read one perspective and then the other to fill in the blanks and have an "Aha!" moment at the full picture like audiences during expository flashbacks in horror movies.
> I get that Storium is gamifying the collaborative process, but it's still a collaborative process.
A collaborative process is one in which multiple people are working to execute the same concept. When people build a house, a pair of carpenters setting up the framing might be actively involved in each other's work, holding boards for each other, making decisions together, and sharing measurements. On the other hand, an electrician and plumber might not have all the details of each other's work, but each is affected by the other's choices and their efforts still come together in a collaborative product when the water heater is powered and pulling in water.
My goal in making this suggestion was to provide a framework versatile enough (through customization) that it could be used for a wide array of purposes like the other tools the site provides. In the same way that I may not choose a story in which players freely write for any character, you might choose not to use that privacy screen-type feature; that's why I emphasized a feature like this being optional.
Deciding that someone's concept of collaboration is invalid is what works to the detriment of a collaborative process and community, not features that diversify the process.
Thanks for commenting! I'm sure other people have the same concerns.
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Bluegeek
commented
I like part of the idea, but have reservations about two things:
> Assign/move characters to sub-scenes.
The players should be able to freely decide which sub-scene they are taking part in at any given time, subject to Narrator revision. We shouldn't need additional UI controls for that. Just let the player select the sub-scene card when posting a move.
> Control the visibility of the branches
I don't think hiding part of the story from the people writing it is a great idea. I get that Storium is gamifying the collaborative process, but it's still a collaborative process.
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alleyneangel
commented
YES. MAKE IT SO.