Gamify Shared Narration Responsibilities
The biggest stumbling block to the games I'm playing in is the narrator. If they are MIA, the game simply grinds to a halt.
I'd love an option to create a game with shared narration responsibilities which would be a system build right into the game.
I imagine it would work something like this:
The game's creator creates the setting. sets up an initial scene, and retains admin control of the story normally given to the Narrator such as invites and character approval. (Ideally these responsibilities would be shared as a vote as well, but it wouldn't be necessary.)
Players posting for their characters (or even better, those who get up-votes for their posts by other players/readers) collect Narrator Tokens.
Players ready for a new scene vote for the scene to end along with an optional bid of Narrator Tokens for control of the next scene.
When a majority of players have placed bids, there is a countdown for other bids/posts. It's length would be based on the play frequency setting of the game.
When the countdown finishes, the player who bid the most narrator tokens wins control and loses the tokens they bid. If there is a tie (or no one bid any tokens), then the next narrator is chosen at random (or possibly weighted based on the number of narrator tokens they have).
If the chosen player doesn't accept and start a new scene within some amount of time (based on the play frequency of the game), then control moves to the next highest bid.
This would allow shared control of the story, keep the game from getting stuck,and encourage quality content creation through competition. It also means the pressure to keep things interesting and keep the game moving is shared.
Hosts can now choose rotating narration when setting up games: https://storium.com/help/starting-a-game#narration-styles
The host always maintains ultimate control over the administration of the game so they are able to pass the narrator role on in case of disappearance.
-
Joel
commented
A simpler option might be for the narrator to pick an option.. "If I don't post for x amount of days, <username> has the ability to end the scene and start a new one." With extra options like, "If that user doesn't post in x amount of days, <username 2> has the ability to the end the scene and start a new one". All of this could be customizable by the narrator at any point.
I do like the idea of narrator tokens, however. So it could be an option of "If I don't post for x amount of days, <username with most tokens> has the ability to end the scene and start a new one."
The bidding system might be one step too far, but I do like your way of thinking, Brian.