Game Design and Writing

Thursday, November 20, 2008

"Are you sure about this one, Andrew? Do you really need to do a lot of writing as a game designer? Can't you just draw some doodles and write stuff in the margins and then call it a day?"

Yeah, you could potentially do that, but don't expect anyone to look at those doodles.

I firmly believe that game designers need to be able to write, and write well, in order to create groundbreaking games. I think creative storytelling is the key to creating memorable games that everyone can enjoy.

"Creative storytelling? You're starting to sound pretty pretentious there, buddy. Isn't the point of the game supposed to be to have fun? You don't always need a story to have fun."

Alright, you got me there. Not all games really need stories. However, I feel that most of them could be better if more emphasis is put on the story involved.

I admit this is mostly is aimed at video games, but it can also apply to role-playing games and tabletop games. I think there should be a lot more emphasis on story in all three of the genres.

Making things better in the world of video games is obvious. Hire better writers and make the stories more natural. Instead of squeezing story around the game engine, figure out the story that you want to tell and then build the game around it. The entire game will be better because of it. I know there are lots of technological hurdles to overcome but if you are creative about how you use story in the game you should be able to tell the exact story that you want to tell without sacrificing any playability or fun.

At the same time don't pretend that your story is going to give Shakespeare a run for his money. The chances of this happening are very slim. Don't have me watch a cut scene for an hour. If I have a wireless controller it shouldn't go into standby mode. EVER. Keep your story at the front of the show but keep me giving me a chance to play, otherwise you might have me playing another game.

Traditional console role-playing games are terrible about this kind of thing. However, they are not the only culprits. I have played plenty of action games too when the cut scenes went on way too long. Don't give me one long drawn out scene. Space out the scenes and make each one exciting. Make my actions in the game directly affect the scenes in different ways. Make the connection between the game and the scene very much alive.

"What about role-playing games? Aren't they all about story? It seems kind of silly for you to tell RPG companies to put more story into a game that is based off telling stories don't you think?"

I admit role-playing games are handling story the best out of the three. However, they could still use a lot of work. A lot of them suffer from a lot of the same problems as video games.

"Oh? What's that Mr. Knows how to fix everything?"

In the vast majority of role-playing games the mechanics take center stage. There are hundreds of pages devoted to how to wrestle an alligator and the exact bonuses and penalties involved. However, all of the reasons why you might wrestle that wily gator are barely glossed over.

"Oh come on. I've seen plenty of books that go on forever about the role everyone is playing in the game and they often even contain sample adventures and other handy things!"

See, that's the problem. Sample adventures. NPC (Non-Player Character - every person that exists in the game that isn't being played by a player) listings. A few sample maps. It's not enough. Someone new to the hobby is going to be overwhelmed by all the numbers.

All the emphasis is in the wrong area. So many companies create their own unique system for each game and the overall story is left completely up to the person running the game. Now, this is fine if you are a big nerd like me who has been playing for years. If you love to read gaming books and love to see how their systems work this is fantastic.

What if you just want to play make-believe with some of your friends? Lets look at Dungeons and Dragons as an example. Lets say you and your friends are all into fantasy literature but you have never played a role-playing game. Someone tells the group that they have a friend who recommend that everyone try out D&D. Alright, so you go the store and decide that you want to try things out. You just need to buy one book and everything you need is going to be in it right?

Nope, I'm afraid not. You need to buy the Dungeon Masters Guide, Players Handbook, Monster Manual, and most likely a basic campaign book.

Translator: For those of you not in the know a campaign is basically like the setting of the game. Each campaign has a different feel to it, often with a few special rules specific to that setting. For instance, Harry Potter and Star Wars would be too very different types of campaigns.

"So hold on. Are you telling me that if I want to go and run this game for my friends I'm probably going to have to pick up at least 4 books?"

Yep, that's right.

"Isn't that kind of silly?"

Yes, yes it is. Now, don't get me wrong. I love D&D. I've been playing it for years. I think it has a lot of good stuff going for it (especially 3rd edition onward) but it also suffers from the same problems as the majority of the industry.

The emphasis is heavy on the mechanics and light on the story. This makes it harder for new people to get into the hobby.

I think more people should release books that are split more evenly. I would love to see a book that is 50% mechanics and 50% story. Don't make me go and buy another book just to get more money out of me. Give me the ability to do everything from one book, and then expand on it later once you have me hooked.

Trust me, you are going to do much better in the long run. Once I have used up all the monsters in your basic book and my players are still hungry for more critters to interact with I'm going to feel a lot better buying that book with more monsters in it. Give me a full campaign built into the pages of the first book that I buy and I promise that you are going to get a lot more people into the hobby.

"What about tabletop games? Do you really need more story for Checkers or Chess? I mean, honestly. Don't you think that's absurd?"

Absolutely not. Human beings relate to stories. Storytelling is one of our oldest traditions. Novels and movies would not be such big business if this wasn't the case. Tap into that shared desire. It will allow people to become more connected to your games. No matter how small an emotional connection will form.

"Do you want every game to come with it's own novel detailing how the blue circles are in constant conflict with the red circles over land rights? I mean, come on. This advice is just dumb."

No, I'm not saying every game needs an elaborate story. It just isn't that important for some games. The fun the player is having is the essential part of the game. However, what could it hurt to give the players a little extra? If it's a strategy game discuss opposing sides and what the conflict is about or discuss what the brain teasing is trying to prove.

Look at the game Clue. It's based off solving a murder. However, the game has it's own built in little story. Without the characters present in Clue, it would lose a lot of its flavor. That's what I'm talking about. Games can gain a lot of personality if the developers spend a little bit of time crafting a little bit of story around them.

It doesn't need to be anything long or drawn out. Put a little story on the back of the box next to your pictures of the game. Sure, not everyone is going to read it. However, for those that do the game will take on a very special different meaning for them.

Is it just impossible to add story to the game? Fine, use real life instead. Add in something about the creation of the game or its history. People love to learn little tidbits about things. I bet they will love learning that one special quirk you decided to put on the inside of the box or in the instruction manual.

These are just a few of the reasons why I'm creating a writing section for my blog. I think writing is an essential part of game design. I feel that it is an area that needs to be looked at a lot more closely. Plus, from a completely personal perspective I want to make my writing better and I think having a section devoted to it will help me remain focused on it.

So there you go. My initial perspective on game design and writing.

"Initial? You mean there's going to be more?"

Yep, I'm afraid so.

"Dear God. I sure hope your readers start taking bathroom breaks before they sit down to read your blog. Otherwise they might be in trouble."

Am I really that bad?

"You certainly have a tendency to ramble on a bit. Verbose is not a long enough word to describe your style."

Sorry about that. I'll try to get better.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Tabletop Games are still very much alive

Monday, November 17, 2008

Traditional Tabletop games are still alive and doing well. What's a tabletop game? Any game that you play on a table. Board games, card games, dice games, and a whole other host of creatures are out there. The market is large and their is still a lot of money in it.

It's true. No matter how much the video game industry is trying to take over the game market there is still a very solid place for "traditional" games.

"I don't believe you. I think board games are soon going to be extinct, just like records and VHS tapes. The future is now!"

Do I have to remind you that some people still listen to records and that quite a few people still have various movies on VHS?

"You speak lies! What kind of weirdos hold on to the past like that?"

Well, I have quite a few VHS tapes staring at me right now. Staring with their tiny little video eyes.

"You know, you really aren't helping your case here, buddy."

Quiet you.

"I'm just saying."

I admit that video games have tapped into the market in a big way. However, board games are holding on and holding on strong. According to Wikipedia Hasbro (who make Monopoly among other games) made 3.8 billion dollars in 2007 with a net income of 333 million dollars. In comparison Electronic Arts (generally the big daddy of video game companies) made 3.6 billion dollars but had a net income of -$454 million.

Hasbro made money while Electronic Arts did not.

"Doesn't Hasbro make a bunch of other toys besides board games though?"

This is true. Hasbro is the second largest toy company in the world (right behind Mattel, armed with the power of Barbie). I'm sure that their toys help them stay profitable. However, at the same time Hasbro is the largest board game producer in the world. They have been gobbling up other companies in order to get at their games.

Have any of you heard of the Cranium games produced by Cranium, Inc? If you haven't you should really go check them out. I will discuss some of them later because they are quite fun. What's my point? Hasbro just bought them for 77.5 million because their games are selling well.

If board games were not still incredibly popular in the United States I doubt Hasbro would have spent this kind of money.

Hasbro also bought Wizards of the Coast back in 1999. How much did they pay for it? 325 million dollars.

"Andrew, I assume you ultimately have some kind of point in here but you really aren't getting to it. Can we move this forward a little quicker, please?"

Alright, fine. Here is my ultimate point. I want to be a game designer. I don't know what I want to design yet or where my goal is going to take me. All I know is that I want to design games. The point of this article is to show all of you why I am not excluding more traditional games from my journey. There is always going to be a place for them. Video games may be growing more and more every year but nothing quite beats sitting down with your family around a table and having some fun.

That is the key. Board games are fun bonding activities. When you go on vacation you can pack your favorite game up and take it with you. When you get to the hotel you can unpack it and bring a tiny piece of family fun with you. The same can be done with video games to a degree, but it just doesn't feel the same.

What about card games?

"Yeah, what about them? At the beginning of your rambling, which seems like ages ago, you talked about card games, dice games and other games played on a table. What about all of those?"

Well, as long as casinos exist a lot of the other forms of tabletop gaming will be very safe. I don't need to tell anyone how big the gambling industry is in the United States. Poker, Craps, Roulette, Blackjack and all the others have a strong grip and don't plan to let go. I doubt I can create something to usurp any of these so I am going to focus on other areas of tabletop game design.

Collectible card games (like Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh) are also holding their own against the other creatures out there. They aren't as popular as they used to be but there are still plenty of people that still play them. I think they will always have a special place in my heart. The beauty of Magic the Gathering will always make my heart smile.

I plan to keep an open mind about the whole idea of game design. I feel a lot of game designers turn their back on the past to constantly try to embrace the latest coolest thing. I feel this is a huge mistake. I strongly believe that by focusing on the core elements and ideas of design better games will be created. I think a lot of this can be discovered by looking at successful board games. There is a reason that Monopoly has been played by nearly 500 million people.

Can you imagine a video game still being played over 70 years after it was first released?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Why do we Role-Play?

Saturday, November 15, 2008

I have a pretty broad topic for this blog. Since I'm not sure exactly where my destiny is taking me I have a lot of ground to cover. I play role-playing games, video games, and tabletop (board and card) games. I plan to cover all three during the life of this experience.

I am thus probably going to have a pretty varied readership for this site. I'm sure some of you just play video games or just play card games or board games and have no idea what role-playing games are all about. This post is to try to help explain things to you.

Here is a simple explanation of role-playing games. A role-playing game is a game where the player takes on the role of an individual and interacts with an imaginary situation. This interaction usually occurs with the player taking on one persona and other players taking on a persona of his or her own. There is usually a storyteller who helps move the story forward.

What is the general goal of the game? There are a thousand different answers to this question, but here is the most basic. The goal of role-playing is to take on the role of another and act out an improvised play of sorts with others. The storyteller or person running the game acts as the director of this play. The rules of the particular role-playing game system act to keep things grounded in various ways.

With that said what makes so many of us play role-playing games? Is it simply escapism? Do we simply not want to deal with the real world, or is there something else going on?

Why did I play all the way through Final Fantasy XII? Why do I give up some of my Friday nights to pretend to be a Mage? Why do we choose to spend precious hours of our lives pretending to be other people?

Why do kids play make-believe?

A while back I did some research on this topic and I found a fascinating article about make-believe on a site devoted to parents who grew up on Sesame Street. Unfortunately this article seems to have vanished from the internet somehow. It's a real shame because I thought it was really interesting.

"You can't find something online that you found online before? Are you telling me the internet isn't perfect? It can't be! What will I do?"

You will just have to cope.

"Oh. Well, drat."

On a more serious note, if anyone can find this article for me I would greatly appreciate it.

In the article, Lisa Scheer, mother of two examined research by various child development experts. What did these experts find? They found that make-believe is good for children because it acts as their primary method to learn about the world, helps them develop important intellectual skills, and plays an important social function.

It also helps them cope with their anxieties and fears.

What does this have to do with gamers? Well, guess what, you are playing the adult version of make-believe when you play a role-playing game. Did I just crush your dreams? Sorry, but you have to accept it. We are the kids that never grew up.

The article discusses how children use make-believe to learn about their environment. It goes on to talk about how intellectual ideas and symbolic thinking come about as the child grows older. How does a child learn that the number 4 represents four items? They learn it through make-believe. Kids use make-believe as social currency. New kids often try to play parts in the make-believe games of kids that already are playing together.

Have you ever learned something new about some element of life by playing in a role-playing game? Have you ever done research for a character? Have you ever played a video game RPG where ideas about religion, politics, art, or society were present?

Do you ever invite new people to play in table top games or live action games? Do you ever want to share the newest video game that you are playing? Congratulations, you are keeping the social currency of make-believe alive.

Did you have an imaginary friend when you were kid? Chances are the answer is yes. According to the research presented in the article 65% of children between two and six have an imaginary friend. What is the point of an imaginary friend? It gives the child a chance to practice speaking and rehearse social situations. We play in games where we are constantly pretending to be other people. If we are someone else, we can say things that normally would be hard for us to say. Thus, even though most of us don’t have imaginary friends anymore we still have a place where we can practice social interaction.

"Do I count as an imaginary friend?"

I'm really not sure, Werdna. Maybe. I think you are more of a literary device, but you might be a kind of imaginary friend as well. I'll have to think about it. Anyway, back to my chain of thought.

"Fine, fine. Be that way."

I don’t think role-playing is used to cope with fear as much as children use make-believe to cope with it. However, I think we could certainly say that many of us use it to cope with anxiety. I know that I have personally had some bad days over the years, and it is very liberating to step out of your own life for a few hours and pretend to be someone else. If you are slaying dragons, you don’t have time to worry about that weird noise your car has been making lately.

Why doesn’t every adult role-play then? Why is the gaming industry not as big as the movie industry? The answer goes back to something that I said earlier. We are the kids that never grew up. This isn’t really true of course. More accurately, we are the adults that made a conscious choice to experience some of our life in a different way. By seven make-believe starts to go away for many kids as they see that the older kids don’t play pretend any more. Reality soon takes over and causes many people to turn their backs on the land of fantasy forever. We are the people who decided to walk back and play again.

"Have you decided if I am an imaginary friend yet?"

No, not yet.

"How long is this going to take?"

I don't know. Maybe a while. Can we talk about this later?

"Fine, fine."

So there you have it. A little explanation about role-playing and one interpretation of why we do what we do. Human behavior is far too complicated to pigeon hole into a simple universal explanation. However, for those of you unfamiliar with role-playing games I hope this helped a bit.

The Left 4 Dead Demo

"Are you seriously looking at a game demo? It isn't even a full game!"

That may be true, but I think the demo is still worth discussing. Why? It's just that damn good.

I have heard that they are going to discontinue the demo so if you have a PC that can run it I highly suggest that you go and download it and start playing.

Why?

Remember that plucky little kid Fun? Remember how he is just trying to make people happy? Well, the good people at Valve decided to listen to him. The Left 4 Dead demo is incredibly fun to play. I think that's the only thing that you really need to know about it.

Left 4 Dead

Want more? Alright, let me explain what makes the demo so amazing.

The demo chronicles your struggle against a horde of zombies.

There, done.

"That's it? I've already played like 14,000 other video games with zombies! What makes this one so speical?"

Alright, you got me there. There have been quite a few other games over the years that have had zombies. However, how many of those games populate each scenario with randomly generated zombie hordes that swarm you and force you to rely on teamwork to survive?

Is your list getting shorter?

Alright, how many of those games are completely built off the fun aspects of co-operative play but at the same time lets you sub in AI controlled "friends" if your real friends are busy?

How many let you save your friends from near death via various means? How many scatter various boss zombies throughout each level at unknown locations and times?

How is that list coming?

The Left 4 Dead demo only lets you play two levels, but the replay value in these two levels is mind blowing. This is all thanks to a little fellow called the "AI Director".

What does it do?

Well, according to the Left 4 Dead site it does the following:

"The Director tailors the frequency and ferocity of the zombie attacks to your performance, adjusting pacing, special effects and audio on the fly."

That's right, this thing changes the pacing and intensity of the zombie hordes based off how you are playing the game. It also randomly places zombies through each level and has hordes of them attack at various times every time you play.

"That's good right?"

Yep, it sure is. It means that you can literally play the same demo 100 times and it is always different. That is an amazing feat of game design. The fact that there is an entire game built around this technological wonder is incredible. I really hope that Left 4 Dead makes other game designers start to realize the importance of replay value.

"Hey, doesn't your laptop suck? Can you even play this thing?"

You know, sometimes I really hate you. It's true. My laptop is not a gaming machine. Sadly I can't play this amazing demo on my machine. However, my fiance was nice enough to let me play it some on her computer.

"Your fiance has been playing a game devoted to killing zombie hordes?"

Yep, I sure do. I'm a very lucky guy. She generally isn't a huge First Person Shooter (FPS) fan, but she loves this demo. It really is just that good. Even if the idea of fighting a horde of zombies doesn't excite you (for some unknown reason) I still suggest you check out this demo/game.

The concept is simple and has been done countless times in the past. However, like so many other things in life, it isn't about the content. It's all about the execution.

Left 4 Dead is the pinnacle of Zombie Apocalypse games. If you have a computer that can run it I highly recommend that you go and check it out. I promise you that after a swarm of zombies are dead at your feet after a chaotic battle you will not be disappointed.

Introduction to Game Perceptions

"There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception."

-Aldous Huxley-

I'm not an expert on game design yet.

"What? Why not? It's been almost a week!"

I know, I know. I'm slacking. However, that doesn't change my statement. I haven't gone to any schools for game design and I don't have a degree in journalism. However, that isn't going to stop me from looking at various games out there and dissecting their design.

"Do you really think you are qualified for that, Andrew?"

Yes, yes I do. Anyone who plays any type of game is perfectly qualified to examine that game and give their own perceptions about it.

"Dude, isn't that statement a bit risky? You totally just told all of your nonexistent readers to become your competition. Are you a moron?"

I think that's a bit harsh. If you want to stick around you have to stop being so negative.

"No."

Please?

"No."

Oh come on!

"Maybe."

Good enough. Alright, back to my point. I think anyone who wants to share their thoughts about any subject should do so. Too often human beings have things to share and they don't share them. I am thus a huge supporter of everyone writing as much as they can and sharing it with the world. If you want to write about how cute your pet Marmoset looks in his new Christmas hat I encourage you to do so. I might not be your target audience but if you write it with enough personality you still might gain me as a reader.

I know it took a lot of rambling but I just reached my point. The author's perception of reality is ultimately what makes any kind of writing interesting. Maybe it's just my Creative Writing roots but writing to me is the author's expression of his or her very soul. No other writer in existence can ever be writing from the exact same head space as you. If someone cloned you exactly and then gave your clone a word processor it would come pretty close.

However, it would still be different. After all, you are now writing from the perspective of a man or woman who was just cloned in order to create someone to write "just like you". The clone is not writing from this same perspective. Your writing will thus be different.

"Hey Andrew, I thought you said you reached your point? I just see more rambling."

Wow, you just never give up do you?

"Nope."

Why is that?

"Someone has to keep you honest."

What are you anyway? Are you like the imaginary audience member/reader/another part of my being that constantly keeps me in check? Or are you something else?

"Yep."

Yep? That doesn't tell me anything!

"Tough. You are so off topic right now it's stupid. Get back to it."

Alright, fine. So, since writing is an exercise of displaying the perception of your soul I am going to embrace it fully. What does this mean to you, my actual readers and not whatever the heck this other thing is that keeps popping into my writing.

"Hey, I resent that. I'm not a thing. I have a name you know."

You do?

"I sure do."

What is it?

"No idea. I am an element of your imagination after all. I guess that means you have to name me. So what are you going to call me smart guy?"

I think I'll call you Werdna.

"Your name backwards? Pretty lame don't you think?"

Tough. You will just have to deal.

"Jerk."

I heard that.

"Good."

I'm really sorry you had to witness all of that. As you can tell I write in a very steam of consciousness kind of way. Werdna and I had to work some stuff out. Sorry yo had to get involved. Alright, back to the discussion.

We write to share a little bit of ourselves with others. Everything we write is thus colored by who we are as a person. Where we came from, what we have suffered through, who we have met, etc...

Reviewers try to take this aspect of writing out of their reviews. They try to cover things from a completely neutral standpoint. I think this is a mistake. It makes the review too mechanical, too focused on the wrong things. Sometimes I don't need all of the details about every RPG book, video game, or board game. Sometimes I just want to know one thing.

"Is the game awesome or does it suck?"

If it is awesome, what makes it awesome? If it sucks, what makes it suck? There are plenty of other sites on the internet that offer the neutered neutral reviews. This isn't going to be one of those sites. I plan to give my perceptions about a game. What I like about it, what I don't like about it and how well it works overall. I might not cover the whole game. If I look at a video game and the graphics don't ruin the game for me but they don't impress me either I am probably just not going to mention them.

Why?

We all only have so much time in this world. Why should you waste your time reading about how the graphics are "adequate for the game's goals"? Why should I talk about a chapter in a Role-playing game book if the chapter is just kind of hanging out in the book with much cooler stuff? We all have better things to do.

"You do realize the irony of discussing how precious time is in this nice long rambling post, right?"

Hey, I never said I was perfect.

"I'm just saying..."

I don't plan to write reviews. This is why I am calling the category "Game Perceptions" instead of "Game Reviews". I might not examine every aspect of a game when I write about it. However, I plan to give all of you my perceptions on as many different games as possible. When I write about something I want all of you to know exactly how I really feel about it.

"Do you really think your perceptions are worth sharing?"

You sure are a snarky little writing device aren't you? Yes. I do think they are worth sharing. After all I think everyone should share their perceptions about what they love, and boy do I ever love gaming.

Contact Me

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Have something to say but don't want to say it in a comment?

Send me a message! I promise to at least read it.

Is that a great deal or what?

:)

What is a game anyway?

If I am going to write about game design it's probably a good idea for me to figure out what I am writing about huh?

I thus went to my old friend Wikipedia to discover what it had to say about the term "game".

"Andrew, are you insane? Wikipedia is edited by the public. Anyone can just put whatever they want in there! It's Chaos! It's like Mad Max the Encyclopedia!"

I beg to differ. I admit that Wikipedia isn't perfect but there is an entire team of editors, not to mention the entire general public, that makes sure that it remains as accurate and neutral as possible. That is good enough in my book.

Alright, now that I supported my good buddy lets look at some definitions.

"A game is a structured activity, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes also used as an educational tool."

"Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interactivity. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational or psychological role."

Check out the Wikipedia article here for more information.

Wikipedia lists four main different types of games. I am going to cover three of them in detail during the course of this blog. The 4th one I will cover but only a small amount.

"Geez, Andrew! You say you are going to talk about game design and then you just totally ignore an entire category? Are you some kind of elitist jerk?"

Not at all. I just know my limitations. The 4th category of games are sports. There really isn't a lot of innovation going on in terms of game design as far as sports are concerned. I doubt I'm going to get in a position where I can design the sport that will replace Baseball or Football. Plus, I suck at sports. I'm skinny, have always had health problems, and I have a bad leg from a car accident. I don't think the NFL will be calling me any time soon.

Does this mean I am going to completely ignore sports? Nope. I am going to discuss sports every so often. However, when I do it will probably be either to compare some element of a sport to something in another game or to highlight an odd sport that I think is cool. There are a lot of weird ones out there and some of them might have some game design insight that we can steal from them.

"Alright, Mr. Smarty Pants rambler, what are you going to focus on in that case?"

Well, the other three obviously.

"I hate you."

I kid, I kid. There are three major categories of games that I am going to look at while I try to become an expert on game design.

Tabletop Games - A game you play at a table. This includes board games, collectible card games, traditional card games, dice games and everything else "table-ey".

Video Games - An electronic game played...Ok, seriously, if you don't know what a video game is you must be a time traveler from the 1950s. Before you go back to your own time I have some parting words for you. Wal-Mart, Disney, Texas Instruments, Apple, Microsoft, Starbucks and Google. Look me up again in my present and we will talk about my share.

Role-playing Games - A game where the player takes on the role of an individual inside of a fictional world. Think improvised acting with rules thrown in to limit how ridiculous you can be. Yes, this is where you can fight a dragon with your Dragon Slaying Longsword +5.

Alright, I think we now have some good definitions for our shared gaming lexicon. Now that we have that out of the way we can start examining game design. I know some of you video game guys aren't used to dealing with role-players and I know some tabletop gamers out there aren't used to dealing with either video gamers or role-players. It's ok. We all share a common bond. We all love to game. Lets just appreciate that fact and work together to create a new gaming Utopia where we all get along and appreciate the beauty and grace of game design.

Define the term game: Check
Create and impossible to reach crazy goal: Check

Alright, I think we're now ready to have some fun.