In my experience as both a DM and player, I have discovered that the Internet is an amazing resource for everything from plot devices to character concepts. The immense number of websites that proudly display the achievements of gamers around the world is a testament to the natural desire for numerous gamers to share ideas and content.
However, in the many years that I’ve scoured the Internet for resources, I’ve always felt as though there is a lack of a central forum for RPG content and ideas. The naturally sparse nature of the web has leant to creative ideas being stifled and unexposed. I would go so far as to say that most gamers perceive game companies to be the only legitimate source of material for their games, simply due to the fact that third party sources are unregulated and often unadvertised. In my perception, only a small minority is truly exposed to a substantial amount of the creative content the web has to offer – plowing through the full content of the web is no easy task.
For anybody who has ever heard of Wikipedia, the website offers a free encyclopedia for all to explore and learn from. However, what sets it apart from any other online encyclopedia is the fact that it allows its users to write its content. Individuals from countless fields each have the capacity to enter the Wikipedia and make their own contribution to its entries – adding the sum total of their knowledge to an already overflowing resource. The network of proposals and corrections submitted by users is maintained by a small set of editors who are effectively “administrators” – they have the final say on what is displayed to the public from each of the submissions. Considering the amount of information that is steadily submitted to Wikipedia, they certainly have their job cut out for them. A freely available document collaboration tool named wiki assists in the task of collaborations on encyclopedia content – submissions are then screened by administrators and posted. In addition, users have the ability to comment on and discuss articles and post any corrections (much like any other forum). For more information on the wikipedia, you can visit it at www.wikipedia.org (I certainly don’t claim to be an expert on it – but the idea is fairly simple, and yet very powerful).
Hence, my proposal is to bring together the ideas presented by wikipedia – document collaboration and a central repository for ideas – and the idea of an RPG forum – a board to present ideas and contribute to the global gaming community. The proposed integrated tool would provide the following benefits to users:
- Sorted categories of game resources, submitted by users (including, but not limited to, new game rules, plots, puzzles, etc.) Further, game resources would allow other users to contribute ideas – for example, straw polls would be available to allow submitted resources to be judged for balance. In addition, each submission will have an associated message board where content relating to the entry may be posted.
- Free webspace for users wishing to publish their game world to the Internet. A central forum for worlds would be an immensely valuable resource, as users could quickly receive feedback on their ideas and concepts. In addition, it would allow world-specific content to be filed together in a single repository.
- All submissions would be available for gamers to freely use. A good documentation license is required in order to ensure that content may be freely taken from the site and republished elsewhere. As a consequence, however, individuals taking content from the repository must give credit to its respective author(s) and direct readers to the online resource.
As webspace and bandwidth costs money, the site would likely have to be maintained by a combination of donations and ad banners. Administration would be handled on a volunteer basis, where trusted individuals maintain the boards. The tasks of the administrator include, but are not limited to:
- Posting and screening submitted content.
- Ensuring that copyrighted content is kept off of the repository. A method for contacting the administrators will be available for anybody who believes that copyrighted content has been posted.
As well, individuals will be required in order to design the layout or frontend for the site, the backend for managing the site content (likely derived from the freely available wiki collaboration tool), and keeping both of these up to date.
The one downfall of a site such as this is the effect on the industry as a consequence. A site such as this, if it grows to a large enough scale, would have the potential results of pulling down sales in the gaming industry as individuals migrate towards free content over published content. Many would argue, however, that the effects would instead drive companies to focus on more creative content and potentially profit from their uniqueness in that regard. I would not be so arrogant to claim that this design would ultimately draw in so many users as to have such consequences, but it’s something to think about.
Overall, I believe that this is an immense effort, but it would be a highly rewarding and useful resource if it could be implemented. I am currently examining the idea from a feasibility standpoint, and am curious if anybody has feedback on it. All comments are, as always, greatly appreciated!
Oh, and if this idea has already been implemented somewhere, I’d love to know.
However, in the many years that I’ve scoured the Internet for resources, I’ve always felt as though there is a lack of a central forum for RPG content and ideas. The naturally sparse nature of the web has leant to creative ideas being stifled and unexposed. I would go so far as to say that most gamers perceive game companies to be the only legitimate source of material for their games, simply due to the fact that third party sources are unregulated and often unadvertised. In my perception, only a small minority is truly exposed to a substantial amount of the creative content the web has to offer – plowing through the full content of the web is no easy task.
For anybody who has ever heard of Wikipedia, the website offers a free encyclopedia for all to explore and learn from. However, what sets it apart from any other online encyclopedia is the fact that it allows its users to write its content. Individuals from countless fields each have the capacity to enter the Wikipedia and make their own contribution to its entries – adding the sum total of their knowledge to an already overflowing resource. The network of proposals and corrections submitted by users is maintained by a small set of editors who are effectively “administrators” – they have the final say on what is displayed to the public from each of the submissions. Considering the amount of information that is steadily submitted to Wikipedia, they certainly have their job cut out for them. A freely available document collaboration tool named wiki assists in the task of collaborations on encyclopedia content – submissions are then screened by administrators and posted. In addition, users have the ability to comment on and discuss articles and post any corrections (much like any other forum). For more information on the wikipedia, you can visit it at www.wikipedia.org (I certainly don’t claim to be an expert on it – but the idea is fairly simple, and yet very powerful).
Hence, my proposal is to bring together the ideas presented by wikipedia – document collaboration and a central repository for ideas – and the idea of an RPG forum – a board to present ideas and contribute to the global gaming community. The proposed integrated tool would provide the following benefits to users:
- Sorted categories of game resources, submitted by users (including, but not limited to, new game rules, plots, puzzles, etc.) Further, game resources would allow other users to contribute ideas – for example, straw polls would be available to allow submitted resources to be judged for balance. In addition, each submission will have an associated message board where content relating to the entry may be posted.
- Free webspace for users wishing to publish their game world to the Internet. A central forum for worlds would be an immensely valuable resource, as users could quickly receive feedback on their ideas and concepts. In addition, it would allow world-specific content to be filed together in a single repository.
- All submissions would be available for gamers to freely use. A good documentation license is required in order to ensure that content may be freely taken from the site and republished elsewhere. As a consequence, however, individuals taking content from the repository must give credit to its respective author(s) and direct readers to the online resource.
As webspace and bandwidth costs money, the site would likely have to be maintained by a combination of donations and ad banners. Administration would be handled on a volunteer basis, where trusted individuals maintain the boards. The tasks of the administrator include, but are not limited to:
- Posting and screening submitted content.
- Ensuring that copyrighted content is kept off of the repository. A method for contacting the administrators will be available for anybody who believes that copyrighted content has been posted.
As well, individuals will be required in order to design the layout or frontend for the site, the backend for managing the site content (likely derived from the freely available wiki collaboration tool), and keeping both of these up to date.
The one downfall of a site such as this is the effect on the industry as a consequence. A site such as this, if it grows to a large enough scale, would have the potential results of pulling down sales in the gaming industry as individuals migrate towards free content over published content. Many would argue, however, that the effects would instead drive companies to focus on more creative content and potentially profit from their uniqueness in that regard. I would not be so arrogant to claim that this design would ultimately draw in so many users as to have such consequences, but it’s something to think about.
Overall, I believe that this is an immense effort, but it would be a highly rewarding and useful resource if it could be implemented. I am currently examining the idea from a feasibility standpoint, and am curious if anybody has feedback on it. All comments are, as always, greatly appreciated!
Oh, and if this idea has already been implemented somewhere, I’d love to know.
