Hello, everyone! As of this writing, the 7DRL is still ongoing for a few hours, though I haven't yet made time to look at any of the entries. It will have to wait for the next newsletter.
In other news, I spent last week resting after my last creative project, though I've done enough of that by now to hopefully move on with my other plans already.
Will let you know. For now let's see the mid-month headlines, all three of them:
- We were all distracted last year, so we kinda forgot to celebrate 40 years since the world's first MMORPG, known as MUD. The concept has long since developed from essentially a multiplayer text adventure, through EverQuest and World of Warcraft, to whatever the cool kids are playing today. Yet MUDs still endure in their original form as well. I discovered the scene in 2009-2010 (and wrote about it), and I'm still active, at least in a subculture thereof. So this look back means a lot to me.
- If you speak French, take a look at this article about interactive fiction for the little ones. But not text adventures! More like a device for playing interactive audiobooks that can be created with open source software. Or tabletop role-playing games for kids. Or even a new kind of gamebook for younger audiences. Yes, the genre is alive and well. And strange new avenues are being explored.
- This weekend the RPG.net community discusses another thorny issue: What should I be sensitive to when western or Deadlands gaming? Having just completed a novella that features Native American main characters in a sci-fi setting with themes of colonization, I'm glad to have friends who can advise about issues like this. Failing that, two things help: knowing history, and remembering that people are people: a very diverse bunch, even within the same social or ethnic groups. In other words, no stereotyping. It's a good start.
Not much, then, but worth reading and talking about. Until next time!