Possible Kickstarter feedback

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

I have a loose idea that has been forming in my head for a couple of weeks now. I guess by my putting it out there in a thread I am at risk of forfeiting it, but I'd find it hard to believe if I was the first to think of it. Doesn't really involve minis, but I think some in this audience could tell me if it interests them.

The premise is a company that administers online, video chat based games like Dungeons and Dragons. By administer, I mean that we will develop our own adventures/campaigns with trained (certified) dungeon masters (moderators that run the players through the adventure, employing the rules and taking the role of enemies and non-player characters). The website would offer dice software, maps, and character sheets, as well as additional special effects that are initiated by the DM. The adventures will all be developed locally, mostly by myself, using official game rules, designed for a certain number of players of a certain level of experience (ie 5-10 players level 1-4). The exciting part, though, is that players and their characters are "certified" through the website. So they can move onto new adventures and follow a general story line, or just sort of freelance things, as they progress. So a level 20 Paladin is a legit level 20, each experience point earned was given by a certified DM. They can meet in arenas where they can fight other players, offering up gold or magic items as a wager. Or they can fight larger PvP skirmishes. Of course, ultra rare magical items will surface, creating a WoW-like barter system and causing envy among players. And much, much more to be fleshed out (or purposefully withheld).

Costs involved would be supporting multiple internet chat rooms, and paying to keep good DMs employed (though my hopes are that, at least initially, the DMs consist of volunteers). And marketing, of course.

I just know so many people who used to play D&D, but then real life got in the way. Or some people are just plain old not comfortable leaving the house and meeting a bunch if strangers to play. Or they can't consistently meet up with the same group of people, so they eventually become different levels and so can't play together. This will solve all of those problems. My plan is to constantly keep a calendar filled up with enough events so that you could almost certainly pick up a game at your whim for a few hours a week. Scheduling and balancing this would, of course, be the the most difficult aspect of the whole idea.

Maybe this already exists. I couldn't find it though. I came up with the idea when I tried to find such a service, and it looked like there wasn't anything promising out there. What do ya think?

 

[Dragonsreach]

World of Warcraft perhaps?

I think the premise is OK, but there are so many Ifs and Buts involved with this. Simply getting it off the ground would be difficult, recruiting 'The RightPeople ' even harder matching standards of performance within a company. Think of it this way how many varied personalities are their in your platoon and how many different ways do they want do (i.e. screw up) something.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

World of Warcraft perhaps?

I think the premise is OK, but there are so many Ifs and Buts involved with this. Simply getting it off the ground would be difficult, recruiting 'The RightPeople ' even harder matching standards of performance within a company. Think of it this way how many varied personalities are their in your platoon and how many different ways do they want do (i.e. screw up) something.

What sets WoW apart from a tabletop RPG like D&D or many others, is that in WoW you are limited by the constraints of your software- in D&D you are dealing with a much larger set of conditions, limited only by the rules and player's imaginations.

Getting it it off the ground may, or may not, be a challenge IMO. Certainly, hiring the right people would be solved by 2 processes. One would be the whole certification process. A dungeon master must graduate from our course, which tests their understanding of the rules, and provides courses that validate their discretionary abilities. Meaning that what officiating or narrating is not handled by the rules or covered in the modules is a standard taught to the DMs. How to prepare a DM, and later judge their ability to be a good DM, is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. An idea would be for players to rate their experience with the DM, and only the better ones are selected for higher level adventures. Quality control prosecuted by the customer. Secondarily, the fact that the script is developed in-house should put a lot of control over how adventures are executed.

Indeed, a platoon has a varied and diverse set of personalities, leading to an even wider set of opinions. However, as the Platoon Sergeant, mine is the only one that matters. :vampire:

I do admit that this idea is in it's infancy and there is still much, much more to be considered.