bySwarm RPG Blog - Busy Bee and CEO of bySwarm Inc.

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June 15, 2010

New groups, playtests and Gen Con!

Dark Golden Age development is progressing well with lots of ideas brewing. I am running two different groups now in the setting with one of those groups having a very playtest-oriented plan. The first group is a family group including my wife, daughter, and friends. They are starting out at 1st level which is always a challenge, especially when the party has no clerics.

The second group is one of my older gaming groups including one friend that I've been gaming with since 1994. Each of them is playing a caster of one sort or another in order to test the variety of mechanics for the Dark Golden Age that have been brainstormed to capture the gritty and low magic feel of the setting.

Gen Con is less than two months away which is a little frightening but also exciting. I am working on two different adventures to run in multiple 2-hour and 4-hour blocks. I also need to work on specific plans for the seminars: getting published at bySwarm and gathering input for features for e-tools.

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March 28, 2010

Throw open the gates!

The Dark Golden Age and Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

After a month of discussion and voting, the system has been selected for the first bySwarm project - the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
Almost everyone that voted had Pathfinder Roleplaying Game as their first or second option with more than half having it as their first choice. There will be a lot of opportunity to write setting material as well as to develop new feats, spells and other mechanics that capture the feeling of the Dark Golden Age!

Stage 3 - Building the Setting

The site is all ready to go to start building the setting. There are a couple features that I am still working to complete in the coming days, but you can start contributing now. You can start contributing from the Create page. I'll be creating some demo videos to help explain some of the features.

http://byswarm.com/node/add

You'll also notice a little block in the upper right of the content. It will have an arrow if you didn't write it. If you like that piece of content for any reason, click on the block to give it a vote showing that you like it. It could be because you think it's creative, perhaps it inspires you or maybe the writing is really good.

Gen Con

As you start to plan your summer vacations, I highly recommend putting Gen Con Indy on your short list of places to visit. We now have four different distinct sessions in ten different slots! Whether you are a contributor or completely unfamiliar with the efforts of the Swarm, these sessions will be useful for you. We will have seminars for using bySwarm as well as RPG play sessions that will introduce the Dark Golden Age.

http://byswarm.com/gencon

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February 28, 2010

bySwarm update - And the winner is...

And the winner is...

After months of writing, discussion and debate, we now know the first setting to be built by the Swarm! Our first project will be the construction of Dark Golden Age, a concept created by Satyr.

For centuries, the world of the Dark Golden Age was ruled by wizards and spellcasters. But since magic comes in tides, ages of high magic and ages of low magic alternate and the current Age of High magic has come to grinding halt. Old structures of authority around powerful wizard-potentates collapse, and new groups strive for power. The old magocracy makes place for new kingdoms. The mundane majority which was subjugated for centuries rise again and sheds the joke of their former masters, technological developments which were hold back for centuries through the wizard’s dominance blossom up, while the sheer wonder of magic shrivels.

Dark Golden Age: http://byswarm.com/setting-concept/dark-golden-age

Stage 2

Satyr and I are discussing some details, but I will be posting the voting system for the system selection soon. That vote and the surrounding discussion will go for at least two weeks and perhaps as much as four weeks. As we get into Stage 2, you should think about the different systems we are considering along these areas:

  • compatibility - how well does the system fit the setting
  • established market - what's the market for the setting based on the system
  • personal taste - how much do you like the system

Thanks to everyone who submitted a setting concept and especially to everyone who submitted a review. We are all part of the Swarm, and we are all going to be working together to make a great setting!

Thanks,
Mike
Busy Bee and CEO

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February 24, 2010

Last day for RPG reviews is almost here - February 27

Status Update

There are just a few days left to submit a review for the setting concepts. Once the reviews close, I will verify the results and announce the winning setting concept. We will be accepting setting concept reviews through February 27th. It is not too late to help set the direction for the next revolution in RPG design.

Top Setting Concepts: http://byswarm.com/contest/top

Our Team

I want to again send out my thanks to everyone that's participated in the Swarm so far. I feel like we are really starting to come together as a team. Even if you have not been very active or never even posted anything at all, the opportunity to be a part of the team to build an RPG setting is only going to get bigger.

As we move into the future, I wanted to say a words about what separates the Swarm from being just an ordinary forum or discussion board. On a regular forum, everyone is there with a common interest, but they do not typically work together towards a common goal. As a part of the Swarm, we are not just together with a common interest. We are also a team working to create something together. Teams go through many stages, and I see the team starting to come together. As we start working more collaboratively, let's remember that we all have the same goal - to be involved in creating a new RPG setting.

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February 22, 2010

bySwarm Update - Get your reviews in this week!

Thanks to everyone who submitted an RPG setting concept. We received a number of creative and exciting concepts from the Swarm, and now we have to do the hard work of writing reviews of the concepts that have been submitted. Many of you have already reviewed a number of concepts, and we send you our thanks for that effort! In fact, anyone who submitted a setting concept or who posts a review will be added to a special group called the Hive.

The Hive is one way for us to give recognition to everyone that has been an active participant in the formative months of bySwarm. What exactly being a member of the Hive will mean is yet to be announced. If you have not submitted a setting concept or posted any reviews, now is the time.

We will be accepting setting concept reviews through February 27th. The reason for this short turnaround is twofold. One, there was no massive influx of setting concepts at the very end that would necessitate adding more time to the schedule. Two, there are event submission deadlines for Origins and Gen Con coming up soon. We want to submit events to Origins and Gen Con in the new setting we are building so that we can introduce the Swarm's game design to larger audiences.

It is not too late to help set the direction for the next revolution in RPG design. We are all part of the Swarm.

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February 21, 2010

Working on the RPG construction tools

Now that the setting concept submissions are closed, we'll be accelerating really quickly as we get ready to move into the next stages. To prepare, I've been working on the functionality for system selection as well as for the actual construction of the setting itself.

For the system selection, I'm trying out a couple different tools that offer slightly different features. The main thing is that I want for people to be able to vote for up to two systems with a ranking. So if someone really wants the system to be Pathfinder but think that Savage Worlds would also be good, they can rank Pathfinder a 1 and Savage Worlds a 2. Then when the system is calculating votes, it uses the instant runoff method to calculate the winner. By using this method of voting, people can potentially vote for their favorite - and perhaps weaker performing in terms of votes - but still put in their two cents on which of the leading systems they would prefer. The functionality for system selection is probably the simplest thing I am working on at the moment.

The setting construction is by far the more complex part of the project. I'm testing it out in a lot of ways, and there will likely be additional features that I add as I see how people use the system. The general idea is that there are different pieces of information that someone might wish to enter about characters, creatures, objects, places, events and organizations in the setting. Characters might have role-playing tips and histories, but places might have maps and descriptions. The powerful feature though will be in how these elements can link together. Each of these different types can be linked to the others to create a complex set of relationships. In addition, I want to be able to potentially label these relationships at a granular level.

Labeling the relationships describes the type of relationship between two items. Two characters might be labeled as "enemies" of each other. An event might have a character labeled as a "participant". A place could be the "city" within which another place exists such as a "region". The system needs to be pretty flexible to accommodate this feature, but it is certainly doable. The question is really whether I can have it working correct and in place before we start building the setting in about a month.

We shall see. If you're a PHP or Drupal programmer and want to help out, there is definitely room to get involved with the company. I'm still looking for a partner or two, and a Drupal programmer would be a perfect match. Besides these things, there is a lot of design fine-tuning that is needed.

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February 20, 2010

Setting Concept Countdown - LAST DAY!

LAST DAY!

Today is the final day for setting concept submissions. Have you put in your entry yet? If not, you only have hours left to go.

After the submissions end later today, we will be accepting reviews until approximately the same time next week. Be sure to post reviews for the setting concepts that have been submitted. We want as input from as many people as possible. You are both the market as well as writers, so be sure you put in your thoughts.

The setting concept that the Swarm chooses will be the focus of our RPG development work for the next year. That means the ideas you submit today could be what all the members of the Swarm are developing for a long time. Making such a big mark for a new RPG publisher could be a great entry point for anyone wanting to break into the RPG industry.

Let's chat

Mike is logged into Skype and available for any discussions that people would like to have. We could talk about a setting concept you are writing. We could talk about the other setting concepts. We could talk about the company and what we have planned for the next several months. It's up to you! Mike's address on Skype is mike.bohlmann so feel free to give him a call any time. Azato has already called in to chat, and you can, too.

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February 17, 2010

bySwarm Setting Concept Countdown - 3 days

3 days left!

It's Wednesday, and we have barely 3 days to go before the deadline for setting concept submissions. Have you put in your entry yet? We've received fourteen great concepts so far, and there's been some lively discussion about the concepts.

The setting concept that the Swarm chooses will be the focus of our RPG development work for the next year. That means the ideas you submit today could be what all the members of the Swarm are developing for a long time. Making such a big mark for a new RPG publisher could be a great entry point for anyone wanting to break into the RPG industry.

Let's chat

On February 20th, the last day for submissions, Mike will be logged into Skype and available for any discussions that people would like to have. We could talk about a setting concept you are writing. We could talk about the other setting concepts. We could talk about the company and what we have planned for the next several months. It's up to you! Mike's address on Skype is mike.bohlmann so feel free to give him a call any time on Saturday.

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February 14, 2010

Setting concepts needing more reviews

These setting concepts could use some more reviews. Be sure to check them out and submit a review! If you are the author for one of these reviews, you can still post your own review as well. The Inspiring category is most important because it indicates how much you are willing to keep working on the setting if it wins. For the other categories, please keep them in line with the scores of the other reviews.

Setting concepts with 3 reviews
Apotheosis - Zack Faust - http://byswarm.com/setting-concept/apotheosis
“Hi my name is Bob, and I’m a god. I can make into you a demi-god, how’s that sound?” All that went through the teenagers’ mind as they underwent apotheosis was ‘oh my god, Sally is going to flip when she hears about this!’ Welcome to Apotheosis, the crazy weird game where teenagers have to learn to control their new powers while worrying about getting good grades (because that’s what teenagers think about right?), all while trying to keep the existence of their powers a secret!

The Last Child - Zack Faust - http://byswarm.com/setting-concept/last-child
Space ships, planned evolution, planets lost to time, the mysterious Rave, and humanity, the orphaned and last sentient species to be born, have been thrown into it all. Long ago the first sentients, the Lenia created a number of other sentient races that have carried on this tradition even after the Lenia vanished, leaving their dark legacy behind. This setting is a Gothic Space RPG with overtones of a Space Opera mixed throughout.

Setting concepts with 2 reviews
Beta World - azato - http://byswarm.com/setting-concept/beta-world
This is a game about the far future when aliens invade and "terraform" the earth for thier own purposes. The settign takes place hundreds of years after the change and our world is populated with many strange creatures and plants. The weather patterns have also changed. The is a reverse side to this coin which I will reveal if this ever gets chosen to develop further. This world is a my attempt to create a "logical' Gamma World setting. I am not claiming that this all works from a scientific point of view, but that it answers many of my own objections.

Mist & Shadow - mikeb - http://byswarm.com/setting-concept/mist-shadow
In Mist & Shadow, the truth is almost never what appears on the outside but is instead several layers deep within intrigue, subterfuge, and obfuscation. While magic and the supernatural is still outside the conventional knowledge of mankind, members of the Shadow Consortium work day and night to unlock the power of the unknown in combination with technology. The League of Mists pushes the gears of war forward as millions of men, women, and children die in a conflict that will remake the world. How it will end for sure is yet to be seen for even the Oracle of Munich now admits that the circumstances of her prophecy have changed.

Setting concepts with 1 review
Seeker's Fate - Zack Faust - http://byswarm.com/setting-concept/seekers-fate
“We stand apart. We are neither Judge, Prosecutor, Defendant, nor Victim, we are Seekers. It is our job to observe and manage the continued existence of the Multiverse”- Seeker History 101. In the center of the multiverse is a world known as Orphana, home to the warriors known as the Seekers, the ones who guard the balance of the multiverse. But as that balance is threatened by schisms within the Seekers, war, and a mysterious enemy, can the Seekers succeed in their duty in this fantasy RPG setting?

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February 9, 2010

I'm excited!

With the setting concept competition wrapping up in 11 days, I find myself getting really excited about what we are working together to do. 

If you look at it one way, we are building a role-playing game setting. That is exciting if you enjoy role-playing games and the infinite possibilities they present. I have been playing role-playing games since I was in grade school, and I have played a lot of different systems and settings. The settings I have enjoyed the most are the ones where I felt like I could make a permanent contribution. Sometimes those were the settings that I had developed via the games I ran. Other times it was the D&D setting that my DM had been building for years in which we would sometimes encounter long-retired PCs of other players or even our ourselves.

If I look at it another way, we are creating an opportunity for all those untapped creative minds in the hobby that are looking for an outlet to contribute to a real product. When I hear that freelance writers get paid as little as $0.01 US per word, I think there has got to be a better way to fuel this hobby and get more people's work out to more members of the gaming community. There are a handful of people that manage to break into the industry, but we are missing out on so many creative ideas by waiting for publishers to give the dozens of aspiring writers that contact them a chance to prove themselves.

That's what I want bySwarm to do. Give us as a hobby more exposure to creative ideas from more people and to get that exposure by working together on something fun and new. In these next 11 days, I am looking forward to seeing what the Swarm produces and more importantly what the Swarm decides to develop.

I'm excited!

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