DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Front of House Play-by-Post Game Studio Genre Surveys Q4 2016 Genre Survey - Vote Now!

The poll in this post is broken. Polls can't be fixed, so I've reposted it with 50% more choice and votes.

Scroll down or click here for Q4 2016 Genre Survey.

To see the original post, click Show below.

Following on from the above, I've done an individual survey of the message games currently running on DreamLyrics and broken them down by RPG-style subgenre.



That might give you an inkling what we like, or perhaps what we're missing but don't even realise we're missing. Who knows? But hopefully it will stimulate ideas!

Interesting, thanks!

Yes, so you see that Science Fiction winning out in Q2 might be for good reason--- Not much of it going on. Will Tim restart KLR, making it Space Opera 2?

At least with the categories this time around we might find out a bit more about people's Science Fiction craving.

Another observation I made regards the Pulp Adventure genre. Featuring games such as Hollow Earth Expedition, Spirit of the Century, and indeed default Savage Worlds, it seems to have waned in popularity in the marketplace. Likewise, Pulp Adventure messages games on DreamLyrics have also dropped off.

I don't know that it is =needed= (the change up), but it =IS= an interesting idea!

I will have to think on this one a lot more than on the previous polls <g> Thank goodness I have some time <wink>

OK Nivek, tell us about your craving for a traditional fantasy game.

I like old style D&D type world like forgotten realms. It certainly doesn't have to be forgotten realms and it doesn't have to be D&D. In fact, a very low magic would be preferred so that you could play systemless.

I think of Lord of the rings where the magic is mostly in the items and not in spells other than Gandalf.

I've said it before, but a small party of say 4 is preferable even 3 Fighter, Thief\Ranger, cleric. Elves, dwarves, humans, halflings, nothing more exotic than that. A story where there is a quest and not just chasing treasure.

Not terribly interested in combat after combat, but some is certainly expected. Perhaps, each person needs to use their other skills to solve the quest.

I like the simplicity of that time frame. No sci-fi, no cell phones.

You know, old school

<heh heh heh> Lovely vision Nivek <g> I would =certainly= love that sort of game!!!

Interesting. I've been planning what game I'll start in October. I was looking at Dungeon World, which could be described as the new old school. It's Basic D&D, using a modern, fiction-driven system and GMing techniques.

I'm still pondering on ways to make it distinct in tone from HHE, which had a fun, pulpy vibe, or TVS, which had a grim, end of the world feel.

Alternatively, I do have my collection of The One Ring RPG that has been gathering dust and is under threat of being sold off on eBay because I never play it.

Woo hoo! Another Neil fantasy! Count me in!

I have the One Ring RPG. That would be interesting

"Another Neil fantasy" -Gypsy

We don't want to know what goes on in your sordid mind!

Well I'll keep thinking about it but make a decision after I'm back from the States. Who knows, I might find new inspiration!

We'll hold you to that...

Count me as interested!

Interested as well.

What's the weather doing along the Oregon-Washington border at the moment, Pandemonium?

https://weather.com/weather/today/l/USOR0275:1:US

Portland is warmer than the coast is. Recommendation for anywhere on the coast is layers. Sometimes it can be nice, but it is almost always cooler than other places. For example, Portland in the 80s (25 C?] and the coast is in the 60s to low 70s.

That being said, you are coming at one of the best times of the year. It is still mostly dry (little rain, though every day is TBD) and still warmer than the winter.

For my spot look up the weather in Bandon Oregon. That will help you get a feel for the averages in September. A good windbreaker will go a long way. Rain can happen any time just isn't likely.

Sounds like England!

I've been looking through Dungeon World and The One Ring, and bearing in mind what Nivek has said. A few things occurred.

Although it's a modern game, Dungeon World sets out to replicate the way RPGs were originally played, very fiction-driven because the rules were so basic. But in doing so, Dungeon World focuses on old school grognardia, the dungeon crawls of yesteryear, and isn't a great fit for other styles of adventure.

So I think we can rule out Dungeon World.

Although I'm always up for 13th Age, a message game is a unique opportunity to try new things so I'll rule that out too.

The One Ring is looking like a serious contender. My only concern is the game's emphasis on The Journey does tend to make for extended adventures, and I don't want to tie anyone into a 5 year commitment like with TVS. (And that was only a two-session published adventure!)

Hillfolk might also fit the bill, and it's another of my RPG books that I haven't used yet. However the setup for Hillfolk is very time-consuming. It might be rewarding, but it might also drain a message game's momentum before it's even started.

We shall see. Ultimately, the above is of far less interest to players than the pitch for the game itself, the tease as it were.

Well, first, if the game is good then being tied into it for 5 years is a bonus, not a minus

But, you might be able to do a fast-forward from time to time and have some things occur off-camera and by DM fiat, so to speak, to shave time off.

I agree with Zeim. I like a reason to want to come look for new posts and to post to a game.

I decided against Hillfolk anyway. Mulling over its rules, there's too much of a meta-dialogue between the players to determine who has creative control at any given point... Too clunky for a message game. But it's character generation rules are still very useful and rules-independent, so I can use those regardless.

Is it just me, or is the poll above broken? Looks like the date's set to open on 1 Oct 2016 and close on 31 Mar 2016. Which isn't going to work!

Setting a closing date for the poll in 2017 doesn't seem to have worked. (Didn't I make that mistake once before?) So here we are, for real this time, and to make up for the lapse I've added 50% more poll and votes!

1 poll, 15 choices, 3 votes, enjoy!

You know what, this is a much more interesting poll than with the usual categories, don't you think? I think it corresponds more closely to the published RPG genres, so it's easier to guess what games players might be interested in.

Would you agree with the following examples?

Classic Fantasy = D&D
Space Opera = Star Wars: Edge of the Empire
Dark Fantasy = Warhammer FRP
Hard Sci-Fi/Cyberpunk = Eclipse Phase
Urban Fantasy-Horor = The Dresden Files RPG
Post-Apocalypse = Atomic Highway
Horror = Dread
Supers = Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
Paranormal Investigation = Night's Black Agents
Steampunk = Victoriana
Modern Thriller = Spycraft
Pulp Adventure = Hollow Earth Expedition
Soap = Hillfolk
Historical Focus = Aces & Eights
Other = Rifts, Maid, Iron Kingdoms