DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Front of House Play-by-Post Game Studio Genre Surveys Q4 2013 Genre Survey (Landing Early)

Well, 2013's flying past faster than Superman trying to escape a really bad time-reversal plot device.

It's not quite Q4 yet, but to prevent KenSeg from Hulking out on us, we're getting this thing started sooner rather than later.

While we're talking superheroes, let's remember that back in Q2 there was a strong pining for Supers games. "Pining" because we all seemed to acknowledge how short-lived Supers message games tend to be.

Perhaps this is why no Supers games emerged in answer to that survey's results. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking rather than demand?

Like the Q2 survey, you can view poll results before you vote. And for the first time ever, you're allowed as many votes as you like. Also for the first time ever, I've added "Erotic" as a genre. Has the 50 Shades of Grey craze struck DreamLyrics too?

OK ... I voted for several because it is less about the genre and more about the story and the characters for me <g>

I voted Fantasy not only because it is by far my favorite setting but also because we've lost more than half the fantasy games we had a year ago.

Um, can you put just about all of it into one? So, kind of what Mike said. I would have loved to see the CyberPunk game happen.

And, no, Fifty Shades is not up to the caliber of writing I want. I like my smut to be well written. Seems to me the same people liking Fifty are the sames types swooning over Twilight.

cyberpunk will go- i just spent some time reading up on the Grimnoir book- but now i am back to neuromancer and snowcrash

i am not a very diligent poster though so I want to make sure i can get the right story for it so that i will keep it running... and i have a small interest in doing something that i know Pam will want me to do...

sadly i have way more ideas then i have time and brainpower

Love you too, Jim.

and folks can't be voting for the 'rotic without giving us a comment- that's just unfair. erotic is so often done very poorly in gaming.

the master was Ilyanna... no lie. she had a way of writing eros without it getting lost in the fiddleybits and dirty words.

as for me- i want firefly, (but it has to be tight- with a well oiled ensemble cast that fits together- like the show) a story that takes the characters into account.

and cyberpunk, but i am motivated enough to try to GM this...

and i want to try a steampunk alternative universe setting- that is an upcoming reading project too, I know very little about what makes the genre work and want to see it, wherein the characters and story are paramount and not the gizmos and goggles and walking sticks and monocles... that's all i ever get when i see the cosplayers do steampunk...

what else... gamma world... old school style

dragon age

game of thrones

wheel of time- i love that setting- i could do without most of the books... the real magic was captured in the first book... the first three or four give you everything you need to make the world come alive- and after that- Jordan was just milking it.

that's enough

Much of what makes Steampunk work is the Victorian adventurer aesthetic and outlook, that sense of propriety and parochialism, of being the civilised ones benevolently spreading it to the four corners of the globe on a wave of technological marvels and innovations. It is Jules Verne and H. G Wells, with a hint of Arthur Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker at the fringes, H. Rider Haggard venturing into the ruins of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Technology is the key to the future, and the future is bright once we get the present under control and fulfil our glorious vision.

I slapped down a vote for Erotic as a genre enhancement. For example, Erotic Horror. I think writing erotica can often have a side effect on the fiction, making it less inhibited and more complex. And of course sometimes it just makes bad fiction good. Hammer Horror's Countess Dracula, frex. The film would be completely unwatchable if not for the promise of Ingrid Pitt.

As a young kid I loved watching Hammer Horror films for some reason.

I'm with Zeim!

Does your husband know?!

Nope! And neither does Zeim!

The reason 50 Shades fans swoon over Twilight (and vice versa) is that 50 Shades is Twilight fan fic... and it's the kind of fan fic that gives fan fic a bad name.

I don't have anything against erotica. But I think my annoyance is that I'm more a storyteller than a game player, and if I can't see erotica (no matter the degree) as a relevant part of the story... if it's not something that moves the story forward... then it's not really necessary. Sure, it can be fun. But too much of it makes it get really boring, really fast. Granted, everyone's interest in or tolerance for sex in stories is different. But the same scene written over and over, just changing the names of the characters from game to game, is so depressingly boring that I think I'd have all my characters take vows of celibacy (and hell, I'm not far off with two out of three having done so).



So, I've got a theory that it's a demon! A dancing demon? No, something isn't right there.

I've got a theory some kid is dreaming, and we're all stuck inside his wacky Broadway nightmare.

I've got a theory we should work this out. It's getting eerie; what's this cheery singing all about?

It could be witches, some evil witches! Which is ridiculous 'cause witches they were persecuted. Wicca good and love the earth and women power and I'll be over here.

I've got a theory, it could be bunnies!

I've got a theory-

Bunnies aren't just cute like everybody supposes. They got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses, and what's with all the carrots!? What do they need such good eyesight for anyway!? Bunnies, bunnies, it must be bunnies!!

Or maybe midgets.

I've got a theory we should work this fast, because it clearly could get serious before it's passed.

I've got a theory, it doesn't matter. What can't we face if we're together? What's in this place that we can't weather. Apocalypse? We've all been there. The same old trips, why should we care?

What can't we do if we get in it. We'll work it through within a minute. We have to try, we'll pay the price. It's do or die.

Hey, I've died twice.

What can't we face if we're together. (What can't we face?) What's in this place that we can't weather? (If we're together) There's nothing we can't face...

Except for bunnies.

My favourite genres have got to be Fantasy and Horror, though I've also added a vote for Science Fiction.

I've got nothing against Erotic per se (I logged on to Second Life for several years ), but I'd feel self conscious roleplaying it in a public forum.

I've started reading the rules of Monte Cook's Numenera, which is essentially Fantasy meets Sci Fi and I'd love to play or maybe even run (gasp!) a test game in that world. Though given the speed at which I'm reading the rules, this might not happen any time soon.

Wendelius

Numenera looks intriguing, I received the Player's guide as a side effect of backing the Torment: Tides of Numenera kickstarter.

Actually, me and pchan got a chance to try out pre-release 13th Age. 13th Age is essentially Jonathan Tweet and co's take on what D&D 5th Edition should be, and both of us were impressed by what we saw.

It's recognisably D&D in all but name, generic yet thematically rich, and the rules are crunchy and streamlined. All content is contained in the one book.

I doubt any D&D player would be disappointed by it.

Hmmm, so it looks like the big winners are Fantasy, sci fi and post-apocalyptic games. Sounds like a game of Gamma World to me!

I have only played in a Gama World game once ... well it was an ongoing campaign, but it lasted just less than a year <g> I loved the setting!

Sci-fi, magic and post-apocalyptic also reminds me of playing RIFTS with my friend back in the 90's. Has anyone done a game here based on RIFTS setting?

Nope. I actually sold all my Rifts books when I was at uni, and made a killing from them. It's doable, but you'd have to choose the setup quite carefully. I'd recommend keeping it simple, main book only, character's are human rather than (literally) gods know what.

For the record BZK: Blitzkrieg is a SUPERS game set in the Golden Age (WWII). Some people might not realize this from the name.

Has anyone read through the moderately mind-blowing 'Pixar Timeline of the earth' thread online? There's a few different apocalypses in there to choose from.

Also might be interesting to see a game set in the last days of the recent prequel movie for the Planet of the Apes. Especially if someone is able to come up with an antidote.

Kittens. That's my chosen genre.

Hmm. Could tweak Bunnies & Burrows or Mouseguard.