Play Style

Pardon the dust. This site is still under construction.

There is such a thing as the right fit, when it comes to finding a MUX to play. No game is made for every player. There's nothing wrong with that. So, there's no shame — no harm, no foul — if you find a game just doesn't really fit right. The world would be a pretty boring place if everyone liked the same thing all the time. Thus, it's no surprise every game has its own flavour — it's own feel and style of play.

Our Philosophy

Here on CoMUX, we focus on a combination of character-driven RP balanced with changing game-world situations. Think of it much like episodic, prime-time TV. In a good TV episode, you have a little bit of character development set against the situation-du-jour. While characters do develop over time, certainly, their basic personality remains more-or-less the same. And when major shifts happen in the world of the story, you can look back on the episodes leading up to the shift and see quite clearly where the seeds of the change were planted.

Planting Seeds

That's what we like to do — plant plot seeds throughout RP, both casual and planned, and watch them grow. We plan for the long-term, weeks and months worth of play with the potential to continue for years. Part of this is an acknowledgement that there actually is such a thing as Real Life, which tends to get in the way of Play, periodically. Part of this is nothing more than an expression of our love of the longtail (long tale?) story.

That said, don't be afraid that nothing happens as a result of our taking our time to move through the epic arc. Referencing that TV show analogy again, look at it this way:

Every successful, long-running TV series is made up of a collection of seasons, which are in turn made up of a string of episodes. Episodes deal with the day-to-day experiences of the characters. But, every season typically includes a handful of episodes that are more than that — they are key to the overall story of that season. In turn, those seasons create the chapters of the fuller story being told, a story whose conclusion you may not see for four or five seasons… or more, if you're really lucky. (And that doesn't even touch on spin-off series, books, or movies.)

That's basically how we structure things here. Yes, there's an overall story to be unfolded on the game — one known by the plot staff already. But, it could take ages to fully develop. And the day-to-day character-driven RP certainly doesn't take a back seat to the metastory that triggers the major events. In fact, it is crucial in shaping the metastory.

In fact, it could completely change it.

Only You Can Save The World

(If not you, then who?)

You see, a MUX isn't the same as a TV show, or movie, or even a novel. Unlike these passive forms of story, a MUX is a piece of interactive fiction. As a result, each and every player on the game becomes an author. And since a story rarely goes exactly how any single author plans, imagine how it changes when there's more than one author involved — when there's dozens of authors involved.

Kinda mind-boggling, isn't it?

The point is: What characters do on the game makes a difference. What's more, just because the plot staff have an idea of where the story should go mapped out, doesn't mean the story will go that way. "The best laid plans of mice and men," not to mention dedicated plotters, "often go awry."

Fortunately, our plot staff are real pros when it comes to rewriting on-the-fly. (They've been doing it for years.) Our goal is to involve everyone that wants to be involved as much as we're able, given the realistic constraints of the IC situations. Plot staffers are in place to help guide RP, not to dictate it. No one likes a pre-scripted roleplay scene, after all. Including us1.


Footnotes

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