Hey everyone,


I'd like to announce the opening of Optional Realities, a design blog and community supporting roleplay-focused text-based games. We are committed to the following:

*We will publish regular articles every week, not only written by our own team of experienced Designers, but the staff of prominent roleplaying games like Sindome, Evolution of Esos, Shadows of Isildur, Armageddon, Haven: Mists and Shadow, and others.

*We will moderate a community forum as a place for leaders in our genre of MUDs to discuss roleplaying, writing, design, and upcoming events for their games.

*We will do everything that we can to help support designers looking to create their own games in our genre.

*We will host monthly contests with cash prizes, ranging from storytelling competitions, to game design proposals, to submission of quality roleplaying logs.


The Optional Realities team is also committed to our work with the Evennia engine, which we are using to create a new engine and sci-fi roleplay-centric MUD. You can find out more here and here. Please join us at Optional Realities, in our effort to strengthen our 20+ year old community and build towards an ever-better future for text-based rpgs.


Jeshin
Founder of Optional Realities
Owner of Project Redshift
Optional Realities Blog
Optional Realities Community

PS - We just finished our may 2015 contest which was a 600 word game pitch for a text-based game. We are really pleased with the submissions we got. You can check out the submissions we are allowed to host here: Submission Folder on Google Drive

Japheth is the lead design of FutureMUD a next generation engine for the development of MUDs! It's all in the name, he's got a gift for it. Find out more about the engine and about his journey developing it right here on Optional Realities!

http://optionalrealities.com/designing-a...

Are you sick of hearing about Optional Realities? Do you want more information on this supposed Scifi MUD that we have in development? Well I have good news and bad news! The good news is we have just done our 2nd information release for Project Redshift! The bad news is it's on Optional Realities, right here…

http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

So every Thursday Optional Realities will be updating (across various sites) its various content for the last week. We do articles based on design, storytelling, and even editorials on general topics. This week we've got a few things going on in the form of an article, adding a game to the listings, short story contest, and an opportunity for any interested folk to contribute to the development of a culture document for Project Redshift a scifi MUD being developed on Evennia.

Crayon comments on Roleplay Culture
http://optionalrealities.com/regulating-...

Optional Realities Welcomes No Return to our listings
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Optional Realities June 2015 short story contest continues
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Do you want to contribute to Project Redshift's development in some way?
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

So it's thursday and we have a few things on Optional Realities for you guys to check out.

Jaunt writes a commentary on vertical vs Horizontal design
http://optionalrealities.com/just-say-no...

Discussion of policy for text-based games
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Ainneve is in development for anyone interested
https://github.com/evennia/ainneve

It's Thursday again! I'm taking over community lead duties for Jeshin, and am excited to post regarding the second part of Jaunt's article on power creep and approaches to progression!

The second part of Jaunt's commentary on vertical vs. horizontal design
http://optionalrealities.com/just-say-no...

A quick update (and happy Fourth, to any Americans popping by today :unclesam: )…

Optional Realities July 2015 contest: Character Concepts!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Arucard shares his thoughts on manipulating player motivations for more impactful storytelling!
http://optionalrealities.com/how-to-be-p...

The results from last month's short story contest!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Optional Realities' community mafia game, round one!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Discussion of the merits of permanent death!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Jeshin writes on where text-based games fit into the bigger picture of gaming, and the powers of text as a gaming medium!
http://optionalrealities.com/the-text-ba...

The character concept competition is still underway! Submit a character idea and potentially win cash!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Engage in game design discussion on integrating age into skill systems…
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

…and the merits of systems that gate content to preserve scarcity based on player rewards.
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Or come sign up for our first round of community mafia…
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

…Or other games!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read Icarus's recent article on lowering the barriers to entry for new players!
http://optionalrealities.com/lowering-ba...

Take part in discussion on the merits of player-driven and staff-driven approaches to storytelling!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Submit an entry for our July 2015 Character Concept contest!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Or get involved with community gaming!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read the second part of Icarus's article on lowering the barriers to entry!
http://optionalrealities.com/lowering-ba...

Contribute to discussion on the merits of permanent player death, and ways to approach it!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

We're still looking for participants for our community mafia game!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

And would be happy to have more people involved in playing League of Legends, Cards Against Humanity, and other games with the community!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read a new article on giving players the power to control regional expansion!
http://optionalrealities.com/building-an...

Help us generate ideas for future contests and judging criteria!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

View the results from July's Character Concept contest!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Offer opinions on the prospects of crowd-sourcing game design!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read Jeshin's article on creating an RPG economy!
http://optionalrealities.com/creating-an...

Contribute ideas for future contests and events!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read the progress report on Project Redshift!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read an opinion editorial by one of Optional Realities' community members and contributors, Leah!
http://optionalrealities.com/staff-ethic...

Keep up with news on Otherspace's experiment with the Evennia engine!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read about the changes with Haven's launch of Haven 3.0!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...
http://100.42.19.101/forum/showthread.ph...

Or contribute to discussion on one of our previous articles!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read Jaunt's new article on branching storylines and nonlinear storytelling!
http://optionalrealities.com/how-to-writ...

Come join us for community game nights, including League of Legends and more!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Sign up for a game of MUD-themed forum Mafia!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read about Icarus's documentation and development of the OpenRPI engine!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read and discuss Sabrelon's article on Customer Service and MUDs!
http://optionalrealities.com/customer-se...
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Enter our contest on Monster/Antagonist design!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Participate in community gaming on League of Legends and more!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Join discussion on the merits of permanent death as a feature!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read and discuss Apollo's new article on where to get started in game design!
http://optionalrealities.com/so-you-wann...
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Keep abreast of discussion regarding an Evennia conversion of the OpenRPI engine!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Join and conribute to discussion regarding roleplay, theme, and lore documentation!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Or make a submission to our September contest, by designing a monster or villain!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read and discuss Jeshin's article on community managing and handling trolls!
http://optionalrealities.com/the-communi...
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Contribute to discussion on the possibility of porting the OpenRPI engine to Evennia!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Engage in discussion of the differences and overlap between one's community and one's game!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Submit an entry to our Villain/Monster concept contest!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read and discuss an article on breaking away from fundamental RPG gameplay in text games!
http://optionalrealities.com/text-based-...
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Contribute to discussion on the nature of the staff-player relationship!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Send a submission in for our September Monster/Antagonist concept contest!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Contribute to discussion on the merits of recasting characters to new players!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Read and discuss Griatch's new article on the Evennia engine!
http://optionalrealities.com/evennia-ill...
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Make a submission to our October Interactive Fiction contest!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...

Or view the results of last month's Monster/Antagonist contest!
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...
http://optionalrealities.com/forums/inde...