Future: what is SWCIC?

Joined: Jan 11, 2002 Posts: 3061 Location: USA

What is SWCIC?

Here's the topic to discuss.
I don't really want to go for an all-out game.. as this isn't what we are. SWC and SWS take an approach I don't want to go. It's not about what buttons the player can push, it's about the community of players.

So if its not a game really, then what is it? There's too many groups that call themselves "simulations" but what does that mean?

Is it just roleplaying? There are a lot of roleplaying groups out there. How do we make this unique?

The first I'd say is a "structured" roleplaying. That means, there are groups and they serve a purpose of defining interactions among players. Most players start at the bottom of their structure and work their way up. Thus, many players will have common experiences as they start out and work up. The whole "I've been in your shoes" position really helps for those newbies that need direction.

Second, there's the technical part. How much do we want to script?
I'll want to see parts that help roleplaying, especially where moderator actions are concerned. But I don't want to replace roleplaying. Nor do I want to see rules and numbers replace the fun of just roleplaying.

I don't believe people need to see every detailed rule in order to have fun. Nor do they need to be able to read through rulebooks to get involved. This should be simple enough for everyone to play.

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Okay, so on the name. I've had a suggest that I like
SWCIC - Star Wars Community, In Character

It says what it is. And it makes note of the In-Character environment that we hope to maintain.

Are there objections to this? Do you have a better name?

I really want to be original and try to avoid the SWX (where X is some letter) acroynms that seems to define the "Star Wars simulation" type.

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 5:45 pm

Better name? LeeSim Smile

Thats what most of the people are calling it these days anyway. Easier to remember then SWCIC

Joined: Jan 11, 2002 Posts: 3061 Location: USA

It's not my sim Smile

I don't want to have my name. It's the community here that's important.

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 7:21 pm

leesim.com Razz

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 9:47 pm

I've already gotten used to SWCIC, so I don't have any problems with that. The only question I'd have would be if it would be easily confused with SWC. If people have heard of SWC and then see SWCIC, would they think it's a subgroup of SWC?

Of course, I could simply be overanalyzing this. Razz

That's nothing new. Rolling Eyes

~CC~

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 11:11 pm

I agree, the C sort of makes it a knock off the Combine. LeeSim.

Ultraviolet Joined: Sep 29, 2005 Posts: 353

I like the current name, it just takes getting used to.

Now in regards to the rules, the D20 system itself tries to do the samething we are trying to do. It likes the dice rolling, however the pure roleplaying takes the preference. An example of that would be the taking 10 and taking 20 rules that you can do nearly anything if there is nobody to stop you around.

Now the interesting in that is that once there is something happening the system switches to the dice rolls, so there is a way to distinguish the skill between someone has opposed to someone else. An example would be someone trying to sneak inside a base and a guard who is guarding that base.

The third situation is when someone is attempting something that's just hard for even a 'normal' person to do, like open heart surgery. Again that's where the dice come in.

That's all just in theory, now in pratice this will turn into a game where people can just post there story and the actions they do, however the outcome of what they do is not automatically known, due to the dicerolls. The problems most people have with rules is that it will cut down there roleplaying option and how there character should look. An example would be that people always see to want to play races that you don't have rules for.

The solution to rules limiting the options is exactly the oppossite of what you might think. You don't need to cut down the number of rules, but increase it. The more rules means that there is more you 'can'. More rules give people the liberties to do new things, like designing and building there own ships, weapons, etc. or have them use skills in new and fresh ways. The only thing that should limit you should be your own imagination.

Besides this game I play a game that has an enormous amount of rules, but it advertises itself by stating that you can do anything and you can do anything in that game. The way the rules are set up, it enables me to modify my ship as I see fit. If something isn't there already then I can 'invent' it myself or have someone do it for me.

The point I want to make with all of this is that we need to think about what to do with the current rules, so we don't limit the imagination of the players on what they can do, but still keep it so that the game is balanced and fair to everybody.

I noticed when I signed up that there where only a limited number of playable races and playable classes (/Prestige classes), to not limit people we should increase those numbers, making our motto that there is not limit but your imagination.

This is just my 5 euro cents in regards to the rules.

P.S. Evaders I asked Uliq about the rules and he said you had them. Is it possible to make them available to me? or to everybody?

Joined: Jan 11, 2002 Posts: 3061 Location: USA

NO LeeSim, that's final Smile

*(Unless you want to buy it for me and link it here hehe)

So you want more d20 things? I'm all for imagination, but at some point is it feasible to run? Are we going to have rulebooks upon rulebooks for people to look at?
I believe we should build the basics first, before we start expanding too far.

I have the character system I designed, but there are no published rules. I hope we can go through them and see what's available. I am uncertain whether to publish them at this point, especially since they are mostly from the SWRPG core rulebook. It could get us into real liability issues.

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So ideas guys? What can you say about this group? Can you explain this community in short form, so that others can get interested by few words?

Ultraviolet Joined: Sep 29, 2005 Posts: 353

I have the SWRPG Corerule book (Revised), so I have the rules myself, however I wanted to know what you are using and what you aren't using and what changes where made to it to fit this game.

Ultraviolet Joined: Aug 15, 2005 Posts: 237

As far as liability issues, the d20 system is Open Source Gaming material, or something like that. It means that as long as you don't post all the rules of the core rulebooks online or something, then you can USE the rules all you like. The premise is that if you have the books IRL, then you can play with them online. I would also like to see more rules, abilities and classes brought over from the SWRPG d20 system. I don't think it would make the players read all the rules, but the mods WOULd have to.

Joined: Jan 11, 2002 Posts: 3061 Location: USA

While the d20 system itself is under the Open License, the SWRPG material is still copyright. That means, we can use the terminology and systems to roll dice, determine skills, feats, and so forth. But we can't take from the SWRPG rulebooks and just publish that.. descriptions, all the statistics, etc. We would have a serious problem if the WOTC guys came to us with that, we'd have to shut things down.

I am concerned about what things we should publish. If we do publish everything, then it requires most of it being our own work. That is, all descriptions, images, etc. should be either created by us or credited to the appropriate source.

Ultraviolet Joined: Sep 29, 2005 Posts: 353

Again I'm not asking you to publish the rules themselves, I am asking you which rules we are using and which we aren't and publish that. It's hard to work on anything when you don't know what you are working on.

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 7:20 pm

IIRC the rules for that, then it relates to anything publically accessible, but if we work with it on a private thread, then posting the current rules (skills & feats) and their effects shouldn't be a problem for anybody Wink

A short description of our community ? Um … alive, friendly, fun-loving ? … Green ? Ok, maybe the last one doesn't apply everywhere Cool

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:05 pm

Short community description...hmm...

In one sentence:
SWCIC is a community dedicated to roleplaying in and exploring the Star Wars Universe.

Slightly longer:
SWCIC is a community dedicated to roleplaying in and exploring the Star Wars Universe. Each member creates a character through which he or she is able to experience and even influence the galaxy according to the character's beliefs. Also, by being part of a larger group of players, each member has the opportunity to interact with people with similar interests from all over the world.

Kinda cheesy, I know. Razz

Is that the type of thing you're looking for, Evaders? I can try to come up with a few more versions different from this one.

~CC~

Joined: Jan 11, 2002 Posts: 3061 Location: USA

Yep, something like that. Keep some short ones and some longer ones, we'll find uses for them.