It’s been a while since I posted anything here, but there is a reason for that. I’ve been working on something new, and this new thing should be pretty awesome. I wasn’t going to say anything, figuring I would surprise people once it was in a usable status, but I do still get regular traffic here and it wouldn’t be right to simply let you sit and wait without knowing why.
I always wanted to do more with AuForge than I could with wordpress alone. It is a fine blogging tool but I want more than a simple blog.
Planned features for the new website:
Game Reviews: An area for users to post roleplaying game systems and share their thoughts about them. Does your group use a fantastic but obscure sci-fi roleplaying system like Eclipse Phase which you’d like others to know about? You will be able to type up the facts, submit it, and let people know how much you love it. Supports ratings, comments and other community features.
Content Swap: Every day creative Dungeon Masters create new content for their games, but often this content only reaches the DM’s players and is never seen by the public. With the content swap, you will be able to submit your custom content, be it monster, encounters, locations or whatever else, and share it with the world.
File Depot: If you’ve ever tried to distribute a player handout online and been stymied by online file transfer programs, filetype restrictions, or simply annoyed because your players weren’t willing or able to install whatever program you’re using, the file depot is for you. Members will be able to upload files and share them with their gaming group, choosing who to share them with and whether they are public or private.
Literature and Art: Almost by definition, rolepaying gamers are creative people. You have to be somewhat creative to look at a piece of paper and some dice and instead see Ragnar the Barbarian Bugbear, Hero of the Golden Throne and Terror of Kobolds! To that end, the Lit&Art section will allow members to upload their own creative content. This could be a character portrait you made, a story about your last game when this one cool thing happened, or whatever else. Will likely support commission-based work as well for top artists, allowing people to request character portraits and other art.
Active Game Support: This is a big one, and will take the longest to get right. We plan to have a full suite of active game support tools! It is my desire to allow a member to log on to the new website, create a game with available player slots and advertise it. The game will show up on a calendar which displays the player slots available and the time (in your local time) that the game occurs. Dungeon Masters will have a ‘miniblog’ for their game which their players can read and contribute to, as well as dice rolling tools. Other possible options include hosted character sheets, play-by-post functionality on the forums, and hosted IRC chatrooms.
Finally, we would like to have an area where members can ‘self-publish’ their own content. Make a name for yourself by creating amazing adventures, fully fleshed-out NPC’s, fantastic locations or other works, and then sell it right there on the sit to others. You could even create your own custom RPG system!
Nothing is final, but we are beyond the planning phase and are currently building the new site from the ground up. I will try to give monthly updates on our progress.
