You know, I am truly a slack individual. I have nothing to do all day except play video games, surf the net for whatever pieces of information barely amuse me, talked to people at random -- most of whom are extremely busy and have much better things to do than talk to me -- as long as I like, and generally live the lifestyle that I dreamed that I would way back when I was 12. The few filial responsibilities that are heaped upon my head light and breezy enough to ignore, and more importantly, my sister and father probably would prefer that I ignore them more often than I take them up. I am, by all accounts, at least as well taken care of at the hands and wallet of my current benefactor then I would be anywhere else, including while enjoying the random vicissitudes of seeking out those few and rare gems of experience which represent commercially viable opportunities within the sphere of talents and skills and efforts that I possess.
What I'm saying here is: I'm doing okay sucking off the teat of the Federal whore to the point at which it is -- and will remain for the foreseeable future -- far more rational for me to accept my place that would be to try and strike out into another. Being a true kind of Objectivist,I know when a deal looks good and when it looks bad. The idea of me going out to pursue actual occupation in the fields in which I am acquainted -- well or not so well -- could only end in misery and suffering and loss. Even if I had the inclination and the motivation to reenter the job market, said market would not return as strongly an interest in me returning to it.
We have chosen separate languages, the market and I, and I'm not sure it's going to be for the best or the worst of us both, but it will be worth experimenting with... seeing with... sliding with...
As I said, I'm doing alright.I have plenty of funds to keep me occupied with my games in my simulations and my words and my histories, both deep and long -- shallow and short -- brutal and cold -- warm and forgiven. I have the very grain of an idea of how to run A Penny for My Thoughts online under Google Wave, and I hope to get that written up in some comprehensible way before the end of the next week. And then I will begin seeking -- volunteers -- none of whom have Google Wave invites already. I will be asking if you have interest in a game, a game played in the form of text, one where words are the only means of communication, no glances aside, no sudden lunges under the table, everything in plain sight, everything the result of whatever events transpire as you watch.
All except for the five items that you have in your hand. Each of which will represent an idea, a fragment of memory, something concrete enough to put another's finger on, the very edge of the situation, or the cutting edge of an experience.
Having picked up BioShock over the week, I have a certain tinge of a setting floating through my mind. Something not exactly modern, insofar as it doesn't take part in the grand peacock like distribution of our images before the eyes of others in order to make a more perfect smokescreen that looks exactly like the face behind. No, no, there would be deviancy deep in the system as a projection of the events that will be expected to occur within it. Somewhere between the harsh Victorian outliers and steam-punk, and the rage and suffering of the everyday man on the street -- therein lies more than a little meat for stores.
I'm curious, my prospective readers, what elements have you been wanting to explore in a story that involves you but are not necessarily under your control? What stories do you want to see woven about other people whose threads lie in between your fingers? High fantasy? Low fantasy? Perverse and sexual exploits depicted in four-color action? Or just the haunting and fragile lives of the every day and humdrum survivors of our world as we have made it?
On its own A Penny for My Thoughts is designed to focus on the experiences of the everyday, the person on the street, someone you might talk to in a coffee shop. It's long been a sort of implicit elitism that stories about normal people are not just unreasonable to tell stories about, but actively impossible because of overfamiliarity.
I don't actually think that's true. But I don't personally have enough information from gameplay -- the kind of play that involves characters of that level -- to really make a reasonable assessment. I honestly don't think many people do, despite how many claim to.
So here's my dilemma: I have game. Want play game. Have a Wave. Give Wave. Play games with peoples. Peoples want to play game?
It's easy enough for me to put together a few mechanics to handle the mystery objects, the mnemonic keys, which have to be distributed in order to play the game. It is trivially easy for the course of the game to get written down as it's played in documentary format given the natural content in context of Wave. I just need to know if anyone wants to try.
If you would like to play in a game of A Penny for My Thoughts, or if you have suggestions you would like to suggest before such play where to begin which might affect your interest in becoming involved, this would be the place to expose those. And I actually, seriously want you to. This is not a joke. I want you to tell me what it would take to get you into the game of A Penny for My Thoughts posted on Wave. As I said, an invitation to Google Wave is not a hindrance.. That can be provided.
What do people really want? What do people really want? What do people really want?
