06-28-2013, 04:06 AM
I'd like to add to Ixnay's appreciation.
I also firmly believe that the style of play by mail is a good one for the lifestyle of today's gamer and that there is a decent market for it there if folk can create interfaces that compete with the polished but creatively empty "schlock" shops and their "free" mmo's filled with marketing gimmicks.
The world of programming took a huge step backwards in terms of productivity when the web became the platform, but in the past 4 or 5 years web development frameworks (and browsers) have improved to the point where small development shops have a chance of creating decent software again that targets a browser and doesn't cost a million dollars.
It's taken 15 years for writing web software to become as easy as it was for the pbm programmers of the 80's with their flat file databases and c, but it is really starting to get there now.
But there are other kinds of success than economic, too. Cruenti Dei has not only invigorated my gaming lifestyle, but my creative lifestyle as well. I write stories about what's going on I draw illustrations about what's going on. It goes at a very slow pace because it's still all hand moderated, but It's as much a collaborative storytelling game with a bunch of mysteries to solve as it is a strategy game with enemies to conquer.
I feel very positive about the future of this genre.
I also firmly believe that the style of play by mail is a good one for the lifestyle of today's gamer and that there is a decent market for it there if folk can create interfaces that compete with the polished but creatively empty "schlock" shops and their "free" mmo's filled with marketing gimmicks.
The world of programming took a huge step backwards in terms of productivity when the web became the platform, but in the past 4 or 5 years web development frameworks (and browsers) have improved to the point where small development shops have a chance of creating decent software again that targets a browser and doesn't cost a million dollars.
It's taken 15 years for writing web software to become as easy as it was for the pbm programmers of the 80's with their flat file databases and c, but it is really starting to get there now.
But there are other kinds of success than economic, too. Cruenti Dei has not only invigorated my gaming lifestyle, but my creative lifestyle as well. I write stories about what's going on I draw illustrations about what's going on. It goes at a very slow pace because it's still all hand moderated, but It's as much a collaborative storytelling game with a bunch of mysteries to solve as it is a strategy game with enemies to conquer.
I feel very positive about the future of this genre.