This humble site houses an archive of news and announcements from Simutronics Corporation's text-based massive multiplayer online roleplaying game GemStone IV. The most recent announcements are on the entry page and a more comprehensive archive can be accessed through the links on the right sidebar. You may also narrow the focus through the various labels on the lower righthand side of this page. Click on the title of each post for the original post in the official GSIV message boards. Keep in mind, however, that if the post had been pushed out of the official boards, the link will take you to the GemStone IV announcements folder.
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New Group: GemStone Wordsmiths

Author: GS4-OZIAS
Date: 5/5/2008 8:37:59 PM


Hi, Gang,

I am writing to invite you to join the GemStone Wordsmiths, a player group dedicated to creative writing (and editing) that would contributes to the official documentation of Elanthian history, culture, lore, and more.

The exact composition, procedures, and other organizational structures of the group depend on the number of players who join up, and therefore they will be determined by the members during the process of organizing. What I originally intended, and pitched to the powers that be, would be something like a creative writing seminar where writers accept assignments, present drafts for critique by group members, and then deliver finished product to editors, who work their magic and submit final copy to the GM QC process. But as I said, the exact procedures are to be determined by the group itself.

There are many needs for documentation in GemStone IV, enough to overwhelm the limited time of the GM writers pool. I'm thrill that the senior management has decided to welcome the contributions of player creativity in this most crucial area of game development.

Documentation in GemStone has two main goals. First, it serves as a guide to roleplaying by players. Our documents strive to provide "hooks" that catch onto player imaginations in order to spark and guide character creation and development through roleplay. Second, it serves as a guide to GMs in their development of storylines, areas, auction items, merchant goods and services, and...well, everything in our game world, ultimately.

The first assignment that the group will tackle is the Forest Gnome bloodlines that remain only partially fleshed out some five years after the race's release, a failure for which I take personal responsibility. The race needs a great deal of attention, both from players and from Game Masters, and only better documentation will bring that about. It is my hope that, by taking on the Forest Gnomes as a proof-of-concept assignment, the Wordsmiths can then expand into a range of projects that as broad and expansive as your imaginations.

I will be announcing an in-game organizational meeting shortly, in order to gauge interest and begin our preliminary plans, though I expect the work of the group to transpire via email or another out-of-game environment. For more years than I can count, I've been impressed with the creativity and writing skill of our players, as displayed in storytelling in the game, on the message boards, and on player websites. I sincerely hope that you will consider this opportunity to lend your talents to this effort to improve the game in an immediate and powerful way.

Cheers,

~Ozias

"Whatever bubbles, bubbles up."

This message was originally posted in Organizations and Societies, GemStone Wordsmiths. To discuss the above follow the link below.

http://www.play.net/forums/messages.asp?forum=102&category=20&topic=11&message=18