Frequently Asked Questions - About NextGen RPG
We role play! Instead of sitting around a table and gaming face to face, we use the written word to tell our stories. It's similar to a pbem or a pbp, but the collaboration method is more streamlined and makes for easier to read stories. At NextGen RPG, we store each active game file and allow the users and GMs to edit the same document as they tell their story. Think of it as a living, breathing compile, that lends itself to telling one cohesive story, without sprouting multiple story lines or timelines that are impossible to edit later into one smooth compilation.
Click on the Create Account link under the User Login section in the left hand column. Once you are done following the instructions, you will need to go to your email to confirm your account. Follow the link and instructions provided and change your password, when you return to the site.
Once you've had a chance to look around and decide that you'd like to stick around and play, please come by the Introductions thread and introduce yourself.
If you're looking for a game, you should check out our Casting Area & Staging Area in the Forum. The Casting Area is is where a GM makes a casting call to fill their game, and the Staging Area is where the GMs kick around ideas to gauge for player interest. If you don't see anyone looking for a player, feel free to give a shout in the Characters for Hire thread, so that we know you're looking.
NextGen RPG welcomes all game genres and systems. We want our players and GMs to be enthusiastic about their games, so as long as it appeals to them, it works for us. Our emphasis here is on original fiction and concepts, so most fan related games that are based on television shows, movies, and other existing media would not be a good fit for the site. This isn't meant to exclude anyone or diminish the value of those games, only that it diverges from the original fiction aspect that we're striving for here.
Nope. However, we have no objections to GMs choosing to run in the same world, but independent games are also very welcome. Collaborating on a joint endeavor can be more complex, but we're willing to open a higher level forum to help you with your efforts. ...and we're willing to help put whatever tools we can into place to help your players stay in tuned with your world level efforts through our tools. Once we know individual needs we can help you on a more personal level with that.
The most common errors are due to privileges. Most of the content can be seen by anyone, but unless you have privileges to a game, you can't edit the game moves. The exception to this is the pieces that have an adult rating. To get adult privileges to the site, you need to fill out your birth date in your Control Panel and then send a PM to Chairman to let her know that this was done. Upon receiving the PM, she will grant you privileges.
However if you have a problem that is better answered in a private setting, please PM your GM first, and if they can't resolve it, one of the site admins. Any issues about other members or GMs should be sent to China. It is very important that we keep the drama in the games and out of the site.
- The GM will create the opening move and you will see it on the front page.
- Click into the game move to read it
- When you are ready to edit it, click on the edit tab near the top, it's situated next to the view tab. (You have to have privileges to the game or you will not see the edit tab.)
- Find the spot in the game file where you would like to make your additions.
- Use the text editor for any formatting as you add in your new content. (If you don't like the editor you can turn it off, below the text entry box.)
- Click Preview to make sure it's how you want it, and when it is, click Submit.
Rules - Keep the drama in the games and out of the site.
We're not big on rules or restrictions here. Most rules will be implemented on a game level by the GM. Each game will have a forum with a thread that will outline your GM's expectations. Expect them to vary from game to game, and do your best to abide by them. GM's game = GM's rules, if you disagree with them find a way to make a graceful exit, and we'll work to help you find another game that's more suited to your style.
This medium is notorious for games starting, and then either never getting off of the ground, or having the GM disappear before the game gets going. This of course can not be totally eliminated, real life happens and we all bow to real life priorities. With that said, however, we ask that potential GMs take a serious moment before creating their games, and spend just as much time thinking about whether they are committed to running a game, as they do about what kind of game they want to run.
We can help you recruit players, we can help you find the resources and tools that you need, we can help with a lot of things, but we can not get you excited enough about the game to keep you committed. That's your job, perhaps your most important job as a GM, and it's the only thing that we ask you to commit to before running a game. Games can end ... we expect games to end, it's even necessary for games to end. We just ask that you handle this with respect to your players. Keep up active communication from beginning to end, and if you do that, when you want to run again, our doors will be open!
One of the most common questions that newcomers have is, where do you play your games? They wonder if the pages here are just compilations of Forum Posts (as in Play By Post games) or compilations of emails (like Play By E-Mail games). The key to this medium of game play is that we do all of our story telling on-site using shared documents. A GM creates a page in our editor, and then the players log into the game file and make their additions. We treat it as a living breathing compile. ANY document that you click on in this site was created the same way, and has the ability for multiple authors to edit it, IF they have the correct permissions.
