City of IF

BStheGreat · Joined: 01 Jan 2005 Posts: 262

So I've had this idea for several years to write two books with opposing views on the same issue, most likely a war. I never really thought about it in terms of an SG, but then I realized it would fit perfectly. The way I would run it would be to have two groups of readers - one group to read the chapters from one of the books and the other from the second book. The actions voted upon by one would affect both stories. If a person is in group a, he wouldn't be allowed to read group b, as it would affect the decisions on group a, and vice versa. If someone was down for authoring one of the books while I do the other, it could end of getting more complicated, by mixing in spies and what not. Of course splitting into groups would essentially be splitting the readers into 2, so I figured I'd see who would be interested beforehand.

Update - Chinaren and I have been talking about turning this into an inter-city collaboration piece between IF and a similarly put together writing site that you may/may not already know about. This could simplify the process a bit, and could possibly add more people per side as we wouldn't have to split up the participants. Would you guys want this/be cool with this? It would start off on a trial basis of course, just to make sure everything goes smoothly. Let me know your opinion one way or the other.

Prospective Participants
Crunchyfrog
sagittaeri

Either P.M. me or respond here if you want to be added to the list.

Vishal Muralidharan · Joined: 24 Aug 2010 Posts: 867 Location: City Of IF!

Interesting...

Should be a fantastic SG if its organised probably. I'll need some time before deciding though.

The White Blacksmith · Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 2629

Yeah, should be good. You would definitely need someone else to write the opposite side, and maybe a 'freedom of information' type thing where once a chapter's a month old or something both sides could see it - adds pressure to be organised, as if you delay too long in writing or debating, the other side can see what you're doing.

DeadManWalking · Joined: 24 May 2006 Posts: 1005

I would definitely be interested in something like this. Reminds me a little of Battle to the End

Thunderbird · Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 8:59 am Post subject:

I LIKE it!

Makes me think the guilds should try something like this between them, either that or a chapter pass along story.

Crunchyfrog · Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Posts: 3998

Yes a good concept indeed!

Shillelagh · Joined: 11 Mar 2010 Posts: 398 Location: Kansas

It's a fascinating concept, though I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. Do both parts of the story have a DP at the same time, and then both DPs affect each story? Or do the two parts take turns having a DP? The second way might be easier, since the half without a DP would just be a fragment as it waits for the other's DP to affect it. You'd alternate between 'chapter with DP' and 'chapter fragment', which seems like it would allow the writing to go faster. Still, the first way has the advantage of having more DPs, which moves the story itself faster.

Either way, I'm interested to see how this might turn out, and I'm willing to throw my hat into the ring as a co-author. If you truly want to force the two audiences into having a separate experience, I think placing one or both of the threads in a more restricted guild forum would be the way to go about this.

Vikas Muralidharan · Joined: 29 Aug 2010 Posts: 600

This would be freaking Amazing.... ofcourse, we would have the problem of making sure that people from one group dont read the chapters meant for another.

Maybe we could start a seperate section for these kind of games and have some coding to get around that.

But thats taking it a bit too far, I guess... *rubs chin*

Emperor · Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Posts: 471 Location: San Diego, CA

I just wanted to say its a great idea, it does sound involved and complex, but a great idea nonetheless.

Cremuex Levier · Joined: 31 Jan 2012 Posts: 72 Location: Armidale, Australia

I think I get what you're trying to do. I'd be all for it, I wouldn't mind being on one side and not being able to read a different side to the same story. It's a perspective thing I suppose.

All in all it's a great idea if you have the time to write the two stories.

You have my interest, PM me if/when you get it up and going, I just don't know how you're going to select and separate the two teams since one person might actually have views for the other side and be forced to betray their own ideals, the term 'conflict of interest' comes to mind, especially on a war. For example, someone that's anti-war might prefer to be on the defending side rather then the invading side.

Guest · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 7:55 am Post subject:

I'm in aswell. Sounds good

BStheGreat · Joined: 01 Jan 2005 Posts: 262

Well I disappeared for a while, but I'm back now. Anyone still interested in doing this?

Quote: It's a fascinating concept, though I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. Do both parts of the story have a DP at the same time, and then both DPs affect each story? Or do the two parts take turns having a DP? The second way might be easier, since the half without a DP would just be a fragment as it waits for the other's DP to affect it. You'd alternate between 'chapter with DP' and 'chapter fragment', which seems like it would allow the writing to go faster. Still, the first way has the advantage of having more DPs, which moves the story itself faster.

Yes, this is the tricky part. I have a few possibilities in my head. My original idea would be an action/reaction sort of thing, which would essentially be an alternating dp. Of course this would lead to instances of conflict, such as "I'm going to kill this dude" and "No, he killed you before you could kill him" and stuff like that. This could be determined by a "write-off" where each side writes a version of the same event, and then the best version wins that decision point. Another additional way to circumvent this problem is a sort of private version of a chapter that can't be seen by the other side. They would see a version that would be stripped of certain bits of information, such as private conversations and such. Although the freedom of information thing sounds intriguing as well. All this might get too complicated though, who knows.

sagittaeri · Joined: 05 May 2012 Posts: 367

This seem to be a very interesting concept. We'll need to work out the communication protocol between the two sides before it'll work, though. I understand that you said the readers will only be exposed to one side of the story. But what about the authors? If the authors are allowed to read the other part, then it's basically like an RP for the authors.

BStheGreat · Joined: 01 Jan 2005 Posts: 262

BUMP

See the update in the first post.

Shillelagh · Joined: 11 Mar 2010 Posts: 398 Location: Kansas

I'm still interested, but I have to admit my level of involvement would depend directly on how you plan to structure it. And the plotline too, I suppose. I'm not a big fan of the horror genre, and there's a certain level of gravity that I find off-putting.

PaperSwan · Joined: 21 Jul 2012 Posts: 34

I think a way you could get around some of the problems listed is a third party. Even in war, messengers and diplomats often travel between sides; to discuss terms, issue demands, or exchange prisoners. You could have an off-site or private forum for each side of the war, and post a 'neutral territory' thread here. Maybe it could be a neutral city, or a hospital that treats soldiers from both sides. The espionage could work with participants meeting diplomats and messengers in this thread. A third party could run this thread, reading both the war sites, and deliver the information needed to each side without giving away what the other thread was doing.
For example: The blue team would receive a message that their diplomat had gone missing right after a negotiation, but they would not be told by the third party who abducted them, or for what motive. The blue team could then send a spy to the red team. The red team would be told that there was a new recruit, or something, but it would be up to them to figure out who they are. The third party could also make the decisions in the write-off you described.