The Importance of Story for The Spoils

[Oneyus]

So after reading Michael's article about the change from TCG to community card game, I decided to post something that has been on my mind for a great deal of time now.

The Spoils is, to me, one of the greatest card games ever made to date. I was drawn in by the artwork, the funny/witty flavor text, and by and large, the super smooth mechanics of the game coupled with the reduced issue of chance. That being said:

The Spoils NEEDS to have a cannon of story, it needs to have short stories written about characters and them interacting in the world (or something like this). In order for The Spoils to continue to succeed (EDIT: I mean succeed more than it already does/at a faster pace/with other parts of the market), it MUST have a storyline that the players can follow. Many card game players (at least in the North American market) LOVE story and they LOVE seeing the cards they read about in the story of the game in their decks. I have sat and listened to some of my players who play other games talk for 2 hours about the current story line in a block of cards, The Spoils NEEDS this to be true for The Spoils.

The Spoils is continuing to grow. Anyone who sits down with the game and gives it an honest try can see how much skill affects the outcome of play and how deep the possibilities are for strategy. For some players, seeing the engine and the strategy and the witty/funny text is enough to draw them in, but for those players who want story (and there are MANY) The Spoils doesn't grab them and it won't unless there is story and lore.

Some players may enjoy the act of trying to search for story in the cards but this is NOT enough. Story and lore will help this game move forward in a way that no funny sub/flavor text could or ever will.

So as a contributing member of the community, I beseech the Powers-That-Be to make a finalized cannon for the story. Make little short stories about characters, make little biographies about the characters, develop the lore for the public to see, something they can log onto the site and read and get excited about the game. If things like this are done, I FIRMLY believe The Spoils will break even further into the card game market and reach an audience otherwise outside of the reach of The Spoils.

[W4nT4n]

If it's a CCG, the story would be partially also kinda up to us. Some guidance how TG and later on AT envisaged it would be plenty helpful ^^
I heard that there was some fluff-material in those 2-starter-boxes made by TG. Is there any chance we could get some of those informations?

[Ken Pilcher]

http://www.thespoils.com/spoils/show...6969#post96969

[Oneyus]

I think having player created content for story is fine, but it would have to be limited to side stories etc . . . main cannon needs to come from AT. Players could make submissions and then it could go through a review process to see if it fits etc .... somewhat similar to submitting articles.

All that is needed to get the "story ball" rolling really is to have the groundwork for the story laid out (setting of the world of The Spoils - good example of this is the old interview with Patrick) from there on out, AT can just make whatever they want as cannon and not worry about looking back at how it was supposed to be in the past (other than what the cards may dictate). Gather as much data that is available from TG folks and move forward.

The story/lore starting out doesn't have to be some type of epic it could just be a Glossary of terms/things found in the world of The Spoils as mentioned above that gets added to as time goes on. A timeline would be neat and relatively simple in relation to creating an actual story arc. After creating a timeline, small short stories about the events on the timeline could be the next thing to write. As ideas come up, more events could be added to the timeline with more short story/essay type descriptions of the events. Articles/essays/stories could describe how the bankers actually invest in natural and metaphysical forces or how they use voidal currency. Talk about a day in the life of a "fill in the blank", could be warlord, rogue, ritualist, hedonist. Character journals would work too, who doesn't want to read Gideon's journal? or Elzibeth's?

My suggestion ... start small -----> Glossary, add to glossary over time, start a timeline, fill in timeline over time (Good place to start timeline (end of humanity as we know it when the world goes splody/explody/armagheddon).

[Michael (Arcane Tinmen)]

Thanks for the creative input. We are in fact working on something like this. Can't promise any or all right now or when, but it is certainly within what we are wanting to do

[Oneyus]

buh-buh-buh-bump

[Paul]

It does feel like the only place the game is lacking. The artwork describes a really interesting setting, and I'd like to know more. I'd be happy with just a short story/blurb/thing packed in with the starters for each set to let us know what's going on during this time and what that deck's faction might be trying to accomplish or reacting to. We can fill in the rest with our imagination and play experience. A longer piece posted on the site detailing the history of the world and the first two blocks would be nice, too, since the story was largely a mystery there.

[DQuartermane]

I absolutely LOVE the world and characters of The Spoils. I know I am late to the game with just a 2 player Starter and some boosters. But there are such great characters in each of the Factions. But of course, the Factions themselves are such characters too. The Mau Bankers are honestly awesome. And my Rogues constantly crack me up not just on the flavor text, heck they all do. But the Hasty Sarc, the Headlong Perloiner, the Martial Artist(s), and so many more. I really and truly, want to know more about them and the Rogues.

I am an amateur writer, and what I wouldn't give to be able to write in the world of The Spoils. Not trying to sound begging or anything, just the card honestly inspire that much. And I know in The Other Game, there is a world and such there. And I will fully admit that I don't know much about the world. But while the art is pretty, but it doesn't inspire like The Spoils. Not picking on it, just stating my .02

[Michael (Arcane Tinmen)]

It does feel like the only place the game is lacking. The artwork describes a really interesting setting, and I'd like to know more. I'd be happy with just a short story/blurb/thing packed in with the starters for each set to let us know what's going on during this time and what that deck's faction might be trying to accomplish or reacting to. We can fill in the rest with our imagination and play experience. A longer piece posted on the site detailing the history of the world and the first two blocks would be nice, too, since the story was largely a mystery there.

If you work on the Seed-3 cards then perhaps a little more will be revealed... who knows...?