Kingdoms of Telgard
The making of an online, RPG Community
- By CD Mac
I've been asked many times the how's and
why's of Telgard's creation. The following is a summary of the events
that lead up to the game as it is today. I hope you enjoy the tale.
"You've got to be kidding me! What? No
way! Okay, that's it. I'm outta here......"
It all started with my frustration with another
online game. I won't mention the name in this article, but let's just say
that it starts with the letter "A". I had risen to a high rank there,
but despite my standing, I had no control over the downfall that I saw
coming. Rather than continuing my efforts to save a game who's leader refused
to let it be saved, I left. It wasn't long before I began to feel the pains
of roleplaying withdrawal. Don't even tell me that you don't know
what I mean! *grin*
Soon enough, I found myself a minor partner
in a design team for another game, .....but it was never completed. Not
that I didn't put a ton of effort into the project! *sigh* I won't
go into the reasons why the game wasn't finished, but its failure lead
to the beginnings of an idea....
Of course, that's when my whole world fell
apart. Without going into the details, my husband landed himself in the
hospital. I practically lived in the waiting room and in the hush-hush
of the ICU ward for weeks. To keep myself distracted from the ordeal,
I brought with me a note pad, upon which I began the outlines that would
eventually be fleshed out into the Kingdoms of Telgard roleplaying game.
I wrote down everything that I liked about roleplaying, and the pitfalls
that I saw present in other games. It was my goal to create a positive
rp'ing environment with none of the back stabbing "meanness" that I experienced
elsewhere. Not a bad goal, right?
After my crisis was over, I really got down
to work. I created the map (I just love maps), and the names for the first
cities. It was then a matter of creating the message board layout, color
scheme, and images. After the framework was complete, I invited CD Heath
to join me in the development process. A while later, I invited CD Steve,
now called CD Mjollnir. I had known both in the "game which won't be mentioned",
and knew that they would be perfect for the job. Both of them are
not only talented writers, but good natured people, as well. Very important!
From there, well, it was a matter of defining
the moderator structure. After that was complete, we recruited a few KM's
to help flesh out the Kingdoms and opened the game for play. Sounds
simple? Actually, it wasn't all that difficult. When people get along,
then it just happens. I could go into more detail on the actual process,
but that would take a volume or two. *grin* I'll write an article
on how the individual Kingdoms were developed in another issue.
More than a year later, Telgard is going strong!
What is the secret? It is my belief that the secret is in the friendship,
respect, and humor that we all share for each other. Another thing
is that it continues to grow. Players and moderators alike bring
Telgard to life every single day. I just love seeing it happen! I
can't count the number of times when I laughed out loud or felt like applauding
the authors after reading a string of posts. In all, we've built a very
detailed world together and it gets better and better all the time.
For my final note, I'd like to thank everyone
for making Telgard the positive gaming experience that I had dreamed of.
I look forward to seeing what develops in the future, for it's going to
be fantastic, for sure. So, let's play!
