Text Games: A Behind the Scene's Look at Mortal BuildingI

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 In most addicting games, building new areas involves becoming a staff-level character. Iron Realms sheds the exclusivity of game design, offering equal opportunity to all players! For this article, I sat down with Daphne* (not her real name), a game area builder with several years’ worth of experience. My first question was, what inspired her to apply in the first place?

 “I’m really anal about spelling and grammar,” Daphne laughed before adding, “but really, I love to write and wanted to fine-tune my abilities. I’ve met other builders in the game who joined for similar reasons. The first application I submitted was without any proofreading on my part, and they turned me down flat. What a HUGE blow to my ego! My third attempt was much more successful. Iron Realms isn’t kidding about applicants submitting error-free room descriptions.”

 

 Daphne explained that, once selected, text gamers accepted into the building program sign a strict non-disclosure agreement prohibiting them from discussing projects with anyone, even other builders or the Divine! I couldn’t imagine working alone in seclusion, or putting hours into a project without getting any kind of recognition in return.

 “Because my character in the game holds membership in many organizations, I actually welcome the seclusion and anonymity building provides. It’s a nice break. I don’t mind collaborating with other builders in the game, but I can work faster alone. And I know all the details about my area, whether it’s a serene landscape or a dank cavern. For instance, a rainbow llama farm east of a highway is likely visible from a hill to the west,” she stopped and chuckled. “That probably sounds crazy outside an RPG environment. Even though a lot of players claim that they don’t even read room descriptions in the text game, I smile when hearing favorable comments about something I wrote. But typos are a different story altogether!”

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 Just how forgiving are Divine about a builder’s spelling or grammar mistakes?  “New builders start as apprentices, and the Divine are both patient and forgiving. I quickly learned the best way to avoid having my work corrected multiple times, was to adopt better writing habits in the first place. It’s made me a better writer in other areas of life outside the game. I feel bad for the Celani who had to pick apart my early work, though. It was pretty terrible compared to current building guidelines.”

 Although given permission to talk about being a text game builder, Daphne refrained from sharing certain details. “I’ve done everything from writing basic item descriptions to using an Orb of Creation to build my own, unique area. I’ve worked on sections for places that considered my text game character an enemy, to the village where she’s a citizen. The challenge and variety are awesome, especially since it’s completely in text. I am working on something new,” she admitted with a wink. “But all I’ll say is that it offers equal opportunity for roleplay, hunting, and questing.”

 As with guides, mortal builders receive payment for their work in the form of credits, the amount proportional to how complex the project is. “I’d have applied for mortal building even if there was no payment involved,” Daphne reflected. “It’s been an incredible opportunity, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The first time I saw changes I’d made go live in the text game, I felt a little swell of pride. Even though nobody knew it was my work, just knowing that I was able to give something back to a game I love is my biggest addiction...being able to make a genuine, positive impact on the text game itself...that’s the best reward.”

 “Like most things, what you get out of it depends on what you put into it. If you’re only applying as a way to get credits or hope for recognition, then don’t be surprised if you wind up disappointed or fizzle out of the program. Builders who last are the ones who enjoy building just for the sake of building, regardless of whether they receive payment or acknowledgment for their work or not.”

 Many thanks to Daphne and all the mortal builders, mortal and Divine, past and present, who lend their own unique touches to the complex environment of Iron Realms array of addicting games!

Written by: Becky James as Penelope Swain

Edited by: Tony Celentano

Read this article on the Iron Realms website!

The 10 Commandments of Steve Jobs Applied to Text Games

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Less than two weeks after announcing his resignation as Apple’s CEO, Newsweek magazine published an article titled, “The 10 Commandments of Steve.” Employers everywhere are using the infographic as a suggestion for improving their own business. However, Iron Realms has been using the same processes attributed to Steve Jobs’s creative genius since they released Achaea in 1997!

1. Go for perfect

 Iron Realms Entertainment doesn’t expect perfection, but it does hold crafters to a high standard. One Achaea text gamer offered, “It’s crazy! My high school English teachers weren’t this strict. At first it was discouraging. It’s just a dress for my character in a RPG game; so who cares if the grammar is a little off? They care. But their caring has made me care more about how I present myself outside the text game, even on Facebook!”

2. Tap the experts

 Iron Realms doesn’t look for outsiders to play Divine characters in their MUDs. Each offers a process that allows text game characters equal chances for promotion, whether stepping into the role of a Guide to help the newbies, or being elevated to full God status! The result is an administrative team familiar with the basic ins and outs of text game details and mechanics.

3. Be ruthless

 If something isn’t working out, scrap it and move on. The Iron Realms rpg games have followed this practice over the years -- even when a Divine Character has run its course! More recently, IRE began testing a Digg system to replace its former word-of-mouth advertising via TopMudSites (which was bought out by Aardwolf MUD).

4. Shun focus groups

 Jobs says, “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” That doesn’t mean shunning suggestions! Tracking player feedback lets producers know what’s working, and what needs tweaked. Each of the MUDs associated with Iron Realms Entertainment allows feedback about the text game to be offered through communication  not only between players, but also between players and administrators.

5. Never stop studying

 In addition to listening to what players have to say on the forums, they also include a system for reporting bugs, typos, and ideas. A large player base has potential for hundreds, even thousands, of things to be reported daily! The end result is that Administrators can more easily fix bugs and typos, and perhaps even implement an idea or two!

6. Simplify

 Text. It doesn’t get any more simple! The graphics in Guild Wars might compare to art hanging in the Louvre, but how does inspire the imagination? IRE games are a better choice over graphic MMORPGs because they push text game characters to comprehend the rpg game, making decisions that directly impact character background and development!

7. Keep your secrets

 Mortal Builders, the players assigned with updating current areas and building new ones, are required to sign and provide a hard copy of a nondisclosure agreement. These people agree not to discuss new areas with anyone, neither fellow mortal builders nor Divine characters in the text game!

8. Keep teams small

 Mortal characters in the RPG Achaea can apply to become Celani, a kind of Divine-in-training position. Celani are promoted to Demigods, who in turn can be promoted to full God status! Instead of creating new Divine characters when people are promoted, the administrators promote Demigods into the roles of dormant, current Gods. This allows for clockwork-like operations that keep the text game free for everyone!

9. Use more carrot than stick

 People don’t invest in things they don’t like! When the admins are enthusiastic, that feeling trickles down to the players.

10. Prototype to the extreme

 Pre-planning new areas, creating items players will need for various situations, and implementing tools to ease the transition from newbie to advanced text game characters are just a few of the ways IRE helps make their RPG games more player-friendly. One person commented, “I love when a new area opens! Unlike in some other text games, I can play without being distracted by glaring typos or pause my hunting or questing to report a bug.”

There’s no doubt that Iron Realms has revolutionized text games. By staying true to an uncomplicated platform they’ve developed a loyal player base that has withstood the test of time!

Written by: Becky James as Penelope Swain

Edited by: Tony Celentano

Read this article on the Iron Realms website!

Text Game Bullies

“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names’ll never hurt me.” This bears scant truth for victims of bullies. Despite how strong victims appears in public, it still hurts inside. If you think it doesn’t apply to you, read on. Everyone is a potential victim! Even in addicting games, bullies threaten others as a way to deal with their own inadequacies.

Who is likely to become a victim? Ironically, the same people who are likely to become bullies! Race, religion, sexual orientation, distinguishing features...and anything else that can label a person as being different from everyone else. Bullying can happen both in private and public...and even in your favorite Iron Realms RPG game!

Types of Bullies in Text Games

 There are as many bully types as there are victims. It can happen to any type of character in a text game! The primary types are physical, who attack tangibly, and emotional, who attack mentally.

 Some physical RPG bullies are tanky PvP combat junkies with a pre-purchased system to provide an extra edge over the competition. But some take cyber bullying outside the game environment, in technological ways. Said one text game player, “I posted a video of myself doing a USB-controller build with custom drivers. I’m overweight, and smoke. Naturally, the trolls found me. They made parodies of my video, with fairly cruel impressions. It was enough to make me remove the video and post the build in text-form elsewhere without the visual benefit.” This blow was no less painful than a physical punch.

 Another loyal IRE text game player offered, “My character accepted her Prince Charming’s marriage proposal. But I spent days after logging in to dozens of whiney messages from his ex. I finally snubbed her and she did move on; but reading those every day was draining! I log into the text game from various remote locations, and hated dealing with that day in an day out.” Fortunately, all five Iron Realms text games offer a way to ignore players! In Aetolia the command is literally IGNORE to stop paying attention to someone, while in the other rpg games it is SNUB.

Emotional bullies, or 'griefers', work behind the scenes. Whether creating clans to gossip or lacing hate speech into otherwise normal conversations with the victim, this bully is a miserable soul. When asked about his experience, another player replied: “They are relentless! I had serious problems with someone in another text game before finding IRE. One bully harassed me no matter what I did, unprovoked. Even if I was in safe chat mode! I made an alt just to escape being attacked. Yeah, I could’ve reported it. But it was easier to just start over.” 

Responding to Bullies in Text Games

So how can you defend yourself against bullies? Whether in real life or an RPG game, the methods for standing up for yourself against bullies can be similar.

- Talk to someone you trust. In an IRE text game, it could be someone in leadership, your family mentor.

- If possible, keep a copy of the details outside the game of each event of bullying. Should it need to be reported, documentation outside the game provides additional credibility to back up your claims.

- Report them. Don’t assume you’ll come off sounding like a tattling child from primary school. Administrators are meticulous in their record-keeping. Just because you don’t see Them, doesn’t mean that They don’t see you -- or that They haven’t punished the bully!

Bullies exist. It doesn’t make it right, but remember, it can always be worse. As one player stated, “For years in my old game, I was bullied by a high-ranking person with a history of purchasing loads of extras. My friends and I were low-levels without the bonus features. We reported him, but nothing happened. I left and didn’t look back. With IRE...it’s different. Fair policies apply equally to everyone. Once when I was a newbie, someone picking on me got punished. I feel like IRE cares about me as a player and it makes me want to invest in credits. I’m not paying to play the game. I’m making an investment in my character’s future.”

Written by: Becky James as Penelope Swain

Edited by: Tony Celentano

Read this article and more like it on the Iron Realms website!

MMORPGs - Playing Without Power

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In the span of a single weekend, Hurricane Irene swept across the eastern coastline of the United States, leaving million of Americans without power or a stable cellular connection. Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail can keep loyal gamers away from their favorite role playing games in times of disaster, even if just to keep others apprised! In the RPG game Imperian, the person behind Dranor, God of Imagination was one of these people. Despite lack of a reliable internet source, he managed to enter the realm long enough to create a news post informing others of his situation.

Less than a week before Irene’s unwelcome visit, an earthquake registering 5.8 on the Richter scale not only rocked the nation’s capital but also muddled cellphone reception and other manners of technological communication. More importantly, it left online rpg gamers within those areas without a convenient way to check in with their friends in Iron Realms rpg games via their cellphones. If a national disaster wipes out power in your area, could you survive without logging into your favorite Iron Realms Entertainment game to check messages, read organizational logs, or just catch up on the latest gossip? I know I sure couldn’t!

PHONE APPS

Thanks to the MUD Android app for Iron Realms role playing games, players who own these devices no longer require a computer and a full internet connection to log into their favorite RPG game. Other apps like Blowtorch for Android, PocketMUD for iPhone, and others also allow players to log into the rpg game. Depending on the type of app, you can get everything from basic game access to more complex aliases and triggers. If you can access the internet on your phone, try logging into the Iron Realms Entertainment website where you can stay up-to-date on messages and news boards without having to actually log into the games!

PORTABLE COMPUTERS

Whether it’s called a laptop, netbook, macbook, or any other trendy trademarked term, these devices can hold a battery charge lasting eight hours or better, and that’s plenty of gaming time! Thanks to coffee shops and fast food restaurants, depending on the size of the town where you live there could be a wifi hotspot on every corner. That’s especially useful if the establishment is running a generator or if it’s in a section of town that still has electricity. If this isn’t available to you and you’re really desperate, some smart phones now feature the ability to act as a mobile hotspot, allowing you to tap in for optimal RPG game access during times of trouble.

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Power outages are the perfect times to evacuate your current residence and drop in on friends and family; especially ones forced to work long hours and leave their computer or wireless router unattended. If they really love you, they will want you to be safe, and happy, even if it means letting you leech wifi to play your favorite RPG games until it’s safe to return to your own home. If they act grouchy after watching you stare at your computer screen for a day or two, don’t worry. They’re just jealous of the solid connection you’ve formed with your online friends and virtual family.

There are a lot of technical terms associated with the internet and power outages, like infrastructure and smart grids, but who has time to learn about that? What truly matters is that you can connect to your favorite Iron Realms Entertainment RPG games! Hopefully the next time the lights go out, you can stay plugged into all the latest happenings. And if all else fails, sit down with a pencil and a piece of paper and write out some background about your role playing game character. When the power comes back, you’ll be completely refreshed, totally ready for a new and exciting roleplaying game adventure!

Written by: Becky James as Penelope Swain

Edited by: Tony Celentano

Read this article and more like it on the Iron Realms website!

Why People Date in MMORPGs

Forget services that try to find your perfect love match or help you create that special harmony with your true love. Internet dating can be a real let down, especially if customers go into it hoping for the happily-ever-after featured in a cleverly scripted middle of the night television advertisement. If you’re truly interested in finding someone compatible with your deepest desires, look no further than your nearest Iron Realms role playing game!

Physical appearance

Everybody knows the photos used for internet dating sites are staged. Even if someone does look that good on camera, there's no guarantee their fairer features will carry over into real life. So what if you’ve been playing rpg games for 30+ hours and look like death’s third cousin? Thanks to the ability to customize your rpg game character you can look as stunningly beautiful (or as unspeakably ugly) as your heart desires. And the best part is, nobody has to know that you’re still in pajamas, haven’t showered or combed your hair, or that you have a last night’s dinner of fast food tacos gracing the front of your shirt.

Social status

Here’s a chance to boast to all your friends about your long-distance rpg game lover who is head of an inter-regional corporation that promotes organic healing products. Why ruin their awe and cease their well wishes to you by telling them the truth -- that he’s thirty-four, between jobs and spends his free time playing the leader of a forestal house in an online role playing game environment? And don’t worry if it doesn’t work out. In a virtual realm, everything can be altered. Goodbye, stigma associated with divorce because for a one-time fee it can be removed from your rpg game record.

Low risk of disease

Unless your computer catches something from the relationship being taken outside the role playing game to instant messages, web cams or emails, it’s fairly certain that a sexually transmitted virus isn’t something on your list of concerns.

Less expensive

Don’t let minor obstacles like the Atlantic Ocean prevent you from having a torrid affair with an exotic foreigner. Thanks to Iron Realms role playing games, the opportunities are not only endless, but they’re also really inexpensive, especially when you consider all the rpg game classes that possess some kind of cool insta-travel ability. Why waste real time and real money on a relationship outside the realm when you can delve into a perfectly good roleplaying game adventure for free?

Unlikely risk of a hidden past

One of the many benefits of a close-knit roleplay community is that everyone knows someone that knows someone else. If not, obtaining public knowledge about another rpg game character is as close as their HONOURS information. And if worst comes to worst, you can always peruse the forums.

In summary, love doesn't come with a guarantee in any realm, regardless if you’re living just across town or halfway across the world from one another. Regardless of your situation, finding love is a bit like playing the Iron Lottery. If you don’t make the effort to enter the contest, then you’re sure to wind up losing every time the winning tickets are selected.

Written by: Becky James as Penelope Swain

Edited by: Tony Celentano

Read this article and more like it on the Iron Realms website!