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In lugnet.castle.org.cw, Jeremy Scott writes:
> I find it sad, and kinda pathetic, that such a great thing was allowed to
> die.
First, let me just say that this post is absolutely NOT intended as THEE
giant step onto anyone's toes -- not at all. Anyone thinking they have
greater authority than myself is INVITED to counter any of my comments
below. And I write this with a mouth full of "Dippin' Dots", so you know I
am serious...
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Castle World as originally conceived by Pawel N. was basically just a links
page really. The idea was to inspire people to develop and tell
castle-themed stories by providing a central location from which such
activities could spring and be documented. The persons telling such stories
were called "Balladeers" in the poetic sense of the word, although without
making use of the strict poetic form. Another storytelling format was
conceived as a "duet", for which two balladeers might pool their resources,
strengths, weaknesses, ideas good and bad, and tell a story together. The
ethos of CW were creativity and freedom -- CW had no hard and fast rules,
everyone was welcome to join.
Very early on Craig Hamilton, Shiri, I presume Chris, and myself were part
of behind the scenes discussions about CW. Pawel, as chief CW mover, had a
kind of honorary veto power that no one really challenged. Craigo created
some artwork for the web pages. And various others of us had input, admin
chores, etc. Despite this quasi-organization of things, CW remained
narratively egalitarian: if you had a story to tell, characters to evolve,
structures to build, etc. -- you could do it in your own way.
At some point there was talk of turning CW into some kind of gaming thing.
There was resistance to this idea inasmuch as such a move would likely
inhibit freedom of storytelling by tying it too closely with a different
activity -- gaming! And freedom was a prized value amongst CW
participants. Further, there were no actual restrictions on a balladeer
such that they couldn't use gaming as a tool of storytelling if they wished
to do so -- it just wouldn't be the focus of CW. Everyone remained free to
tell stories in their own way, whatever their peculiar approach to the task.
Somewhere in here talks of a set of maps began [possibly to appease the more
organizationally obsessed gaming contingent]. But I suppose if there were a
Castle World, it would have maps, right? The idea was to have not only
straight forward links to each balladeers "realms" (or stories), but also a
set of visual links via a map. To this end, discussions began between Pawel
and Craigo as to how to organize the maps. Craigo had what I STILL think
was a brilliant idea concerning the creation of the maps: he wanted to use
the various Lego animals as kinds of territories. One might have a segment
of the map in the shape of a snake, or a bat, or even a dragon shaped island
-- the thing was that these map shapes would follow the actual silhouettes
or forms of TLC's animal elements and other available images from shields
and so on. Cool, right?! Sadly, there was a LOT of resistance to this idea
as probably too "cutesy" or something. When map making returned as a
subject of interest in 2001, a more straight forward approach was discussed.
There was a lot of talk about how much land one could have, the
correspondence between studs to miles, and etc. Basically, this idea also
collapsed because people generally wanted freedom to have things as they
wished, while others seemed to have some kind of land-grabbing fixation. A
third version of the maps issue arose in the guise of the Isle of Mists:
that the CW maps would reveal themselves as balladeers trekked their
characters across the face of CW. I think this idea failed because, once
again, some kind of narrative structure was being enforced from on high.
Also, the idea entailed a LOT of administrative effort to maintain and lead
in the unveiling of CW.
Other things that came up at some point were discussions of the approximate
time period, available weapons and technology, and the uses of magic on CW.
Yet again, there were various attempts to regulate these various concerns.
And yet again, such attempts failed because balladeers wanted their freedom.
[I know I would want narrative freedom if I were to participate.]
At some point in there I think that there was some regrouping circa 2001
when many people met at Brickfest for "The Gathering." Some enthusiasm for
CW resurfaced, but also quickly dissipated.
From Pawel, to Nathan, to Shiri, to Chris, to ??? -- the admin duties were
passed down. I guess Chris officially abandoned the whole CW thing here:
http://news.lugnet.com/castle/org/cw/?n=1649
The End (so far).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's the thing: I still have all of Craigo's artwork and maps, and my own
version of the main webpages when I was going to take on the admin chores. I
can likely download all of the needed stuff I may not have seen from an
archived copy of CW somewhere. Chris would likely send me what he has and I
would be surprised if any previous admins would resist my offering to become
the admin of a more streamlined version of CW for the future.
So here's what I propose to do about it:
I will maintain a CW site that has links to Characters, Structures,
Creatures, and Balladeers. I will also maintain a brief history page
containing some of the above (corrections of the history are INVITED).
I MAY create some loose maps based on Craigo's idea of the CW world maps --
in reality I am not sure they are needed at all. If we have them they will
likely serve as visual indicators of how certain balladeers are working
cooperatively, or in opposition to each other. Balladeers would be free to
be a part of the more comprehensive Castle World, or not -- as they choose.
Balladeers would be free to NOT be a part of any mapping scheme whatever,
making things up as they go along. Balladeers could make up an alternate
castle world, or even worlds, of their own design. There is no official Isle
of Mist. If you want it, you tell it.
Castle World will go forward as a place to share castle-themed stories.
Creativity and freedom of expression are encouraged. All are welcome to
join. All balladeers tell their stories as each sees fit to do so. Whether
you want to roll the bones, consult the runes, use fiction writer's
software, use plume and parchment, "sing" solo or with others, game, or even
role-play -- it's all YOUR OWN call as to how you devise your stories. If
balladeers wish to organize some kind of unifying narrative scheme (like the
Isle of Mists), they are free to work cooperatively amongst themselves.
What time is it on Castle World? You decide.
What kinds of weapons or technology are available on Castle World? Only you
can say.
Is there magic on Castle World? It remains unwritten.
The Old Man of the Mountain said, "Nothing is sacred, everything is
permitted." Let it be our motto.
Pawel is STILL the creator of Castle World. Craigo is STILL the creator of
much the web artwork. I will merely administrate a site that operates as a
hub for Castle World activity.
That's what I am offering to do.
Yea, or nay?
-- Hop-Frog (a fool in charge of CW? Didn't we know it would come to this?)
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Message has 3 Replies:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Pass the torch... Bring back the spirit...
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| Dear CW Admin, I find it sad, and kinda pathetic, that such a great thing was allowed to die. I understand that the real world, can bog you down, but pass the torch. I remember when CW was a great thing, and due to a lack in admin, that spirit has (...) (22 years ago, 23-Aug-02, to lugnet.castle.org.cw, lugnet.castle)
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