@ Tammy,

Not sure if you follow the guestbook, but it's great to see you still writing adventures! I was surprised you didn't enter the Windhammer Competition. Look forward to reading TDL!

We were just discussing the role of females in FF - I must apologise in forgetting: you are one of them! Unless Tammy is also a boy's name (in which case I'm a bit of an ignoramus!) or that you chose it as an alias.

It's all gone mad here :o

bcyy
Thu Sep 27 06:14:25 2012

Right. We'll need a sample of male volunteers for significance tests, a control sample of female volunteers to know how much less escapism unmodified human females engage in in comparison to the male sample, and finally a hard-core female volunteer sample which we will modify to see which modifications result in an escapism level indistinguishable from the male sample. The final abstract would look something like this:

"We study the level of escapist activity in homo sapien females as a function of hormone injections, shower denial, facial shaving frequency, and availability, or lack thereof, of fresh clothes. We find that..."

Ig Nobel, here we come! :-D

Glen
Thu Sep 27 07:16:20 2012

I always claimed to be multidisciplinary in my research. This will help :P.

Aiken
Fri Sep 28 10:40:19 2012

I don't think escapism comes into it (see female romantic literature from Sheharazade to Harry Potter).

Gamebook qualities which are intrinsically masculine (with strong geek leanings):

1. solitary;
2. mathematics and statistics based;
3. puzzel based;
4. requires obssesive attention to detail; and
5. retro, obscure, sub-cultural.

Gamebook qualities which could be changed, but which are currently very masculine (with strong geek leanings):

6. violent and gory;
7. focussed on antagonism, danger, weapons and combat;
8. almost always feature male protagonist;
9. rarely feature female characters who are not either maidens, wise-women or femmes fatales (i.e. madonna, mother or whore);
10. narrative is usually of the "lone underdog saves world"/power-trip of the once-bullied variety; and
11. little emphasis on emotions, the development of relationships, or foot-wear.

Good luck guys.

Robert Douglas
Fri Sep 28 12:01:59 2012

@ Aitken,

By escapism, I was referring to the 'fantasy' part of the genre. How male players become lost for hours in playing gamebooks and computer games, enjoying the strengths and background of a fictional character. I'm not sure, but I think World of Warcraft - for example - is popular with both male and female. Many girls probably enjoy the magical and exploration side to this particular fantasy.

I'd also forgotten about Knightmare - a TV programme where some teams consisted of girls. They were either games enthusiasts, or enjoyed the social-side and solving puzzles, or both. And Time Commanders: again, some teams had women who really got into the strategy side (there was some degree of excitement on their part) but I still believe it's really more a sense of female sociability, taking part - whereas men get a little gung-ho, macho, enjoying the battle-scenes, etc.

JK Rowling's Harry Potter are great adventures but, as her characters reach teenage years, she focuses more on their relationships (circa 'Goblet of Fire'). I'm not sure what Harry Potter would have been like if the author had been a man. I think men are capable of introducing romantisicm to a story, but this is often a secondary element in their books: Ian Fleming (action/adventure/spy), James Herbert (Horror/Ghost/Thriller), Bernard Cornwell (Historical/Modern Action/Adventure), to name but a few.

I think men would emphasize footwear only if they have a foot fetish (pardon for mentioning this!).

Aiken
Fri Sep 28 12:45:29 2012

C-Star
Sat Sep 29 22:00:12 2012

Wow, what have I just started? :-D

Ha, having laptop troubles so couldn't post. I actually faintly remember Knightmare, I watched it when I was a kid (could have been re-runs). I never saw anyone finish it though. But at the topic at hand, I do not pretend to understand women, and I doubt I'm going to be able to any time soon. But we might have some real ground-breaking stuff here. I want my share of the riches we'll make! Maybe I'll actually have a chance then :-D

@Glen
As demanding as Final Fantasy is, it is NOTHING compared to the 300+ beast that is Monster Hunter. It's a hard ass game for hard ass gamers. If you want to keep your life, DO NOT PLAY IT! It will eat your life away.

Pat
Sun Sep 30 13:12:51 2012

Hi all,
I recently converted 'house of horror' into a game. If some of you would like to see/play it, i will post the link to it here (don't know if i can post links here). I had Gaetano's permission to use his gamebook. The game is free of course.

C-Star
Sun Sep 30 18:36:26 2012

No harm in trying it i guess. Just pray you didn't ruin it. And i'd actually like to see Curse Of Drumer as a game. Typing this in on a phone so apologies if it looks weird in any way.

Glen
Wed Oct 3 19:55:54 2012

@C-Star

No arguments from me on that count. Along with Disgaea, I only scratxhed the surface of MH.

C-Star
Thu Oct 4 06:52:52 2012

Omfg i've finally met another monster hunter player! Which one do you play? I'm doing Freedom Unite on the PSP. Not too far in yet but getting there. I think the game never really took off outside of Japan cause it was too hardcore for most people in the west. I got it for like 10 euro at gamestop. Almost as good a bargain as Final Fantasy 10 for 5 quid! Being a niche gamer is awesome.

Glen
Sat Oct 6 08:48:35 2012

@C-Star

Actually, MH was very popular among my friends. I played it by far the least. The only version I played in any depth was the PS2 edition: http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/914914-monster-hunter.

I saw the PSP version in the store and it has been tempting me for quite some time, but since the birth of our little boy I haven't touched a gaming device! (Save for some gamebooks on trains.) I think they will have to wait some time for me.

@Pat Thanks for the link: let's see how it goes!

C-Star
Fri Oct 19 07:48:30 2012

But judging by your posts, you don't seem to actually be finishing any of the books. i'd recommend completing them. When you complete one book in the series, you're allowed to go onto the next with all stat boosters and some items still intact! Just remember to make bookmarks so you don't have to start again from the beginning if you die.

C-Star
Fri Oct 19 07:50:40 2012

Sorry, that last post was for Walker Long.

Robert Douglas
Fri Oct 19 14:01:15 2012

There's a big discussion going on between Walker Long and C-Star at the moment :O

Afraid I've had a go at only a few online gamebooks here: 'Garden of Bones', 'House of Horror', and 'Soul Tracker' - but otherwise too busy with writing my own and currently reading the Saxon Chronicle novels!

Once I reach a 'quiet' period (probably not until next year at this rate!) I'll try out the other adventures featured here.

C-Star
Fri Oct 26 07:42:42 2012

Well you found the ship anyway. Few more hints.

SPOILER

END SPOILER

Andre` Pietroschek
Fri Oct 26 20:24:16 2012

Greetings,

thanks for ignoring me all the years on each request. Newest Plan: We have several open-ended Interactive (that's much like fighting fantasy just online) rpg themes at http://www.writing.com. 4 of them allow anybody to continue writing them. All of you are invited to try, just like anybody else.

Vampire The Masquerade - Path of Darkness is for 5 different characters (that's like five ff-books in one).

Bloodhunt is for 5 vampire hunters in 5 different ages, ancient rome to sci-fi

Star Wars Episode 3,5 is the 18 years between the old and new films. A lot of characters to write into victory or certain death.

Sword and Sorcery... sorry, I forgot.

Sorry for eventual typos.

Oh and yes, it must be a conspiracy or worse which makes me sign this guestbook.

My regards

AMP

post skriptum

Beggars of Blacksand and the Mysterious Case of Bodies in the Docks were really good works!

Basashi
Tue Oct 30 15:00:08 2012

Just stumbled on this website and it's really addictive! Nice job guys; hope you keep on writing and keep up the good work!

C-Star
Tue Oct 30 17:46:54 2012

Yay new people. We seriously need them, one message posted every 1 and a half days is just not enough!

Robert Douglas
Tue Oct 30 23:44:47 2012

One message...

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