Chronological Listing for Trials, Triumphs and Trivialities

About this series: Trials, Triumphs & Trivialities is a weekly column offering advice on how to build online prose games, written by Shannon Appelcline, Director of Operations at Skotos Tech. Now over 100 articles mature, TT&T uses as its examples the Skotos flagship games, and thus offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at Castle Marrach, Grendel's Revenge, Galactic Emperor: Hegemony and The Eternal City, as well as upcoming releases.

Trials, Triumphs & Trivialities Column...

Anatomy of a Game: The MTV Challenges – #182: Evolving voting design in The Real World/Road Rules Challenge.
Anatomy of a Game: The Amazing Race – #181: Examing the game design of television's The Amazing Race.
Collective Choice: Competitive Rankings – #180: An overview of ranking systems used for competition, from ELO to tourneys and thresholds.
Collective Choice: Ratings – #179: Looking at ratings systems, beginning with where eBay went wrong.
Collective Choice: An Introduction – #178: An intro to collective choice, including voting, ranking, rating, polling, and more.
How to Cheat at Online Games, Part Two – #177: The difference between what players see as cheating and what administrators do. And, how to better define these.
Online Games & The Law: More Latest Cases – #176: Storyline patents, indexing infringement, and contributory infringement.
Skinner Boxes & Socializer Gameplay – #175: A discussion of operant conditioning, Skinner Boxes, and other sciences underlying online gameplay.
On Blogs: The Ascendance of the Form – #174: How blogs are causing problems for article sites on the Internet, such as this one.
Another Postcard from Indianapolis – #173: Thoughts and Pics from Skotos at GenCon
Balance & Consistency in Game Design – #172: How a CCG game design can illuminate the need for balance & consistency in online games.
The Elements of Good ScaryTelling: The Horror Within – #171: How good horror contrasts the terrible with the mundane.
Creativity & The Creative Commons – #170: A discussion of the Creative Commons licenses, joint creativity, and how we've put our comic where our mouth is.
Mixing Mediums: An Overview – #169: About the Castle Marrach comic, and how mixing mediums can strengthen a creative work.
Online Games & The Law, Part Four: Community Rules – #168: What you should be aware of, legally, when you create an online community.
It's All in Your Point of View – #167: How the storytelling technique of point of view can influence online game design.
Postcard from San Francisco: GDC & Innovation – #166: A look at GDC '05, and the topic of innovation in game design.
A Theory of Game: Psychology & The Prisoner's Dilemma – #165: Discussing four variants of the Prisoner's Dilemma, and how abstract game theory can impact real game design.
Online Games & The Law: The Latest Cases – #164: An update on recent cases affecting the game industry, including Cryptic, Hasbro, and Apple.
Social Software & Gaming: User Content – #163: Looking at the field of Social Software when thinking about user content in online games.
Strategic Insights: Majority Control – #162: An overview of how majority-control strategy games are put together.
Designing Strategy: The Auction Grand Unification Theory – #161: How Risk, El Grande, and Hearts are all auction games.
The Power of Enthusiasm – #160: How enthusiasm is the most important resource in any business venture.
Communities & Online Games – #159: A discussion fo the ways to create community in online games (and the importance thereof)
Game Lengths – #158: Considering the different lengths possible for online games.
Licensed Games & Novelistic Worlds – #157: A look at the plotting problems caused by making games in licensed worlds.
Tabletop Problems, Online Solutions – #156: Tabletop, Analysis Paralysis, and Kingmaking in Online Games
Strategic Insights: Bluffing Games – #155: An overview of ways to bluff in strategy games.
Strategic Insights: Connection Games – #154: An overview and glossary for connection-based games: railroad games, pipe games, and more.
Mechanics & Theme – #153: Two ways to design games: from top-down themes and from bottom-up mechanics.
Some Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence – #152: Expert rules, cheating AI, and organic ideas: a look at gaming & machine intelligence.
Transcreation – #151: Building new stories on top of classic plots and characters.
Strategy & Tactics – #150: Defining strategy, tactics, and their use in online games.
It's Not Fair! – #149: How to achieve fairness in games of all sorts (and what to avoid).
Online Games & The Law, Part Three: Patents, Trade Secrets & Licenses – #148: Finishing off the discussion of IP with a look at patents and trade secrets.
Online Games & The Law, Part Two: Copyleft & Trademark – #147: Discussing the open source movement, trademark law, and their connections to online games.
Online Games & The Law, Part One: IP & Copyright – #146: A broad discussion of how copyright work and what you need to know.
How to Cheat at Online Games – #145: A summary of top methods for cheating in online games--and how game designers can avoid them.
Strategic Insights: Auction Games – #144: An overview of how auction games work, and a discussion of what makes them work well.
If You Build It They Might Come: Critical Mass & Other User Buzzwords – #143: How the science of growth will impact your online game's user community.
The Disconnect Dilemma – #142: Solutions for when players bail out of a game.
User Interfaces – #141: An important, but overlooked, aspect of program design.
Guns & Flaws – #140: Admitting your flaws, but sticking to your guns in game design.
A Brief History of Game, Part Eight: Forging Partnerships – #139: Looking back at Skotos in 2003.
Social Gaming Interactions, Part Three: Cooperation & Freeform – #138: Improving social interactions through cooperation and freeforming.
Social Gaming Interactions, Part Two: Competition – #137: How to improve competitive interaction in multiplayer online games.
Social Gaming Interactions, Part One: A History of Form – #136: On the limits of social gaming interaction, and how they can be expanded.
Anatomy of a Game: Survivor Twists – #135: How twists in the game of Survivor show that "the game is what the game is"
A Brief History of Roleplaying, Part Three – #134: Concluding up a history of roleplaying design with a look at storytelling games.
Anatomy of a Game: Big Brother – #133: Game design of a reality TV show? Seriously.
A Brief History of Roleplaying, Part Two – #132: The history of RP continues, with a look at task resolution, character models, and character advancement.
A Brief History of Roleplaying, Part One (8/28/2003) – #131: Shannon digs into the roots of tabletop gaming.
Live Updates (8/14/2003) – #130: Shannon conveys the excitement and terror of live game edits.
Play Your Games! (8/7/2003) – #129: Shannon encourages game creators to actually play their own games.
Postcard from Indianapolis: Innovation, Humor, & the Usual Suspect (7/31/2003) – #128: Shannon finds innovation and renewed energy at GenCon 2003.
Designing Strategy: Expansions & Variations (7/17/2003) – #127: Shannon revisits strategy game design with an emphasis on originality.
Foiling the Information Age, Part Three (7/10/2003) – #126: Shannon dabbles in the subtle art of controlling information.
Foiling the Information Age, Part Two (7/3/2003) – #125: Shannon invokes the Cone of Silence to share the design of secret information.
Foiling the Information Age, Part One (6/26/2003) – #124: Shannon begins a new segment on the age of communication.
Postcard from Seattle: A Sense of Setting (6/19/2003) – #123: Shannon discusses settings after his recent Seattle excursion.
Remember to Breathe (6/5/2003) – #122: Shannon shares the the painful pleasure of working a job you love.
Strategic Coda: The Web Connection (5/29/2003) – #121: Shannon wraps up his strategy segment with a final look at web games.
Postcard from St. Louis: A Sense of History (5/22/2003) – #120: Shannon sends a midwest postcard and shares a bit of history.
Strategic Coda: The RPG Connection (5/15/2003) – #119: Shannon reflects on RPG elements for building good strategy games.
Death & Loss in Virtual Land (5/8/2003) – #118: Shannon looks at grief and loss in role-playing.
Strategic Insights: Card Games (4/30/2003) – #117: Shannon shows his hand with a discussion on card games.
Strategic Insights: Trading Games (4/17/2003) – #116: Shannon swaps a few insights regarding the nuances of trading game design.
Shannon's Ten Rules of Customer Support (4/11/2003) – #115: Shannon shares his dogma on customer support.
Fool Me Thrice (4/3/2003) – #114: Shannon reflects back on humorous Skotos tidbits of 2002 and the year to date.
Designing Strategy: A Conclusion (3/27/2003) – #113: Shannon recaps his foray into Designing Strategy.
Designing Strategy: Hidden Information (3/20/2003) – #112: Shannon reveals the value of hidden elements in strategy games.
Publishing Games: An Overview, Part Two (3/13/2003) – #111: Shannon shares real world, post-release tips on publishing online games.
Publishing Games: An Overview, Part One (3/6/2003) – #110: Shannon discusses Skotos' new Associate Game strategy.
Designing Strategy: Victory & Balance (2/27/2003) – #109: Shannon immerses us in the importance of meta balance in strategy game design.
Designing Strategy: Activity & Timing (2/20/2003) – #108: Shannon dabbles with the art of time in strategy games.
Anatomy of a Game: The Settlers of Catan (2/13/2003) – #107: Shannon analyzes the The Settlers of Catan as a strategic game model.
Designing Strategy: The Random Factor (2/6/2003) – #106: Shannon explores the value of unpredictability in strategy games.
Designing Strategy: Decision Sets (1/30/2003) – #105: Shannon scrutinizes the user experience of decision making in strategy games.
Strategic Introductions: Web Games (1/23/2003) – #104: Shannon delves into the mysteries of web-based strategy games.
Designing Strategy: The Gameplay (1/16/2003) – #103: Shannon dives into the deep end of strategy gameplay.
Designing Strategy: The Components (1/9/2003) – #102: Shannon breaks up the strategy genre into its primary components.
Strategic Introductions: Tabletop Games (1/2/2003) – #101: Shannon rings in the new year on a strategic vein.
The Mystique of Game Design: A Photocolumn (12/19/2002) – #100: On TT&T's 100th installment Shannon shares the personal side of Skotos.
This Blessed Plot: Seeds, Conflict, and Other Non-Plots (12/12/2002) – #99: Shannon dabbles in alternatives to plot-driven gaming and storytelling.
Foreseeing Mediums: An Overview (12/5/2002) – #98: Shannon reveals the value of mediums is more than skin deep.
A Brief History of Game, Part Seven: The Business of Business (11/21/2002) – #97: Shannon shares a year's worth of growing pains and dreams fulfilled for Skotos Tech.
In Sickness & In Health (11/14/2002) – #96: Shannon describes the challenges of running a 24x7 online gaming company.
The Elements of Good ScaryTelling, Part Two: Monstrous Archetypes (11/7/2002) – #95: Shannon lets the monsters loose in his continuation on horror.
The Elements of Good ScaryTelling, Part One: Haunting Themes (10/31/2002) – #94: Shannon opens a vein and spills some horror in Lovecraft's honor.
Marking the Occasion (10/24/2002) – #93: Shannon explains the value of ritual, especially in love and game design.
TV & The Art of Mystery (10/10/2002) – #92: Shannon examines "what's next?" TV fiction for inspiration in gaming.
If Advice from the Castle (10/3/2002) – #91: On Castle Marrach's 2nd birthday, the many Marrach designers share their thoughts.
If You Build It, They Might Come, Part Four: Assistance (9/26/2002) – #90: Shannon concludes his If You Build It, They Might Come series with a discussion on the value of existing players.
If You Build It, They Might Come, Part Three: Encouragement (9/19/2002) – #89: Shannon explains how rewarding players helps keep them coming back.
If You Build It, They Might Come, Part Two: Discouragement (9/12/2002) – #88: Shannon provides fuel for thought on how to avoid losing players.
Postcard from San Jose: Business, Interactivity & Conservatism (9/5/2002) – #87: Shannon brings a bit of the con from this year's WorldCon.
This Blessed Plot: Events, Expeditions & Other Alternatives (8/29/2002) – #86: Shannon delves into the many options for managing plots, with a little help from H.P. Lovecraft.
If You Build It, They Might Come, Part One: Attention (8/22/2002) – #85: Shannon throws a rope on how to capture new gamers.
Postcard from Milwaukee: Community, Collaboration & Creativity (8/15/2002) – #84: Shannon shares some moments from GenCon 2002.
Modern Myths, Part Four: Legends Live (8/1/2002) – #83: Shannon adds to his Modern Myths saga.
The Elements of Good Mythtelling, Part Eight: Archetypical Setting (7/25/2002) – #82: Shannon takes us on a trip to grandma's house and pixie realms.
The Elements of Good Mythtelling, Part Seven: Local Setting (7/18/2002) – #81: Shannon expounds upon myth and setting.
The Elements of Good Mythtelling, Part Six: Ritual Structure (7/12/2002) – #80: Shannon delves into ceremony as ritual.
The Elements of Good Mythtelling, Part Five: Ritualizing Backstory (7/4/2002) – #79: Shannon takes the 4th regarding rituals in myth and story.
The Elements of Good Mythtelling, Part Four: The Heroic Character (6/27/2002) – #78: Shannon pours the ingredients for heroic characters.
The Elements of Good Mythtelling, Part Three: Singular Plot in Practice (6/20/2002) – #77: Shannon gives examples and advice on applying the Hero's Journey.
The Elements of Good Mythtelling, Part Two: Singular Plot in Theory (6/13/2002) – #76: Shannon puts plot under a singular lens.
The Elements of Good Mythtelling, Part One: Episodic Plot (5/30/2002) – #75: Shannon explores the power of plots with episodic structure.
Anatomy of a Game: Survivor! (5/23/2002) – #74: Shannon dissects Survivor from a game design perspective.
There's No Such Thing as a Free Launch (5/16/2002) – #73: Shannon discusses the launch of Grendel's Revenge.
Modern Myths, Part Three: An Overview from Adventure to Anarchy (5/9/2002) – #72: Shannon invokes mythology in online gaming.
Modern Myths, Part Two: An Overview from Citizen Kane to Spider-Man (5/2/2002) – #71: Shannon threads together past and present mythologies.
Modern Myths, Part One: An Overview from Gilgamesh to Bunyan (4/25/2002) – #70: Shannon delves into what it is to be mythic.
The Power of the Medium: Continuity (4/18/2002) – #69: Shannon opens the attic for nostalgic value.
The Upgrade Game (4/11/2002) – #68: Shannon explains the challenges of upgrading online games.
Creativity & The Online Gamer (4/4/2002) – #67: Shannon sings the praises of creativity in gaming.
Fool Me Twice (3/28/2002) – #66: Shannon shares a little April humor from the Marrach logs.
The Wilderness of Your Intuition (3/21/2002) – #65: Shannon explores the shortcomings of the Skotos Seven concept.
Galactic Empires, Part Three: Building a Hegemony (3/14/2002) – #64: Shannon dives into the making of & the rationale behind Hegemony.
Galactic Empires, Part Two: Expanding into Space (3/7/2002) – #63: Shannon plans for Space Empires' galactic return.
Galactic Empires, Part One: Failing at Succession (2/28/2002) – #62: Shannon shares how Galactic Emperor: Succession went awry.
Building Block Examples: The Hologram Nexus (2/14/2002) – #61: Shannon puts his money where his mouth is regarding Building Blocks.
Building Blocks: Data Inheritance (2/14/2002) – #60: Finishing up static non-volitionals with data inheritance.
Building Blocks: Portables (2/7/2002) – #59: Shannon describes the ins-n-outs of building portable character items.
Future Memes, Part Four: Community and Reputation (1/24/2002) – #58: Shannon discusses the new revolution of expectations and attitudes.
Future Memes, Part Three: Settings and Physics (1/17/2002) – #57: Shannon explores the essential foundations of game design.
Future Memes, Part Two: Gameplay and Mechanics (1/10/2002) – #56: Shannon opens the hood to mess with the gaming gears.
Future Memes, Part One: Overviews and Genres (1/3/2002) – #55: Shannon breathes and finds inspiration in genres – past, present, and future.
Building Blocks: Zones (12/20/2001) – #54: Shannon bids adieu to '01 and delves into zones.
Building Blocks: Maps (12/13/2001) – #53: Shannon descibes the art of mapping.
Courting Misrule (12/6/2001) – #52: Shannon offers up some sagely advice on StoryTelling.
Building Blocks: Names (11/29/2001) – #51: Shannon expounds upon the value of naming objects.
Building Blocks: Details (11/21/2001) – #50: It's the big five-o for TTnT and the devil's in the details.
Postcard from Kaua'i (11/15/2001) – #49: Shannon finds storytelling and vacationing go hand-in-hand.
Building Blocks: Rooms (11/8/2001) – #48: Shannon begins his new series by showing us "the room."
A Brief History of Game, Part Six: Gamist Evolution (10/25/2001) – #47: Shannon provides a history of Skotos and where it's going.
But Enough About Me! (10/11/2001) – #46: Shannon's first prelude to Building Blocks.
And Now a Word from Our Sponsor (9/27/2001) – #45: Shannon discusses the reasoning behind Skotos' pay-for-play games.
The Global Community (9/11/2001) – #44: How shall we react to a day of disaster, and what world do we want to live in. (TTnT Special Edition)
The Power of the Medium: People (8/30/2001) – #43: The rewards of real people in games.
Apples and Orangeclines (8/16/2001) – #42: Divergent theories on categorizing types of games and players.
Movie Rules, Online Plots: A Coda (8/2/2001) – #41: When online, a great screenplay entertains first and educates second.
Why Marrach Isn't the Movies, Part Three (7/26/2001) – #40: Shannon puzzles over a snide snood & martini mimosa.
Ah, Sweet Simplicity of Life! (7/12/2001) – #39: Shannon returns with a look on simplicity.
The Game Is what the Game Is (6/14/2001) – #38: Encouraging styles of gameplay in online games.
Pondering on The Eternal City (6/7/2001) – #37: Looking at the design of the newest Skotos game.
Why Marrach Isn't the Movies, Part Two (5/31/2001) – #36: The insightful, often humorous saga continues.
The Power of the Medium: Text! (5/24/2001) – #35: In a 3D dominated industry gone mad, text still commands center stage.
The Power of the Medium: Individualized Output (5/17/2001) – #34: Breaking down the walls of perception (and communication).
What a StoryBuilder Can Do (5/10/2001) – #33: An overview of today's StoryBuilder Toolkit.
GameMaster or StoryBuilder? (5/3/2001) – #32: Differences between RPGs and online adventures.
Why Marrach Isn't the Movies, Part One (4/26/2001) – #31: or Honey, I blew up the Castle!
The Team's The Thing (4/19/2001) – #30: How many designers does it take to get to the center of a Skotos game?
The Dynamic Dilemma, Part Three (4/12/2001) – #29: Finishing up the topic of dynamism with new object creation.
The Dynamic Dilemma, Part Two (4/5/2001) – #28: Recreating objects to provide dynamism in Achievement games.
Fool Me Once (3/29/2001) – #27: Ignore the calendar; it's April first.
The Dynamic Dilemma, Part One (3/22/2001) – #26: Games involving independent play include unique challenges. One of them: the dreaded reset.
Telling Stories, Classifying Worlds (3/15/2001) – #25: How do you define the specifics of an online game?
Movies: A Structure for Plot, Part Three (3/8/2001) – #24: Blatant plugs and plot pitfalls in online gaming.
Movies: A Structure for Plot, Part Two (3/1/2001) – #23: What happens when the Duelists go bad? A sample movie plot for Marrach.
Movies: A Structure for Plot, Part One (2/22/2001) – #22: Another way to write plots, with thanks to George Lucas.
This Blessed Plot, Part Three (2/15/2001) – #21: What would encourage you to change your character?
Hobgoblins, Part Two (2/8/2001) – #20: Inheritance, methods, data, and other technical consistency problems. Also, an overview.
Hobgoblins, Part One (2/1/2001) – #19: Misquoting Ralph Waldo Emerson, misusing verbs, and fighting with fur codpieces.
Steal This Article! (1/25/2001) – #18: Conflict and villains in social-based online games.
Why Yes I Am God! (1/18/2001) – #17: Want to build worlds? A vision of the future.
Guiding Lights (1/11/2001) – #16: Should people be allowed to volunteer at for-profit companies?
Welcome to the Twenty-First Century (1/4/2001) – #15: A listing of things that Skotos Tech did not do in the year 2000.
It's the End of the World as we Know It (12/21/2000) – #14: An overview of Skotos game styles. Also: how do you make it OK to disappoint characters in games?
This Blessed Plot, Part Two (12/14/2000) – #13: How do StoryTellers effectively entertain players in a Grand Theatre?
A Brief History of Game, Part Five: Castle Marrach (12/7/2000) – #12: The evolution of Castle Marrach.
A Brief History of Game, Part Four: Skotos Tech (11/30/2000) – #11: The evolution of Skotos.
Not a Turkey in Sight! (11/22/2000) – #10: A few short words of thanks.
The Puzzle of Purloined Players (11/16/2000) – #9: Player discontinuities in online games.
Electoral Ramblings (11/9/2000) – #8: Feature or bug? And, voting Ottomans.
Hosting on Your Toes (11/2/2000) – #7: How hosting really works in online games.
The Castle Marrach Wish List (10/26/2000) – #6: Cool stuff Shannon would like to see in Castle Marrach.
Reality Check (10/19/2000) – #5: How virtual reality is not physical reality.
This Blessed Plot, Part One (10/12/2000) – #4: An introduction to plots in Grand Theatres.
Objectionable Economies (10/5/2000) – #3: How movable objects may be a weird commodity.
Keeping up with the Joneses (9/28/2000) – #2: On creating an initial community.
First Date Jitters (9/21/2000) – #1: On the launch of Castle Marrach.

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