About this series: Trials, Triumphs & Trivialities is a column offering advice on how to build online prose games, written by Shannon Appelcline, Vice President at Skotos Tech. It uses as its examples the many Skotos games, and thus offers a unique, behind-the-scenes look at these nearly twenty titles.

Trials, Triumphs & Trivialities Column ...

• Collective Choice: Ratings Ease of Use, Part Two - #213: More ease of use, with a look at making things easier for raters.
• Collective Choice: Ratings Ease of Use, Part One - #212: How making ratings easier for consumers to use can improve your system.
• Testing Characters, with a Look at Battlestar Galactica - #211: How do you create interesting characters? With active personality traits.
• Anatomy of a Game: Project Runway - #210: A look at lessons learned from a reality contest.
• Games & The Law, Part Seven: The D&D Dilemma - #209: Dungeons & Dragons and the IP protection of game systems.
• Anatomy of a Game: The Mole - #208: A look at The Mole, from season one to five.
• Collective Choice: Ratings Inputs and Outputs - #207: A look at the trustworthiness of ratings and their usefulness.
• Strategic Insights: Three Community Issues - #206: Comparing and contrasting The Prisoner's Dilemma, The Tragedy of the Commons, and The Free Rider Problem.
• Strategic Insights: The Free Rider Problem - #205: A final look at the community vs. the individual: do you support the community good?
• Strategic Insights: The Tragedy of the Commons - #204: A look at how personal greed can damage the common good.
• Strategic Insights: The Prisoner's Dilemma - #203: A look at game theory, with the Prisoner's Dilemma, and some discussion of how to apply it.
• Anatomy of a Game: The Triple-Hidden-Exile Survivor Twist - #202: How and why hidden immunity idols, exile island, and a three-person final council have changed Survivor.
• Anatomy of a Game: The Amazing Evolving Race - #201: A look at how (and why) The Amazing Race has changed in the last two years.
• Anatomy of a Game: Pirate Master - #200: A look at the gameplay of the reality TV show, Pirate Master.
• Collective Choice: Experimenting with Ratings - #199: A more thorough look at the results from our rating experiments.
• Collective Choice: More Thoughts About Ratings - #198: Seven lessons learned from actual ratings work.
• Collective Choice: Polling, Voting, and the '06 Elections - #197: A look at the problems with polling, and the results from '06.
• Collective Choice: Ratings, Who Do You Trust? - #196: A look at trust mechanics that can be used to improve low-volume rating collections.
• This Blessed Plot: TV Episodics - #195: A look at episodic storytelling, with Veronica Mars and The Dead Zone as examples.
• Collective Choice: Using Five-Star Rating Systems - #194: The problem with 5-star rating systems, and how to use them anyway.
• Managing User Creativity, Part Two - #193: Cleaning up data in the RPGnet Gaming Index.
• Managing User Creativity, Part One - #192: How to allow users creativity and to make that creativity useless, with three examples.
• Encouraging User Creativity - #191: How to encourage user content and the RPGnet XP System.
• Online Games & The Law, Part Six: The DMCA - #190: What does the Digital Millennium Copyright Act mean for online game companies?
• Art Imitates Life, in All Truthiness - #189: New artistic projects at Skotos, and what it can tell us about game design.
• Downtime & The Online Game Designer - #188: A short whine, with some lessons learned, as always.
• Social Software & Gaming: Dunbar's Number - #187: A look at the RPGnet forums, and how Dunbar's Number affects group size.
• Online Games & The Law, Part Five: Property Rights - #186: Looking at the right of publicity and virtual property rights.
• Designing Strategy: Computerized Board Games - #185: Advice for creating computerized board games, borrowed from Gone Gaming.
• The Skotos Articles Archives: Five Great Miniseries - #184: A look back at some of the best articles posted to Skotos from 2000-2003.
• Collective Choice: Ratings, Rankings, Reputations & Games - #183: How comparison systems of collective choice can be used by and in online games.
• Anatomy of a Game: The MTV Challenges - #182: Examing the Real World/Road Rules Challenges for gameplay and voting mechanics.
• 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.

Top 20 Trials, Triumphs & Trivialities Articles ...

• Collective Choice: Ratings - #179: Looking at ratings systems, beginning with where eBay went wrong.
• Managing User Creativity, Part Two - #193: Cleaning up data in the RPGnet Gaming Index.
• A Brief History of Roleplaying, Part Three - #134: Concluding up a history of roleplaying design with a look at storytelling games.
• Social Gaming Interactions, Part One: A History of Form - #136: On the limits of social gaming interaction, and how they can be expanded.
• How to Cheat at Online Games - #145: A summary of top methods for cheating in online games--and how game designers can avoid them.
• Collective Choice: Ratings, Who Do You Trust? - #196: A look at trust mechanics that can be used to improve low-volume rating collections.
• Collective Choice: More Thoughts About Ratings - #198: Seven lessons learned from actual ratings work.
• Managing User Creativity, Part One - #192: How to allow users creativity and to make that creativity useless, with three examples.
• Anatomy of a Game: The Amazing Race - #181: Examing the game design of television's The Amazing Race.
• Collective Choice: An Introduction - #178: An intro to collective choice, including voting, ranking, rating, polling, and more.
• Online Games & The Law, Part One: IP & Copyright - #146: A broad discussion of how copyright work and what you need to know.
• A Brief History of Roleplaying, Part Two - #132: The history of RP continues, with a look at task resolution, character models, and character advancement.
• Strategic Insights: Auction Games - #144: An overview of how auction games work, and a discussion of what makes them work well.
• Designing Strategy: The Auction Grand Unification Theory - #161: How Risk, El Grande, and Hearts are all auction games.
• Encouraging User Creativity - #191: How to encourage user content and the RPGnet XP System.
• Social Gaming Interactions, Part Two: Competition - #137: How to improve competitive interaction in multiplayer online games.
• Social Gaming Interactions, Part Three: Cooperation & Freeform - #138: Improving social interactions through cooperation and freeforming.
• 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.
• Games & The Law, Part Seven: The D&D Dilemma - #209: Dungeons & Dragons and the IP protection of game systems.
• Strategic Insights: Majority Control - #162: An overview of how majority-control strategy games are put together.