I've been thinking for a while now that after World at Dawn, I didn't have a whole lot on my M:EM plate. Granted, I could probably use that to, you know, do other things, but this idea's been knocking around in my head to run a "Crowd votes on/suggests actions" serial on these boards. There are three main stumbling blocks.

1) Having a solid idea, which I'm working on
2) My massive propensity for schedule slippage
3) Having enough interest to get some interesting thread talk/action paths

3 helps solve 2, because if people actually remind me to get on something, I'm far more likely to. 3 is also the only factor that wouldn't be under my control.

So here I am, checking on how 3 might go down.

I'm interested, but how do you see it working? Just out of curiosity.

I post a section of story, followed by a brief summary of situation. I then either call for suggestions for actions or throw up a poll depending on the openness of the particular scenario at hand. A brief time passes to get poll results/gather inputs, and then in the next segment, what's popular gets done.

The story would probably swap between a few main characters (swapping at "chapter" conclusions... or should the worst happen to whoever the thread is in charge of). much like an RPG, I'd start with a general game plan in mind, but the specifics would play out based on the thread's suggestions/choices (and might wildly diverge if y'all turn out to be the "derailing" type)

Though frankly having to answer questions like this is somewhat making me doubt my ability. Which is a good thing. If I can't figure out how to do this, starting woudl be a bad idea.

No, that sounds good. It's basically just sort of impromptu writing, but obviously you'll have a little more time than that.
So yeah, if it's something you want to do, I'll certainly be happy to come along for the ride!

I was hoping you'd develop one of the "Build A Plane" thread's ideas.

But a sort of community RP could be fun. We don't seem to be overrun by trolls or idiots here, so it shouldn't turn into a disaster.

But what am I saying, I don't have time to participate either way.

Do you mean something like my Card Quest? That would be cool.

Based on your description, other points of reference for the format would be Prequel Adventure, Ruby Quest, and of course MSPaint Adventures.

This is one of my favorite new media storytelling formats so I'd definitely be interested.

It's also a format often seen in Dwarf Fortress, as an alternative to the succession game, where a single overseer runs things and writes reports but the thread dictates or votes on goals/projects/drowning elves in magma/etc.

Okay, assuming I make this happen (probable), I'd like some opinions on setups. I'm not going to treat this as a straight up vote, but rather as an advisory vote: if peoples preferences are really far from mine, I'll try to shift things to accommodate what would be the more popular style.

Question 1: Where the thread makes input
a) Every time there's a significant decision for the "lead" character
b) Every so long in text, in case decisions are really dense
c) At critical junctures

Question 2: Stakes
a) Only "new" characters (ones created for the Adventure or with no stories behind them) are used
b) Tevish can pull in his old characters (Illarion, Larasa, Morgan), but they have plot armor and only get "severely wounded" from things that would kill newbs (they stop participating in the adventure, but survive. Krish probably has his work cut out for him.)
c) Tevish can pull in his old characters. If the thread gets them killed, the adventure will be considered noncanon
d) Tevish can pull in his old characters. The Adventure is canon, and they don't have plot armor -- Illarion, Larasa, and/or Morgan could die for reals depending on the choices the thread makes.

3) Our Hero(es)
a) The Thread generates all characters that aren't pre-established, essentially from scratch (perhaps with a guideline or two)
b) The Thread develops characters that aren't pre-established, but they start with a good framework
c) New characters have a solid starting bio/personality from Tevish for the thread to play
d) A mix of two or more of the above (each new character is initialized differently)

For disclosure purposes, my preferences are 1C, 2D, 3D. The first 'cause it would be easier, the third 'cause some folks need starting goals, and the second because intellectual integrity..

1a, 2b, 3a

I'm not totally sure I understand the categories for A and what distinguishes them, but 2D and 3D sound good to me! Let's... get... dangerous

1A has the potential for turning this more into a roleplay than we might be looking for. I'm torn on 2, because while I strongly dislike the Hero Shield in general, I'm also not convinced we want to make this necessarily canon. For 3, I'm partial to learning about the new characters as we go, but I think we can trust you with a mix.

1C, 2D, 3D (leaning toward A)

Your preferences seem like good choices to me, Tevish. Especially since you're the one running the darn thing!

1b or 1c (can't see the difference), 2c (I'd rather it be noncanon by default, including the new character), 3b/c/d

1C, 2D(LIVIN' ON THE EEEEDGE!,) 3D leaning a bit towards 3C maybe. Finally, a community story on a forum NOT plagued by trolls!