Many members have come forward to ask me "just how are games run here at LCG, anyway?" Until recently, my standard answer was, "I'm not entirely sure, but here's how I envision it could happen..." followed by a rambling explanation of how GMs and Players can use the bells and whistles here to create kickass stories based on game rules and mechanics.

Now that we've actually got one game underway and more ready to launch it seems a good time to explain how this seems to work, so far.

The actual game content is being written in "collaborative book" format, which uses standard HTML to enhance plain text. Near the top of this screen you'll see a horizontal list of tabs in orange. One of them is "Games/Stories." If you click on that, you'll find a list of all games and fiction pieces published so far at LostCoastGaming.com. The games most recently updated are also in a list to the right of this page, under the block title "New Game Moves!" Watching this list will alert you to when the game(s) you're participating in have been modified since the last time you read them.

In these games, the GM not only approves the characters, sets the plot, writes for NonPlayer Characters, and adjudicates encounters, but is also the story director and final editor of the content. All official game/story content goes in this "collaborative book," or game file, and all players work on the same file with the GM. It is a very smooth, very linear process which tends to eliminate much of the confusion and conflict mailing list or strict forum games have tended to generate.

Once you are an approved Player in any game, the GM or Administrator will give you a level of access which allows you to "edit" the game file. The "Edit" tab will then be found at the top of the center column, clicking on it sends you to a text entry page that permits you to add your character's response to whatever's going on in the game. We've found that if each player uses a very simple HTML font color code to change the color of the first sentence of what they're adding to the game file, it helps everyone keep track of what's been posted recently. Some GMs may direct all players to use the same color; others will allow players to choose individual colors.

In the left sidebar you'll find a link entitled "Compose tips." Right click on this and open it in a new window -- instant HTML reference!

OOC, or Out Of Character information can be added at the bottom of the text for the GM's convenience. Extended OOC conversations usually take place in the forum board that is assigned to each game when it's created. This is where you'll find all the OOC ribbing, teasing, catcalls, wolf whistles, and other noises that might otherwise be inappropriate for your PC to voice in character. This is also the place to ask game questions, lodge complaints, and in general work out all the stuff that doesn't belong in the story itself.

Each GM is the moderator of his/her game board, though in most cases players have permission to create topic threads in them, too.

If you need to "pass a note to the GM." you can do this in one of two ways. There's a "Messenger" applet at the top of the right sidebar -- pick your GM's screen name and enter your text, then click "Submit." Please be aware that the Messenger does NOT save you a copy of your note! If you want a record of the conversation, best to use the "Personal Message" function over in the forum. Either way is a private means to communicate to the GM, and have the GM communicate with you -- so be sure to at least glance at the Messenger applet each time you load a page, and at the "My Messages" label over at the forum.

Oh yeah. Notes! Also installed on the site for your convenience is the Notepad -- you'll find this in the left sidebar. The Notepad allows you to save any kind of text as a note to yourself and it has a wide variety of other uses. I currently use mine to keep on-site records of my PCs' stat sheets, to make a brief record of significant plot developments for ease of reference, and to record good plot seeds for my own campaign as they occur. The "right click/new tab" function of most modern browsers makes the Notepad a fun and handy little tool to use here.

Got a bodycast of your character? Post a picture of him/her/it in the Image Gallery that's also tied to the game you're playing. Though the ability to write a good character description is vital to gaming here, it's still true that "a picture is worth a thousand words," especially when you don't want to use up a thousand words just to describe a character in a narrative!

The more dedicated role players are probably asking at this point, "But what about blue booking?" So glad you asked!

Blue booking is a very "old school" term used to describe character stuff that take place outside the normal game narrative. LostCoastGaming.com provides several different means, on-site, to do this. One way is to use the Journal each person gets just from signing up for membership here -- this is particularly good for single-character development. Load up your Journal (you'll find the link in the sidebar to your left) and write in your character's voice! Other characters can leave comments, sparking that invaluable (and sometimes juicy) character interaction. If you'd like it to stay private and not be "front-paged," you can always choose that in the "Publishing Options" at the bottom of your Journal's text entry page.

Another way to bluebook, especially if it involves more than two characters, is to ask your GM to create a "child page" for you under the game's main, or "top-level" page. You all edit this the same way you edit a regular story file. You can keep it private by not "front paging" it just like Journal entries, though it will be listed in the "New Game Moves!" block to the right.

A third and much more freeform way to bluebook is to take your PCs into
"The Pub at Mortimer's Cross" board over on the forum. Just be aware that Player Characters from a muliplicity of multiverses can be there, and when the pub is active, it's rarely ever boring.

Still to come here at LostCoastGaming.com:

• The ability to share mp3s in the form of podcasts or shared music or whatever (always keeping copyright laws firmly in mind, of course!)
• Live chat capability -- this isn't installed yet because there are no good answers that are also easy. We're working on it.
• Streaming video capability -- everyone still loves YouTube, after all.

These last three functions have the potential to dramatically increase the amount of bandwidth we use every month, but I believe they'll add levels of fun and functionality to gaming here that will make them worth the time and effort it takes to install them.

In a nutshell, that's a little bit on how you can use the fancy widgets here to play games and tell stories here at LostCoastGaming.com. If you have a cool tip you'd like to share with your fellow gamers on how to use the tools here on the website, click on "Article" over under "Create Content" and write it up! It would be very cool to have a FAQ of that kind of "insider information" available at the click of a mouse, not only for n00bs but for the tenured members too!