META: What about Fridays?

I need some ideas for an ongoing series of posts for Fridays. Or Thursdays. I'll be doing Open Critique Days on one of the two starting next week again, when the hardwire internet at the new place is done, but that still leaves one of the two days without a "theme".

Any suggestions?

In the past, Hammerknight suggested RPG Day, where we would talk about anything related to role-playing games, and from time to time we do Friday Night Fights, and I've done "Why I Hate Rob Liefeld's Art". But now I'm out of ideas. Help!

22 Responses to META: What about Fridays?

  1. Kaldath says:

    We Could make it a game. Over on UGO there are a number of them that we couple replicate here! I am thinking maybe 3 word story would be best. Jeff would start it off every week with the first 3 words of the story, then each poster after him would add his or her three words to the story. No prizes, just something for fun. Then maybe at the end of the day or sometime the next day Jeff can put all the 3 words responses together and post them as a separate post so we can see the whole “story” put together.

  2. NEON_N64 says:

    How about starting with another “interactive adventure book” like Lone Wolf?

  3. John says:

    Should you choose to re-ignite the flames of Lefeldian passion, let me suggest starting here:

    http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/rob-liefeld-covers#i46

  4. Rick says:

    How about Caption Contest 89? Kidding

    I vote for Kaldath’s suggestion.

  5. Jake says:

    How about we make Fridays a question response day? Each week you could ask a different question in regards to Hero Machine to the users. “What’s your favorite set of items in HM3 and why?” Things like that. I think it might help to build up the HM community even more.

  6. Captain Kicktar says:

    I like Kaldath’s and Jake’s ideas, good n’ interactive.

  7. NEON_N64 says:

    Mhh… I also like Jake’s idea.

  8. The Imp says:

    We could do some kind of collaborative thing. Someone could start it off by posting a superhero (or villain), with a pic and a brief bio. Then people could post sidekicks, allies, setting info, nemesis (nemesi?) to flesh out a whole setting for the initial character. If nothing else, it’s a good creative writing exercise for those of us who write.

    I also like Jake’s idea.

  9. kryptkal says:

    This isn’t a suggestion, I just wasn’t sure where else to ask this question Jeff. I’m about to move to a new place, will all my HM3 creations still be there on a new internet line as long as it’s the same computer?

  10. Worf says:

    @kryptal: Yes, as they’re stored locally on your computer.

  11. Worf says:

    I, personally would love another interactive adventure like Lone Wolf (That death was WAAAAAY too unsatisfying).

    So, in other words, I’m with NEON_N64

  12. Jeff Hebert says:

    Good suggestions and feedback, thanks folks.

    I just placed an order for a copy of the “Caves of Time” Choose Your Own Adventure book, so when that comes in, I’ll get cranking on it. I also like the idea of the three-word story thing, we might give that a shot.

    Jake’s “HeroMachine questions” idea is interesting, but I think I’d run out of steam on that one pretty quick.

    I like Imp’s general concept of doing something similar to a progressive story but with images, though I’m not sure how that would work, exactly.

    Finally, Kryptal, Worf is right — the files are local on your computer, the internet connection you’re on shouldn’t have anything to do with it.

  13. The Imp says:

    If you’re looking for another interactive adventure type of thing, you could go with those old Steve Jackson Sorcery! gamebooks.

    Amazon linky for the first book:
    http://www.amazon.com/Sorcery-Shamutanti-Hills-Fighting-Fantasy/dp/1840464305/ref=pd_sim_b_2

  14. D says:

    While I like The Imp’s idea(#8,) I’ve read a lot of fan fiction, etc where great ideas are ruined by poor logic, spelling, grammar, dialogue and sentence structure. Not to mention overly long paragraphs and lack of spacing.

    At the risk of sounding like an English teacher, for this to work, everyone MUST read what they’re writing thoroughly BEFORE posting, otherwise it’s a waste of time. It might be a “good creative writing exercise for those of us who write,” but from what I’ve seen, not everyone can (or should).

  15. The three word story, though intriguing, doesn’t quite work unless there were some sort of lottery to determine writing order and a blood oath on the third moon of Thanagor that participants will wait their turn to contribute as not to break the chain.

    I like to write, but have to admit that some entries run way long on HM when people post origins and stories with their creations. Don’t get me wrong. Not trying to sound snippy.

    My stories tend to be very long. That’s why I post them alongside my characters not on the HM board. If I knew how to code better, I’d design a mini-app to automate the layout.

    Enough rambling. Though I like Imp’s idea, we did that with the Dinomarine contest. The finalists made up the team. The winner was named team leader.

    Maybe offer Friday’s topic as a bonus to a contest runner-up? Or just randomly pull a name out of a hat? Whoever wins the topic choice is responsible to e-mail Jeff his / her suggested topic(s) with supporting visual aids and props.

    Even so, Jeff maintains the right to reject suggestion. Not as a matter of censorship, but if he deems a topic either too vanilla or too controversial. I think that HMers are very diverse and creative with enough maturity and common sense that this could work.

  16. Tim K. says:

    I’d like the RPG day, but then again I’m an active tabletop game writer and forum-goer.

  17. Rhinoman says:

    I’m with Imp. I’d rather create characters than write a story even though I do that quite often. But HM is a visual tool!

  18. MartianBlue says:

    I like Imp’s idea as well. Could be very interesting.

    I rather enjoy writing myself, although I tend to just jott it down quickly, errors and all, then revise until I find it to my satisfation, the main reason I don’t pour out stories with my characters. The other reason, is I never know where they’ll end up, they tend to write themselves.

    Back to Imp’s idea, whether attributing or not, it could be loads of fun.

  19. spidercow2010 says:

    What about assembling a random sample of winning characters from past CCs, team them up and write a collaborative story about them, three words at a time?
    I am a frequent contributor to a 3 Word Story thing on Facebook, and it is indeed occasionally uneven and easily trolled, but it can be fun as long as we realize it ain’t Art or eternal or nothin.
    Or ditch the 3 word limit and make entries subject to moderation, if Jeff’s into it.
    Trouble with all these Thu/Fri things is they’re done & over while I’m still sleeping between graveyard shifts, so I don’t get to play. So why am I even getting involved in this discussion? Good question.

  20. spidercow2010 says:

    Or not even winning characters. Interesting runner-ups.

  21. Fyzza says:

    I like Kaldath’s and Jake’s ideas. I think their’s are the best ones to go by.

  22. kyle says:

    suggestions for items to add to heromachine