@capnbobamous

I intend to have 3 different systems in place here:

1. A pre-defined campaign just like D&D modules.
2. An endless campaign mode of sorts, for campaigns to just go on and on.
3. Customizable campaigns. (This is where your idea comes in)

So in idea #3 where you want to have a specific goal like E3.

You as a DM would work with the tools the system provides to create this challenge. You could Fine tune the campaign and even recreate years like 2016-2017 starting right after E3, and ending with E3 as the "Final Boss/Raid" of sorts.

I would call E3 a "Raid" because I would expect it to have a variety of tasks, streams, videos, and other content. Each one accomplished via what i will for now call a "Dungeon Run" or "Battle" depending on which proxy better fits the future system. (Now is your chance to see if Damiani gives Zelda that 10/10)

So in other words. YES! Absolutely.

In fact my original thoughts on the Pre-written "Module" to be in the game would be a sort of recreation of the EZA First year. But with some creative license in having it end at E3 or some other large event.

Great idea. Keep em coming!

To clarify the title:
This is a concept for a D&D-ish like Table Top RPG about the Easy allies. I am going to explain my basic ideas and thoughts on how the game could work. But would LOVE assistance designing systems and appreciate any feedback. Think D&D meets Stardew valley meets Civilization 4. But mostly D&D pure pen and paper with concepts from those types of games.

The Concept:

• You are the Easy Allies
• You will live out the EZA career from initial stream to current popularity and beyond.
• Each Ally is a class and a character (So you may play as a specific Ally or make a character based on a specific Ally who would be the Class.)
• The battles are Game reviews, community interaction, and attending/covering conventions
• Other "Battles" would be larger raids Like E3.
• Each campaign takes place over the course of a year
• As a group, You build up your audience, reputation, equipment, and services
• Each individual Ally will have individual stats representative of their strengths

Character creation:

• Each ally represents a class of reviewer
• So there will be 9 classes Possibly a 10th class for a sports game reviewer class
• You can make your own custom character, but their "class" will be a copy of an ally
• Stats will represent capability to Review certain types of games, provide objective/subjective scores, host a stream, host a show, attend a podcast, promote via twitter, edit videos, and other technical and social skills to be designed
• Based on "Class/Ally" chosen you will have max limits and starting points for certain skills
• Each Class/Ally will have certain abilities specific to them
• Leveling up occurs to each Player/Ally based on tasks they completed.
• How well they complete a task decides how much XP the team gets (More in the Campaign section.)
• The Ian class could unlock new skills like more efficient podcast setup
• The Brandon Class can unlock skills like being able to record longer before his voice needs to rest
• The Kyle class can unlock courage which allows him to give new ventures to the group like "Box Peek"
• Essentially each Ally can unlock skills that progress them as a reviewer, Personality, Technical skill
• As they level up these skills they will be able to do certain tasks more efficiently and with a greater chance of doing well
• They will have other skill lines that allow them to assist other allies
• they will have special moments they can unlock once they have leveled up a variety of skills enough.
• Some tasks can be unlocked by any ally, Like Top 10's or Retrospectives
• Some tasks will require all allies to level up (More details in the Campaign section.)
• There will be "Breaking canon" skills which allow players to expand each "Class/Ally" beyond what they tend to do in real life. (Ian writing game reviews, Ben doing VO for reviews, etc..)

An average gaming session:

• Each player will represent 1 or more allies.
• Decisions over what "Content" will be produced each day/week will take place
• Players as a group can decide as a team and divide responsibilities for the week of work or the campaign can be designed with preset tasks each day/week/month/year to complete.
• They can group up on many tasks, but not all (A review can only be done by 1 person, but editing, VO, etc can be done as a group.)
• Once it is decided who will do what each task takes place like a battle, with dice rolls and other such systems(This is where I need help. To design ideas that work for treating each type of task as a type of "battle" or some other new system we can create from scratch.)
• There will be weekly "Raids" that require most of the Players/Allys Like a Podcast
• There can be multiple weekly events each week Podcast, Frame Trap, etc..
• Some tasks can be stretched over multiple weeks/months as DM discression in how they design the time limit and skills needed to complete. Like a Top 10 video, 24 hour charity/patreon stream, etc..
• There will be Monthly Raids like various game events like PSX, New big Drama in the gaming industry, etc...
• There will be yearly Raids Like E3, Game of the Year, and The Greats.

Detailing Campaigns:

• An Average Campaign would be 1 year, April to March the following year (But the DM can make a campaing go on forever or multiple years.)
• Each nightly gaming session is meant to represent a week on EZA time, and I hope to design it to take 1-2 Real life hours to play.
• So a Campaign can emulate the actual Easy Allies "Adventure" thus far, by starting small and simple and expanding to what we see today, but with systems in place to represent what the Allies hope to achieve in RL.
• The system will be designed both the represent and allow for the allies to grow to super huge status and have corporate offices and such if the DM and players so wish to have a campaign both that long. I want there to be systems in place to allow for it.
• The game will also allow for skills that would be very unlikely / impossible in real life. Like 4 reviewers per a game to create Famitus/EGM style 4 score reviews, Get rid of scoring systems, AI Automated Video Editing. And just get more redciulous for crazy areas for campaigns to expand if to is players or DM so chooses.
• Patreon Money, Members, Twitch Viewers, Twitch Money, and other revenue streams and amounts of EZA fans are what "Level up" the group.
• So at the end of a Session Each player will earn XP based on tasks completed (No matter how good or bad they did, BUT the Group earns XP based on how well those tasks were completed.)

An Example of XP to each player and the Group:

This is all dependent on what systems get designed, so this area of the concept is subject to massive redesign.

• But lets say you finish a "Dungeon" of a game review. 15/20 tasks were completed and you did very well on 10 of them, poorly on 5 of them.
• The individual allies would level up based on amount of tasks completed, with each type of task giving it's own amount of XP. Depending on which ally complete the task in that "dungeon"
• Now how well you did on each task decides how much new Patreon money is earned, Twitch/youtube followers are earned, etc.. BUT each task not completed ha s a chance of losing money and followers.
• And so you get to choose group skills based on the amount of money you have and followers and such.

Ok there are the... Basics of the idea.

You can see why i need help.

ALL of the stat types, what they mean, what they do.
Designing each "class"
Designing all of the Skills and abilities for each class and the group
Designing how a "Dungeon" works as a game review.
How a Dungeon works as a game stream
How a raid works as E3

I have a lot of loose ideas of how to do each item, BUT making a system that ties together, makes sense, is balanced, and is FUN is where I need help. I will do as much as I can... this is a sort of passion project. But I would love to hear all ideas and concepts you have.

For now lets just throw around ideas and build from that.

Thanks for reading,
Origosis

PS I dated this post with the month and year. So if I make a new post it will have the current month and year
This way in the future as i get systems and designs completed I can make a new post, just like this one with, but with certain tasks marked as completed and fully explained.

Everything about this was amazing, Art, Story, References, and the Envy you have instilled in me creating a drive to learn how to draw.

Excellent work Rick and Bernardo!

Persona 5
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Mass Effect 2
Spec Ops: The Line
Burnout 3
Timesplitters 2
Dishonored
SoulCalibur II
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Darksiders 2
Trails of Cold Steel
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
L.A. Noire
Rayman Origins
Tomb Raider II
Dead Space
Tales of Berseria

It does not do everything perfect, but it does almost everything Extremely well. One of the BEST JRPGs I have ever played. BTW that makes 3 JRPGs on this list, so not sure if you also wanted a Genre CAP at some point.

@Inustar I agree 99%

What bugs me is when someone THINKS they are not spoiling something, but they are. And that also comes down to 2 different people's opinions of what is a spoiler is. And that tends to be the issue more than anything else. what someone views as a spoiler.

One buddy has no problem revealing the BIG twist in a movie cause it is not a spoiler cause the movie has been out for a week.

Another buddy thinks the title of the new star wars movie is a spoiler.

My own 12 year old child thinks Anime openings are spoilers and will not watch them.

My wife thinks NOTHING is a spoiler and WANTS to know the ending and all the twists BEFORE she watches 99.99% of all movies, tv shows, or books.

I guess part of it is what someone else considers a spoiler and then having the empathy to understand what others will consider a spoiler. And then reacting appropriately.

First I wanted to comment on the Title "The 10th Ally" I am using that as a way to refer to the fan base. But also keep in mind i am not speaking for everyone. Only that I am trying to come at this topic while taking into account as many viewpoints as possible.

Now for the main topic. Spoilers. I want to talk about What are Spoilers and What are degrees of effort someone might go to to avoid spoilers.

What is a Spoiler?

Level 0 - Nothing is a spoiler. These people are happy to know every detail including all ending and will still not feel spoiled. And will play the game.
Level 1 - Just not the ending. Everything is open, just do not reveal the ending.
Level 2 - Anything outside of official announcements is a spoiler.
Level 3 - Trailers and some news is acceptable, but revealing info from interviews and such could be spoiler territory.
Level 4 - Just about everything is a spoiler. Maybe watch 1 teaser trailer. maybe maybe maybe the first full trailer. But even knowing the Premise/plot is a spoiler. Even the events in the first 2-3 hours of the game are spoilers.
Level 5 - Everything except Game title and Release date is a spoiler. Everything!

What degree are you willing to avoid spoilers.

Effort 0 - Will actively seek any and all info on the game, including watching full youtube/twitch playthroughs.
Effort 1 - Will watch all trailers, podcasts, interviews, and some initial gameplay on youtube/twitch.
Effort 2 - Will watch most Trailers, and podcasts, but might avoid interviews and media focused on the game.
Effort 3 - Avoid all trailers except the reveal Maybe the first full trailer. Avoid most other media mentions of the game.
Effort 4 - No trailers. Maybe just the reveal.
Effort 5 - Full Media Blackout.

And some people will passively implement these efforts and others will actively implement them.

For example. Passively effort 4 means I might start a podcast, but stop or skip when they start talking about the game.
Actively means I would probably not listen to the podcast at all if it seemed possible they might talk about the game.. Seeing as spoilers could just slip out.

I tend to fall into the range of Effort 4 for games I am really looking forward to. And I have to make this decision very early on around the announcement of the game.

My default Effort ALL of the time is Effort 3. For everything Game or movie. And then I will decided based on each product if I am going to go Effort 0-2 or Effort 3-5.

I have only done Effort 5 for very very few things. And it is fun.

Now here is the thing. While I might consider Spoilers to always be in the Level 3-4 range. It is up to me to commit a certain level of effort to avoid them. While it would be nice if some people saw eye to eye on what a Spoiler is. I know that that is not always the case.

For example. With the most recent Star Wars Movie coming out I have decided to implement Effort 3. But overall I am not too worried about if some things are spoiled. But my buddy is on FULL blown Effort 5. And so I know to tell him nothing. He does not even know the title. And I respect that and tell him NOTHING at all, except maybe vague warnings if I see spoilers around.

A small example of how avoiding spoilers can lead to amazing twists:

There was 1 time I accidentally avoided all info on a certain movie. Creed. I had almost NO clue what it was. I was not trying to. It was jut coincidence. So one day I am looking through on Demand for movie to watch and I see this movie with a boxer on the cover. I start watching it, assuming it is a biopic on this athlete or some sports movie. 15-20 minutes in there is this MASSIVE TWIST! it is "revealed" This is a Rocky movie!!! OMFG. I had to pause the movie. and I ran around my house geeking the fuck out. Here I am thinking I was watching a generic sports movie... and BAM! One of the biggest and coolest twists in a movie, book, or game I have ever experienced... and it was not meant to be a twist.

That is why some people like to avoid and think almost EVERYTHING is a spoiler. Because of moments like that.

I mean Imagine you want into a Marvel movie now even knowing the title. And little by little you are figuring out which hero it is, and who else is in the movie.

How long is a spoiler a spoiler? Well technically. Forever. Just look at all those reaction videos of people watching Empire strikes back... Yeah. Eve to this day. People who never knew that twist are having their freaking minds blown.

How long is it realistic to treat something as a spoiler? Well that is another discussion for another time. Personally I think 1 month is perfectly reasonable. and if I still want to avoid spoilers after that, then it is up to me.

Anyways. Thank you for reading. I hope that I have explained myself well and also implied the intentions of most people avoiding spoilers.

Please provide any examples you have had of great reasons to avoid spoilers. And vice versa. Stories of average gamers who just take in the news and enjoy the game without going through all thus hub-bub.

...Talk up how amazing the Electronics Entertainment Expo is.

It was my life's dream from about 1998 till 2011, to go to an E3. Until I finally experienced my first PAX.

8 Pax's later, E3 was the last thing on my mind. Why bother? Especially when I have this Convention 1 hour from my house, and a few others around the country I can go to whenever I want.

But NoooooooooOOooooooo!

You had to go and talk about how amazing E3 is. And to ad salt to the wound, you had to use a story almost identical to my own. Re-kindling my deeply hidden urge and need to go to an E3 just once in my life.

Damn you

PS You owe me $250.

PPS Love and Respect

@Musou-Tensei AGREED! Holy crap. The switch makes it feel like Nintendo is simply accidentally in tune with what we want.

It is so many of the things we have wanted for so long. It is honestly what I assumed the Wii-U was (Boy was I wrong)

But so many other pieces of this story are showing they may be further gone than we ever imagined.

I hope not. I want Nintendo to finally take over the freaking gaming world. And with the right choices with the online, Virtual console, and my digital library... They just might. But It looks like they are going to simply make 5 amazing games. And fuck the rest up to holy freaking hell. Per usual.

@Dirokia Just to be clear though. I am a PURE Dub guy. I love Dub. I always go Dub. No matter how much it sucks.

Why?

2 reasons:

Cause I am lazy
And
Reading makes me fall asleep in like 10 minutes, even if I just woke up and have had 3 Large cups of coffee.. Reading will knock me out! (Massive amounts of hyperbole for fun.)

Anyways.

I never care about Dub vs Sub. I always just go with Dub if it is there. I cannot tell good acting and bad acting. I cannot see it or hear it.(Mostly. Sharknado is bad, but in an awesome way.)

But that crying moment in the Japanese acting was... It was amazing. Simply amazing.

And then to hear the Dub not just fail to deliver, but the Dub just does not even sync up to the moment in anyway. The Dub (In that 1 moment) makes zero fucking sense.

Ok done. Very excited to get my Switch and Zelda will be the first game I load. And I will play it during ALL of PAX while I wait in line. But damn.. I hope the rest of the dub is better, or they fix that moment.

I am not a fan of the Zelda games at all. But something about Breath of The Wild is drawing me in. I went ahead and pre-ordered a Switch and Zelda right after to conference (and a few other games)

I am very curious to see how it plays. The trailer at the Switch reveal was very enticing.. But lots of other gameplay trailers have actually turned me off a bit. Showing what looks to me to be un-enjoyable looking mechanics.

I do not come in here to bash it or other zelda games.. Only to explain my opinion of the series and how I am on the fence about BoTW. But still willing to give it a shot.

Also. That moment when Zelda cried in the Japanese trailer is what sold me on this game... But had I heard the Dub first. It is most likely I would not have given BoTW a 2nd thought this generation.