Jeff Vogel on Storytelling in Avadon: The Black Fortress

Jeff Vogel, head honcho behind indie RPG studio Spiderweb Software, recently gave a presentation at Seattle’s Casual Connect convention, an event dedicated to casual gaming. While not exactly the first person that comes to mind when one talks about casual games, Jeff took the time to explain his approach to crafting what he calls a “good” (quotes included) story in games, effectively by focusing heavily on world building before all else.

From Jeff’s blog:

The most interesting thing about Casual Connect? How weird anyone who sells software in the old school way is made to feel. Here’s what I do: I write a game. I give it to you in return for a set number of dollars. Then we part ways, and you never have to look at my pale, beardy face again.

This model is so incredibly retro now! Pay money for a game? Nonsense! Everyone real makes their money with microtransactions and advertising and nickle and diming you for packs of 100 Dragon Bux you can use to make your zombie ninja pirate dragon grow faster. And if you make money any other way, people in suits will act very nervous and not make eye contact with you anymore.

You can find the full 25-minute video of his presentation right here.