|
Post by Geralyn on Feb 16, 2015 2:19:21 GMT
One of the more important tenants on which the fleet was based on was the lack of a pseudo-military hierarchy. Rank in the Storytellers does not confer privilege or give power, but imposes responsibility. We sought to enforce the idea of roles, rather than ranks, by choosing names that are represented of the roles involved. And for the most part, we've essentially succeeded in these...except for the unexpected confusion caused by the name chosen for the role of Storyteller. From the charter:“Storyteller: This role is analogous to the role of Gamemaster in tabletop RPGs. They serve as the narrator and referee for stories in which others participate. They are the hosts for RP ships, for big, open RP events, and people who will run on-going stories anywhere. It allows you to be recognized as someone who can tell an ongoing story. If you want to be someone that people can come to when they need a GM, then this role may be a fit for you. It has very little responsibility, other than that.” The confusion lies not in the duties, but in the name. I can't tell you how many times I've overheard a variation of the following conversation: “Will there be any Storytellers online today?” “Roster says there's fifteen on at the moment.” “What? Wait, no...the rank. The GM people. The ones who run stuff.” Those who remember the discussions in the early days of the fleet relate the story of desiring a non-military name for the rank. But at the time, they also wanted something other than just “GM”. The name “Storyteller” for the rank succeeded on both counts, and possibly was inspired by White Wolf's term “Storyteller” for gamemasters running World of Darkness tabletop games. But in the end, more than a few members of the fleet have voiced the concern that it's less-than-ideal. So we'll open the discussion to the fleet at large. Should we change the name of the rank? Tell us your thoughts, and any suggestions you have for renaming the rank if you have ideas. Be mindful of he role description posted above when you make your suggestions.
|
|
|
Post by Tiana on Feb 16, 2015 3:16:18 GMT
Perhaps the confusion comes from the fact that the fleet is called Storytellers, so we are all storytellers (members), yet we are not all storytellers (rank). A few other naming suggestions: - Narrator.
- Author.
- Auteur.*
- Conductor.**
- Director.
- Producer.
- Script Writer.
- Showrunner.
(*For those who don't speak English primarily, Author is the writer of a work and Auteur is the personal creative vision of the creator of a work) (**like in music).
|
|
|
Post by FoxCDN on Feb 16, 2015 3:41:31 GMT
I really like the approach Spots!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2015 4:54:43 GMT
Troubadour -- since most GM's are also roleplayers
|
|
|
Post by hszmv on Feb 16, 2015 5:54:41 GMT
I personally like Director or Producer. When I explain a GMs role to other people, I normally put it in with terms like those, with relation to the role players.
|
|
|
Post by cormackburke on Feb 16, 2015 6:33:25 GMT
My opinion on the "Storyteller" rank is to change it to "Narrator", with my long-odds, thesaurus-based suggestion being "Fabler".
|
|
|
Post by Gremstein on Feb 16, 2015 7:40:31 GMT
I'd go with Tiana's suggestion of "Narrator." That sounds like it would be pretty good.
|
|
|
Post by LoonyEclipse on Feb 16, 2015 15:58:17 GMT
Narrator would be my pick, too.
|
|
|
Post by firebringeraxel on Feb 16, 2015 17:17:22 GMT
Perhaps the confusion comes from the fact that the fleet is called Storytellers, so we are all storytellers (members), yet we are not all storytellers (rank). A few other naming suggestions: - Narrator.
- Author.
- Auteur.*
- Conductor.**
- Director.
- Producer.
- Script Writer.
- Showrunner.
(*For those who don't speak English primarily, Author is the writer of a work and Auteur is the personal creative vision of the creator of a work) (**like in music). Some of these are very good choices. I personally am not sure Narrator is the best one as it doesn't accurately portray what GM's do. We do not narrate. Narrators tell a story but have no effect on it (sans some extreme fourth wall breaking). Personally I think Director is the best of this group. My other suggestion would be keeping it simple with Gamesmaster.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2015 17:34:47 GMT
another thought outside of troubadour is instead of gamesmaster -- storymaster or talemaster
|
|
|
Post by Ayche on Feb 16, 2015 19:17:11 GMT
My only vote against "Gamesmaster" is this - it can be truncated down to GM, which then causes a whole other slew of issues (we've seen them in the past) where people confuse our GMs with STO GMs.
|
|
|
Post by Geralyn on Feb 17, 2015 4:15:58 GMT
My own thoughts on the matter... ...A few other naming suggestions: - Narrator.
- Author.
- Auteur.*
- Conductor.**
- Director...
I like the idea of Narrator myself. It's a term used in one or two tabletop RPGs for Gamemaster, and its very definition immediately ties into the core idea of telling a story, which...well, that's what we're doing. ...I personally am not sure Narrator is the best one as it doesn't accurately portray what GM's do. We do not narrate. Narrators tell a story but have no effect on it (sans some extreme fourth wall breaking). Personally I think Director is the best of this group. My other suggestion would be keeping it simple with Gamesmaster. Director technically is closer to home insofar as our RP is closer to the visual medium of film or television, versus pure written stories. However, the word itself, unlike Narrator, is not immediately or solely associated with storytelling. When used as a rank name, my first thought is someone reading it to mean "Director of (insert name of department here)". Director of Marketing, Director of HR, etc. It doesn't immediately say "story." I wouldn't object to "Gamemaster", since it pretty much nails on the head what the role is with no ambiguity. another thought outside of troubadour is instead of gamesmaster -- storymaster or talemaster The word "Gamemaster" itself is recognized ubiquitously as a name for one who runs an RP, but outside of this one word...in my personal opnion words which have "master" as part of them have too much of an implication of control or power. "Gamemaster" I could accept, but other words ending in "master" I can't say I'm fond of. My only vote against "Gamesmaster" is this - it can be truncated down to GM, which then causes a whole other slew of issues (we've seen them in the past) where people confuse our GMs with STO GMs. The difference with "Gamemaster" (and thereby "GM") is - I hate to say - that STO GMs have almost no presence or visibility whatsoever. You never see someone with "GM" over their heads in the game, they (as far as I know) never communicate directly with you, and we don't know who any of them are. It would strike me that the chances of that mistake would be far less likely than the ones caused by the word "Storyteller" which members see every time they open the fleet window, or look over the heads of fellow members, or visit the forums. Those are my thoughts so far...but of course, keep the feedback coming in, whether it's suggestions or pointing to which suggestion you think is best out of those that are made.
|
|
Flynt
Member
I'm just here for the donuts.
Posts: 222
|
Post by Flynt on Feb 18, 2015 0:59:33 GMT
Time for the obligatory KDF comments on the topic. KDF equivalent of "Storyteller" is "Loresinger." I'd find this quite acceptable, as we've previously agreed that the rank names in both fleets should be the same. Should Loresinger not have much traction on the Fed side, I'm inclined more towards some of the following: - Director
- Chronicler
- Oracle
- Monty Python
- Q
|
|
|
Post by firebringeraxel on Feb 18, 2015 21:58:38 GMT
Time for the obligatory KDF comments on the topic. KDF equivalent of "Storyteller" is "Loresinger." I'd find this quite acceptable, as we've previously agreed that the rank names in both fleets should be the same. I'm a big personal fan of the Loresinger rank for KDF. I love having the rank myself as it just sounds cool and its thematic.
|
|
|
Post by seirradelta on Feb 19, 2015 17:23:04 GMT
Lorekeeper is my thought.
|
|
|
Post by Erika on Feb 19, 2015 20:55:53 GMT
Perhaps Loremaster? A reflection of their roles as both gamemasters and as the ones who create a lot of the lore and in-fleet canon.
|
|
|
Post by emulator on Feb 26, 2015 21:41:14 GMT
I'm gonna jump in on the yes bandwagon again.... and I've heard the possible title of 'narrator'. That's what we technically d, right? We narrate a story to the RPers, no matter how insanely good or.... whatever the polar opposite of it is.
|
|
tewha7
Member
You can't be a hero unless you're rising above circumstance.
Posts: 141
|
Post by tewha7 on Feb 28, 2015 20:28:32 GMT
If it's not too late to contribute here (it's been a rough month!) Story Master might work. It has a natural abbreviation that's pretty unambiguous.
|
|
|
Post by Geralyn on Mar 3, 2015 2:58:32 GMT
I'd like to thank everyone who offered their input on this discussion. Narrator seems to be the favorite, so we're going to go with that one. Thanks again, and keep an eye out for the next discussion post!
|
|