Unlike a large percentage of my generation, I have never been really involved in roleplay or video games such as Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft, or any number of the popular console (TV based) video games.

However in 2003 I discovered the pleasure in “text-based roleplaying”. This creative form of collaborative writing in which each person involved develops one or more characters and then writes anything from a sentence to a chapter worth of events relating to that character within a set storyline, can be done by any number of people at a time over a message forum or through chat rooms and instant messaging clients.

Forum Experience:
While I have over the years been a member of a select number of roleplay forums, in 2004 I created such a forum of my own which I named Minah (later renaming it to Nigeri). The board had a fantasy theme with multiple tolkein-esque species and a unique storyline. Apart from the storyline it offered a social discussion area for general conversations. Membership on this site grew to over 100 members and grew in strength until a steep decline in use in mid 2007.

In 2008 and 2009 I launched and subsequently re-launched the sequel to this board, under the name “Dragon's Realm” and later “Dragon's Turf.” Dragon's Turf offered three storylines; “Nigeri II” which was sequel to the original forum storyline, “Order of the Dragon's Paw” which followed teams of career dragon riding pit-fighters, and “The New World” which combined Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's scientific novel 'The Lost World' with Michael Chrichton's 'Jurassic Park' series, in a modern setting and with an unexpected plot twist. While this site is still active (www.dragonsturf.com) it sadly has not developed the popularity of its predecessor thanks to factors including the advent of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and will likely be retired in spring of 2011 if membership does not increase.

IM/Chat:
I always enjoy a good, well planned story. Feel free to email me if you would like more information.