Are there any fun discord servers around for people working on narrative heavy games these days? I'm looking for a bit of community <3

I love tackling two things at once so I am gonna use this as a thread to both share a few of my favourite things, and get back into the habit of posting things on social media and get my account properly of the ground :D

Kaija Rayne 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇨🇦 Randomly active@kaijarayne.bsky.social · 4mo ago

A dear friend reminded me of the importance of adding more joy to the world. So, I created this list to make threads from, if you'd like. Don't answer with anything you'd *ever* use as a password or personal information! Please feel free to use it yourself. It's a good thing to remind ourselves

Afrori bookstore in Brighton needs to sell another 300 books this week to stay in business. Just brought a few romantasy books that sound amazing, but they stock every genre. Want to help an independent bookstore? Shop online or visit in person and grab a book.💙 afroribooks.co.uk #writingcommunity

Afrori Books | Books by Black Authors

Explore Afrori Books, the UK's largest bookstore specialising in books by Black authors. Discover diverse stories, genres, and community-focused events.

afroribooks.co.uk

Me: Let’s turn this game into a visual novel instead, with my current health issues it will otherwise take years to complete, and this way I can release something in 1 year.. Me 5 minutes later: Hyperfocus! Let’s build this game in a week! Maybe two! Surely that will work!

Beautiful Groningen 💕

Working in games means your answer to the question "If you could do anything you wanted in life, what would it be?" isn't a different career, but the same career in a kinder version of the same industry.

Wij gaan de buurt in! Ga jij mee? Maak jij je zorgen over Nederland en wil je in actie komen? Word canvasser, leer je buurtgenoten kennen en help BIJ1 terug de kamer in! Meld je aan: https://linktr.ee/BIJ1Campagne.

NEW: Extraordinary scenes in Amsterdam this afternoon (Sunday, Oct 5). An estimated 250,000 bring the city to a standstill; people all wearing red to show solidarity with Palestine 🇵🇸 (🎥 Ahmed Zantac)

It's been a little over 10 years that Beyond Eyes was released! I had kind of forgotten about it with everything going on my life but this morning I woke up with the music in my head. While the game is no longer available, I'd love to share this with you! Enjoy <3 soundcloud.com/marcoalkema/...

Beyond Eyes - Official Soundtrack

Official soundtrack for Beyond Eyes.

soundcloud.com

Wow we’re having “games are art” discourse again! Just gonna leave this here. From my dissertation:

On itch io, payment processors, and the developers and creatives affected I wrote about the itch deindexing, stripe, a religious group & a call to action + shared amazing words from 25 affected creators who took their time to write me. 🔁 RTs Appreciated 🔁 #itch #indiedev #visualnovel #comic #novel

On itch.io, payment processors, and the developers and creatives affected - Press SPACE to Jump

Itch.io deindexed adult, LGBTQIA+ and Furry media en masse across their site on July 23 due to pressure from payment processors, so creators are speaking up.

pressspacetojump.com

Playing video games has been near impossible since I got long covid but I woke up today feeling more than half decent so I’m finally going to try Dustborn for a little bit! Looks very promising so far 😁@redthreadgames.bsky.social

Had a long chat with @woodwould.bsky.social about the challenges we're facing at Summerfall, about Malys, and about the kind of RPG we'd make if we could (and really want to). Check it out here: www.gamesradar.com/games/roguel...

Former Dragon Age lead David Gaider would love to make an RPG at his new home, but "our last hope to keep the studio alive" comes first – and it looks like a very promising roguelike

Malys is a slick roguelike deckbuilder from folks who can't help but put a little RPG in everything

gamesradar.com

Give this man and his studio a ton of money! Literally. As the Kickstarter for their new game only has 66 hours to go and helping it succeed will bring everyone a step closer to enjoying great RPG’s in the future 😘 www.kickstarter.com/projects/sum...

Malys: Exorcise demons on your hunt for an ancient evil 🕯️

Play as an exorcist on a quest to protect the innocent in this demonic roguelite deckbuilder from the creators of "Stray Gods".

kickstarter.com

David Gaider@davidgaider.bsky.social · last yr.

Heh. As far as I'm concerned, there are two types of developers. Type 1: "Only 30% of our players do a romance, so it should remain unimportant overall." Type 2: "30% of our players do a romance *despite* it being unimportant, and those are our most ardent fans. What if we made it... better?" 😉

Gotta be real, I'm a little sad that current state AI is such a fucking mess, due to overwhelmingly negative practices surrounding it. I remember back in uni when Project Milo was announced and how inspired I was by the idea of emotional AI and the possibilities it would open up... Reality is meh.

Listen, my Rook and Solas had some issues to work through after all that delightful Veilguard tension... And @kaninsart.bsky.social flexed hard with this one to bring it to life 🤩🤩 #Solas #Dragonage

There's a petition to ban conversion practices (targeting LGBTQIA+ people) in the European Union. We need one million signatures, and we currently have 180,000+. If you live in Europe (even if you don't), spread the word ! 🌈🔥✊ eci.ec.europa.eu/043/public/#...

European Citizens' Initiative

Give your support !

eci.ec.europa.eu

Write generously for an audience who loves your work, not defensively for an audience who hates it

One of my favourite things about narrative design for games is being able to incorporate all these random tiny bits of knowledge and experiences I collected over the years. That Aha! moment when you suddenly find that little nugget that fits exactly right is soo satisfying It's not just me, right?

Don't know who needs to hear this, but Unclench your jaw Let your shoulders drop Liquefy all your connective tissue for the nutrients Slither bonelessly off your chair Wick yourself up the walls through capillary action Envelop the room Become a new god Become a new god

You are allowed to celebrate good things that are happening today: your birthday, a book coming out, new baby, new puppy, seeing your favorite piece of art in person, etc. Joy is the knife that stabs into the heart of despair & apathy. Feel your joys, big & small, & share them widely & loudly.

I honestly don't know what to say... The whole thing just makes me go back and for between sadness, frustration, anger and deep sympathies for everyone that will be affected by this, now and in the future.

Little wip update for my desk. I replaced my desk chair with an small adjustable bed! It's super comfy now and I don't get tired so fast. Next step is to build a frame for it with wheels so I can easily swap it for my yoga ball, kneeling chair or walking pad 😄

Finally built my dream keyboard: - Silent switches (so no overstimulation from horrible clickyclacks - Wood-like keycaps - Little Dreadwolf gif in the upper corner to soothe my Solavellan heart before Veilguard comes out 🥲 Fits beautifully with the Fractal Design North case as well!

It's been 15 months since I've first started my recovery from post-covid. Luckily for me, I'm finally seeing some improvements after spending most of the past year reclining horizontally! To make life easier I'm currently working to build a standing/sitting/walking/laying down desk solution :D

I deleted my twitter account this morning so I only live on here now! Love a fresh start so here are some pictures of our new house mate Oolong to mark the occasion🐈

I don't know why it took me years to realise that a game narrative I was working on worked better as a visual novel than a game but I have finally seen the light 😅

Sigh, I lost access to this account because I can't for the life of me remember which email I used 😅