bcyy Sun May 28 18:10:18 2023	Maybe my phone? But don't be too surprised if that is even more inefficient - I'm not much of a phone guy.
	Removed your number now that Gavin appears to have made contact successfully.

bcyy
Mon May 29 14:29:36 2023

Did you send me a text saying hello?

Gavin
Mon May 29 18:50:07 2023

Yes

bcyy
Sun Jun 4 14:51:53 2023

Yes, Gavin made contact successfully.
Thanks for removing my number!

Stuart Lloyd
Tue Jun 13 07:09:17 2023

So when I was running Lindenbaum, someone suggested that there could be an "open" gamebook competition with no limits on sections or word count. I'm not against running one, but only if it's a Nanowrimo type event where people just write something over a month or some other time frame just for the challenge because I don't want to spend any more money on prizes or spend any more time running another competition.

Any interest in a gamebook Nanowrimo?

Ulysses
Mon Jun 19 13:42:09 2023

Personally, I think contraints are what makes writing a gamebook for a competition fun.

@Stuart, the Lindenbaum competition is great and I don't think you need to do anything extra/different.

In my opinion, 'open' gamebooks are better judged through a 'Gamebook of the Year' style award (not a suggestion).

bcyy
Mon Jul 3 17:01:59 2023

@Gavin:

I've just went through Polaris. It was quite a read. To be honest, I was a bit surprised - I was expecting something more to do with Polaris missiles than age-of-sail fiction!

My understanding of it is that you are exalting the value of stoicism and discipline by contrasting it to wealth and power. This seems to be the common denominator between many of the conflicts throughout the story (Reeman vs Kent, Captain vs Warlock, steel family heirloom sword vs gold sword).

Why did you set it in the Napoleonic era, though? Electromagnetism had not been discovered at that point, so the admiralty was unlikely to have approved of an expedition to gather power from the Earth's magnetic fields, and Japan had never been contacted either, eliminating the possibility of a sea captain's knowledge of the character for "restraint" (忍).

All in all, a very solid novel!

Gavin
Mon Jul 3 20:35:07 2023

Japan would have been known up to and including Will Adams (fictionalised as Blackthorne by Clavell) though the Tokugawa shogun are did close the borders after that up until Commodore Perry of the US Naby forced entry in 1865. Otherwise I had no big agenda in writing this book other than homaging Hornblower and Aubrey type stories; Bolitho is obviously the biggest inspiration. It also drew inspiration from a couple of heavy metal songs, both involving supernatural forcessation, one involving a surreal journey where no one ever dies, but most especially one involving a quest for magnetic north. It was my disgust with the author of the latter due to his actions later revealed that inspired the sequel, soon to drop on Amazon. Otherwise thanks for your detailed review :) PS There was another heavy metal song called Polaris, magnetic north would gave given the plot away (and the guy that wrote that turned out to be a real dick)

Gavin
Mon Jul 3 20:40:37 2023

Also military intelligence did allegedly make use of Crowley during WWII, as mentioned during the epilogue.

bcyy
Mon Jul 3 21:21:16 2023

Ah, yes, the Portuguese EIC and other trading activities during the Sengoku Jidai. I had forgotten about that.

bcyy
Mon Jul 3 21:23:40 2023

Well, a detailed review is the least I could do after receiving your books!

Gavin
Tue Jul 4 05:37:10 2023

Thank you

Offm
Thu Jul 20 13:04:15 2023

Sorry for disturbing all , with this kind of nonsense , is fighting fantasy dying?
Honest answers only if you please.

Tammy
Fri Jul 21 03:48:31 2023

No! It will never die to diehard fans who keep visiting FF sites and buying the books. There is always room for open discussions that aren't gamebook related, but as you can see, members are still interacting regardless. There's only the nonsense of nonsense present whenever it's a must.

bcyy
Thu Jul 27 12:24:30 2023

@Offm

Doesn't seem like it.
Secrets of Salamonis and Shadow of the Giants are two recent entries, both of which I own, with another one coming out next year. None of this feels like a franchise that is dying.
It might be less profitable than its heyday when it was the best-selling gamebook series in the world, since it now faces fair competition from D&D. That competition, however, is peripheral, since D&D games typically take too much planning, too many close friends, and too much time to play.

If you have insider information which indicates that the franchise is somehow operating at a loss and is about to go bust, share it here if you can, and we could put together a vulture fund.

Gavin
Mon Jul 31 03:28:12 2023

What's a vulture fund

bcyy
Mon Jul 31 10:17:59 2023

@Gavin

I mean a fund that takes advantage of dramatic depreciations in the value of an asset.
For example, if the FF franchise were to be be worth only $1000 on the market for some reason, I'd be happy to buy and own it, even if it is not profitable.

I see now that the term "vulture fund" actually means only a special case of what I thought it meant - the case where the depreciated asset is debt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulture_fund

Tammy
Thu Aug 3 21:32:11 2023

I think that when Ian and Steve finally go, they take everything with them, the rights, the trademarks. Unless they pass it all to Jon Green. FF fan fiction will still be around. Sadly dungeons and dragons outlives everyone. In 60 years fighting fantasy will be free to the public.

Robert Douglas
Fri Aug 11 00:59:28 2023

I don't think Fighting Fantasy is in any danger of dying. During the 80's and even early 90's, the gamebook genre dominated the RPG market, alongside tabletop and DM-led groups. The video games market then appeared on the scene that seriously curtailed popularity, thus affecting sales of the original Puffin series. Lone Wolf was no exception. However, while we're still in the video gaming market - which if anything has grown to greater proportions over the last thirty years - FF in fact made a comeback twice during that time via Wizard, and then Scholastic, publishers. Some FF adventures can even be found in the format of interactive digital titles, the most recently developed adapted from Sorcery! series. And then you have fan written contributions and discussions found on sites much like this one. It's hardly likely that written works, literary ideas, video games, music, and movies ever truly die, decades or even centuries from now, as many classics or even lesser known titles/franchises/series will continue to find new fans. Indeed, some might lose their greatness to become more cult status. When Steve and Ian do leave us - much as we all hate the thought of the eventuality! - FF's future would become an estate, very similar to Tolkien's LOTR and other Middle Earth material. By way of further example, many famous actors from years past also have an estate dedicated to managing and even copyright protecting future publishing of their works long after they're gone. I have a biography of James Dean actually compiled and published by the James Dean Estate. His life story told through narrative and a wonderful collection of various photographs. The only problem is that the bookbinders made an error and put a section of pages in the wrong place! It's still a great chronicle, however, and I cherish it. We must not forget that gamebooks also encouraged youngsters to improve their reading, so this factors into the likelihood of FF being around for many years to come. Besides which, alongside Lone Wolf, the series encompassed many titles and so made an indelible mark upon the literary world.

YARD
Sun Aug 13 16:31:47 2023

It still feels incredible to me that this project has been standing for over 20 years. I wonder what the regulars could tell me about its ups and downs over that time. I am particularly curious regarding this question: how does the overall activity during this "current period" (however you choose to define that) would compare to past periods in the project's history?

bcyy
Wed Aug 16 09:53:45 2023

@Robert:

Indeed, I wouldn't say that video/computer games are in the same category as gamebooks. That relation is similar to that between novels and movies. You can always make a movie out of a novel, and vice versa, and the same can be said of gamebooks and games, but it is not the same.

I also agree that FF would be left behind as an estate/legal entity. Unless, of course, the heirs of the original authors choose not to inherit the franchise for some reason.

@Tammy

Not to be pedantic, I think you meant to say that copyright for the current FF gamebooks will be free to the public, right? The original version of Mickey Mouse is free to the public, but the newer versions of the same mouse aren't, and neither is Walt Disney.

@ YARD

By "this project", do you mean FF, or do you mean this website?

YARD
Wed Aug 16 23:56:38 2023

The website in particular, yes. I know that FF in general has a much longer history.

A.E.Johnston
Mon Aug 28 05:08:34 2023

Hi everyone, just checking in and glad that’s the site is doing well.
Just wanted to chime in regarding William Adam, as I have actually done a lot of detailed research on his life. I would
Highly recommend “Samurai William” by Giles Milton, it’s an enjoyable read and covers most of Adam’s life, including how he later helped establish trade in Japan. I’ve actually thrown around some ideas for a gamebook with him as a main character ( and no coincidence that the name of the protagonist in my last gamebook was none other than a ‘William Adams’ :) )

Tammy
Fri Sep 15 23:59:48 2023

Bcyy,

Usually published works end up free to the public after 50yrs. Unless someone takes new ownership but if the authors die their work is rendered public eventually. Like with LOTR, and all classical works. That's what I meant. But would would FF look like fifty years from now? Would anyone care? Or would there be something that has replaced it by then. I guess that if it's not possibly important by then as it is now, it doesn't matter. Our kids may pass down the generations of greenspines, jagged lines, and reprints but unless there is movies of FF made? 50yrs from now is just 50yrs and a box full of old weird books in an attic or basement or garage labelled what "My grandparents used to read"

bcyy
Fri Oct 13 09:48:59 2023

@Tammy

Brrr...
"My grandparents used to read".
Sounds cold.

BTW, we're just a couple of decades away from the first edition of Warlock of Firetop Mountain being in the public domain.

Not that it matters - you can download it from the internet now already.

YARD
Sun Dec 31 13:12:59 2023

Happy New Year to the community here!

I was hoping to close out the year with a personal ranking ot all the gamebooks here, but there are still a couple left, so I'll have to wait for an opportune date in 2024. (Perhaps an anniversary ot something or other on here? I would be surprised if there were no such dates this January/February.) Still, considering I did not discover this place until June, it's been a lot, and I formed plenty of impressions here in the past several months. While there were more than a few downs, the times where writing here has surprised me in a good way more than outweighed those. Now, I just hope this place can stay strong, and that I'll be able to contribute to its archives, hopefully as soon as this upcoming year.

Again, Happy New Year!

A.E.Johnston
Mon Jan 8 06:16:29 2024

@ YARD Sounds great and Happy New Year!

bcyy Mon Jan 15 16:21:59 2024	Happy New Year, everyone! I tried to send out the Xmas and new year greetings earlier, but couldn't access the webpage due to website certification issues. Any idea what happened?
	Don't know, I haven't changed anything.

bcyy
Thu Feb 8 11:07:25 2024

OK, so it seems that, right now, for chrome and edge, the webpage keeps getting redirected to Allen & Cook Incorporated, which is an accounting firm in California. It's weird, because the URL still says www.ffproject.com. I tried clearing my DNS cache, but the problem persists.

Firefox logs onto this site just fine.

It could just be a problem on my end, but I thought I'd pipe up, just in case this site is being hijacked or something. Feel free to delete this post if it is not a problem for anybody else (i.e. if the traffic volume has not decreased).

I've tried it with Edge and all seems well at the moment. I notice that this firm uses the same hosts as this site, so my guess would be that the problem is at their end and hopefully temporary.

Gavin
Sun Apr 7 17:35:12 2024

For those interested my latest book, Potters Field, is now available on Amazon using the following link.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D137KY55

Fact fans might be pleased to know that it sums up the entire plot of Outsider in one sentence. Which is nice.

Tammy
Wed Apr 10 10:33:40 2024

I read it, it's worth a review on Amazon, give him 5 stars for this one. :)

Gavin
Wed Apr 10 19:47:24 2024

Thank you

Gavin
Tue Apr 16 03:45:47 2024

Going to fighting fantasy fest looks like....

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