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In this thread, we will be voting on whether or not Dungeon Stompage or Death Song should be featured in Fantasy.

The Argument for Death Song: Probably slightly superior overall to Dungeon Stompage.
The Argument for Dungeon Stompage: Rounds out the featured games in fantasy in terms of games vs stories and removes a series (death song and necromancer) from the fantasy featured storygames list.

I'm not looking for posts recommending that Dungeon Stompage replaces other featured stories in fantasy. I'm not looking for posts recommending other featured story situations, for those post here.

To vote, you must have completed both storygames and you must leave your rationale. To vote, please reply to the OP. This thread is also a good place for discussion. Please vote even if I haven't tagged you, as long as you've completed both storygames.

Also, I'm not guaranteeing that I'm going to go with the community opinion on this one but I'm hoping to be convinced by votes and rationales.

@Aman, @Tanstaafl, @Killa_Robot, @BerkaZerka, @Endmaster, @Briar_Rose, @ugilick, @ThisisBo, @Drakilian, @cool74, @Sethaniel, @nmelssx, @Danaos, @Ford, @FeanorOnForge, @Fleshnblood_78, @Galobtter, @Fireplay

Please tag anyone I'm missing.

I liked Death Song better, but Dungeon Stompage was more entertaining. My vote is Dungeon Stompage.

Could you elaborate on what you mean?

Death Song was a good read, and a fine story all the way through. However, I feel Dungeon Stompage felt more game-like, in which there was use of scripting and items and more of an interactive feel. In Death Song I felt like I was reading a book, in Dungeon Stompage I felt like I was playing a video game; I might just be burned out on the "Story-time" games and biased based on what is more interactive choice-wise. So, in conclusion, my reason for choosing Dungeon Stompage over Death Song is simply that it was more enjoyable.

EndMaster can vote on his own story? o.O

I trust Endmaster and Berka to be honest. Don't you?

Yeah. I guess. 

I trust them.

I don't think they'll reply at all; they would seem conceited - or at least, they would feel conceited (I know I would) if they tried to argue their story was better than another (especially someone who's story they like and enjoy).

I should hope not. I don't think there's anything conceited about a well-reasoned response in favor of your own storygame.

Endmaster said in another thread he won't try and back any of his games. Not sure where Berka would stand though.

I don't think Berka would either. You can't really vote for your own games without having a biased opinion. 

Yeah, I'll refrain from voting, mostly because there's plenty of voters to make the vote solid one way or the other without me.

That's what I said. ;P

Goddammit, this is a tough one. I absolutely adore both games, and feel both deserve to be featured. 

Death Song reigns over Dungeon Stompage in terms of story, and depth. It's by far the superior game. However, IMO, it's only a superior game if you read Necromancer. Otherwise, the plight of the MC isn't as tragic. Dungeon Stompage is fantastic as a standalone (cause it's the only one of the series), is remarkably non-linear (many hidden endings), and demonstrates why our editor rocks.

 So, I vote Dungeon Stompage.

Thank you for your excellent rationale.

I actually prefer Death Song over Necromancer, though I still think Necromancer deserves a feature over it. Why? Because I think that Death Song is really be enjoyed best when played right after Necromancer, it's canon with it, a midquel even. I've always found having two of the same series featured was weird, and although Death Song is one of my favorite stories on-site (close behind Daphne)- I don't think it holds itself stand-alone as well as it does in conjunction with Necromancer.

Whether I think Dungeon Stompage beats it? Hmm, it definitely was a better read, though Dungeon Stompage! was just extremely enjoyable, regardless of the more simplistic plot (though very impressive, complicated coding haha). Not only that, but as 3J noted, it would round out the featured Fantasy list.

So, leaning toward Dungeon Stompage. 

EDIT: Damn Aman, had same/similar points :-/

Voting or leaning towards?
 

Just leaning, waiting for discussion.

I vote for Berka's story. Death Song is not nearly long enough, nor does it have many choices. Dungeon Stompage, however, have many choices, items, battle scenes, shops, and even a map to always go back to when and if you get stuck on a page. Basically, it's much more entertaining to play.   

Your vote counts... but have you read Death Song? Endmaster doesn't write linear stories. All of his stories feature meaningful choice.

I know, but it's still too short. I'm not saying it's not a good story. Far from it. I just saying that I think Berka's better. 

I just think that it's questionable to say that it doesn't have many choices.

Well, I meant in comparison to Berka's story, it doesn't have nearly enough. In of itself, however, I guess it has enough choices... 

I vote for Death Song (rationale to follow). (Also, no offense to Berka, I just preferred Death Song to Dungeon Stompage, and I don't particularly believe "rounding out the stories" is an, in any way, valid reason to feature a game).

First off, I would like to state that Death Song and Necromancer were not a part of the same series. They were both set in the same world, true, and they both followed the same story, but they ran during the same timeline and featured entirely different main characters and characters, it is effectively an entirely different story given the major changes to the way it is being showcased. You can say that they are part of the same world, and if it incenses you that two stories are part of the same world and both featured then go ahead and say that, but by definition they are not a series, and the stories they tell are extremely dissimilar.

Aman's statement that Death Song cannot be fully enjoyed without Necromancer is also incorrect. Death Song without Necromancer is just mystery, you never know who the necromancer is or why the world is being destroyed, and that's okay because it's irrelevent; the plight of the main character can be understood without having understood the plight of the villain, Death Song was not about the Necromancer destroying the world but the horror that the people were going through as he did so, and Endmaster portrayed this perfectly.

Death Song far surpassed Dungeon stompage in terms of story, was very non-linear (Yes, there is one "best" ending, but whoever says that the story is linear is clearly ignoring the dozen or so other detailed endings filling the story, just because every ending is not a special one does not make it a linear story), had significantly better built characters and a much more creative follow-through.

Dungeon Stompage's only real merits come from it's excellent use of the advanced editor, the characters themselves were not extraordinarily interesting, the story (as in most games) took a backseat to the actual play, and it made no effort to stray from a very often seen and executed premise - which is fine, because the game was great, the gameplay was fun and the story was still interesting (because a good storyteller can make even the most boring and overused premise fun, and Berka is nothing if not an excellent storyteller) but that does not change the fact that Dungeon Stompage suffered for it. 

Death Song as a whole had a far better built world and story, more sympathetic and enjoyable characters; Dungeon Stompage had far superior gameplay, was less "linear" (Which is irrelevent, as being less linear than a non-linear story does not mean much) and made fantastical use of scripting on the site.

The above paragraph is essentially what you're going to hear from everyone who replies to this (save perhaps the comments about linearity), because it is rather clear and obvious (and true).

In the end, it comes up to whether you believe the game or the story is more important, and I have always held the belief that the story is more important than the game, so you have my vote.

Very great response!

@Ford @Nmelssx @Aman

What say you three?

I said Berka's better. 

I'm aware... I'm asking how you would respond to Drakilian's reasoning.

Every time I'd responded to Drakilian's reasoning I get insulted in one way or another, so I'd rather not. 

^ I'll keep my opinions and not argue against Drakilian. He had a well written response, but the gameplay in Dungeon Stompage was better than the story of Death Song.

That was what I was going for. Thanks Ford. ^_^

@Ford

If it were only gameplay that determined featured storygames then wouldn't 8 Rolls 28 Goals be the top featured storygame in any category.

But it isn't. I'm saying the combination of story and game with more game than story is better than story alone.

OK. I'm not sure that you've really thought out your reasoning or made an effort to read both stories. I'm not sure which storygame should be featured but I'm looking for well-reasoned opinions, not childish responses. If you'd like to have a say in this procedure, you'll need to defend your position.

I'm not going to argue with Drak. It's not worth it. 

Okay. I've removed you from the voting.

What about Ford? ^_^ He also refused to argue against Drak. Are you going to remove him too?

He did no such thing.

Regarding my point, that's probably subjective, but I disagree wholeheartedly. 

Death Song was tragic. But what differentiated it from other tragic stories is the fact that, had you read necromancer, you see that the villain didn't have a real reason. All the suffering you suffered in death song was for nothing, just pure utter carnage. The Necromancer didn't hate the world enough to destroy it, he just wanted to. Death can be enjoyed without the story of Necromancer, but the true tragedy of the MC wasn't his losses, but the reason for them.

As for your opinion on (non) Linearity in Death Song, it only has two true endings. One bad, one worse. All the other death endings are, just that, death endings (well written ones, of course). DS had many true endings, be it that you become an adventurer, a ruler, a adventurer who screws over the Mage, or end up possibly ruling the world. That is an obvious point in DS' favor.

Now, you also claim that rounding out the featured games is pointless. I'd also argue on that. Not that we need to remove Endmaster's games from being featured, but as featured games, we need to display more then a single type of story. Necromancer and Death Song are the same in the fact that they are tragedies. Death Song simply makes it more clear, but we already saw everything Death Song had to offer in Necromancer. The two are the two sides of the same coin, and both of them do not need to be featured. 

I at no point ever considered the Necromancer to be killing simply because he wanted to (so yes, it is rather subjective) and that added to Death Song in no way for myself, all that I gained from reading Necromancer was an idea of what was happening beyond the MC's point of view.

Yes, I know that there are only two true endings, and I addressed that in my first reply. This is also irrelevent, the linearity of a story is determined by how many reasonable endings are reachable; the death endings in all of Endmaster's stories are extremely detailed, and usually go forward for at least one or two extra pages before actually dying. That kind of ending counts, just as much as a "true" ending should. Maybe your story if you follow these alternate paths won't be as long, won't be as touching, won't be as significant - but your story will still be a coherent series of events, and will be a rather good one as well. 

I believe that 3-J intends to round out the games by putting in one that uses the advanced editor, not because both are tragedies. Either way, I would disagree, Death Song and Necromancer were both amazing tragedies, and we feature based not on what is conventional or fair (one for each) but based on quality. Death Song was featured for it's quality, as was Necromancer. Dungeon Stompage was not. Unless we change the criteria for Featuring and say that different themes are more important than quality, then it is entirely irrelevent to take either the themes of Necromancer and Death Song into account.

Huh. Very odd. Everyone I know that read it felt that Necromancer added to Death Song in that way. (Irl, though perhaps Tan felt a bit differently. Can't remember his exact opinion)

That can be argued for Necromancer, but in a story detailing an insignificant member of the world, his deaths are simply that, well written death endings. 

If that was the case, we could feature a majority of Sindiriv's works. Many are feature worthy, but they all have the same theme. A featured story is what is first seen by those browsing this site, after the front page. Death Song's story is already written in Necromancer, and to many is not a standalone game, while DS is a standalone that makes up what it lacks in detail and depth with the aspect of a game book, being the least linear story in fantasy (and perhaps the rest), and an engaging (though cliche) storyline.

Tan is everyone you know who's read Necromancer?

When I read it I saw it as the Necromancer realizing that he had damned himself by going into this, that no matter what he did, this was the only course of action left to him (which it was, as shown in the deaths that awaited you if you strayed from lichdom). I saw it as the necromancer seeing he could do nothing else but kill, and so he followed that path because he feared what he dealt, he did not want to die. The necromancer took the only path left to him, because he did not know what else to do - because he was afraid - not because he simply enjoyed killing people. The deaths of everyone in Death Song were necessary, because he wanted to live.

In a story detailing an insignificant member of the world? But if it detailed anything else then Death Song's purpose would be defeated! In Death Song the main character was supposed to be representative of what happens when a force of nature - something too great to combat, something that will destroy everything you love an care about, shows up and ruins your world. Replace the necromancer with a virus, or demons, or whatever else you can think of that would eradicate all humans - and you'll have the same basic story. Death Song was about struggle, and eeking out what small pleasure is possible, not about futiliy; and the numerous death endings were meant to show how fragile you were, how that force of nature could so easily overwhelm you. It's why I say Death Song so perfectly represented the horror of the people who lived in Necromancer, it showed you everything, it let you die every death they died, it let you suffer every pain they were dealt. Those death endings were crucial to the story.

I dislike the Homo Perfectus series, so we disagree right off the bat, haha. But even then, there is a standing rule (I think) that says only one story in a series can be featured (and unlike Homo Perfectus, Necromancer and Death Song are not a series). That also has nothing to do with the themes, for that matter.

No, he's just the only one I can't remember the exact opinion (since I didn't talk to him about the story in almost a year I think)

But that's plainly false, as in at least one ending, the Necromancer went into hiding with his bride and survived for eternity. The thing about him was that he was confronted with numerous chances to stop, but simply wouldn't. He just countinued killing. 

And that's why Death Song is not a standalone. It's story has been stated many times over, but Necromancer shows how stupid and meaningless everyone's deaths were. 

The death endings were death endings, the point was that no matter what, you were doomed. It's the futility of life that is beautifully represented by Death Song, and it's tragedy amplifies when you look at my first point.

Death Song and Necromancer are part of a series, ha ha. Endmaster even admits it is. XD 

Every chance he had to stop led to his death or somesuch unpleasant ending (including the ending with the bride, I think. It's been years since I played, but I think she died and he had to stay alive? Regardless, if what you say is true i'm fairly sure it is the one ending which did not result in the necromancer's death.

Death Song isn't a standalone, yes, but neither is it part of a series (as it is neither a prequel or a sequel), it is a different story altogether, it has a few characters shared but the radical shift in points of view lead to a rather grand partition between the two stories, which is good enough to separate them both.

The death endings were still endings, and again, were essential to the story; it was not simply about futility, Death Song was about the pleasure that you eek out as you die. His music, his continued survival throughout all of this, the time he spent with the pixies (until he fled or they all died), all of it was meant to show that even as everything is lost and all turns to dust and bones around you, there is still some small pleasure to be gained. Futility was a great theme, yes, and it was portrayed in the end, but so was survival, so was strength and love of life and pleasure.

It's tragedy is hardly amplified by that, I defy you to think of a scenario in which all people die without it being stupid and meaningless.

---

All of this being said, the simple fact that we are capable of having this discussion is (to me at least) a testament to how much better Death Song is to Dungeon Stompage. I could not enter a discussion about the depth, motivation and themes of Dungeon Stompage with you because there is hardly any significant character development, no poignant story, no depth, no no meaningful theme, nothing that would lead me to care about the characters or the events that come to pass. Playing Death Song, I could feel the horrors and pains that the MC went through, I knew what happened to him and I understood his suffering. In Dungeon Stompage? I played a game, nothing more.

Not Being a sequel or a prequel doesn't mean it's not part of a series, ha ha. 

--

No one is arguing that DS is a better story. I'm arguing that Death Song should be replaced with DS since Death Song is not a standalone, and is beaten by DS in everything but Story.

however, the reason we can't discuss the themes in DS isn't that it's a bad story, but that the themes vary between person to person. One person could have see DS as a story of revenge, the other as a story of looting and pillaging. Evil or good, it's our story and our personality shapes our goals and reasons for action. That is it's fantastic quality, the fact that you decide on everything, even with it's one track to the end.

(As a note: A midquel is and actual 'thing' haha. The way I see it, Necromancer and Death song are a series)

I'll post more about this later, but I think it's an important thing to note that the Feature list, is (IMO) supposed to show with 6 stories all what the category has to offer. Not only the best stories, but also games that showcase chooseyourstory.com's fantastic, more interactive games.

It is a thing, but it is not part of a series.

The best stories do showcase what the site has to offer - specifically, the best authors' works, because it is the authors and the stories they write that make this site, not the features they use to make the stories.

I... Yes, yes it is part of a series >.<

Untrue, a big part of story writing on the site is use of the advanced editor. Dungeon Stompage shows how creative you can be when writing, as well as to what extent you could choose your story... Game.

No, it is not lol. It specifically has to be in sequence to count as a series (which this is not).

Untrue in return. The advanced editor is a tool, the people who use it are the authors, and the authors make up CYS. It is not necessary to the site, and these stories could all be written without it. Dungeon Stompage is creative use of the editor, not the story in and of itself; and choice is something common to all Storygames.

Also - "story...Game"

Real subtle there Tan XD

Does it really? I'm not so sure about that, many book series have standalone stories, stories that happen in a time-gap, different perspectives etc.

...And showcasing what you can do with the site-tools is showing what the site has to offer. :P

Though yes, I am the master of subtlety.

The stories shown showcase the quality of the stories the site has to offer.

Really, if "Showing what you could do with the advanced editor" was important, then there would be a featured section for advanced editor stories (and indeed, there is - well, sort of. Look at the home page, it shows the best advanced stories, Dungeon Stompage is almost always up. THAT is what people see when they first come to the site).

Of course it does, a series is a collection of consecutive stories sharing familiar qualities, these stories are not consecutive and are also radically different.

---

You say "Beats Death Song in everything but Story" like there is more than one thing it beats Death Song at, because it beats Death Song as a game and a game only (because these are the only two aspects relevant to a storygame).

If you're going to divide what makes it a better game (Advanced Editor use, scripting) then it would only be fair to divide what makes Death Song a better story (Better characters, better deaths, better developped themes, etc...).

We can't discuss the themes in DS (Which by the way, I keep on misreading as Death Song instead of Dungeon Stompage XD) is because there is no theme development, it's just an adventurer's dungeon crawl (which is perfect for a game -and detrimental to a story).

Your actions may shape the current of the story, but this is true for all storygames; your actions will change your protagonist's personality, but again this is true of all storygames, it is the entire point of a storygame in fact. You are given a story and a character and then you shape that world through your actions according to a path pre-made by the author. 

Not regarding stories. A series of books can have books that are the story of another character in the same time as the other book, and be part of the series.

---

I'm judging it based on what was intended. DS had fun characters, and played well. It had a decent story, and was engaging. It loses to Death Song regarding it, but, unlike Death Song, it doesn't fall flat on the side that it wasn't focused on.

In death song, Necromancer, OMS, pretty much every major games on the site, the Protagonist had a set personality, no matter how you thought, your protagonist would think in a specific way. DS (and yeah, I was worried that might cause confusion) allows you to play a 'true' storygame. 

Nope, they specifically have to be in sequence.

---

I would disagree heavily on that, if it had to be held together purely by it's story Dungeon Stompage would be incredibly dull, just as if Death Song had to be held up by it's game aspect alone it would be rather disrespectable as a work. You assert that it's story was interesting, it had fun characters - but how? Where you see fun, I saw only bland NPC archetypes.

That could easily be attributed to a lack of description; in Dungeon Stompage your character was never described, his thoughts barely ever heard; you were an empty vessel who had no existence or life before you were taken over; and I do not think this to be a good thing.

I have never heard anyone (aside from you) claim such a thing. 

---

True, but Death Song would be non-existant. DS would be a 4 or a 5, but Death Song would be a one or a two.

Just like how the Lone Wolf series ran. (And a majority of other game books). It's not a direct flaw, considering the goal of the story.

DS is a terrible acronym to use given both stories can be shortened to DS lol.

MwhHahaha 

By definition it is true.

---

Death Song would exist, surely; if you remove the story it would be something akin to Morgan's Hunter.

I, uh, i've never read any gamebooks.

A series means a set of ____ (dictionary.com 3rd definition). A midquel is part of the set of books.

--

Except Morgan's hunter had scripting. XD 

The lone wolf game that was on CYS was a gamebook.

A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publisher.

(Just looked up book series definition and took the first definition I saw)

---

That was some real shitty scripting, could have easily been done with the normal editor as well (except Morgan's would have lead you on an infinite loop, while normal editor would have ended once the author got tired of copy-pasting stuff).

Oh yeah, I know (I looked up the path so I could know whether we would suffer anymore instant deaths... ^_^)

That was again, a game; if it stood on it's mertis as a story it would be rather bland.

Also, I would like to note that those were gamebooks, while these are storygames. They were games played in book form, these are games that follow a story, the difference is slight but there; there is more of a focus on stories in a storygame than in a gamebook.

I haven't read them, but it's my understanding that A Song of Ice and Fire has a couple books that are happening at the same time (because of how much is happening), which is exactly what Necromancer and Death Song do.

I would consider them as part of the same series, but they definitely bring different things to the table, which is why I'm fine with them both being featured at once.

Unlike say, the Homo Perfectus series, which are all about being superheroes.

Aside from HP7 and the rest. HP7 is specifically about being a god, the others are dealing with such godly beings. 

Quoting of Wikipedia (which is where your def comes from as well)

"Fictional series typically share a common setting, story arc, set of characters or timeline."

It can share the same setting, but be standalones and still be a book series. Death Song is part of the series, even if it's not in direct chronological sequence.

--

Which was still there. It had scripting, a scoring system, and each attack felt a random amount of damage/if it missed or not. Impossible to do with basic.

Cheater!

Bo, that's just because GameStories sounds really sucky, while Storygames sounds good. XD 

 

Which could have been near-perfectly replicated with the basic storyteller

Uh... XD

Bo? I'm sure if we were used to it, Gamestories would sound perfectly normal.

Without the random damage, probability factor of hitting, health tally, etc.

Meant to type No, ha ha. Storygames sounds cool. GameStories sounds asinine. 

Again, you could have mimicked that well enough.

Well yeah, you're not used to it. Regardless, a storygame is a story with game elements, not the other way around.

---

I think that marks the end of our discussion on the matter. We've gone so off topic that we're discussing whether Gamestories would sound as good as Storygames, and we've both defended our arguments well enough that anyone reading should be able to have a well-formed enough opinion (using their own liking of both stories, which they'll use to decide their vote regardless of what's been said, and the information we've presented.).

... No? XD 

--- 

I suppose. XD 

Only real point I'll say is it was obvious that Berka intentionally made the premise an overused one as a throwback to traditional RPGs and D&D.

For the matter at hand, I can't justify featuring Dungeon Stompage over Death Song. As much as I would like Dungeon Stompage to be featured, I really can't choose it over Death Song.

I'd argue it should be featured over Magus, but given the premise of this thread, that'd be pointless haha.

I would also argue it should b featured over Magus.

Just saying.

@Kiel_Farren

Thanks! Sorry Kiel!

Can't read

He's already tagged. 

Can't read?

He tried to tag Seth. Then he realized that Seth was already tagged. 

(Seth didn't get a notification, though.)

At work, currently don't have time to write a detailed explanation.

Death Song

 

(Fair warning, I'm on my lunch break, and really tired, so this is prolly gonna be a hot mess as far as logic and rationality are concerned.  Hope my vote still counts.)

Here's why Death Song: 

I don't think I could write a Dungeon Stompage fan fic.

By which I mean, Death Song is a better story.  (I don't think it's true, what some others were saying, that you "have"
 to have read Necromancer- I don't think I had, the first time I read Death Song. Or that it ought to matter even if you do.  Return of the King still won the Oscar, even though you "had" to have seen Fellowship and Two Towers for it to make any sense.) 

And I think story wins over scripting, every time.  (Also, tbh, I get frustrated with gameplay-heavy stories.  Combat is the boring stuff you have to wade through in order to get to the fun part, where you talk to people.)

Dungeon Stompage is an amazing game that shows off what one can do with the Advanced Editor when one knows what one is doing.  I am getting tired of newbies requesting things like "how to put a health bar" into their story.  There are too many people who don't know anything about scripting trying to use this site to write games, rather than stories.

Anyway, I have to get back to work, because I'm apparently the only one in the whole goddamn store that can make a smoothie without crying.

Despite voting for Dungeon Stompage, I have to back Seth up on this one. I read Death Song before I read Necromancer and it worked fine and made perfect sense as a stand alone story.

In the JJJ's first post How come there are three votes for DS if there are only two names listed?

Anyway, I don't think I should vote. I mean I like Dungeon Stompage, but obviously I'm going to like Death Song more and no matter what reasons I gave, it still would come down to I'm always going to have a preference for it simply because it's my own. (If it was Legend, it would probably be a different case. Ha ha.)

Besides, looks like Drak is arguing WAY better for it than I could anyway.

He removed me because I refused to argue against Drak. ^_^

You also haven't played Death Song or Dungeon Stompage (at least according to your points).

I played as a guest, I think. It was a while ago, though. And either way, the points won't show up if you don't rate the story, because you won't get story rating points if you only read stories without rating them. 

I think it was because your facts were just plain wrong. You said Death Song was short, and didn't have many choices, which just isn't true, leading JJJ to believe you didn't actually play it, which means your opinion wouldn't matter.
 

Nope. He removed me after I refused to argue against Drak, not any sooner or later. 

(From BHB)

Quote from Seth

Yes, it is bs if people think Dungeon is better but they won't say so because they think they can't argue with you.  

Quote from me

Not because they can't argue with me, but because they will not defend their rationale. This is not a democratic vote, 3-J is doing what he decides - not what the votes decide, so it's not like the Dungeon Stompage side is losing anything. He posted the thread for discussion and to hear people's rationales, if he doesn't get either then they are not worth counting.

@Drakilian You didn't need to bring me into this.
 

I'm not, I just thought the post I was replying to should also be mentionned. Edit it away if you want.

True. It's not democratic. 

JJJ has been questioning your input since you first said it. Refusing to counter Drak's argument was just the nail in the coffin.
 

Perhaps. 

Same as Aman's and Tanstaafl's reasons, Death Song isn't as 8/8 as it should be unless it comes as a companion to "Necromancer".  As a standalone, one can't be anywhere as near as selective as they could be in Dungeon Stompage in terms of style of approach (even though they both have a "canon" path to follow).  Endmaster's diction, as palpable and easy to read as it is, has to engage the reader on an empathetic level (it's a hit and miss).  Berka's game, while narrated in a "game host" sort of manner, can engage readers simply because it's a game with multiple choices.  Thus, i-

[TO BE EDITED IN 4~ HOURS, DO NOT REPLY]

I apologise in advance for spelling etc but I am mobile posting and having some issue with the site.

I'm currently going to vote for dungeon stompage

?basically I love Endmasters stories and they are great reads but dungeon stompage basically was more enjoyable to me as a game, while there are other long and wonderfully written stories in the fantasy section (also by Endmaster and also featured) dungeon stompage provides a kind of relief from them, if you want a huge long complex and In depth story that's great but if you want a well written, well scripted and very fun story game I believe that it should be an option and featuring a breadth of choice seems like the best way for people to see it is there.

just my current thought on the matter of the challenge vote between two great games

... Dammit, this is a hard one. If it was a different game it'd be easier, but I'd say that Death Song is my favorite fantasy game that I've played in the genre so far and I do actually prefer it to Dungeon Stompage on a whole. That said, I still vote Dungeon Stompage.

Again, really difficult since Death Song is one of my favorite games on the site with a genuinely moving story and characters that I got really attached to. The main reason I'm voting for Dungeon Stompage is really far away from everybody elses reasons and other people might not really consider it a decent reason for voting for Dungeon Stompage but I figured I'd bring it up anyway.

Basically, I'm voting for Dungeon Stompage because right now Endmaster is filling 4 of th 6 Fantasy slots (because he's awesome) and I just think that for a new member who's just come to the site for the sole purpose of playing games, it'd be nice to have some variety of different writers and styles in the top rated games. Endmaster's games are brilliant but because they're all written by the same person, in more or less the same style, people playing all the top rated fantasy games might get the impression that that's the only style of game we have or expect to see used on the site.

I think that Dungeon Stompage is one of the site's best examples of how complicated a CYS game can be. I think it's the only game I've read so far that actually contains a working map (Still have no idea how the hell BZ managed that. He tried to explain it to me once but it went straight over my little blonde head.) The story and characters are basic but fun, the puzzles are awesome and I'm just blown away with how complex the game is and how much time it must've taken to make. I think that, especially for an aspiring CYS writer, it would be good to see more variety in the Fantasy section that gives both examples of an incredible game with a basic story and incredible stories with a basic game... If that makes sense.

That said, I'm aware that not everybody considers "It's nice to have variety" as a viable reason for featuring a game, and the featured spots should just go to the best stories regardless of how many games in each genre are written by the same author. That also makes sense and I'd say I'd be fine if my vote wasn't counted on the grounds of people thinking that having more variety isn't a good enough reason for a game to be featured. Still, that's my personal opinion 

Honestly all you've really done here is give reasons why dungeon stompage deserves to be featured, not why it's specifically better than Death Song, or why Death Song doesn't deserve to be featured instead.

Nope, hence the paragraph at the end.

I didn't give reasons why Dungeon Stompage is better than Death Song because I don't think it is. Obviously it's superior in it's complexity and use of the advanced editor, but as a whole I preferred Death Song.

The whole basis of my argument is that, while on the whole I agree with pretty much everything that Drak said, he starts his argument with "I don't particularly believe "rounding out the stories" is an, in any way, valid reason to feature a game." ... I think it is. 

Congratulations to BerkaZerka. <3

Yes! Magus has finally been unfeatured! Death Song remains on the list! Dungeon Stompage is up! Hurra, hurra! Cake for everyone!

Lol, after all that Magus got taken down.

Hurray! - The Endmaster Monopoly remains intact haha!  ;)

It's crazy how frequently his stories managed to stay featured.

You sir, are a hell of a writer.

(Was pointing this at Endmaster, but it fits JJJ too haha!)

Haha, thanks.

Lol! Well now I'm super happy! Fantasy section has more variety and my favorite game didn't get taken down! ... Now I just have to never read Magnus incase I end up really liking it and have to vote for it to be put back up again. 

You never read Magus?  

It was well-written, but too short and the series was never completed.

A sneak peek at the second part in the series shows that he didn't get far with that one either.

Woot!

Sweet!

And thanks everyone for your votes!

*New motivation to start working on Dungeon Stompage 2 again haha!  ^v^

And then Dungeon Stompage gets unfeatured to make room for Dungeon Stompage 2 

An ending I hoped for but didn't expect, haha.

What made you decide on finally taking down Magus?

Drakilian and Aman, you and Sethaniel.

Even though I always add the caveat in my posts that I don't have to abide by community opinion, I pretty much always do end up agreeing.