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Okay, so forget that idea I came up with before. I got a new idea for a story I'm gonna try and write for the Spring Thing, but I only got two weeks to do it, so I got to be quick.

The game's going to be about slavery (Hurray! Another slavery game! ... Except this one will actually have slavery in it.) Right now am not sure on the setting. I'm torn between making it about American slavery, Roman Empire slavery or just forget the history and make it a fantasy. On the one hand, I think making it historical would leave more of an impact, but on the other hand, I'm more interested in making it dramatic than historically accurate, so would be good to hear people's opinions on that. Or if anybody has any other settings for a slavery related game.

What'd be really helpful though, is if people could come up with some examples of scenarios that might appear in a slave's life. A bit like what Kiel was looking for with his zombie game. Example: One of the other slaves is getting whipped for stealing from their master. You know this slave is innocent and you also know who really did it. You can either; 1. Stand back and do nothing. (If you do this, the innocent slave will resent you.) 2. Tell them who really did it. (The innocent slave will be grateful, but the guilty slave will resent you.) 3. Lie and say you did it. (The innocent slave will be very grateful, but you'll be scarred for life, and it'll affect your physical health for the rest of the game.)

Things like that. 

What time period? (Or is it fantasy)

"I'm torn between making it about American slavery, Roman Empire slavery or just forget the history and make it a fantasy." ... So... I haven't decided yet 

Someone is trying to attack your master! Without your help they will surely be killed. However, this master treats you and everyone else terribly, you:

A) Help them
B) Let them get hit for a bit, then help them
C) Ignore them and let them get what they deserve

Lol. Sounds fun. Am planning on making the end results of the game based on the friendships and rivalries the main character makes with the other slaves, but didn't think of bringing the owner into it... Maybe if the character decides to be a douche, he could end up as like... One of those overseers that all the other slaves hate. Or he could take over and become the slave master instead. That could be fun 

As far as your historical/drama/realism level is concerned its going to depend on your personal knowledge of history.

If you really know a lot about the Roman Empire or the Ye Olde American South then going for one of those is a lot easier because you'll be able to write the drama while still keeping it somewhat realistic.

If you're going in with just basic knowledge of both of those and want to write the story fast, then go with the Roman Empire. You'll be able to get away with slightly less realism and still keep it dramatic. You might be less likely to get angry comments going on about how you're the worst person ever for treating slavery "lightly." For whatever reason slavery in the American south is considered to be somehow worse than all the slavery that went on in the Roman Empire (Or anywhere else for that matter) and I remember someone losing their shit when someone even suggested making an American slavery game over at COG once.

If you really want to make things easy for yourself to gain a little extra writing time and writing freedom, then go for fantasy. You can do whatever you want. Make it as dramatic as you want without having to spend time doing research since your own imagination is creating the slavery situation and what the world is like.

As far as it having a strong impact, I think even if it is a fantasy setting and the writing is good enough you shouldn't have any problems in that area.

Okies. Right now I'm leaning more towards the Roman Empire slavery (Thanks guys for the advice), but am not sure where to publish it. I feel like it should be in Edutainment because it's historical, but I'm also considering Everything Else since it's not really meant to be educational, it's just meant to be dramatic (plus it's historical accuracy won't go beyond what I read on wikipedia. )

Opinions? ^_^

I always figured Edutainment was for stories that were trying to teach something in the form of a CYS game.

Depending on how you do it you might be able to stick it in EE or Horror if your going that way. xD

Nah, it's not a Horror, it's a Drama

Why isn't there a drama and history section on CYS yet anyways?

That'd be helpful 

Because there should be drama in every story?

Not necessarily. What about quizzes, or games like "8 goals, 28 rolls" where it's literally just a game with no story?

Also, which do you guys think sounds like a better title? "The Price of Freedom" or "The Cost of Freedom"?

The price of freedom. Couldn't slaves buy back their freedom? Or was that only for the American ones?

I think Roman slaves could buy their freedom, but like in American slavery, that was only under certain circumstances. The slave would have to be skilled or educated enough to be able to make a living outside of whatever work they had to do as a slave, they would have to have enough free time to be able to do any work outside of the work they did as a slave and they'd have to have a master who was willing to grant a slave their freedom if they made enough money.

Roman Slaves, a good site to read up on what slaves did in the roman empire. Of course there is also wikipedia if you really want to use that. lol

Thanks Fireplay. Will read up on it, try and get a little bit of historical accuracy in there, even if the rest is just made up