Dark alley, day one:
Fatal wound spurts red. Quest failed.
Never hire a thief.

I'm lousy at haikus, but can't resist a challenge. Here's two - quantity over quality, I allus say.

The hills ring with chimes
Grass gleams in early morning
Red blood drips, swords sing.

Deep and dark, dank stone
Travelers are told, Beware.
Monsters live in there.

Poems may rhyme, may take a beat, may take a form - or - they may not. From the smallest haiku to the longest epic poem, find and write them here. Aspiring poets unite under these pages.

Poems are typically written by one author, so unless the first posting allows you to do so, please don't add pages if you are not the original author.

Read, enjoy, post your own and comment!

These stories are written by a single author, usually in segments over time, and provided here for your enjoyment. Aspiring fantasy / sci-fi authors: write here!

Read, enjoy, and by all means, COMMENT! on the pages. You'll find a link at the bottom of each page. But do not add pages unless you are the original author.

Let your mind wander...

And here it is: the Interactive Story section, where you can participate in the writing and help guide the story along. All short stories here are begun by one person, but any registered user can participate in the process once it has started. Feel free to add a page or start your own!

Read, enjoy, write and comment!

Welcome to the Writer's area. We're glad you're here.

This site caters to the frustrated writer in all of us. Enter interactive stories here, or poetry and ballads, start a contest in the forums ... visit our Writer's Block.

If you have noticed that the forums for RPGGateway are down, along with RPGHerald news and the other sites in our grouping, that is because they have experienced a rather severe corrupting of the database. The data is toasted and we are trying to get it back.

We're taking this opportunity to move the sites to a more powerful server, upgrade the software, and make a few improvements. But we are not there yet.

In June, legions of RPG fans were annoyed with EA's decision to hide the RPG-greatness of Mass Effect beneath a draconian and unappetizing layer of restrictive DRM. Although the reactions to Mass Effect's DRM were resoundingly negative, the game sold well enough that it did not scare EA away from using the same tactics again with Spore -- just as they said they would last May.

By ROSS MARTIN - Fairfax Media | Saturday, 13 September 2008

Video games are typically a male domain - made by males for other males and about male heroes.

There are a few exceptions, like Lara Croft of Tomb Raider fame and Zelda, who has evolved over the years from a damsel in distress to a heroine in her own right. But these pixel princesses were designed by males, generally for the entertainment of other male games.

For every Zelda there are a hundred Marios, just like for every girl gamer there are a hundred guys.

GamerchiX Unite!

By: Kelly Adams
GiN Editorials Correspondent

I'm 33 years old, married for 12 years, and a female gamer. As a woman, I put up with the occasional idiot male in public, but they are rare. As a female gamer, I've put up with the idiot males since I first went onto Xbox Live with my own screen name. It seems to never end. Thankfully good guys are out there but the bad ones are really starting to ruin the experience of matchmaking on Live. Allow me to walk you through what a female gamer is subjected to. You may hear one of the following comments: