Genesis of the Playable Hero

A new journey awaits! Learn all about what 'Playing Hero World' is all about and catch our plans for 2015. Click the picture or "Read more" for the article!

An introduction

 

The original Logo. We came a long way!

 For over a year the Playing Hero project existed as a web site dedicated to reflect, contribute and understand the Super Hero genre outside of their original roots. Our main focus was the interactive media focusing on video games, tabletop games and the like. The website was a moderate success due to a few dedicated followers that were always interested on our insight over such matters. Our most popular articles were recollections and guides on how to set up a  RPG sessions of the super hero genre, without it being system-specific.

We also expanded  our focus in order to talk about other sort of subjects that were similar to this theme, from how the super hero mythology had different  interpretations around the world, to how it impacted in the creation of interactive media with that theme. However we hit a snag; our site had plateau.  We weren’t getting any new visitors, only our loyal readers kept returning to the site. And it’s with heavy heart that we announce we’re moving on.

Our original website was in Brazilian Portuguese and while we managed to make big splashes over the Brazilian publishing side of things...Turns out, that's a really small pound. Because it was a subdivision of an already small hobby.

But worry not, dear readers! For the sake of what we wish to share with the world, we cannot be contained only on the Portuguese language. That’s right, the Playing Hero project is going global! We wish to connect to all sorts of Super Hero fan communities  that discuss and love the genre in its entirety, and not just whatever Marvel and DC published in that month. Only so we can understand it better and help the growth of the genre in interactive media.

“But how does the website works” you might wonder? After all, interactive media as defined by us is quite vast. The answer is: “One step at a time”. We strive to do our best to highlight relevant links and topics so a reader that is interested in Super Hero RPGs do not have to scroll through several ‘Heroclix’ articles and vice-versa. The tab sections that will show up on the website as content is added will direct you to specific bits of the vast world of the Super Hero genre, be it comics, RPGs or Video Games.

We hope to see you on our first post soon.

Plans for 2015

Our talented art contributor 'Dani Cruz' created Wasp Eye Lad's design (the site's mascot). This picture was her first draft.

With all that said, 2015 will either make us or break us. So let's go straight to the point here, our main goals!

- Review at least a single Super Hero video game from each generation

Harder than it sounds because we often dig deep in our reviews, looking for creator interviews as well providing video content. Capturing some footage from more recent games can be a bit tricky but we will manage.

-Provide a fresh yet small module to a Super Hero RPG game

 Be it Icons, Mutants & Masterminds, Champions or even Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, if we don't put in action the musings and reflections acquired from reviewing and reflecting about Super Hero mechanics in game worlds, what good is this blog? Our goal is to expand and seize what the genre has to offer and share it with the world after all. 

-Heroes around the world

When we talk about Super Heroics, the first thing most American readers will have in mind (and I apologize for the patronizing and the generalization this sentence will provide) are DC and Marvel comics. But because the site Headquarters is on glorious Brazil, we had the privilege to consume Super Hero media from all over the world. It's a wonderful feeling and the website will provide essays and recommendations to get into all short of colorful characters.

-Public Domain Revisit project

The Public Domain Super Heroes are for better or worse, the characters any creator can use. Examining their past glories can help us understand how the genre developed around American soil - But we do have some surprises here we wish to explore as well.

-Metaverse

For about seven years we from the Playing Hero World have been trying our hands at Super Hero tabletop gaming. Several quirks, characters, stories and concepts formed around our gaming sessions. These characters and stories made us smile and now we wish to share these smiles with the world! Metaverse is a way of turning cooperative fiction into regular fiction so we can then inspire more cooperative fiction. Sounds confusing? More information is coming don't fret your head.

Looks stacked? It's because it is! And we are almost at month 4 of 2015! We better get started sooner rather than later. Please follow our feed and share the world about the website if you wish to see it grown. 

Wasp Eye Lad, signing out!