The Fray Structure

Index | ‹ Previous | Next ›

The Fray commissions experienced writers to create stories around certain themes. These stories are subsequently designed by respected artists and put online. The system then allows the users/readers to contribute their own stories under the same theme. They have tackled a wide range of themes - at the moment the homepage shows criminal, hope, work and drugs - alongside topical stories around 9/11 and Aids. All themes tend to generate interesting and thoughtful responses, although these responses are not necessarily ordered into an overall narrative. The result is a huge site, full of organised themes, and wildy different personal stories. This chaos and order is in just the right balance to create a compelling reading experience.

Notes

When I first encountered the fray, it looked badly designed, clunky and had too much content to deal with. But as I became engaged with one of the strands of storylines, it became obvious that this is a rich collection of personal and compelling stories.

Other community sites

• Metafilter
  A simple multi-user news and comments system. A fine tuned structure guides new and experienced users through the process of making a good community.
• Habbo Hotel
  Compelling and addictive multi-user chat environment. The cartoony rendering of the characters allows imaginations to run wild, while providing a structured space for fun and role-play.
• Ultima Online
  A persistent virtual gameworld with hundreds of thousands of users. Narratives emerge as part of the role-playing process and are not pre-conceived by game authors.

© Timo Arnall 11^th February 2002
www.elasticspace.com | email me