Creating A Universe Love Anarchy

On this episode we are getting a real behind the scenes look at the development of the LovAnaverse TCG, with some exclusive previews of characters and cards, as well as fundamental information about the project not yet shared before this podcast.

Perhaps the most important of which is the unveiling of the 5 primary factions, which each represent a distinct philosophy regarding the supernatural power of music in our universe. From the musical magic of the Arcane faction, to the musical science of Cysis, all are introduced and explored during this episode - and we would love to know which resonate with you the most!

We also recap the first ever playtesting event and provide key updates on the overall project, including the fact that you can now officially create game rooms on our playtesting platform at this link here: https://screentop.gg/@LoveAnarchyCo/LovAnaverse

Feel free to simply browse around and flick through the cards, or watch along with the last episode to learn how to play. Or better yet, share your games room link with a friend to play a game! Feel free to pop into our Discord to find people to play with and use our games room voice channels. More events will be coming very soon!

Among the cards and characters previewed this time around are the 3 on this videos thumbnail, Ben Sebastian of Face Ripper Records demon monk character Tai Kaanai, Louis Nas of Ominous Conclusions cosmic vampire Viktor Craft, & of course Maria Rogers samurai elf Yarimā Kuro.

We discuss some of the lore of these characters and take a look at their cards, including those of their support characters such as band members and foot soldiers. It's a great insight into how everything is ultimately driven by the musical storytelling.

So all in all lots to chew on and tie you over to the next big development. They're coming thick and fast and things will be lifting off here very soon. It's awesome to have you here early, so thanks for being here for the ride. Enjoy :)

WJR ❤️

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For all other Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog, etc - go here

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Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction, updates & our first playtesting event

02:16 - How you can test the game for yourself right now

07:33 - Updates on submissions and the limited slots available

10:30 - Unveiling the 5 Factions of LovAnaverse

27:11 - Deckbuilding / how you choose the Songs in your Songbook

30:12 - Deckbuilding / how to choose your starting Band

31:23 - Character & card previews / Yarima Kuro

38:09 - Tai Kaanai (Ben Sebastian) & Viktor Craft (Louis Nas)

42:36 - The upcoming (revamped) lore website

44:35 - Browsing through a bunch of cards

46:26 - Summary & closing thoughts

Today we're back with another very special episode! Following last week's announcement of our full scale rollout of LovAnaverse as a musical storytelling trading card game - this time around we’re continuing the momentum with a full demonstration on how to play the game.

That’s right - the TCG is already here and you will be able to play it for yourself via our digital simulation and voice channels on the Love Anarchy Discord server.

In keeping with last year's tradition of Collective Calls on the first Saturday of the month, the first playtesting event will be this Saturday, the 2nd of March, at 6pm UTC in our Discord.

So come by to be one of the first people to see the game in action, and possibly even get a chance to play it yourself.

It’ll also be a great opportunity to hang out and connect with others from the community and I’ll be there for a few hours to chat and answer any questions about the project.

I must say there’s been an absolutely wonderful response to launching this, and I find it so inspirational to be getting such amazing feedback from you all, not to mention getting to collaborate with so many incredible members of our Collective on bringing their musical characters to life.

This is really what it’s all about and I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to be doing this amazing work with you all.

There is actually still a very small amount of slots still available for creators to be featured in the first set, but you’ll have to be very fast if you want in, so be sure to get in touch asap if you’d like to be involved.

There is no cost to you as a creator, just a very limited number of slots. So the best thing to do is quickly fill out the form at https://loveanarchy.co/lovanaverse-creators - and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

But all that aside, we’re going to get a proper look at the game itself right now on this podcast.

Now I must disclaim that this is the Alpha version of the game. This means that there can still be drastic changes between now and its official release and it’s your feedback that’s going to help us get there.

The cards themselves are all still prototypes and the final design will be improved.

We have also tested many different versions of the game throughout the design process and depending on your feedback, we may still opt for alternative versions of key mechanics.

But for now, this is the version we wanted to bring to you and the early playtests of it have been a lot of fun.

So without further ado, let’s have a look at how to play the Alpha version of the LovAnaverse Trading Card Game.

WJR ❤️

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For all other Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog, etc - go here

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Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction, updates & our first playtesting event

03:35 - Overview of the game mat and the different zones

05:33 - Setting the Stage / your starting Band & Crowd

06:44 - Draw phase & playing songs for resource

07:56 - Playing Characters from your hand / combat stats

09:55 - Moving Musicians from the Stage to the Arena

10:31 - Player 2's first turn

11:37 - Combat & the battle phase

13:07 - Crowd effects

13:49 - Musician effects from the Stage

14:47 - Defeated Musicians becoming Suspended

15:53 - Direct Crowd damage & Character damage reset

16:58 - Player 1 turn 2, Ready cards and draw 1 from each deck

17:30 - Playing a Star Song with an effect

18:02 - Searching the deck

18:53 - Swapping out Musicians for higher power

20:43 - Paying resource for a Musician effect in Main phase

21:24 - Swapping out Non-Musicians for higher power

22:18 - Closing message

The most short and impactful episode yet, finally announcing the full roll-out of the LovAnaverse as a Musical Storytelling Trading Card Game!

Beyond the first couple of minutes, this 15 minute episode features a PowerPoint presentation that takes you through everything you need to know about the LovAnaverse, as well as how to get involved in it.

From explaining the base concept of musical magic, to the RPG nature of character creation, members of the Love Anarchy Collective can bring in their own music & storytelling to arenas across the multiverse.

This video also features a detailed view of exactly what the product & media will look like, from compilation albums & rock operas, to companion books inspired by comics, graphic novels & pulp fiction.

But at the centre of it all is something which has never been revealed before... And that is the LovAnaverse Trading Card Game - a unique TCG which allows players to form their own band and battle others in an epic showdown of musical magic.

We're so excited to finally be rolling this out and you can get a first look at the product, cards & game play during this presentation. We are aiming to roll out set 1 in the first half of this year and there are a very limited number of slots still available for members of the Love Anarchy Collective to be featured.

So if you're interested in getting involved as a creator, be sure to fill out the form asap at: https://loveanarchy.co/lovanaverse-creators - alternatively you can send us an email at info@loveanarchy.co.uk

This is a watershed moment and things will be ramping up a lot from here. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this episode!

WJR ❤️

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For all other Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog, etc - go here

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Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction & Synopsis

02:04 - Overview of LovAnaverse

04:14 - Product & Media 06:30 - Trading Card Game

11:11 - How to Get Involved

14:09 - Closing / Coming Up

On this episode I am joined by guitarist/vocalist, PR agent & heavy metal doctor to be - Holly Frances Royle of Disconnected Souls.

Holly is a multi-talented individual with many facets to what she does, which made for a very interesting conversation indeed! We happened to catch her at an especially great time though, off the back of the debut album release from her band Disconnected Souls, Fragments of Consciousness - an emphatic Cinematic Metal record with elements of Industrial, Gothic & Modern Metal at it's core.

As well as delving into all things Disconnected Souls, we also got to chat about Holly's other projects, including her side project Sensory Enigma and her work in metal music PR with both C Squared & Deviate PR.

An especially intriguing topic is the PHD Holly is currently undertaking in Heavy Metal - with a fascinating angle studying the humanities of the culture, with a special focus on equality.

All of these great topics, alongside the usual bits about Holly's story & musical journey made for a thoroughly enjoyable conversation on my end. I hope you enjoy listening to it just as much!

WJR ❤️

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Check out Holly's band Disconnected Souls here & check out Holly's other links here 

For all other Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog, etc - go here

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Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction & Synopsis

01:04 - Overview

02:14 - Disconnected Souls Sound

05:30 - Collaborative Writing

09:20 - The Wandering Spirit Concept

13:41 - Politics, Creativity & Development

17:11 - Writing & Production Process

27:50 - The Bands Story & Playing Live

31:43 - How Holly Found Her Voice

35:14 - Sensory Enigma & Other Projects

38:10 - Musical Journey & Influences

48:39 - Holly's Relationship With Guitar

54:29 - Heavy Metal PHD & Equality in the Culture

01:22:22 - Music PR, C Squared & Deviate PR

01:28:20 - Holly's Ideal Future

01:32:20 - Advice to Musicians & Creators

On this episode I am joined by composer, solo artist & mastermind behind the Golden World Archive metal opera series, William Khan.

Will is a fantastic musician and storyteller from Vigo, in the north of Spain, working as a composer & producer especially adept in the field of orchestration.

As such, Will spends a lot of his time in the field of Soundtrack composing, for media such as film & video games. But as a metalhead at heart, he is naturally drawn to the grandiosity of Symphonic Metal.

Whether it be in his purely orchestral music, or his larger than life metal, a key theme that ties together his approach is an unrelenting passion for storytelling.

So naturally, inspired by the likes of Ayreon, Will chose the format of the Rock/Metal Opera for his magnum opus: Golden World Archive. A project with it's own rich universe of lore featuring a diverse cast of talented performers, including the likes of Pete Rawcliffe, Archie Caine & Laura Maz.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to delve deep into all of these topics with Will in the podcast and I hope you enjoy listening :)

WJR ❤️ 

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Be sure to check out Will's work here

For all other Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog, etc - go here

~

Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction & Synopsis

02:00 - Overview of Will & His Projects

11:29 - Composing Soundtracks for Film & Video Games

23:50 - Musical Storytelling & Rock/Metal Opera

29:07 - How to Compose a Metal Opera / The Process of Golden World Archive

59:02 - Will's Musical Journey & Influences

1:26:43 - Will's Interests Outside of Music / Storytelling, Art & Video Games

1:32:08 - What's Coming Up From Will / The LovAnaverse Approach

1:42:20 - Final Thoughts & Closing Sentiments

On this episode I am joined by Frontman of the Fantasy Prog Band Azure, and newly published author, Mr. Chris Sampson - who joins me from Brighton, UK.

Chris is a phenomenally talented and creative individual who's band I have been following for many years now. Not only is he a virtuosic vocalist with an extraordinary mind for music, he is especially adept in the coveted craft of musical storytelling.

Nothing demonstrates this more than the release of his brand new novel - Path of the Azdinist: Lu - which expands upon a story told across two tracks from the last Azure album (Ameotoko I & II).

This story, and many others from the catalogue of Azure, are based in the fictional fantasy world of Kraj - which Chris and the band initially created for a few songs and has since become an integral worldbuilding project with an astounding level of depth.

Naturally, I enjoyed nothing more than the chance to get to delve into such depth with Chris here about perhaps my favourite thing of all, the art of musical storytelling. He gave us not only a wonderful insight into the lore of Azure, Lu & Kraj - but also practical advice, tools and insight to his process which would benefit anyone interested in the topic.

I thoroughly enjoyed this chat and hope that you do too!

WJR ❤️

~

You can check out Chris and Azure's links here

For all other Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog, etc - go here

~

Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction & Synopsis

01:16 - Overview of Chris & Azure

03:45 - Prog Discussion & The Sound of Azure

16:55 - Musical Storytelling, Lore & Writing a Novel

29:20 - The Story of Chris' Book - Path of the Azdinist: Lu

39:14 - The Role of Artwork In Music & Storytelling

52:07 - Worldbuilding & How Chris Approaches Musical Storytelling

01:20:20 - How Chris First Got Into Music & Fantasy

01:23:25 - The Art of Musical Theatre

01:38:52 - Closing Sentiments