Relent<
1st Level Yellow Feather
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2005
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I decided to port the discussion thus far from the "Tales of Aygomenia" section to the "Aygomen Glenn" section. At least for the sake of helping people find what I'm talking about as far as what I can offer to the game itself. So a recap of the conversation thus far:
From what I've noticed the snag with most RPs around here is that few players can move the story forward. There's a vivid setting, but the tickling is often done when there's a lull in the story, leaving it as a sort of diversion before things pick up again. And since very few players choose to be antagonists and drive the story onward it gets stuck waiting for time to pass. If you want a RP to continue smoothly you'll need one that has a balance of character motivations and a goal for players to work towards.
-Vi
^That, and there tends to be a disjunction between post regularity and other player's patience. There's also the issue of a lack of etiquette among players, in that people leave without saying anything, so the story dies waiting for a post from someone who lost interest and didn't bother to tell anyone so that retroactive adjustments could be made.
Honestly? The issue time and time again seems to be a lack of talented players, or at the very least people who cared enough about the narrative to help move it. It was like trying to pedal a tandem bicycle, but the person behind you has his feet up on the handlebars while you do all the work.
-R<
Which means we need a system and setting that will deal with three major problems as I see it.
1) Disappearing players
2) No antagonists.
3) Seldom tickles
On first instinct I would say that GM is kind of a default antagonist and that would be one way to do that. The only other things I can think of after consulting with my brother (he's more experienced then I am) is setting people in camps that have conflicting businesses with each other. That's other way to create antagonist so everyone feel ok. And basing interaction on NPC's with player's cameo. In other way you can loose good few players because they were deep in interaction with other player that has gone missing.
Or maybe going more with new wave and jeepform giving everyone some GMing power with a moderator. But this would need someone smarter then me to tweak. Could work better I think I'm just not sure if people would be easy to convince to that.
Third is easiest to deal with. Just create an important in game mechanic based at tickling. Like mages generating mana by being tickled, making it some holiday tradition, or something like that.
-F
So we should make some ground rules. I propose these:
# 1) You have three days to respond a post. Failure to do so will result in the GM resolving the situation you're in for you and move on without you.
# 2) Be a team player. Characters with no other intentions than making life difficult for the rest of the players will result in that character's death/banishment from the realm/polymorph into a lump of dung. Going by a three strikes you're out rule works best here; if you're out of line, get a warning from the GM. If you still persist, the GM will tell you what will happen to you if you continue down that path. If you fail to heed the first two warnings, well you kinda deserve what's coming to you.
# 3) Have a time limit on downtime, for example: The party stops to rest for the night after a long day's travel across the plains. They set up camp, have dinner, then people are free to do as they please for the rest of the night. Things to keep in mind is your character's body needs rest, otherwise they'll be having a tough time rolling out in the mourning and be miserable through the next day's travels. As a player, try to keep a sensible time frame in mind for how long you wish to partake in debauchery. As a GM, if you feel players are focusing too much on downtime, encourage them to continue their RP through PM and try to move on with the story.
Do these sound okay to you guys? Is there anything else you think we should add?
-S
One question I would have regarding antagonists vis-à-vis players and GMs is what happens if a player wants to be bad? Would they have the option of working alongside the GM, or is that simply not an option players can take?
-Vi
That also sounds reasonable, but they really need to be an experienced player. The problem I've encountered the most is most players I've played with didn't know how to properly handle being an antagonist and would often use meta-knowledge against the party. Another problem I've had is sore-loserness and them having too much of a me-vs-them attitude. Being an antagonist, it's inevitable that toes are going to be stepped on and there's always the possibility that you might die.
That being said, it can work out and I've seen it properly done. It can be rewarding if it's done right; my only beef is my bad experiences far out weigh the good.
-S
Good, bad, those don't have to be absolutes. Someone can just work for the other side, or even lead them, be a spy or a wild card. Those are usually a legitimate types of heroes for the story. Depends only on the setting and story.
Wouldn't work with tickle apocalypse where demons hunt humans and tickle them into submission. But would be ok for a cold war intelligence conflict.
-F
Wow, if there's a genuine interest in this thing, I'd gladly put some of my weight behind it. I also have moderator access to the RP forum, so I can do the weeding first hand without having to work through someone like I did in the previous game via Carnivore.
I will request that the story and play-style I've designed in Aygomen Glenn to persist, however. It's a well-written game, and though it may be a bit unfamiliar to some of you, I think if you'll give it a chance, I can remedy all of the usual RP problems, including lack of tickling, a gunky story, and endless stretches of narrative inactivity.
In regard to the issue that has been addressed regarding imposing a three day limit on post reply, relative to the turn order; That sounds like a promising mechanic. However, in my experience the last post would usually be mine, making some small edition to the narrative, and writing around the inactivity of the player so that the next character could take their turn. Eventually someone will jump in and try to start another plot line, but having to jump from scenario to scenario without any sort of conflict resolution or on-going maintenance of unresolved circumstances makes the entire thing just seem random, and eventually boring.
The play style I'm trying to design though requires a minimum of 5 players, that way there can always be a loose end to occupy with a GM-generated NPC for the purposes of progressing the narrative. If I'm to be an antagonist, I'd like the necessary devices to do it properly.
-R<
From what I've noticed the snag with most RPs around here is that few players can move the story forward. There's a vivid setting, but the tickling is often done when there's a lull in the story, leaving it as a sort of diversion before things pick up again. And since very few players choose to be antagonists and drive the story onward it gets stuck waiting for time to pass. If you want a RP to continue smoothly you'll need one that has a balance of character motivations and a goal for players to work towards.
-Vi
^That, and there tends to be a disjunction between post regularity and other player's patience. There's also the issue of a lack of etiquette among players, in that people leave without saying anything, so the story dies waiting for a post from someone who lost interest and didn't bother to tell anyone so that retroactive adjustments could be made.
Honestly? The issue time and time again seems to be a lack of talented players, or at the very least people who cared enough about the narrative to help move it. It was like trying to pedal a tandem bicycle, but the person behind you has his feet up on the handlebars while you do all the work.
-R<
Which means we need a system and setting that will deal with three major problems as I see it.
1) Disappearing players
2) No antagonists.
3) Seldom tickles
On first instinct I would say that GM is kind of a default antagonist and that would be one way to do that. The only other things I can think of after consulting with my brother (he's more experienced then I am) is setting people in camps that have conflicting businesses with each other. That's other way to create antagonist so everyone feel ok. And basing interaction on NPC's with player's cameo. In other way you can loose good few players because they were deep in interaction with other player that has gone missing.
Or maybe going more with new wave and jeepform giving everyone some GMing power with a moderator. But this would need someone smarter then me to tweak. Could work better I think I'm just not sure if people would be easy to convince to that.
Third is easiest to deal with. Just create an important in game mechanic based at tickling. Like mages generating mana by being tickled, making it some holiday tradition, or something like that.
-F
So we should make some ground rules. I propose these:
# 1) You have three days to respond a post. Failure to do so will result in the GM resolving the situation you're in for you and move on without you.
# 2) Be a team player. Characters with no other intentions than making life difficult for the rest of the players will result in that character's death/banishment from the realm/polymorph into a lump of dung. Going by a three strikes you're out rule works best here; if you're out of line, get a warning from the GM. If you still persist, the GM will tell you what will happen to you if you continue down that path. If you fail to heed the first two warnings, well you kinda deserve what's coming to you.
# 3) Have a time limit on downtime, for example: The party stops to rest for the night after a long day's travel across the plains. They set up camp, have dinner, then people are free to do as they please for the rest of the night. Things to keep in mind is your character's body needs rest, otherwise they'll be having a tough time rolling out in the mourning and be miserable through the next day's travels. As a player, try to keep a sensible time frame in mind for how long you wish to partake in debauchery. As a GM, if you feel players are focusing too much on downtime, encourage them to continue their RP through PM and try to move on with the story.
Do these sound okay to you guys? Is there anything else you think we should add?
-S
One question I would have regarding antagonists vis-à-vis players and GMs is what happens if a player wants to be bad? Would they have the option of working alongside the GM, or is that simply not an option players can take?
-Vi
That also sounds reasonable, but they really need to be an experienced player. The problem I've encountered the most is most players I've played with didn't know how to properly handle being an antagonist and would often use meta-knowledge against the party. Another problem I've had is sore-loserness and them having too much of a me-vs-them attitude. Being an antagonist, it's inevitable that toes are going to be stepped on and there's always the possibility that you might die.
That being said, it can work out and I've seen it properly done. It can be rewarding if it's done right; my only beef is my bad experiences far out weigh the good.
-S
Good, bad, those don't have to be absolutes. Someone can just work for the other side, or even lead them, be a spy or a wild card. Those are usually a legitimate types of heroes for the story. Depends only on the setting and story.
Wouldn't work with tickle apocalypse where demons hunt humans and tickle them into submission. But would be ok for a cold war intelligence conflict.
-F
Wow, if there's a genuine interest in this thing, I'd gladly put some of my weight behind it. I also have moderator access to the RP forum, so I can do the weeding first hand without having to work through someone like I did in the previous game via Carnivore.
I will request that the story and play-style I've designed in Aygomen Glenn to persist, however. It's a well-written game, and though it may be a bit unfamiliar to some of you, I think if you'll give it a chance, I can remedy all of the usual RP problems, including lack of tickling, a gunky story, and endless stretches of narrative inactivity.
In regard to the issue that has been addressed regarding imposing a three day limit on post reply, relative to the turn order; That sounds like a promising mechanic. However, in my experience the last post would usually be mine, making some small edition to the narrative, and writing around the inactivity of the player so that the next character could take their turn. Eventually someone will jump in and try to start another plot line, but having to jump from scenario to scenario without any sort of conflict resolution or on-going maintenance of unresolved circumstances makes the entire thing just seem random, and eventually boring.
The play style I'm trying to design though requires a minimum of 5 players, that way there can always be a loose end to occupy with a GM-generated NPC for the purposes of progressing the narrative. If I'm to be an antagonist, I'd like the necessary devices to do it properly.
-R<
