Traceroo
Rogue
I remain confused about the intended use of between games actions (BGAs)/downtimes in this game, and what my expectations should be for them. I'd like to hear a little bit more from the game staff about how it hopes that players will use our BGAs because I don't think my expectations are aligned correctly with Plot's.
Sometimes players seem to receive really detailed responses to their actions. Other times the responses are very limited. I have not personally been able to draw a correlation with the time when these are submitted (meaning: lots of time before the event for Plot to work on it, or last minute specials while harried), whether Craftsman or other skills are used, or how many players may be involved in the request. It seems to be sort of a dice roll of subject matter, maybe.
Recently, I have noticed that the details of our BGAs have begun to appear in The Acarthia Times -- in at least one case I know, the Times somehow managed to get more information about the situation than the PCs did in their response from Plot. Opinions may be split on this topic. Other players may enjoy that their topic of interest gets into the newspaper, and I can dig that. Personally, I feel publication lessens the power of PCs to tell the story on their own, and use that piece of information as a card on the table socially. It reduces PCs' opportunity to feel cool by being the one to get to pass on that cool piece of info... Perhaps even if the Times covered these items one month/event after the PC actions, that would at least give PCs the chance to tell the tale on their own first?
We've heard from Plot with some "Don'ts" concerning BGAs -- don't expect to solve plotlines offstage, don't expect to have extended conversations with named NPCs, don't expect miracles when you submit your BGA 72 hours before the event starts. Could we get some positive instruction from Plot on the level of detail, subject matter, and content that you'd like to encourage among PCs?
Speaking for no one but myself, I feel like I'm "doing this wrong". That feeling is discouraging me from wanting to turn in BGAs in the future. If others feel that way, I don't mean to inspire a cascade of vituperation. So let's not dogpile on what's going wrong here -- but if anyone else is also interested in some examples and guidance, perhaps that may be of use to more than just me.
Thanks for reading,
Trace Moriarty
Sometimes players seem to receive really detailed responses to their actions. Other times the responses are very limited. I have not personally been able to draw a correlation with the time when these are submitted (meaning: lots of time before the event for Plot to work on it, or last minute specials while harried), whether Craftsman or other skills are used, or how many players may be involved in the request. It seems to be sort of a dice roll of subject matter, maybe.
Recently, I have noticed that the details of our BGAs have begun to appear in The Acarthia Times -- in at least one case I know, the Times somehow managed to get more information about the situation than the PCs did in their response from Plot. Opinions may be split on this topic. Other players may enjoy that their topic of interest gets into the newspaper, and I can dig that. Personally, I feel publication lessens the power of PCs to tell the story on their own, and use that piece of information as a card on the table socially. It reduces PCs' opportunity to feel cool by being the one to get to pass on that cool piece of info... Perhaps even if the Times covered these items one month/event after the PC actions, that would at least give PCs the chance to tell the tale on their own first?
We've heard from Plot with some "Don'ts" concerning BGAs -- don't expect to solve plotlines offstage, don't expect to have extended conversations with named NPCs, don't expect miracles when you submit your BGA 72 hours before the event starts. Could we get some positive instruction from Plot on the level of detail, subject matter, and content that you'd like to encourage among PCs?
Speaking for no one but myself, I feel like I'm "doing this wrong". That feeling is discouraging me from wanting to turn in BGAs in the future. If others feel that way, I don't mean to inspire a cascade of vituperation. So let's not dogpile on what's going wrong here -- but if anyone else is also interested in some examples and guidance, perhaps that may be of use to more than just me.
Thanks for reading,
Trace Moriarty
