Chapter status comments

C

Cerulean Jax

Adept
Just so you know, I plan on being as supportive of NERO as I can, and I plan to
keep attending as long as I'm having fun, so I hope no one is offended by this,
but in light of the announcement about the chapter status , I have a couple of
suggestions that I've heard several others also comment on with in the past 3
or 4 months;

First, the game days; I know we need to have players show up for game days, as
well as NPC's, but there's another group we need to have more of show up: plot staff.
And the games should ideally be planned out more than the night before gameday
*and to try to help out I'll be submitting some mod ideas, please feel free to
use or discard them at your leisure, I only want to help.*. It was also
mentioned that it would make people more likely to attend if they knew what the
gameday storyline was going to be about, and I'd take this one further: From
what I've heard, most players expect to accomplish very little or nothing during
a gameday, especially towards their character's goals or quests (i've actually
had players come up to me and tell me that there was no point in my trying to
pursue any goal other than the gameday plotline). I know from personal
experience that, while I've attended game days fairly regularly, ( to get the
build if nothing else), I'd be a LOT more eager to play and excited about it if
I knew that there might actually be a chance to accomplish a personal goal
during that time. Mostly, I've heard " well that's something you'd get to do at
an event". Well, that's fine and good, but if events are where I'm going to be
able to develop my characte's plotlines and story most, then naturally I'm going
to be a lot more excited about attending an event than a gameday.

Also, if a player shows up for a gameday not knowing what the storyline might
be, and then finds out that the goal for the day is to accomplish something that
his character would either be opposed to or could care less about, the player
then has to make the decision "do I compromise the character just to play the
character, or do I go home"...which is fine if you don't have to travel half an
hour or more to get to the gamesite, but arriving just to find out you should
have stayed in bed can really dampen the desire to continue playing. *and my
personal opinion is that one should never have to compromise his/her character
just so he/she can play him/her*

And it would be nice to have mods tailored a little more to the
characters/players that are showing up, which is why I also think it'd be a good
thing to have the players who intend to attend, to pre-reg a week and a half to
two weeks ahead of time. *of course there's always times when the plan will fall
through, but this would give the plot members and staff ample time to prepare*

None of this is meant as harsh criticism, I'm merely stating what I've observed
and heard from others, but I thought that perhaps some feedback would be a good thing; Thank you for listening!!
 
Let me address this, from my point of view, point by point.

"Just so you know, I plan on being as supportive of NERO as I can, and I plan to
keep attending as long as I'm having fun, so I hope no one is offended by this,
but in light of the announcement about the chapter status , I have a couple of
suggestions that I've heard several others also comment on with in the past 3
or 4 months;"
Comments are great and I love that, even if I dont do any of it.:)

"First, the game days; I know we need to have players show up for game days, as
well as NPC's, but there's another group we need to have more of show up: plot staff.
And the games should ideally be planned out more than the night before gameday
*and to try to help out I'll be submitting some mod ideas, please feel free to
use or discard them at your leisure, I only want to help.*. It was also
mentioned that it would make people more likely to attend if they knew what the
gameday storyline was going to be about, and I'd take this one further: From
what I've heard, most players expect to accomplish very little or nothing during
a gameday, especially towards their character's goals or quests (i've actually
had players come up to me and tell me that there was no point in my trying to
pursue any goal other than the gameday plotline). I know from personal
experience that, while I've attended game days fairly regularly, ( to get the
build if nothing else), I'd be a LOT more eager to play and excited about it if
I knew that there might actually be a chance to accomplish a personal goal
during that time. Mostly, I've heard " well that's something you'd get to do at
an event". Well, that's fine and good, but if events are where I'm going to be
able to develop my characte's plotlines and story most, then naturally I'm going
to be a lot more excited about attending an event than a gameday."

For my gameday, I try to have some slow plots that dont relate to normal plot, one of the side effects of this is that if you want to meet with "bob" from the event, I may not be able to arrange that. However if you want to talk to joesuph(sp) for example (and some of you know who he is) that can be arranged. Keep in mind also that gamedays are a lot more focused due to lack of NPCs, however as I have said before, if people want to write general requests to me, thats all good.

"And it would be nice to have mods tailored a little more to the
characters/players that are showing up, which is why I also think it'd be a good
thing to have the players who intend to attend, to pre-reg a week and a half to
two weeks ahead of time. *of course there's always times when the plan will fall
through, but this would give the plot members and staff ample time to prepare*"
This is a lot easyer to say than do. Normaly if I work hard at it, I can know for sure that I will be a solid go for a GD a week or so in advance. Plot and items requests will be made around then, and new NPCs/monsters made, tho I dont print till closer to the GD (In case a few 20+ charicters suddenly want to go, or someone tells me they are bringing a pack of 6 more NPCs with them.
As a note however, I would love to run a 2 teir gameday, with NPCs to cover those who want to do planned plot and NPCS to handle unplaned plot.. However to do this I would need 10+ PCs confermed, and the same amount of NPCs. Now if you can get that for me, then yes, I will start running 2 sided gamedays where I can better plan for everyone. As it stands however, I normaly get like 4-7 PCs and 2-5 NPCs. If 4 pcs want to do one thing, and the rest want to do something else, I dont have the man power to deal with it, so its go or no go..
 
I know I am chatty this morning although not awake.

Just my thought, I attend GD's as long as health allows.
But it is true, it is hard to show up at GD's and Events when the owner and staff doesnt. Sorry Dave.
It looks to us like you arent interested in us or the GD.
Yes some people work But, schedule around that.


I am sorry but it is true and has been voiced by ohter players as well

I will attend game days and Events as long as they are there and I can.
If we commit our time Can staff Commit theres? This is a two way street
Join us at game days and show your support for Nero Seattle.
 
Valvatein said:
I know I am chatty this morning although not awake.

Just my thought, I attend GD's as long as health allows.
But it is true, it is hard to show up at GD's and Events when the owner and staff doesnt. Sorry Dave.
It looks to us like you arent interested in us or the GD.
Yes some people work But, schedule around that.


I am sorry but it is true and has been voiced by ohter players as well

I will attend game days and Events as long as they are there and I can.
If we commit our time Can staff Commit theres? This is a two way street
Join us at game days and show your support for Nero Seattle.
Click to expand...
Um I am a bit confused. While it is fun when dave shows up for stuff, I was led to beleve that he doesnt do much if any plot stuff. So if he is showing up its just like a normal player. Now some staff needs to show up, but not everyone. Like for example, last gameday I ran I had a few staff members there, and all went smoothly. Or have we had GDs with just one staff member and no NPCs or something?
 
Phil,

I'd love to read your responses.... but its too much work in the morning to try and figure which parts are quotes and which parts are responses.... quote /quote tags are a wonderful thing for the sleep-deprived. ;)



I would have to agree with David's comments, to one extent or another. His key points: don't make it last minute and have it matter, are definitely something I can get behind.

IMO, mod days are best run as one of three things: character-oriented plotlines, complimentary (but not vital) plotlines, and tertiary adventures. That being said, each has their strengths and their weaknesses.

1. Character-oriented plotlines are great for advancing individual players goals. Players get specific attention directed towards them, and have a focussed period that they can bring their A-game to try and get done what they want to get done. However, it requires that the player whose character the plotline is involved attend the mod and work with plot to be sure they understand his/her goal. As well, character-oriented mods tend to exclude a large portion of the player base. Rare is the person who wants to pay money to play their PC as an "extra" in someone else's fantasy. As such, these types of mod days are not ideal for pre-planned mod days, but rather as ad hoc days that are scheduled ahead of time, so plot knows exactly who is going and how many resources (NPCs, treasure, etc.) to bring.

Ideally, it would be player A goes to plot and says "Hey, I found a map, got a clue, had a dream, and now I want to visit the House of Hoopty. I am hoping to have the chance to attain this, that, and the other, or at least get working on that path. These players are interested in having their characters help me." Plot then goes "Okay, we can write a mod or series of mods for that, it will cost X dollars per day that we run it, these days are good for us, pick which ones you can get as many of those characters as you asked for."

You could have a mod in which, say, Bryan asks for a mod in which he goes and negotiates a treaty with the new blue monkey tribe. He wants the mod to involve Polare and four other people, so the mod costs him fifty bucks. He gets Gregor, Avaran, and requests two NPC soldier cards, who will be played by Matt and Holly. Bryan might decide that he'll pay 26 and the other four pay 6 each, whatever, doesn't matter. He can even swap out Gregor for a generic NPC ducal army healer, and have it be played by Steve McQueen, it doesn't matter.

A great way to provide individualized plot, gain money for the chapter, etc. But it doesn't work for a "regularly scheduled mod-day".

2. Complimentary plotlines (Type 1) - This would be mods that support the existing plotline, but are not vital, and represent one of many similar actions going on elsewhere. It also runs under the "mod central" idea: PCs go to the gathering point (Adventurer's Guild, Officer's Tent, what have you). They are broken up into groups of three to five, then sent on a mod that is relatively generic, but gives hints as to what is going on "behind the scenes", as it were. IMO, it should be a mod that is repeatable. (page 154, third column, last paragraph) When you write a mod, come up with four possible first encounters, three second encounters, five third encounters, etc. Then, randomly draw your encounters for each group that goes through it.

Breaking up the players gives you more NPCs, and lets individual players shine if they want to. Randomizing the mod lets you run it over and over again without being repetitive. It works for scheduled mod days, but requires much more prep work.

(Type 2) - this type of mod day works well for "war weekends" or other activities that represent action going on "on the front" or "behind the scenes". They are also particularly great as fighter practices and new player orientation.

You require X number of confirmed players to attend. You also limit the number of PCs that can attend, based on the plotline, and charge them a few extra bucks. Other than that, you divide up the players into a number of squads (2 or more) and give each side a number of character/monster cards. You can do capture the flag, defend and hold, kill squad, rescue missions.... whatever. It can be guild-based, army-based, the possibilities are endless. Mod days of this type are cheaper per player, and fun to run.

3. Tertiary adventures - This is, from what I hear, the most common sort of mod day. It has little to nothing to do with the plotlines seen at events, and any lasting effect usually is limited to the scope within those few mod days. They are easier to run because there is less requirement to adhere to previously-established realms and relationships, and players not involved in the event plot staff can write them. Their greatest weakness is their lack of impact.


As an additional note, I would never donate a dollar in order to gain a goblin point. This equates to paying a dollar for a copper piece, or worse, paying 100 dollars for a gold piece. At that rate, I will happily sell plot all of my gold pieces for 100 dollar credits. :P A flamebolt scroll is not worth 20 bucks, and paying 60 bucks to blanket an event I do not attend is never worth it.
 
Just a note.

I have seen dave at 2 game days, Its just nice to know he is also interested in Nero Seattle.
Yes there has always been at least 2 staff members, But there are ohters and the same two should have back up, or a day to PC one in a while.

Just my thought.

If you want us to come Show us you will come.
 
First off let me say that at each of the gamedays put on by Nero Seattle there have allways been at least 4 staff members including at least 3 plot members Me, Amber, Steph, Gid. Dave, Bond, Eric, and Nate show up as often as they can. More of thier work is done behind the scenes. As for Phill and his cool gamedays, we come when we can. Sunday is bad for a few of us on staff. So I would ask that you understand what each position covers before you start jumping on us.


Yes we have plot set up and running but due to the fact that we have started almost from scratch and are trying to get things going amidst the chaos we are doing our best. None of our gamedays are being writen for a specific chunk of character level. Yes there is combat, yes there are puzzles, yes there are riddles. I'm going to use JP/Gregor and Jax as an example. Both characters and players are usefull. Yes Gregor is VERY useful in combat but he also has a vast understanding of knowledgable tasks and would not unbalance the gameday. Jax, be it new, still usefull in combat but most importantly they both bring flavor to the game, harsh words and a silver tounge or a sultry, alureing party guy, not just as characters but as players. So let me say it this way, don't come for the loot or not come because you think it would unbalance the game, come because you want to see this chapter thrive and add to the game atmosphere. I myself have been complimented many times on how and why I play the game and the characters I create. I play to play the game. I build my characters to ad flavor to it. Right now, thats what we as plot and staff need from you. There is plot going out and rest asured if you come you will get plot, you will be involved. Just because your character my not care about, lets say undead or politics, come anyway. I ask this of all the players, don't come to play your character, come to play the game.


Nick Brewer
Plot
 
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