Re: Plot attentionjasoneroFebruary 9 2004, 22:51:36 UTC
Bloody hell, Graham, if I thought the problem was not getting any direct plot, I would've said that. That's not it at all! Please please please don't think you failed in any way, you really didn't. If anything, I was entertained by your contributions, as I usually am.
Getting personalized plot on a regular basis isn't really a concern of mine. As a larp veteran, I know that you can't get me-plot every time out. I'm not concerned about that. Besides, I haven't even finished writing Chailig's background in my own head, let alone in something I can send to Plot, how could I possible expect to get personalized plot sent my way? :D
Some of my dissatisfaction just comes from the fact that, level-wise, it's not realistic for any new character I bring in to hang with the characters of the folks I want to hang out with. Larping for me is a group activity, and my real-life posse is scattered. Even on the good days, they're doing their biggie-level thing that, while playing a low-level character, I can't always contribute to in a way that satisfies me. Even at best, say that personal mod in December, when all the players are my peeps, I'm going to be feeling pretty damn ineffectual because everything will be scaled up way higher than what my character should reasonably be taking on. The only exception to this I've seen recently is when Scott plays Shay, but one bud does not a larp make. (I'm not counting Vandyl at this time because, though I love Scott bunches, the character just rubs the anti-authoritarian in me the wrong way. ;P )
Another part of it is that the style of group-tactics here differs wildly from back in Chicago. Megs and I have spent hours dissecting this; the short version is that Chicago had more healers, which over time built up a confidence amongst the front-line fighters and the second-line healers that can't really be matched here since the West player base is a) short on healers, and b) most of the healers you do have don't want to get into the thick of things to back up the front line. It's a problem I ran into while playing Evan; I'd start to deploy my usual combat medic practices that started failing when the fighters didn't know how to keep Evan safe, and instead allowed things to happen that would have gotten their ears soundly boxed back in Chicago. Now, as a lowbie, I find myself fighting with folks who have even less of a grasp of group tactics (though really through no fault of their own... I mean, who's been around to teach them?), and while I've extolled the virtues of patience and pedagogy to some of the other players, I find myself lacking the practical experience as a combatant to put it to use, and in turn lacking the patience to keep at it. I know the theory, but it escapes me in the field. The Gnoll Cave fight was proof of that, seeing as I was the first to die.
There's other things, but I've rambled long enough. In regards to the Plot squad, there's two main things I see immediately that you guys could do to improve things for players; one's kind of minor but vital when taking the long view, and one is a change in approach to epic storylines that deals with the player perspective of larp-as-product. I won't go into them here, as I'd rather discuss them at the all-hands meeting, though I could email you about it if you'd like.
But please don't think you failed as a plot member this past game. You didn't.
Getting personalized plot on a regular basis isn't really a concern of mine. As a larp veteran, I know that you can't get me-plot every time out. I'm not concerned about that. Besides, I haven't even finished writing Chailig's background in my own head, let alone in something I can send to Plot, how could I possible expect to get personalized plot sent my way? :D
Some of my dissatisfaction just comes from the fact that, level-wise, it's not realistic for any new character I bring in to hang with the characters of the folks I want to hang out with. Larping for me is a group activity, and my real-life posse is scattered. Even on the good days, they're doing their biggie-level thing that, while playing a low-level character, I can't always contribute to in a way that satisfies me. Even at best, say that personal mod in December, when all the players are my peeps, I'm going to be feeling pretty damn ineffectual because everything will be scaled up way higher than what my character should reasonably be taking on. The only exception to this I've seen recently is when Scott plays Shay, but one bud does not a larp make. (I'm not counting Vandyl at this time because, though I love Scott bunches, the character just rubs the anti-authoritarian in me the wrong way. ;P )
Another part of it is that the style of group-tactics here differs wildly from back in Chicago. Megs and I have spent hours dissecting this; the short version is that Chicago had more healers, which over time built up a confidence amongst the front-line fighters and the second-line healers that can't really be matched here since the West player base is a) short on healers, and b) most of the healers you do have don't want to get into the thick of things to back up the front line. It's a problem I ran into while playing Evan; I'd start to deploy my usual combat medic practices that started failing when the fighters didn't know how to keep Evan safe, and instead allowed things to happen that would have gotten their ears soundly boxed back in Chicago. Now, as a lowbie, I find myself fighting with folks who have even less of a grasp of group tactics (though really through no fault of their own... I mean, who's been around to teach them?), and while I've extolled the virtues of patience and pedagogy to some of the other players, I find myself lacking the practical experience as a combatant to put it to use, and in turn lacking the patience to keep at it. I know the theory, but it escapes me in the field. The Gnoll Cave fight was proof of that, seeing as I was the first to die.
There's other things, but I've rambled long enough. In regards to the Plot squad, there's two main things I see immediately that you guys could do to improve things for players; one's kind of minor but vital when taking the long view, and one is a change in approach to epic storylines that deals with the player perspective of larp-as-product. I won't go into them here, as I'd rather discuss them at the all-hands meeting, though I could email you about it if you'd like.
But please don't think you failed as a plot member this past game. You didn't.
Reply
Leave a comment