(Untitled)

[kol]

on the back of that last post.

what kind of character do/did you play at the LT and what kind of things do you think you should be able to do?

feel free to use as many first hand examples as you want, as long as they are characetrs that you have played.

I'll keep this one public so anyone can post, but I don't allow anons on this journal. sorry.

Comments

[thewhitespider]

Hmm.... I could be persuaded that these are bad iadeas, but I think I want:

A lack of immunities - there are few things more frustrating than the realisation that you just can't hurt something. There are better ways to give things vulnerabilities.

To see the discrimination between sharp and blunt damage removed (except maybe in a few specific monsters.) I don't actually have a problem with the mechanic in itself - it's just the fact that it's become so common that it's stupid not to carry both blunt and sharp weapons. I understand I'm likely to be made happy by the new rules.

A flatter power level between players. Now, I really like the OSP system pretty much as it is* - most OSP's make you broader rather than outright harder. I grant that there are a few which give you an extra hit or an uprated damage call, but these pale into insignificance next to special effects from rituals.

(*Aside from the timetable and the 'all-seeing' database, but I realise those are imposed by OOC logistics.)

I do like the idea (of which I heard rumours) of reducing reliance on spell cards - either by giving casters the ability to cast very low level spells at will while requiring cards for the bigger ones, or by allowing a certain number of spells per ten minutes/half hour/hour to be cast without tearing cards, while requiring cards after that, or something else. The way that casters are all one shot, high-throw weight weapons makes for very odd (and very characteristic to LT) power curves over time. For example, at the moment a 'dangerous' sanctioned event is generally pretty safe until the healing runs out, at which point people can start dying in droves. I realise this might complicate things a bit, and there will be a realiance on trusting players - but ultimately, you've got to accept that you need to trust players anyway. If people want to cheat then they will - treating all one's players like kids to try and stamp that out must surely do more harm than good. Anyway, I understand you've had ideas in this direction - just wanted to say I like the idea.

Better communication between the LT and the player base (although I know this isn't really what we're talkng about here). Seriously, the website is shocking and I've never seen a Rune I could believe was proofread. Your point about transparency of the ref selection process is good, but if the players don't know that's how it works then little good it's going to do to the public perception of cliqueism. I reckon a lot of the LT's major headaches could be fixed by taking the issue of communication with the player base a lot more seriously. I realise this sounds whingey, but it's meant as constructive. If there was any way I could help with this I would do like a shot.

[kol]

mmm... fair points. Most of this thread is curiousity. My thing is the ref team.

but if there is a perception of cliqueyness then I may need to sort that out. Perhaps along with an explanation of what a ref is and how to complain about them.

[oneneoeno]

It sounds like the rule book should definitely contain a section about how the system is organised in an OOC manner - the role of senior refs, refs, marshalls, battle marshalls, plot teams, faction npcs, guild npcs, how they interact, and how one becomes part of them.

[thewhitespider]

Sounds like a good idea. Well, actually perhaps not the rulebook, because these are things which will be quite fluid, and you'd want to avoid releasing new versions of the rulebook to avoid confusion over whether the old rules were invalid. It might make more sense to have a Rulebook (with the OSP system taken into it), a Setting Book, and a How The LT Works Book.

The kicker, I think, is to make sure they're available to the players. Compare and contrast the LT, where getting hold of a rulebook took quite a lot of effort and luck (and there's confusion among players about how some rules actually work), with Profound Decisions, where every new player gets a rulebook, they're easily downloadable and I'm pretty confident they have a pile of spares behind Games Control. Also, of course, they're produced to a much higher quality. Even leaving print and binding quality aside, they're written in good English with self-commmissioned photographs and artwork rather than random clipart. I really think there's a major lesson to be learned here about presentation.

[thewhitespider]

Actually, I wrote a really long revised version of that comment, starting from "So, I just realised that didn't even touch on the question you asked..." But I'm posting from a naval base with horrifically slow computers (and I'm not just talking about the internet connection - the computers themselves are MMX Pentium 1's), the post got eaten by Livejournal, and I gave up.

I'm not sure there is a pervasive perception of cliqueiness, but it certainly couldn't help to have more information available about how things are run.

Incidentally, who is responsible for the website?

[kol]

phhh, not a clue.

even slightly.

I'd guess the same people responsible for the books...