Like many others, I am torn on features. I know they're among the toughest jobs *on* a MUSH, and they seem to be pretty much thankless:
If they act in accordance with their +sheets, people will squall about Feature Abuse. If they don't do anything, people bitch about how they don't do anything. Over time, by my observation, they tend to retreat into not doing anything. It must be easier to take the bitching for not doing anything, than it is to take it for trying to be creative or to play the character....I think. I've never played a Feature either. I've only ever applied for one, one time.
I do know, the ideal Feature in my mind is a public service, not a caricature from the books, but a kind of anchor for theme and setting. I sincerely hope the players would enjoy that role, but it would seem a very constrained role and I would expect all Features probably have other characters with whom they do the wild/crazy stuff.
I do...feel uncomfortable, and always have, when Feature characters are used to pursue personal (read: sexual, romantic, or kidbits given to RL friends) relationships. I've seen plenty of these over the years. Sooner or later, the Feature changes hands; multiple relationships end for OOC reasons without a lot of IC justification; kidbits and love interests stop logging in because they really only played for that feature's player, and there is a lot of disruption to continuity, plus a slew of damaged stories as it ripples outwards. Sometimes the Feature is so compromised by these personal stories that they're effectively unplayable by anybody else afterward, short of some drastic storyline (like a knock on the head, near death, etc).
In fairness, I've seen extremely little of that (if any) on this game, but I saw a lot of it on others.
I do NOT think Features are the only story or vehicle to help us tell even more awesome stories. I think sometimes however they are critical to actual success, as ordinary PCs cannot succeed in certain situations, depending on the odds thrown at them by GMs.
If they act in accordance with their +sheets, people will squall about Feature Abuse. If they don't do anything, people bitch about how they don't do anything. Over time, by my observation, they tend to retreat into not doing anything. It must be easier to take the bitching for not doing anything, than it is to take it for trying to be creative or to play the character....I think. I've never played a Feature either. I've only ever applied for one, one time.
I do know, the ideal Feature in my mind is a public service, not a caricature from the books, but a kind of anchor for theme and setting. I sincerely hope the players would enjoy that role, but it would seem a very constrained role and I would expect all Features probably have other characters with whom they do the wild/crazy stuff.
I do...feel uncomfortable, and always have, when Feature characters are used to pursue personal (read: sexual, romantic, or kidbits given to RL friends) relationships. I've seen plenty of these over the years. Sooner or later, the Feature changes hands; multiple relationships end for OOC reasons without a lot of IC justification; kidbits and love interests stop logging in because they really only played for that feature's player, and there is a lot of disruption to continuity, plus a slew of damaged stories as it ripples outwards. Sometimes the Feature is so compromised by these personal stories that they're effectively unplayable by anybody else afterward, short of some drastic storyline (like a knock on the head, near death, etc).
In fairness, I've seen extremely little of that (if any) on this game, but I saw a lot of it on others.
I do NOT think Features are the only story or vehicle to help us tell even more awesome stories. I think sometimes however they are critical to actual success, as ordinary PCs cannot succeed in certain situations, depending on the odds thrown at them by GMs.
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