Re: Ideas for Events

[Rigwyn]

You can have a large event without having 50 players in close proximity talking at the same time. What I mean is when you have a few people having a conversation, it flows pretty well. Try having a conversation with 50 people. It does not scale well - especially when they all feel a need to say something - which I think was volki's point.

If you measure succss by the size of the crowd, then you will run into these scalability problems.  Why did the older gm events feel like an over crowded version of jeopardy?

A. Uber prizes for the correct answer?
B. Huge crowds drawn in by the promise of gm prizes?
C. Players who can't rp for spit trying to "win the event"
D. Gms who are like "screw the story, we just need gm gear, prizes and /shout"
E. all of the above plus some

[Volki]

Ok, but let me put it this way. The thread is not changing. I know for a fact it can work different.

I know you never change your mind.

Do it, then. Try something that isn't a ball, a date night, or whatever it is you usually do. Try something with an actual conflict and see what happens.

[Illysia]

@Rigwyn: That might be, but at this rate you need 50 players available at the same time to have that problem and that usually doesn't happen. See most of these ideas were fine when there were 200 people online at a time, but the thinking need to change on some counts to adapt to the new norm of 50 or so. Part of why you can't do better stories is you don't have the characters you need to develop the stories.

But you'll never get those characters if you don't get more people to interact with. One person with 50 alts won't cut it. The game needs ways to keep people in game longer. Events regardless of whether they are like Jeopardy or not keep people in game and that can allow for other things to happen.

People are going to have to get over the notion that things will correct themselves and they can just keep on like they usually do. Putting out what you usually do will get what you usually get. It's time to try a different tactic.

@Volki: I've already put in way more effort than you just in making a thread and I've already proven myself whether or not you like it. If anything you need to run an event before I even remotely have to prove anything to you. Use half the effort you put into arguing here into running an event rather than just talking and you just might help the game.

[Volki]

First of all, you have no idea what I've done in PS. Secondly, I have no idea what you mean when you say "event" since it doesn't follow anyone else's definition. Thirdly, since you seem to love getting personal, I want you to know that I've never enjoyed any events run by you. <insert passive-aggressive smiley> (Note that this has no bearing on my opinion of what you're trying to do here. It just means I don't enjoy your style.)

[LigH]

Please allow me to have enjoyed any of Illysia's events. They did not miss my expectations completely. I don't know if that was due to my level of expectations or her level of event management.

[Illysia]

It just means I don't enjoy your style.

Otherwise known as do your own since it all boils down to style... thank you for finally arriving at the point. Let me distilll the real meaning of pages of dispute. Don't make demands that you aren't willing to execute yourself. The time you waste trying to get me to do it for you is better spent doing it yourself.

Please allow me to have enjoyed any of Illysia's events. They did not miss my expectations completely. I don't know if that was due to my level of expectations or her level of event management.

Thank you LigH.

[Volki]

Otherwise known as do your own since it all boils down to style... thank you for finally arriving at the point. Let me distilll the real meaning of pages of dispute. Don't make demands that you aren't willing to execute yourself. The time you waste trying to get me to do it for you is better spent doing it yourself.

I have no idea how you keep missing the point.

I believe I am very clear in what I am saying.

You speak English as a first language, yes?

I will break it down for you.

"I've never enjoyed any events run by you." This seems rude, doesn't it? But then...

"It just means I don't enjoy your style." Your style of roleplay. Your style of roleplay bores me. By this, I mean I do not enjoy sitting around chatting, listening to people on a stage, whatever it is you like to do. It is mundane to me. It's more of a personality thing than a roleplay thing. I enjoy quick action, complex plots, competition, etc.

This has nothing to do with how you run events.

"Note that this has no bearing on my opinion of what you're trying to do here." I even stated that the fact that I cannot enjoy your style has nothing to do with my argument here.

If you don't understand this, I am not bothering with you anymore, as I honestly think you must have an unexplainable personal vendetta against me or you are mentally challenged and making no effort to compensate.

[Illysia]

This thread is based on that style it is about running events, therefore stop trying to change/derail the thread and put your efforts on creating what you don't find boring. If you dislike the idea, do better and be done with it. The original focus of this thread will be continued as I started it.

I might add that you were supposed already be ignoring this thread but you have done a wonderful job at that. It's not a personal vendetta, you are making a pest of yourself and I'm not in the mood to indulge it these days. If I could get some sleep I wouldn't even be dealing with this now. Feel what you want, but please just find someone else to pester.

[Kaerli_Stronwylle]

a little Consumer in a fur coat? 

Once you meet Celrau IG, you'll figure out where that remark came from.

[Sarva]

Volki re the GM event you talked about above. The event didn't run on for so long because there was a predetermined outcome that the GMs were trying to achieve. The event ran on for so long because the players involved couldn't decide which of the two characters to believe and thus couldn't come up with a course of action that the majority of the players could agree upon. Yes the GMs were trying to get the majority of the players in the event to side with their character and thus come to a conclusion that was best for their character in the event. The only "problem" with the event was that the players were pretty much evenly split on which GM character was telling the truth so the players couldn't come up with a course of action. When GM events are developed there are several possible outcomes that are considered and outlined based on different actions the players might take. There is no set determination that a GM event has to end in a certain way.

[Rigwyn]

a little Consumer in a fur coat? 

Once you meet Celrau IG, you'll figure out where that remark came from.

That sounds ... creepy  o.O

[Volki]

@Illysia, until you can see past your prejudices, I am not going to respond to you.

@Sarva, I can see several issues with the roleplay you described. :/ You say that it didn't run on for so long due to a predetermined outcome, but that's what I'm understanding the problem to be. If we must rely on a variable that could potentially come up with no outcome (who believes who being evenly matched), then there's an issue. Eventually someone, hopefully a player, should be able to come up with an idea that ignores the variable. Unfortunately, those ideas were shot down by both GM characters.

That was my problem with the event. If it was that way on purpose, then I have another problem with it. Humans are fluid and able to adapt. If an attempt to solve an issue does not work, they'll go at it from a different angle. But when all other attempts are shut down at the conception, and they are forced to use their original method, they'll become frustrated. When that original method fails again and again, they give up.

[Celroc Amaul]

Gm events... LOL

Gm's have certain restrictions that they need to work with. Their event ideas need to be approved by a lead gm or settings in advance. They have limitations on what they can give out and so on. As players, we have it a bit easier.

We have all seen some pretty horrible gm events or at least heard of them. Again, people say they feel artificial or like a game show.

Some things that spoil an rp:

* Too many people ( a handful of players is ideal for a single group/gathering )

* reliance on gifts to make an event or rp successful

* having predetermined endings

* using new, unfamiliar characters that nobody knows.

* railroading and steering the rp rather than letting the players actively shape it.

Hi, new to using the forums, so please excuse me if I make a mistake with the quoting system. 

I'd like to respond to the 5 items you listed about RP, if I may:

1.  Whether or not there are too many people might depend a bit on the RP.  Some work better in small groups, others in large.

2.  Yeah, actually, unless it's a GM-run official event, this may not be a good idea in most cases.

3.  This actually may not be a bad thing; I think it might be okay to know what the ending is, but we don't have to know how to get to it.  We can let people use their creativity in achieving the end goal.  (For example, if Celrau DID become CavernBelly, we could let it go on until someone tries something like feeding him a carrot [IC joke ;-) ] or something similar.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that we don't need to pre-plan how we reach the goal, and can just run it indefinitely until reached.

4.  I will have to disagree here.  When my character was a new face and jumped into an RP, he (and his IC brother) actually added a pretty good bit to it.  Our mysterious-ness kept people guessing.  In short, to have 'new' faces isn't always a bad thing, but isn't always good, either.

5.  Similar to point 3.  Players can still shape how the end goal is reached... and, actually, if part of the group disagrees that the ending is sufficient, than that part can continue on with the RP until they reach their goal (For example, maybe the carrot didn't do Celrau in, so the rest of the group tries to find something else).

At any rate, the purpose of a game, any game, is to have fun.  If an event doesn't sound fun to you, than you don't need to join. ;-)

Celroc

[Celroc Amaul]

a little Consumer in a fur coat? 

Once you meet Celrau IG, you'll figure out where that remark came from.

That sounds ... creepy  o.O

Celrau's a nice character IC, although a bit hungry.  He -probably- won't eat any of you if you meet him.

[Rigwyn]

What I mean in point #4 by new characters should be clarified a bit.

New players, I have no problem with.

Sometimes GMs or players will create a brand spanking new character for an event or for a rp chain - whatever you want to call it. GMs did this all the time - I don't know if they still do.

The problem is that these new characters have no history and are not connected to anyone. They are complete strangers - which can be ok if a stranger is needed. When this stranger gets into a conflict or has a crisis or whatever, it really doesn't affect anyone. There is no ripple effect, there is nothing for characters to gossip about. You end up with a situation where either you bend your character so that he or she cares, or you just walk away.

This is not a mortal sin, but it could be done better. Taking the time to introduce a character to the group, establish them, and know them would make a big difference. When that character is bonded and connected with other characters, things that effect that characters will be more likely to affect others. The former example results in isolated rp, the latter in contagious, long lasting rp.