Event HMD | Powerdown & Malicant Plot | June 16th - July 13th

[ironwood]

As before, and for anyone who may have missed it, at the end of every mod-run event in Tu Shanshu, we try to toss up an open dialogue post so that the events can be discussed. This is mostly to see if everybody's as happy as possible with the direction the game is going, whether or not the events could be considered a hit or a miss, that sort of thing.

This particular HMD covers the Meta Power Reduction & Malicant joint event.

What are we looking for?
Feedback of all sorts! Did you like what happened? Did the event run too fast, or too slow? Were you able to feel like your character contributed or made a impact on the event? Would you like to make more of a difference? Has there been too much 'downtime' for the characters, do you have any suggestions to make about future events, etc etc? Did the event run long enough for you? Would you like to see more NPC-driven events, or less? Did you feel that there was enough for combatants and non-combatants alike to participate in?

OBVIOUSLY if you have more comments, questions or concerns than those listed above you can add those as well! This is pretty much just a general list.

Do we already have a focus?
In part, yes. We've identified the following issues with the event and would love to foster discussion on these points:

> Team Structure
There were some players that had multiple characters assigned to a team and others that volunteered and did not make the final teams. This was an oversight on Alex's part and she apologises! That said, do you have any suggestions on how we could avoid such an oversight in the future? Should we limit sign-ups to one character per player?

> Multiple Options
Each team was asked to pick only one option per clue set regardless of their characters' proclivities towards exploring multiple options. This was to reduce administrative workload and tie-in with the reduction of powers. Do you have any suggestions as to how we could make taking multiple options feasible for any future event structured in this way?

Note: Alex here! One option considered and taken off the table would be preparing all of the possible branches off the options and clues before the event starts. This is because I found creating the sets during the event really allowed me to adapt the scenarios to suit the actions of each team in a really organic fashion. In summary, it let the characters further influence the event rather than being stuck on rails (see: swizard). I'd really prefer to find a solution that allowed mid-event creation of the clues without sacrificing the multiple options, tbqh.

> Outcomes
The pre-event survey concluded that players were okay with getting dead-ends for their characters actions and so this was included. Two teams had a major impact on the health of the turtle and a variety had other impacts that lessened Malicant's grip on Keeliai. Do you think we should have included more largescale impacts? Less? More impacts in general? More complete dead ends?

We'd like to emphasize that any and all feedback is welcomed and encouraged! These are merely some areas that we've identified as concerns from our standpoint and would like to hear your thoughts on.

Do we have a form?
Yes, in fact! This time, we're offering a quick text form to help provide some structure to the feedback received. This form addresses some of the concerns we noted on a mod level and tries to give as much freedom as possible to anyone that chooses to use it. Please note that you do NOT have to use this form! It's provided as an option only. :3

<b>Did you have characters involved? Via teams or the independent investigations?</b> (Especially optional for anon feedback; we respect your right to remain anon.) <b>What did you like about this event?</b> <b>What didn't work out so hot?</b> <b>What would you like to see in the future?</b> <b>Do you have feedback specific to the team portion of the event?</b> <b>Do you have feedback specific to the independent investigations portion of the event?</b> <b>Would you like to share any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about the event or game?</b>

Please remember, ANON IS ON for this and IP LOGGING IS OFF so if you have anything you'd like to say but maybe you're more comfortable putting it forth anon that is a-okay! You can also feel free to PM us at this journal, or to toss a private plurk at either of the mod accounts (those being vonnerdyce or reignsdown) if that suits your fancy. Any and all comments are welcome, and though participation in this meme isn't required it's definitely encouraged if you're up for it.

Thanks again, guys, and happy turtling!

Comments

[urbanmagic]

Did you have characters involved? Via teams or the independent investigations? Yup! In a team.

What did you like about this event? It was fun. It gave an opportunity for the characters to know other people and also show that the players can affect the outcome of a game. I don't see that a lot (usually it's just game does this, player reacts, rinse and repeat) so seeing that the characters doing something does help in the end is nice.

What didn't work out so hot? Actually had a bit of an issue with the multiple options thing, but I think that was on me since I figured by having that, we kind of already decided on a course of action so the characters more or less just end up threading for the sake of it? I don't know how to explain this. I admit I thought that the effect of the event happened too fast, like-- it's something that sounded like it resolved itself too quickly since I can see investigations like this taking a while longer. Again, perspective.

What would you like to see in the future? Expanding on investigations for the parts that weren't completely wrapped up. For example, drugs that may still be around, guarding areas that were compromised before, etc.

Do you have feedback specific to the team portion of the event? I think for multiple options, it might help if you do the one character per mun per event thing? In a game I was in previously, to avoid having an oversaturation of characters per event, what they do is that they have a sign-up form where everyone can comment and during an event, they will pick the first 20/30/etc and then the next event, the next 20/30 etc so that everyone gets their fair share. Noooot the best option I figure since it has the whole oh characters wouldn't be interested in this or that, so.

Alternatively I say just roulette it. Muns can sign up, but not everyone gets to be a part of the event. However, if the character passed this event, next event they cannot be used for it again? I don't know if that helps.

Do you have feedback specific to the independent investigations portion of the event? Nada!

Would you like to share any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about the event or game? It was fun! I enjoyed it, and sorry for not being very helpful ;;

[ironwood]

This is very helpful!

I can see what you mean re: the wrap-ups. Many of them were intentionally left open-ended so that characters could follow-up a month or two down the lines, or so that these avenues could be explored further in a later plot. Or, in cases, so that there would be threading potential. Should I make that clearer in the future?

Also, regarding the "threading for the sake of it" comment -- do you have any suggestions on how we could change that to make threading a more appealing? There definitely was a trend noted that not a lot of threading happened immediately, so we'd love feedback on how to improve that.

Thoughts on multiple option type stuff?

[lookedtothestars]

I wasn't in game for/during the Malicant event, but multiple options for RP games (just usually one shot things) is a thing I've done in the past, and trying to prepare every single possible branch is definitely exhausting.

Instead of immediately preparing all the possible branches and their options and so on, I generally make the stuff -people, items- that's there, existing, and have a list of it all, with descriptive properties, so that I'd know what could happen if someone's character interacted with it, or what that particular thing would do.

So to extremely compress down something I used once to a single situation's list of items:

Players: Need to get information from a witch.

Girl: She looks upset and near tears. She is looking for her mother's- the witch- favorite magical cat.
Tree: An immense tree. It's the tallest remaining tree in the area. There's a cat in its branches about forty feet up from the ground.
Cat: The girl's mother's cat. It is in the tree, winged, and ill tempered.
Abandoned logging camp: It still has ropes and equipment for logging. There's an old firepit lined with rocks, and a tinderbox nearby.

These are things two different groups I ran this with suggested to get the cat out of the tree:

Use the ropes to climb the tree and rescue the cat.
Wait the cat out.
Use rocks from the firepit to knock the cat out of the tree.
Cut the tree down.
Set the tree on fire.

One group decided to climb the tree and rescue the cat. The other group set the tree on fire.

The first group's cat rescuer got scratched up, but they were able to get information and help from the girl's mom.

The second group got the cat, but didn't get any willing help or information, and continued making Poor Life Choices.

It makes things element based, rather than sequence based, so players can choose, but on my end I don't have to rush around trying to figure out what'd follow after because it's a loose web of connected things.

Dunno how much this apply here, but I hope it might give you some ideas there?

[littlecousin]

This is how pretty much every tabletop RPG system encourages you to run things, because No Plan Survives Contact With the Players.

Rule of thumb: in running a game, "what" is up to you, but "how" is something you should leave largely to the players. They'll surprise you, generally in a good way.

[ironwood]

These feedback is fantastic and much appreciated.

My question would be how to form up teams and avoid the lag of multi-player input. Should the teams be smaller? Only player-created to raise comfort levels on interations? Could we still set a deadline on providing the mods with the options and applications? And then come up with them ourselves if they failed to make deadline?

I'll be honest in saying that I put down actions and options with greater detail to help form up my next set of options. Many players feel uncomfortable with too many freedoms in that regard, which is one reason why the cluesets and options were so detailed -- to try and avoid discomfort in making a choice. I've table-topped before (reference to Carolyn's feedback) and understand some of the open-ended concept, but it's how to apply it to DWRP that I'd like to better comprehend.

[lostundercover]

Did you have characters involved? Via teams or the independent investigations? Yes, 2 in teams and 1 independent (of 3).

What did you like about this event? The sheer amount of work put into it was astounding and I could really feel that as a player. It was well organized, well implemented, and really, really fun. I also liked the voting among teams (excuses to banter) and the excuse for CR.

I also really liked that those not selected for teams could still participate in independent investigations!

What didn't work out so hot? As I expressed before, my only real concern was for those players who weren't included in the team thing, because it was so fun.

What would you like to see in the future? If this same kind of thing was done again, I think players could pick which character they would most like to participate, then a second (ranked). That would allow the MODs to RNG one character per player and then, if excess slots are available, RNG to include some of the second options. (If less slots available, then RNG just the first batch).

I think it would have been cool to see more ending with "you were successful, but it had nothing to do with the turtle's health or Malicant." So not dead ends, exactly, but irrelevant. Also, at least one entire team should have died, hahaha.

I, personally, also wish Malicant had only appeared to one team. Having him appear to 2+ lessened the significance of it in a way.

Do you have feedback specific to the team portion of the event? Awesome awesome awesome.

The only thing I might have liked to see was a thread specific to conclusions from a player end. IE, in Hayley's team, the final fight and injuries were left to player discretion, but I, at least, didn't realize that until later, so there was never a concise answer of who received what injuries and whether they used their powers, etc.

Do you have feedback specific to the independent investigations portion of the event? I know Costigan's a wee bit different from the average, but I was really thrilled that you guys were so willing to accept my unorthodox idea. That option allowed me to be entirely IC with him without throwing him into the teams and also allowed a cool side plot (which now has pretty much all of his CR going 'wtf,' which is always fun).

On the flip side, I, personally, am a teeny bit uncomfortable with the amount of freedom I was given with it. The 'feel free to make up the gang and what Costigan has to do,' etc? I'm afraid of messing things up. :c

Would you like to share any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about the event or game? I obviously offered a lot of ideas for what I, personally, would like to see, but I really think this event was run extremely well and was amazingly enjoyable. Seriously one of the best (if not the best) plots I've ever participated in in RP.

[ironwood]

Could I ask for clarification regarding the Malicant comment? How do you feel that this lessened the significance? I ask as the cameo he made of directly appearing was meant to highlight his ability to be on more than one place at a time and to further establish the threat-level, as it were. If this did not come across, I'd love to hear suggestions as to how that could be better handled in the future.

Regarding conclusions from players; how would you like to see this handled from a mod angle? Should there be deadlines for identifying any injuries, et al? Or would that be too much control where we'd intended freedom to be available?

We're happy to hear that you enjoyed the event! There were definitely some flaws -- some of which you have identified and we'll take your suggestions into consideration for the future.

[angermanaging]

Did you have characters involved? Via teams or the independent investigations? One for each.

What did you like about this event? As others have said, the extensive amount of work put into it was fantastic and awe-inspiring. I especially liked how much we were able to influence the outcomes with our characters, both in teams and with the investigations, so that characters who weren't involved in a team weren't left by the wayside.

What didn't work out so hot? I'd definitely limit sign ups to one character per player. I think that's more than fair. There's no need to go any further than that or try to find a way to double up for someone if there's space, because the game is getting large enough that, frankly, I don't want you to do all that work that comes with extra teams. XD

What would you like to see in the future? Shorter / less game overtaking events. Though I might be the lone voice on that one, not sure.

Do you have feedback specific to the team portion of the event? This might be a strange bit of crit, but I actually thought you gave us too much to work with in the options. RPers are slow to thread, especially in big groups like this, and I haven't gone over it but I know that my team at least will probably not thread out like 90% of the action. Given how much work you put into it, that seems silly. I don't think we needed more time -- that was a very long event OOCly by anyone's standards -- but maybe less to thread out, and smaller groups. Needing five people to make a decision became unwieldy, to say nothing of how long five person threads take. Maybe three person teams with more simple, straight forward written goals would work.

I have no idea if anyone else feels this way or if half the game loves it the way it was, re: group size and amount of detail provided, but that's my suggestions for limiting how much was assumed and instead getting people to thread more of it.

Do you have feedback specific to the independent investigations portion of the event? Just that I adored it and how willing you were to work with me. :)

Would you like to share any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about the event or game? I have now gotten SUPER invested into the health of the turtle and I loved seeing the plot have a real effect on the overall game. So that was awesome.

[ironwood]

When it comes to the length of the event, we were aiming for a good balance between sufficient time to do things and taking too much time overall. Personally, I found the event too short to allow for really detailed or extensive cluesets for each team -- as they were limited only to three per, with the third being the results. Do you have any suggestions of how we could balance that with the desire to have such an event run not quite as long?

We've heard some similar feedback regarding the level of detail in the cluesets and are considered a more open approach in the future. This may result in smaller teams, which raises an interesting challenge: How can we make such an event inclusive without having too many teams?

To elaborate: With fifteen teams and a five day interval for cluesets, the event ran long and involved a lot of administration that had to be handled primarily by one mod to prevent duplication of clues or contradictions in outcomes. The positive to this was that we could include almost half of the available characters in-game. With smaller teams, should we increase the number of teams? Or decrease the total number of players involved and run the risk of it coming off as exclusive? Any thoughts that you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

[everylittlegirl]

Piggybacking off Chels because creepers gonna creep.

I really liked the team thing for the decision making, but I agree we basically didn't thread anything. I don't think this is a bad thing; I still got fun CR out of it, had a blast, and became closer with those players (which is fun!).

I, personally, just think that it should be taken into consideration for future events. 'Okay, this one was a big team mostly ooc event, now we'll do a partner/3person event to focus on ic threading/etc. With any team randomly assigned, you run the risk of mixing activity levels and such. I don't think that's something that goes away, really. Just means maybe finding more ways to vary things in future. :v

[(Anonymous)]

I know this is probably going to be an unpopular view on things but…

There were a lot of things that concerned me about the plot. The biggest one was the power loss/reduction itself. One of the big draws for me at least to join TuShanshu was that it was not a power loss or nerfing game. Having that changed for an extended period of time without any kind of opt out was just bad form. It was like if the game suddenly became journal-based or had a smut requirement for weeks. Especially because the duration of said event was not only unclear at first but it kept getting extended and was teased to go on even longer than that. Even with the ‘it still maintains life’ thing, several characters were rendered unplayable. It could be beneficial to the game to not do such a widespread change again without an opt out. Perhaps a specific zone or area that those that opted out of the effects would be limited to but still able to participate in the plot or even have their own separate objects could help. It’s bad enough that ever landfall effectively locks several characters onto the turtle, having events that happen on the turtle that lock out characters is a bit too much. I am aware of the power surge devices but their laughably small effect time, availability, and the fact that they were whisked away by all powered NPCs at the end of the plot doesn’t make them in any way a solution. Another limiter following the plot feels worse, especially if there are going to be more events coming between now and 100% restoration.

NPCs are another area of concern. Despite the fact that the power drain was supposed to remove all powers and negate tech, multiple NPCs were using powers and technology just fine. While there may have been plot-related reasons for this, I feel it was handled badly. Even if the kedan suddenly lost their ability to shape shift, they still apparently had whatever ‘powers’ the forms they were stuck in granted them. The magic that popped up in places also seemed to give an unfair little edge when there was supposed to be nothing. It came off as another little stab at the characters rendered unplayable by a power loss.

I know players voted for there to be ‘dead ends’ but it feels like there were too little ‘good endings’. Only 2 teams having a positive effect on the turtle’s health seemed a bit low considering the sheer number of teams and characters involved. It adds to a sense of players not being able to have a real significant effect on the plot. Less dead ends and more large scale impacts would have been nice.

The whole team and clue set up I liked. It was a good idea and helped fix some problems I’d seen in other places. Limiting players to only signing up one character for team selections may help in the future. I did feel that there wasn’t really enough for those characters not on the team to do though. Maybe some single-shot leads to follow in a list and let people choose from them with new ones popping up each round of clues based off things the teams did? Such as if a team elected to follow a path that would chase a gang out of one sector but cause them to resurface In another, a one-shot where someone could try to figure out why that gang suddenly popped up or even let them deal with something like the new gang clashing with an existing one in the area. An open-ended thing is nice but making things a little too open ended can be bad too.

Regarding downtime, I feel there hasn’t been enough. The game has gotten considerably darker and more depressing than when I first joined in and while the ‘spa day’ was a nice change of pace, it would be nicer to have some less ‘negative’ events happening.

Finally, I would like to say that the mods are doing an amazing job running the place. I know how hard it is to mod a game and one as big and as active as this one is no cakewalk. But something has been bothering me and it became most apparent I this plot. I’ve noticed that at times, when asked questions regarding plots the responses given by mods come off as pretty rude and dismissive. Mostly towards players that raise some kind of concern, confusion, or misunderstanding towards an event going on. It may not be intentional but it is a little discouraging.

[littlecousin]

I found the power loss pretty annoying, too. I thought at the beginning it might be fun to play out the angst, but her powers are important to Nita's sense of self and it just got insanely depressing. Combined with getting IRL sick, I just threw up my hands and went on hiatus until the event ended. Knowing the duration of the power loss going in would have helped with that. Not everything is going to appeal to every character/player and I'm fine with that, but more clarity on the OOC side would make it easier to tell which event is which.

I also second the comments about the change in tone. Tu Vishan used to feel like a refuge, but now it feels like a trap. I've been in the game since it opened, so I'm invested in my CR and character development, but I wouldn't app into the game today, since my perception of it has gone from being dreamy fantasy to nighmarish fantasy. Again, de gustibus non disputandum est, etc., but it's something I've noticed. Maybe it was intended to go that way since day one, but I didn't know that, and now I'm feeling that "occasional horror elements" now more or less dominate the game.

[ironwood]

We appreciate every form of feedback, positive or negative!

While this reply may not cover all of your concerns, we're hoping to have addressed the core of them. Please feel free to discuss with us further about any points we have missed or not answered to your satisfaction. Also, sorry if the replies seem a bit ferret-y with regards to order; we looked at them at separate intervals and that may make our reply seem to jump to different parts of your original feedback.

Meta Power Reduction
Could you clarify how the event rendered characters unplayable? The reduction was designed specifically to allow all characters to retain sentience, the ability to move, and the ability to survive according to a baseline human standard. While some players chose to explore that further (we had one of the ninja turtles choose to revert their character back into a normal turtle; this was done with the player's stated understanding that it was an exception, not the rule), it was never meant to make them physically incapable of operating. Are you referring instead to a mental or mood incapacitation that resulted from being stripped down to baseline? I'd really like to understand how it rendered a character unplayable for the sake of this discussion and future considerations.

Trust me when I say the intent was always to restore the lack of power cap once the events were over, but as the players have frequently expressed interest in impacting the metaplot, I tried to structure it in such a way that it might not seem that way ICly – to give characters a reason to be invested in the outcome of the plot. We're sorry if it caused you inconvenience along the way.

"Dead End" Outcomes
While we tried to set up the outcomes based roughly on the votes that came in from the players (and there was an overwhelming majority that wanted bad ends to be available), I definitely understand that few "good" outcomes can have a negative effect. To better understand your concern, I reviewed the outcomes for each of the official teams to determine what the final spread of outcome quality was. Based on the defition of GOOD meaning a boost of Tu Vishan's health, MEDIUM meaning the team damaged Malicant's foothold within the kedan or learned something of worth, and BAD meaning there was no net effect on Tu Vishan or Malicant's influence, the statistics were as follows:

GOOD x 2
MEDIUM x 8
BAD x 5

This means that one third of the teams had no net effect, with two-thirds having some sort of impact on the Malicant situation and/or the health of the turtle. Do you feel that these medium outcomes were insufficient? What kinds of large scale impacts would you like to see in the future? What sort of spread would you like to see for good-medium-bad outcomes if we were to do this again?

NPCs
How would you like to see us handle this in the future? I note that we didn't cover off a lot of details about NPC abilities in the OOC posts, with the exception of intimating that Evandau and Eshai were sitting ducks (which they were for the duration of the event). Initially I did not convey more on the assumption that it would help convey why the Malicant threat was so real, but can see where that could be seen as unfair. Should we have clarified that Malicant supporters had access to his power and therefore were not as impacted by the turtle's health?

I'd also like to address the PSDs here. They were collected at the end of the event so that they can be utilised during the August anniversary event, for which details will be posted roughly a week prior to the event. We definitely want them to surface again, but wanted to make sure the full inventory was available for the upcoming event. The intent was not to whisk them away so much as store them and apologies that it came across that way. Regarding the thirty second period - the fact that they had such a short period of use was to encourage characters to use unconventional solutions or lines of thought to the problems they were facing, rather than act as a 'deus ex machina' by which everything could be immediately fixed.

Game Theme
The descent into darker themes has been intended from the game's inception as these characters have been brought to combat in a war against an enemy that seeks to destroy Tu Vishan and all its inhabitants. Tu Shanshu was built with a twenty-four to thirty month metaplot in mind and so the plot is now transitioning to the rough midline of that storyline. We've been trying to temper it with positive events, but do note that it's running darker and darker due to the metaplot, the nature of which has never been clandestine (it came up as early as the first audience with the Emperor, and the information has been readily available from the outset). We recognise that, though are not sure how to balance it and would love to hear suggestions that allow for the forward progression of our metaplot, as well as the other elements you mentioned.

As a side note: Yard Sale is meant to be a lightening of mood and the release of rationing is meant to have a positive effect (not to mention the fluffiness of the Tribbles). We're always open to and would love to see player plot suggestions to help lighten the mood while we work on metaplot.

Mod Tone
In regards to your comments about the mod team coming off as rude or dismissive, we can certainly see your viewpoint, and hope that our explanation better presents our point of view. There are certain aspects of the game wherein explanations necessitate a firmer stance, and sometimes hard lines have to be drawn that not everyone may agree with. While it's our goal to stay professional during these discussions, we are neither perfect nor robots. At times, being succinct can impart a sense of dismissal when our intent is simply to be as clear and concise as possible so that miscommunications or misunderstandings are less likely to occur.

[(Anonymous)]

I enjoyed this event but I think this anon brings up a good point about Landfalls: it's be nice to have one here and there where powers aren't nerfed when leaving the turtle? I don't mean every future landfall, but they're fun events and I know some characters just wouldn't ICly leave the turtle if it meant losing their powers.

[everylittlegirl]

I understand what you're saying if you came into the game with the impression of no power nerfing and how upsetting it was not to oocly have a finite and concrete amount of time without powers. I do and I agree it's something that should be taken into consideration.

That said, I, personally, would really hate to never have powers nerfed again. As someone who primarily plays those without powers (I've played Sylar at other games and obviously Johnny Storm here - who, for the record, I dropped for completely irrelevant reasons), it's amazingly refreshing to feel like my guys suddenly matter.

The satellite event felt like it was catered to those with powers. Swimmers found the clones, those who could fly helped with debris stuff, and a mixture of normals and supers fought them - but you better be a normal with advanced tech or know someone, because otherwise you don't really count. I didn't mind. I was hiatused for the beginning of the event and then had my two normals hid for the duration, because there was nothing they could really do and I didn't want them possessed (Johnny went out and fought some). It happens. Not every event is catered to every type.

But that's what made me so excited to see an event where everyone was at baseline. Sure, of course I signed up to play normal characters. I know that they will forever be overshadowed by the supers in most events and that's okay with me. I expect that. But I felt like my guys were more important and had more impact than they would during normal events (including things like the garden), and that makes me even more grateful for this very limited chance to be equal.

[poeticverses]

Did you have characters involved? Via teams or the independent investigations? Sort of. Sadie was in an independent group, but it got bogged down.

What did you like about this event? The fact that the players wrote the plot, essentially, was a nice change. I've been in a game where players affected the world before and it can really be one of the coolest things. Most games either have everything laid out before the plot or try to get the players to direct it and either don't or railroad them.

What didn't work out so hot? Honestly, I don't think the independent teams were the best idea. With little mod input, it was confusing and things were unclear as to what, exactly, was going on, at least to me. Perhaps next time limit independent things to duos or trios, not a full team.

What would you like to see in the future? I am all for the one character involved in a team per person. I won't lie, I was a bit upset that my one character who'd be interested in helping wasn't on a team while other people had two people on teams. Maybe if someone has two interested characters they could have the other involved in an side thing, but two in the main portion of the plot was just not fair. I understand this was an oversight, though.

Do you have feedback specific to the team portion of the event? Not really, except perhaps if there is an event like this again and one team, in this case team seven, has some seriously bad stuff happen to them, the team and the mods figure out what happened to them on event end, even if the threads aren't done. It can prevent not only them but their close CR from doing anything until things are sorted.

Do you have feedback specific to the independent investigations portion of the event? See above. The idea was a good one, but it really didn't work out too well.

Would you like to share any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about the event or game? I am agreeing with the anon up there that the game took a major downturn in mood and, honestly, had the power loss gone on indefinitely I very likely would have dropped. I know the game is plot based and I am okay with that, but to advertise as a power-loss free game and then have that and tease us with the idea that it might be a permanent thing isn't very fun. I also agree with less negative events and less events that are harder to ignore. I felt the rationing went on for far too long, though I know why now. Still, if there is an event that is a pre-event to something this big, perhaps having them closer together or having the prelude less hard hitting next time will prevent burn out. (That, obviously, is only if it's possible for you two as mods. I know it's just the two of you running this and if something simply isn't feasible I don't think most of us are going to complain.)

All that being said, the idea of the event--the players having a huge impact on the game--was brilliant. You guys handled it very well aside from a few rough spots.

[ironwood]

Could you elaborate on your thoughts regarding independent investigations? How did it confuse you? Could I have done something more with my write-ups to provide a better structure?

We'll be looking to better coordinate the outcome of an event like team 07 faced, for certian. Do you have any suggestions on how we could do this? Just coordinate more OOCly? Forward-dating?

Regarding the power reduction, I understand the frustration. The intent was always to have the powers restored, but it was left open to facilitate the player-impact of the event. We didn't want to railroad it, in a sense. The impacts on the characters (even my own) not having powers, however, went deeper than anticipated and we'll be keeping that in mind in the future.

Also, we'd love to hear any suggestions for player plots that you may have! <3 These are great opportunities to have lighter events occur while the mods focus on the metaplot (see: the calming effect of the tribbles and the light-hearted frustration of tribbles being errywhar). We seriously adore such submissions and it's currently one of the ways we try to balance out the heavier end of the metaplot.

[chiot]

Did you have characters involved? Via teams or the independent investigations? I sure did!

What did you like about this event? I loved the structure, and the choose-your-own adventure style. I would DEFINITELY recommend doing it again, it was a ton of fun!

What didn't work out so hot? It was a little difficult trying to figure out which option we wanted to go to--I know our team had a huge problem trying to figure which option, because of the stubbornness. If there's a way to mix and match--though obviously without creating much more work with you--or if there's some kind of happy balance, it would be wonderful!

What would you like to see in the future? P. much what I said above.

Do you have feedback specific to the team portion of the event? I absolutely loved it, I'm a huge fan of this and hope it continues. The idea of teams is also a very good idea--especially if they're are six or so in a group like there was. I know I got some good CR out of it I'll be continuing!

Do you have feedback specific to the independent investigations portion of the event? None. :3

Would you like to share any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about the event or game? I really hope this continues, it was a lot of fun and made me feel like I was really really involved--even if I didn't find anything too meta-plot-y!

[ironwood]

We are glad that you enjoyed it!

We're currently looking to include some suggestions about offering more options that aren't quite as action-structured. This would be more like giving them physical clues/assets and having the team decide what to do with them. Do you think this would assist in a future scenario?

[(Anonymous)]

As a whole the event went really well and major props to both Alex and Roy for the work they put into all the clue sets, options and outcomes.

One minor quibble.

Two teams had a major impact on the health of the turtle.

Both these teams were pre-formed which gives the impression of already established CR, particularly team 04.

Giving these pre-formed teams the two, mod admitted major impact, results is off putting for players who signed up for random team assignment/working with new CR for a major meta event.

Makes it seem like reaching outside your CR circles and picking the RNG option means you're going to get the crumbs of an event.

[ironwood]

There were several teams that were pre-formed that had considerably less of an impact, or none at all. The teams that got a 'good' or 'medium' ending were chosen more or less at random and had nothing to do with the characters or the CR on the teams themselves. Literally none of the 'outcomes' of the individual team sets were chosen one way or another beforehand, they progressed organically as the teams went through their options. There was always a set vision as to roughly how many teams would get a 'good' or a 'bad' or a 'medium' ending.

That said, I can understand why preformed CR teams getting the 'better' endings would look somewhat suspect from an outside view, (oy, hindsight) and we'll keep an eye on that for the future. Thank you for your thoughts, and we're sorry to have conveyed that. I hope this doesn't discourage you from any RNG team-ups in the future.

[cmdreffingshepard]

Did you have characters involved? Via teams or the independent investigations? In a team, yes!

What did you like about this event? The amount of organization that went into it, as well as the ability for players to have an impact on the metaplot. The choose-your-own-adventure options were particularly enjoyable and helped retain a certain amount of surprise/tension while still allowing for planning and threading!

What didn't work out so hot? I think I kind of agree with Bruce-mun's thoughts about like the size of the teams and the cluesets not really... hm. Allowing for a lot of threading to happen? It's tough to explain but I am also of a group that is probably not going to thread the majority of what happened, due to just there are five of us and threading out five-person threads is always ridiculously unwieldy, and given the awesomeness of this plot, that's just too bad! Because I feel like I'm not getting much real CR out of it? It's not really the fault of anyone, but yeah, in future maybe keep the team size down to three, or something like that.

What would you like to see in the future? I also agree with only allowing one character per mun to be involved with big metaplot things like this. As the game continues to grow, I can also see the possibility of having some kind of rule where if you have a character involved in one event, you then have to sit out the next one to give others a chance.

Do you have feedback specific to the team portion of the event? See above, I guess? Smaller teams means better chance of threading and getting good CR out of it, imo.

Do you have feedback specific to the independent investigations portion of the event? I didn't have any characters involved in the independent investigations, but I do like the idea of maybe having a few potential leads offered up by the mods for people to get their characters involved with as side plots! A bit more open-ended than those involved directly in the main event, but still have some ideas for people to run with. If that makes sense.

Would you like to share any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about the event or game? I really liked the structure of this event, so yeah, basically just keep up the good work! I'm looking forward to see what else you guys have up your sleeves!

[spiderkid]

Did you have characters involved? Via teams or the independent investigations? Independent and uninvolved

What did you like about this event? I liked the power loss aspect

What didn't work out so hot? I felt left out of the majority of it because my character didn't rng onto a team. I realize this was the roll of the dice and no ones fault, but it was disappointing.

What would you like to see in the future? more inclusion

Do you have feedback specific to the team portion of the event? like I said, I was left out of that

Do you have feedback specific to the independent investigations portion of the event? it felt lacking, like we had no direction, really

Would you like to share any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about the event or game? I'm loving the game overall and I think events like this help strengthen it, I just wish I could've been more involved

[traitre]

taking some time out of my hiatus to stop picking my nose and contribute something!

Did you have characters involved? Via teams or the independent investigations? yes ma'ams. team one represent.

What did you like about this event? i've always enjoyed choose-your-own-adventures. having a structured series of events really kept me chomping at the bit for the next clue set. also, as someone to whom player interaction doesn't come very naturally, i really appreciate the sort of "forced" (encouraged?) CR that having assigned teams creates. also swizards happened. whether or not this is a good thing, i cannot say.

What didn't work out so hot? the actual threading portion. i ended up having to go on hiatus midway-through, which didn't help matters, but certain clue sets didn't necessarily inspire much threading anyway. there were only so many cave-related things one could write about in the limited time provided. of course, this may not have been the case for other groups (that weren't stuck in caves) and as backtagging is no issue...

What would you like to see in the future? ooh, man, i don't know. i'm wondering if maybe a similar CYOA thing could be applied on a much larger scale? so instead of threading in somewhat awkwardly-sized groups of five, people just kind of do their own thing-- maybe players would submit their characters actions, and the next series of events would be decided based on whatever criteria is met? like if at least sixty percent of characters avoid doing this, then this doesn't happen… and if at least ten percent notice this thing, then this happens… i do love the idea of a rapid succession of events and info but i'm wondering if there's a way to make the next one more accessible to the game-at-large without having it be such a ridiculous load of work.

Do you have feedback specific to the team portion of the event? team one constantly made fun of my character's hat and i shouldn't have to take that.

Do you have feedback specific to the independent investigations portion of the event? n/a!

Would you like to share any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about the event or game? i have a newfound fondness for turtles.

[dustonmyfeet]

Did you have characters involved? Via teams or the independent investigations? One on teams, one not involved.

What did you like about this event? I really loved the opportunity to choose our own adventure. Obviously a great deal of thought and time was put into creating the different scenarios, and I loved the richness of it. So much admiration for this; I know how difficult that must have been to do.

What didn't work out so hot? I couldn't include Toph in the event due to her physical limitations. I chose to make her blind (it was offered to me to do otherwise), so that's not the issue. What came to be a challenge for me was that most of the game was off working on teams and it was specifically said that they would be too busy to be engaged with the Network. That made for limited posting opportunities for Toph for a couple of weeks. I suspect she wasn't the only one in such a situation, and then of course there were the new people who came in during that time. I wish there had been the ability or opportunity to still connect with the Network.

What would you like to see in the future? I'd like the opportunity to play things out more, but practically, I'm not sure how that would work in a timed event. I feel like things went as well as they could given practical constraints.

Do you have feedback specific to the team portion of the event? I think it was frustrating, at least on my end, that not only did most teams not have the opportunity to really brush with Malicant, but they weren't informed of what happened to the teams that did. Information about plot, therefore, becomes very compartmentalized -- concealed in the minds of the people who experienced it -- and not always shared as part of the larger whole.

Do you have feedback specific to the independent investigations portion of the event? I didn't participate in these, so I don't have much to contribute here.

Would you like to share any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about the event or game? Tying into the previous comments about constrains on Toph during the event, I would still be very interested to see some form of mobile device come about so that characters can post to the Network when they're out and about, even if there are some restrictions on them. It might ease some of the compartmentalization of information and offer new ways for characters to interact with the Network.

[backinakidflash]

Did you have characters involved? Via teams or the independent investigations? Yes, via team.

What did you like about this event? I, for one, enjoyed reading how all the different characters responded to their power losses. As to the team investigations, the choices made it interesting, seriously.

What didn't work out so hot? While the choices made it fun, I think somehow presenting all the choices ahead of time somehow (IE, the team picks a leader, maybe a PM exchange giving the options, then they get back with the result, and then the next round of options, etc) so that the team can chose how to best thread it. This is a personal opinion, granted, as it was hard to wrangle 5 people into 3 different threads. I'm actually glad that Bart is banned from 'official' kedan plots for a few months, because it gives me time to work out if I should be signing up for such things.

What would you like to see in the future? More game-wide plots. I enjoy them immensely. It makes new and cross-canon CR fun & easy, when everyone is reacting to the same things.

Do you have feedback specific to the team portion of the event? I do think it would have been optimal to limit everyone to one character on a team, at least until all players who wanted to be involved were accommodated.

Would you like to share any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about the event or game? I'm just really glad I joined this game.

[michaeljangelo]

Did you have characters involved? Via teams or the independent investigations?

Only obliquely.

What did you like about this event?

It was a blast to read.

What didn't work out so hot?

My schedule, I would loved to have participated more, but the timing and what I chose to do with what I could play worked out great in my favor.

Would you like to share any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about the event or game?

This gave me an excuse to do something completely ridiculous: ie have a normal turtle make a network post. For that I'll always be thankful.
(I live for the ridiculous.)