How's My Driving | January 2014

[ironwood]

WELCOME WELCOME, THE QUARTER QUELL HAS ARRIV-- wait a minute, wrong script. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! It's that time of the (new) year again! Read on for the details of this, the newest of our quarterly HMDs.

How's My Driving?
While each and every character must have an HMD page available, we offer a gamewide HMD once every calendar quarter. This is an opportunity to get together and discuss IC interpretations and portrayals in a respectful, beneficial fashion. In a nutshell, it's a chance to see how we're doing in the grand scheme of things.

There are a few ground rules to cover off before we can start:

• Participation in the quarterly HMD is 100% optional.
  
• Be respectful, anon or not. It's a lot easier to give and receive crit if all parties are making it a discussion of it rather than an argument.
  
• IP logging is off and anonymous commenting is on. You can offer crit signed-in if you like, but the option's there.
  
• New! We ask that each concrit provided consist of one positive and one constructive bit of feedback. Bring up something that you like about that player, and in the same comment provide something that you feel they could work on. This is to help round out the feedback and provide a better experience all around.
  

That's it, that's all!

And, to make things easier, here's a handy-dandy codeset:

<big><b><i>Player Name</i></b></big> <i>Character Name:</i> <i>Canon:</i> <i>User Name:</i> <I>Focus:</i> Optional. Do you have particular concerns about your portrayal that you'd like to be the focus of crit? You can link any threads you'd like a second opinion on here. If you're looking for structural feedback, or would prefer things like grammar not be mentioned, put it here.

Comments

[ironwood]

MODS
Character Name: Eshai, Evandau, Evastelei, Asti, Lieuen and Malicant.
Canon: NPCS
User Name: ironwood, alderwood, wroughtiron, tuvishan and hazelwood (also malicant because oops, forgot that one)
Focus: This can also be used for a general crit in terms of plot or game maintenance/mechanics or anything else you've noticed and would like to discuss in a public forum. Alternately, our MOD HMD is always open and available. As this HMD coincides with the approximate date we would be putting up an event HMD for both Eshai's murder and the turtle hatchlings that advanced our metaplot in the month of December, this is the place to submit feedback in lieu of an individual post.

[lostundercover]

In a similar vein as what I said to Cass, I'm really glad that the Hannibal plot is turning out okay, but disappointed with its organization.

This was an awesome plot. I rarely sign up for my characters to be attacked or murdered and was really looking forward to this as a cool thing (which it was!) and was especially looking forward to the fallout of that. The Emperor being murdered was something that upset me in terms of feeling unheard, as I expressed before, but which was a really freaking awesome plot in the game itself. You reassured me and I was excited again.

Except then, from my perspective, a similar situation occurred. Communication suffered and no one seemed entirely to know what was going on with the plot or even who to talk to to figure that out. As Cass's plot, this mainly falls to Cass. But when concerns were expressed, I admit I was hoping to see more mod involvement.

If Eve hadn't mentioned what was intended to be a secret plot, the whole thing would have been resolved without Brandy or I (Tony and Hayley being the two murdered). What's more upsetting to me, however, is that in Brandy and I trying to reassert ourselves, we then quasi snatched the rug out from under the feet of Al and Lee, who had a fleshed out plot that they were super excited for. They thought they were talking to all the right people and taking all the right steps. Only, that's what Brandy and I thought too and neither of us really knew about the other. To my knowledge, the end result is at least a few of the involved feeling a little disappointed but understanding of why it is how it is, rather than some people being stoked and others being upset, and I feel like better communication and more transparency might have helped that.

I think, a month from now, this plot will be remembered as awesome. Because it was. It was a great idea and involved a ton of hard work from a great number of people, but especially from you two and Eve. I'm posting this because, as Alex said, I should talk to who I think can gain the most and I'm hoping that my being open and honest may help improve future plots.

[alderwood]

First up, I'll take responsibility for the fact that I did not follow-up in as much details on the resolution of this plot as I had initially promised. This is due to a series of RL factors, but that does not diminish that I did not provide the oversight as I'd outlined privately and I apologise for that.

To address your feedback, however, I'd like to ask a question first: When it's a player plot, how much mod oversight do you think we should implement? This particular plot is a special case due to the NPC impact, but in the past, we've tried to let player plots be run by players.

Additionally, to help us with coordinating any such future plots that involve multiple murders, how much resolution do you think we should ask there be made available to and directly influenced by the impacted characters? The reason I ask is because a real world justice model would have the killer apprehended and confined, offering little in the way of closure (outside of justice) for those murdered by them. However, this is RP and the RL models don't generally work out for the sake of CR. What would your opinion on a feasible balance between justice and closure be?

As a side note, we did provide some assistance prior to the Emperor's murder, but subsequent to that, we only heard once about miscommunication -- an issue that we assumed solved when we received an update in our inbox from the coordinating player talking about the resolution of the plot and having it outlined in said update. I think we will look at implementing more communication if/when a player plot does have mod involvement, but we are open to suggestions of how best to execute that without things being cumbersome.

[everylittlegirl]

Me, personally, as a single individual and not representative of the masses: Generally, with player plots, I think the mods should check in at the beginning and then be primarily hands off unless needed. However, if concerns are expressed by players about difficulty plotting or any of that, I personally feel that the mods should have a more active role, as if coordinating a co-run event (ie if Hannibal had just murdered the Emperor).

With future serial homicide plots, I think it really depends on the involved players? If the antagonist's player is extremely up front about the timeline and potential fall out, then players will be aware of what to expect. Ambiguity is not always a bad thing either, but I think if the result(s) will be ambiguous, the antagonist's player needs to take a very strong and proactive role in plotting fallout not only for the victim, but potential investigators and the like. If they can't, that's a role the mods could step into. Those are all situational criteria.

With this specific example, I would have been more comfortable with Hayley getting no closure if that was expressed.. preferably upfront, but if not, then as soon as that potential resolution was forming. As a player, it's more important to me to feel heard and involved than for my character to be a hero or get exactly what I want. Hayley could have survived without closure (though selfishly I didn't want to permanently ruin her CR with Clark), but I became upset when I felt like my character was being cast as an extra in someone else's movie instead of the ensemble it started as.. if that makes sense?

In an ideal resolution of this plot based solely on my character, Hayley would have tortured Hannibal and Tony would have killed him. But that doesn't really take justice into account. I love the justice resolution that's going on here. As I said before, though, I think it's more about communication of expectations rather than any specific end game.

With this.. idk. Like I said, Brandy and I didn't even know about Al and Lee's plot to try to have a say in it? I'll take responsibility for not taking the initiative on my end, of course. I could have done more and I know that. It's something I'll be more aware of in future. On the flip side, I had already communicated concerns to the mods and was waiting on a plotting post from Cass, so I kind of didn't realize the onus was on me to be proactive.

And that's the thing. I don't think it's anyone's fault, just that better communication all around would have helped. If someone had reached out to all of the initial plot members (Lee, Brandy, and I), we could have worked something out from the beginning instead of anyone feeling left out or invaded. :/

[ironwood]

You say that your opinion is that a player run plot should be hands off unless concerns were raised, but I think you're failing to take into consideration that when concerns were raised, we became involved at that juncture and from that point onward, barring Alex's RL issues which she already addressed and which I expect you should have some respect for.

I believe what you're asking, while valid for some games and possibly even some plots, would strip the organic feeling from the progression of the storyline. The plot of Tu Shanshu has always meant to be heavily influenced by character actions and reactions, and for us to take a larger hand in a plot that largely left our hands in the wake of the murder (ie: Eshai being killed by Hannibal) would have put the entire thing on rails and left people even more unsatisfied. We maintained overview and guidance as necessary, but we are not here to be micromanagers. Tony hired Sharon to investigate the murder. Sharon's player put in a remarkable amount of footwork doing just that, ICly. So when information came to us that Sharon would have a key role in resolving the issue of the murders, it made sense in terms of an organic solution and that is why we did not step in. It also appeared to address our concerns, raised in light of concerns of vagueness (in terms of clues provided) that the plot would not resolve in a timely manner.

To your point about Hayley being cast as an extra – unfortunately, in a game of nearly two hundred characters, everyone is essentially an extra. Some characters get spotlight in some events and others get it in different ones. Hayley has had plenty of exposure and been a driving force between numerous points in the game, so to have her relegated to what you feel is an 'extra' role is hardly unfair if it allows a lesser-spotlighted character to have a greater impact. You are also forgetting that the murder event with Hannibal and Tony/Hayley was not planned as a prelude or prologue to Hannibal's murder of Eshai. As far as the mod team is concerned, those two events were discontiguous, and as such we felt no need to involve you or Brandy in its conception or conclusion, as Hannibal did not seek to murder Eshai based on having murdered them, nor was Eshai killed because of them. It was an independent event, and would have been happened regardless of whether or not the other murders occurred. Hannibal is a serial killer who kills those he finds distasteful, the Emperor happened to fall into that category, and the plot moved forward with that in mind.

We'll be taking your criticism into account for future events, but I don't believe your suggestions were applicable in this particular case. Thank you for bringing your thoughts forward.

[lostundercover]

Of course I respect life stuff. I elaborated because I thought Alex was asking to have an open dialogue, not because I wanted to further criticize. Thanks for reading.

[angermanaging]

I actually have to agree in terms of communicating as soon as decisions are made. To speak directly to mod involvement here, I think in the future I would strongly prefer that there be a much clearer delineation of who is in charge of what. I've felt consistently throughout this plot that each attempt to reach out to someone to get involved led to me being passed off to someone else. Having a central plot post that is continuously updated as decisions are made, so everyone can track all of the plotting as it happens, would be hugely beneficial. Though obviously that's not the mod's responsibility in the case of a player run plot, in cases like this where there's some overlap, I think it should be clearly outlined who should be contacted for what purpose and whose responsibility each aspect is.

I understand that sometimes things want to be kept as a surprise to the game at large and that makes total sense, but for example, after Eshai was killed, I would really have liked to see a post explaining what the plan was for resolution and where chances for involvement were or weren't. Maybe some kind of projected timeline. I don't feel like I need to have any hand in this plot at all, honestly, it's just OOC for me not to make some acknowledgement toward it and I've been uncertain where that's been possible without stepping on toes.

I completely get your points here, but I think it is applicable in terms of mods directing metaplot relevant outcomes and keeping an eye on a situation that concerns have been expressed over before. That said, RL issues do come up and I think everyone respects that. It's a learning process and seeing a cohesive involvement of players in the meta plot has always been one of my favorite things about TuShanshu, so I hugely appreciate the trend to continue that. I still love this plot and I'm hoping we see more like it in the future, hence wanting to offer input here on how I feel organization could be improved.

[alderwood]

We are definitely going to be considering how the various communication routes taken in this sequence of events had an impact and could be bettered. As an aside, we felt that it was clear Cass was the point of contact for the resolution of the Hannibal murders; in the future, we will ensure to make that more clear.

With regards to the information that Evandau made available after his IC post about the murder, I do think that the game would have benefitted from an update to the investigation, though I did not have the time to make such a post in and around moderation duties and my own gameplay. I've made a note for the future, in particular to plan such releases. I did provide information to players that contacted me privately regarding specific follow-ups that they conducted, but I'll endeavour to make more public plotting available. It was an unexpected aside that he opened this information up in this case, so I didn't have the correct plotting structure in place for that.

With that said, players are still welcome to contact myself or Roy for extra information regarding any event. As has been noted in the past, we are not mindreaders and are more than happy to provide details when asked -- or, if said details are not able to be put into gameplay, to at least confirm that. To put it in different terms: The door swings both ways. We're happy to provide, but sometimes get very involved with everything else that's going on and it helps to have people asking for information rather than waiting for it, especially in the event that something else comes up that temporarily takes precedence over RP (or within the RP). If people contact us via the mod inbox, that helps us prioritise things when we are that busy. If you feel like you're being handed off (even if you feel it's one of the mods doing so), pop us an email or PM via one of the mod accounts -- our inbox is a key central forum that both Roy and I use to try and ensure all concerns are being handled appropriately. It's also great, because the messages stay there until we action them, unlike private plurks (which tend to disappear into the timeline and, at times, have only been sent to one instead of both of us).