Post by Lux on Dec 3, 2023 3:16:18 GMT
In my experience of playing MUSHes and MUDs over the years, conflict between player characters has, more often than not, been a negative experience for virtually all involved. It may therefore seem strange that I have decided to try a game with such conflict as an integral portion. However, on the occasions where it has been done correctly, it can provide for some excellent stories.
I hope that the episodic structure, with what is essentially a character wipe as we move from episode to episode, will alleviate certain issues that can arise with character conflict wherein players tend to feel like a lot of investment was taken off them. After all, the only people who are carrying forward characters from episode to episode will be those whose characters aren't likely to be deeply involved in the conflict anyway. If people want to play long-time characters, I encourage them to play one of those travelling sorts. There will potentially be episodes that return to already used geographic locations, in which case people might reprise old roles, but the setting is big enough that I don't anticipate this being common.
With all this in mind, I really encourage people to consider that the goal of the game is to tell some cool stories. I am aware that playing a character who always loses can sometimes feel pretty bad, but it's my hope that in the back and forth over the course of each episode that characters will win some and lose some.
As game-runner, I'll absolutely appreciate people being graceful about their characters losing.
In the end, the whole idea is experimental. It may simply not work, and if that is the case, I will pivot away from it. I'd like to try it out though.
I hope that the episodic structure, with what is essentially a character wipe as we move from episode to episode, will alleviate certain issues that can arise with character conflict wherein players tend to feel like a lot of investment was taken off them. After all, the only people who are carrying forward characters from episode to episode will be those whose characters aren't likely to be deeply involved in the conflict anyway. If people want to play long-time characters, I encourage them to play one of those travelling sorts. There will potentially be episodes that return to already used geographic locations, in which case people might reprise old roles, but the setting is big enough that I don't anticipate this being common.
With all this in mind, I really encourage people to consider that the goal of the game is to tell some cool stories. I am aware that playing a character who always loses can sometimes feel pretty bad, but it's my hope that in the back and forth over the course of each episode that characters will win some and lose some.
As game-runner, I'll absolutely appreciate people being graceful about their characters losing.
In the end, the whole idea is experimental. It may simply not work, and if that is the case, I will pivot away from it. I'd like to try it out though.