Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Location: Kohlingen, and a Basement in Canada
OK, after the ending of my Pirate plot, I have to put out a question to the server populace.
I have an idea already for a larger scale plot again (it came into mind as my pirate plot was being ran), but I also want to see what kind of plots you folks would see in general.
I would have voted political, but given all the politics involved at that other place I'm rather sick of it. I chose Mystery, because I enjoy people using their brains. ^_^
Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Being as I am the one asking the question, I don't think my opinion would be fair to give until a lot of others have given fair chance to show their opinions.
_________________ Jiharu Kusama: Demi Angel Dawnbringer Monk and Cleric of Lathandar
Christophan Warrick: Temporally displaced Immortal spy.
Askyria Shadesword: Shadow Knight
Yojimbo Kurosawa: Mysterious young guitarist.
I chose humor, though I usually try to be humorous when the mood strikes. I remember once my Kira character was on a quest to find some slaads. Being the 8 int wood elf she is, she didnt understand the word Slaad and thought everyone was talking about salad. She was very confused about being sent off to slay a conglomeration of lettuce and vegetables... but went along with it cause she was hungry. The whole quest she complained of being hungry and still wanting her promised salad.
My main interests in plots/games come from amore political and mystery aspect of them. Not only does it drag players deep into it's story, but also keeps them there with splatterings of intrigue and suspense. On a player side, it also allows some of the less than mighty to shine alongside the more veteran of the server.
Grymia did a great job on the pirate quest, most fun I've had in a long while on Amia.
As for types of plot...
Mystery and epic I'd have to say, though I enjoy any DM interaction as long as it isn't the popular "Guess why the drow/elementals/dragons just appeared in Cordor out of nowhere!" 'plot' that happened rather a lot on a certain server.
Mystery. Nothing beats a good mystery. Use your brains and your own thoughts... not your sword and numbers. ^_^
Epic can be very fun as well, as long as it's not overdone. Also... something I might add. Epic plots always end up focusing on a few characters, so I've noticed. It wouldn't be bad, except that it always seems to be the same characters, every time a plot occurs. Maybe there's a good reason, maybe there's not. My point is... eventually, as time goes on, jealousy and other negative emotions tend to build from the "non-plot" characters, towards the "plot" characters. I've seen a very good server collapse because of just this reason. I'm not saying don't do epic plots, I'm not saying that there shouldn't be central characters, because they are the framework of the story. What I am saying, however, is switch it up a bit.
I'll admit this right now, I'm somewhat tired of always seeing Gabriel lead the charge. Sure, he does it well. Sure, he's an epic paladin and therefore like, made to be a leader, blah blah freaking blah. I'm just saying... I dunno. Make it so maybe some random paladin/initiate/anyone finds out. Maybe the very idea of what is going on is so completely absurd, that no one but a few friends believe him/her. Then little things happen. Things that tie into this. Still dismissed as coincidences, after all, if you're wrong enough times, you're bound to be right sooner or later. Then slightly bigger things start happening. By the time people figure it out, the only people who know what's happening, what's really going on, is this little group who stuck by the "ranting raving" person. They rally everyone, and problem is solved in a huge dramatic thingy. .... yeah. Dramatic thingy, that's right.
Anyway, I'm just rambling now. It's coming from my own personal experiences mostly, because lemme tell ya, it's no fun spending months and months on an RP server, only to be brushed aside when an event occurs. I've had DMs tell me to leave because an event was going to happen that "didn't concern my character, because he wasn't important enough." When I stayed, an "odd occurence" happened, suddenly the area became wild magic, and oops, that cure spell someone just cast "Accidentally" ended up whisking my character away to the other side of the world. And then you get the fact that all of these plot characters find it among themselves to form their little elite circle, and no matter how good of friends they are with anyone else, even though they're in desperate need of help to fight off this threat, suddenly it's too dangerous to discuss, even with a tried and true friend.
I won't even get into the concept that these plot characxters always seem to be endowed with items otherwise deemed illegal by the server, and the fact that their rule-breakages are just happily and obliviously glossed over. Add this to the fact that THEY are always the focus, and animosity and envy builds VERY quickly.
Now that I've been so negative.... on the upside, an epic quest can sustain a server for a very long time. Bring people together, allow great RP. I've always been fond of the overly used "grudging alliance". Make the bad guys and good guys work together. But... make them each have their own agendas. Come time to finish this once and for all, and the alliance degenerates into a civil war, due to mistrust and other issues. Bum bum bum, the rest is up to the players. So yeah. Epic is great fun. But vary it. *shrugs* Just suggestions and comments from someone who's seen some...things. Yeah. Things.
_________________ Davion Telemos - Monk of the Four Winds Korthan Isharnos - Dragon Shaman of Thunder Spirit Zamasham
Last edited by TormakSaber on Wed, Jun 10 2009, 4:47 AM, edited 1 time in total.
Don't worry Nathan, Tarokh's plot is Epic by nature but I've incorporated a lot of Mystery and Politics into it as well. Also, people will have specific things they have to do, to play their part in eventually ending it (or does it end?). ^_~ I understand how frustrated you are, and I'm very.. very sorry that you haven't been included. You will! I have something in store for most people.. and I'm constantly revising what'll happen next, due to player actions. The storyline itself flows very gracefully despite the bumps, and I hope you dive head-long into it.
And going back to the main topic, I love Mystery. ^_^
Yeah I have to agree with Nathan, if youve been on a lot of servers, those epic RPs begin to happen and no matter how strong or good an RPer you are you get left out. Now its nice to be in that sorta circle where your the "big RPer" but really that circle shouldn't exist. When I really hate something is when youre in an area and youre trying to help someone for an RP and one of those "main Rpers" shows up and takes it off your hands.... that always stinks.
I dont mind when people get some special items that much though, I mean if theyve done an RP to earn it then they deserve it. But also when you ask to do an RP like that or you try to participate in an RP and the DMs dont let you.... well thats never fun. btw all the stuff ive mentioned has never happened to me here, heck my first week here I was in an RP that was really fun!
Basically what im saying is that if we do any RPs, everyone who honestly knows IC should be allowed to participate, be it they just happen to be where it takes place at the time it takes place or they heard of it through a line of friends. Corse this doesnt include meta gamers, If someone wouldnt know about it IC they shouldnt participate.
Heh im sorta ranting too but anyway, thats just my two cents.
You hit the nail on the head, TS....that is EXACTLY how I felt, for most of my time in the other server...heck, I had a devil of a time getting into the accepted group...a lot of it, is due to becoming uncomfortable rp'ing with new people.....we tend to become set in our ways, and learn who we like, and who we don't...I'm guilty of it , I admit, but I try to be openminded. A big part of it, for me, was that a bunch of my irl friends played on arelith before I got there(one even dm'ed), and I would usually just run around with them. It wasn't until Vincent started teaming up with Boogor, Danica, Cha'May, Milosh, and Thredia, that I started to get my feet wet. However, it also had a lot to do with veterans who wouldn't give me the time of day, regardless of what their character would do.
So basically, what I'm saying is: Be willing to rp with anyone, especially when we go public. You never know who's going to turn out to be a core player, with just a little push.
On a sidenote, that topic was made a day after the forum began to exist. I don't think you can top it for necropost. Most of my comments don't even apply to Amia, they applied to Arelith or Salrun.
Of course, that was also back when I was in my angsty stage where I took being bored and having no initiative as tat the DMs were ignroing me ad they should drop stuff in my lap.
Which they did, in retrospect, but I was.. too lazy to follow up on it.
_________________ Davion Telemos - Monk of the Four Winds Korthan Isharnos - Dragon Shaman of Thunder Spirit Zamasham
Last edited by TormakSaber on Wed, Aug 20 2008, 3:14 AM, edited 2 times in total.
Joined: 13 Aug 2005 Location: Oregon ('OR-ə-gən') [-8 GMT]
Every event I run just degenerates to the point of 'dead baby joke-esque' humor. I never have liked running action-plots, though I did do them for a while before I found that I was more amused by destroying players with Murphy's Law rather than hordes of overpowered midgets.
_________________ Those trees won't burn themselves down. (by Maryn)
_________________ "Most assume that all the followers of Lathander are great morning people. They're very wrong." "I think we are the only group where AD&D stands for Attention Deficit Disorder."
Humour plots are awesome, mystery plots are fancy sometimes (usually they are shot over the top). BUT good ol' dwarven political + humour + heavy action RP is the best.
Politics hands down. Politics is essentially a matter of power and isn't that what this whole 'build up a character and see what they can do' thing is all about. The only downside to a good political plot is the length needed to keep it from being transparent.
A political plot is flexible, dynamic and easily directed (for the ones running it that is) without compromising the value of anyones RP. You can make it a funny epic mystery the climaxes with an action scene that everyone will be itching for. Also, considering that political plots are easy to limit in scope, it remains easy to keep the plot open to all shapes and sizes, from Epic mages of doom to a lowly little pickpocket.
As a side note, a good political plot will be chock full of mystery and intrigue. That's why we have the CIA and MI-6 and ASIO
Jesus I've matured so much since I made that post.
Naw, you've just become grumpy. Happens to all of us at some point.
_________________ Characters: Hunar Iroff, The red-bearded, grumpy dwarf with a bastard sword. Chair of Military Issues Daren Sten, High Inquisitor of the Eternal Order of Kelemvor on Amia
Jesus I've matured so much since I made that post.
Naw, you've just become grumpy. Happens to all of us at some point.
Some of us were born grumpy....
That rant of Tormy's sounds a little like I might have when I was around that age (& had started playing original D&D a year or so before).
Now I'm approaching 50, so you can imagine what a grumbling old git I am....
_________________ "Never ascribe to malice, that which can be explained by incompetence" ~ Napoleon Bonaparte. - Clearly, Napoleon never envisioned the Internet......where I'd judge it about 50/50.
_________________ "Most assume that all the followers of Lathander are great morning people. They're very wrong." "I think we are the only group where AD&D stands for Attention Deficit Disorder."
_________________ Characters: Hunar Iroff, The red-bearded, grumpy dwarf with a bastard sword. Chair of Military Issues Daren Sten, High Inquisitor of the Eternal Order of Kelemvor on Amia
Last edited by Herra Tutteri on Wed, Aug 20 2008, 17:17 PM, edited 1 time in total.
Educational plots, that teach lore, and require it to be ultilized to progress.
_________________ Dwagin [Duh-wa-GIN] N. - 1a. Small and cute thingum, particularly fond of four legged scaled creatures of the metalic and chromatic varieties.
A combonation of Mystery and Political. As anyone whos aware of the recent attacks i've staged with my Terrorist char "Mowler", I enjoy ones that get nearly everyone in the area involved. If there's a certain amount of IC panic there it even better. I suppose what im striving for is also a bit of an Epic type plot.
I cast my vote for Epic. Not Epic in levels or monsters, but rather like an Epic of the Classical variety. Gilgamesh, the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Bible, etc... are appealing to me. They offer examples of the classic battle of good vs. evil while being sure to include a fair degree of the grey area in between. Characters all have a time to shine or to merely blend into say, for example, being one of the soldiers of Troy led by Hektor. A well played 'epic' style event can truly move those involved. Granted though, they are extremely rare and far between due to DM communication and everyone's server play times.
heheeh.. Tormie ranting against favoritism in a plot. Full of passionate reason too. I think it kind neat, one can see your progress... And is this Gabriel, Sharina? If so, it is even funnier.
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I chose Mystery, because I enjoy people using their brains. ^_^
