Post by Chimaera on Jul 6, 2016 11:42:27 GMT
This petition will focus on the logical conclusion as to why, at least for now, secondary characters should be allowed. It will include examples of how practical having secondary characters would be and how restrictive the rules can be on them to make a main character the focus of a player.
The argument I currently always see is that we have X number of players and therefore we don’t need secondaries. This may be true, but that very argument can be used against itself. It can fall invalid when compared to the number of “active” members. When looking at how many active members we have, a pattern can easily be seen by simply looking in the past missions for the repeated character names of those that sign up.
The most active members are: Erin, Gaston, Wisna, Keran, Bob, and Myself.
The less active members (which will include new members and so forth, and for older members are calculated by how often they sign-up) are: Bones, Seith, Nigel, Moth, MDingus, Blithelight and Vee.
Now, with that stated. There are four GMs, whom you recently asked to run at least one game a week. Due to locking mechanics this will become a major problem due to how limited we are in the number of players we have now. Whereas before there weren’t enough GMs, now there isn’t enough players to match the number of GMs you have. The main point of keeping people interested in a game, is keeping them interested and locking three players (two of whom have only been in one or two games themselves) for long periods of time without an immediate resolution is in essence alienating said players.
Let us use the current situation as an example. This was Toe’s first mission, which extended into a second part which ended with him and others being arrested. Nicholas is apart of this, as is Keran (who is one of the regular sign ups).
This happened on Saturday, 7/2/2016. It is now currently 7/6/2016. That means until someone, and I am assuming it would be Ryku, sets up a game to resolve their issue of being arrested, those four players are sitting on their hands unable to sign up for any games unless stated “well, locked characters can play here”. Which is great, but the issue is still there that this is a living campaign and when you keep three player characters on ice for so long with such a cliffhanger they will start to wander off. This also means that the locking of characters will be a troublesome mechanic with such a little active player base, and may even make the community seem dead.
Let me digress.
We have four GMs, and at current only a few members that can be considered active. If you factor in the lockdown mechanic, this will greatly cut into games being ran and will leave at least one GM without any players to sign up. For example, my own game nearly didn’t happen because only one player could sign up. Keran signed up but I am assuming deleted when he realized that his character was locked. Had it not been for Wisna signing up with Aiden, the game may’ve not happened. Which is a problem. Since you are, again, wanting all GMs to run at least one game a week. And you have Wisna and Nigel (at least Nigel I can confirm) who have expressed interest in being a GM. That will add one or two more to the already steadily growing list of GMs. Meaning more players are going to be needed to effectively run the world well or again you now have the reverse problem of you’ve got enough GMs now but lacking the player body to allow games to be ran weekly.
On to the way secondary characters could be allowed, and ran until a steady body of players can be recruited to not only support your one game per GM a week structure but also the locking mechanic you have began to implement.
Firstly, allow only those you have reached level 4 to have the option of creating a secondary character. You stated previously that you wanted only those who have contributed to the community in some way to be allowed the option. Well, being level 4 shows that these individuals are invested and interested enough in the community to show up every sign up and keep the game alive. Placing at least a level 4 until secondary character unlock also will possibly ensure sign ups so a player can get that second character unlocked, sent in, and approved ready to go.
Allow only a main character slot, and a secondary character slot. Main character takes priority and one can not switch their main character once chosen. Treat it like favored class. You picked your “favored character” at start up. That’s yours for good. You can’t make Character B your new main character. And Character A always must be the first to ever sign up (unless locked). Your main character will always, always take precedence over the side. IE if your main character is not locked, you can only sign up for missions with that character. If the main character dies, if you wish to apply this, also does not become your new main character. You must make a NEW main character. The same goes for if your secondary dies. A new secondary must be created. Severely limiting the secondary character to perhaps one main arc mission a month or even a week may be a good option as well.
This will mean that there will be always opened characters to take part on missions, and you aren’t punishing your players who are actively engaging in your story and that your secondary characters are never going to have that much experience points and will be level 2’s or even 3’s for a lot longer. It will also give the appearance of a much more active community.
Other living campaigns that I’ve researched allow secondary characters for the above stated reasoning. They don’t want to lose their players to boredom while said players wait for a resolution session. More so, when fpr appearance sake it appears that only one GM is able to run such kind of story missions. In overview:
The argument I currently always see is that we have X number of players and therefore we don’t need secondaries. This may be true, but that very argument can be used against itself. It can fall invalid when compared to the number of “active” members. When looking at how many active members we have, a pattern can easily be seen by simply looking in the past missions for the repeated character names of those that sign up.
The most active members are: Erin, Gaston, Wisna, Keran, Bob, and Myself.
The less active members (which will include new members and so forth, and for older members are calculated by how often they sign-up) are: Bones, Seith, Nigel, Moth, MDingus, Blithelight and Vee.
Now, with that stated. There are four GMs, whom you recently asked to run at least one game a week. Due to locking mechanics this will become a major problem due to how limited we are in the number of players we have now. Whereas before there weren’t enough GMs, now there isn’t enough players to match the number of GMs you have. The main point of keeping people interested in a game, is keeping them interested and locking three players (two of whom have only been in one or two games themselves) for long periods of time without an immediate resolution is in essence alienating said players.
Let us use the current situation as an example. This was Toe’s first mission, which extended into a second part which ended with him and others being arrested. Nicholas is apart of this, as is Keran (who is one of the regular sign ups).
This happened on Saturday, 7/2/2016. It is now currently 7/6/2016. That means until someone, and I am assuming it would be Ryku, sets up a game to resolve their issue of being arrested, those four players are sitting on their hands unable to sign up for any games unless stated “well, locked characters can play here”. Which is great, but the issue is still there that this is a living campaign and when you keep three player characters on ice for so long with such a cliffhanger they will start to wander off. This also means that the locking of characters will be a troublesome mechanic with such a little active player base, and may even make the community seem dead.
Let me digress.
We have four GMs, and at current only a few members that can be considered active. If you factor in the lockdown mechanic, this will greatly cut into games being ran and will leave at least one GM without any players to sign up. For example, my own game nearly didn’t happen because only one player could sign up. Keran signed up but I am assuming deleted when he realized that his character was locked. Had it not been for Wisna signing up with Aiden, the game may’ve not happened. Which is a problem. Since you are, again, wanting all GMs to run at least one game a week. And you have Wisna and Nigel (at least Nigel I can confirm) who have expressed interest in being a GM. That will add one or two more to the already steadily growing list of GMs. Meaning more players are going to be needed to effectively run the world well or again you now have the reverse problem of you’ve got enough GMs now but lacking the player body to allow games to be ran weekly.
On to the way secondary characters could be allowed, and ran until a steady body of players can be recruited to not only support your one game per GM a week structure but also the locking mechanic you have began to implement.
Firstly, allow only those you have reached level 4 to have the option of creating a secondary character. You stated previously that you wanted only those who have contributed to the community in some way to be allowed the option. Well, being level 4 shows that these individuals are invested and interested enough in the community to show up every sign up and keep the game alive. Placing at least a level 4 until secondary character unlock also will possibly ensure sign ups so a player can get that second character unlocked, sent in, and approved ready to go.
Allow only a main character slot, and a secondary character slot. Main character takes priority and one can not switch their main character once chosen. Treat it like favored class. You picked your “favored character” at start up. That’s yours for good. You can’t make Character B your new main character. And Character A always must be the first to ever sign up (unless locked). Your main character will always, always take precedence over the side. IE if your main character is not locked, you can only sign up for missions with that character. If the main character dies, if you wish to apply this, also does not become your new main character. You must make a NEW main character. The same goes for if your secondary dies. A new secondary must be created. Severely limiting the secondary character to perhaps one main arc mission a month or even a week may be a good option as well.
This will mean that there will be always opened characters to take part on missions, and you aren’t punishing your players who are actively engaging in your story and that your secondary characters are never going to have that much experience points and will be level 2’s or even 3’s for a lot longer. It will also give the appearance of a much more active community.
Other living campaigns that I’ve researched allow secondary characters for the above stated reasoning. They don’t want to lose their players to boredom while said players wait for a resolution session. More so, when fpr appearance sake it appears that only one GM is able to run such kind of story missions. In overview:
- Level 4 requirement.
- “Main Character” descriptor cannot be changed.
- Main character always takes precedence.
- Secondary characters only allowed a few main story missions, and only if main is locked at the time of main story session.
- If main character dies, a new main character must be made. The same for secondary. Never shall a secondary ever take the place of a main.
I am sure I can provide more but since this petition has reached 1,100 plus words I feel at this moment, I'd just be repeating myself if I hadn't already. Granted at the time of this posting we do have new members signing up, but they are still in the low numbers when you take into account the locking mechanic and session activity of other members.
