Game feedback, mk 1!

[Anastasia]

We've gone through a few levels of play, so I'd like to ask you for some opinions in the form of a handy numbered list of questions. I'll answer these as well and give my own opinions at some point.

1. What do you think of your character so far?

2. Do you think your character's had enough chances to RP? Too many? Too few?

3. What do you think of your partymates, and do you  have any suggestions for them?

4. What aspects of the world and adventures have you liked so far? Are there things you'd like to see more?

5. What haven't you liked? Are there aspects you'd rather see go away?

6. How do you feel about the current number of PCs?

7. Rin: Ghost keeping watch over Shamal or playing in doggie heaven?

8. There is no 8, beyond an invitation to post any other comments you want but that aren't covered above.

[Ebiris]

1. What do you think of your character so far?

Shamal is fun. Leaving aside her current (and totally well justified!) angst over Rin's untimely death, she's sweetly stereotypically neutral good, which is exactly what I've been aiming for.

To be honest, I'm almost glad in a way that Rin's death and her initial reactions served as a reminder of her backstory - she hasn't always been an even tempered and well adjusted human being, so it was nice to bring back the aspect of her as a near feral forest dweller.

I didn't really want her to be so bitchy to everyone at the opening of Stronger's shop, but there was definite provocation! Hopefully we can all move past that, though.

2. Do you think your character's had enough chances to RP? Too many? Too few?

No such thing as too many chances to RP.

While I'm happy with things as they are, I think we could all do with more chances to just RP in a non-adventure context, whether following a party member's non-work daily routine, or having us all hit the tavern to get blitzed on payday, I'm sure we can work more interactions in.

3. What do you think of your partymates, and do you have any suggestions for them?

Seira: Recent bitchiness aside, Seira is rather amusing in her 'Tsun-dere without the the dere' mannerisms. While I could suggest she could open up more, I think her reservedness is part of her charm. She does seem a bit contradictory at times, though - all gung ho for our suicide mission into Malmuth, and more recently seeming almost cowardly on the Bearquest, so I'm not really sure which represents an accurate picture, there.

Berlioz: He's starting to do a bit better at holding his own, but oftentimes poor Berli feels like the party punching bag. I guess it's hard to be assertive when you think your character sucks, but hopefully with experience Snow will feel better about Berli's role in things.

Lyselle: Lyselle feels a bit like the 'straight man' of the group, which is a bit odd, since she could get away with playing the haughty noblewoman stereotype or something like that, but she oftentimes comes across as the most normal of the bunch. I suppose part of that comes from playing the fighter, though. I think, however, she could stand to be a bit more commanding in her attitude, rather than passively going along with whatever her oddball party members come up with - she seems the most likely to be fast tracked up the promotion ladder, anyway.

4. What aspects of the world and adventures have you liked so far? Are there things you'd like to see more?

Goblins, they suck, less of them please.

The last adventure was a good chance for Shamal to show off her druidic skills, so I guess I'd like more of that for myself, but on the same tack, getting quest types that give one of us a chance to show off works well. High society intrigue for Lyselle, sneaky stuff for Seira, maybe something Berli can put his cunning linguistic skills to use on, I dunno.

For the world itself, recurring NPCs are nice, and we're building up a few familiar faces outside of the garrison to flesh out and deal with

Also, we're clearly going to wind up exploring those fabled ruins at some point. Nice buildup to them with Stronger's Sea Elf stuff, Khardon's Third Resort, and the Gnome Fortress on the latest quest.

5. What haven't you liked? Are there aspects you'd rather see go away?

Oh, I should've put my goblin comment here, shouldn't I?

6. How do you feel about the current number of PCs?

Four is the standard D&D assumption. I'm happy enough with that.

7. Rin: Ghost keeping watch over Shamal or playing in doggie heaven?

Rin frolics free in Chaotic Good heaven!

8. There is no 8, beyond an invitation to post any other comments you want but that aren't covered above.

I got nothin'.

[Anastasia]

1. What do you think of your character so far?

Shamal is fun. Leaving aside her current (and totally well justified!) angst over Rin's untimely death, she's sweetly stereotypically neutral good, which is exactly what I've been aiming for.

To be honest, I'm almost glad in a way that Rin's death and her initial reactions served as a reminder of her backstory - she hasn't always been an even tempered and well adjusted human being, so it was nice to bring back the aspect of her as a near feral forest dweller.

I didn't really want her to be so bitchy to everyone at the opening of Stronger's shop, but there was definite provocation! Hopefully we can all move past that, though.

I agree with pretty much all fo this. I like her a lot, but she needed that reminder of being a tad batshit when things go wrong. That said, you gave off the kindly NG thing from the get-go, without feeling like someone that could've been like that or rehashed (Say a Usagi, to make a previous game reference.)

On a purely out of game note, it's a nice change after Karuma. The more I think about it, the more she creeped me out.

No such thing as too many chances to RP.

While I'm happy with things as they are, I think we could all do with more chances to just RP in a non-adventure context, whether following a party member's non-work daily routine, or having us all hit the tavern to get blitzed on payday, I'm sure we can work more interactions in.

I fundamentally agree here. Part of it is that I want/need to set up the town and area strongly first and foremost. Stuff like a commanding officer nad a few parts of the garrison, a few NPCs, a magic shop(Needed to be setup in a low magic campaign/gives investment in)  and so on.

More on this in the relevant sections/comments.

As a question, what the HELL does Tsundere mean, anyway? I missed the boat on that term.

Goblins, they suck, less of them please.

I was starting to figure that out. <_<

---

As a note you probably get the least replies, ironically. You're pretty much very well defined and have the least mixed thoughts outta me. I suspect I'll say more to the other 3 party members.

Rin dying sucked, but at least you can summon another. Just don't have Laika die. Pleeaase. <_<

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

1. What do you think of your character so far?

Berli... hm. You know, it's easy to realize when I'm having fun during the RP if you go by Berli's behavior. When he starts cracking up odd lines, generally come into his snarky and cynical behavior and seems like -a person-, that's when I'm feeling comfortable in the RP. And, since I'm not quite fully adjusted, those moments tend to not be all that plentiful. I'm a lot more fond of the interaction in this RP than of the fighting and management, and it clearly shows. Battle-wise, I feel a bit confused still, but the bard should come into his own as I do. I'm having fun with him, but I'm still getting used to the boy. And I guess that, sometimes, I'm just not that too into it. It seems like I need to -fit- the character first, and that only happens somewhere midgame. Until then, I play stilted and uncomfortable, and that's just not very fun.

2. Do you think your character's had enough chances to RP? Too many? Too few?

I'll echo Eb here. There's no such thing as too many chances to RP. However, they feel pretty plentiful, which is all I ask.

3. What do you think of your partymates, and do you have any suggestions for them?

Shamal - The party's mom. Really fun to see her being really nice and nurturing and caring and - wait, that's enough herbs. Feels a bit off for a druid type to be like that, but it's also very fun, and the last tragic endeavor (well... as much as you can consider a dog being trounced tragic... >_>) seemed to be a reminder of what Shamal has been somehow forsaking for a while. Layers. That's fun.

Seira - Tsun dere without the dere, the bard's worst nightmare. She's the most fun to interact for me, since Berli and her bounce off each other in such a hilariously stereotypical manner you have to wonder. I'm a bit concerned about how contradictory she seems to be at times, however, and Eb gives perfect examples of that. I'm often left thinking what the hell does she have in mind in the end.

Lyselle - Seems to be the one with a straightly screwed head in the party. On the other hand, it feels like she's often not there enough. It makes perfect sense IC, but I can't help but to think that, personally, she could make more of a presence in the character interactions.  

4. What aspects of the world and adventures have you liked so far? Are there things you'd like to see more?

What I enjoyed the most has been... well. I like the border city itself. Frolicking around the town and solving minor issues/bantering around in patrolling duty was one of my favourite sessions. Feels like a nicely fleshed place, of which I would like to see more.

5. What haven't you liked? Are there aspects you'd rather see go away?

Goblins suck. Trolls hate me and I hate them. Also, I'd like to see more Oberuth nake- *HEADSHOT.*

In all seriousness? I'm still coming to terms with the whole system, and the level of micromanagement that it requires on money flow/item reserves/general resource-crunching kinda awes and displeases me. I guess I'll get used to it, but it's a personal peeve. If I wanted to micromanage stuff like that all the time, I'd just play a SRPG.

6. How do you feel about the current number of PCs?

Fine. More than that and it would probably break the flow and interactions some, the way the game is organized.

7. Rin: Ghost keeping watch over Shamal or playing in doggie heaven?

Rin went to doggie heaven? *RUNS.*

8. There is no 8, beyond an invitation to post any other comments you want but that aren't covered above.

No real thoughts here. I prefer to see the stuff developing as the topic advances. I'm bad at pushing thoughts myself. >_>

[Anastasia]

Berli... hm. You know, it's easy to realize when I'm having fun during the RP if you go by Berli's behavior. When he starts cracking up odd lines, generally come into his snarky and cynical behavior and seems like -a person-, that's when I'm feeling comfortable in the RP. And, since I'm not quite fully adjusted, those moments tend to not be all that plentiful. I'm a lot more fond of the interaction in this RP than of the fighting and management, and it clearly shows. Battle-wise, I feel a bit confused still, but the bard should come into his own as I do. I'm having fun with him, but I'm still getting used to the boy. And I guess that, sometimes, I'm just not that too into it. It seems like I need to -fit- the character first, and that only happens somewhere midgame. Until then, I play stilted and uncomfortable, and that's just not very fun.

This first point is one I'm going to reference a fair bit and ties into a lot of the points made. I think part of the problem is that you simply don't know the mechanics of 3.5 and hell, maybe 3.5 in general. Feeling lost or not on your game helps breed uncomfortableness and feeds into issues. See the troll maiming for example. Read up and learn, this'll at least help one aspect.

My thoughts tend to run concurrent to yours.  My advice is to just relax and try and make comments off the cuff. Get some steady RPing in and try to interact with things, people, and the world itself. You've said yourself that you don't always feel comfortable, so.

I'll echo Eb here. There's no such thing as too many chances to RP. However, they feel pretty plentiful, which is all I ask.

One point to make is that you can make some of your own chances - interacting with both the other PCs and the world around you. This isn't some veiled knocking at you, just a point that's really worth making. I can toss a lot of RPing hooks and chances out, but the best ones tend to be the ones you make yourselves.

What I enjoyed the most has been... well. I like the border city itself. Frolicking around the town and solving minor issues/bantering around in patrolling duty was one of my favourite sessions. Feels like a nicely fleshed place, of which I would like to see more.

Yeah. That gate guarding adventure was a good one and one I want to do more with. Moreso since a few of you(You're the one that comes most to mind, see points above) don't tend to interact as well in combat or under direct pressure.

A lot of the point is to fill in Balmuria and the surrounding area, so it's good that it's doing well, even if only the tip of the iceburg has been touched.

In all seriousness? I'm still coming to terms with the whole system, and the level of micromanagement that it requires on money flow/item reserves/general resource-crunching kinda awes and displeases me. I guess I'll get used to it, but it's a personal peeve. If I wanted to micromanage stuff like that all the time, I'd just play a SRPG.

Yeah, I'm moving somewhat away from heavy money and resource crunches. PC reaction wasn't good and while playing it up more could fit into the world, I'm operating more on just not worrying about it, or the logic of the party having enough gold to buy a large township.

[Corwin]

1. It's fun. I still need time to flesh her out, though.

2. This would tie in with #4!

3. Not really, to be honest. I shouldn't tell other people how their characters should be, they know that better than me.  >_>

My impressions of them are:

Berlioz is generally not a likeable person. That has nothing to do with Snow, but everything to do with the personality he picked for Berlioz. Let's be frank, his defining trait is being snarky and sarcastic against the world and all that which inhabits it. Makes for a nice anti-hero, maybe, but....

Having said that, I have no problems whatsoever working with Snow or Berli~

Shamal is a likeable person. I can say that and there not be any subtext~

Lyselle is, like Snow said, not very vocal. Unlike him, I actually think this is understandable OOC, not IC, given that she is often at work (or tired from a schedule of work/school) when playing and obviously cannot give the game as much attention during those times.

4. Things I'd like to see more are those along the lines of my older suggestion to follow a 'day in the life of...' for our chars, perhaps one at a time. I'm raising this again because I think I saw something like it in the responses here, while the original response was negative, so perhaps things changed for the other players. Or, maybe, I just wasn't understood originally. That often happens!

More of the Commander would be nice. Why can't we ever meet him off work, perhaps by accident? More than two guards with names would be pro, too.

We're PCs, so by definition we beat the odds. Let's see some other races! Elves were nice, but that guy is way uptight. He's like some elven paragon/ranger multiclass. That way stereotypes are born! We need more CG elves, and maybe a tiefling or two. I have it on good authority they make good witches and rogues.

5. Strangely enough, I didn't hate the goblins. Maybe because I've started reading the goblins comic (http://www.goblinscomic.com/) recently and keep on picturing the goblins we meet as those guys.

6. 4-5 is the ideal D&D number. I see no reason to change it, like the others.

7. If I say 'doggie heaven' will the SeiraHate abate?  >_>

8. I'd actually like to know the world more. For example, those bakery guys... I presume they just used the money for a nice nest and built a cheaper bakery elsewhere in town. Could we go see them? If we did, would it matter? As in, could you play off that, or would doing this be more of a chore to you? Stuff like that, I'm curious about~

9!

And now, because there was apparent confusion about Seira's reasoning at various stages of the game, I'm all too happy to provide it~

In the case of deceiving Malmuth, the operation largely depended on the social skills side, which we all know is mostly RP-based. The real danger there was not being able to talk your way past the other side's negotiators, not failing a balance check and having rocks fall on your head. That's not to say I didn't agree there were considerable dangers, and understandable concerns, but I ultimately believed it to be quite an achievable mission. Not for a moment did I consider it suicidal, since we did have all the appropriate tools at our disposal. Also, the benefit must be considered -- both to our country and in the form of some epic sword (maybe even a resort, who knows?)

In the case of bear-hunting, I again was all for it, because like Eb told May at the time, we believed we could ambush it, hit it some, and if need be retreat and recover while the bear couldn't. Rinse, repeat. Naturally, things didn't work out that way in the end, but we couldn't possibly expect a crazy barbarian with wolves and a troll.  >_>

The only case I can consider her being cowardly or overly cautious was when confronted by a glowing divine avatar which had already been confirmed as something that utterly nuked another divine avatar. I saw no reason to stay back and find out if it was serious about its "mortals are heretics, die in fire" spiel. Instead, it made sense to grab the stuff we looted and bolt. In the end, had we done that we would've made off with all of our loot sans two lvl1 arcane scrolls and one lvl2 divine scroll. Even now, I'm not sure said loot warranted the increased risk to our lives for staying. This ties into with the reasoning for braving perhaps similar risks in the hypothetical Malmutian mission.

If there is further confusion, I'll be more than happy to explain my reasoning. Please notice that I'm not trying to rehash some old arguments, so there's no need to post me I was wrong about any of the above. I'm not claiming I'm right.  >_>

[Anastasia]

4. Things I'd like to see more are those along the lines of my older suggestion to follow a 'day in the life of...' for our chars, perhaps one at a time. I'm raising this again because I think I saw something like it in the responses here, while the original response was negative, so perhaps things changed for the other players. Or, maybe, I just wasn't understood originally. That often happens!

No, no. I actually agree here and understood. I just haven't gotten to it yet - I wanted to do this forest arc for various reasons, and you guys ended up taking the long way around it. I wanted to set up the forests a little more for now, so there you go.

More of the Commander would be nice. Why can't we ever meet him off work, perhaps by accident? More than two guards with names would be pro, too.

I had considered him coming with you on your first mission, but that was discarded early on for various reasons. It's something that's in the cards at some point, I reckon.

We're PCs, so by definition we beat the odds. Let's see some other races! Elves were nice, but that guy is way uptight. He's like some elven paragon/ranger multiclass. That way stereotypes are born! We need more CG elves, and maybe a tiefling or two. I have it on good authority they make good witches and rogues.

Well, you've seen Elves, Sea Elves, Goblins, Trolls and the ruins of gnomes. I'm workin' on it, but I'm not trying to rush it, either. It is a mostly human city focused game, so a lot of those types don't come around as often.

Though yeah, PC odds and all that. <_<

8. I'd actually like to know the world more. For example, those bakery guys... I presume they just used the money for a nice nest and built a cheaper bakery elsewhere in town. Could we go see them? If we did, would it matter? As in, could you play off that, or would doing this be more of a chore to you? Stuff like that, I'm curious about~

This I want to encourage. If you want to go investigate something, say that bakery or whatever else, go to me and say, 'Dune, I want to go see what happened there.' By all means, investigate the world as much as you want.

---

Seira's interesting, but she's very much a Rei in that she doesn't often emote directly or show her motives. This probably ties into party cohesion and bonding together, and all that good stuff. People are still learning how to read you - and so am I.

[Asrana]

1. What do you think of your character so far?

Lyselle? More focused than I expected, but it's a military situation. She's quiet and pulled back, but I didn't really want her to be an aggressive noblewoman from the get go. She's kind of flabbergasted by some of the intrigue and deceptions, though it doesn't bug her. It's a little destabilizing to try and walk her line, but interesting. It's nice to be playing the non-thinking fighter for once, but mostly it's a struggle to launch the occasional pot shot into the banter, but not really get involved. She's kind of a lonely girl and doesn't want to push friends away. She remembers being all alone and feeling politically alone in Armasea a little sharply.

2. Do you think your character's had enough chances to RP? Too many? Too few?

I'll echo the non-work, non-adventure sentiment. It kind of puts the whole situation on edge rather than casually talking.

3. What do you think of your partymates, and do you have any suggestions for them?

Seira - Lay off the NOS! Or at least add some sauce~. Not really sure how here Tsun gig is going to play out, can only say it's been a weird stream of mixed messages and oddity that's kind put Lyselle back.

Shamal - Sympathies lay with our dearly beloved blonde sister of the forest. She's just nice, though I wouldn't describe her as motherly.    It's like watching later Usagi the druid, only different in a few ways that escape me.

Berlioz - Cranky old man. Amusing to watch, doesn't seem quite as sharp tongued as Seira. Does seema  little off balance, but what's one to expect from some Malmuthian? >_> I'm sure he'll adapt in time and just become the snarky old man.

4. What aspects of the world and adventures have you liked so far? Are there things you'd like to see more?

I like riding my horse into battle, and being untouched~. Okay, probably shouldn't say that as the tank, but y'know. Actually, what I want? I want to see Balmuria burn to the ground and a bloody war of dominance and imperialism to break out so that we can pillage and conquer! Sorta, not really, but it's a thought! Ruins tend to be fun when they're ot out and out 'dungeons' in the gaming sense. Ancient lore and that like.

5. What haven't you liked? Are there aspects you'd rather see go away?

Goblins are just...boring after a while. Small, pesky little creatures.

6. How do you feel about the current number of PCs?

Four is the classic number.

7. Rin: Ghost keeping watch over Shamal or playing in doggie heaven?

We don't need more Shamemo.

8. There is no 8, beyond an invitation to post any other comments you want but that aren't covered above.

See Berli.

[Anastasia]

1. What do you think of your character so far?

Lyselle? More focused than I expected, but it's a military situation. She's quiet and pulled back, but I didn't really want her to be an aggressive noblewoman from the get go. She's kind of flabbergasted by some of the intrigue and deceptions, though it doesn't bug her. It's a little destabilizing to try and walk her line, but interesting. It's nice to be playing the non-thinking fighter for once, but mostly it's a struggle to launch the occasional pot shot into the banter, but not really get involved. She's kind of a lonely girl and doesn't want to push friends away. She remembers being all alone and feeling politically alone in Armasea a little sharply.

*Nods*

Yeah. It shows more than I expected, and some of it tends to boomerange back. A good chunk of the consensus seems to be for her to open up and speak a little more, as you admitted that she's rather quiet for various reasons. I suspect work and school play into this some and I don't blame you for that. Still, I'd really like to see Lyselle being more active. I like what I've seen so far.

It's not that she's the 'non-thinking' fighter, it's that she's quiet enough to lack a presence.

I like riding my horse into battle, and being untouched~. Okay, probably shouldn't say that as the tank, but y'know. Actually, what I want? I want to see Balmuria burn to the ground and a bloody war of dominance and imperialism to break out so that we can pillage and conquer! Sorta, not really, but it's a thought! Ruins tend to be fun when they're ot out and out 'dungeons' in the gaming sense. Ancient lore and that like.

Heh, I agree. I liked the gnome dungeon since it didn't have any real 'normal' dungeon fighting. It was more of a situational puzzle that had rewards, and fights were almost the failure for not figuring out the puzzles.

[Anastasia]

1. What do you think of your character so far?

PCs: I like all of them to degrees. I mainly hit on this in replies, so I won't go into depth. Shamal's best right now since she feels like the most realised; Seira's good but I think we'rea ll adapting; Berlioz is good but learning; Lyselle just needs to project and interact more in my eyes.

2. Do you think your character's had enough chances to RP? Too many? Too few?

I almost want to say too few. I think some of it is that you've managed to miss a few hooks by choice and by chance. I won't say what since some are spoilers, but I encourage - ask questions if yous ee anything that interests you. Investigate and explore.

4. What aspects of the world and adventures have you liked so far? Are there things you'd like to see more?

I like Balmuria. I want to project more of the country now that the city's firming up. I'd like to have a grand sit down with Seira some day we're both bored and talk over the elf lands.

5. What haven't you liked? Are there aspects you'd rather see go away?

Goblin interactions past Yezrut. Yezrut was cool, but reactions to them after that bombed like lighting hitting a car. Past that, nothing major - if I didn't lik ea minor aspect or person, they just won't recur.

6. How do you feel about the current number of PCs?

It's fine, I was purely wondering if you guys were interested in trying to recruit at any point.

7. Rin: Ghost keeping watch over Shamal or playing in doggie heaven?

She's currenly on Bitches Gone Wild: Happy Hunting Grounds Beaches.

8. There is no 8, beyond an invitation to post any other comments you want but that aren't covered above.

Just use the awayness thread if you're going to miss a day or be late. Organization makes my life so much easier. Let me know these things or when you're alive.