[Ambrosius]

The problem is that with a story (i.e. Novel) you have the whole thing plotted out, so the interweaving micro-plots can come together in the end. With Jumpgate story arc, there is much more random activity going on. Since (ideally) WE are writing in the variable in the story, it's hard to "weave" threads together since player action (or inaction) may actually cause arc to diverge rather than come together.

[Goldstrike]

*long whistle*

Wow.

*sigh*

As a sort of related question, has anybody here ever had experience running a RPG campaign and how long did it run and how many people were involved?

I have 15 years and have run a 5 year campaign involving 6 people.

[ELPIRATA]

and as always they ignored their FM (a trend that dates back to beta)

I totally resent this remark. Octs haven't ignored their FMs as you imply. The fact that not everyone participates and helps doesnt mean that as a whole we dont care. I worked hard for both the Roc and Tangent FMs and some more, and OEC oganized and brokered many other FMs.

What is a fact is that OCT in itself has ignored this FM, and is simply because we didnt invest a thing (that I know of) and being hard at work in the local economy I thought it was a waste of time to move FM items that we're going to be used in another way.

They FM points that Octs have is mainly due the unreg cargo events, and isolated FM completed missions.

ELP

[Jump]

I don't know bro. I remember many many times when Octs paid us in -=MACK=- to finish thier FM. Or at least haul in all the goods.

[Goldstrike]

Originally Posted by Jump

I don't know bro. I remember many many times when Octs paid us in -=MACK=- to finish thier FM. Or at least haul in all the goods.

I think the Octs finished the Dragon FM in 2 or 4 hours. Don't quote me on that.

[spork]

Yeah, my mistake. I meant to say that Octs are the strongest FMing faction in space. Clearly.


FM hours are a bad indicator of actual FM work since the completion percentage can vary widely. That said, Octs have been historicaly quicker with new ship FMs than other types of FMs. Obviously individual pilots and occasional exceptions do go against my generalization that the Octs usually ignore FMs. But they are the only faction to have an FM pulled entirely due to lack of interest, IIRC. But anyway, I didn't mean to offend the few Oct FMers.

[Evolution]

This thing is seriously STILL going on?

[QrazyKermi]

Didn't this thing start sometime before EP2?

[BloodGuns]

My 2Cs
FM are to be completed by players. I we dont complete em , th estory wont continue . It shows from the length this FM has been dragged onto.
But to stay objective , yes, the FM could be "completed" by other meansso to give the players a breather and resume normal productions instead of getting vital commods piled to core stations just for the FM runing. I am alarmed, yes, but I m still "new " to the way things happen here so plz gimme a break

[spork]

GM_K told us specifically that this FM would not be a regular FM, but it was to be used as a score card for the events surrounding the virus/corp wars storyline.

[dahalb]

Originally Posted by Ambrosius

The problem is that with a story (i.e. Novel) you have the whole thing plotted out, so the interweaving micro-plots can come together in the end. With Jumpgate story arc, there is much more random activity going on. Since (ideally) WE are writing in the variable in the story, it's hard to "weave" threads together since player action (or inaction) may actually cause arc to diverge rather than come together.

I dont know why but lately we seem to be on opposite sides of things or not understanding each other but here we go...

It can be done, it just takes discipline and the active involvement of the major squads and personalities in the game. I can remember being PM'd with missions from various sources that needed to be completed in order to progress the stories that were going on at the time. I remember a mission where a DSS had to be retrieved by us and delivered to a TRI research NPC . Others were contacted by "forces unknown" to stop that transfer. The eventual result was a progession of the storyline. The "variable" you speak of is the outcome. Having read as a child the "make your own adventure" books, where 7 stories were written so that the journey developed depending on decisions the reader made, i think a parrallel can be drawn. This is by no means an endictment of GMK or his abilities, i just think he needs either help or more time. Also, i dont think there is anything wrong with "leaning" on the community for some ideas or insights as well. Living and breathing Jumpgate the way the players do gives them somewhat of a different opinion of what is good, bad or indifferent.

Obviously there has to be an "end game" in mind with each story being told or played out, but the path to that end can take many twists and turns. Its those twist and turns of the journey that make the end worthwhile. The fun is in the journey not the destination.

An example of a recent event would be the FM's. The Cargo events were good, but depending on them was a mistake IMO. Perhaps something similar to the DSS mission i described above where a new breakthough was found and copied by a spy etc..you can see where im going. OR perhaps a few missions to deliver UC's of a specific number and colour in order to build a smaller and more efficient production facility. There are a number of ways that you can accomplish the end goal. I have simply named a few.

Anyway, this is looking like a novel in and of itself lol, so ill end it there

[spork]

Originally Posted by dahalb

Doesnt that show a lack of depth? Not being nasty or anything, but if you read a book, you have multiple story threads that interweave. Some conclude as single incidents, some last the whole way through and are resolved at the end, and some are never resolved.

Perhaps with all his "other" work, he doesn't have the time to devote to that kind of RP story writing, but then the community is full of ideas. Perhaps leaning on some of the more talented would be of benefit to all?

Just an idea.

How many storylines should a part time employee be able to run, organize, and fly RPCs at once?


FWIW, we did have mission types other than cargo missions. There was the one with the Oct drone, the Septio/Courier ones, and the Pulchra/Luoto (equipment destruction) ones just to name the ones that come immediately to mind. I would have liked to see the FM completion rate a tad higher. I agree that more variety would have been nice, but then I also felt that making it a 3-way battle would have been more interesting. Obviously not everyone agrees with my POV.

What GM_K needs is the ability to create unique mission items. Relying on standard commods/arties/equipment makes it too easy for people to cheat and really wrecks the reality factor since all those items are redily availible. I thought the use of POSes to house the mission critical items was about as good as could be done with the tools at hand.

[Ambrosius]

The "variable" you speak of is the outcome. Having read as a child the "make your own adventure" books, where 7 stories were written so that the journey developed depending on decisions the reader made, i think a parrallel can be drawn.

I gererally agree. But I would suspect this would be VERY difficult, time c