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Open Threads, Closed Threads, Campaigns, Oh my!


Barnum

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Thevshi made a few excellent points when she said . . .

Yes there are more heroes than villains at the moment, but the problem can work both ways. Look what happened in the Southside thread, Herifeld was trying to start something for his PL 6 hero, hoping Ref would give him something to do and TWO PL 10 villains show up in the thread. Just because a villain (or hero) steps out the door and decides to do something does not mean other players should just jump into the thread in great numbers (or at all).

It should be completely possible for a villain to go pull off some crime and only have to deal with Ref controlled police (and maybe an NPC hero). Just as heroes should be able to go out and face Ref controlled NPC thugs and villains.

I personally am not a big fan of PvP, and plan be not be involved in it too much.

The Refs have been in discussion about this since day one, and we would love to have more feedback from the community about this larger issue. Let me start with the basics:

What don't we want:

-We don't want a very closed community where only a select group of players interact with each other and ignore others. This is a player-driven and widely interactive campaign community.

What we do want:

-We do want players to be able to have some control over their stories, and allowing any hero/villain to crash a thread whenever they want, kills that control.

Right now, I have been putting the word "full" in the titles of my threads whenever we have reached a critical limit on heroes and villains. I would also suggest that you spell out in the first OOC post for your thread just who would be a good fit for your campaign (PL 6ers only, villains only, 1 more, etc.). This should suffice until we have a more official protocol for how to handle things like this. I am a firm believer that having a villain drop in on your thread when you don't want him to is fun occasionally and is what will make this board special, but if every thread is getting crashed, then it just becomes frustrating. I also think it would be a really good idea to post in an OOC thread before you crash to make sure that your arrival is appropriate and timely.

So, to repeat, I think every player should be striving to tie their stories together, to include each other in the action, and to make this feel like one big city . . . but I also feel strongly that one player should not have to be at the whim of another or have their personal interest thwarted because 10 people want to jump into their thread. In short, communication is the key, and until we have an official method for communicating this, we should all be patient and extra considerate.

Thoughts?

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Thevshi made a few excellent points when she said . . .

Yes there are more heroes than villains at the moment, but the problem can work both ways. Look what happened in the Southside thread, Herifeld was trying to start something for his PL 6 hero, hoping Ref would give him something to do and TWO PL 10 villains show up in the thread. Just because a villain (or hero) steps out the door and decides to do something does not mean other players should just jump into the thread in great numbers (or at all).

It should be completely possible for a villain to go pull off some crime and only have to deal with Ref controlled police (and maybe an NPC hero). Just as heroes should be able to go out and face Ref controlled NPC thugs and villains.

I personally am not a big fan of PvP, and plan be not be involved in it too much.

The Refs have been in discussion about this since day one, and we would love to have more feedback from the community about this larger issue. Let me start with the basics:

What don't we want:

-We don't want a very closed community where only a select group of players interact with each other and ignore others. This is a player-driven and widely interactive campaign community.

What we do want:

-We do want players to be able to have some control over their stories, and allowing any hero/villain to crash a thread whenever they want, kills that control.

Right now, I have been putting the word "full" in the titles of my threads whenever we have reached a critical limit on heroes and villains. I would also suggest that you spell out in the first OOC post for your thread just who would be a good fit for your campaign (PL 6ers only, villains only, 1 more, etc.). This should suffice until we have a more official protocol for how to handle things like this. I am a firm believer that having a villain drop in on your thread when you don't want him to is fun occasionally and is what will make this board special, but if every thread is getting crashed, then it just becomes frustrating. I also think it would be a really good idea to post in an OOC thread before you crash to make sure that your arrival is appropriate and timely.

So, to repeat, I think every player should be striving to tie their stories together, to include each other in the action, and to make this feel like one big city . . . but I also feel strongly that one player should not have to be at the whim of another or have their personal interest thwarted because 10 people want to jump into their thread. In short, communication is the key, and until we have an official method for communicating this, we should all be patient and extra considerate.

Thoughts?

Link to comment

Thevshi made a few excellent points when she said . . .

Yes there are more heroes than villains at the moment, but the problem can work both ways. Look what happened in the Southside thread, Herifeld was trying to start something for his PL 6 hero, hoping Ref would give him something to do and TWO PL 10 villains show up in the thread. Just because a villain (or hero) steps out the door and decides to do something does not mean other players should just jump into the thread in great numbers (or at all).

It should be completely possible for a villain to go pull off some crime and only have to deal with Ref controlled police (and maybe an NPC hero). Just as heroes should be able to go out and face Ref controlled NPC thugs and villains.

I personally am not a big fan of PvP, and plan be not be involved in it too much.

The Refs have been in discussion about this since day one, and we would love to have more feedback from the community about this larger issue. Let me start with the basics:

What don't we want:

-We don't want a very closed community where only a select group of players interact with each other and ignore others. This is a player-driven and widely interactive campaign community.

What we do want:

-We do want players to be able to have some control over their stories, and allowing any hero/villain to crash a thread whenever they want, kills that control.

Right now, I have been putting the word "full" in the titles of my threads whenever we have reached a critical limit on heroes and villains. I would also suggest that you spell out in the first OOC post for your thread just who would be a good fit for your campaign (PL 6ers only, villains only, 1 more, etc.). This should suffice until we have a more official protocol for how to handle things like this. I am a firm believer that having a villain drop in on your thread when you don't want him to is fun occasionally and is what will make this board special, but if every thread is getting crashed, then it just becomes frustrating. I also think it would be a really good idea to post in an OOC thread before you crash to make sure that your arrival is appropriate and timely.

So, to repeat, I think every player should be striving to tie their stories together, to include each other in the action, and to make this feel like one big city . . . but I also feel strongly that one player should not have to be at the whim of another or have their personal interest thwarted because 10 people want to jump into their thread. In short, communication is the key, and until we have an official method for communicating this, we should all be patient and extra considerate.

Thoughts?

Link to comment

Well, I personally hope that we are able to make things tie together well with each heroes and villains stories and adventures. I got involved in free form roll playing on the City of Heroes website in late 2001 (yes, well before the game was released), and the group of people we had there (also mainly heroes) was very close knit for about a year, with people keeping track of things others were doing (generally) and crossovers taking place between super groups and the like. It felt like we were making our own comic line. Eventually it fragmented, as the community grew, but, unlike here, we did not have dedicated GMs/Refs that were overseeing everything.

I think that the problem I (and others) were talking about sort of came about that when the thread that several others jumped into was started, there were no sub-forums in “South Freedom†and when the thread “Southside†opened, it might have been viewed as for anything taking place in Southside. With sub-forms, it is easier for individual threads, within the same part of town to run contemporaneously.

The fight going on in the Boardwalk right now I believe was case where the villain started his crime, and the hero PM’ed the villain’s player to see if it was okay to have his hero intervene. While I said I am not a big fan of PvP, I am a big fan of good stories, so I could well get involved in some PvP where the story is good.

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Well, I personally hope that we are able to make things tie together well with each heroes and villains stories and adventures. I got involved in free form roll playing on the City of Heroes website in late 2001 (yes, well before the game was released), and the group of people we had there (also mainly heroes) was very close knit for about a year, with people keeping track of things others were doing (generally) and crossovers taking place between super groups and the like. It felt like we were making our own comic line. Eventually it fragmented, as the community grew, but, unlike here, we did not have dedicated GMs/Refs that were overseeing everything.

I think that the problem I (and others) were talking about sort of came about that when the thread that several others jumped into was started, there were no sub-forums in “South Freedom†and when the thread “Southside†opened, it might have been viewed as for anything taking place in Southside. With sub-forms, it is easier for individual threads, within the same part of town to run contemporaneously.

The fight going on in the Boardwalk right now I believe was case where the villain started his crime, and the hero PM’ed the villain’s player to see if it was okay to have his hero intervene. While I said I am not a big fan of PvP, I am a big fan of good stories, so I could well get involved in some PvP where the story is good.

Link to comment

Well, I personally hope that we are able to make things tie together well with each heroes and villains stories and adventures. I got involved in free form roll playing on the City of Heroes website in late 2001 (yes, well before the game was released), and the group of people we had there (also mainly heroes) was very close knit for about a year, with people keeping track of things others were doing (generally) and crossovers taking place between super groups and the like. It felt like we were making our own comic line. Eventually it fragmented, as the community grew, but, unlike here, we did not have dedicated GMs/Refs that were overseeing everything.

I think that the problem I (and others) were talking about sort of came about that when the thread that several others jumped into was started, there were no sub-forums in “South Freedom†and when the thread “Southside†opened, it might have been viewed as for anything taking place in Southside. With sub-forms, it is easier for individual threads, within the same part of town to run contemporaneously.

The fight going on in the Boardwalk right now I believe was case where the villain started his crime, and the hero PM’ed the villain’s player to see if it was okay to have his hero intervene. While I said I am not a big fan of PvP, I am a big fan of good stories, so I could well get involved in some PvP where the story is good.

Link to comment

In short, communication is the key, and until we have an official method for communicating this, we should all be patient and extra considerate.

*Puts on old, pompous man's voice* - Here, here!

While I said I am not a big fan of PvP, I am a big fan of good stories, so I could well get involved in some PvP where the story is good.

I also like that particular brand of beer. :)

When I first heard of the site, the PvP aspect was what really got me on board, so it surprised me when people were looking for other things (just an example of my blinkered nature). That said, this site can really cater to all tastes as long as users are clear about what they're doing and what interaction they want with others. Thevshi has got me interested now in what I can do in the City on my lonesome - my thought cogs are turning...

Link to comment

In short, communication is the key, and until we have an official method for communicating this, we should all be patient and extra considerate.

*Puts on old, pompous man's voice* - Here, here!

While I said I am not a big fan of PvP, I am a big fan of good stories, so I could well get involved in some PvP where the story is good.

I also like that particular brand of beer. :)

When I first heard of the site, the PvP aspect was what really got me on board, so it surprised me when people were looking for other things (just an example of my blinkered nature). That said, this site can really cater to all tastes as long as users are clear about what they're doing and what interaction they want with others. Thevshi has got me interested now in what I can do in the City on my lonesome - my thought cogs are turning...

Link to comment

In short, communication is the key, and until we have an official method for communicating this, we should all be patient and extra considerate.

*Puts on old, pompous man's voice* - Here, here!

While I said I am not a big fan of PvP, I am a big fan of good stories, so I could well get involved in some PvP where the story is good.

I also like that particular brand of beer. :)

When I first heard of the site, the PvP aspect was what really got me on board, so it surprised me when people were looking for other things (just an example of my blinkered nature). That said, this site can really cater to all tastes as long as users are clear about what they're doing and what interaction they want with others. Thevshi has got me interested now in what I can do in the City on my lonesome - my thought cogs are turning...

Link to comment

The fight going on in the Boardwalk right now I believe was case where the villain started his crime, and the hero PM’ed the villain’s player to see if it was okay to have his hero intervene.

That would be me sending the PM. :) I wasn't sure what the player had planned when the forum started, so I wanted to make sure that it was alright for my character to make an appearance. This could be a workable solution for future games.

As Barnum mentioned, communication is important. I agree that players should post in the OOC thread what their game entails. That way, players can have a PvP, solo campaign or group campaign with the desired number of players and character types. For example, I would love to have a solo campaign in the Southside (my character's "turf") with a slightly gritty tone. In the OOC thread I could post:

Campaign Type: Solo

Character Power Level: 10

Villain Power Level: 3 to 12

Open to Other Playes: Possibly - PM player and referee.

Or something like that.

This just came to me: a way to weave stories together is to reference other threads that have occurred. When my character returns to the Southside, he will notice the burnt houses on his patrols.

Link to comment

The fight going on in the Boardwalk right now I believe was case where the villain started his crime, and the hero PM’ed the villain’s player to see if it was okay to have his hero intervene.

That would be me sending the PM. :) I wasn't sure what the player had planned when the forum started, so I wanted to make sure that it was alright for my character to make an appearance. This could be a workable solution for future games.

As Barnum mentioned, communication is important. I agree that players should post in the OOC thread what their game entails. That way, players can have a PvP, solo campaign or group campaign with the desired number of players and character types. For example, I would love to have a solo campaign in the Southside (my character's "turf") with a slightly gritty tone. In the OOC thread I could post:

Campaign Type: Solo

Character Power Level: 10

Villain Power Level: 3 to 12

Open to Other Playes: Possibly - PM player and referee.

Or something like that.

This just came to me: a way to weave stories together is to reference other threads that have occurred. When my character returns to the Southside, he will notice the burnt houses on his patrols.

Link to comment

The fight going on in the Boardwalk right now I believe was case where the villain started his crime, and the hero PM’ed the villain’s player to see if it was okay to have his hero intervene.

That would be me sending the PM. :) I wasn't sure what the player had planned when the forum started, so I wanted to make sure that it was alright for my character to make an appearance. This could be a workable solution for future games.

As Barnum mentioned, communication is important. I agree that players should post in the OOC thread what their game entails. That way, players can have a PvP, solo campaign or group campaign with the desired number of players and character types. For example, I would love to have a solo campaign in the Southside (my character's "turf") with a slightly gritty tone. In the OOC thread I could post:

Campaign Type: Solo

Character Power Level: 10

Villain Power Level: 3 to 12

Open to Other Playes: Possibly - PM player and referee.

Or something like that.

This just came to me: a way to weave stories together is to reference other threads that have occurred. When my character returns to the Southside, he will notice the burnt houses on his patrols.

Link to comment

This just came to me: a way to weave stories together is to reference other threads that have occurred. When my character returns to the Southside, he will notice the burnt houses on his patrols.

That is a good way to tie things together some, and easy to do right now as there are only a few things going on. As this site grows though, that will prove harder for individual players to easily do. That is the sort of thing that people did on the old CoH site I mentioned above, but as that community grew, it became impossible for anyone to read everything going on.

I had suggested early on that there shold be a "News" section where Refs could post about things that have happened (such as the fight in the casino) and give little summaries of adventures that make the news so players can more easily track the happenings going on (maybe even linking to the threads if people want to go read more).

One thing I remember from the early days on that free form site was there were usually Christmas and New Years Parties hosted by one of the supergroups that had formed (and the teen group I lead on that site hosted a Valentines Day party :)). These sorts of interaction threads were pretty fun, and sometimes lead to other things. The first New Year's party on that old site (2001) lead to the largest crossover that ever took place there, involving members of five super teams and dozens of solo heroes and villains. Most of the stuff from that old site is gone, but I saved that crossover thread here. I suspect that is something the Ref's and EF would like to some day see develop here.

And speaking of supergroups, that is something else that is somewhat lacking, right now everyone is an independant (which is fine and understandable), but supergroups give some sense of stability and connection by their nature. I had planned on getting some new people to come over and form a supergroup, but, they limited us to only 1 PL 10 and PL 6 character, so I would not be able to make the character for that group that I wanted and thus have not moved on the idea.

Link to comment

This just came to me: a way to weave stories together is to reference other threads that have occurred. When my character returns to the Southside, he will notice the burnt houses on his patrols.

That is a good way to tie things together some, and easy to do right now as there are only a few things going on. As this site grows though, that will prove harder for individual players to easily do. That is the sort of thing that people did on the old CoH site I mentioned above, but as that community grew, it became impossible for anyone to read everything going on.

I had suggested early on that there shold be a "News" section where Refs could post about things that have happened (such as the fight in the casino) and give little summaries of adventures that make the news so players can more easily track the happenings going on (maybe even linking to the threads if people want to go read more).

One thing I remember from the early days on that free form site was there were usually Christmas and New Years Parties hosted by one of the supergroups that had formed (and the teen group I lead on that site hosted a Valentines Day party :)). These sorts of interaction threads were pretty fun, and sometimes lead to other things. The first New Year's party on that old site (2001) lead to the largest crossover that ever took place there, involving members of five super teams and dozens of solo heroes and villains. Most of the stuff from that old site is gone, but I saved that crossover thread here. I suspect that is something the Ref's and EF would like to some day see develop here.

And speaking of supergroups, that is something else that is somewhat lacking, right now everyone is an independant (which is fine and understandable), but supergroups give some sense of stability and connection by their nature. I had planned on getting some new people to come over and form a supergroup, but, they limited us to only 1 PL 10 and PL 6 character, so I would not be able to make the character for that group that I wanted and thus have not moved on the idea.

Link to comment

This just came to me: a way to weave stories together is to reference other threads that have occurred. When my character returns to the Southside, he will notice the burnt houses on his patrols.

That is a good way to tie things together some, and easy to do right now as there are only a few things going on. As this site grows though, that will prove harder for individual players to easily do. That is the sort of thing that people did on the old CoH site I mentioned above, but as that community grew, it became impossible for anyone to read everything going on.

I had suggested early on that there shold be a "News" section where Refs could post about things that have happened (such as the fight in the casino) and give little summaries of adventures that make the news so players can more easily track the happenings going on (maybe even linking to the threads if people want to go read more).

One thing I remember from the early days on that free form site was there were usually Christmas and New Years Parties hosted by one of the supergroups that had formed (and the teen group I lead on that site hosted a Valentines Day party :)). These sorts of interaction threads were pretty fun, and sometimes lead to other things. The first New Year's party on that old site (2001) lead to the largest crossover that ever took place there, involving members of five super teams and dozens of solo heroes and villains. Most of the stuff from that old site is gone, but I saved that crossover thread here. I suspect that is something the Ref's and EF would like to some day see develop here.

And speaking of supergroups, that is something else that is somewhat lacking, right now everyone is an independant (which is fine and understandable), but supergroups give some sense of stability and connection by their nature. I had planned on getting some new people to come over and form a supergroup, but, they limited us to only 1 PL 10 and PL 6 character, so I would not be able to make the character for that group that I wanted and thus have not moved on the idea.

Link to comment

That is a good way to tie things together some, and easy to do right now as there are only a few things going on. As this site grows though, that will prove harder for individual players to easily do. That is the sort of thing that people did on the old CoH site I mentioned above, but as that community grew, it became impossible for anyone to read everything going on.

That's very true. I suppose once the site grows, players will have to sift through the many different threads and pick out ones that are relevant to their characters. That seems like a lot of work. I missed the remark you made about that CoH site. :)

I had suggested early on that there shold be a "News" section where Refs could post about things that have happened (such as the fight in the casino) and give little summaries of adventures that make the news so players can more easily track the happenings going on (maybe even linking to the threads if people want to go read more).

I second this idea. Referees (or even players) could write the "articles" that would appear in the fictional newspapers published in Freedom City.

Link to comment

That is a good way to tie things together some, and easy to do right now as there are only a few things going on. As this site grows though, that will prove harder for individual players to easily do. That is the sort of thing that people did on the old CoH site I mentioned above, but as that community grew, it became impossible for anyone to read everything going on.

That's very true. I suppose once the site grows, players will have to sift through the many different threads and pick out ones that are relevant to their characters. That seems like a lot of work. I missed the remark you made about that CoH site. :)

I had suggested early on that there shold be a "News" section where Refs could post about things that have happened (such as the fight in the casino) and give little summaries of adventures that make the news so players can more easily track the happenings going on (maybe even linking to the threads if people want to go read more).

I second this idea. Referees (or even players) could write the "articles" that would appear in the fictional newspapers published in Freedom City.

Link to comment

That is a good way to tie things together some, and easy to do right now as there are only a few things going on. As this site grows though, that will prove harder for individual players to easily do. That is the sort of thing that people did on the old CoH site I mentioned above, but as that community grew, it became impossible for anyone to read everything going on.

That's very true. I suppose once the site grows, players will have to sift through the many different threads and pick out ones that are relevant to their characters. That seems like a lot of work. I missed the remark you made about that CoH site. :)

I had suggested early on that there shold be a "News" section where Refs could post about things that have happened (such as the fight in the casino) and give little summaries of adventures that make the news so players can more easily track the happenings going on (maybe even linking to the threads if people want to go read more).

I second this idea. Referees (or even players) could write the "articles" that would appear in the fictional newspapers published in Freedom City.

Link to comment

I second this idea. Referees (or even players) could write the "articles" that would appear in the fictional newspapers published in Freedom City.

Hehe, I actually forgot to say that when I brought it up, EF or another Ref had said that was something they were planning on doing, and, so far, there have been no completed adventures (or even encounters that are part of a longer adventure) to be written up :D

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I second this idea. Referees (or even players) could write the "articles" that would appear in the fictional newspapers published in Freedom City.

Hehe, I actually forgot to say that when I brought it up, EF or another Ref had said that was something they were planning on doing, and, so far, there have been no completed adventures (or even encounters that are part of a longer adventure) to be written up :D

Link to comment

I second this idea. Referees (or even players) could write the "articles" that would appear in the fictional newspapers published in Freedom City.

Hehe, I actually forgot to say that when I brought it up, EF or another Ref had said that was something they were planning on doing, and, so far, there have been no completed adventures (or even encounters that are part of a longer adventure) to be written up :D

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