![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osteothropy) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
livinglot2017-06-22 11:24 am
⇨ EVENT RATINGS AND PREFERENCES OPINION POLL
| OPINION POLL TIME↴ Hello everyone, this is Quix, posting from my Sans journal because you need to have a paid account to make polls! This is just a general opinion poll about various events that have happened in Lost Carnival, and I would like you to rate your opinion of each one on a scale of 1 to 5. This doesn't necessarily have to reflect your personal experience with it (if you had a hard time because of IRL circumstances or you just got lost for reasons that weren't the fault of the event itself), but should rather give an impression of your outlook towards events like the listed one in a more general sense. As you've probably guessed, the intent is for me to learn about what has worked and what hasn't worked as far as the players are concerned, so that I can keep that in mind when planning events in the future. Obviously, feedback on the current AU event will be incomplete, but you can comment based on your opinion on it so far. You are also quite welcome to go into more detail in the comments if you have more complex opinions on a particular subject. Also, there are some questions at the end that are more specific. Poll #18518 Event Ratings & Preferences
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 25 The Realm of Dreams 5 (great) 4 3 (okay) 2 1 (terrible) I wasn't here for this one. The Matrix 5 (great) 4 3 (okay) 2 1 (terrible) I wasn't here for this one. Atlantis 5 (great) 4 3 (okay) 2 1 (terrible) I wasn't here for this one. The Celebration 5 (great) 4 3 (okay) 2 1 (terrible) I wasn't here for this one. Vampire Hell 5 (great) 4 3 (okay) 2 1 (terrible) I wasn't here for this one. Alola (Pokemon) 5 (great) 4 3 (okay) 2 1 (terrible) I wasn't here for this one. Mainframe (Game Cube) 5 (great) 4 3 (okay) 2 1 (terrible) I wasn't here for this one. The Tourist Trap (So far, anyway.) 5 (great) 4 3 (okay) 2 1 (terrible) I wasn't here for this one. (???) How do you feel about world visits based on existing canons? That is, visits going to places like Alola or the Matrix, instead of settings that are mostly mod invented. I love them/am generally in favour of them. Only if they're obscure settings. Only if they're well known settings. I don't like them because they make me feel out of the loop. I don't like them for some other reason. They're as good as any other event. How do you feel about having tangible effects on the worlds the carnival visits? That is, do you like to have an opportunity to change things while there? I like the idea but my character is apathetic. Both me and my character like to change the world. I prefer to just ride the wave. I'm mostly interested in conflicts that specifically affect the carnival. How do you feel about breaks from the regular carnival formula? (That is, events like the Tourist Trap/Vampire Hell in which everyone is focused on stuff that isn't a carnival tour.) I love them. They're okay. I much prefer regular carnival stuff. They're as good as any other event. How long of a break from the regular touring formula would sound acceptable to you? (These wouldn't necessarily be an AU event, so most of them you would still be playing your character as they are normally.) Ideally an OOC month or less. Up to two OOC months. Up to three OOC months. There is no limit to my enthusiasm. What would you like to see more of in Lost Carnival? (Pick up to 5) Meta Plot (Mod Plot) Fae Drama Slice of Life Performance Focused Logs Monster of the Week Styled Problems Dark Events Light Events Mind Control Extreme Transformation Quests From the Ringmaster Non-Mandatory Sexy Events Mission Logs |
no subject
I also think that timing plays a bit of a problem when there's an event with multiple parts, like how the Mainframe log had explore the city & the Game Cube bit. I adored my threads in both logs, but because they were posted so close together oocly, I wonder if that had anything to do with the decreased participation in both logs compared to logs of the past.
also, wrt non-mandatory sexy events option, I'm gonna say it right up: we've got a fair amount of characters in-game who are underage. People might not want to thread out their underage characters having sex and other people might not be comfortable with the idea of underage characters having sex to begin with. I realize that underage teens do have sex irl but that's definitely something to take into account as well as something that might need to be clarified in the rules should the game decide to DO any of those events, just to head off any potential wank at the pass.
no subject
I mean, I play Steven Universe of all people, and have little interest in him touching on anything sexual or even being forced to look at it too long, so I understand the issue. No event would be completely tailored to sexuality no matter how many people voted for that options, it would just be an aspect of whatever setting that could be used or avoided, much like The Celebration.
However, if you're referring to "whether young characters are allowed to do sexy stuff ever", that's not something I've made a ruling on, it's true. Canons are so different tonally I've always found it difficult to arbitrate what counts as mature enough to warrant sexual activity, and I'm not sure how much I'd want to - but suffice to say, no main plot would require or encourage sexual activity to the degree that you'd be missing out without it.
no subject
I do appreciate the fact that you're being upfront about how no main plot would require/encourage sexual activity to the extent that it'll (pun intended) fuck over underage characters. Obviously with a poll like this, you can't fit an entire explanation into however many characters dreamwidth gives you, so I appreciate the clarification!
no subject
Re: non-mandatory sexy events, I'm going to agree with Kates here about minor characters, or any characters who generally might not want to have sex/their players might not be comfortable writing smut with them. Unless there was something really robust for those players to do at the same time, it would feel a little like getting locked out just because I don't want to write any smut. I mean I guess you argue that about any event type, but that's just my feelings about it.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
IDK, those are just some ideas! I don't think we need to overthink it, but I do think it can be discouraging for people to get a 'this isn't what we signed up for' feeling if the OOC info of the game and what's actually taking place IC right now don't gel together ... if that makes sense, especially when (with this event for example) what's on the info/premise page is so different from what's actually going on. I think a newer player/someone who apped in last minute before this event kicked off would have more valuable feedback on this (like how easy they felt it was to get involved and what confused them) so I'd be curious to hear their perspective -- I'm only speaking from mine as someone who thought about apping a second character in before all this happened.
re: existing canon events: it's super variable for me. I was definitely interested in a different aspect of the Mainframe stuff (interacting with the Guardian, trying to learn more about the world and possibly confront Polymorph etc) but my own lack of OOC followup on that kind of had it drop through (at this point I'm not sure if I should consider how far we did get into discussing that to be handwaved/retconned to never have happened etc).
I mention this primarily as an example of something that felt my character could have affected the world with (and not even on purpose, just largely through just being his own dumb contract-seeking self) which I was pretty interested in myself, but it wasn't obvious from the writeup if that was something meant to be pursued or not -- there was a specific Q&A question for the nightrunnerss in the event post, but I think I didn't get a good sense of how aggressively to go after it.
I do know it can create more work/a burden on mods to come up with content if characters pursuing something wasn't planned for in advance (which is also why I didn't pursue it that hard in the end, esp with the event winding up). Plus it runs to some extent into that shutting out problem -- the investigation-y stuff was pretty clearly marked for nightrunners, but how free would other characters have been to be involved (or would nightrunners have to actively coordinate/approach them to get involved)? Just small stuff like that.
Feedback for the present event vs past events specifically: even though it's been broken up into different logs, it's been super helpful to have the IC 'weeks' blocked out and with distinct actions/events for each one to respond to! It keeps things moving and gives new hooks every post, while leaving plenty of room for characters to get into all kinds of shit. Having the investigation stuff clearly marked out as stuff to pursue also provides I guess... clearer 'actions' or somewhere for characters to direct questions to, and I feel like there's a better mix of spreading the prompts around and giving people creative reasons to put pieces of it all together.
no subject
Firstly, though, re: apps during off-formula months, changing up TDMs is DEFINITELY something I've considered (and, in fact, that I used to do in the last game I ran) and in future off-formula events that were going on long enough that I'd want to include an app round, I do tend to have idea for how character could be applied. Currently, I feel like how characters come into the setting may be gradually shifting over time, and so in special events the usual "sign up for a contract" thing may not hold true, and characters may have to come in by means that are quite tonally different. Personally, that idea strikes me as fun, but it would be definitely be something that people coming into the game would want to be clear on.
There are reasons why apps just straight up didn't make sense in the Tourist Trap, but I'd hope that that wouldn't be the case for all similar events in the future. Presently, apps don't really make sense at any time that the characters aren't at the carnival doing performances in recent history, but I'm open and actively considering interesting more varied ways of entering the setting based on plot developments.
Mainframe was sort of an odd case for me, because from a mod perspective I had been personally enthusiastic about it (though mostly for the Game Cube aspect), but worried about its reception up until the moment it was posted. It was an old canon, and a sort of silly one, and while I had a lot of nostalgia fondness and I always thought that the Games represented a super interesting idea for roleplay, I wasn't sure how anyone else would react. I'd originally come up with a bunch of stuff for the regular Mainframe section as well, anticipating having an open NPC villain top level and everything.
However, I sort of let my own insecurity get the better of me, in that the feedback I gleaned from people was mixed, and in a couple cases people had straight up commented that they had zero interest in participating in it all together. I don't know their particular reasons, but my initial impression gave me the idea that people would only really be invested in the Game aspect of it, so I may as well focus all my attention into organizing that. Evidently that wasn't completely the case, and while I was theoretically happy to try to administrate some sort of plot on the regular mainframe side, my initial doubt regarding it resulted in it becoming an extra mod load that was difficult to balance, and in those cases I generally end up focusing on whichever mod actions will be providing the most entertainment to the most people, and Lambert's posse were the only ones to take active interest in the Guardian/Virus thing.
Which, is probably because I had been subconsciously projecting that I wasn't focusing on it either, which was true. Essentially, I'd originally intended on having it be a whole thing, but backtracked when I got the impression people weren't interested, and then tried to make a thing again when a few people DID show interest. Ultimately, though, it got lost in me taking time to prepare The Tourist Trap, which had a lot more planning required than the average event.
So, ultimately, it was probably affected by my perception of people's interest levels, which may have been incorrect, like I said. As a mod, it can be difficult not to take people's disinterest in a plot personally, (at least for me, since I do have a history with being quite anxious about selling my ideas to other people), and so sometimes its difficult not to backpedal if I get a certain impression.
This is really just an explanation from my side of things, not a complaint about other people or anything. People like what they like. I guess the one thing to take away from this is that if an event goes up and you are interested in something in particular, it really helps to be vocal about it.
I'm actively interested in working out ways for people to do more setting changing stuff without it being a massive resource drain, given that I'm the only plot mod at the moment.
no subject
I really appreciate the response/insight into how you go about deciding to bucket effort into events, because that does help me understand better what I need to communicate more clearly if I want/need follow up on something, especially with being super vocal + being more pro-active about engaging other players to get more of a 'critical mass' so to speak. :|a
It definitely makes sense to focus the majority of mod effort on what will engage the most people, and I would also prefer that because deciding to participate/not participate is something within my control and I've usually got enough backtags that I'm never out of stuff to do. Of course then you can run into the other problem that is like, 'welp there are a bunch of people over here that may have less stuff to do if they're not 100% engaged with the plot???' but that would just take more player creativity (e.g. people who didn't go on rescue mission still took the initiative to make their own log etc).
ANYWAY THIS IS ALL NAVELGAZY STUFF but basically thanks for opening this up for discussion/talking? I always feel stuff on player initiative side could be improved as well, so it helps to know how you're thinking too. :|a
no subject
Nothing about this setting 'hooked' me or my characters, so for me it's my least favorite event. I think it's just personal though as dream type events never really catch my interest.
The Matrix
For me, this event was a success! Psi was super interested in the rebels and the setting, and it was fun for me to have Lauren experience a "modern" world for the first time. Good hooks and in a setting that was easy for me to write about as it was the 'modern word' aka a place I know a lot about.
Atlantis
I didn't much care for this setting. Again there wasn't much of a "hook" for me or my characters. Lauren was intrigued by mer-people and frustrated from the forced transformation so that was fun to do. Psi mostly just went shopping because he collects kitschy shit.
The Celebration
I really liked this event! I always love events that affect my characters inhibitions. I would say nonconsensual effects like that end up being my favorites for events most of the time. Also the sitting was very much "make up whatever you want" so that made it very easy to write for me.
Vampire Hell
Lots of drama for this one, I absolutely loved it.
Alola (Pokemon)
For me, I went into this event expecting it to be pretty good, but in the end there wasn't much I was able to think of to have my characters do. Which wasn't because there was a lack of hooks or anything, it just ended up being hard for me to play out for some reason. Also it felt like it lasted a longer time than usual, probably just my imagination as I don't remember how long the event actually lasted. Maybe since this setting and atlantis and the matrix all had a more "modern life" feel to it I was a little out of steam on that? Obviously being a mermaid isn't anything like modern life, but their culture didn't feel really too radically different from ours so it ended up feeling more modern to me. Maybe that doesn't make sense? All in all when it came to tagging around I just couldn't find inspiration. Again, probably more a me flaw than an event problem I think.
Mainframe (Game Cube)
As I was very busy during most of the event dealing with Lauren and Psi drama I marked this as "I wasn't here for this." Even though technically I was here, by the time I was able to participate most people had moved on. That being said, I did like the setting and there was plenty to hook Psi and Lauren's interest.
The Tourist Trap (So far, anyway.)
I'm really liking this event so far. I realize it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but there's plenty of hooks to work with and also I like being able to play out a different take on my character, so that is fun for me as well.
OVERALL THOUGHTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Answering these questions I think I was able to learn a lot more about what matters to me in terms of events, so I wanted to talk a bit about that here. It seems what makes me most interested in events is having a way to get my character more involved with the setting. In the Matrix, the Celebration, Vampire Hell, and Mainframe it felt like my character had more agency. It felt like if he did something it would have an impact on the setting or on how the setting reacted to him. In Alola, Atlantis, and the Dream Realm it felt like even if Psi or Lauren did something ridiculous there wouldn't be any serious consequences, changes in the setting, or reactions. Another thing that seems important to me is the hooks. Obviously every setting has its own hooks and different characters will be hooked by different things, but some events felt more like the setting was the only hook. Specifically Alola the only hook seemed to be pokemon, which is a big hook, but events that had more were more fun for me to interact with. For example, the matrix had the rebels hook, the agents hook, the setting inherent hook of developing "the one" powers. Mainframe had the nulls, the transformation of the pc's, the virus destruction, and the game cube. Finally the third most important thing seemed to be non consensual effects, this would be things that are problematic for my character and are also the result of things outside his control. A good example of this would be the agents in the matrix infecting people, the celebration, vampire hell, mainframe's gamecube, and the atlantis transformation.
So now using the criteria, agency, hooks, and effects I kind of want to rerate the events and see if it matches what I answered in the poll.
The Realm of Dreams : 3/9
Agency: 1/3 (I think they could wreck things for power? Can't remember too well.)
Hooks: 1/3 (making shit in dreamland)
Effects: 1/3 (nightmares were easily avoidable)
The Matrix : 6/9
Agency: 2/3
Hooks: 2/3 (powers and rebels)
Effects: 2/3 (Agents, Forced Change)
Atlantis : 4/9
Agency: 1/3 (Could have pissed Triton off somehow maybe?)
Hooks: 2/3 (Sea Witch/Tamatoa, Treasure Hunting, Magic Items)
Effects: 1/3 (Forced Change)
The Celebration : 6/9
Agency: 2/3 (On an ooc level in that they could do ANYTHING)
Hooks: 2/3 (Party Zombies, No Outside)
Effects: 2/3 (Getting Zombied, Masquerade)
Vampire Hell : 6/9
Agency: 2/3 (More on an OOC level, but OOC customization was high.)
Hooks: 2/3 (Rescuing People, Dealing with Kidnappers, Surviving Baby Vampire Jail)
Effects: 2/3 (It varied depending on the characters circumstance, but was v. good for those who engaged in it)
Alola (Pokemon) : 3/9
Agency: 0/3
Hooks: 2/3 (Pokemon, Island Challenges)
Effects: 1/3 (Glamours)
Mainframe (Game Cube) : 5/9
Agency: 1/3
Hooks: 2/3 (Virus, Nulls)
Effects: 2/3 (Forced Change x2)
The Tourist Trap (So far, anyway.) : 9/9
Agency: 3/3 (Can interact directly with Fae Drama, Enlightment Shit, or Sanctuary Shit)
Hooks: 3/3 (Animal Fair, Jaeger, Nanath, Ehteric Energies, Black Roses, Earth Spirit, Berries)
Effects 3/3 (AU Species, AU Memories, Animal Fair Changes)
So yeah, that seems like it corresponds OKAY to how I was ranking them. I just wanted to talk about this some more so that is it. No other opinions to share :P
no subject
Conversely, because Mainframe was from such an obscure canon, I felt the freedom to just goof around and not worry about the particulars. I didn't worry "Is this cafe here on this street?" I just made shit up because I figured no one cared, and no one was going to know to correct me anyway. I love that.
With Portland, it's got the freedom of the Mainframe, as we can either do the research of real-life Portland or just...make up locations, PLUS the lovely addition of shaking things up. I am in HUGE SUPPORT of shaking things up. Keep things fresh. Especially if it furthers carnival-related plots, as I'm always really interested in plots to do with the background of the world, whether it's the world the carnival is visiting or the carnival itself. I'm always looking to see the game, as well as my character, moving forward. I hate things to feel stagnant. Despite the fact that I've been real busy this month, this is my favorite event so far.
That said, I voted that canon-related events are just as good as any other, but I definitely prefer one like Portland rather than, say, the Matrix. I would love to wind up playing in a canon world that I love, but if it's a series I have no real love for, I lose interest considerably. So I think it can be fairly hit-or-miss. With a mod-created venue, there's lesser chance that the place itself will leave a bitter taste in anyone's mouth, or make anyone feel too lost for not knowing a canon.
I'm definitely not saying don't do canon events. I just like mod-created ones a little better. I'm not sure what the best ratio is between mod-created events and canon ones...as long as there is a mod-created one every now and then, I'll be happy!! Not every event can be everyone's favorite.
As far as mod plots go, I'm super interested in finding out more about the Ringmaster especially, but faerie drama in general is great too. I'm not sure if any of this was helpful but..... /ollies out