AL VS LFR of 4th and why I'm so disappointed

[skerritthegreen]

Yes, but it does affect you if you are interested in completing the story line. If you don't go to a big con, you will never get to complete the storyline of liberating Phlan from the Dragon. That matters to me.

You speak as if the Epic is the end of the storyline and there is no more to it. That's not true.

 

[Coredump]

Yes, but it does affect you if you are interested in completing the story line. If you don't go to a big con, you will never get to complete the storyline of liberating Phlan from the Dragon. That matters to me.

You are still doing it wrong. While trying to determine if you have enough money, you are looking into somone else's pockets.


Here is the situation. The AL creates a 15 episode story arc. You are allowed to take part in it as much as you want. After about 6 months.... the Admins let you know how the story ends, partly based on your feedback, and partly based on what they want to have happen, they determine how it resolves and let you know so you can have closure.

Pretty cool, huh?

Now, they *also* decide to let some players 'help' them make those determinations. So they create a limited run adventure to be played at a number of Cons.
These are *in addition to* the adventures they make available for public play. These are above and beyond what is already available. But it does not make what is already available any less enjoyable.

Lets look at it a different way. Lets say WorC decides the epics are too much trouble. Maybe they are too expensive, maybe they require too many resources, maybe WotC decides they hate Conventions. Heck, maybe they decide they would not play well at very small cons, but don't want to be 'unfair' to anyone.
Regardless, they decide to discontinue epics...

Now you have access to every adventure that everyone else has.... does that make AL more enjoyable for you? Do those 15 adventures become 'even better' than they were before? Now that everyone has the exact same access to every single adventure..... is your experience improved??

 

[skerritthegreen]

I encourage players to be happy for their fellow gamers that get the chance to play in something cool, rather than jealous/angry that they didn't get the chance. If your friend wins the lottery are you happy for him and enjoy the stories he now tells you or things he buys and shares with you, or are you angry that you didn't win and so you hold it against him. Given that the purpose of Epics would be to increase the engagement factor of the involved players and have there be some thing cool to buzz about at conventions (promoting large group play and growing the community through convention play), Coredump is correct, the alternative would be to discontinue Epics and additional content entirely.

 

[Eltab]

Skerrit, this is for you too:

Heck, maybe -WotC- decide -Epics- would not play well at very small cons

I was involved in one LFR BI which had TWO tables - a low-level and a mid-level. Total. The metaplot was "storm the castle and steal a Very Valuable Thing out of it"
Instead of feeling like a mass assault on the walls, it felt like a Special Forces raid.

Pretty cool, huh?

Yes indeed. I don't know if it was by accident or by design, but the scenario worked for our small group.
We had a blast even with the pressure of having to figure out all the problems - knowing there weren't reinforcements to bail out any mistakes or failures.
When we came to the Big Choice, it really mattered what each person thought. Our vote came down 7-6 to go the harder "salvage it" route rather than the easier "smash it to smithereens" route.

 

[ArlenFrostlockes]

I registered specifically to reply in this thread. Regarding Allesendre - two of my Characters specifically went out of their way to take care of this young girl after saving her from the fishing village. Both times I was the only PC who made the effort to save her in the village and every single time I have encountered her, I go out of my way to provide her with food, some gold, or just simple human interaction. Of course I was intrigued and surprised to find her in a tree with a blind goat, and surprised when a certain glowy item was dimmed then tossed away to chase a cat. As one of those players who play in a mom and pop store that has at best 2 tables on encounters and expeditions night, who has had in depth conversations with my DM regarding this girl and her goat, I am extremely displeased that I will not have an opportunity to take part in her closure story unless i shell out significant amount of cash to play it at a con or have to contribute to having one of 6 people worldwide (and if I am reading this right-only 1 person) to come to my store in order to have closure. The OP is correct - this is elitism.

Secondly - You folks do have an insane amount of restrictions - please tell me how having a Genasi with Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade breaks the game?

third - Organised Play should be about including creativity and drawing people in, not handcuffing and actually pushing people away. If WotC included things in the core books - whether they wrote it themselves or endorsed it for play, then they intended for said things to be PLAYED not censored out because someone decided it "may" break mechanics somewhere down the line

and last - the e=peens in this thread are soooo huge I wonder how any of you listen to another person without the self importance getting in the way.

Signed - a small town AL player whose opinions and thoughts probably will not register.

 

[ArlenFrostlockes]

It really bugs me to no end that three seasons of interactions, choices, and empathy for this girl are now rendered meaningless and void. Everything I have roleplayed since this edition has come out is meaningless! I now understand why the majority of players min/max and meta playing in AL. Only a select few actually have their game experience mean anything. This saddens me.

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Firstly, while Im an LC Im also the AL DM for 2 of my local stores. We dont have a whole lot of AL going on and I dont often get to see the players outside of the game but Im often getting players talking about their AL characters before and after the game and what they think a certain plot point might of been about. Some NPCS they remember more than others (CHAAB seems to remembered a lot and he hasnt been in many scenarios).

ArlenFrostlockes: Huh? This campaign limits creativity because you cannot play A Genasi with Booming blade? Gimme a break. The campaign admins have decided that they are going to use Story origin to dictate their character creation. I like it, we get themed characters. Do I think its blocking my creativity? No way in hell.

All organised play campaigns restrict what a player can and cannot do. You might of been exposed to the free for all that was LFR but even that had restrictions? Living Greyhawk? Restrictions, Living City? restrictions? Living Dragonstar? Restrictions? Living Kalamar? Restrictions? Living Arcanis ? A CRAP LOAD OF RESTRICTIONS yet its first incarnation is warmly remembered by a lot of people.

Finally, because you miss out on an adventure with a certain npc, " Everything I have roleplayed since this edition has come out is meaningless! I now understand why the majority of players min/max and meta playing in AL" ..... seriously? You miss out on one adventure and EVERYTHING you have roleplayed is no worthless? All your encounters with the Black Fist, with cultists, with faction contacts? EVERYTHING?. She will appear in other scenarios and if the Admin scenarios do managed to get out to more places to be run one day (and there is every possibility that might happen), you will get to play it one day.

Sadly by then EVERYTHING that you have ever roleplayed for in 5th edition will be gone and you probably wont want to play that scenario then.

 

[Cascade]

I registered specifically to reply in this thread. Regarding Allesendre - two of my Characters specifically went out of their way to take care of this young girl after saving her from the fishing village. Both times I was the only PC who made the effort to save her in the village and every single time I have encountered her, I go out of my way to provide her with food, some gold, or just simple human interaction. Of course I was intrigued and surprised to find her in a tree with a blind goat, and surprised when a certain glowy item was dimmed then tossed away to chase a cat. As one of those players who play in a mom and pop store that has at best 2 tables on encounters and expeditions night, who has had in depth conversations with my DM regarding this girl and her goat, I am extremely displeased that I will not have an opportunity to take part in her closure story unless i shell out significant amount of cash to play it at a con or have to contribute to having one of 6 people worldwide (and if I am reading this right-only 1 person) to come to my store in order to have closure. The OP is correct - this is elitism.

Secondly - You folks do have an insane amount of restrictions - please tell me how having a Genasi with Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade breaks the game?

third - Organised Play should be about including creativity and drawing people in, not handcuffing and actually pushing people away. If WotC included things in the core books - whether they wrote it themselves or endorsed it for play, then they intended for said things to be PLAYED not censored out because someone decided it "may" break mechanics somewhere down the line

and last - the e=peens in this thread are soooo huge I wonder how any of you listen to another person without the self importance getting in the way.

Signed - a small town AL player whose opinions and thoughts probably will not register.

wow...!?!

I think it has been reiterated many times, this is not her closure story...you should do some more background checking.

Just because you decide to role play something doesn't entitle you to something extra....she was perfectly capable on her own before you showed up. You have to decide to separate yourself from your toon. Because someone else has something that you don't isn't elitism. If you want it, do the work to get it.

/rant on

I want to role play my higher level characters in lower level events...I can role play it really well, why can't the admins let me do it?

I want my high level characters to become the leaders of each country...I can role play it really well, why can't the admins let me do it?

If WotC allowed the really good role players to make up their own content and run the regions, it would be more inclusive.

I want third party published material to be included...anything short is exclusion.

/rant off

You can already do all of the above. Just get the local players to agree its not "official" AL and have fun. You can play by whatever rules you like. Have fun.
If you want to join the club, follow the rules. You can certainly have your say and voice your opinion, but crying elitism is pretty weak and just garners troll responses.

 

[skerritthegreen]

I am extremely displeased that I will not have an opportunity to take part in her closure story unless i shell out significant amount of cash to play it at a con or have to contribute to having one of 6 people worldwide (and if I am reading this right-only 1 person) to come to my store in order to have closure. The OP is correct - this is elitism.

Again, as stated above in this thread, this is not true. You are assuming the worst and its simply not the case. The big reveal for Elisande is in an Expedition adventure (3-16), not the DDAO adventure. The DDAO adventure is not the end of her story either. It is a sidetrek that does not alter or change the trajectory of her story or the campaign. Stop making assumptions that are simply not the case.

 

[skerritthegreen]

It really bugs me to no end that three seasons of interactions, choices, and empathy for this girl are now rendered meaningless and void. Everything I have roleplayed since this edition has come out is meaningless! I now understand why the majority of players min/max and meta playing in AL. Only a select few actually have their game experience mean anything. This saddens me.

Again, as stated in the thread, not true. just because an NPC appears in a DDAO adventure doesn't mean that that adventure is the conclusion or the major deciding factor. You are listen to rumors that are untrue.