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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 7653077" data-attributes="member: 32740">Worse.  As the show developed a large and very earnest following the show-runners began facing questions by the fans who were happily and rabidly engaged in actually TRYING to figure out what the meaning of it all was.  They obviously did NOT have answers to give them, much less to attempt to hide from them or misdirect them about.  So they LIED.  They were faced directly with the growing and fairly common conclusion by fans (myself among them) who said, "They're all dead."  To which they were told, "No.  That's not it."  The response was, "Well, they're obviously in some kind of Limbo then."  And they said, "No that's not it either."  And then when the show wraps up it turns out that's EXACTLY what the solution was.The show meandered and lost focus (and lost a LOT of otherwise dedicated viewers) BECAUSE the show-runners had NO IDEA where they were actually going with anything.  And "Lost" did not break new ground here. "X-Files" had been doing it already for years, they just did it with a slightly different approach, trading back and forth between "mystery of the week" episodes and "story arc-related" episodes.  Long before "Lost" came along I ran just such a campaign.  It was not intentionally based on the X-Files model but that's certainly how it turned out and I referred to it that way; it was D&D-meets-the-X-Files.  Layer after layer of mystery and conundrum, and plot twists and reversals.  It was a great way to BUILD interest and get players hooked, but after a while players - and viewers - want to see that the show is GOING SOMEWHERE and not just aimlessly meandering.  When I finally decided that my campaign needed to wind down so I could start another one (and do it better) I found that nothing made sense.  I COULDN'T tie it all together because I'd simply created too many conflicting and contradictory elements.  There ultimately was nothing for it but to openly inform players outside the game that, "No, that element actually means nothing," or, "That element actually has to mean something completely different," in order for THEM to make sense if it at all.  And I was still leaving tons of questions unanswered and that became very unsatisfying for both them and myself.  And I knew I was in trouble when the players all stopped watching the X-Files and stated that they did so for reasons that would eventually have them stop wanting to play in my similarly constructed campaign - no answers to ANY of the myriad mysteries, just more questions, more mysteries, or yet another now-tired and trite twist or reversal.No, indeed.  Not having an idea of where you're going to end up with your campaign (or with your TV show) is a BAD way to proceed.  There is nothing wrong as such with a mystery wrapped in a conundrum surrounded by enigmas - but only if you can eventually see it sensibly and satisfactorily solved.</blockquote>

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