A Tale of Two Dragons (OOC)

[Rae ArdGaoth]

Well, it is certainly a lot easier to weave this story when I have complete control of the character... I would like to express a worry... a doubt... a fear... that this is going nowhere. Perhaps the lacking is on my side, as the DM? I've only DMed a PbP once, and it was far smaller in scale than this is endeavor. Do I need to focus on something else? Perhaps a bit of combat to spice things up? Because I notice an intense... lack of interest? Or is it just a lack of "knowing what I want you to do"? I know we spent a nice long time making these characters, and don't doubt that I plan on combat in the future. I just hoped that we could start off with a bit of... non-combat. Anyway, it doesn't much matter to me, fun-ness is to be had here, I just know it. I humbly request input from my players on what I can do better, to make this more fun.

 

[Ferrix]

I think what may be in order is that sometimes you need to gloss over parts, always waiting for the players to post their actions, posting a little bit, and waiting some more takes too long. In PbP, it should come off more as a story, so assuming actions and keeping the flow of the story going is alot more important that being nit picky over players actions (particularly when it's not combat).

Sometimes that means posting a long post which glosses over traveling, negligable interactions and exchanges, and relatively easy combat even (CR's which would not even be a challenge).

 

[silentspace]

I'm going to drop out. Sorry, I'm just too busy. Good luck to everyone.

 

[Harvey]

Forst off, let me say that I really like my character here (he is one of my favorite characters I've created for PbP), so I would love for the game to continue...

Ferrix has a point on narration, especially since this game is a lot more narrative-driven than most of my other games. I like it a lot, put if the other players don't (or are playing characters who don't like to speak), then it tends to cause huge lags of time where nothing happens.

I think that there a few general issues that may be or have been hampering the game:
1) The issue of travel. It might have been easier if it were glossed over in a DM narration post. I only say this because: if we really didn't handle in-game how we all got to Thamanton, and we didn't really handle in-game where Thamanton is in Faerun, then handling how we traveled from there to Narfell is equally awkward. While I loved how it ended up (pretty clever with the bags of holding), it felt weird beforehand. How was I supposed to suggest how Penthar would get from Thamanton to Aglarond when I wasn;t even sure how Penthar got from Aglarond to Thamanton to begin with?
2) The issue of posting frequency. There's a few players here who post a lot, and a few players who post barely at all. And that always makes for a tough game, because those that post too often don't want to be overshadowing, and since those that post too few don't post, the game can "lurch" and "stall" (for lack of better terms) at key points. Like when we first arrived at Aglarond.

Dunno... I'm just throwing out some off-the-cuff observations. All-in-all, I like the campaign, and would love to help fix it so it continues forward.

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

Sorry to see you go, silentspace.

I liked the narrative-ness, I especially appreciate Harvey's fair amount of contribution (the one post in the tavern, asking each person about themselves, that was good, though it didn't get much response). The other games I've played on these boards have been... not very "roleplay-ish" if you know what I mean. It's been "Okay, you go to the next level of the tomb and get attacked by this monster. Okay you go to the next level and get attacked by that monster." Not entirely satisfying. Combat is good, combat is necessary, combat is fun! but I haven't gotten too much roleplaying here on Enworld. And I was in a campaign where the DM fell through and that blew. (Ferrix was with me!) So I will do my best not to let this one fall through.

For my part, I will attempt to move things along when it seems that nobody has anything to say (and even before that point, if that makes sense). And expect combat soon. I was planning on it, anyway, but expect it.

Oh, and why we're roleplaying the traveling to Aglarond but not from it? It's because the group wasn't together yet and I wanted to start them off in the same place. Perhaps a bit too... deus ex machina... but I don't care. It worked, we're together, and soon some action will come our way, I guarantee it.

 

[Ferrix]

Now that's how you move a story along

 

[WampusCat43]

I'm enjoying it very much, btw. For me, it's a combination of being buried at work and being summer - when I get done with the former, all I want to do is relax on the porch. But I'm not going anywhere.

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

My posting will be spotty at best over the next week. I'm going on various vacations to varying places around the country and will have accordingly flaky access to the internet. Not to mention I won't have my books. I suggest you get what you need here in Velprintalar, they have just about everything, Penthar will need to report in. I'll make another big post on Tuesday (tomorrow) based on everybody's input, and then I'm off to a wedding and stuff, so don't expect me to pull anything like I did earlier. Fear not, brave adventurers, your time is nearly at hand...

 

[Harvey]

This all sounds great! Oh, and don't worry about the flaky internet... I will probably be hitting the same wall in a month (with moving)...

 

[Ferrix]

*laughs evilly*

No really, when I read the update for my actions, that's exactly what I did... bwahaha! Oh wow that was fun, never really had that experience before.