my concerns

[Madra Rua]

Ok, after seeing numeruos times on these simple boards that people are upset at the lack of things to do, the lack of something other then love stories; I came up with a rather interesting ideia that could have gotten some nice play. Unfortunatly, Ive come across a problem.

The CRT had atleast five players in it from the list of characters in the chat. I wil not name them becuase this is not a mud slinging contest, this is to make a point and to open some eyes.

I brought in a character that by the first entrance post would have - or i thought - would have gotten a group of fresh young adventures attention right quickly and would have been the opening for a harrowing adventure that i would have ran.

To my dismay, i sat for ten minutes IRL after making my entrance post with not one person taking note to the bad situation. After my second post, it took another two minutes...Well im leaving out vital information..

"heads into the tavern from the main doors, looking lost almost, she reaks of fresh blood as she wanders haphazardly towards an open table, the nearst one and collapses on the chair"

This was my first post, it doesnt give to much away but i would think would have gotten SOME attention that way. Nope, it took me stating such gorey obvoius lines of 'Pool of blood' for someone to look that character's way.

Now yes, i dont expect to get tons of attention the moment i walk into a door, but sort of expected some kind of interaction beyond absense and ignorace.

Anyways, as i was saying, Finally that second post got someones attention. Yes the character was healed, but i made sure to point out it was still injured. Beyond getting used as a towel, told to donate to a temple, and the character walking away.

Nothing...not one question asked to Why or How the character got like that...Needless to say, I was clearly upset by this. And to make a point of this. THIS IS NOT A MUD SLINGING CONTEST. So please do not get on this thread and get mad at me, i wanted to open eyes up here. I wanted to point out that maybe people should try to expand there playing grounds to another level and be more open to possiblities or your never going to take off the ground.

In closing. I will not be responding to any comments left after this initial post. Just read and conciter, all of you please. I would hate to see ISRP go down this way.

 

[Deirdre]

I can answer this easily.

I played the Cleric who healed your character. My character did not readily respond, because the wounded character in question just came into a tavern late at night where most occupants are drunk. It was not announced verbally the character was injured. Most people at any establishment don't stare directly at the door. They're involved in conversations. Conversations that are normally with more then one person. Most human characters - they don't have super duper hearing and can't hear someone who comes in and collapses in a chair that could of been across the room. She also did not ask what happened, instead she took the time to heal and save the life of a woman whom she did not know. This is the Crossroads Tavern, wounded people walk in in hordes. People have grown cynical. After the character was healed there isn't much more a Cleric can do. She isn't an adventurer, warrior, or fighter. She isn't even a Cleric of a God who demands Justice. She did what her type do. She healed. And before another character was able to question the situation this wounded woman gets up and leaves the establishment. If that isn't an indicator that the character was alright and not in some type of danger at that instant, then I don't know what is.

** And I might add. My Cleric did not get thanked. She got a nod. Talk about motivating someone to help you.

Not every character that is encountered is the automatic hero. If not careful a character that obnoxiously comes crashing in wounded may actually get eaten by one of the many demons in disguise that frequent the place.

 

[Midna]

I feel obliged to say something... Don't whine if you don't get attention, who cares. Help others build friends then the drama shall unfold! Till then, just play and don't expect everything to go as you want, if I could have everything go as I would like I'd have it so I would win the lottery. Just play have fun, build the drama, and the excitement.

 

[Mortonia]

I suppose...*shrugs* Part of me wants to commiserate you on your post, and another part wants to say..."And...your point is?"

So I'll say this...no plan, even a gaming or role playing plan, survives contact with the enemy - or in this case, with ISRP. Yes, you had a plan, and you tossed out the hook, laden with the bait of dreams. Except no one took the bait.

There's a reason I chose a fishing metaphor. When you throw out a line like that, you never what sort of bites you'll get, just like when you toss a weighted string smeared with fish roe into a pond. Sometimes you get lucky. Most times you end up catching someone's old boot.

Let me give you an example...I play several characters on ISRP *gasps* I know I know, my secret is out. But moving on...

One of them would have indeed tried to help you, as Deirdre apparently did, and that would have been about the extent of it. Several of them would have decided she looked like trouble and steered clear, and one would have decided she was easy pickings, ripe to be plucked and have something nasty happen to her.

The point is, sometimes, you don't catch what you want. So you take it off the hook, toss it back, and move to another part of the pond. See what you catch.

Fish're weird like that sometimes though.

 

[John a.k.a Sir D]

Same thing happens to me all the time, however, it cannot be expected that many will reply because this scenario happens at least once a week. That is why I try and come up with something more creative than, Blessed_Heath walks into the tavern, his arm dripping blood from a gash that is incredibly deep. He appears to be faint with exhaustion and weakness." further more, I will note that one of my only secret characters are an example of a different style, though that doesn't get noticed either. Furthermore, I must agree with Midna, winning the lottery would be SWEET!

 

[Tharivious]

Speaking as someone who has seen many of these situations over the years (none recently, but that's due to change very soon), I can sum up what likely went wrong:

Players, over the years, become jaded to scenarios with injured characters they don't know coming into the room. Why? Because at one point or another, they reacted to one of these situations, and wound up with a puppy chewing on their ankle for up to or beyond a month, bringing more of the same "injured, heal me" situations. It doesn't always happen, things don't always end badly, but for more than a handful of veteran players, they've had it happen/seen it happen, and aren't eager to do it again. It used to happen on an almost nightly basis when I was more active at Wizards, and there were many that did far worse. People don't always like reacting to what looks like a cry for attention.

In-character logic standpoint? Who goes to a tavern to get their wounds treated? And moreover, what would make these characters think that was normal? A lot would be suspicious of someone coming into a drinking establishment wanting a doctor to treat their bleeding, gaping wounds. Regardless of how serious the injuries might be, seasoned characters are likely to be suspicious, knowing that people can bluff and feign weakness. Coming in from the clearing with a few allies/observers that have intentions to heal you? Sure. Just wandering in off the streets, not likely to get you positive attention all the time.

 

[Draggy]

Thar pretty much covered what I have to say (good old Hivemind, eh?), but I do want to add/reiterate to some degree this point.

Bleeding, injured characters coming into the tavern for healing when there's a civilisation with a temple right down the road is a HUGE don't. It comes across as begging for attention in a very, VERY bad way (and Siani dislikes people getting blood on the floor too...you don't wanna cross her )

But seriously, if you want to start a storyline hook, there are many better ways, and like was said above (can't remember by who, but it was said!), sometimes you will toss your bait into the pond and you won't get bites, but don't give up. Getting a character established on ISRP takes alot of patience, and sometimes a brilliant concept just won't fly. It's sad, but it happens. If your concept and idea isn't getting the feedback you'd hoped for, don't give up. Try it another night, and if you still aren't getting a response, try something different. Some ideas are just going to go over better than others, and that's just how things are. It's not something that ranting at people for not taking interest in your storyline will solve. It's just something that you either a) have to be persistant with until you find an interested crowd or b) have to be willing to adapt with to make it work.

And no accusations here, but it has to be stated. ISRP is a community so remember, it's not all about us as an individual and our own personal ideas and wants. It's about us all creating a story together, and any relationship that involves other people (IC or not) is going to mean being willing to give a little and compromise to make it work.

 

[Toxicsyn]

In-character logic standpoint? Who goes to a tavern to get their wounds treated? And moreover, what would make these characters think that was normal? A lot would be suspicious of someone coming into a drinking establishment wanting a doctor to treat their bleeding, gaping wounds.

a drunk doctor that is cheap and asks no questions, happens all the time...really

 

[Merle]

On the wayward bleeding PC...

Lexania is a barbarian rider who's decently tough to beat down. There's nothing about her that looks like 'weak clingy character'.

The times she's arrived hurt, bleeding badly, and clearly unable to ride another inch and been (mostly) ignored, too. The help she's gotten she's been as grateful as she can be given her condition.

Maybe........................ a bar's not a good place to search for help?

Look: About half the characters I make don't last long in ISRP-land for whatever reason. Get used to it.

 

[Khaira]

Well, this wasn't necessarily about, "Why didn't anyone heal me right away?" nor "Why didn't everyone rush to my aid?", I don't think.

This was about trying to persuade other characters stepping outside of their normal comfort zones, and engaging in interactions that they wouldn't have normally engaged in. A hearty effort, I'd say, to band together ISRPers.

And, yes, I'd agree that people wouldn't normally enter a tavern or an inn or other similar public establishment for healing ... unless they were already so weak. "...wanders haphazardly..." and "...collapses into a chair..." are pretty good indicators of the strength level, I'd say.

Besides, how far away is the nearest temple? Across town? Do we even know, or are we making assumptions? Considering that this character was already at a weakened state - likely from blood loss - it makes sense that (s)he would make a beeline for a place where there *are* people whom, if they could not help in the healing area, could at least fetch a cleric or escort said character to a temple. Obviously, you have not seen someone suffering from blood loss; not a very easy task to walk anywhere, let alone across town to a temple. Trust me, I speak from experience.
If you're trying to tell me that you've never, ever seen a sick person in public - diabetic, epileptic seizure, heart attack, slipping on ice and cracking their head open, an old person stepping wrong and breaking a bone ... need I go on? - then I would seriously question your long-term memory recalling ability. When people are obviously hurt, everyone around doesn't just say, "Ah, well. There's another one. What's new." I've seen a number of epileptic seizures, heart attacks, and the like, and usually a person runs into the nearest establishment, and asks for someone to call 911, the hospital, the ambulance, et al, while others attempt to take care of the injured individual to the best of their ability. It happens. Seriously.

And yes, you may not be watching the door but: "...reaks of fresh blood...". Blood is a revolting smell, particularly when it is dried, or when there are levels of crustiness involved. And the smell lingers, for a LONG time. I imagine it's even worse when there is blood combined with rusted steel and gods-know what else.
Considering that the typical human has a decent olfactory threshold, and considering that, according to various psychology tests, it only takes a single drop of perfume in 30 foot room for a human being to smell it, a person would not have to be watching the door. Blood smells significantly less savory than perfume, such that "reaking of blood" would be fairly easy to detect by the typical human being. Only a depraved individual would ignore it, or someone who has no sense of smell whatsoever.