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Message: <blockquote data-quote="00Machado" data-source="post: 3412971" data-attributes="member: 23690">I don't think they inately are. And even if they are, the length of your arcs needs to serve not just as theory, but fit into the reality of how much time you have to play, how long your group will stick together, and how quickly everyone wants to finish and move on to other campaigns, parts of the world, game systems, etc.I also see "time consuming" and "long" when I see them, in additon to interesting and potentially fun. For my play schedule, I think the three adventure arcs work better. Also, my players don't always like doing the same thing for twenty levels, fighting for that long for instance might seem like dragging out the victory/story arc.If everyone is having fun, you're all doing it right. If you want to try for more fun, ask everyone at your table for ideas, and the ones people collectively get excited about, try those.Trek has recurring arcs as well, they just go away for several episodes and then return. An excellent article that might be an optimal middle ground for your episodic GM style, and your goal of longer story arcs, is Running Emmy Winning Games from Dragon 293. I recommend you take a look. I've found it god inspiration for structuring my games. Also, Aaron Allston wrote some GM theory stuff about pacing a long running campaign - summarized, it's basically intersperse short arcs in between longer arcs. You can find it in Aaron Allston's Strike Force, which is well worth picking up a used copy of.I call games that are fun for all involved the superior method. There is no other measure or other opinion that is worth consideration. Also, even if you like reading long plots like movies and novels, game play is a different entertainment form. You might prefer the game to feel like a collection of REH Conan short stories, and your movies to feel like the Star Wars trilogy (which arguably could be expressed as three normal length adventures instead of levels and levels of play - but I digress), and your books to feel like The Wheel of Time. Go with what works, and I'd even add, the most streamlined version of what works for your group.I will start with some general ideas of what I want to do in the early part of the campaign. Develop new ideas when that list gets kind of small because we've done a lot of it already. I'll recycle enemies (especially villain organizations) and expand on plots (call them sequels if you will) that the PCs seem to have liked. If there's something that was so fun we're all chomping at the bit for a sequel I'll start working on it as soon as inspiration strikes, even if I don't "need" more material, and then plan to insert it wherever it fits. I'll also plan material that helps develop the expressed interests of any of the players for their characters, and/or the group as a whole. Somewhere in there, a mix of single not arcs, multi-night arcs, recurring storylines, and sequels to previous sessions and/or arcs will happen. I've learned my lesson about trying to plan it all out at once though. Namely, don't try it. I've also learned that excellent fun is to be had by building on the experiences that happen around the table, and planning everything out at the beginning makes me want to use it all which makes me reluctant to discard it in favor of the new idea (even if it's better). If I end up discarding it, I wasted all that earlier prep. If I put it on the shelf "for later" I'm likely to never get to it, or be less inspired becuase I have new interests and ideas by the time I get to it. In my opinion, best to get to the good ideas while they're fresh, and leave room for them by not cluttering up the future game with too many (though I do recommend some as opposed to none at all) plans.</blockquote>

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