We posted a survey to our players recently, and finally managed to get out from under illness to collate the responses. I've included the survey questions and player responses below in case anyone here is interested about what players are saying and what we're looking to do about it (those respondents who had no answer to a given question or simply compliments are not included).
Which is your preferred option for moving forward with the storyline on The Eighth Sea?
45% A little more of a guided tour through this section of the storyline, pushing toward a resolution and return to the Real World in 3-4 months.
36% As intended, a slow, player-driven process taking 5-8 more months.
9% Get us back to the Real World ASAP, even if we don't have to figure out how it happens.
9% Do we have to go back? (player response)
What would you like to see more of while in the Spirit World? (choose as many as interest you):
82% More emphasis on the "why" and "how" of The Storm
64% Combat with NPC human adversaries
64% New strangeness from outside the island
55% Political maneuvering between NPC and PC groups (done via PCs, of course)
55% Survival-style situations involving rationing supplies and forming defenses
Other options getting votes: Spooky situations to be resolved with only RP or social skills, Monster of the Week quick-fights, Spooky situations to be resolved with only RP or social skills, Exploration of the island, and Exploration of the seas around the island
What sort of "shinies" would you be interested in being added to the game to provide characters, players, or both something to chase? (Choose as many as interest you)
73% Magic items (relatively minor)
73% Acknowledged areas of specialty/expertise (ie, "Oh, you want to buy grenadoes? You totally need to talk to Hawke")
55% Roles in settlement governance (such as it is)
55% Promotions in rank within crew/business/etc
36% Luggers/Pinnaces for small-group use
27% Gold
Other: Faith-based charms and the like, and "Anything"
What would you like to see added to the grid?
Player Houses. (Staff Sez: happy to put them together, just request where you would like it, the name you would like it to have, and what you want the desc to be).
Themed islands (dinosaur island, aliens island, zombie island). (Staff Sez: Something //like// this is in the works in coordination with the "New strangeness from outside the island" option above).
Locked rooms specific to a faction (Staff Sez: Probably not, because we don't intend the grid to sprawl much larger than it is. But scene-rooms are -great- for this, let us know if you want to learn how to use them).
What would you like to see added to theme?
Politics, power plays between nations (after a Return). (Staff Sez: Definitely in the works. Probably between individual colonies first, then building up to nations if applicable).
"Actual Theme, there's way too much information being passed off as theme currently. Things easily proven no less." (Staff Sez: We're not entirely sure what's meant by this comment, but we'd love to hear what you mean, drop us a request or a page?).
What would you like to see removed from theme?
More spooky stuff, less Monsters Attack stuff.
What can we do to make it easier to get involved in day-to-day RP?
Incentivize meeting new people?
Give a reason for day-to-day RP. (Staff Sez: We'll try to provide more things to RP about... more detail at the end).
Reward in-game scenes beyond posting logs. (Staff Sez: We do try to read all the logs that go up, and if people propose an adventure/mission/etc, we try to follow up with them to see if they'd like it run as a scene. We've also been known to drop a Luck point here or there for folks helping stir things up--Lafayette in particular is owed one soon. Logs are also a way we would pick out those to highlight for 'areas of expertise' and other shinies. We're interested in hearing other ideas for incentives).
Feeling overwhelmed and without a point of entry. (Staff Sez: Ack! That's definitely not what we want to cause. Anyone who is feeling adrift, we're absolutely happy to talk about ways to weave your character into ongoing things. There's also a list of plot hooks on the bboard and on the wiki (http://the8thsea.wikidot.com/now) if you're looking for things to get interested in.
Conclusions:
We're definitely going to be shifting some things around as a result of this. We had previously been trying to lay out plot hooks and see what people followed, we'll try a more active form of storytelling to get us into some of the hows-whys-wheres-etc. We've heard on this survey and elsewhere that people are interested in sea-faring pirate-y stuff more than monster-slaying, and yeah... that's totally our bad. It's been on the list to do, but we felt like there were intermediate steps, ones that didn't seem to be happening. We're going to push them so we can get to some sea-faring skullduggery. We'll focus on some of the human monsters around, and push some of the critters into the background again. Minor magic items and charms are absolutely in the realm of creation by Pagan rituals, Voodoo favors, and Native spirit deals (Abrahamic prayers tend to be both more immediate and short-term), but we can also arrange for some to be found. We can also be more explicit in calling out areas of expertise. We will also work in some opportunities for "improved" positions and roles as well (and likely some promotions within crews as NPCs die and PCs idle out).
We also want to make it clear and explicit that we're always open to feedback and ideas. Don't wait for the next survey, if you've got something you'd like to say, drop us a page or a request. While some games may discourage directly player-Staff interaction, we're definitely not one of them.
