What do player-STs need?
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Would being exposed to information or prompts to add to or create PRPs remove some enjoyment for Player-STs as players?
I mean both the literal mystery of not knowing whats going on IC, but also losing a little of the OOC mystery on how things are created, coordinated, adjusted etc?
I have a waggish sense of humor.
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I can only speak for myself, but generally, the more I know, the more excited I get. Any value lost by being "spoiled" on what's really going on IC is regained by the excitement of finding new ways to fit pieces of the game together that weren't available to me without that knowledge. I know some people are the opposite! But I'm very much a the more I know, the more excited I am to put that knowledge to use in fun ways for others type.
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@Misadventure I can only say that I have sometimes have had a headsup about some metaplot development that might come in useful, but on the by and by, I don't know anything other regular players don't. I'm not a ST on Gray Harbor -- just a regular player who likes to run plots.
On Trelawney Cove I can't quite answer because, well, I'm staff there so yeah, I obviously do know what's in the works.
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Does anyone feel as a player that there is something that player-STs definitely could use from staff, even if its been mentioned?
I have a waggish sense of humor.
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@Misadventure said in What do player-STs need?:
Does anyone feel as a player that there is something that player-STs definitely could use from staff, even if its been mentioned?
Just clear communication. I come mostly from a background of comic book games, where the utter obsession with continuity drives me mad, and there have been so many times that I try to run a plot, get it approved, and then at the last moment it's canceled because someone else on the food chain had not communicated whether this or that NPC or aspect of the universe is permitted to be used because it doesn't fit with their vision of what the world should be.
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@Misadventure I need to not feel that anything I do may result in angry forum posts or retcons or otherwise having staff telling me I am not doing things the way they want. If this is the case, I very quickly stop doing things at all, because I'm not on a game to cause trouble. I will read the framework put to me before I do things, obviously -- but I have, once, been on a game where the message was 'go do all the things', and then every single time someone did, there were 'please don't do those things' from admin staff. That wilts an urge to be proactive fast.
Apart from that, not really. Well, again, an interested audience, but staff doesn't provide those.
http://keys.aresmush.com -- Come to Chincoteague, we have ponies.
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@L-B-Heuschkel said in What do player-STs need?:
I need to not feel that anything I do may result in angry forum posts
Well. There's absolutely no way to ever guarantee that.
He/Him
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@Tinuviel said in What do player-STs need?:
@L-B-Heuschkel said in What do player-STs need?:
I need to not feel that anything I do may result in angry forum posts
Well. There's absolutely no way to ever guarantee that.
No. But there is knowing that the odds are 99% versus, it can happen but it probably won't.
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@Caggles said in What do player-STs need?:
How DARE you run things that people might enjoy. Back in your box!
Sowwy, boss.
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@Caggles said in What do player-STs need?:
How DARE you run things that people might enjoy. Back in your box!
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@L-B-Heuschkel said in What do player-STs need?:
I need to not feel that anything I do may result in angry forum posts or retcons or otherwise having staff telling me I am not doing things the way they want. If this is the case, I very quickly stop doing things at all, because I'm not on a game to cause trouble. I will read the framework put to me before I do things, obviously -- but I have, once, been on a game where the message was 'go do all the things', and then every single time someone did, there were 'please don't do those things' from admin staff. That wilts an urge to be proactive fast.
There are good player STs out there, to be sure, and you definitely want to encourage those with positive feedback.
But unfortunately there are also a lot of folks out there who are only in it for selfish reasons (Get All The Things with minimal effort), aren't interested in following the theme, or can't plot their way out of a paper bag (I'm talking far beyond the typical Hollywood Plot Hole here). There's no way to legislate common sense in a policy, so sometimes it's inevitably going to result in corrective discussions, forum posts, or - in extreme instances - retcon. That's just part of running a game.
It's a hard balance to strike, maintaining continuity, theme and fairness without discouraging folks in the process. You can try to be positive and encouraging, but some folks are just going to take it hard no matter what you do.
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@faraday said in What do player-STs need?:
It's a hard balance to strike, maintaining continuity, theme and fairness without discouraging folks in the process. You can try to be positive and encouraging, but some folks are just going to take it hard no matter what you do.
And sometimes, as a player running things, you just need to accept that not every game is made for you. Sometimes, what staff has laid down is not what you want. It doesn't mean anything else. Adapt to their vision, or find a game that is more aligned with your ideas.
Staff can lay out pretty clear guidelines. And sometimes, that's just not enough, or it's the wrong game, and it really doesn't mean more than that. Can't please everyone, can't get it right for everyone.
