forbarrayar_ooc | MOD UPDATE: MISSION FORMATS & ENDGAME PLANNING POLL

Hey gang! I want to hear your thoughts on what direction to take the rest of the game, but first I wanted to talk about missions. I received some very helpful feedback recently re: mission formats and event result writeups. Some players have felt that recent missions felt too boxed-in and pre-scripted, and that they'd prefer mission results be more open-ended and leave more up to the players on the specifics of how a mission is resolved toward its ultimate conclusion (succeed or fail), and that their characters' contributions have a greater weight in the outcome. This was a really helpful thing to have pointed out, because I looked back at recent mission writeups and realized just how specific I was getting with event result writeups. Some players have also expressed the desire for more group-oriented missions rather than being divided into smaller teams.

SO! While I'm not going to overhaul the mission format entirely, I am going to try out some new things and change things up for some kinds of missions with the goal of giving you guys a more fun play experience. I'm going to write up much more open-ended mission results and cover only the broad strokes of the outcome (with possible suggestions for details that you can take or leave), particularly for scouting/raiding, PVP and mystery plot-type missions. I'm also going to try to keep adding choices to missions since people enjoyed those during March, and it gives you guys more influence on how things go down. I'm also going to try a more group-oriented approach rather than dividing into teams when it comes to missions (particularly those 4-slot missions) where everyone essentially has a common set of goals: do one set of rolls for the mission, and let you guys figure out how you accomplish your mission together and keep event threading more free form. I'll be trying out this stuff starting with the April II event, so I hope you'll all sign up, hopefully have lots of fun, and let me know how you liked it!

As we move into the second half of the plot, I'm setting up the plot dominoes to take us toward endgame. (Which, don't worry, is still a ways off!) But there are a lot of directions we could go with FB's endgame, including what form the Star Gate eventually takes, how people get to it, and how (or whether) the two sides finally come together. These are all choices I could make, but since there are a number of possibilities, I want to gauge your interest and see what you think would be most fun, and with that in mind, I can continue to drive the plot in that direction.

So, with that in mind, please cast your votes in the polls below! A lot of these are "check all that apply" type questions, so don't feel like you necessarily need to decide on a preferred option now.

EDIT: To clarify, as it says above, endgame is not happening right away. We expect the game to wrap sometime around July.

Poll #18164

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 18

View Respondents

First, which of the following endgame scenarios appeal to you? They deal with a bunch of different aspects of endgame, so please do check all that apply. ** Also, all of the Star Gate access scenarios could be applied to EITHER Star Gate location scenario.

View Answers

Extended endgame: one last "plot" round at the end before the Star Gate is actually used/activated for CR wrap-up/goodbyes
16 (88.9%)

Star Gate location: a final Star Gate design that must be used from space (closer to the wormhole)
6 (33.3%)

Star Gate location: a final Star Gate design that can be used from the planet surface (most likely within the Ceta base)
9 (50.0%)

Star Gate location: other (please elaborate on your idea in the comments!)
0 (0.0%)

Factions: all PCs on the same side for all of endgame (by however means; doesn't necessarily have to be voluntary) -- this would be at least a month
7 (38.9%)

Factions: PCs remain divided right up through the last round of endgame
10 (55.6%)

Factions: other (please elaborate on your idea in the comments!)
0 (0.0%)

Star Gate access: mount an attack/raid to get everyone to the Star Gate for its use (action-oriented)
6 (33.3%)

Star Gate access: somehow steal/hijack the Star Gate
4 (22.2%)

Star Gate access: gaining access via INSIDE JOB (both sides working together for a covert operation, more stealth/espionage-oriented)
13 (72.2%)

Star Gate access: other (please elaborate on your idea in the comments!)
0 (0.0%)

Other: if you have any other ideas about how you'd like endgame to go down, please elaborate in the comments!
0 (0.0%)

Plot-wise and theme-wise, for future events, what would you like to see more of? (Check all that apply.)

View Answers

Action-oriented missions/plot elements
12 (66.7%)

Science-heavy missions/plot elements
5 (27.8%)

Intrigue and mystery-oriented missions/plot elements
15 (83.3%)

Behind-the-scenes (gay) haut drama/infighting and politics-oriented missions/plot elements
9 (50.0%)

Totally optional, but what do you think your character's most valuable potential contributions to the game plot/missions are? (Check all that apply.)

View Answers

Action/combat/fighty times
13 (72.2%)

Intrigue/espionage
10 (55.6%)

Military strategy/tactical planning
9 (50.0%)

Manual labor/physical tasks
4 (22.2%)

Tech skills
6 (33.3%)

Inspirational speeches
3 (16.7%)

Superpowers
3 (16.7%)

Stealth/intelligence/scouting
11 (61.1%)

Politics/diplomacy
7 (38.9%)

MOD UPDATE: MISSION FORMATS & ENDGAME PLANNING POLL

QUESTIONS