Suggestions and Feedback

[Gridish]

Good morning everyone!
During our OOC officer meeting last night (19/10/2015) we touched on a couple of topics concerning plots we, as a tribe, come up with and do. We would like some feedback from your guys’ and girls’ thoughts! There are two parts to this topic, so do let us know your feelings on both of them.
Plot events per week: During the last few plots that we’ve done, it has been 3 major plot event nights a week, those being the Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday (Bar the OotRB Ft. HoA plotline which had different days, but still 3 days a week.) We as an officer team feel that 3 plot events a week is too much for a couple of reasons:

- If you are unable to attend even 1 event night, you’ll miss out on a big part of the active plot, which could result in disinterest for the  duration of the plot.
- The tribe burns through the set up plot rather quickly, leaving more “idle” time open and exhausting more and more of the explorable  world and exhausting it faster.

Right now we are considering having 2 “major” plot nights a week, Sunday and Tuesday, with a “relax” day being the Thursday. Please give us your thoughts on this topic: Would you like to see this change implemented? If so, for what reason? If not, for what reason?

Rest periods between plots: It has been brought up that we jump from issue to issue rather rapidly. One moment we’re fighting the epic awesome Murloc warlocks from the alternate Thrall to defeating Darth Vader and destroying the Death Star in two months of time… To then hop on over to the next dispute. On an OOC point of view, it’s quite nice: having new “content” to explore created by the officer team, giving more action packed events and in general giving somewhat more stuff to do. At the same time, it’s not as realistic. After going through a tough campaign and hopping on to the next without any real rest for the Tribe. So here is the question: Would you guys like to see longer rest periods between plots? This will give those that are interested more breathing room to create their own events for character development or simply for poopoo and giggles. Or are you guys more interested in hopping from action packed thrills to action packed thrills?

The officer team would like to review the answers at the next Officer meeting, which is Monday the 26th of October. Any constructive feedback is welcome and will be taken into consideration!

Strength and honor!
-   The officer team.

[Mozrogg]

I agree completely with everything that has been stated there. From my personal experience at least, the entire ORB ft. HoA plot I missed completely mainly due to being on lates for that entire week, so when i finally did manage to catch an event i was sort of lost completely which then lead to slight disinterest.

As much as I love our overarching plots as the next guy, I think it'd be a grand idea to have a little longer for "down time" in between, allows the one off events to take shape that do not necessarily fit in or contribute to the main storyline.

[Vanara]

I think that its a good idea reducing it to two major plot nights for the reason that its goes through rather fast.

The relax day for me personally would be better on Tuesday because I'm always stuck at work on that day and end up missing the event

Rest periods between the plots is fine the way it is currently for me, however I wouldn't mind if it changed to have a longer resting week in between. I think both sides have its ups and down, some rather have extra time to do their own things while others rather have go from one plot to another as fast as possible so to say.

[Therak]

Our reasoning for the Thursday being the quiet night is that it's the day with the lowest attendance over all.

[Umaua]

Personally yes, the plot lines taking longer time would be  better. I am on the more realistic camp and not just plowing through enemies and shrugging injuries off and moving off the next day. Then again...whatever this is successful or not, depends on the consistency of the people and how well they interact during downtime.

2 plot days a week has up and downsides. Upside being more downtime time and possibilities for other tribe members to host their own events. But then..when its condensed into 2 days it makes missing a day even more devastating if you want to keep up. Unless the contents of the events are also diluted so it isn't so condensed as they have tended to be

As for days, I too would like the plot day to be something else than Tuesday. This however is personal reason of that being the only viable pen & paper night with me friends. So if there's 2 days of plot stuff a week, I will miss the other with 90% certainty.

All in all, your plans require either very active campfire RP or active smaller event makers/smaller events. As if the events last longer and there is more downtime, it all effects to this.

[Revax]

Just a brief feedback on your thoughts there from me! Ive been wanting for some time now to increase my activity and RP more overall. I do raid on thursdays and sundays so when it comes to plotlines I very much approve of having two days (one being tuesday \o/) on a personall level. I love random RP, but missing 2/3 plot-sessions every week will be daunting, some of the time Ill be missing 3/3. Missing 1/2 or 2/2 sounds less horrible

[Azolg]

But then..when its condensed into 2 days it makes missing a day even more devastating if you want to keep up

This is the point I was going to make. While it doesn't affect me personally, as I could turn up to every event if I wanted. But say somebody has to do a late shift on a Tuesday, it makes it utterly crippling for them to keep up with as they might miss a major plot part. Perhaps keep the 3 days, but have one of the days (Thursday as you said it's the lowest attendance day) as a "Minor plot day"?

Im just pulling ideas out of my ass here, heh.

[Gridish]

Just a few things I'd like to highlight here real quick:

Our reasoning for the Thursday being the quiet night is that it's the day with the lowest attendance over all.

As Therak has already mentioned, we conciencly concidered Tuesdays and Sundays being the best suited nights for plot events as Thursday is usually the day with the lowest attendance. It's been that way for at least a year. Of course this can be a subject to change if need be. The days are not set in stone, hence why we're asking for feedback .

2 plot days a week has up and downsides. Upside being more downtime time and possibilities for other tribe members to host their own events. But then..when its condensed into 2 days it makes missing a day even more devastating if you want to keep up. Unless the contents of the events are also diluted so it isn't so condensed as they have tended to be

The events will just continue as how it's set up now. There won't be any "extra" plot added to the two plot days, we'll simply thin the plot events out over multiple days.. Otherwise we'd still be stuck with going way too fast through our plots, admittedly .

All in all, your plans require either very active campfire RP or active smaller event makers/smaller events. As if the events last longer and there is more downtime, it all effects to this.

This is a main reason why we are bringing this forward. We would like to see how the tribe reacts to these possible changes and see if this will create some type of...  motivation to try and engage in more random RP. It's a real tough topic when it comes to: "How much can you loosen the reins before it backfires.

keep the lovely feedback coming ladies and gents!

[Karak Stormsong]

Does it have to be Tuesdays? I've been having trouble attending this day for the past year and probably will continue to do so for the next academic year!

My concern is, narrative-wise, you risk drawinig out the plot for too long. You occasinally pull on the suspension of disbelief when your Arc Villian escapes/delays for another week, particularly when the more pro-active personalities of the tribe have a bone to pick with them. The recent examples on Draenor is something  I had with Siyah; cornering the villian (Akesh/Rakosh/whoeever) who suddenly pops a shield and teleports away because the plot isn't due to end for another fortnight whereas the casters in the party 'should' be able to prevent him from doing that (for example). Particualrly if you have a vengeful or skilled character who would naturally go down and slaughter the villian mid-monologue; it occasioanlly feels like player agency is taking a sideline. Switching to two days a week is fine in practice, just be wary it doesn't extend anything more than it should. Lengthy campaigns are again, fine, but if there are players who are missing out on the occasional day you risk alienating them and switching to two days only increases this risk. Perhaps having a series of 'villians of the week' that peice together the overall plot would be better?

Bear in mind I come from a tabletop roleplay background that is very heavily narrative focused and complain about everything anyway so I'm probbaly talking nonsense. This isn't to say I'm -opposed- to this sort of thing for any reason (Hell Siyah now pathologically hates warlocks obbsesses over breaking wards because of it now, which is lovely character development).

[Umaua]

Could be argued that perhaps they are serious threats and so can have much stronger shield that we can just simply break. 

But Siyah raises another point I was not thinking. Overly long delays with plots can be detrimental to the story...if there is a very dangerous enemy, it makes sitting at campfire or going to do something in between awkward.

[Rhonya]

Keep the suggestions coming if you still want to, we'll be deciding on some things soon! So if you want your voice to be heard still about the next plot etc at least, now is the time.

[Gridish]

Ladies and orclemen,

With the Storm Peaks part of the plot coming to an end, there are some questions the officer team has for you!
To start things off: How are you guys enjoying the plot/how did you enjoy the plot? Was it still too fast? Was it on a nice pace? Is this "2 plotnights a week, 1 filler night a week" a good formula? Were the events satisfying and were they performed well, or do you feel that something can be done better next time?

Secondly: What's next? Well... We this is actually a legit question directed to you guys because it is quite simple; We came to Northrend to fight off this Dwarven warband. Instead, because of Captain Skidderbeard's -amazing- piloting skills, we overshot our target, crashlanded in Storm Peaks and have come across some insane-making whispers. So the entire idea behind the 'original' plotline isn't done just yet! However... We won't be starting off the next plotline imidietly. As people have suggested in the feedback thread, it isn't that realistic to jump from plot to plot. They want to see larger rest periods between plots and I fully agree with that. Another thing that is in the way are Christmas and New Years. Therefor, it is a given that we'll be taking a couple weeks off from any plot ( DOn't worry... there will be events.... Some... Maybe-....) It is also a given that during the holidays, people are out and about being busy doing christmassy stuff. Therefor activity might be a tad low. This time off can be taken on a few locations and we as the officer team would like to get your input on this.
So here are the suggestions:
- We stay on Conquest Hold during the Christmas/New Years 'break'. It might be rather quiet in camp due to festive times. There might not be a whole lot RP going on BUT once this break is over, we can delve into the next part of the plot which will take us through Grizzly Hills and Howling Fjords.
- We  go to Razor Hill, near a major RP hub making it less likely for times to be quiet in RP. Once the break time is over, we can find a way to transition back to Grizzly Hills and Howling Fjords -if- people are still interested in this part of the plotline.
- We head to the 4 day "Wonderfaire Veil" from the 20th to the 23rd. There will certainly be RP. After that we can head to a major RP hub and sit out the remainder festive period. Once the break time is over, we can find a way to transition back to Grizzly Hills and Howling Fjords -if- people are still interested in this part of the plotline.

Lastly: Do you have any ideas? If it concerns any plot ideas, event ideas, chocolate fondue recipe ideas or anything else, let us know in this thread!

To make sure our members have as much fun as possible, we'd like as many people as possible to read through this and give their 10 cents on the situation. This way we can improve in the future and have a great time set up for you in the new year!

Strength and Honour!

- Rrosh'tul Rimeweaver.

[Vanara]

The plot so far is going great and I am enjoying it, the pace is just fine like this, its not to rushed. For me the 2 plotnights a week and one filler event is just fine.

As for what is next I think all of the option you said is a valid one. For myself I woudln't mind having to wait in Conquest Hold and finish the plot. I understand if others rather have us move to a major RP hub so that they have something to do in the times that will most likely be more quiet.

Basically everything is fine for me and I'll go with what the majority wants. I do however want to finish the entire plot and not let it rest for now after the Storm Peaks part.

[Azolg]

Im going to play devils advocate here, because while you know full well what I think you all do is fantastic, I have a few issues about this campaign (Which I can actually comment on because i've been here for every event, yay!) that im going to raise. I'll try not to be harsh because its a lot of work gone into it; But i won' dance around any points at the same time.

The Plot: I think the plot had great potential. I loved the survival aspects and the maddening whispers in the area referencing that a certain something wasn't entirely defeated as was first thought back in WOTLK. I loved the environmental updates and I loved the general theme of the place and not knowing where we are. I disliked that some folks acted like they knew where we were - But that's out of our hands, and its down to those individuals to have a suspension of disbelief and go along with the plot otherwise it ruins things. I could genuinely have had a survival plot as we made out way out of Storm Peaks, with the whispers as an undertone and scene setting in the background as simply another thing to escape from (We've barely any gear, food is limited and we're all struggling to sleep as it is.) Before we found civilization and then went on to find this Dwarf warband and take them out for good.

Heres what I don't like: Why on earth are we so driven to take out the source of these whispers when it's clear that the further away we are - We wont hear them. We're struggling for food and supplies. We're overtired, struggling to sleep and frankly in some of the worst conditions we will ever face and we're delving into Ulduar and the surrounding areas to stamp out whatever source is offering these whispers, which in real terms is going to be a being of some formidable power if im perfectly honest. It makes such little sense for a Tribe that I consider to be quite logical in it's actions. We could move out, get our bearings. Find some maps from a nearby town in Grizzly/Howling Fjord or get some local intel. Recharge up and then head back in for the final confrontation; Yet we're needlessly I feel trying to struggle against a foe we could easily come back to and take out when we're in a better place. It feels strange, and Makaroth shared the same view; We never heard any whispers before we got here why don't we just leave instead of taking the fight when the odds are stacked against us? I've deliberately stopped mentioning it IC'ly because I feel all it will do is create more tension without changing anything - As I can't expect the plot to just get dropped and be done with it; Thats not fair on anyone at all, mostly the guys involved creating this plot.

I feel it's tarnished the experience a little. I know the Tribe has never been to Ulduar, and it's a cool place to incorporate into the storyline, and probably would be an extremely awesome story-arc; But the current conditions we face I can't get past the fact it just feels like lunacy to go against this foe when we're struggling to stay alive.

As for Skidderbeard; I could go on about how we could have jumped on the Goblin when he said we were going to fly into a storm; But we needed a way to crash the zeppelin, so I can suspend disbelief for that one - I can't think how the Tribe would ever trust the character again though.

What happens next?: For me, I absolutely despise Christmas. I am bah humbug in every sense of the word, which I won't rant about here because now's not the time (Don't ask me unless you want your ears blown off in an anti-Christmas hate rant.) I personally wouldn't mind staying in Conquest Hold and just having some down-time. I'll be online all over the Christmas period and willing to hold some mini-events and the like (Hunts, game nights; things like that) for anyone who does want to come online but i'd be apprehensive about heading back to Razor Hill just for the sake of RP and to go and mingle; As I feel it'd tarnish the immersion somewhat of Northrend. Would also give me a chance to get through the massive Steam library I have of games i've never played on nights where it's quiet and nobody's on (Christmas day anyway? I'll be playing Fallout 4) - But thats not a priority of course.

Ideas: I realize this isn't for everyone - But I love PvE roll emote battles. I'd love to see more, but I know that there are some horrible memories of hours and hours of rolling battles floating around, plus I know there's a large consensus that doesn't like roll battles in PvE situations. I'd personally love to implement full detailed character sheets for us to fill out, DnD style with lots of different customization options; Again I fear i'm probably dreaming here - But i'd happily help create such a thing if it came to fruition.

I hope that at least offers a critical but fair viewpoint. I do love all the work you do and you know I always want to help out whenever I can. I love this Tribe, and I'll always want to try and improve things with you all.

Much love my cherubs.

[Mozrogg]

I'd have to agree with some of Makaroth's points, as i've enjoyed the whole survival aspect and basically trying to scratch out a living, however I find it odd that we're going after this big bad in such a state of disarray, however I've chalked that up to us being "the last line of defense" as it were, if we don't do it then who else will bother sort of thing, however as has been said perhaps instead of rushing straight for the throat in Ulduar it would've made more sense to have regained our strength somewhere else in Northrend and then head back into the heart of darkness so to speak.

I've loved the whole weather aspect and having to survive part of the plot as it's not necessarily something active that anyone can monitor, it relies on everyone's IC reactions to it, which in turn allows you to bounce off of their reactions, it's atmospheric more than anything which I've really enjoyed.

I think it'd do more harm than good if we were to return to Razor Hill "Immuurshunnnn ruuuined11oneone" I'd be all for a wind down period in Conquest Hold, although the danger there lies with the christmas and new year period being historically quiet so with us being further segregated from the world and RP community it could possibly have a negative impact.

I also love that idea of a DnD styled character sheet, not for every event but it'd be nice to see something along those lines as I myself have never done any form of DnD outside of the lightly DM'd events in WoW, so something different like that could be really interesting.

Overall I've enjoyed the plot immensely so far despite some confusion as to why we're doing certain things!