Rut Rut Rut

[Rikka]

Hm, I guess the the title speaks for itself right? Anyway this isn't saying that I'm taking a break, far from it. I'm just in a.. CM rut however.

For the last week or two I haven't been playing all that much, well particularly with Rikka. I'll log on, look at the who then start to walk arond the castle. The odd thing is there can be 30 ppl on the whol but like five people around in public places. It just seems like theres nothing to do. After 30 mins to almost an hour of this, I'll just log off and go off to the front room and play video games I know some ppl are gonna say "well CM is what ya make of it' but it would be nice to have props to make something work. Castle wide plot? is it coming? I dunno. CM is just.. starting to lose some of its luster with me. If it weren't for my alts I don't think I'd play at all, because Rikka's pretty much stagnet even if I try for her to do stuff she can't. She can't hold practices (no blades!) she's been a junior page for over a year and despite the many recommendations (many from influntial ppl ic) she has, Launfal seems like he just doesn't want to promote her. Keeper things are hard to do, because due to circumances Rikka/I went up to the duty of leader since it was seriously needed. Only problem is that She/I don't like that much to lead, and isn't much of a leader. Added theres only 3 ppl in the Keepers now (hoping to induct some soon). Feh, that doesn't even bring any excitment anymore.


When I first started playing there was like always something going on. There was that Raven thing, and that Alo thing and all these sorts of things and apparently the penicle of everything that happened when I first started playing and before it was the elementals. MAN that was so much fun it was like an interactive book! I stayed up till like three or so in the morning just waiting to see what happened next! Practically everyone had fun in that and it was castle wide. Even after that, there was the little things that Rikka, my alts and others did to make this castle be fun (Remember Finna's wedding when someone got goosed? or at the fashion show when Finna totally ripped the dress?). But slowly but surely things started to dwindle down in CM. The last thing Rikka's done that was pretty darn cool was the Ser Marrach Pagent and she organized that pretty much by herself. So! what does this have to do with anything. I find myself complaining these days "Theres nothing to do". I'm starting to see how hard it is to get involved in things like people have complained before. though myself/Rikka has never been one to jump into the mist of things, we've been involved of our fair share of plots/events. What is there to do? what is there to be excited for in the castle anymore? What can I do so I just won't walk around the castle for ten minutes and declare it blah!. Wheres the mystery and the intrigue? Wheres the romance (lord don't GET me started on -that-?) How far do I have to dig before I could can actually get to all of this and not be in a RUT.

Tiredly yours,

The one, the only, the Jenko.

edit: this might be filled with typos and all that but its 4 am and I'll fix it later ^_^'.

[Gareth]

Now, there's more going on that I know about which I shan't reveal here...

...but the concept of 'always something going on' is a mantra that people running a 24 x 7 game should take to heart.

The kinds of things I am looking for -- adventures -- are days or weeks or months apart, or still far far in the future to be introduced.

If any SP ever wants to 'beam me up' to give a plot to one or more of my characters -- DO IT!

Of course, I would prefer if it was not simply a "It's time to die" plot. I don't mind having running sword battles, but simple "Splut" plots aren't my idea of fun.

There's much other ~stuff~ that people know about, looming in the shadows here and there. How about getting gears in motion?

[Namida]

Strange

IG I haven't been this busy since Sansamor's kidnapping. I loose sleep, hardly have time to do the dishes and so on. Always so much to take care of IG for Nam, that I am almost burning out, needing a break to recover (though I doubt that will happen, my trip should fit with that )

Guess we see things different, or are involved in different things.
Fact is I feel incredible busy IG and actually enjoy the dull moments when they are there.

Pia

[Gareth]

I have -pllllleeenty- to do IC. Do not mistake me.

Want a guild? Want three?

There's plenty to do. If... If you are into guild/faction-building, recruiting, training, teaching, etc.

But that's not the same as major storyline or even minor adventure sort of stuff.

- Reasons to head to the secret tunnels.

- More backstory to be shared about in hushed tones.

- Things to look forward to log in tomorrow to find out about the next exciting chapter.

Again, there -are- things going on. But there's also a little bit of adventurous spark that needs to shine brighter. A little bit of volume. Bring up the bass!

Kick it!

Crank it!

Gimme some plot!

[Gareth]

And again, there -are- things going on.

Some of what I'm looking for could use a bit of 'sustain' though. There are a lot of things that are just sort of 'done'.

Oh. That's it? Okay.

Hrm.

It would be nice if some plots required a bit more momentum, and put some juicy things in front of people to work on that was more than a single scroll... and then wait for 3 moons for a VP to log in.

[Zeakk]

I suppose it all depends on waht kind of "adventure" you're looking for, and what sort of things people consider to be an "adventure." I have never thought of Castle Marrach as an adventure game. It best serves as an enviroment for a character. The enviroment can react to the character, the character can react to the enviroment. Many plots that occur sprout a change in the enviroment, something to be talked about, something to complain about, and something differen that effects the character. At the same time you can make the enviroment effect other people's characters...

Point being, there's not really a lot of what I would consider adventure in Marrach... Not a whole lot of swashbuckling, and when playing Zeakk I was egar for those chances, and went out of my way to try and provoke a good fight. Dozens of people charging through the tunnels is not the best solution to any of this, since that renders the tunnels useless for complicated plots involving crimes, and meetings people don't want others to know about. "Lets hide in the high traffic area, that's riddled with poison traps that no one seems to be effected by." The tunnels are only really exciting your first time.

Conflict makes the story good. Not adventuring. Conflict brings excitement, and draws someone into a story. To get a good measure of conflict does not require story plotters. Merely the efforts of a handful of so minded players can bring a good deal of conflict, story, and entertainment. With little or no plotter support, and without killing anyone, last year at this time Zeakk was third place for most notable villian. Sources of conflict make the game interesting, but not everyone is willing to put up with the trouble that insighting conflict creates.

Relying on the staff for storylines is like expecting someone else to breathe for you. Be creative. The StoryPlotters are players too, only they have special abilities, and ego trips.

[Tristana]

Posted by Zeakk:

Conflict makes the story good. Not adventuring. Conflict brings excitement, and draws someone into a story. To get a good measure of conflict does not require story plotters. Merely the efforts of a handful of so minded players can bring a good deal of conflict, story, and entertainment.

I felt like this is worth repeating. The last three months for Tristana were full of conflicts, things you know and things you dont know of, with alot of players involve or even just a few - those are the things that kept me going lately and those are the things that keep me going still. I look more on the interaction with other players side more than lets say a big monster gnawing my toe.

Dont get me wrong, I enjoyed the plot with the Basilisk even though my share of it was minor to non-existant.. but as was said - it gave something to talk about. I guess that's what I like about the game, perhaps its different with others - but I think saying there is nothing going on is a bit too much. All the "mess" Trist had lately was created by me and my fellow players - you just need one person to disagree with you and then the fun starts..

My two cents (shekels )

Tali

[Namida]

My exp is that player to player based plots and situations tends to become much more intense and nervewrecking.
There are so many posibilities in PC to PC interaction, both good and bad, both big and small.

As Tris says, it is (to me at least) the PC interaction that makes me wake too early in the mornings, not being able to fall asleep again, the PC interactions that make me stay up all night to play, it is the PC interactions that makes me loose too much sleep.

Right now, I would become totally stressed should some castle wide plot be prominent.. I just do not have time to focus on it, with so many smaller plots (and a few larger ones) mainly PC-driven on the loose.

And not to mention the drama, mystery, intrigue, intensity, feeligns, fears, nervousness, uncertainity, sense of victory and so on you get on the PC to PC plots.
To me those are much more satisfying than any huge SP plot I have been involved in.

Basic - tend to love the plots that arise from PC's interacting, and also when it involves some NPC's (not thinking it as a planned plot-thing here, but just casual interaction between humans.)

Pia

[Rikka]

Feh, I can't even find a PC plot to try and get into besides the regular oh lets kill him, lets beat up her blah blah etc, etc. And since for some odd reason when Rikka gets into IC conflict some ppl take it OOC well it ain't a great to always try to get conflict. Rikka can and has been a nasty B****, but not me. I'm like one of the biggest care bears ever. It's just really.. frustrating that its like I can barely find anything to do in the castle. And on the adventure note: What KIND of adventure? theres just so much you can do in a frozen castle with posion tunnels. Rikka isn't exactly in a tight nit group of friends or clique or what not so you know PC stuff ain't exactly coming out the wood works. So! what can I do to get myself involved into anything? Try to make my own? By doing what? I dunno, to say honestly. Its just been..very boring.

[Gareth]

There is, to me, a great difference between adventure, conflict, and plot.

Adventures generally lead to combat, facing major villains or monsters, discoveries in the world, revelation of larger issues, mystery-solving, and magical events. The kind of things individual players cannot achieve without SP intervention.

Adventures:
- Murder of Armsman Roland
- The Secrets Behind the First Winter Carnival (Alo, Helene)
- Tylus' Journal
- The Great Potato War
- Sansloy (Margaret's Poisoning)
- The Red Sashes & the Secret Tunnels (Asheram, Judicus, Tialin)
- Estrella Festival
- The Fae Embassy & The Disk of the Longest Day
- Ravien (Faer, Ravien, & Sansloy)
- Death of "The Unicorn"
- Avaria's Kidnap & Gareth's Banishment (Aeschlus)
- The Queen's Outer Bailey Tour (Arrest of the Duelists)
- The Cat Who Fell Into the Abyss & the Mirror of Souls (Qualen's Death, Alo)
- Edouard's Kidnap & Rescue (Alo & Bingo)
- Dreams of the Raven & Edouard's Death (Faer, Elesin, Helene)
- The Stone Swordsman in the Secret Tunnels
- Elemental Battle (Alo & Aeschlus, Rituals)
- Elementals (Sylphe, Undine, Hobb, Salamander)
- The Prince's Disguise
- Lothaire & the Rememberers (Gareth's Departure)
- Ashke & Diana's Murder
- Ansuz's Menace (Gareth's Return)
- The Basilisk
- Sham & Meowulf in the Rat Tunnels
- Odessa & the Prince
- Ashke & Lith's Murder
- The Secret of Forrest

Recurring Adventures:
- The Knight's Challenges
- The Squire's Challenges
- Visits of Master Ali-Jahib
- Winter Balls
- Great Black Rats of Unusual Size

These are ones sticking out for me at the moment. We likely each have our own memories of "Ooo! Remember that time..."

Not all adventures need to be spooky or dangerous. I treat a Winter Ball as an adventure because there was something astounding that happened at each one. At the end of the first, the Queen banished the clouds and we could all see the stars clearly over the Inner Bailey. Wow! We were all amazed. At the second, someone shouted "The Queen is a whore!" and the party came to an abrupt, unplanned end. We were all aghast. Triumph and tragedy. There were also magical favors given to the attendees. This was not just a Saturday night barn dance!

Each visit of Master Ali-Jahib led to much magic and adventure around the gifts he brought.
_______

Conflict is not necessarily adventure. Nor is it necessarily plot. Taunts of "Nyah nyah!" and "Says who?" followed by "Quit it" and "Make me!" may be a conflict played out by seven-year-olds, but does not necessarily lead to a dramatic resolution for a plot. Nor, of itself, does it constitute an adventure if it doesn't lead anywhere. The conflict is a possible catalyst for a plot. Or it could be the cause of the demise or avoidance of a plot.

Conflict can be of various tones and tenors. In fact, conflict changes tone and tenor, for it cannot be sustained at the same volume and pitch continuously. Sometimes it grows harsh and brutal. Sometimes it becomes light and playful.

But to what end?

Armed conflict without end or purpose might be a sort of Ragnarok Online -- your typical first-person-shooter.

Social conflict without end or purpose is basically that schoolyard or backseat "Nyah nyah" taunting. It prevents other, more dramatically interesting roleplaying from occurring.

Dramatic conflicts without end or purpose never allow any actor or force in the story to get anywhere. Yes, yes, yes. It's wonderful dialogue. Was this story heading somewhere?

Usually, to be satisfying, the dramatic forces or actors have to at least pay attention to the other, and in the traction of interaction, one prevails or both fail or both prevail by forwarding or resolving the conflict. Otherwise, you aren't really interacting.

I've seen a lot of drama suddenly come to an unsatisfying end when someone starts throwing random insults (or punches) into the mix. Derailing sorts of attention-grabbing behavior that certainly conflicted with what was going on.

If you are a StoryPlotter trying to give away plot clues, and the players ignore them and go back to flicking the finger at each other, why bother?

So there's a certain necessity of putting away the most caustic and anti-social behavior in order to let a guild continue to operate, a plot build or a scene to unfold.

Consider the purpose or end-result of the conflicts started. What are the goals of it? What are the payoffs and pitfalls? What benefit is this conflict to the game community? Where is this leading to?
________

Plot is often put forward as a catch-all for "something interesting going on." The two most appropriate definition in Webster's are "the plan or main story of a literary work" and "a secret plan for accomplishing a usually evil or unlawful end : INTRIGUE".

In the latter definition, a "plot" is almost the inverse to bold "adventure." Many adventures become known in time and become talked about. Many Castle plots remain secret to this very day.

The word "plot" invokes such succulent wickedness! Skullduggery. Premeditated crimes. Character assassination. Treason. Imagine trying to organize an outright rebellion? Dozens arrested. Real work for the Inquisition. Trials. Daring escapes or attempts. You'd need some major characters behind it. Weapons. A plan.

In the former definition, which is more neutral, there are a number of main story-arc related threads going on behind Castle Marrach. Many of them are secret, many other points are obvious.

There are also many more personal plots. It might not be the castle's main story, but it's your character's main story. Or the main story driving your circle of friends or your guild or organization.

It is a plan. It's supposed to have some beginning, middle and at least a projected end, like a literary work.

An event can actually be all three. A plot is formed around and driven by an inherent conflict, even if just a dramatic one (not actual traded blows). Some plots lead to adventures. But not all conflicts are adventures.

I am looking for a bit less of the caustic schoolyard tauntings and more for the dramatic, heroic, adventuresome sorts of plots that follow the main arc, or at least an off-shoot thereof.

Something that is adding to the castle's history, not simply personal histrionics.

[Trystan]

Yeah! Give us some treason

Though I must agree with others that some player-run plots have had great results.

Like the Outer Bailey performance of Phebus's play. Everyone (or most everyne) turned into frogs! That was the most fun I've had in a while. And yet it wasn't necessarily wicked, and nobody was killed.

Meh. I try my best to have my characters stir things up....

[Aiandoran]

Originally posted by Gareth
Treason. Imagine trying to organize an outright rebellion? Dozens arrested. Real work for the Inquisition. Trials. Daring escapes or attempts. You'd need some major characters behind it. Weapons. A plan.

*eyeshift* Been there...very hard to organize something like that, but anything is possible. Lots of weapons and lots of connections are necessary. And most importantly - it's very hard to find willing players of characters who actually possess good dueling abilites, though I could name a few off the top of my head. But if you don't have any support - it'd all die down like Bel's rampage.

[Darren Brimhall]

Then there's the matter of time, and, of course, RL.

I myself can pretty much be counted out of nearly all of the 'exciting' plots that occur here due to the lack of time I have to play here, all due to RL.

But then, those few plots I've been in, have been very jading experiences for me. So, if you want me in a plot you'd better do some heavy convincing--or leave me alone.

Darren