To the players, I’m very sorry that so many people were hurt as a result of the end game plot fiasco. I wish there was more I could have done but thank you so much for those who worked with me while I was doing damage control and thank you so much for participating in the epilogue despite everything. For those I wasn’t able to contact, it isn’t anything against you but I could only do so many conversations a night and if you have anything you want to say, I’m open and available to speak either on plurk eski or aim @ machiaveski.
As for my part in plot fiasco, I’m definitely not saying that I’m not without blame. As a mod, I should have paid more attention to end game and I should not have excused certain behaviors! For that, I apologize to the players that were hurt and affected. I feel like if there was better communication and more transparency on multiple fronts, I could have done something. That said, I honestly also feel like I can only apologize so much when I was both busy and not kept in the loop or utilized with some decisions which is one of my main criticisms for the game.
I also just really want to clarify that, despite what was said in coordination plurk about end game defaulting to my plot... The plot everyone got was not my plot.. I'm honestly not sure what everyone got but I'm assuming it was all a part of Anna's original plot which included a trial, final battle with the demons, etc. Plot really dragged out because of how incredibly NPC heavy it was and I feel like you (Anna) were stretched very thin and this is exactly what I wanted to avoid when I gave you my original plot which omitted the battle with the NPCS. I feel like I gave a lot of advice and suggestions throughout the game but they were all ignored in favor of whatever you already had in mind in which case, I do have some other problems.
I feel like end game was entirely too dependent on NPCs given how much you can handle at a time and furthermore, I think there was definitely blatant mod favoritism based on how your NPCs were perceived. I really can't help but notice how characters that doted on and had positive CR with your NPCs received much more opportunity than those who were adverse towards NPCs. The most clear example of this is Lithuania's plot which was allowed to completely take over end game and lockout players that had expressed negative opinions about Miata. I don't understand why I wasn't consulted on at all about this because I was very much misled on how Lithuania's plot was going to tie into end game.
I went from thinking LIthuania's plot was going to be a small, closed group in the graveyard that would get maybe 25-50% success... to come back one day and it was suddenly actually end game. When it was first brought up to me-- by Mel, not Anna-- I approved it and gave some advice. I caught onto it growing some and suggested expanding it but again, I never thought it would actually become end game. I mean, why would I if it was never otherwise brought to my attention by you or if I was never consulted on it in an official way? I feel like I came back one day and it was suddenly end game plot which completely blindsided me and I don't know what players were included in that second plurk where the concerns were brought up but thank you for bringing up your concerns because I never would have known otherwise.
When I was doing my intial investigating, I felt like this plot lockout was the result of a lack of miscommunication & transparency ooc and I feel like yes, some characters were unfortunately locked out because of this. For these characters, I, again, apologize. However, some things just don't add up. I can understand Rhys being excluded for IC reasons but why characters like Morrigan? Break and Gilbert? Maybe you were afraid they were too against Miata but at the same time, if the plot was just opened up, I'm 100% certain we could have found a way to include these characters without even needing to get creative. Morrigan literally died for Buddy. I bet she'd do whatever she could to help Buddy survive. Gilbert has a hostage he needs to protect! Break would have helped Gilbert. Heck, even Rhys had a hostage he needed to save. Yes, I understand that these reasons were supposedly for "IC" reasons but... when the plot becomes so large that it includes the majority... you need to include everyone for the sake of fairness. I don't understand how multiple people could become immediately aware of this but neither Anna nor Mel were? And the only thing that really makes sense is... one part Lithuania getting mod favoritism and a chance to be the star and one part completely wanting to avoid negative CR with Miata which brings me to the next concern.
Avoidance isn't an option when you're modding. I saw this before end game when I was doing mystery plots, investigations, and trials. It happened several times but I'll just mention the one that stands out most in recent memory because it rubbed me the wrong way. In week 9, I said pretty clearly I was going to be really busy that week and suggested you bring Aki on board to temporarily help to which you agreed. I was under the assumption that Aki would help and you would take over the main plotting but... you were hardly around at all and even though I was incredibly busy, I had to do most of the plotting myself. I'm strongly under the impression that you weren't paying attention to the plurk at all because when I posted the finalized document and everything for you to do investigation... you messed up Faize's sword. It was literally the very last thing we debated before wrapping up the document. Yes, I could have been more clear in the murder document but also, if you'd even been paying attention a little bit to the plotting plurk, you would have caught on. But that really wasn't what rubbed me the wrong way.
What rubbed me the wrong way was when Katar and Ki mentioned it... you just disappeared. You stopped responding to the investigation and the plotting plurk. I was on my phone checking and I could see you dicking around in moles plurk and having fun while investigation was stalled and Katar and Ki were waiting for something to get resolved. I came back home finally and watched for a little while with nothing happening and had to take over. I was the one who wrapped up investigation and made the retcon/apology plurk about the mix up. And I get that part of the problem it took so long to resolve was because Lum went to bed that night but... you had like, a solid hour at least to do something about it before I came back and took over. And when I bring this mix up, I by no means am trying to say I've never made mistakes in trials/investigations because I sure have but at least I fixed my mistakes and communicated them to the players instead of leaving everyone hanging and the game stalled.
I get that modding is very stressful. Good. Lord. I know its stressful but honestly, if you aren’t capable of accepting criticism and taking action without completing avoiding the issue, you shouldn’t mod in the future. If the game isn’t your going way, the solution isn’t to just disappear to play Fire Emblem or else I would have done that too. And when I'm still trying to do damage control and take care of the game... the attitude to take with me isn't to be curt and snippy either. I'm frustrated too but man, I'm trying. I tried.
Again, I want to apologize to the players who were dragged into the both over and underwhelming mess that became end game. I feel like I did the best I could with the information I had to work with and the time I had available but hindsight is 20/20 and I feel like I could have done a lot more. You guys deserve a lot more. I’m also, once more, very sorry for all of the players that were made upset by the plot lockout because I definitely gave bad advice there and did not pay attention as much as I could have. I'm also very sorry that I let some things fly that never should have.
For all my grievances, I did have a fun time. I loved and adored all of my CR and even with characters I didn't have CR with, I enjoyed reading a lot of your threads. Thank you again to everyone who helped with every mystery plot I worked on and thank you everyone for being patient with me while I fumbled through my first attempt at modding. It was definitely a learning experience but if it wasn't a fun one too, I would have ollied out ages ago.
I also don't want this to look like I'm trying to attack you or anyone. Like I said, I had a lot of fun and I think the game was run relatively well, albeit with several rocky moments, until about the last 2-3 weeks and several of the people I spoke to agreed. But unless you can really take this advice to heart, I wouldn't advise modding again.
Whoops, and sorry for switching between general you/you and names but I'm like 1/2 proxying and 1/2 typing for myself but I wouldn't post anything I didn't agree with.
no subject
As for my part in plot fiasco, I’m definitely not saying that I’m not without blame. As a mod, I should have paid more attention to end game and I should not have excused certain behaviors! For that, I apologize to the players that were hurt and affected. I feel like if there was better communication and more transparency on multiple fronts, I could have done something. That said, I honestly also feel like I can only apologize so much when I was both busy and not kept in the loop or utilized with some decisions which is one of my main criticisms for the game.
I also just really want to clarify that, despite what was said in coordination plurk about end game defaulting to my plot... The plot everyone got was not my plot.. I'm honestly not sure what everyone got but I'm assuming it was all a part of Anna's original plot which included a trial, final battle with the demons, etc. Plot really dragged out because of how incredibly NPC heavy it was and I feel like you (Anna) were stretched very thin and this is exactly what I wanted to avoid when I gave you my original plot which omitted the battle with the NPCS. I feel like I gave a lot of advice and suggestions throughout the game but they were all ignored in favor of whatever you already had in mind in which case, I do have some other problems.
I feel like end game was entirely too dependent on NPCs given how much you can handle at a time and furthermore, I think there was definitely blatant mod favoritism based on how your NPCs were perceived. I really can't help but notice how characters that doted on and had positive CR with your NPCs received much more opportunity than those who were adverse towards NPCs. The most clear example of this is Lithuania's plot which was allowed to completely take over end game and lockout players that had expressed negative opinions about Miata. I don't understand why I wasn't consulted on at all about this because I was very much misled on how Lithuania's plot was going to tie into end game.
I went from thinking LIthuania's plot was going to be a small, closed group in the graveyard that would get maybe 25-50% success... to come back one day and it was suddenly actually end game. When it was first brought up to me-- by Mel, not Anna-- I approved it and gave some advice. I caught onto it growing some and suggested expanding it but again, I never thought it would actually become end game. I mean, why would I if it was never otherwise brought to my attention by you or if I was never consulted on it in an official way? I feel like I came back one day and it was suddenly end game plot which completely blindsided me and I don't know what players were included in that second plurk where the concerns were brought up but thank you for bringing up your concerns because I never would have known otherwise.
When I was doing my intial investigating, I felt like this plot lockout was the result of a lack of miscommunication & transparency ooc and I feel like yes, some characters were unfortunately locked out because of this. For these characters, I, again, apologize. However, some things just don't add up. I can understand Rhys being excluded for IC reasons but why characters like Morrigan? Break and Gilbert? Maybe you were afraid they were too against Miata but at the same time, if the plot was just opened up, I'm 100% certain we could have found a way to include these characters without even needing to get creative. Morrigan literally died for Buddy. I bet she'd do whatever she could to help Buddy survive. Gilbert has a hostage he needs to protect! Break would have helped Gilbert. Heck, even Rhys had a hostage he needed to save. Yes, I understand that these reasons were supposedly for "IC" reasons but... when the plot becomes so large that it includes the majority... you need to include everyone for the sake of fairness. I don't understand how multiple people could become immediately aware of this but neither Anna nor Mel were? And the only thing that really makes sense is... one part Lithuania getting mod favoritism and a chance to be the star and one part completely wanting to avoid negative CR with Miata which brings me to the next concern.
Avoidance isn't an option when you're modding. I saw this before end game when I was doing mystery plots, investigations, and trials. It happened several times but I'll just mention the one that stands out most in recent memory because it rubbed me the wrong way. In week 9, I said pretty clearly I was going to be really busy that week and suggested you bring Aki on board to temporarily help to which you agreed. I was under the assumption that Aki would help and you would take over the main plotting but... you were hardly around at all and even though I was incredibly busy, I had to do most of the plotting myself. I'm strongly under the impression that you weren't paying attention to the plurk at all because when I posted the finalized document and everything for you to do investigation... you messed up Faize's sword. It was literally the very last thing we debated before wrapping up the document. Yes, I could have been more clear in the murder document but also, if you'd even been paying attention a little bit to the plotting plurk, you would have caught on. But that really wasn't what rubbed me the wrong way.
What rubbed me the wrong way was when Katar and Ki mentioned it... you just disappeared. You stopped responding to the investigation and the plotting plurk. I was on my phone checking and I could see you dicking around in moles plurk and having fun while investigation was stalled and Katar and Ki were waiting for something to get resolved. I came back home finally and watched for a little while with nothing happening and had to take over. I was the one who wrapped up investigation and made the retcon/apology plurk about the mix up. And I get that part of the problem it took so long to resolve was because Lum went to bed that night but... you had like, a solid hour at least to do something about it before I came back and took over. And when I bring this mix up, I by no means am trying to say I've never made mistakes in trials/investigations because I sure have but at least I fixed my mistakes and communicated them to the players instead of leaving everyone hanging and the game stalled.
I get that modding is very stressful. Good. Lord. I know its stressful but honestly, if you aren’t capable of accepting criticism and taking action without completing avoiding the issue, you shouldn’t mod in the future. If the game isn’t your going way, the solution isn’t to just disappear to play Fire Emblem or else I would have done that too. And when I'm still trying to do damage control and take care of the game... the attitude to take with me isn't to be curt and snippy either. I'm frustrated too but man, I'm trying. I tried.
Again, I want to apologize to the players who were dragged into the both over and underwhelming mess that became end game. I feel like I did the best I could with the information I had to work with and the time I had available but hindsight is 20/20 and I feel like I could have done a lot more. You guys deserve a lot more. I’m also, once more, very sorry for all of the players that were made upset by the plot lockout because I definitely gave bad advice there and did not pay attention as much as I could have. I'm also very sorry that I let some things fly that never should have.
For all my grievances, I did have a fun time. I loved and adored all of my CR and even with characters I didn't have CR with, I enjoyed reading a lot of your threads. Thank you again to everyone who helped with every mystery plot I worked on and thank you everyone for being patient with me while I fumbled through my first attempt at modding. It was definitely a learning experience but if it wasn't a fun one too, I would have ollied out ages ago.
I also don't want this to look like I'm trying to attack you or anyone. Like I said, I had a lot of fun and I think the game was run relatively well, albeit with several rocky moments, until about the last 2-3 weeks and several of the people I spoke to agreed. But unless you can really take this advice to heart, I wouldn't advise modding again.
Whoops, and sorry for switching between general you/you and names but I'm like 1/2 proxying and 1/2 typing for myself but I wouldn't post anything I didn't agree with.