I vastly preferred this to the search system, which I was extremely disinterested by. I felt like this could be tailored more to the characters themselves, rather than something that feels a little random. I think making it clear how to set up a question/the process of exploration would smooth over the need for follow-up questions. As it is, I would be very pleased if such a system returned. I think I only used it on the initial log, but it was nice, especially when meshed with things like being able to do interrogations down the line for the skirmishes.
Solutions
I liked the overall system, but the lack of clarity regarding what the percentage was in terms of involvement expected from players really made me a little quietly stressed about whether we would meet the correct quota in the long term. After putting a lot into the plot, the concern that they might not actually meet the quota in the end worried me.
So, in the future, I would like some more transparency over the numbers of what's expected. I personally don't see any point in keeping that a secret.
As for people feeling railroaded: I wish there had been hints pointing toward things other than marriage, as I had Veronica come to that independent of anything that the mods had provided (sans the dossier). It was just a natural progression of thought from her from her IC interactions, which is why she was able to argue in favor of it. The problem was that I felt that other players' characters couldn't produce other well-developed arguments based on the world information provided, which I believe led to people feeling even more railroaded.
Another way of helping would be to put up clearer sign posts for arguments needing to be determined. Veronica's was done well ahead of time because of IC circumstances and because I knew it was heading that way IC, but she's the type to take initiative. Perhaps more structure to give people more room to explore those ideas would help.
Dossier
I frequently referred to this dossier, and I have to agree with Tifa: more about locations would help a lot. I was personally uncertain about the state of technology in this world, as it felt like it varied from place to place, but I wasn't entirely certain on the why.
I'm not sure if this is included in the dossier, but I felt like the items post wasn't entirely necessary. It felt like a thing that would just cause more work for the moderators in the long term in developing a mission, and I didn't refer to it very often. This my own experience, though, as I don't tend to track the minutia of items or try to get my characters loaded in terms of whatever they want.
Future Missions
I would like to see another zombie mission! Woodhurst is just one way of doing a zombie mission, so having another one would be fun.
I've also thought about how like, it'd be interesting to see worlds that were "saved" but then messed up by the timeline merging, so places could be returned to because they have a whole new problem.
I also love dystopian stuff, where the world is stepford great but also extremely messed up. I love post-apocalyptic settings, survival things, etc.
Overall, I'd like to play a lot of variance morality and I think what I've listed can lead to less simple answers. I really like the idea of exploring worlds that were messed up by fixing the timeline, without having a return to the Zymandis stuff (since that was unpopular).
OOC Notes
I think these are great!
Closing Notes
I loved this mission overall! I liked the idea of it, and there was a lot to do for all different types of characters. There were some places where I felt that there could have been more ambiguity or variance in responses, rather than everything streamlined (like with the interrogations—there was no variance in that), but I assume that has to do with the lack of plot mods.
no subject
I vastly preferred this to the search system, which I was extremely disinterested by. I felt like this could be tailored more to the characters themselves, rather than something that feels a little random. I think making it clear how to set up a question/the process of exploration would smooth over the need for follow-up questions. As it is, I would be very pleased if such a system returned. I think I only used it on the initial log, but it was nice, especially when meshed with things like being able to do interrogations down the line for the skirmishes.
Solutions
I liked the overall system, but the lack of clarity regarding what the percentage was in terms of involvement expected from players really made me a little quietly stressed about whether we would meet the correct quota in the long term. After putting a lot into the plot, the concern that they might not actually meet the quota in the end worried me.
So, in the future, I would like some more transparency over the numbers of what's expected. I personally don't see any point in keeping that a secret.
As for people feeling railroaded: I wish there had been hints pointing toward things other than marriage, as I had Veronica come to that independent of anything that the mods had provided (sans the dossier). It was just a natural progression of thought from her from her IC interactions, which is why she was able to argue in favor of it. The problem was that I felt that other players' characters couldn't produce other well-developed arguments based on the world information provided, which I believe led to people feeling even more railroaded.
Another way of helping would be to put up clearer sign posts for arguments needing to be determined. Veronica's was done well ahead of time because of IC circumstances and because I knew it was heading that way IC, but she's the type to take initiative. Perhaps more structure to give people more room to explore those ideas would help.
Dossier
I frequently referred to this dossier, and I have to agree with Tifa: more about locations would help a lot. I was personally uncertain about the state of technology in this world, as it felt like it varied from place to place, but I wasn't entirely certain on the why.
I'm not sure if this is included in the dossier, but I felt like the items post wasn't entirely necessary. It felt like a thing that would just cause more work for the moderators in the long term in developing a mission, and I didn't refer to it very often. This my own experience, though, as I don't tend to track the minutia of items or try to get my characters loaded in terms of whatever they want.
Future Missions
I would like to see another zombie mission! Woodhurst is just one way of doing a zombie mission, so having another one would be fun.
I've also thought about how like, it'd be interesting to see worlds that were "saved" but then messed up by the timeline merging, so places could be returned to because they have a whole new problem.
I also love dystopian stuff, where the world is stepford great but also extremely messed up. I love post-apocalyptic settings, survival things, etc.
Overall, I'd like to play a lot of variance morality and I think what I've listed can lead to less simple answers. I really like the idea of exploring worlds that were messed up by fixing the timeline, without having a return to the Zymandis stuff (since that was unpopular).
OOC Notes
I think these are great!
Closing Notes
I loved this mission overall! I liked the idea of it, and there was a lot to do for all different types of characters. There were some places where I felt that there could have been more ambiguity or variance in responses, rather than everything streamlined (like with the interrogations—there was no variance in that), but I assume that has to do with the lack of plot mods.