Sharing Plot information to create adventure
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The coolest thing to do would be to forsake the probable DM loot for some RP rewards. Why not make a ''mistake'' IC and spill the beans to someone?
Accidentally drop a sheet of parchment on the floor detailing some clue about a plot?
Tell someone something when you know OOC that it might end up in the wrong hands?
So yeah, why not tell a secret to a stranger albeit indirectly? You might not get any XP for it, or any gold, and that person might take your place on the next DM quest and get your loot. But you got some great RP from it, and that's all that counts.
Hell, the DMs might even see this unselfish display and reward you ten times over. That way you get the best of both worlds, stunning rewards both material and spiritually knowing you got someone outside your faction circle involved in a plot.
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I've told everyone Naabilah's met, no matter what "team" (except the Rot) about her plot stuff. Very few have responded. So it's not always "not telling" that is the problem; "not responding" also is.
I agree with this, my current character often shares a lot of what he is up too (Unless he becomes paranoid about competition), but few actually ever respond to it or want to become involved. In fact I did this on Eliphas too, spilled the beans on ALL my plot information to anyone he came across - but little actually respond or want to get involved it.
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@21:
The coolest thing to do would be to forsake the probable DM loot for some RP rewards. Why not make a ''mistake'' IC and spill the beans to someone?
Accidentally drop a sheet of parchment on the floor detailing some clue about a plot?
Tell someone something when you know OOC that it might end up in the wrong hands?
And THAT is an Awesome way to recruit new characters into your plot as well as make your plot fun for both your allies (which is easy) AND your enemies (which can be sooo hard).
nominates 21 tonne giant as Winner of CoA, March 2011
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I can only say that I agree 200 % that sharing plot info, even the big nasty secrets might not make you win CoA, but you certainly create alot more fun for others.
Myself and Lamancha did this ALOT back when we ran House Obarstal. We even often discussed that we -had- to. Not because some dm had told us to do so, or that we would be able to win with this approach, but we did it to keep the wheels turning, and to allow others to have fun, even if we occasionally allowed them to have fun on our expense.
We lost EVERY plot we ventured into. During the East Way Sword plot, while we would perhaps ICly have kept EVERYTHING a big secret, we ALWAYS good people outside our comfort zone with us, and I often spilled the beans to people I was very sure would likely backstab us big time.
Needless to say we lost the Plot BIG time, but we had alot of fun, and we played the losing hand. And in the very end, we got ourselves our new uniforms and a faction HQ, so the karma of the plot wheel eventually catches up to you.
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The thing that gets me a little bit is how many people don't seem to want to get involved with stuff. Let me highlight some examples:
/forum/viewtopic.php?t=132054 <-- Plot stuff, sharing it out, shoving it in people's faces to get involved. Had no responses other than confrontation with the Wyverns IG (which has always been awesome)
/forum/viewtopic.php?t=131695 <-- Two DM plots mentioned there along with some PC plotting. Very very little response to either.
/forum/viewtopic.php?t=131262 <-- Even more plot stuff, thrown in people's faces.
In my opinion people should try themselves to get involved with other people's stuff.
You might make enemies, you might make friends - either one of those happens you will be adding to the CoA experience for everyone. I don't see much plot hoarding, I see people sticking to one thing and not branching out to embrace the awesome from all sides.
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I have to agree with 21 Tonne giant on this. Not sharing plot information isn't really the problem, the problem is not wanting to get involved in another players' plot/story. I make it a point to try and get characters to tell their stories (by asking insane amounts of questions) and try and find ways of pushing their stories. You can't get involved in every character's plot but even if you help along one or two characters it's adding to their as well as your experience.
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Again, the problem is not with players not interested in your plot or story, its how you make them interested in your plot or story.
Hey I got a wonderful story me thinks..bad you not like it! is not what I am talking about
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Having been the sole person in a faction for a while i have had to extend the hand to any that would help me get stuff moving, by forum advertising or ig 'chats'.
The net result has been almost nothing, few of the player base are bothered about the eastway and the ideas created there. I am not complaining because those that have bothered make the whole game enjoyable and i know that i in turn am remkoved form other factions plottings for likely the same reasons that they are not in eastway.
The issue though is that it is a lack of responsiveness rather than a lack of information broadcast by any faction i think.
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You can't make someone interested in a plot or story.
All you can do is put it out there and elaborate on it as much as you like and latch onto whoever bites and make it worth their while. What Caek, Count, and Cadiz are saying is that as much as people try to do this, few - if any - seem interested in pursueing it.
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There are different factions and PC's each with their own story and in the time they get they would like to further their own story. What I am asking is to weave the commonality between two aspiration so that they work together.
A choatic evil character and wanted criminal will find it hard to get people do things for him unless there is a group of like minded folks who wants to help him or do not care to be called a criminal.
The same thing applies for a faction that betrayed the city, sided with zhents and left the city to die when a great evil attacked. Now If you think that faction is going to get attention from some old chars that were there during this breach of trust and they will go and help these faction to prosper..unlikely.
Yet in both these examples my char is related, related cause it ties somewhere to the story of my char.
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@21:
The thing that gets me a little bit is how many people don't seem to want to get involved with stuff. Let me highlight some examples:
/forum/viewtopic.php?t=132054 <-- Plot stuff, sharing it out, shoving it in people's faces to get involved. Had no responses other than confrontation with the Wyverns IG (which has always been awesome)
/forum/viewtopic.php?t=131695 <-- Two DM plots mentioned there along with some PC plotting. Very very little response to either.
/forum/viewtopic.php?t=131262 <-- Even more plot stuff, thrown in people's faces.
In my opinion people should try themselves to get involved with other people's stuff.
You might make enemies, you might make friends - either one of those happens you will be adding to the CoA experience for everyone. I don't see much plot hoarding, I see people sticking to one thing and not branching out to embrace the awesome from all sides.
Truthfully i think the Alignment divide plays a bigger problem in your lack of invovlment than anything. If Mostly or only good people know about a certain plot the chances of evil people getting on them is quite a bit smaller. It is simply not IC for many characters to knowingly share that kind of information with someone they know is evil.
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Basicly if you don't tell peaple in game while they are playing your not involving them ..not everyone wants to read all the forum posts constantly for plot hooks it's boring and if your not meeting these peaple in game there is no point.
So tell others when you meet them rather than making some obscure posting on the forums.I can tell you for a fact you will get more intrest and response in game than you ever will making posts on these boards.
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Is it because characters are unwilling to change? Are people so set on a certain concept/idea that changing to adapt to a new plot is not considered?
When I concepted Grey, she was a down-on-her-luck half-orc fighter, raised by silly humans on an outpost village, who came to Arabel looking to aid mages because she worshiped mages (she sought power through magic). I had a plan to become a Wyvern through IG methods, when lo and behold! Yuri Lusk shows up in the Mage Guild asking about necromancy. I happened to pass by him and he touches me giving me the "Rot". I pursued him looking for ways to get rid of it, but was eventually consumed by it and I ended up becoming a Rotting Man.
Would most characters have changed their concept that much? I bit on what I thought was a player plot, but it has turned out bigger than I could have imagined! I could have ignored Yuri and continued the Wyvern path but decided to forego it and travel a less known, player plot. I don't regret it one bit!
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I don't see why I should tell everyone what I am looking for. My friends do know, and those are the ones that usually come with me. (Mind, "friends" not as in "OOC clique" but "IC group of allies I have come to trust"). There is that little thing called intrigue, that too many players forget. You want to know why someone goes to the ruins so frequently? You want to know what he's looking for? Pay someone to inflitrate his group.
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I've responded to Naab plot but it's only a mean to an end for my current character.
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I see the root of the problem being that there is too much emphasis on the concept of leaders and followers (not the player). Intentional or not, the reason why factions/characters want to be the ones to finish plots "succesfully" is because any IC rewards are there for being the ones to complete it; for being the one who sparked the adventure; for being the one who was at the forefront of the intrigue.
There is a problem where those being asked to tag along are sometimes left almost entirely in the dark, out of plot-loot-divvying equations and such things. This is related to where there is a focus on who sparked something rather than who participated.
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If someone wanted to become part of a plot it is soooo easy. Ryan did it just by bluntly going for it. And now I've Sheraq working for me and neck deep in tons of plots for NO other reason than he walked into the tavern and asked for a job. Most folks want to involve others and if you really wanted to join in on a plot all you'd have to do is get an idea what you want and go for it.
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@The:
If someone wanted to become part of a plot it is soooo easy. Ryan did it just by bluntly going for it. And now I've Sheraq working for me and neck deep in tons of plots for NO other reason than he walked into the tavern and asked for a job. Most folks want to involve others and if you really wanted to join in on a plot all you'd have to do is get an idea what you want and go for it.
Evil types just have to wander the sewers and ask for a job from a Rotten Man. We'll overload you with stuff, its ridiculous. Plots we can't announce on a sending or forums that can only be done IG/in-person. If you're evil, get your lazy arse out of the guildhall and wander the Darkness for awhile… :twisted:
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I have to agree with Lizard-man. I also think it has something to do with a thing we've talked about plenty of times before, and that's about leaders and followers (also not the player). Plenty of people are throwing out plot hooks, I mean most of them are readily obvious whether you check the forums religiously, spend lots of time IG or probably even if you're a casual player (less obvious then, but still, plenty of information going around). I think part of the problem however is that there are so many people trying to throw out plots and plot related information that there are just not enough people to become followers/helpers/allies/comrades or whatever is being called for.
I can think of one way to combat this, however. That would be for our experienced players, our most skilled leaders and story-tellers to make their next character a follower, telling their own story but doing it through another players. I think it would be really awesome if they did so by doing attaching themselves to a newer players story, or someone who might not have the experience at leading as they do. I think the effect from this would be really noticeable. Not only would the plots of these newer or less experienced players get more attention, but we wouldn't see any lack of story-tellers from our more experienced player base (I think those players would certainly have the ability to help someone tell their story while making their own quite interesting as well.)
What does everyone think on this? A challenge for our more experienced player base to lend that experience to newer players and help create a new dynamic to our server. So for your next character, take a look around, see if you see any fun ideas that other players are needing help with and possibly roll up an interesting character that can help make that story a reality. I think everyone who does will have a lot of fun.
Edit: I read my post again realizing that the first part didn't really sound in line with what lizard-man said, which I said I was agreeing with. I do however completely agree that their is too much emphasis on leaders/followers, as if being a 'follower' means you can't push your own interesting and unique story. It just means a position that in addition to telling you're own story, you're also helping someone else tell theirs, and hopefully through doing so you'll be adding some interesting dynamics and IG experiences that will effect your own characters tale.
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I think a problem is that players dont see that the way to get involved into dm plots is right infront of your eyes. You just need to listen to sendings IG, or read the bullitan boards. This is what happens -so- often:
Faction X announces they want to find XYZ, and offer gold for it. People go, "thats way too little gold/reward to bother" or "Too much effort". What is not understood here is that the real reward is plot involvement, and those that played a large role in gathering said items get a dm quest, or plot out of it somewhere down the line. People get jealous and vent on forums, or irc about dm favouritism when they had every opportunity to get in on awesome dm plots, and phat loot.
You have to put in time, and effort in coa to get anywhere, involvement and "awesome" does not fall into your lap.