Closed Door trials should not be encouraged
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As a player, I would like to raise a concern of closed door trials which is open to only selected players who basically are nobles or their retainers or someone who have made name or is of some importance to the setting. I personally feel this is not in the spirit of game even if its exercised by certain perks that PC can exercise. I have in my past PC tried to deal with this IC and made sure any trial is open to public and it sure makes all players in the server related to the happenings.
I understand the server is not a democratic setup but if you want to make the court proceedings interesting where even accusation can throw light on the accused and can open opportunities for those lesser and “do not care souls” of server, even open up opportunities for Thug to enter and disrupt the proceedings, attack the judge, etc.
I have seen in the last event, few PC’s were not allowed and OOC it was sad that they were waiting outside the court house. There is no levels to balance here nor is the audience stealing the show of the accused and accuser.
I have personally found this most entertaining form of RP where you can see top class roleplaying cause you are not hacking or slashing things. Please reconsider this.
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It's because of "I understand the server is not a democratic setup but if you want to make the court proceedings interesting where even accusation can throw light on the accused and can open opportunities for those lesser and “do not care souls” of server, even open up opportunities for Thug to enter and disrupt the proceedings, attack the judge, etc."
that it only nobles or retainers are allowed ic. Because in a real system, such people wouldn't let just anyone in across the streets to just interrupt at their own free will. Cormyr isn't a democracy and it has a complex system of hierarchy. Yes, it isn't conclusive to roleplay, but it is the setting. Personally, what I would do instead is have a single dm interacting with players that can't go inside whilst proceedings are happening. -
There are many things that in real world would be handled differently. An evil char is given opportunity to escape and continue his story cause of the conflict he brings. So there is no point in trying to mirror a real life scenario and anything that excludes players is not a good thing
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As someone present at the last open trial and the most recent closed one, I understand completely why the DMs made it closed.
The little audience participations dragged on the last open trial for almost 2 hours, after which both the DMs and the participants were massive drained and exhausted IRL. You need to remember DMs are people too and sometimes they just don't have the time or energy to deal with that possibility.
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My PC was at the last trail so this is not a personal thing and I acknowledge the thankless and stress DM's go through and also anyone want to pull of a random thing in a DM event require them to send a message in private message, based on which they will take a call, atleast this is what I have followed.
Anyway, The crux of the matter remains that an interesting story is unfolding and a great rp is at play, do you want to restrict the audience ? I am sorry, but I still do not see a valid point here.
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I think you missed my point entirely. With some previous open trials, the dragging on that almost inevitably occurs means that most people who aren't just getting to be the audience no longer find it fun.
It becomes an obligation they have to sit through rather than an event they earned for themself due to their characters actions.
So while it may be fun for the audience, I am sorry to say that it isn't your event. It is the event of the prosecution and defendant that you are being allowed to watch, and so while the various interruptions and audience participations might be fun for the audience the main concern is always going to be toward the person the event is about. If they don't find it fun it's THEIR event, potentially a massive moment in their character arc, being spoiled for them.
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I agree with @shonmann.
@stevelichman said in Closed Door trials should not be encouraged:
As someone present at the last open trial and the most recent closed one, I understand completely why the DMs made it closed.
The little audience participations dragged on the last open trial for almost 2 hours, after which both the DMs and the participants were massive drained and exhausted IRL. You need to remember DMs are people too and sometimes they just don't have the time or energy to deal with that possibility.
While I see your point, I also think that could be dealt with IG. Like placing guards and city officials to control noisy audience etc.
I don't think everyone should be allowed to actively participate or have a say on the trial, I just think it would be fun to allow people to watch what's going on, its usually quite entertaining and can lead to reactions or plots (like people rebelling, trying to rescue the prisoner etc) -after- the event. -
Guards ARE there. They often have to throw people out, which detracts from the attention being spent on the trial itself.
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@cuscuz-of-arabel I think that having the solution to DMs getting exhausted by trials be giving DMs more to do is kinda counter-intuitive. And as crystal said, this IS the system in place. The fact the DMs have to use it so often is most likely a contributing factor to closed trials happening in and of itself.
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Trials drag on forever and no one has time for 3+ hours for silly audience interruptions.
All anyone needs to know is the verdict, and move on.
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Its mostly OOC reasons; people make trials drag on forever and they aren't fun like you'ld hope or imagine. People do strange things, they want attention, they want to roleplay--and sitting there watching is just dull. We can try to share transcripts, but we aim to not roleplay trials as DMs let alone inflict them on players.
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They can also be streamed to let people watch live
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I'm not advocating for -all- public trials. Players who invest time and energy should be able to avoid the peanut gallery ((and there always is one)) if they choose.
I think private trials are a result of IC behaviour, not plot hoarding. I could be incorrect, of course, but I've prosecuted two or three trials and defended in two. There is ALMOST ALWAYS at least one person that disturbs the court enough to have to stop everything and worry about them for five minutes.
Maybe contempt of court should be Capitol and punishable by the execution on the spot.
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The problem with public trials is the problem with all large-population events. Players don't always know when to keep quiet. Everyone wants their moment - which is fine in essence, but when it's not your event? Have some sense.
If trials are gonna be commonplace, whatever gets them done the quickest and the most enjoyable for the defendant/prosecution is what should be done.
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The trial that was done before Elodie/Christoph was open so we're not encouraging closed or open really. A few decisions were made regarding the most recent one, OOCly and ICly.
- As has been mentioned, we don't really want to RP trials. They need to happen but they need to be quick, focused on the players that are there because of a story.
- Verk and Fear play characters that are highly involved in a lot of things and involve a lot of people so I'd rather have them out there playing those characters. Being under house arrest and not really IG is boring so the trial needed to get done pronto.
- Two of the most prominent and ICly powerful characters locked up in matter of treason? Sorry but that's not going to be something everyone get's to witness first hand.
- There was a shout made offering people the chance to ask the DMs if their character would have been granted admittance because of X. I was waiting for the bluff attempts.
We do not wish to exclude anyone. We'll continue to try do better.
-edited for gammer/spelling-
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DM run trials are usually really long and most of the time fun events that would have happened get canceled because of them. Quick is honestly better. I think the only people who NEED to be there are those who are involved so we can get it over with and open the server back up for fun events
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Because it's a big event, people who are not involved in the trial tend to push for doing stuff instead of just watching. Chiming in or cluttering up the screen in some way can be incredibly annoying during such an event, even if it seems a minor thing.
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@citizenbane said in Closed Door trials should not be encouraged:
Because it's a big event, people who are not involved in the trial tend to push for doing stuff instead of just watching. Chiming in or cluttering up the screen in some way can be incredibly annoying during such an event, even if it seems a minor thing.
This. 100% why I hate big events and will automatically tune out (whether I'm DMing or playing) when I see stuff like that happen; it's unnecessary and obnoxious and impossible to follow.
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I like to DM little and big events and like to try and include as many people as possible...
HOWEVER, I have run 15 player events and had people flip on me OOCly afterwards for glossing over their RP, etc...
It's really not the case, there's just simply too much to keep up with, on top of trying to run an event! So it can be a challenge at times.
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@bowser people flip out for not being seen? Rly?
