For the past… long while now I’ve had a problem with this site. Scratch that, a few problems actually, very few but what they lack in numbers they make up for in their sheer ability to make me VERY angry whenever they decide to plague my thoughts. Seeing how this topic exists purely for filing complaints that will never be taken to heart, I figured hey, why not voice those complaints in the back of my head for once, as opposed to my usual approach of indifference. And here we are.
To keep things simple and prevent my easily taken off tangent mind from rambling, I’ll bullet point these.
1. Arcs. To put it simply, they don’t work. To put it less simply, they don’t work as they are. To put it even less simply… their structure is terrible.
Technically speaking a structured by-the-rails story is completely incompatible with a role play, as it goes against everything a role play stands for: letting individual characters shape the story and world around them. Look at a typical session of a traditional pen & paper game (or at the very least the various tales on the web): if a game master makes his session too strict, and the players are forced to follow his story and script too close, the players get bored. They’re not playing a game anymore; they’re just parts in a story, with the only variables being losses, victories and their occurrences. We’ve hit the same kink on SF: most- scratch that, all arcs thus far have been heavily scripted and arranged. End points are already decided, with the key players taking part in them already picked out. No room is ever left for variation; all the variables that should be there have been all but removed. This is actually why I typically stay out of arcs or events: I always feel unsure of what I’m supposed to do or say, as if one wrong move will screw things up. I shouldn’t have to tell you that this is completely wrong; someone in an RP shouldn’t have to worry about what they *ought* to do, just what they *want* to do.
Basically, right now arcs are written so that story comes first and the experience second, when it should be the other way around: write up a story to give the players a fun time. Let them shape up the rest, let them impact the plot. To put it simply, make their actions and choices actually matter.
2. Stop letting anyone and everyone in arcs (or how Dorro lost his shit on Story Arcs)
I don’t mean people should just be turned away. Let me explain.
Let’s say Person A posts his idea for Arc… A. People like it. So they come in and sign up in droves. Person A now has 15 people interested in his arc.
But wait!
Those 15 people all have alt characters, and they want their alts in too. So now Person A doesn’t just have 15 characters, he has 20-30. Person A is overwhelmed! So what does he do?
Person A decides to focus all of the arc’s attention on a fourth of them. The rest are just tagalongs, characters there to pad up the arc’s length. While about 5-6 of those 20-30 characters will be getting lavished with attention, the remaining characters will be given nothing but a couple fights here and there and some time to perhaps contemplate their navels on the events going on around them (the ones that involve those other, more interesting characters).
This is not fun. I do not have to say why.
Now I don’t blame Person A for falling into Kubo Syndrome (le irony). Trying to shove equal attention onto every single character will just lead to everyone getting 5 seconds worth of spotlight. I blame him for not putting his foot down earlier while the numbers were far more manageable. Instead of letting everyone and their damn dog be a part of the arc, why not let in just enough people so that everyone gets equal parts, equal fun?
And I can hear you people asking “But Dorroro, you honky Adonis, if there’s less people in them wont that just make the arcs shorter?” And I will say “Yes, and that is good.”
Look at every major arc we’ve had thus far. The Deva Arc. The Paladin arc. The Hell arc. Do you know what they all have in common? They dragged on too bloody LONG. The Paladin arc eventually hit the point where it had to be fucking summarized like some “Where are they now” finale. The Hell arc, while now possibly ending has hit the point where the arc master is treating each and every topic like nothing more than a chore to get through so he can cut to the end, instead of a chance to give the people who signed up some goddamn fun. I can think of a couple people who feel like they were “boring” to said arc-master – and one of them feels that way because he had it said right to his fucking face. I know I’m also not the only one to get a cop-put “A Winner Is You” end to their long-awaited battle, and so am not alone in this unhappiness. What I mean is, putting forth all that effort and getting the equivalent of a “Congratulations Screen” isn’t very rewarding. If that’s all that’s waiting for me, then why bother?
Basically the point I’m trying to make with this big rambling mess is that it’d be much easier and more streamlined if arc-masters were to have a “cap” on how many people/characters can partake in an arc. That way they’ll be shorter (which means we can move onto another one quicker), the people involved will feel involved and all will get to have some fun. Kind of like with those Quests, shameless plug.
And 3…
Actually, I believe that’s it. I mean sure, these aren’t the only two things on SF to make me FFFF at the thought of them, but anything else I can think of is either not worth addressing or has been already, and thusly ignored. Oh well, if I can think of anything else, I’ll add to the list.
I’ll probably get a lot of complaints. And I’ll probably deserve most of them. But, after going so long staying mostly silent, only opening my mouth to voice an agreement on someone else’s point, I feel like I just have to say something. SF, I am angry. I am fed up. I’m mad as hell, and I’m blah blah blah blah. In summation, SF, Stop Sucking.
