InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Beware the pout of doom."

Strike (Mireille Bouquet) (fioreneru) wrote in sabra_la_ooc,
@ 2010-09-02 22:59:00

Suggestion Box!
So Huntress's first game is done and there were more than a few bumps in the road along the way. As such, suggestions!

I want to run more similarly themed games with her, so I would really appreciate any and all suggestions that people have for how to improve the past game or ideas for future games.

Thank you kindly! You all rocked ♥

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ghostduster
2010-09-03 06:44 am UTC (link)

Full disclosure: This wasn't a game I particularly enjoyed, but I also realize that I didn't do my best to play it to the fullest either. Probably I would have had a lot more fun if I'd chosen the sub-optimal (but vastly more interesting) playstyle and just gotten into an awesome fight and been done with it. THIS IS MY FAILING and I am kicking myself for it post-game.

1. Optimal play vs. interesting play. Optimal strategies for both sides were also the ones that avoided the most IC conflict. It favored Hunters to roll constantly with as little RP in the middle as possible; for Prey, constantly evading or finding a safe place to hide was the optimal route. It seems like the people who had the most fun were the ones willing to think outside the game mechanics and/or stay behind to allow conflict even when it wasn't the smartest choice.

On the one hand, we should all be mature enough to step awaaay from the game mechanics and enjoy the game. But it's easy to get wrapped up in wanting to play your character intelligently / honestly enjoying competition / whatever other reason for approaching the game as ... well, a game. Having to OOCly agree to lose in order to get an interesting scenario is tough to do when you're in the heat of the moment. Which brings me to...

2. Timing. So much of this game rested on how fast you could roll those dice, and how fast you could get through a fight thread. Or how long you could drag things out. That's ... problematic. It nudges people towards the "play the mechanics not the game" side of the spectrum and punishes slow threaders. Or even the people who just want an awesome fight scene. I really think using some sort of round system would have helped this significantly.

3. Balance. Personally, I think the game was skewed towards the Hunters in that all the interesting encounters required the Prey to play suboptimally, as I pointed out previously. (At least on the Hunters' side, constantly rolling meant constant shanking attempts.) If the Prey wanted to be smart, there was nothing to do. Again, we should all be able to step back from the game mechanics and play the game, but ... there should be a fair shot of winning if you play the game as intended. And the intention of most (if not every) game should be rewarding RP.

4. Rules clarity. I think you already know this one so I won't elaborate.

AGAIN I don't think this was a bad game, since it looks like people did have fun with it, but I personally didn't enjoy it. Sorry!

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ghostduster
2010-09-03 07:10 am UTC (link)

BASICALLY when I RP in a Sabragame, I want to RP in a Sabragame. I do not want to just play a game, and I do not want to just RP. You can skew towards one end of the scale to the other and still have a kickass game, but on some level mechanics and RP must be married together properly.

... and I say all that, but it is such hell getting that balance right, and every game is full of shit going Not As Planned. Even if you catch a flaw or a mistake half-way through, it's not like you can fix it midstream without being totally unfair about it. I applaud this game for the things it tried and super want to see what you come up with next.

I SWEAR I WILL STOP NOW game design is just one of my ramble buttons. Please forgive me Tokitoh, I really think you did a good job running things even if I didn't enjoy the result. /)_(\

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