October 2012 Feedback

What did you think of the last event? Post your opinions and disucss the comments of others here!

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GM-Taki
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October 2012 Feedback

Post by GM-Taki »

I'll edit this later with my feedback, but I thought someone should get the ball rolling.

Remember folks, feedback about what we liked and didn't like is very important to the GM's and NPC's. It's great to share stories about the adventures we had, but please take some time to let the staff know if there's anything they did particularly well or something they could be doing better.

So let's hear it! :)
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Post by Dallid »

Thank you, GMs, for a truly epic event – at least it certainly was for me! When Dallid returned to the physical plane of Phanterra five years ago, it was to prevent the Night of the Burning Skulls and free Corel. But he arrived too late, so his over-arching mission became:
1. Free Corel
2. Restore Haven
3. Destroy Corbyn

Several years ago, he helped the fractured people of Far Reach to unite and retake Haven from Silvandar, and over the years to mold the town back into the world-saving champion Phanterra needed.

Last weekend allowed him to accomplish the two remaining items on that list. I had prepared long for that night, accumulating a stack of Hero Points to help Dallid stand toe-to-toe with Corbyn – and he needed them! Throughout the battle in Corbyn’s Keep, the two of them traded furious exchanges of sword blows for long minutes as they fought back and forth across the courtyard. They even managed some banter – very difficult to do while flailing widely and screaming a constant stream of damage calls. Two old comrades-turned-foes who started the first event of Final Haven together engaged in their final, ultimate conflict.

When all was over, Dallid knelt before the newly restored Corel with a sense of accomplishment and finality. His task was done. He would wrap up a few loose ends, make sure Haven was strong and stabilized, and soon return to the immaterium.

Then Corel suggested Dallid work toward getting the other Dragons to take a hand in Phanterra’s defense and restoration. Now a whole new road is laid out before him to consider.

So again, thank you GMs - and Mike in particular for his RP as Corbyn and Corel – for making with the awesome!

PC likewise did a great job splitting up into groups to alternate NPCing – giving each other a decent number of enemy phys-reps to fight. That certainly helped with the epic. There were also a number of PC-driven events going on - like the backstory stuff of Legion, Alice, and Wraith - that certainly added flavor to the Final Haven world.

I do have a few concerns, though.

There was a doppleganger who used the Amulet of Control to possess the minds of all beings scratched by the Molemen. This put the PCs in a position where, to defeat the doppleganger, they had to fight and kill many people who were not responsible for their actions. To ‘win’, they had to slaughter innocents. Can’t feel heroic doing that. This is a lose-lose situation that I don’t think anyone considered fun.

That sixth vision from last event finally made sense – it had to do with the doppleganger. However, there was no way to understand the vision until after the plot was understood. The vision only made sense in hindsight – and so was utterly useless. Please avoid making hindsight visions.

In the short term, using diplomacy has proven very effective at times, and I thank the GMs for that. We were able to rescue some of Brandybrook’s scholars from the Snakemen without any blood getting spilt by using words instead of weapons, and it’s wonderful that there are multiple avenues available to solve a given problem. But broader diplomacy seems to be getting screwed, lately.

The Molemen, Snakemen, and Ga’vin all seem to be using diplomacy against us. They make agreements and treaties just to gain an opportunity to stab us in the back. On its own, that’s fine, but it seems like that’s been the inevitable result of all diplomacy lately. It’s getting so it seems prudent to kill any NPC you see on the road these days, as that NPC will inevitably try to backstab you later. It’d be nice to see some positive results mixed in with all the negative.
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Post by NPC Daniel »

Hey all! I wasn't sure where to put an introduction, but a thank you is well in order!

Thanks to the Staff for their hard work, understanding and encouragement - you really made it worth the visit for my friend Jeremy and I. Starting us off slow with those zombies-on-tracks was a nice low-key bit of fun to start the evening off, and playing the shades of former knights as well as the nightmares to grow more familiar with combat calls was a good call. Topping the night off with the Corbyn's Keep and undead encounters left us pleasantly worn out and ready to hit the hay!

Definitely grateful for the extra sleeping space, and letting us sleep in :) I had to leave soon after for a Kanar Board of Directors meeting to submit a report as well as talk about my weekend. Y'all got sweet props, and I'm bringing more cool people next time. MOAR NPCS MOAR STORY ERRYDAY.

Thanks to the Players, from near and far, for their tenacity and atmosphere - you made it worth coming back next time. I can't promise anything more than NPCing on my end, but will definitely strive to return when I can. Thanks for putting up with our turning off the lights as nightmares (it looked like it was getting old) and for our attempts at being scary and jumping out of nowhere, haha. Thanks for the smiles and welcomes.

Thanks for the patience in combat, as well as exceeding our expectations for the sheer level of perseverance during Saturday night; I was floored. It was a relief to find most of you fighting on par with what I'm used to at Kanar. I was honestly expecting light taps as the norm and it took me a while to convince myself to stop holding back (although I know I misjudged at times). There are some crazy berserkers out there that really had me laughing in glee while fighting! I loathe night fighting, especially heavy combats, because of the safety issues involved (while understanding its necessity). Bless you.

We were invited by a Mr Stark and a Mr Reid, neither of whom I actually saw there, but if you're okay with us returning, we'll meet again soon :)

---

Edit: I forgot to mention! Apparently we left our shields and Jeremy's sword at NPC camp and forgot to pack them somehow! Is anyone aware of their whereabouts?
Last edited by NPC Daniel on Mon Oct 22, 2012 6:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Smitty19 »

Well This was an interesting way to end the year...

I am a bit torn on how I actually feel about this past event.

I am equal parts happy that we put a big final stamp on the reign of Corbyn, but am also dissapointed because it seemed kinda....meh. I know we had issues with npc's being in short supply, but it still just kinda felt....lacking.

Don't get me wrong, I had plenty to do during that fight, killing folk by the droves and all, but it just seemed like when it ended, I was waiting for the, but wait theres more to happen...

I am very happy that things were resolved with that, and have a small part of me (the one as Voralen) screaming HELL YEAH, as we wiped the stain of Corbyn from Phantera, but it did seem a bit underwhelming to me.

The fights with the Red Tear were fun as well, but again, going into the undead Necropolis, I figured it would have been something fearful than it was. The whole land was seeping poison thing helped create a sense of ohh shit, gotta jet, but other than that, It really didnt feel like it was anything out of the ordinary.

Now I don't want to keep sounding like a negative nancy, but I know you guys want feedback so I am trying to put in as much thought to these as I can, but It just seems that this event was rushed, and it prolly has alot to do with the fact that last event was only like 3 weeks ago... but it still didnt seem to have the same amount of foresight as the last event did. I know (and believe me, im talking from experience) that running a game is hard, and you can't possibly cater to everyones needs, but some things just seemed to be brushed under the table this year, while others were ignored entirely. The Gavin Tribe looking for heroes and the Race we rescued at the one day are 2 that come to my mind.

My only big peeve with this past event is totally out of the GM's control, and it is a camp issue, but damned if it wasnt annoying having SO many scouts around this weekend. Made for a bit of an awkward event worrying about getting too into character for the worry about having some scouts see you doing something some would consider to be, disturbing... and damned for all the Game Stops for Cars...that sucked! As I said, nothing GM's could do, but was a definite annoyance of mine.


I did like the Research Skill, and I know how much more work it is to incorporate that, but did want to give the nod to it being a good thing!

I guess my thoughts are a bit all over the place, but I did enjoy this event, and it has made me excited to see what takes place with the world hopping events next season.
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Post by Kayla »

Smitty19 wrote:but damned if it wasnt annoying having SO many scouts around this weekend.
"How many scouts do you guys have?" *5 of us raise their hands* Gondowon: "Give me 5 minutes and I'll be one, too" :)

With that out of the way, my feedback...

I thoroughly enjoyed the event, as I expected to. I played Xil for most of the event, but I still got to help out NPC camp. (I felt that was at least some payment for what I payed for the event - $0.00)

Although it was only my second FH event, I feel like I'm getting to know people/characters better in and out of game, which is awesome.

Also, I will NEVER go looking for adventure with less then 4 people again. Just saying. A rogue and a jack of all trades can not fight off 3 warriors effectively.

I felt like the necropolis was a little rushed. I know I played a ton of zombies during that battle, but I felt like a huge army of zombies in an entire city should have been tougher for the PC base to beat.

I have more but I'm still exhausted, so I'll edit this post when I think of them...
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Post by GM-Amanda »

[include overwhelmingplayersupportfortheingameresearch.h]

Woo, what a weekend.

Let's go chronologically this time.

Friday night I got there later than I wanted after finishing up my public speaking class (almost none of which helped me prepare for LARPing :P) and once again, had to wait until after Gameon and the meeting to check in. My fault for letting Taki and Phil go first, and any disrespect felt there was completely unintended, I was just letting some of Cirrus' irreverence get a bit too far off the chain. The actual check-in process was smooth as silk, even with the extra stuff I was not expecting. My dumb feathery butt was the biggest hindering factor. Props!

Jenny, Brad, Mike, and especially Doug, GREAT scene, probably my favorite of the weekend.

Ditto on Doug that the molemen and snakemen seem purposefully willing to subterfuge our words and truces to keep snapping at each other. I know it's something we need to fix, but I'd like to see reasons rather than loopholes prompting their attacks. Edited Lawton was a nice touch for later.

The "cave" battle Saturday morning was probably the biggest oxymoron of the weekend with the skyjuice dumping down furiously. Beyond that, the possession mechanic worked well, much better than the lurker plot at the May event. Well done! I feel like we missed something huge with the pixies.

The whole rest of the aspect with the Amulet of Control was a very interesting and convoluted plot, speaking well to the GMs again for keeping everything mostly straight. Hindsight really was 20/20 here, and it was great to have everything finally click before I got knocked out and bundled back to the Traveler. This was the textbook example of how to keep the whole town motivated and involved with minimal combat and player NPC effort.

That whole thread had some great moments, but I think there was way too much of a delay from when Mike announced that just about everyone from Group 2 of the Friday night battle was going to have something terrible happen to them. I don't know if this was a issue with getting things organized and allowing us to stew about it, or a last-second change after seeing just who would be affected by the Amulet, but it could have just as easily been announced at the appropriate time in the scene rather than segregating the PCs. Small change, but that was the only thing I was disappointed by with the scene.

Phil, again, well played sir. It should be a rule to include techno while under the influence of the Korrigan Special. I'll be working on the video unless Brett beats me to it. However, this was where the Scouts were at their worst. I poked my head up to listen to the far off noises of COMBAT!, but in reality, it was a chattering HORDE of people walking through our space without any thought. Maybe we could have included them in the respect speech at Gameon.

Game Break took a little while to chug back up the PC train, I felt bad for everyone looking for trouble while we were investigating Qualm and the squatters. I did see another plot going on simultaneously, which was another great use of PCs in NPC roles. The pasta was a great touch Mike.

Finally, the two big battles of the night. Jeremy and Daniel were great fighters (you better come back!), and I had a fun tumble when my dumb feathery butt forgot about Flee. However, I have to echo Brett with the "But wait, where's the rest of it?" I would have liked some narration about Corbyn's body exploderating, or the Dreaming suddenly and nastily intersecting with Phanterra, or some other way of very definitely announcing the end of the festivities. The Necropolis battle was similarly underwhelming. It definitely felt like "Oh, we need to get this in, so how can we do it quickly?" Jared's fleshgolemcasterthing was a great final boss, but I think that was where moar permanent NPCs was sorely needed. Sad.

If it hadn't rained, and there had been one or three more NPCs on staff, this would have easily been my favorite event evar. As it stands, it's definitely way up there. Booping skyjuice.

TL;DR -

MOAR NPCs. Using players is great, and props to everyone who volunteered, but I'm glad to see Daniel and Jeremy (COME BACK!) decide to throw their lot in with the overworked staff.

Mike, Brad, Mike, Jared, Christen - You guys win. I was wiped out even with sitting back for a while and letting everyone else do the work, but you all kept going for all of our little whims. Saying thank you is not appropriately strong enough.

PCs - Thanks for NPCing to make battles awesome, and staying in character to make the roleplaying better.

EEESHINYSTUFF

Bring on 2013!
You are what you dare.

RESEACRH
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Post by Abaddon »

Event was great for the most part. I will go into the negative.

The most severe were the two new NPCs being let off their chain with out enough training. It became obvious in combat they didn't know the calls and that things which once worked failed too. (Dominate worked fine on nightmares before.)

Worse they were charging in combat. This is probably okay in Kanar but during the large corbyn battle they were repeatedly forcing their way through the lines. (The guys seemed pretty cool and this is okay at kanar.) I would suggest an NPC overseer be with new NPCs at all times.

Friday seemed a little on the slow side. I don't know if it was just me or the lack of staff.

The battle with the Necromancer and the undead in the necropolis was underwhelming. I know this is a hook for next year and the ncromaser was hard as BALLS to kill so that was good.

I don;t think i got a real break between breakfast and game break. That was amazing. The shapeshift plot, once I had seen ALL the details was amazing. I especially loved that he ate poisoned food to throw us off his tracks. that is what I would do.

MIKE PAULSON MUST RETURN.

The Corbyn plot was the easist battle I have ever been in. Of course I was in an invisible bubble so your mileage may vary. :)

One of my plots has been rolling for several years and there is something magical about watching it unravel.

The event was good and I am looking to see what trouble a 'Bad' one will get into.

also, moar research.
"I would only teach them Necromancy as part of a balanced breakfast."
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Post by greatsquiggy »

First off, I am going to insert the love for the Researhc Folder. This is me giving positive feedback for the Researhc Folder. :D

I very much liked the opportunity to run as an NPC for a few scenes. It was a nice change of pace.

The NPC staff worked their tails off to get stuff done. I very much loved the PC to NPC swap during the Necromancer event. As well, I liked that, when two groups wanted to do something at the same time, the second group was pulled in as NPCs. It made me feel less like I was sitting there and waiting to be In-Character.

There was one thing that I didn't quite find as enjoyable, but it's important to note that this one scene is just an aside. The scene itself was still fun to me, but the tiny little aspect of the scene felt a little jumbled. It could be a fact that I am just not privy to the details, but my group went looking for bandits and ended up fighting shadow creatures. I was just confused by the situation, but I think it might have been a bit of miscommunication on our part. Unless it wasn't. I'm not sure. Like I said, I was confused.

At any rate, I'd also like to take the opportunity to talk up the Herb finding mechanic again. It's a lot of fun to go herb searching. I would definitely like to see herbing done on a larger scale due to the fact that many herbs get all picked right away. Of course, that's more of my greed. The current setup represents the fact that all the herbs take an event to grow back, and that there aren't a lot of them.

Finally, I would like to thank the PCs for making me feel so very special this game. The number of times Bolt's name was called out in combat made my character feel really important, and I felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

I definitely had a blast, and I will assuredly be posting more on the Forums. I apologize for not giving Feedback last event. I'll do better, I swear! :)
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Post by GM-Mike »

Surely there were others with opinions? I'd love to hear them as we continuously strive to create the best gaming experience possible. We all have thick skin, too, so don't shy away from letting us have it if there were things you didn't like. I promise we won't take it out on your character :lol:
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Post by Tyr Murkel »

This event was a blast, after being out of the FH loop for about a year it is good to get back into the swing of things. The plots that I took part in were enjoyable but my favorite part is always interacting with the rest of the PC's. A big thank you to Brad for taking time so I could see the caravan a couple times in a row (Completely was not expected) and the RP that ensued.

I like the mechanic of the Reseachr folder and believe it should come back!

We need to find that Valkyn'Vi weather codex and put an end to all of the rain next time, but other than that I had a great event and cant wait to see where this next year brings us (IG and OOG)
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Post by Zydana »

I felt the event was pretty "meh."

Perhaps a good deal of it was that I felt out of the loop as to what exactly was going on - probably from overflow of plots from last event, which I did not attend.

I enjoyed the fighting as an NPC when situations called for it.

The highlights of my event were role playing with Mike P as the book dealer and dinner with the dwarf crew at game break (which really wasn't part of the game.)

I really feel the need to echo what Travis said about some of the people NPCing. During the Corbyn battle, there was a circle of protection down, a shield wall in front of it and a huddle of healers behind it. A good mass of people there in one spot. One of your NPCs decided to pretend he was a bowling ball and we were the pins and PLOWED THROUGH THE GROUP OF PEOPLE! - more than once. I was also hit with a latex weapon that evening that hurt hours later and I also have a dark purple bruise from it too. Yeah, I know this is a contact larp, and this isn't the first bruise or last bruise resulting from this hobby - but sheesh!

In addition, I agreed with many players that the Corbyn battle was VERY lack luster. It may be from the lack of numbers of NPCs and I know funds are hurting for cool special effects like there used to be from time to time. I do think that having Karen and Vince there (if at all possible) would of enhanced it. I felt the battle was a small side note to the event and not as epic or satisfying as it should of been.

Heads up to bring Heidi kicking and screaming if need be for this particular battle - I would of!

Cool idea would of been to fight Corbyn in the dreaming (or other realm) - hint towards letting people know they could have characters that died during the night of the burning skulls take their revenge on Corbyn there so they could possibly bring appropriate costuming.

I honestly think you guys did wonderfully for as many NPC bodies as you had. I did grumble that so many of the plots and battles took place right behind NPC camp, but that was probably because of all the kids at the camp over the weekend.
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Post by Nellie Duncan »

Friday and Saturday before game break, things felt somewhat slow, and then the shit hit the fan after game break. So something of a pacing issue I think, or possibly I just managed to miss getting dragged along on the things that were going on.

This isn't to say there wasn't a lot of fighting - it was probably the most combat heavy FH I've had. Nearly every couple hours except for downtime there was a fight going on. Brad was my mainline NPC for RPing this event, except for Mike playing Corbyn/Requis at the end. Brad definitely made the weekend for me, no questions asked.

The Doppleganger part was the most fun thing during the event for me, seeing as it had the feeling for those of us left at the inn of a 'we could run, or we could die trying to save our friends from a controlled Korrigan who's controlling them...' It warmed my hero heart that despite our pathetic numbers and obviously non-combat oriented group, we were willing to try.

Even though I didn't get the chance to use it much last event, I like the idea of the Researhc folder as well, though I can see it causing near everyone in game to blow 20 character points to pick up the Research skill.

And finally: The event lacked a Karen.

*nods sagely* That is all.
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Post by pluflove0890 »

I had a great event. Loved being so involved for once. Thank you to all the pcs I got to rp with for having patience with me.

Side note: didn't get to try the Research folder yet, but I really would like to. :-)
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Post by Malachi »

First and foremost, I'd like to applaud the Staff for running a very combat heavy event with minimal staff bodies. All things considered, very well done.

My feet still hurt from all of the running around this past event. All of the plots were engaging, and I enjoyed every minute of it, rain notwithstanding.

If memory serves, this is one of the first events that I've been neck-deep in main plotline stuff for nearly the entire event, and I enjoyed that.

This is the second event in a row that I've been able to feel like a game-changer on the battlefield, up in the front lines, and that's a feeling that I'm kinda digging.

I'm having a difficult time coming up with much negative feedback that hasn't already been addressed. If I think of any, I'll be sure to post it.
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Post by ThogAmThog »

Thog only little-skim other-people postings for feel and taste and smell of what need say, so forgive Thog if repeats.

Thog-Like:
Final Haven live up to talky-talk on how good event am. Monsters fit with story, story fit with world, all thing good and streamline and more complex than Thog understand in one event.

Thog like player animosity and Legion-chase-Thog-because-Jamba-Suck and Horde-Chant-Jamba-To-Fkk-With-Thog. Dumb. Player base good at roleplay (though holy crap Potato, srrsly giez wtfs. You even got me to break character a few times. Stop being so out-of-game interesting, dammit.)


Also, "Can Thog help with NPC?" Thog have as much fun as Thog as Thog have fun as not-Thog. So much that Thog not-Thogging next event to help make the game moar awesome (I noticed that the only thing slowing the GM's was the lack of bodies). Thog will certainly make an appearance for some of the event if I can swing it.

Thog-Not-Like:
QQ Super powerful players make me feel like i'm level one QQ! Yeah, felt like a grunt for a good chunk of the game. NOW, keep in mind that I'm playing a mentally handicapped Orc and take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. The quest board was a little underwhelming for those of us who aren't crafters. (now, again, Thog not read, so Thog not look at board many lots.)

INSERT RESEARCH SUPPORT HERE!

Uh.. That all Thog think of now. Thog love event, Thog like players, Thog look forward to rub-heal-spit on Thogfriends next game.

Oh. The rain sucked. Work on that. :P
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