June Feedback

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

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Abaddon
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June Feedback

Post by Abaddon »

I greatly enjoyed this event. Most of the plots were hooked earlier than before which made me feel like my concerns about the late night plots had been addressed.

The fact that there is someone out there that thinks they can challenge me amuses me greatly.

The only thing I really didn't like was that most of the plots after game break Saturday all had to be done at the same. they all had the same ticking clock so we had to make hard choices. This was just too much to do.

I would like to see more play testing of spells in a more controlled way and I posted some of my eyes in the other forum.

I guess there were PC issues, but delays and lollygagging is normal is in these events. All in all it seemed like we did well.
"I would only teach them Necromancy as part of a balanced breakfast."
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Re: June Feedback

Post by Vivac »

I had a great time this event and I actually liked that there weren't a ton of PCs because it made it so everyone had to work together even if they usually wouldn't. The plots we're hooked early which is good. I also thought that it was good for roleplay purposes that there were plots that all had the same timeframe and we as a group had to decide which took importance. We had to make some hard decisions and I loved it.

On another note, the play test for spells saturday morning had a lot of great potential, but unfortunately it was ruined due to the fact that no rules were set against using spells or items we already had, or banning the use of counters or negates. No offense to abbadon, I love him so, but the negates and counters defeated the entire purpose of the play test. Im pretty sure the point of it was to see spells being used by people who never casted spells before. And every time someone on the other team casted, it was negated. On a lighter note, the GMs were very generous in letting everyone's shattered items come back. Hopefully we can do this play test again with some better rules.

The monsters I fought throughout the event made for a good challenge, there were a few fights I wasn't sure we'd make it out of, but we did!

All in all I had a blast and can gaurentee that ill be back next time!

Favorite part of the event was leaping from a 15 story mountain and surviving to tell the tale xD not without the help of my favorite healers stitching my body back together haha

Shout out to Jamie P. For bringing all the ice cream and sundae stuff! I hope we ate enough!

And a shout out to the game staff for being very helpful and kind and making this event a ton of fun!
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Zydana
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Re: June Feedback

Post by Zydana »

I was going to try to be the first to start this thread so I could name it, "June Feedback for the old fuddy-duddies who don't use the face space," but anyway..

By far, this was one of the best events in a while. I love the people who come together to make this game what it is. I could never properly express how much I appreciate the rich story lines the writers create.. which we as players may either completely ignore, or may only scratch the surface. Thank you.

Friday Night Walking down the river to get to.. wherever we were going, I did enjoy Mike playing the water being that didn't speak common. I could see that he was clearly trying to tell us to go away, but this did not deter the players (of course, Kami is a master of communication... at least the non-verbal variety). I did enjoy the uniqueness of the world Brad painted for us of the inside of what we would later find out to be the ink well. Hot tubs, comfortable couches - who would ever want to leave?! .. or course, the random storms were rather horrible. :) Friday night was fairly good, although a puzzling evening of information that would be needed later.

Saturday Morning/Afternoon BACON TIME!! Wizard duel was setting up which gave me time to clean up from bacon time. Not being there for the rules and set up gave me the opportunity to spectate while enjoying the company and conversation with Cenric and Phinkis. The mage battle went as anticipated - numerous game stops and Abaddon dominating the arena. I agree with Travis, in the future if this were to happen again, there needs to be some restrictions of player items and/or something that would balance the players a bit better. While others worked on the steam thing, we headed off to play with Abaddon's new arch nemesis.. to some degree, I felt bad for the jinn. I was happy that I was made to feel slightly important (although OOG, I knew Travis' motives.. but still, I enjoy feeling important). I always enjoy interacting with Nick as Sir Reginald :) Many thanks to Sir Reginald for seeing Kami and his forgiveness knows no bounds! The battle with those seeking the firestones felt like the first "real" combat of the event. Just enough oomph to the combat where I fear for my own life and the lives of others. A great battle for a small-ish group. Perfect.

Game Break at Undisclosed mostly empty restaurant We discussed Abaddon's opponent a bit, and giggled at the idea that the guy just wanted to be Abaddon.. or maybe they should just date. The have the same methods of dealing with those that anger them. They have similar interests in their hobbies and collections. These two might just be perfect for eachother!! :lol: ... ok, back to the game!

Saturday Night Based on information, we needed to do the Jinn plot right after game break and only had a small window of time to do so. We knew this could escalate to a Red X plot, so we tried to gather everyone (we felt we needed to so so based on the low turn out for the event). While trying to do so, we felt we were bombarded with 3 other plots at once that required immediate attention (we only had a short window of opportunity to do them) as well. Okay, okay.. okay.. Typically, yes, we do complain that Red X plots should not take up the whole NPC/GM staff AND there should be stuff/plots that those who don't want to participate on the Red X to do during this time... so we shouldn't really be able to complain about this. We were missing a good deal of players that consist of a lot of our heavy hitters (RL knife fights are bad M'kay?) so this turned into an all on board thing. I also believe that making hard decisions and not being able to help everyone all the time is part of playing the game (do you choose to save the many or the one - saving both isn't an option). However, GM staff was mostly accommodating anyway.

Jinn Cave - I love plots like this. I love when you guys try to make us think and work together. I appreciate the complexity and the maps (I heart good props to no end!) - but the maps being a bit outdated (ex:the island had crumbled and was no longer there) to throw us off and make us figure a way to deal with the unforeseen was great too. Unfortunately we felt we couldn't continue so we went on to another plot. I honestly wish we would have been capable of doing the whole cave and sincerely hope we have an opportunity to revisit the jinn cave under better circumstances. My interest is not in the loot, but in able to see the mechanics of the different rooms and having us work together to figure out the different tactics needed to complete each room (this is why I love to play True Dungeon at GenCon). I honestly feel bad about not continuing when based on the maps, I could clearly see how much effort someone went through to create that dungeon. I wouldn't mind getting loot though :D

Dwarven Throne Room - (hehe.. I wrote that as dwarven thrown room.. like we had thrown dwarves.. tee hee) Overall, I felt this was the best "in practice" use/playtest of the new spell system and scrolls thus far. Special mention of Nell for using dwarven swear words. Thank you Jared for sneaking in from behind and attacking us that lingered toward the rear. I felt Marcus and Abaddon were the superstars of this fight (although I might have some bias). I did feel a bit useless here though - if I got too close to the front line were I could be useful, it would be far too risky for my own skin, but these are hard choices players should be having to make. I still felt bad for hanging back. Also, meteors hurt.. they hurt bad.

The time of the great apathy - We still had quite a few plots that we needed to initiate before a certain time. We were all to regroup by the fire pit, but unfortunately some players got lost and scattered elsewhere. I think some people went to bed or left. After waiting a bit, Brad came by to do the follow up with the ink well - I had almost forgotten about the situation from the night before. This was a really cool concept and I applaud you!

Tavern Time - This is mainly for the players. When I started this character, I would bring drinks for the "bar." Over the years, interest in these drinks had greatly diminished by players so I started bringing fewer drink supplies. I was extremely happy that so many people quickly became interested in these on Saturday night. If interest continues, I will bring more stock (I will never NOT bring stock.. I will always bring some stock of drinks). Depending on how it goes, I will even try to continue to develop more drinks beyond "Ren's Black Lemonade" and the "Necromancer's heart." Believe me, your complements about my drinks were well received (although not expressed in game). I sincerely thank all of those who were interested and gratitude for those who insisted on paying in game coin. :D

Climbing Towers, Adam West Style - (this may have happened before tavern time.. I honestly can't remember now). I did like the wall climbing rules offered, but a series of sprained knees in RL over the last few years encouraged me to opt out and wait to help people who fell. When it came to using the trauma damage/healing rules, we needed better guidance and the order in which we did things and how we did things changed with each GM that tried to assist us. Although we mucked through it, everything and everyone seemed to turn out okay. Thank you for the effort put in to trying to create a unique combat experience, but defiantly needs some tweaking if we want to use it again... otherwise, Haven should adapt a new rule of no buildings are to be over 2 stories tall. :lol:

The Firestone Cache - Not sure what the GMs are up to by giving a large amount of Firestones to players this event. I guess we'll see later. Much appreciation goes to Nell for offering some background information on the firestones before heading out. The combat/puzzle to get the stones was interesting, yet odd. I appreciate the effort here, but kinda felt this was as close to playing Poke`mon as we could in game. We unscientifically chose monsters behind colored doors to battle it out between another monster. The battle directly afterward, I admit was hard, but also odd. Both battles had the same scheme from my perspective. You can fight if you're on the perimeter of the circle, or you're safe if you stand (or sit). So, I either stood in the middle, or ran around the outside like a crazy person trying not to get hit... I'm sure this wasn't the intentional strategy the GMs were trying for. Again, I'm glad the second part of that was difficult and to some degree, I'm glad it wasn't a complete win for us.

The More... There was even more yet to do for the evening, including some small personal plots for people. I had offered to help if needed, but exhaustion quickly won so I went to bed (around 2:30am). I know we had missed our time window for doing at least one plot - but that's the way things are sometimes. I agree that it was a lot to pack into one evening. I also agree with Travis that I think it was in response to our feedback from last event about there too much down time between game break and the big Saturday night battle. Thank you! You fixed it! It may have been a tad too much for us, but between the two, I'd rather have a bit too much to do (like this event) and not be able to get to the not-so-world ending things than feel bored not doing anything like the first event of the season.

Again, many thanks to those who wrote a great agenda for the event. <3 Can't wait 'til the next one.
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Zydana
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Re: June Feedback

Post by Zydana »

You didn't think I was already done with my feedback did you?

I forgot to mention, the new gentleman who had 4 pages of... something that was in some unknown language (Honestly, I don't know if it was a real language or made up) to recite for using your Battle Tactics skill speech. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this. Thank you for bumping up the role playing a notch and something that some of us have gotten too lazy to do. I applaud you for this. I would also heavily recommend him for a hero point for this (I forgot to put him on my check out sheet - but I really wanted to). I will praise any who try to create the ambiance of the medieval fantasy world.

Ben - post game, you gave me some nice warm fuzzies that I needed. Thank you.

Da Bad Stuffs! Grr...

On Saturday there was a meteor for 2 different combat scenes. One was 30 non-magical damage and the other was 20 magical damage. I admit I was cranky that there wasn't consistency in the spells (although I can get behind more powerful NPCs being able to have more powerful versions of spells), so I complained to Travis. He explained that's how things work now. You can do that, it's a thing. I felt better about it then. I guess that's just on me for not reading more of the spell rules. All fixed.

Cigarette butts - what's the deal guys? The oddest moment is when I pulled up an herb flag and a cigarette came up with it (the flag had skewered it). Most of the butts found were around NPC camp (although none of the GMs/NPCs smoke). I did enjoy Troy trying to Necropsy to find the culprit. I don't smoke, so I don't care if we're allowed to or not, but I do care about you leaving your trash all over the ground. (I blame Erik Coon for not being there to break some fingers.)

Sunday Cleaning - Cleaning the kitchen wasn't as bad as I anticipated - probably because there was less overall people and less people cooking. I was kinda upset about the lack of people offering to pitch in and I greatly appreciate those who did. Remember that we ALL use the Inn area at one point or another even if you don't use the kitchen. If you can take a moment to put benches back on the tables or pick up a few left behind bottles or even take the initiative to sweep, it would be very helpful - CJ offered to mop the kitchen, and I felt bad when he realized that the common area still needed to be swept and mopped too. At this point I went back to the stage house to finish packing my car... and I was FURIOUS!!

Stage House - (I will begin by saying I didn't get much sleep over the weekend. I did not sleep well before the weekend. I was already tired and cranky.) I DO NOT DRINK POWERAID. I DO NOT DRINK GATORAID. I DO NOT DRINK ROCKSTAR. I DO NOT DRINK DIET COKE. There should be NO reason I need to be picking up a bunch of these empty bottles after you left the camp. People left garbage on their beds. Someone had been cutting black foam and left chunks. Empty bottles of bug spray were left on the porch. Plastic wrappers were left on the floor. Everyone who had stayed in the Stage house had already left camp, except for me and CJ (and CJ was sweeping/mopping the tavern and kitchen). I had thought I just needed to move the pile of pillows and folded blankets I left on the bed into the car - and maybe, maybe, do a quick sweep job. UGH!
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Kaylan Chargeender
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Re: June Feedback

Post by Kaylan Chargeender »

it was Pilipino I believe
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Khorvalis
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Re: June Feedback

Post by Khorvalis »

Thank you Zydana for the shout out about my Battle Tactics spell/speech! I'm glad someone noticed :) And, yes... Kaylan you are correct. It was in Pilipino!

I just have to say that this last game was utterly enjoyable for me. Final Haven is my first foray into Larping and I cannot contain how much fun I had. As a noob to the whole system, I wasn't sure what to expect but playing a PC (and even several NPC's) is my new addiction and I will definitely be back for future events. :D

Firstly, I would like to commend the GM's for putting together a fantastical world that I truly felt a part of. Working part of the weekend as an NPC, I saw how much preparation and creativity these guys put into the game. My hat goes off to you gentlemen as well as the other NPC's that brought our adversaries and plot hooks to life! I really appreciated how patient you all were in answering my questions and explaining what I could do as my character and what I could not do. (Now I know what machine-gunning is, heh heh) :wink:

Also, thank you to the many PC's that took time to show me the ropes and explain to me how the system works. As a Larp neophyte, I was worried that I wouldn't know what to do, how to play the game, or how to properly role-play as a Ga'vin of Phantera. But there were several friendly and patient players that took time to show me the ropes, explain what my druid/sage Khorvalis could do, and how I could fit into the fantasy world. :angel: (Muchos gracias to Gondowan, Leo, Kaylan, Aurora, Nym, Thruldur, Jeff, Rothak, Hamer, Ruark and the many others that helped me out)

As regards to the different plots we had to accomplish over the weekend, I liked long quest where the whole town had to work together in order to get to that djinn. I had no idea what a Red X plot was but know I know how dangerous it is. :evilbat: I was amazed to see some of the obviously most powerful citizens of Brennondale almost die in that battle. The fact that Aurora and I were healing so many (even an unconscious Abaddon... who I thought was nigh-invincible) made me see how even a new, less powerful character can make a difference in the game as well as how important it is for everyone to work together in order to get things done. This sentiment carried over into the great hall where we had to fight the undead dwarves. This battle waged on from afternoon to evening and was indeed challenging. Thank you to Nym and Rothgar also for including my character Khorvalis on the side plot in the underground tunnels, I know my PC was able to forge some good friendships there.

To comment on some role-players, I'd like to comment Thruldur for introducing my character to Tsunotaur stout. :drinking: Amazingly, I almost died from its side-effects but I enjoyed role-playing inebriation with your PC at the tavern, and then spending a good hour or two with you and Gondowan drunkenly wandering the forest and hearing about the stories of both of your pasts.

Perhaps we could have some more plot devices centered in the tavern since I found that a lot of role-play took place in it. It was nice getting Gondown drunk after his armor was shattered in one of the battles. Also, I learned a lot from Kaylen about the socioeconomic system of Haven while my character was repairing his armor. My commendations also go out to Leo and the Fox-Beastman who really got into character when they RP'd the process of my Augment on their skills - they spent more than the requisite 5 minutes with me going over how to analyze and improve their sword skills. Varys explained to me well what "white-sashing" is but in a creative way. While we were having a meal, he vividly explained how his hand and arm had been infected by some strange infliction which explained his OOG rotator cuff injury - very nice. Also in the tavern, I noticed that there was a Valkyn'vi named Kami and she was meticulously mixing drinks (or perhaps potions) for some of the characters, but I was hesitant to ask her about it because she didn't seem like the friendliest of persons (although during clean-up and after check out, I noticed her real-life personality was quite hospitable and more talkative :P ). Speaking of Valkyn'vi... there was one PC who was so into role-playing that in the game I found him to be the nastiest of characters (not someone whom I would want to befriend or even be in the same room with), but before we left the campsite, I was surprised that Troy/Peron was much more friendly. :evil: Good job on the great role-playing, guys! All these interactions and more really made the world of Final Haven come to life. More reasons to hang out in the tavern = more role-play! :agrue:

Well, that's about it for my (protracted) feedback about the session - positive, wonderful and fun. I hope to see you all next time in August and to meet more of the citizenry of Brennondale!

Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat!
~Khorvalis~
Druid of the Redwind
Hierophant of the Circle of the Sun
Follower of the Light and Keeper of the Sacred Flame

"Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It is a goal and an essential part of my life - a kind of destiny. Whoever is in distress can call on me. I will come running wherever they are."
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