| Papasteve08 |
Hey, dudes. I wanted to give you all a heads up that I will have a hard time posting today/tonight. I'm taking my nieces and nephew to the final fantasy-distant worlds symphony in Chicago tonight for their Christmas present. So... I'll be a bit tied up and will catch up on our games soon.
This sounds amazing... Now I want to look it up to see what it is like. I have a feeling my wife and daughter would love it...
| GM Bold Strider |
As an aside, I have an interesting concept for a PFS character that would necessarily start at level 1. Do you folks have any interest in getting something going around that level?
---
It makes me kind of sad that we only have six to eight months of IoD left... I'm really getting into Elon and Barley and a tropical brewery with the locals!
| Damien Wilmann |
Our level 1 game is full right now. I'll leave the others here to let you know if they've got any other things going.
I'm not sure about the 6-8 months. It's an estimate at best. There is a huge island (and surrounding islands) to explore, but I don't want it to become hack 'n' slash. Tropical brewery would be awesome if we did the kingdom building. I may yet revisit that and the decision. We'll see how it ends up.
FYI, while it is a sandbox, there is a definite end to Isle of Dread. Hopefully he diversions are fun and you don't all die before you see the plot unfold.
| Elon Steelkeg |
Elon will never die!
--
@Damo: Well if you ever want another player, then I am always willing to play with awesome people. :D
| Karu the Kobold Strider |
I would be but I have already played Segang. :(
-Posted with Wayfinder
| PapaSteve's Wayfinder Alias |
Good luck to your Texans today Damien!
I picked them in my pool. Not sure if that was the smartest choice against the rolling chiefs, but what the heck right? This is the guy who would be willing to bet on the lions....
-Posted with Wayfinder
Mikko, lurker
|
Heya, Mikko! I have to say that Ancients Anguish is one of berst scenarios that I have ever played! Great job!
Thanks, Jack! And thanks for the review! I've got more adventures coming out this year, and I'll be sure to post a link here when they're available.
By the way, any news on Gen Con and hotel bookings? I talked about the con with a friend who might be going as well. Traveling with a friend makes the long flights and jet lag a little bit more tolerable. And the hangovers caused by beer sampling, too.
| Damien Wilmann |
Hey all,
The more I think about it, the more I realize that I really need to stop playing PbP. There are a heap of things I'm not getting done that the 2 hours+ a day I spend on this could be put towards.
Add to that, PbP is starting to feel like a chore to me - especially when I haven't been checking it for a little while. For a fun pastime, that's madness. I would actually have more fun doing something productive and more work-like, such as getting back into some iPhone and web programming. GM Damo's rule #1, from way, way, way back was always to have fun and I'm going to practice what I preach.
So, I will complete all PFS scenarios that I'm currently in and then stop. If it's a trilogy, I am committed to finishing off all 3 (Destiny of the Sands with John, and Heresy of Man with Bold Strider). The Consortium Compact will be my last game with the alts. I really wanted to level up with you guys again, but not with the way I'm feeling right now about PbP. See more on the Drongos below.
Isle of Dread is the first to go out of my two GMed games. The end is quite a way off and I don't see a better spot to leave it, really. I honestly did try to spark it up over the last two weeks but just couldn't get my enthusiasm pumping. I hope it didn't show too much, and I really hope you guys still got a lot of fun out of it. I know I did. Now I just need to sit and have a think about all those hours and dollars spent in and on Campaign Cartographer getting the big map done and all the site maps I've done also. You saw maybe 5% of the big map, and none of the sites that I did up. Sigh. Oh, wait, the warehouse!
I may at some point come back to it in some way shape or form, so I won't PM any spoilers unless you know you won't be coming back to it in the event of a reboot.
With Reign of Winter, book 2 has a really satisfying ending to it. I can happily leave it there like a bookmark to come back to if and when.
For the Drongos, I'll have to see how it goes but I think I can enjoy just that game and playing through to the Eyes of the Ten with all of you. I'm going to take it a scenario at a time, but at the current pace the Drongos game doesn't take too much out of my schedule. The other thing to note here is that, in addition to having my fill of PbP, I've also started to have enough of PFS.
For all of this, if I find myself flush with time again, I will return. Also, if dropping Isle, Alts and the Beasts improves things for me dramatically, then who knows... maybe RoW will continue. We shall see. For now, plan for it to end after book 2.
Wow, this feels like a goodbye, but for most of you it really isn't. We'll still continue to roleplay for a fair few months yet with the Drongos and RoW. Fingers crossed that the dramatically reduced load helps it to be fun for me again. ;-)
Just as an FYI, I wrote this a bit under a week ago (Jan 7th). I decided to leave it and let it marinate for a while and see if I would change my mind or start to enjoy things more. I've since refined it, but the meat of it is all as per when I wrote it... and clearly, nothing has changed for me since then.
A further FYI, none of this changes my plans for GenCon. Full steam ahead on that front.
| PapaSteve's Wayfinder Alias |
I posted in the isle of dread thread, but figured I would mention it here for completeness sake.
You gotta do you, Damien. I'm bummed and sad, and selfishly I hope you find a way to stay around. But taking care of yourself and you're family always has to be the top priority.
I am glad and honored to have net and gamed with you. Totally looking forward to gen con, and will always hold out hope to continue gaming with you somehow in the future. I'll take what I can get while it lasts!
-Posted with Wayfinder
| christopher lockwood |
@ Damien-
I can totally respect your decision, and the intention to drastically cut back. I felt terrible when I backed out of Isle of Dread, but at that time I was getting overwhelmed on games, and you were very patient and understanding about it. So, one, thank you, and, two, I understand completely the need to cut back.
There are zero hard feeling on my end for a decision like this. It's been great gaming with you and the games you've run have been some of the best I've ever had the honor of playing in. So, thank you very much for all the time and effort you put in. Also, I'll be very sad when/if you eventually stop completely, but I'm delighted you'll at least be continuing on with the drongos for a while yet!
No worries at all, dude! You're the man.
| christopher lockwood |
And just in case I didn't tell you enough how special you were to all of us... here :)
| Damien Wilmann |
Thanks guys. I really appreciate the level of understanding shown here and on the Isle of Dread thread. I hope everyone realizes that I certainly didn't take this decision lightly and factored in all the time and effort you as players have spent on helping me to tell a story in each of the games I'm running.
But, this isn't an end (yet)! I'm determined to enjoy the remainder of my time with a reduced load that is gradually reduced even more. I hope to delight and amuse until I find that I can post no more.
PS: Chris, if only you knew what a back-handed link that was. The lyrics touch me. Country music makes my ears bleed. Poor choice to live in Houston, really, musically speaking... but better than a town of 10,000 in rural Australia (where I grew up). At least there are some other musical options here.
| christopher lockwood |
...
PS: Chris, if only you knew what a back-handed link that was. The lyrics touch me. Country music makes my ears bleed. Poor choice to live in Houston, really, musically speaking... but better than a town of 10,000 in rural Australia (where I grew up). At least there are some other musical options here.
It was supposed to be heartfelt thank you. I didn't want our feelings and gratitude toward you to go unsaid. Since I couldn't put it any better, I figured I should just let Willie touch your heart :)
-Karma-
|
@Damien I'm sad to hear your decision, but I can totally understand. I've always wondered how you are able to keep up writing you awesome posts. RL should always be a priority, and fun shouldn't feel like a chore.
Remember when we started, it was just the Drongo's :)
I hope you keep playing with the mains, all up to the EotT. And maybe with the relaxed pace of just one game, you'll get hungry for more again ;)
Regardless what you do, I thank you for the opportunity to play with you.
| Damien Wilmann |
Thanks, Jyri. It's been great and I also hope that reducing down to just the Drongos will renew my enjoyment and thirst for the game. For now, though, my aim is to stop completely at some point.
You know, I think that part of the reason for the burnout is because we're playing so many games now. It seems at times as though we're just going through the motions rather than writing cool posts. Also, we are seeming to do a lot less of the 'short awesome post' of a paragraph or two of condensed great stuff that gets a few responses and then we follow up with another paragraph or two again. That's where the roleplay and interaction really shines.
I think everyone's so focused on covering all their games that they try to get 'all or nothing' in on any given thread. I think it comes from not wanting to to leave things unanswered before the next GM post, knowing that you'll have to deal with other games instead... rather than having 1-2 games to really focus on and come back to again and again during the day. I am just as guilty (if not more so) as anyone else of doing this.
This has definitely contributed to the lowering of my enjoyment factor... as well as (especially as a GM) the chore-like aspect of my PbP.
I am so happy to see this trend reversed for the opening posts of the Drongos. Bad writing and early season bull s*$~ has begun to wear us down, though. The complete s~+~tiness and lack of thought in the situation makes working up a good roleplay hard at best.
-Karma-
|
Amaranti needs YOU!
Head to the PFS mini voting page, and cast your vote.
You know what mini to choose!
(OK, Ok, there's so many awesome minis in there, I cannot hold it against you if you cast your vote on another :D )
Mikko, lurker
|
Haven't thought about it yet. Because the flights are so long, I'm probably going to spend about 2 weeks in the US and visit other cities, too. So I'm probably pick my routes and flight dates based on the most optimal cost & duration (and which states and cities seem like the most fun to visit along the way).
| Damien Wilmann |
Woah... hold the press... Jyri... you thinking about coming to GenCon? You say 'just out of curiosity', but now I'm curious about why you're curious!
Also... you can see the tumbleweeds out there today. Did I just kill everyone with all the Reign of Winter stuff? If so, sorry. If not... all good. I've probably posted enough to do me for the next 2 days anyway!
Given the slow down, I'm probably going to 'sign off' for today and let everyone catch up. Worry not, I'll be back on tomorrow. Don't post too much in the next 14 hours!
| Papasteve08 |
Some mondays are just like that... it is definitely weird.
It would be so awesome if you made it to GenCon Jyri... So don't be shy and let us know!
Mikko - Definitely keep us up to date as well for what you can, it would be great to be able to sit at a table with you! Of course, at the very least, enjoy a drink at the end of a long and crazy day.