Important touch-in

[Ao]

Hey guys,

So I've some sad news. Kilik is going to be bowing out of the game. From his point of view, he is tiring of the PBP format and not feeling particularly congruent with the group.

He will be missed, and was a great part of the party.

That said, we'll move forward full steam ahead. I think we have a tremendous group of players here and a solid narrative to boot.

I want to take an opportunity to take a temperature check of all of you. Level of enjoyment, any grievances you might have, suggestions...etc.

I'll keep doing my part to stoke the fires of this game and make it enjoyable for all of you. Just be sure to keep in communicaton about what you want and what you don't.

Thanks,
-Ao

[Shorjahl]

Hm that's a shame, really liked Kilik. I think having a lawful good character mixed in with some neutrals is always tricky, so hopefully that wasn't the main course of action that drove him free of the group. I'm enjoying this game immensely, it is one of my favorites I'm in right now (including the ones I'm GMing.)

Do you plan on recruiting some more folks Ao?

[Ao]

Yeah Shorjahl. I have a good friend, an experienced PBPer, who might decide to join over the next week or two.

Failing that, I'll be recruiting in the new year. If you know anyone who is a good candidate, feel free to recommend them.

Cheers
-Ao

[Kellar]

Wow,

Uhm, where do I start? >sigh<

I'm sorry to see Kilik leave the game, there was a great deal of role play left in the tank. Maybe there wasn't enough there for everyone to partake in the action going on? I know, at least from my perspective I can feel over zealous at times with posting at a high frequency. Perhaps that had something to do with it? I can't say for sure, but there's a lot of posting by the group for a play by post campaign. If the average is one post per day, we (as a group) exceed that pretty easily. I don't believe it's for a lack of direction, I think it's the opposite, we're invested in the characters we've created and want them to continue in their story.

The dynamic of the group has been energetic, there's always something going on with the characters and their mannerisms that bring the characters to life. I feel that the dynamism and energy we bring to the story can easily drown out another player if they aren't posting as frequently as the whole group. There have been times (just yesterday, into today) that I don't feel the need to post because the actions of my character are quite mundane, and I can only offer so much to what the group is doing at that time. I'm completely comfortable with the direction we've gone as a group, and we're capable of some extraordinary things, both in the game and our respective narratives.

We lost Anna early in the campaign and we continued on in stride and said, "That sucks." We finished the first chapter of our adventure with a BANG and planted our own mark on the campaign. I have no doubt that the group will do the same in Kilik's absence. He will be missed, and I hope his character finds the forge he spend his time with and continue a peaceful life as a Dwarven Smithy.

That being said, onto the my feelings on the campaign:

Overall- It's great, the characters for each player have been fully realized and have had a shining moment that has either changed the tide of battle, or provided great detail to their character's actions.

Minor grievance- If it were anything, it'd have been the alignment "issue," which wasn't really an issue at all, just a misunderstanding from a narrative perspective. Although my attempt at humor concerning the issue fell flat, we (AO & I) were able to move on and continue playing while being adults about the whole thing. Sometimes its hard to translate humor through text and convey meaning...

Suggestions- Hmmm, not much that I can think of really, everyone is pretty open with communication and we've resolved any issues we've had. If there's anything that other players would like me to alter or change as part of my RP please let me know and I'm willing to adapt as needed.

Final Comment(s)- We compliment each other quite well and are very encouraging of character actions and arcs. It's the straight dope in my brain sometimes when I picture what everyone is doing at the same time. I think I've made a friend in each of the players and the DM as we've played. I even helped fund Shorjahl's Kickstarter, which, if you had asked me out of the blue, I'd have said, "Forget that chump." But knowing him in this game and communicating as openly as we do has opened more doors to great things.

[Osvald Hale]

Really is a shame about Kilik, always looked forward to his posts. Gonna miss our curmudgeonly ol' moral compass.

Always a disappointment when a well fleshed out character leaves a game, but that's par for the course in PBP I guess. I agree with Kellar that post frequency can be a big determiner in how involved one can feel with the group, and how much influence a character has within the setting.
I think the group we have is varied and interesting, we're all finding useful roles and working with each other inside of combat and out.
One of the strengths of this format is the better chance to forge narrative together, and allow the characters to form friendships, etc, naturally within the framework Ao has given us, and in that regard I think this group is kicking ass!

Any critiques I have had would just be simply ones regarding pacing/keeping everyone engaged, but that's a byproduct of the post-a-day format. Some scenes progress slowly, while others feel almost a little rushed--but for the vast, vast majority Ao (and the rest of you guys!) have done a great job of keeping the game moving forward. I'm not a big power gamer, nor do I love the mathhammer, so any chance to skip the crunchy bits a little for a bigger narrative pay-off works for me.

Overall, I'm really digging this game and group, and looking forward to gaming on well into next year and beyond.

Best,

A.

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