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Storms.tm

Charybdis

Screaming Cat
Pronouns
They/Them
So, a few times now there's been a randomly DMed storm, previously in the Grafjell camp/Hawklight camp area, and today in the Sanardu/Mockingbay area.

While I understand the idea behind this, myself as well as others have agreed that this hasn't contributed at all to RP, and in fact has somewhat taken away from it. In the Grafjell camp, essentially our RP was interrupted for an OOC half hour to hour wherein we had to hang out in a cellar and stare at each other and eat our fingers. In Sanardu, it was a total of three or four emotes that briefly interrupted RP before we went on doing whatever without any further input, whatever build-up just stopping.

As far as I'm aware, at least, in both instances the Hawklight camp and Mockingbay (the places I wasn't in, IC) got more focus because they had more people. That's all fine and well, but maybe in the future just keep it localized to that location instead of basically teasing the nearby group with 'hey something cool is happening over there but you can't join in', and tossing us a few pity emotes without any conclusion or actual point.
 

Balatro

Don't call it a comeback
Retired Staff
Would you suggest that a storm not effect the areas nearby to a lesser extent?

See I understand where your coming from but i've had complaints that having large weather events not reach to a lesser extent the people near that area dosnt make sense and break immersion.

So- There is a conflict of interest. In addition "not adding all to rp" seems to me to be a bit unfair and honestly I'm somewhat offended. Random events don't nessaicarily have a point. Not every DM'd emote is going to be a colossal life changing event and sometimes will be mearly a backdrop with which the players have the choice to use or ignore to there leasure as is appropriate to the desires of that RP.
 

Cap

Lord of Altera
Legend
Would you suggest that a storm not effect the areas nearby to a lesser extent?

See I understand where your coming from but i've had complaints that having large weather events not reach to a lesser extent the people near that area dosnt make sense and break immersion.

So- There is a conflict of interest. In addition "not adding all to rp" seems to me to be a bit unfair and honestly I'm somewhat offended. Random events don't nessaicarily have a point. Not every DM'd emote is going to be a colossal life changing event and sometimes will be mearly a backdrop with which the players have the choice to use or ignore to there leasure as is appropriate to the desires of that RP.
if it doesnt have a point, all it's doing is interfering in someone else's RP

if you start RP with someone it should be more than 'hey there's wind', or else you're just distracting them from real RP

what i'd do is just ask anyone nearby if they want the storm or not, to avoid upsetting people
 

Balatro

Don't call it a comeback
Retired Staff
if it doesnt have a point, all it's doing is interfering in someone else's RP

if you start RP with someone it should be more than 'hey there's wind', or else you're just distracting them from real RP

what i'd do is just ask anyone nearby if they want the storm or not, to avoid upsetting people
Well than we'll have to figure out a better balance between interruption and Immersion.
 

Auriel

Lord of Altera
Lover
Auriel_
Auriel_
Lover
we have enough storms in minecraft, and people RP it out all the time

interrupting important rp and rp in general is just annoying and I mean that with utmost respect
 

Charybdis

Screaming Cat
Pronouns
They/Them
Would you suggest that a storm not effect the areas nearby to a lesser extent?

See I understand where your coming from but i've had complaints that having large weather events not reach to a lesser extent the people near that area dosnt make sense and break immersion.

So- There is a conflict of interest. In addition "not adding all to rp" seems to me to be a bit unfair and honestly I'm somewhat offended. Random events don't nessaicarily have a point. Not every DM'd emote is going to be a colossal life changing event and sometimes will be mearly a backdrop with which the players have the choice to use or ignore to there leasure as is appropriate to the desires of that RP.
Oh yeah I'm not criticizing your dming style at all or anything, it's just something kind of started and then felt like the group was abandoned mid-being-DMed without us really knowing if the storm had passed, if it was worth sticking around for to build up to more, etc.

what i'd do is just ask anyone nearby if they want the storm or not, to avoid upsetting people
ye
 

pyrocide

The Mogul of Cromarcky
the issue is essentially what do the players get out of any rp. A storm as part of a longer event chain is interesting as it is a challenge the players have to overcome to get to the next part of the storyline. a storm on its own has no payoff at the end. It's the same reason players don't (normally) rp sleeping, going to the bathroom, or traveling from one location to another on their own. there's no payoff, it's simple time consuming chores.

it comes down to the fact players time is precious. Not only that, but they already generally have plans for what time they do spend on the server. the question then must be, "is the event being held using the players' time to their benefit?" I'm not suggesting every event should be mega story arcs or showering players with items and praise, but the events should be enjoyable and rewarding. I agree with cap, in cases such as said in this thread, it would be best to ask the players if they would like to participate in the event before starting it.
 

223hero7

Lord of Altera
"Sea of Storms."
That wasn't a random storm event, though. The players were embarking on what amounts to a mini-campaign centered on exploration, and DMed by a team of staff, that took multiple days out of character. It wasn't a staff member bringing a storm to a poppulated region for an hour or two.
 

pyrocide

The Mogul of Cromarcky
Just for my own understanding: After the requests were made in Hawklight and Graf camps, were there any events forced on players at either location?
 

MRPolo13

The Arbiter of the Gods
Just for my own understanding: After the requests were made in Hawklight and Graf camps, were there any events forced on players at either location?
No events happened since at all, which honestly worked for us. We didn't exactly ask for them to begin with, and weren't informed such events were planned. They could've been really cool, had they been communicated.
 

Azur

Lord of Altera
Lover
Legend
A_Z_U_R
A_Z_U_R
Lover
I like all events because events are nice.
Just for my own understanding: After the requests were made in Hawklight and Graf camps, were there any events forced on players at either location?
If I remember correctly, the attitudes DMs were met with were less than friendly about it, so there was no work done to even communicate future events with the camps as well. Granted not everyone's response was made in a poor fashion, but there were some.
 

Solus

object oriented
Staff member
Admin
Retired Owner
I'll make a short comment for Grafjell camp that we did have another event after. As someone who helped run the camp IC- I welcomed events to keep the players entertained and on thier feet in roleplay in a wild and unknown terrain. It made sense to me not to coop people up in a camp without some DMed event as it was freely offered without being poked for it.
 

NIAH

The Lurker
Retired Staff
No events happened since at all, which honestly worked for us. We didn't exactly ask for them to begin with, and weren't informed such events were planned. They could've been really cool, had they been communicated.

I don't think it's bad that the events weren't communicated. I like the idea of random and sporadic happenings. Just things to give flavor. I personally love little random things like that which come out of the blue. But generally, I think it's best when the happening has an interactive aspect. Something that players encounter and can examine, speak with, witness, affect through RP, etc. Doesn't even have to be anything magical or fantastical. Part of the magic with events is the ability to surprise players with little things without it being a big hullabaloo of scheduling.

Storms can be cool, but I think the storm event Charbydis is bringing up is that it was a few emotes about wind on a clear day and rumbling westward, and then the DM logged out not longer after. Folks didn't realize he was gone at first, and after a while, didn't know how long they should RP being hunkered in a cellar, the nature of the storm that came on a clear day, what the rumbling was, etc.

With that being said, I personally encourage little events. Like Azur said, events are nice because it's a DM taking time out of their day to provide something new and interesting. Scheduled or not, it provides interesting RP if there's an involved interactive aspect to it. But this is just my two cents.

TL:DR -- I love that Balatro did an event, and I like small flavor events sporadically popping up. Only critiques are that it's nice to give players some sort of sign that the DMing/happening/event has concluded so players don't feel confused about what to do with their RP next, as well as offering an interactive aspect to the events.
 

MRPolo13

The Arbiter of the Gods
And I never argued that we should have been told what these events were going to be, just that such events could have potentially happened. All I meant by communication is that the parties would, even if a few hours before the mini event, agree that they weren't particularly busy that day. Hawklight camp at the time was preparing for a bandit event, for instance.
 

Immerael

The Shadow Admín
Retired Staff
A bandit attack during a storm would have been hella cool, especially with a DM there or at least that's my thoughts. I wasn't there so I don't know whats got folks in such a twist other than whats said here but I mostly agree with Niah.
 
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