First, I want to say how much I love you people and this game and everything we've built together. I recognize we're all in very different places than we were when the game started, and we've grown older and busier.
My suggestions are both on a structural/administrative level, and then I have plot suggestions.
1. The current req system doesn't work in the best interest of us or the game itself. We all acknowledge we are tagging more slowly, especially when life is busy or tough, which it unfortunately is sometimes. I've personally found it's taking longer to complete reqs, and to do it two months in a row has been a task that has become unwieldy. It's pretty discouraging, and it's a lot of work that I don't think we, as adults who have known each other this long, need in the same way, at the same level. It also really cuts down on new fictional blood in the game, and I feel really strongly that new characters are needed to pump life back into things. I'd like to think that as a consequence of being an older group that knows each other well, if someone needs to really look at how they're handling, say, a large roster that doesn't have activity, this could be an honest and kind discussion about how that impacts other people and a plan could be made to go forward.
2. PLOTS. My favorite plots are mostly horror, surprising no one at all. So I do have a handful of those tucked away-- maybe more extra islands or locations where we can do something like Fromville from the TV show From. I also like the dream set-up suggested above for this. Perhaps there's a Lovecraftian entity awakening in Darrow to cause bubbled horror (to spare those who don't like it).
3. Lore, city-based plots. One of the initial causes of drama and tension in the game was being at the hands of this unknown force that made it seem like you were expected there, and the city had no answers. Overall, I think we've lost this effect just because it's been years, and the in-game culture grown by our characters is that everything's expected and no one should even try for answers. I'd like to see this shake up too, maybe with some new NPCs or NPC organizations that hint there is something at the root of things, there are people pulling the strings. There doesn't need to be an ultimate answer or antagonist, but something to shake up what the established characters know about Darrow.
no subject
My suggestions are both on a structural/administrative level, and then I have plot suggestions.
1. The current req system doesn't work in the best interest of us or the game itself. We all acknowledge we are tagging more slowly, especially when life is busy or tough, which it unfortunately is sometimes. I've personally found it's taking longer to complete reqs, and to do it two months in a row has been a task that has become unwieldy. It's pretty discouraging, and it's a lot of work that I don't think we, as adults who have known each other this long, need in the same way, at the same level. It also really cuts down on new fictional blood in the game, and I feel really strongly that new characters are needed to pump life back into things. I'd like to think that as a consequence of being an older group that knows each other well, if someone needs to really look at how they're handling, say, a large roster that doesn't have activity, this could be an honest and kind discussion about how that impacts other people and a plan could be made to go forward.
2. PLOTS. My favorite plots are mostly horror, surprising no one at all. So I do have a handful of those tucked away-- maybe more extra islands or locations where we can do something like Fromville from the TV show From. I also like the dream set-up suggested above for this. Perhaps there's a Lovecraftian entity awakening in Darrow to cause bubbled horror (to spare those who don't like it).
3. Lore, city-based plots. One of the initial causes of drama and tension in the game was being at the hands of this unknown force that made it seem like you were expected there, and the city had no answers. Overall, I think we've lost this effect just because it's been years, and the in-game culture grown by our characters is that everything's expected and no one should even try for answers. I'd like to see this shake up too, maybe with some new NPCs or NPC organizations that hint there is something at the root of things, there are people pulling the strings. There doesn't need to be an ultimate answer or antagonist, but something to shake up what the established characters know about Darrow.
Okay, I love you lots!