Fat Gandalf's Bar & Lounge (OOC Chat) - Chapter Six

[Purr]

Sherwood, they rolled a 2 and 3. Of course, I took the 3. =)

 

[Purr]

Heya Gang! I know it's only been a couple of days since I last posted, but I'm going to inch this scene forward a little in the spirit of catching the Wild Cards up to the Double or Nothing story. The sooner this chapter finishes, the sooner you level (yes, you've definitely gained enough RP Points for that!) and the sooner the Wild Card PCs get to meet Ylva and Ricky! =)

 

[Purr]

For those who just read my last in-game post (within the past 35 minutes), I just added something toward the end of it that I realized I needed to add. Aaaand it's boom-done! 8D

 

[Purr]

Captain Hesperus Hey you! Did you want Herc to investigate the sounds with the rest of the team or did you want him to stay focused on the Marauder? Or something else?

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Yeah, Hercules is staying focused on the giant threat, even if it isn’t showing any signs of life, just yet.

 

[Purr]

O.K.. Thanks for letting me know!

No pressure, Sherwood and Psychie ! Hee hee. =)

 

[Purr]

Yeah, Hercules is staying focused on the giant threat, even if it isn’t showing any signs of life, just yet.

If combat takes place, Hercules is getting one heck of an Initiative bonus on the Marauder. Just so you know. =)

 

[Purr]

I'll go ahead and move the story along.

Wild Cards, if no one else has anything to post, I will try to post tomorrow.

We kin haz Ylva-post sometime in the near future? =)

It's been over a week since we've had a post in Double or Nothing. Are you able to post? If you are not, let me know for I have an 'alternative.' =)

Bumps for everyone for IC. I need to know what the Wild Cards are going to do before I can proceed. =)

there is an in-game post for the Wild Cards. =)

Sherwood Psychie D. Rex Captain Hesperus Kaerri Silanon

O.K., Gang. This line of posts begins August 3rd (less than a month ago). I know Real Life is heavy on some folks (Cap'n especially), but just this week, there has not been a single post in either Chapter Six or in the Prologue save for one from Kaerri that I requested from her. When we started this game, I believe I put down the expectation of "1 post per week or tell me if you can't post" (as Cap'n responsibly has). I know as of last Saturday, Sherwood started another brand-new Robotech game and that has some of you busy. You have other games too; I get it. But I've had enough of repeatedly reminding everybody to post. So...

...If Robotech: Broadsword does not have something resembling reasonable posting by this time next week, I am shutting this campaign down.

I don't think this is unreasonable seeing as most of you are still participating in your other games. And Gang? I am the last person to tell you what to do with your game time, but I need to do something positive with mine. I feel this is not fair to me. Having to post this many reminders (and I may have left some out) has become too much and I realize I have hit my limit. Either we keep this game or... I do something else with that time and effort.

Finally, if you don't like Broadsword anymore, just tell me! I'm a big kid; I will ask for your reasons, but I am well-able to handle it if you think this campaign is not worth your time any longer.

Honor and fun,
Dann

 

[D. Rex]

I brought it up with you already, at least I hope I did. I think. Just a little absent with being busy IRL, and that this week I should be able to be more free again.

What activity I manage at the moment is miniscule at best, such as a simple roll and a simple description. And I feel your rp deserves a bit more than a few sentences from me when I do make posts. (Not that sherwoods doesn't, but its easier to get away with in a combat scenario)

 

[Purr]

Then please post in-game, even if it's short. Even if it's later this week. No RP runs without posts from the GM and PCs.

 

[Kaerri]

At some point I got into the habit of thinking if Sherwood and Psychie hadn't posted, I wasn't late. This is not only unfair to them and Dann and everyone else, it's also much less effective when they don't post same night Dann did, while I was sleeping (as was frequently the case). I will try to amend my habits and consider only the date of my own last post, not someone else's.

Speaking of which -- I do like to compare the different RPs I'm in using that same last post date of mine. If it's been a week since I posted in one, and a day since I posted in another, clearly the week-old RP should have a higher priority than the day-old one. Just a thought for those of you juggling far more RPs than I've got.

 

[Silanon]

First of all: Thanks for the post. The way I'm approaching this game right now isn't working. The fact that I expected another reminder once I saw the notification today says it all. I'll do some rethinking, and hopefully I'll find a way how it's properly done by the end of it.

Here's how it goes, lately: Either you or Rex get an amazing post up. I usually read it the next morning (time zones and all), then take a day or two to get a few ideas. I type down a few notes, see how they might fit together, begin writing a post. Try to finish it the next day, but there's something that bugs me. You know, both of your writing (and the writing of all the others here for that matter, I'm just referring to the prologue here) is of a damn high quality. And I'm a damn self-critical person. I like to do things the right way, give it my best, and all that. So it takes another day of reformulating. Of gathering new ideas, of tweaking again and again. You know, there's a half-finished post for the prologue right now.
This isn't meant as an excuse - more to give you an idea what goes wrong. There's a balance between quality and posting time, and it's all screwed up for me, right now. And the longer I take for a post on average, the easier it gets to take just a day longer for the next. I mean, it's just a single day more, right? No, it isn't. It's the difference between being on point, or a day too late, or at least it was at some earlier point. Thanks for reminding me of that. Didn't mean to get to this point. Didn't mean it to look like the enthusiasm faded, because it didn't. I'm just doing things the wrong way right now. I'll see if I can find the right balance for me. I'll also see if I can communicate things better. Think I did that quite well for a while, but not recently. That's gotta change, too.

There's one thing in your post that stings. Not because the things aren't as they are, but because you interpret them differently than I do. And that's a problem for me, since you happen to be in the only other game here on RPN I'm in. It's about this:

I don't think this is unreasonable seeing as most of you are still participating in your other games.

It's not unreasonable, period. No excuses, I hope I made that clear. But the last part bothers me. I'm in two rp's, and I go about them quite differently. The other game, as you're well aware, has a quicker pace, and more people involved. So I tend to post there first, and more often, since it is easier to fall behind there otherwise. And I think that's totally reasonable. Yesterday, I happened to post thrice over there, since the situation kind of demanded responses on my end before others could move on. Think the posts came out quite well, but they were written differently. Intuitively, with less thought than I put into posts over here. Just an adjustment to the general pace of the rp. One post was written at 11pm, just real quick before going to bed. Most posts for Ylva here are written on a free Saturday morning or something, with the mindset of "oh yes, plenty of time, let's do this". Those are different time slots. For me, those two rp's don't compete for time. Maybe they should - maybe I should go about Ylva's posts the same way, it'd be worth a try. That'd make me stick to the schedule, at least. But right now, they don't. Just wanted to say that, because I don't want you to think "why doesn't he post in my rp instead" whenever I post over there. I'm screwing up here, and I'm aware of that, especially after your post. But if I'm not posting there, that doesn't mean that I would work on a post for Ylva instead. I work on those posts when I have time, not just a few half-hour time intervals in-between other things. Maybe that makes sense. Maybe not. You decide that. Just needed to get it out there.

If it's been a week since I posted in one, and a day since I posted in another, clearly the week-old RP should have a higher priority than the day-old one. Just a thought for those of you juggling far more RPs than I've got.

I guess that also means that I don't agree with Kaerri. If all the rp's move at the same pace, then that's obviously correct. But they don't, at least not in my case. Even if I posted two hours ago, I'll still post in the very same rp again if it means that there won't be five other people stuck waiting for me in an rp where people post at a quicker pace. That doesn't excuse letting the one week becoming ten days, then two weeks, and so on, of course. But that's not a problem of prioritization, but of having enough time for both rps, and using that time the right way, which I'm not in case of this rp right here. I'll try to change that.

 

[Purr]

You know, both of your writing (and the writing of all the others here for that matter, I'm just referring to the prologue here) is of a damn high quality. And I'm a damn self-critical person.

Thank you! Coming from you, that's big! =) Oh, and I can be pretty self-critical too. Time has helped me with that; I used to be worse. Now I hope I'm just reasonable about it. =)

There's one thing in your post that stings.

I don't think this is unreasonable seeing as most of you are still participating in your other games.

Silanon Hence my use of the word "most" in my sentence; you're not part of that group, Sil. Pardon me for not making that more clear.

Allow me to use Cap'n as my best example. Ol' Cap'n is under such a schedule that he's unable to even level his own characters in both of my games. This has gone on for more than a year with him. Me? I'm happy he's still in Sharseya and that he returned to Broadsword - if he can't post, I get it and that's because he and I have had that conversation. Real Life gets up in his face like a pair of mixed martial arts fighters just before the "go" signal. I'm just glad I can put some fun into his life, and yours too, Sil!

When it comes to folks playing other games, all I mean to point out there is this - it isn't Real Life getting in the way of posting here for the past month. From my perspective, maybe it's other games. O.K.! Enjoy them! I'm in 5 games myself, running 2 of them. I get it!

It's just that from my seat, it's hard for me to consider keeping this game, one of my two safe havens, active when folks are clearly rolling up new characters and playing in other games. It tells me that something has gone wrong in my game and I need to address it. Whether a game of mine dies or continues on, the one thing I can't stand is being stuck in the "limbo" of "maybe-land" where I don't know what to do. I get very confused, very quickly sometimes (ask Kaerri - especially during my bad days with my moderate-severe ADHD).

I'm just glad now to have some feedback. I'm slowly learning what's going on. Thank you! =)

* * *​

So let me make a few things a little clearer (I hope).

1. I'm not angry; I'm very confused. Things aren't making sense and I need your help to sort them out.

2. I'm not looking for apologies; I'm checking the pulse to see if this game is alive or not. So far, it's looking good.

3. I just need to know what everyone wants here. What is going wrong and, if you still want to play here, how do I fix it?

 

[Kaerri]

I guess that also means that I don't agree with Kaerri. If all the rp's move at the same pace, then that's obviously correct. But they don't, at least not in my case. Even if I posted two hours ago, I'll still post in the very same rp again if it means that there won't be five other people stuck waiting for me in an rp where people post at a quicker pace. That doesn't excuse letting the one week becoming ten days, then two weeks, and so on, of course. But that's not a problem of prioritization, but of having enough time for both rps, and using that time the right way, which I'm not in case of this rp right here. I'll try to change that.

Fair enough, at least from my perspective. I should have remembered to include that an RP, particularly when it enters "combat time," can be held up by a single person who just hasn't managed to post for one day (for whatever reason, and plenty of reasons are perfectly excusable). One of the main problems here, though, is that Broadsword wouldn't be moving at a slower pace if people were actually posting at least once a week (and I include myself in that). The pacing isn't on Dannigan, it's on the rest of us. The RP isn't being held up by a single person, but by practically all the group*, some of whom are in quite a few more than 2 RPs (again, myself included), some of which are (by what I can tell) of similar pace, combat aside, to this one. And not all of whom have been contacting Dannigan, privately or publicly, to say "Yes, I'm still here, I just can't this week, but my character would do thus-and-such even if I haven't got time or brain to write it out." Hence the issue.

* I speak for the main story here, not for Sil's and D.Rex's prologue, because I, uh, haven't read it yet -- but I intend to!

(By the way, as long as it doesn't become a constant thing, I'm pretty sure Dann's fine with the occasional OOC "here's what my character would do, I'll post it when I have time but I don't want to hold things up." Particularly in combat.)

 

[Purr]

* I speak for the main story here, not for Sil's and D.Rex's prologue, because I, uh, haven't read it yet -- but I intend to!

You'll enjoy it, darlin'! I can say that with confidence (and because I know you)! =)

(By the way, as long as it doesn't become a constant thing, I'm pretty sure Dann's fine with the occasional OOC "here's what my character would do, I'll post it when I have time but I don't want to hold things up." Particularly in combat.)

Yes I am! Anything is better than silence. Just tell me what you need and I'll do my level best to be there for you (because this is where I run to when I need to get away from it all and it's your safe haven too). =)

 

[Sherwood]

I must have been suffering from a miscommunication, because I was thinking that my last post of having Mario trying to get closer to the speaker to try and identify the music/voice coming out was good while keeping an eye on Toph to have her covered with the flamethrower, and that I was waiting for a response from Dann to say what we were able to or not able to figure out what the voices were.

After his last Traversing fiasco where he was responsible for getting Mack hurt, Mario is very gunshy at the thought of going in alone or without solid orders to do so.

I want to add my apology to you, Dann, for not keeping up on this more.

 

[Psychie]

I will endeavor to post more often, since I certainly do not want to see this game go by the wayside.

 

[Silanon]

Purr Thanks, that clarifies things - see, that one sentence very much jumped right at me when I read the post, so I felt it needed to be addressed in case there's an issue. It seems that there isn't. So that's good.

As for the actual problem of regular posting: Like I said, that's on me in my particular case, don't think there's much you can do other than reminding me that 'once a week' is preferable over 'once whenever I finally get something out there'. You just did that, so it's pretty much on Rex and me to move things forward. I'll have a look at that half-finished post, see if it can be changed into something that you and Rex can work with.

Kaerri Nothing to add there, thanks for the response! For the record, we're moving at a slower pace than the main story, so we should definitely speed things up...

 

[Purr]

Silanon From this side of the GM screen, dear Sil, actually it's the Main Story that needs to catch up to the Prologue. I've got Ricky and Ylva where they need to be - it's the Wild Cards that are a bit behind and I'm not sure why that is (someone tell me if you figure it out, please?). I still need posts from everyone, but I need your characters in the same place if they are to finally meet face-to-face. Until then, Ylva and Ricky are welcome to ask whatever they want.

Sherwood Psychie What'choo got to say? Are you bored or happy with Broadsword? Do you still think it's a game worth playing? Are you confused like I am somehow? What's on your minds?

 

[Sherwood]

I am enjoying the game quite a bit. My only complaint (if it can be called that) is the near complete unknown that the whole world of Traversing brings to the table. It is also fun to learn more of it, and I look forward to getting more of the Knacks to see what they can bring to the table.

 

[Purr]

Sherwood Good to know.

(Just woke up from a deep and necessary nap so bear with me.) =)

I've been leaving (what I thought were) good opportunities for your characters to use technopathy, but it's like I've been fishing without using the right bait (for lack of a better analogy). Your characters are hardly Traversing at all (and therefore not gaining Traversing experience). I can't rightly offer new Knacks without that.

I was hoping the class Professor Stein was teaching prior to your mission would add impetus to this situation, but I think you can count the number of times the Wild Cards have used technopathy during this mission. Since in-game opportunities aren't working, all I can think of is more class time afterward at a pace and time of the PC's choosing (since it seems like folks still want to play - I still need people to post, but I'm confident that will happen).

I'm also imagining a great deal of downtime after this. Roleplaying opportunities especially between the Wild Cards and Ylva and Ricky. Getting to know the Broadsword more and therefore your adventuring options (which are many!). Plus, there is the overall story still in motion and the part the Wild Cards would play (totally up to all of you, of course). There is a great deal going on in the game-world that none of you are aware of. But I want you to adventure at your own pace after this. Tell me what you're in the mood for (as you did when I asked last time, which has led to this entire adventure).

Yeah. =)

 

[Kaerri]

We were going to try it with the rifle locks

But now we're trying to talk to the computer instead. If that fails, I don't see why we can't go the Technopathy route with that as well.

But -- speaking of the computer and its strange sounds, I didn't want to spend an action point to have Elinor keep on trying to decipher despite her bad prior roll, which is why I was waiting to hear whether Mario and Toph are going to come the 20 feet closer that the GM said they would in order to have proper odds of understanding the noise/music/thing. So, um, are they? Or are they going to keep their distance and I should use that action point after all? Up to you two but it seems a waste if getting closer is the only thing holding us back.

 

[Purr]

We were going to try it with the rifle locks

But now we're trying to talk to the computer instead. If that fails, I don't see why we can't go the Technopathy route with that as well.

There are 5 Traversers present; you are still welcome to attempt both.

(Hooray! You guys are talking with one another in OOC! Always a good sign!)

 

[Purr]

The hell with this pussyfooting around.

Holding on other players (Hooray! Somebody posted!). Thanks, Sherwood. =)

 

[Kaerri]

Elinor rubbed her ears, but to no avail -- the cacophony just refused to make sense, and her poor ears had had enough. She moved away from the computer to let Mario and Toph get a better position, silently wishing them luck, and took up a guarding stance instead, keeping narrowed eyes on the stalking Wall-crawlers with a returning nod to Cera.

"Not just yet," she replied to Hitomi. "Stopped to see about tapping the computers, but it's making this mucked-up noise I can't make heads nor tails of. Mario and Toph are seein' if they can figure it out. Will that transceiver thing let you hear what we image through the Nexus if it's a sound? Maybe Cera can sorta think it at you, so's you can try your hand at it. If you aren't busy juggling calls yourself, that is."

Mario glances over at Toph, then back to Elinor before shrugging and saying, "One way or another, we should try to get the info from the computer. Someone should try to either use mundane hacking skills to get into it, or a small team should try to Traverse the damn thing with someone standing watch over the ones that are going into the Blue World. Lt. Hall? What is your call?"

Just out of curiosity, is there any relation between these two posts? It doesn't seem that way to me, but I may just not understand Mario's thought process. For clarification, Elinor was not confining her words solely to Hitomi -- anyone on the Nexus could have heard her.