Ideas for improvement

It was pointede out to me earlier that if I keep waiting for us all to be on the CB at once, i'm going ot be waiting forever.

So this is where we discuss ideas on how NG can be improved. But please, try not to slam TOO hard.

One issue I want to improve on is time constraints; I've been busy with a lot of important offline obligations, so I haven't been able to get on much. Also, I know I've been kind of gripping the reigns too tightly on the RP, and I'm well aware of the lack of CSs due to me pushing the RP into service at such a rushed pace.

One thing that I noticed, I seemed to have been out of the loop on this one, was that you had put the roleplay on hold without posting the fact that you're putting it on hold. You need to communicate more to the players, the best way is to post in the roleplay itself to let everyone know any details.

I suppose you're right on that one, i'll make note to do that in the future.

Also pausing the roleplay is never a good way to improve the roleplay. When I was out for a weekend I didn't want to deprive everyone of posting, and I had like 10 pages to catch up on.

Don't want to keep chastising you, but the less posting, the worse condition it'll be in. This is why roleplays are supposed to have free-roam; so everyone can do whatever they wanna do. Your job isn't to direct the roleplay, it's to set the stage for everyone to jump in and out as they please whenever they want, integrating themselves into an ever-winding complicated story, but still keep realistic integrity to the plot. Everyone should be able to take the story and mold it in their own hands, but you make it very hard for us to do that because our characters are all following your lead.

I like how Abs started her roleplay; no one was the leader and everyone had to pick and choose the leader. There was a true sandbox element to it.

Well truth be told the number one reason i'm not posting is pretty cut 'n dry; I simply don't have the time on my hands to make posts worth a spit. It probably seems like a hollow excuse, but I honestly have been tied up to my neck with school, work, and a ton of other things.

But yeah I see what you mean with the whole me not setting the stage thing, but my next question is how can I CHANGE that? How can I make Tim not seem like the director and whatnot? I see the problem, but what's your recomendation for a solution? You in particular have had a lot more experience then I have so i'd really love your input on this.

My suggestion, if you don't mind, would be to, have Tim try to get to know the team. Technically this is the first time he's worked with a lot of these people right? Get your players to use their characters to describe their characters, see what they say about themselves, and then see how you can use that.

If maybe someone describes themselves as a free spirit, and you need someone to betray the team, then maybe sometime during a fight, use the villain, or the power of god, to subtle cause something to go wrong, maybe the free spirit doesn't listen to orders and lets the villain get away. Tim rides them for it, they storm out of the tower, and then you have one of your other more insidious characters befriend them.

I like to think of it like, making the characters think they have control over their actions. While Tim might not be aware that Jeffery is snuggling up to Susan Daughter of Darkness, you already know where that relationship is going to lead and that Susan is going to subtly probe Jeffery for information on the team, which will later be used against them, before dramatically betraying him at the first available chance. But the player doesn't and they get to enjoy the fun of forging a relationship with Susan, and then subsequently being betrayed by her.

Something like that generally works for me.

There's also giving the character's some free time. Realistically there wouldn't be a deserter one after another, maybe there's a week nothing happens. See what the character's do when you're not poking them with a stick and see how you can fit their actions into you plans.

I'm not sure if this is a particularly good way to put what I'm trying to say, but; try to get the characters to discover your plans naturally. If Dr. Blizzard is going to rob a bank, maybe wait till two of the characters are having a peaceful walk in the city, and just when their conversation is reaching it's hot point, maybe one is pressing the other to confess his love for her, or something along that line you get the generally idea, Dr. Blizzard bursts out into the street in a hail of, well hale, and begins a big long villain speech about how he's escaping.

I think part of GMing is to kinda, learn how you can use the players. I think it's probably why GMs are reluctant to try GMing for an unknown group. If you know how say: Mercy, is going to play her character, than you can know what to expect that character to do in a given situation, so if you give Mercy that situation, you can plan for her to behave that way, and if she does then your plan moves forward fluidly, and if she doesn't then you get the fun of being thrown a curve ball by your players, and adapting. Personally, that's my favourite part, but that might just be me.

I really like what Dec said. But I actually make plans in which I DON'T know how to get out of. That's what I always do. I want to ignite the imagination of the players. I at times see solutions to the problems I make but if someone else sees a different approach to it I'll tell you what; that is an AWESOME feeling. You gotta learn to give an opportunity for everyone to post at any time. I think GMing is like being a player with the perk of creating situations.

[Sorry guys, I've had a big workload that frankly aint' getting lighter any time soon. please bear with me, my schedule will lighten up in time]

But I see what you guys mean, I think I get it now. I'd like to thank you guys for being a big help thus far. As soon as I manage to scrounge up enough time to post, I'll be sure to keep all that in mind and do a better job.

I honestly lost a lot of interest in the 6 months I've been waiting to finally start the roleplay.