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Post by Igordragonian on Apr 20, 2023 20:49:29 GMT -8
I'll be honest, I am bummed out- I dont have right to be bummed out. I was ghosting the forum due my own IRL shengians and struggles, so I cant say my conscience is clear.
Also, I hasnt noticed he had an issue- if I had, I wouldnt felt confident to roleplay as I did, and would have watered it down significantly, so I also feel guilty and I am begging for pardon
I understand from years and years of mostly RPing on forums, I understand and sorry, Daos.
I really wished to see it through, and if it worth anything I really enjoyed the game.
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Post by Daos on Apr 20, 2023 22:01:03 GMT -8
As you say, Matt, Inspiration is not a big deal. And it's unlikely it would have turned the tide of the battle. So why quit the game over it? And you're right, I could have given in to his demands. But remember he also demanded I give him magical items because he couldn't find any (and the module is pretty sparse on them, granted) and also he demanded I rewrite large swaths of the storyline because he was tired of stealth/subterfuge, as well. But I've been DMing for over 25 years, and one of the very first lessons I learned--the hard way--was that capitulating to player demands never ends with just one demand. There's always more. And even if there wasn't, even if that was enough to satisfy him, it wouldn't be fair to everyone else. So I'd have to give the whole party stuff, too. And it all just escalates from there.
And you might argue, "Who cares? It's just a silly game of make-believe. Let him have what he wants." Well, yeah. But that only works under the assumption that my fun, my enjoyment, is unimportant. The game is no fun for me if the players just steamroll through everything without any effort because they're so overpowered. What am I putting all of this effort into things if I'm not even having fun? Nobody's paying me. Once this game becomes a boring slog for me, once my interest starts to wane, it suffers.
And it's not like I was adamantly stubborn. I tried to compromise, and give you all the chance to nominate each other for Inspiration. I thought it was a good idea. It meant players had to say nice things about each other. And "give me Inspiration because I said so" is much more crass and disrespectful in my mind than "give [other player] Inspiration because they roleplayed so well." And honestly, I think I might adopt that idea for my other games, too. Because frankly, I tend not to think about Inspiration much. I grew up with 2E, which had no Inspiration mechanic, so I tend to forget it exists. And further, forum games are so slow. A scene that might be worthy of it could take 5-6 days, which means when it ends, I've already moved on and it likely won't occur to me to give Inspiration for it. I did try giving it to everyone after each chapter at first, but it was so rare anyone used it that I tended to forget about it. Plus, it just wasn't necessary. The party was doing just fine without it, from what I could tell.
Anyway, it is what it is. Bunny's playstyle was just too incompatible with my own. Maybe some day he might return and run his own game, however he wants to, and that's fine. As for Tyranny of Dragons, it was sort of doomed from the start. It's just too long to be a forum game. I might run it again some day, in person, if I ever put together a group larger than one player. But for now, I'm ready to put it behind me.
Nobody here should blame themselves for this. As I said, this was a long time coming. Even if I had capitulated, something else would have come up sooner or later. The stress of keeping this game going for over three years was beginning to wear me down. Because if I really wanted to, I could try to recruit a replacement and keep it going. Or just NPC Henry. But I honestly just don't have the spoons for it any more. I'm completely burned out on this game. So if anyone is to blame, it's me.
Instead, I'm going to run something else in its place. I've been sitting on Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel since July, and I think it will fit much better in the pbp format. Unfortunately, I've been in a depressive slump for a few months now, so I haven't even started on prepping it (hell, until tonight, I haven't even done more than page through it). But I'll see what I can do to try and get it jump-started. Starting a new game usually gives me some pep. I'll try and get it ready, we can recruit for it, and hopefully it does well.
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