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Doug Millington-Smith ([personal profile] magicaddict) wrote2011-04-26 05:26 pm

Post Redemption GBU

Overall first impressions are, taking the new faction honeymoon period into account, very positive. I had fun, I think other people had fun, and things bode well for the future. As with [livejournal.com profile] xanthipe , very little B or U to report.

The Good
  • Friday night monster scouting. Karl and Helga, tanner and milkmaid respectively, wandering round the camps trying to find friends they can run to if they get attacked on the paths. Oh, and also finding out numbers, camp sizes, armour levels, fortifications and passphrases for the gates for their bad guy commanders. Evil Ref had a joygasm on being presented with [livejournal.com profile] xanthipe's and my written report.
  • The Jhereg being lovely and welcoming, both IC and OOC, from the moment we showed up to the moment we left.
  • Deeply IC faction camp with deeply IC people. Immersion is not hard to achieve when there's no-one spoiling it.
  • Beat, despite being about as far from a scout as it's possible to be (especially after Soran, Animus, Alantha and Lorne) being picked as Open Water's battlefield runner. You can take the player out of scouting...
  • The Hanau Epe's first ritual being described as "not looking like a first ritual" by the markers, and achieving Complete Success. Needs to be built upon, but it was a massive ego boost not to fail miserably on our first attempt.
  • Camp organisation OOC: Monstering was called early, everyone got themselves sorted and there was a sensible time after we'd gotten back to get back into character before re-timing in.
  • Playing with the minds of the players when monstering the skirmish on Saturday - inverting your link to the fountain of life to curse someone never to know healing again is impossible, we all know that. Well, we all know that except the twenty players I single-handedly made back off before someone had the good sense to Fear me.
  • Surviving the event. Beat leapfrogs Alantha, Soran and Vaex to become my third longest-lived character behind Lorne and Animus.
  • Throwing weapons. I have GOT to get me Thrown or Projectile for either this or my next character.
  • Being invitied into the curry kitchen to avoid the rain while we were eating. The caterers didn't have to do that.
  • The reaction to the masks - it evoked a lot of IC feeling of various types, all of which drove roleplay.
  • The feeling of being able to refuse to do something based on belief, and not be thought any less of as a result.
  • Talking to more people in one event than I have (possibly) in all the others combined.
  • Being hired to make someone a magic hat. Three ritual project.
  • Getting given good stuff we never asked for as a thank you from Daerin for saving his arse. It came as a genuine surprise.
  • My characterisation. I was very pleased with my vocals and gait, the costume was wearable without discomfort, and the thought algorithms seem easy. I get the feeling that I'm playing something I can play.
  • Doing a ritual at a fest event, after seven years of waiting.
  • Pacifist/brutalist roleplay - wonderful conflict that I trust all parties to play well without it getting out of hand or OOC.

The Bad
  • Going for food OOC after the Saturday monster slot, only to come back during a camp attack and catch heat from the ref for being OOC. Under the rules of not arguing the toss, I'm fairly sure he was left with the thought we were cheating.
  • Attempting to fold the faction tent, asking if it was right, and being told "No, but don't worry about it" before the person who did so walked off. I may be incompetent, but I'd be willing to try again if someone would tell me how.
  • LARP proving, once again, that it contains a fair number of emotionally stunted, petty minded tossers, and that they can affect the enjoyment of people I have time for.

The Ugly
  • The Teutonian drow. Considering the out and out bullying that had been going on, oh dear.
  • The bruise on my hip after being body checked into a tree. On the flipside, the guy who did it was exceptionally apologetic, and meant it.

[identity profile] halo-dust.livejournal.com 2011-04-26 04:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Thought algorithms? Explain, please?

I love that you got snagged to be battlefield runner; it's both appropriate, and a nice way of finding out that you've been both noticed and appreciated. Nice one.

Do you know which ref was involved in the incident mentioned in 'Bad'? Personal curiosity, more than anything.

[identity profile] magicaddict.livejournal.com 2011-04-26 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Thought algorithms: The thoughts, opinions, actions and words of my characters are generated by my perceptions of an interaction going through a set of filters particular to the character in question. If they're easy, I am able to respond quickly and with little thought. If they're hard, I can sometimes be slow to react to things. On the upside, it means that even when hugely immersed, if someone calls "time out", I'm immediately OOC without having to "get back out" of the character.

Milkybar, I think. He was running the encounter, and didn't really have the time to stop and discuss it with me, and neither of us pushed the issue. More fear of being branded a git than anything else.

[identity profile] halo-dust.livejournal.com 2011-04-27 08:37 am (UTC)(link)
Interesting way of going about it; actually seems like a sensible way of ensuring consistency and avoiding bleed between characters which is something I always worry about.

Hmm. I've not heard anything about that, and reports of cheating tend to spread like wildfire in the ref hut, so I reckon it's a safe bet to assume he was just a bit grumpy and offhand. Not ideal, but better than having a black dot next to your name! To be fair, the fact that you didn't push it probably means that when he had a chance to think about it he realised the score himself and felt bad!

[identity profile] magicaddict.livejournal.com 2011-04-28 11:29 am (UTC)(link)
When it works, it's fine and you get a character responding the same way to two identical situations. If it doesn't, well, it's as crap as when anyone else has has an off day.

Very glad to hear it - it was very unfortunate timing, more than anything else. Had we got back ten minutes earlier or later, it wouldn't have been an issue. I see his point, but we were only doing what had been suggested to us by the faction refs - grab some food before before going back IC. In future, we'll at least try to be in kit when we head for meals.