Kenstrom

[MusicalBox]

I would say the overwhelming majority of the fun of story line events is interacting with the other real players before, during, and after the GM run portions. Watching character growth or shifts is almost always more rewarding than the completion of a story or some invasion that is part of the story. The story lines that have the most impact for me are the ones that alter the game world in tangible ways. Changes to towns, new NPCs, new or different flavor messages. The things that help give life to the world and show how it changes as powerful actors, both NPC and player controlled, make their mark on the game world.

When it comes to interaction, the best advice is to keep the RP going even when a GM isn't actively running an event or schedule time. The GMs who are involved in the story lines are usually watching and following up on people. It certainly isn't all the time, but they will check in on people from time to time to see what they are up to. There is some really good advice in here and thoughts to consider.

But I'd challenge you to write a storyline that will be inclusive to 100+ people and allow it to morph, live and breath and let go when the players take something and run it off the rails of what you planned.

If I had to focus on any one thing it would be this. I think part of the "problem" people perceive is that there currently is a limited resource that is greatly wanted. It's probably the best problem you could have in some regards. I'd ask the question "Do you think the current population could support similar enthusiasm and participation if there was two concurrent story line events running either at the same time or one earlier, either in the same town or in another town, all other things being equal?"

[Geijon]

I would say the overwhelming majority of the fun of story line events is interacting with the other real players before, during, and after the GM run portions. Watching character growth or shifts is almost always more rewarding than the completion of a story or some invasion that is part of the story. The story lines that have the most impact for me are the ones that alter the game world in tangible ways. Changes to towns, new NPCs, new or different flavor messages. The things that help give life to the world and show how it changes as powerful actors, both NPC and player controlled, make their mark on the game world.

When it comes to interaction, the best advice is to keep the RP going even when a GM isn't actively running an event or schedule time. The GMs who are involved in the story lines are usually watching and following up on people. It certainly isn't all the time, but they will check in on people from time to time to see what they are up to. There is some really good advice in here and thoughts to consider.



If I had to focus on any one thing it would be this. I think part of the "problem" people perceive is that there currently is a limited resource that is greatly wanted. It's probably the best problem you could have in some regards. I'd ask the question "Do you think the current population could support similar enthusiasm and participation if there was two concurrent story line events running either at the same time or one earlier, either in the same town or in another town, all other things being equal?"

And players don't understand this until experience and maturity sets in. It's not part of new player curriculum, but it's entirely true.

Storylines are running in multiple cities. Right now you have Icemule, the Landing and Solhaven all actively engaged at 5pm, 7pm and 12pm CST on several nights a week. 2010-2018 has seen more activity than ever and more GMs have learned from Kenstrom's example in how to effectively run storylines.

2003-2010 was a wasteland of nothing.

[Drazaan]

I would say the overwhelming majority of the fun of story line events is interacting with the other real players before, during, and after the GM run portions. Watching character growth or shifts is almost always more rewarding than the completion of a story or some invasion that is part of the story. The story lines that have the most impact for me are the ones that alter the game world in tangible ways. Changes to towns, new NPCs, new or different flavor messages. The things that help give life to the world and show how it changes as powerful actors, both NPC and player controlled, make their mark on the game world.

When it comes to interaction, the best advice is to keep the RP going even when a GM isn't actively running an event or schedule time. The GMs who are involved in the story lines are usually watching and following up on people. It certainly isn't all the time, but they will check in on people from time to time to see what they are up to. There is some really good advice in here and thoughts to consider.

If I had to focus on any one thing it would be this. I think part of the "problem" people perceive is that there currently is a limited resource that is greatly wanted. It's probably the best problem you could have in some regards. I'd ask the question "Do you think the current population could support similar enthusiasm and participation if there was two concurrent story line events running either at the same time or one earlier, either in the same town or in another town, all other things being equal?"

This. +1.