Oh no, watch out. Link is drunk and posting in SK about logistics again. Better hide and pretend this particular message didn't exist. >.>
So I'm going to start this off by saying that there are a lot of points that Zero is bringing up that I am totally agreeing with. Most of this is because we have been speaking in person about them in a more personal fashion than should usually be expected at this time of year. However, I'm going to try and put my own particular spin on it because that is what I do when I'm in this specific state of inebriation and if I attempt to go to sleep now I am going to totally miss my breakfast that is happening in two hours (and I wonder why no reasonable company will hire me right now... >.>).
1. Chatter:
Alright, I'll be the first to admit that too much chatter is highly distracting. That was one of my three primary methods in the round where I happened to luck into a win (for the very few that care, the other two were the right connections and some relatively intricate manipulations).
However, this round in my eyes has been exceptional for the exact opposite reason. We've had several death announcements on the same page without any sort of payoff or real player commentary. Voting deadlines get pushed back because people forget to vote. Pacing of death post ranges anywhere from barely passable (when people actually write something) to utterly nonexistent (the other times).
Personally, I'm not asking for 10 pages of banal chatter between deaths. But I'm asking for something. As much as CA will hate me for saying this, my favorite round in a long time was when Steke stirred things up. At least it had us doing something interesting both in the thread and in the background.
At this point I would generally try to put a segue between my thoughts but my cognitive functions are a bit skewed so I'm just going to go into...
2. Roles:
I'm just going to throw this out here as a simple matter of statistics. I'm going to assume that, on average, we have 30 total players in this game at any given moment. Granted, this number is fluid but I don't particularly care right now because it's a trivial amount.
Right now, we have four roles. This means that 4/30 actually matter to the game at all. 13% of people get to do something because they picked a number correctly while the rest are relegated to only doing something around voting time.
At maximum, we've had seven roles. 7/30 actually matter. 23% have something to do within any given round. And according to Neo, several of these roles have been utterly useless in the grand scheme of things. I both agree and disagree with his point on a couple of different levels (that I am willing to discuss but not in this particular post).
But the point is that there was at least a potential for some level of creativity in the death with the extra roles. At least there was a chance to feel like you were participating in the game outside of just randomly voting for a name on a list when it's almost completely obvious that no one else will be casting in your own accord.
If anyone cares, I will rant about the roles. Neo's point about the priest is particularly frustrating to me because it was my baby and the very issue he was complaining about was not a part of the original design. That particular "feature" (no one knowing if anyone in the game had a role after their) was added after the role left my hands. >.<
Regardless of my embittered rambling, I have a point that I am thinly working towards. To get the game hopping, one of two things needs to happen. Either we need to encourage the activity of the common player so that their role in the game is more than just of a voting facing in the crowd, or we need to introduce enough meaningful roles into the game to keep the majority of the population involved in a meaningful way.
If anyone cares and actually reads this already horribly bloated post, I've got ideas for adjustments. They may not be GOOD ideas, but they are ideas that I'm willing to snowball.
But when it all comes down to it, there is one point that I have to discuss that has frustrated me to infinity and beyond.
3. Apathy:
There are about three or four regulars that I can name off the top of my head that do not participate in any meaningful way. I will not put these names here in the interest of remaining fair and not accidentally alienating anyone who may have just been having a bad round.
Allow me to take this moment and say that there are bits of the regular system that I absolutely love. I love the fact that I am guaranteed a slot in a game that I care about so deeply. There have been times where I literally pace around my house in contemplation about the possible identity of the killer or the best strategy for carefully toying with those who I have gathered to my cause. But I know for a fact that there are several regulars who only persist because they were active many rounds ago. Now they rarely vote unless the GM messages them nor do they take advantage of any role they are given. The most telling round ever was when SkyeNeko actually asked an arbiter to take action and they did not simply because they "liked being alive".
Good god I could rant about how much is wrong with that idea.
When it all comes down to it, I really feel that the regulars list needs to be re-evaluated regularly. For most regulars, it is a convenience and a simple guarantee that they can participate. For a couple people, it is a free pass to just take up a slot that might be better occupied by a fresh set of eyes.
So yeah, I know this post is terrible and disorganized. If there is anything you need me to clarify or expand on, I will. I just need to sober up first. >.>