Q4 2017 GM-Poll
- Pender Lumkiss
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 3648
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:00 pm
Q4 2017 GM-Poll
GM Poll Fourth Quarter 2017
13th members please vote sometime in the last part of December. Starting now is okay.
Pender, Game Master (GM)
How to “rate” the GM, their Duties:
• Post Rate
• Notify Players via Hangouts of new posts.
• Be available to Players
☞ Maintain a GM post rate at a minimum of one adventure post per week.
☞ Have the IM contact info of each player in their group.
☞ Notify all players in the group via IM or PM of new GM posts, and other important updates.
☞ Be available for IM chat at least one day a week.
Note: The above is used to “rate” the GM. I hope that I succeeded you all in the mission of being your GM. Additionally, I hope that I presented a fun game. I look forward to more story with the 13th. Please, when you vote, post a response saying you voted. If you are up to it, I’m open to feedback BOTH on how I did as GM, and ALSO any feedback you have on the story. Thank you. - Pender
GM Rating Reward Table
Earn 5 EP
Earn 4 EP
Earn 3 EP
Earn 2 EP
Earn 1 EP
Fired 0 EP
Field Team Six Bennies
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
The part I liked the least was linking Bane's life force to an NPC's and dangling said NPC in front of another to potentially kill for RP purposes.
Yes, I was starting to become disenfranchised playing him, and yes I did choose Blaze of Glory, but I still feel that the situation that brought about Bane's demise were less than epic.
Yes, I was starting to become disenfranchised playing him, and yes I did choose Blaze of Glory, but I still feel that the situation that brought about Bane's demise were less than epic.
Jitters
Temp Stats
Adventure Card
Contact
Enemy
Better You Than Me
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Voted. Having oodles of fun with what has been an epic quarter. As far as constructive criticism ... there were times in the battle with many Viggos that I had trouble tracking what was going on, but there was plenty for everyone to do. Although we could maybe do with fewer things for Markus to do ... It also struck me as a little unfair creating the situation where Markus being Markus basically killed Bane. I generally really enjoy the Markus antics, but it starts to push the limit for me when they have negative repercussions for other players.
You and Lars have handled the crossover with the 13th very well, and it has been more fun than I imagined it could be. Really enjoyable, and a model for others to follow in the future.
Now, just give us 2-3 days of downtime and at least 57,000 credits, and it will all work out perfectly!
You and Lars have handled the crossover with the 13th very well, and it has been more fun than I imagined it could be. Really enjoyable, and a model for others to follow in the future.
Now, just give us 2-3 days of downtime and at least 57,000 credits, and it will all work out perfectly!
- Jude Maverick
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 668
- Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2017 6:17 am
- Location: Chicago suburbs
- Pender Lumkiss
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 3648
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:00 pm
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Glad you are having fun. I do feel I probably play up his hindrence a bit much. I would like to point out, Bane had several outs including rolling EF, and flat out telling Markus not to kill his Mentor. The player seemed ok with letting Bane go... Oh and Bane is not dead as you will find out. I did aganize over putting that part in and having the sky captain be related to one of your characters. I went back and forth many times. Perhaps I went the wrong way... You of course are right. How can you not be, a player fucking died on my watch...Cantrell wrote:Voted. Having oodles of fun with what has been an epic quarter. As far as constructive criticism ... there were times in the battle with many Viggos that I had trouble tracking what was going on, but there was plenty for everyone to do. Although we could maybe do with fewer things for Markus to do ... It also struck me as a little unfair creating the situation where Markus being Markus basically killed Bane. I generally really enjoy the Markus antics, but it starts to push the limit for me when they have negative repercussions for other players.
You and Lars have handled the crossover with the 13th very well, and it has been more fun than I imagined it could be. Really enjoyable, and a model for others to follow in the future.
Now, just give us 2-3 days of downtime and at least 57,000 credits, and it will all work out perfectly!
As for the Viggos, I would be interested in finding the root of the problem. Was it too many people named the same thing? Or was it there were too many bad guys? The battle was against 5 wild cards, 2 modified IFs, and a smattering of modified soldiers. Granted it was alot of badguys, 5 of which were wild cards, but their are 8 Iconic Frameworks for me to challenge. It was meant to be a challenging fight, I am open to any ideas or suggestions on how it could have gone easier for you guys to follow.
Field Team Six Bennies
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Maybe color code the bad guys? Truthfully I am not sure. With a Info Box at end of post:
The three identical selves spread out from Mace and surrounded Jack. Jack knew that Mace was a spellcaster but hadn't seen this coming. A copy of Mace , Mace stabbed out with a sword. The other Mace started to chant a spell and the final Mace was accessing the far door in an effort to let the four Mace's escape.Who's Who Said You? wrote:Mace: ID Self and Necromancer
Mace: ID Self and Cook
Mace: ID Self and Albino with Wings
Dunno. Multiple bad guys is no always the issue, Space and Time versions can get hairy.
As Zieja I had a great time playing with the 13th and with you as GM Pender, so thank you. The 13th as a whole is one of the tightest and best RP groups. Having played in many groups, I feel that the 13th was by far my favorite. Due to Players and the GM.
Z - voted.
As Lars: Thank you for turning the crossover into an epic journey. Co-Gming had me worried (not because of you, just the idea) and now I am not sure I want to go solo lol.
Game Mastering is no easy thing, be it in real life or PbP. We try new ideas and we explore the story with our Players. Some times it is smooth and some times its a learning process. My Rifts group in real life has one original Character in it, she has been playing her since 1993 or 4 I think. The rest have died, retired or moved on in some way. (Characters not Players.....no Players have died in my game...yet, crap we are all getting older that may happen some day, thus far just a bunch of Characters.) Character death is hard, my Juicer here (Fell) dying was hard to write, and I have thought, was it epic enough? In the end, it was what it was and I and I'm sure the GM learned from it.
-- Having fun! Ty! Game on!
Dan
- Pender Lumkiss
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 3648
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:00 pm
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Jitters wrote:The part I liked the least was linking Bane's life force to an NPC's and dangling said NPC in front of another to potentially kill for RP purposes.
Yes, I was starting to become disenfranchised playing him, and yes I did choose Blaze of Glory, but I still feel that the situation that brought about Bane's demise were less than epic.
Sorry man. I'll knock that shit off. Very Sorry.
Field Team Six Bennies
- Maximilian
- Silver Patron
- Posts: 548
- Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2017 2:37 pm
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
The racist hindrance is something to play up. He's very much a freshwater fish swimming in a salt water tank. However, I second the thought of giving too much opportunity for what is supposed to be a minor quirk of "doesn't like socializing with d-bees" to turn into Markus a homicidal racist that can cost a player their character. The realities of PbP may have prevented a proper response before Markus pulled the trigger. Regardless, the execution of Elrond Hub's young self would have ended up costing the character a benny at the least. That's something that probably warranted a few more posts than "there's an elf in the wreckage, Markus pulls the trigger. Bane fades into nothingness."Pender Lumkiss wrote:Glad you are having fun. I do feel I probably play up his hindrence a bit much. I would like to point out, Bane had several outs including rolling EF, and flat out telling Markus not to kill his Mentor. The player seemed ok with letting Bane go... Oh and Bane is not dead as you will find out. I did aganize over putting that part in and having the sky captain be related to one of your characters. I went back and forth many times. Perhaps I went the wrong way... You of course are right. How can you not be, a player fucking died on my watch...
As for the Viggos, I would be interested in finding the root of the problem. Was it too many people named the same thing? Or was it there were too many bad guys? The battle was against 5 wild cards, 2 modified IFs, and a smattering of modified soldiers. Granted it was alot of badguys, 5 of which were wild cards, but their are 8 Iconic Frameworks for me to challenge. It was meant to be a challenging fight, I am open to any ideas or suggestions on how it could have gone easier for you guys to follow.
I'm trying to imagine how it would've gone down if, in the confusion, Markus had elected to try to blow up Nadine in the last QC scene. You have a gift for turning even a bad result into something cool (Bizarro Max & Bizarro Alex), but some of those actions might warrant a separate draw of cards or something that gives the subject character an opportunity to defend themselves. Max loses Nadine to an enemy missile blast in combat? Legit. Max loses Nadine to another player's narrative in a quick combat? That's going down without at least some kind of fight. It would feel cheap. Obviously, Markus elected not to do that, but he definitely had the charge in his hand and there would've been no good way for me to stop that, as it would've been done within someone else's post. Protest means retroactive editing of posts or a scramble to find a way to make it go away. The troll and elf skelebots in the hotel are a prime example of the scramble to cover. That's an incident that, 100% guaranteed, would've turned into a PvP 13th vs. BC fight with actual player/character repercussions. (The BC hangouts was lit up with "that guy is dead meat" and "crush the 13th" talk until it was revealed they were skelebots.)
I don't want it to feel like I'm piling on or throwing stones, because again, it's worked out fine. Jitters is a cool looking character and will be a fun addition to the group. And, probably moreso than anyone else, you have a gift of making something cool come out of a bad event. Still, if I had a constructive criticism, it would be...well, not just for you. Markus' major hindrance is Clueless. His other hindrances are quirk (doesn't like associating with d-bees) and Cautious. Markus is supposed to think through his actions before taking them, probably even thinking through it again before doing. He's plugged a possible temporal prisoner who might be able to fix some of the problems we were dealing with before we were able to even identify for sure who he was, and he's plugged two d-bee looking skelebots with fusion bombs strapped to them, presumably, right around the time Libertas' face is in front of them disarming the bombs. And there was precisely zero indication beforehand that they were skelebots. Caution has been thrown to the wind, and the Minor Quirk has turned into a Major Bloodthirsty hindrance.
I don't think you should beat yourself up about the death of a character. I really don't. Characters die. The experience transfers to the replacement. There's no net loss, particularly when the character was maybe on their last legs anyway. This makes for a fine learning opportunity on a character that was about to be replaced anyway before it cost someone a character they weren't ready to lose yet.
As for the Viggo fight, I had less trouble figuring out who was where. I thought you made it pretty clear what options each character had, and I thought you answered all questions well (as usual). That scene may have lent itself to a more visual tactical combat than theater of the mind, but I know you were moving around at the time and that may not have been feasible. Even then, like I said, I had no confusion on who was where, and everything was explained. You're always very responsive to questions, and your GMing style tends towards a "sure, you can do that, describe how that works." That's a fun game to be in, except when the party racist blows up your robot armor with you inside it, and it subsequently powers down the shield that's protecting everyone. (That would have been a TPK of two groups if successful, if anyone is keeping count.)
I have to offer mass kudos to both you and Lars on the crossover. This is an incredibly fun event and very well co-GMed. You guys work well together. Also, I'm pretty sure our PC losses have been minimal thanks to your input. Lars is bloodthirsty.
Voted. Love this group, love my GM. Looking forward to next quarter!
Maximilian
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
I'll say this on the subject of PvP and 'permanent consequences' (specifically death). It should, as an OOC matter, be something that occurs only when both players are fully on-board ahead of time. It can be threatened or implied; it can be made to seem a likely event. Hell, in-character attempts can be made in narration. But all the players should be confident that it's not going to be an actual Thing That Happens unless all players involved are on-board with it.
Specifically, this means that in scenes like this one, everyone involved should be writing their posts with an eye towards 'leaving an out'. Leave the other player enough wiggle room that they can explain how they defeated your efforts--and in turn, trust that they'll do the same.
Now, that said? I think the Death of Bane fit those rules, if a bit sloppily. Bane's player actually had buy-in, an opportunity to say, "Hey, no, do not want." It just might not've been totally clear that the player was accepting things (and if I'm wrong about that, please let me know--it was how I read the comments back-and-forth in the Hangouts at the time).
Blowing up Nadine would've been a different story--but there, Markus' player held to the line, by not actually making the attempt. It was considered as an option in-character, but 'tactical considerations' were sufficient to motivate him to not do it. So long as Markus just keeps stepping back from the line, I don't think therre's any problems.
Specifically, this means that in scenes like this one, everyone involved should be writing their posts with an eye towards 'leaving an out'. Leave the other player enough wiggle room that they can explain how they defeated your efforts--and in turn, trust that they'll do the same.
Now, that said? I think the Death of Bane fit those rules, if a bit sloppily. Bane's player actually had buy-in, an opportunity to say, "Hey, no, do not want." It just might not've been totally clear that the player was accepting things (and if I'm wrong about that, please let me know--it was how I read the comments back-and-forth in the Hangouts at the time).
Blowing up Nadine would've been a different story--but there, Markus' player held to the line, by not actually making the attempt. It was considered as an option in-character, but 'tactical considerations' were sufficient to motivate him to not do it. So long as Markus just keeps stepping back from the line, I don't think therre's any problems.
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
There weren't necessarily too many Viggos, and you differentiated between the well (Armored Viggo, invisible Viggo, she-Viggo, Viggo Prime, Viggo that didn't last long enough for me to remember) I just had a little trouble keeping track of which mini-scene was in, ie., which was in the alley, which messing with Alex, etc. It straightened out by the second or third round, I just remember being confused.
- Pender Lumkiss
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 3648
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:00 pm
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Gotcha, anything you would have done differently for that scene to make it more clear who was where?Cantrell wrote:There weren't necessarily too many Viggos, and you differentiated between the well (Armored Viggo, invisible Viggo, she-Viggo, Viggo Prime, Viggo that didn't last long enough for me to remember) I just had a little trouble keeping track of which mini-scene was in, ie., which was in the alley, which messing with Alex, etc. It straightened out by the second or third round, I just remember being confused.
Field Team Six Bennies
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
The color-coding Lars suggested might help. Or a bulleted summary, maybe at the end of the post. Like this:
Who's where, doing what?
Who's where, doing what?
- Armored Viggo and 6 CEALs are in the middle of the intersection, trying to drill into Nadine!
- Business Suit Viggo is in the adjacent alley, blocking your advance, with 3 Goons!
- She-Viggo just popped up in front of the record store, where Alex is bleeding out!
- Viggo Prime is lurking in the back of the store, with a rail gun pointed at Alex!
- Pender Lumkiss
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 3648
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:00 pm
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
I likeyCantrell wrote:The color-coding Lars suggested might help. Or a bulleted summary, maybe at the end of the post. Like this:
Who's where, doing what?In those big, sprawling scenes, that sort of signpost might help. And you know, take 5 Star GMing to 5 Stars and a 6-pack of beer.
- Armored Viggo and 6 CEALs are in the middle of the intersection, trying to drill into Nadine!
- Business Suit Viggo is in the adjacent alley, blocking your advance, with 3 Goons!
- She-Viggo just popped up in front of the record store, where Alex is bleeding out!
- Viggo Prime is lurking in the back of the store, with a rail gun pointed at Alex!
Field Team Six Bennies
- Jude Maverick
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 668
- Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2017 6:17 am
- Location: Chicago suburbs
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Distances are especially useful in a summary like that, as well, unless everything is within a 6" pace that pretty much everyone can get anywhere. So if you have the battlefield divided into "zones" like:
Alley: Z, Libertas, Alley Viggo (you can assume everything is within one Pace within a zone)
Nadine: Jude, Drill Viggo, Tesse, 5 CEALS
And then once all the zones are established:
Alley is 10" from Nadine
Nadine is 12" from Radio Station
etc.
This tells people how much effort/time it would take to move from one "zone" to the next, and assume everything within a zone is within a 6" Pace.
Just a thought off the top of my head.
Alley: Z, Libertas, Alley Viggo (you can assume everything is within one Pace within a zone)
Nadine: Jude, Drill Viggo, Tesse, 5 CEALS
And then once all the zones are established:
Alley is 10" from Nadine
Nadine is 12" from Radio Station
etc.
This tells people how much effort/time it would take to move from one "zone" to the next, and assume everything within a zone is within a 6" Pace.
Just a thought off the top of my head.
Character Tracker
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
In fairness, after a bit, we were getting that info, especially during the Viggo fight (not as much during the crossover proper). I know I usually was able to find "You are X" from this group, Y" from that Viggo." pretty quickly.
- Maximilian
- Silver Patron
- Posts: 548
- Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2017 2:37 pm
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Concur. I may not have been able to triangulate an exact orientation of everything, but I knew which way I wanted and needed to go, and the theater of the mind, combined with Pender's GMing style, made it pretty clear to me what I was able to do to who and when.Freemage wrote:In fairness, after a bit, we were getting that info, especially during the Viggo fight (not as much during the crossover proper). I know I usually was able to find "You are X" from this group, Y" from that Viggo." pretty quickly.
Maximilian
- Pender Lumkiss
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 3648
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:00 pm
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
It did not really occur to me to put distances in the crossover but perhaps in the future a I can include short medium and long during the narativ style quick combatFreemage wrote:In fairness, after a bit, we were getting that info, especially during the Viggo fight (not as much during the crossover proper). I know I usually was able to find "You are X" from this group, Y" from that Viggo." pretty quickly.
I like the idea of zones as well. Then just include th distance from one zone to the next.
Yeah for the Viggo fight I put in a tactical post with distances. But with zones it might make it clear who is where.
Field Team Six Bennies
- Pender Lumkiss
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 3648
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:00 pm
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Just so I am clear on understanding the poll results, at least two players felt my post rate or responsiveness in im chat or on the board was not maintained at the necessary level. I will endeavor to kick it up a notch and post more frequently and pay attention to the chat more often. I am sorry about that.
Please keep the feedback coming as it is important to me to get better at this and understand the types of things my players want to see and are comfortable with.
Please keep the feedback coming as it is important to me to get better at this and understand the types of things my players want to see and are comfortable with.
Field Team Six Bennies
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
My vote had nothing to do with post rate, although at times it did feel slow.
Jitters
Temp Stats
Adventure Card
Contact
Enemy
Better You Than Me
- Daniel
- Daniel (Lars)
- Posts: 2167
- Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2017 9:13 am
- Location: Former Alias (GM name) was Lars (2016-2022)
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
☞ Maintain a GM post rate at a minimum of one adventure post per week.
☞ Have the IM contact info of each player in their group.
☞ Notify all players in the group via IM or PM of new GM posts, and other important updates.
☞ Be available for IM chat at least one day a week.
These are the things that are the parameters of what the GM is rated on. I'm sure Pender, like most GMs feels like, "I did those things."
I think Pender is one of the more active GMs here as far as the 4 above topics. I've played in almost all of the games here and I got to tell you, Pender is my fav GM. The 13th is simply awesome (GM & Players).
However, I also feel a rating system, from the Players is needed. As a fellow GM I WANT to hear back from Players about what they thought of the Quarter. Tell me (us) what was great and what was not.
A better system is needed IMO. A new way to "rate" GMs. A way that allows for the 4 above topics to be separated from what a Player has to say.
Honestly, pretty much every GM is going to achieve the 4 above topics. What we need is a Poll that rates the game presented. I will work on this with the other GMs, because we (GMs) want to know how to present the best game to you that we can!
☞ Have the IM contact info of each player in their group.
☞ Notify all players in the group via IM or PM of new GM posts, and other important updates.
☞ Be available for IM chat at least one day a week.
These are the things that are the parameters of what the GM is rated on. I'm sure Pender, like most GMs feels like, "I did those things."
I think Pender is one of the more active GMs here as far as the 4 above topics. I've played in almost all of the games here and I got to tell you, Pender is my fav GM. The 13th is simply awesome (GM & Players).
However, I also feel a rating system, from the Players is needed. As a fellow GM I WANT to hear back from Players about what they thought of the Quarter. Tell me (us) what was great and what was not.
A better system is needed IMO. A new way to "rate" GMs. A way that allows for the 4 above topics to be separated from what a Player has to say.
Honestly, pretty much every GM is going to achieve the 4 above topics. What we need is a Poll that rates the game presented. I will work on this with the other GMs, because we (GMs) want to know how to present the best game to you that we can!
- Pender Lumkiss
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 3648
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:00 pm
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Thats fair, there were times when the post rate was uneven, there was a period mid oct to early nov I was without internet.Jitters wrote:My vote had nothing to do with post rate, although at times it did feel slow.
Field Team Six Bennies
- Jude Maverick
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 668
- Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2017 6:17 am
- Location: Chicago suburbs
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
I only recall one week in which you missed a post, Pender, and that was the week you were moving. To be honest, that's pretty damn impressive (most games elsewhere I have been in would have gone on a short hiatus), and since I had so much fun this quarter, I didn't feel it right to penalize you for that one miss.
Character Tracker
- Maximilian
- Silver Patron
- Posts: 548
- Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2017 2:37 pm
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Concur. Home boy was homeless. Slack easily warranted and cut, at least on my end.Jude Maverick wrote:I only recall one week in which you missed a post, Pender, and that was the week you were moving. To be honest, that's pretty damn impressive (most games elsewhere I have been in would have gone on a short hiatus), and since I had so much fun this quarter, I didn't feel it right to penalize you for that one miss.
Maximilian
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Who hasn't voted?
Jitters
Temp Stats
Adventure Card
Contact
Enemy
Better You Than Me
- Pender Lumkiss
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 3648
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:00 pm
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Maybe Markus I think he is out for a couple of days.Jitters wrote:Who hasn't voted?
Field Team Six Bennies
- Markus Berger
- Posts: 361
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 6:50 pm
Re: Q4 2017 GM-Poll
Yeah, I was missing to vote.
Thanks for everything GM! I am enjoying the game very much.
Thanks for everything GM! I am enjoying the game very much.