To give feedback about why I WASN'T there much.. it was just timing issues, that's all. Maybe next time!

I jumped into the story a little late, but I enjoyed all of the characters and how they brought out different types of interaction! It was nice to just be hanging around and have them pop in. I also appreciated the non-obtrusive "it's getting windy" messaging that let us know things would be starting.

I know the nobility are recurring NPCs, but I especially hope this isn't the last we'll see of the others. A little check-in on Camryth's progress every so often would be nice. It would also be amazing to see Ciermont or similar NPCs periodically. The conversations about Imperial history were rich and I think they were a super way to get the lore "living" in the game. In general, the story was a fun change of pace in the way you focused on the everyday, but for that reason the end didn't feel like it should be the end to me (more please!).

Sara/Missoni

This is a bit long.  I'm going to break my comments down into what I liked and what I did not like about 'What Follows'.


First, the good:

I really enjoyed seeing the increased NPC interaction around Solhaven.  In recent years, the town has felt a bit lonely apart from the monthly or so Duvernith visits, which, while fun, are not really any soft of tangible RP opportunity.  The increased presence of NPCs, especially a variety of NPCs with different personalities, goals, and even familiarity, was absolutely wonderful to see.  There clearly was an interest by a lot of people, too, given how many would congregate in North Market (and elsewhere) throughout the day, but especially in the evenings, just waiting to see who might show up on a given night.  I had a blast getting to know the many newer faces in town as well as reacquainting with the returning faces who hadn't been seen in some time.

I'm glad that you brought in GM Valyrka for Kasendra.  Having played two characters at once before, I know how challenging it can be to keep up with conversations in a plausible way with both.. and having an extra pair of eyes on things, and able to respond, seemed to capture things more completely.

I am thrilled that over the course of the summer, you started sharing more which days to expect something to happen.  While most of the evening sessions started a bit too late for me to attend, now and then I was able to stay up past my bedtime for some interaction.  Knowing in advance if it was a night that was worth me throwing my entire sleeping schedule out of alignment helped me substantially as a player to determine how and when I could invest in attending these events.

While I attended only one or two of the evening sessions when Ciermont came out, they especially sounded fascinating to me as an IC way to share history in game - and I would've loved to have taken part in some of the conversations held those evenings.

And I am especially grateful that many of the NPCs spent some of their time in town showing up for player-initiated events, be they put on by Cairnfang Manor, the Order of the Azure Sun, or a less formal collective of Solhaven regulars. Even if it's just an NPC showing up to say hi and spend a few minutes during the event socializing, that goes a long way - and it very clearly shows just how much you care about and support Solhaven's community. Thank you for that.


Now, the bad:

To be pretty blunt, the conclusion announcement of 'What Follows' completely caught me by surprise.  At no point did the storyline ever feel like.. well.. a storyline.

I understand (now) that your intent was to try something a little bit different.  But ever since the storyline was promised last winter, ever since we first started seeing Camryth or Gerjonn or even Salnim or Malvernus in town mid-spring, it always felt like it was session after session of 'getting to know' the various NPCs involved.  There were understandable breaks in the storyline during paid quests, like RW and DR, but as soon as things picked back up again, it reverted back to the feeling that we were still caught in the storyline's introduction and learning about the players involved.

I spent a decent amount of time during the first half of things on the forums sharing when NPCs showed up, questions PCs asked them, and what was said.  I stayed up late more often earlier on to attend sessions compared to the latter half of things.  I kept up with those forum post updates, even for nights I wasn't able to attend, because I know how challenging it can be to try to keep up with a storyline when you aren't able to make each session.  But eventually.. it felt like I was just posting the same thing, over and over.  'NPC showed up.  There was a conversation.  Most of the questions or remarks were pretty much the same as the last three times they were in town.'

I eventually stopped those posts because I was waiting for the storyline to start instead of continuing the 'let's get to know this NPC' phase. It simply wasn't worth it to say for the 10th time that Camryth showed up, got mad at seeing animals in North Market, and talked about how great knights were because one saved her life.

Outside of a few small shifts in NPCs' perspectives, nothing... really changed.  The NPCs existed in a world, which sometimes meant that they were not in the Solhaven area while as they did things Elsewhere, Offscreen, which were referenced in your forum posts.  But nothing really felt like it was happening in Solhaven.. or happening to Solhaven.  NPCs existed in a world.  Solhaven existed, and sometimes those NPCs showed up in Solhaven.

Of everything that transpired, the two nights where Malvernus helped plan and then execute the plan to rescue Orphia from her crystalline existence felt the most like an actual storyline hook.  It also felt like it had the most tangible interaction available for PCs, both in terms of its planning and then in the magical rescue itself. I really wanted to attend and was kicking myself for not being able to stay up late for the rescue.  But.. in reality, it was just tying up a loose end from half a decade ago, and once those two nights of planning and execution had passed, both Malvernus and Orphia reverted back to the feeling of 'NPCs exist in a world'.  Yes, I am glad that this loose end was tied up, and I am very glad that Imperial mages and Magisters were portrayed as competent and capable instead of shady or inept.  However, the Orphia rescue part felt very different compared to everything else that played out during 'What Follows' only because it felt like part of an actual storyline (which, again, finished half a decade ago), and Malvernus' and Orphia's story didn't seem to weave together in any way with the other faces we saw in town.  I eventually wrote it off as just a convenient way to tie up those loose ends while other things were building to start ... something, anything ... and, while I hoped it would come back to be expanded upon later on in the expected storyline events, I also recognized it might've just been a once off thing.


In conclusion:

I feel that advertising 'What Follows' as a storyline was misrepresenting what it actually was.  If 'What Follows' had been presented as something like 'increased NPC interaction around town' or 'a series of slice-of-life events', I would have been utterly thrilled from the start - and throughout its half year duration - that Solhaven was getting GM attention in the form of more active NPCs.

But it wasn't portrayed like that.  It was teased, and promised, and reinforced as being a 'storyline'.  And, in Gemstone, storylines historically have had a tangible introduction, conflict, climax, and resolution, all of which involve PCs in a tangible way.  By contrast, this felt like a 6 month prologue that was stuck in the 'introduction' part of a storyline.  As far as I was able to tell, the only things that seemed to happen by the conclusion were:  1) Malvernus worked with PCs to rescue Orphia; 2) Gedrick agreed to train Camryth; 3) Ciermont talked about history; and 4) Salnim, Kasendra, and Gerjonn travelled a lot.

I feel disappointed because I was looking forward to a storyline where things happened and my character could be involved without having to travel to a different town.  Instead, my character talked to NPCs who existed but also - apart from Orphia's rescue - really didn't do anything. I feel disappointed because I was constantly trying to weigh the pros and cons of staying up late to see if the storyline would finally start, or if it was just going to be another night of an NPC saying the same thing they had for the past three months. I feel disappointed because I felt like I was constantly explaining to other players that those of us with characters who live in Solhaven still had no idea what the storyline was about or when it would start, but also that I was confident that you were trying to slowly build things up with these small interactions for whatever storyline was actually planned.

I am worried that the new (and returning) faces in town might share my disappointment.  I hope that they continue to visit Solhaven, regardless as to whether or not a storyline is promised.  I hope that they continue to visit Solhaven, with or without increased NPC interaction.  I hope that they continue to visit Solhaven, because it was because of many of them that the fall harvest festival and dinner happened, and that was such a fun event!

I hope that my criticisms are not so harsh that you will not try something like this again.  I do sincerely hope that you will continue these increased NPC interactions in town.  I also hope that in the future you will advertise them as what they are and not as a storyline.

- EK

>You now regard Eorgina with a warm demeanor.

"I spent a decent amount of time during the first half of things on the forums sharing when NPCs showed up, questions PCs asked them, and what was said. I stayed up late more often earlier on to attend sessions compared to the latter half of things. I kept up with those forum post updates, even for nights I wasn't able to attend, because I know how challenging it can be to try to keep up with a storyline when you aren't able to make each session." -- EK

---

Thank you very much for doing this :)

Thank you all for the feedback and thoughts on What Follows. I apologize for not responding sooner, but I wanted to give everyone time to respond, and then October was a rather busy month for me between EG and real life. All of the responses have been useful to read, as everything you all provided was constructive in nature whether it was what was liked or disliked. I never expect anything to be universally liked or enjoyed, nor is praise all I am looking for when I make these threads, so again I appreciate you all taking the time to respond, as such information will help to make for better things in the future.

The overall intent of this storyline was to pick up or continue a number of threads that had been dangling from past events, which is in part why it was named What Follows. Because now we were seeing what came as a result of things in the past, and in part because it was quoting a line from the Bard himself that I've always been fond of. The idea was also to do some in a more every day manner than big flashy ones. If thinking of it in terms of episodes in a TV series, this would be some of the more focused and quiet middle episodes, than the big mid or end of season finales. Because of the more quiet nature for this storyline, this led to the idea of having multiple elements via the different characters/stories, so as to give people different ways of getting involved especially if any particular one did not resonate with them. The thought of running each one separately was considered, but I decided against this as I wanted to give each time breathe and develop over time, and so went with the plan of mixing the different stories so that there was always an active element at a given time. In retrospect knowing what I do now, I can certainly see ways to have executed all of this better, but that only comes with having tried it in the first place.

For each of the story arcs, what took place may have not been an epic event for the ages, but each did result in significant impact and change for the characters involved. And for all of them, what did end up taking place was influenced by the actions and words of all of those involved. For some the ramifications may have been larger than others. To that end, some insight into each of the arcs:

Ciermont - The main purpose was to close the circle when it came to the Research Proposals. His staying in Vornavis was a highly flexible thing, and had there not been the engagement in the historical discussions then he very likely would have returned to Nydds much sooner. But that was not the case, and the results of which will be seen and felt down the road. In particular I was not sure how the response to discussing history and such would go, as it can be a very dry or boring subject to some. That so many did engage with it was an enjoyable thing to see and experience.

Camryth - While it may no longer be the case, for a long period of time anything associated with Jantalar was seen as evil/bad. It was specifically chosen as her home to help show how times have changed. Her story was meant to be a mirror of the story for many characters, but just how much changed from the first night. Seeing people give her the same advice five times, and just general behavior of characters towards a young girl fresh from the far it resonated just how "weird/different" PCs can be, and so that resulted in my leaning into that and how Camryth viewed/responded to people. On a more broad scale, the words/actions of people greatly affected how her story arc went. Had it gone differently, she could have ended back on her farm, leaving for somewhere else, or even dead/injured. The post showing Camryth preparing the night before to meet with Gedrick was reflective of that, as the thoughts she heard in her head were based on actual things said to her. Which led to things coming together in a moment that will have lasting repercussions.

Gedrick - For all that was done with Camryth, the end goal of her being accepted as his squire would never have happened if not for the influence people had on Gedrick as well. Camryth could have done everything right, but if efforts were not made to help pull Gedrick out of the situation he felt trapped in, then it would not have succeeded. And along the way he was meant to serve as a mirror to the knights and titled folks who encountered him, showing that such a grant is not always a reward, and the life of a knight is not all horses and heroics.

Salnim/Kasendra - Their aspect of storylines is always a tricky one. As I want to have you all involved in it, but at the same time they are nobles of the Empire and with that comes a certain amount of separation from regular folks. It is why for some of the more important and intimate moments for them it was shown via forum post, as it would be very unlikely for such to have taken place where others can see. But that is not to say that the interactions with them have no impact, as they certainly did help influence the course taken.

Malvernus/Orphia - This was actually not originally part of the storyline, but rather a late addition after I brought the idea up with GM Auchand. He was most agreeable to it, and I realize now I forgot to thank him for his part in my initial post. In the case of the outcome of this arc, the actions of your characters were incorporated, but the end result was always going to be the restoration of Orphia. So it is interesting to me that the most "on rails" arc was the one that stood out to many as the most enjoyable/normal of them. This was something I had wanted to do for a while, and was glad to finally bring it to fruition, as the point of this arc was to show something that had not sufficiently been shown previously, which I can especially say given the whispers and MYChars thought about it.

Hopefully all of those insights into the different arcs is of value and you find it useful. It is rare for me to make a character and then throw them away afterwards, especially when they are still living. So it would be very safe to say that you will see all of these characters again down the road in some fashion. And again I do understand that a non-traditional story with clear protagonists and antagonists is not something that was fully expected or enjoyed, and will keep that in mind in the future. In that same vein it will not always be quiet/small stuff. But whether you fully enjoyed it or not, I do hope you will continue to spend some time in Solhaven/Voranvis, and especially join us for what else might take place in the future.

-Lydil

This is from 5 days ago. I am not normally on the forefront of responses, but this deserves a reaction. I loved the NPCs. It was organic and correct. None of it felt out of order, but it's late so I'll have to expand on my answer.

We really looked forward to the cadence and time. We talked and collaborated to be there, or just understood we should be. Storewide it was well executed and I know some folks critiqued, but it was within expectations and boundaries because those exist too.