The Day of Thunder

Okay. So.

To clarify things a bit about my own clash, in case that may help.

My intent has always been to highlight structural issues, that have been recurring from game to game, independently of the GM or players. They are of course more marked sometimes, for a variety of reasons. But one person taking all the blames for everything that happened over a decade is the exact opposite of what I had in mind.

As discussed, this game, while not perfect, because nothing ever is perfect, and this absence of perfection is not something we should batter ourselves about, has been good, and a net progress in the right direction.

I, me, myself, am pessimistic about this snowballing into a general middle term improvement of all games, making them less stressful for everyone, GM included, in part because... well, exactly what is happening right now. The debate shifting with great violence about whether Tortuga Bob's player was unjustly slighted by Kistune Alice's player in Dawn of the Naga: Boogalo 3. A hyper focus on a specific issue rather than the structural ones that helped brew the circumstances into which it happened. And other... Let's stop delving into that right now, this is not the subject of this message.

I repeat, this game was good, and you did a tremendous job running it.

It's actually because I would want you, and others, to run more games than I'm pushing these issues forward. At the moment, running a game requires of the GM to just burn themselves to death, taking literal years to recompose themselves enough to run or even just play another one.

GMing will always be exhausting. But, really, we, as a community, can do better than asking of our GM to destroy their mental health for the sake of others. It just doesn't have to be. Games could still be awesome with their GM only deeply tired, not utterly broken, by the end of them.

Kaijarisuigyo wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 22, 2023 8:18 am

GMing will always be exhausting. But, really, we, as a community, can do better than asking of our GM to destroy their mental health for the sake of others. It just doesn't have to be. Games could still be awesome with their GM only deeply tired, not utterly broken, by the end of them.

Agreed

Certainly the speed at which sour grapes turned this thread's title into an utter lie should be taken as an indication.

What ended up being the criteria for choosing the Thunders, if it isn't a secret?

Was Shizuku an originally planned NPC or did she suddenly become one when I asked what her name is? (naming is powerful )

The "Go Time" event describes "anyone still in the region deepest within Yume-Jigoku will be swallowed up into the scroll", while "Day 8 weather" describes "The region of the village is cleared of the corruption, leaving a clear and sunny place without fog." Is the actual Blue Lotus Village still there, or did it get swallowed up by the scroll ritual? Did any of the villagers survive? (I think Ayako's "Go Time" post is the only one that explicitly mentioned trying to get a villager out...)

Confession Time: I've been a bad player in the past. I have been a part of a game where I loved what I was building, and really felt invested. Then, something happened in setting and it felt like everything I had been working on had been ignored. So, that feeling I understand. In retrospect, I did not handle it well. I have since apologized but in my mind that isn't enough because I don't know what that did to other project down the road.

I have since learned as a GM that it is impossible to make all players visions come to life, and that's in a small group never mind a FA game. Even moreso, if a player is getting everything they wanted at the outset in exactly the way they expect they aren't playing a game, they are writing a fiction. And hey, power to them but when you communally storytell you have 20+ voices trying to shape a narrative, sometimes in polar opposites.

If you, the player, feel like your vision and ideas are being rolled over or ignored, the best advice I've learned is to talk to your GM while things are going on and talk to them. Explain what you are feeling and what you are trying to do. The GM might say no. The GM might say it's infeasible. The GM might say that what you are doing is undermining what other players are working on and it's not fair to them to have it happen behind their backs. They might offer you a different path forward or you might realize that you're tying what you really want to something else, and it's ok to let that second thing go. It's not perfect, and I'll say that I am not perfect at following it (I got steamed a few times this game) but it will save resentment from bubbling when things come to the end and the vision of what you want has failed to materialize.

I will say to the GM staff that I think they did a great job managing and running the game. Did things go exactly as I planned? Hell no. Did I hit all the things I wanted my character to do? No. Did I get some really fun writing, roleplay and have some character turns I didn't expect but felt absolutely right? Hell yes.

Reo being offered the chance to heal his leg, a lingering physical trauma and a psychological one from how the world treated him after that, was always something I thought would be a devil's bargain (it was in Dawn 2). The idea that he could see the chance of it free and clear, to steal a miracle was something neither he nor I would expect and it changed both him and how I played him. I came in expected a final ride into the sunset. Instead, he comes back home out of the sunset healed and reinvigorated for an unnatural human lifespan which feels like an excellent place to leave him and let the new generation take over. So bravo GM team.

Reiko Ohta wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 22, 2023 1:48 am

Thank you so so much for all your understanding and support. You made this fun for me and gave me a lot of good memories despite all my problems. I hate that those problems are put on other people, but hopefully I brought as much to the game as the game brought to my life.

You did. It was fun writing Ohta's dreams.

Yoshitsune Ayako wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 22, 2023 11:17 am

What ended up being the criteria for choosing the Thunders, if it isn't a secret?

Was Shizuku an originally planned NPC or did she suddenly become one when I asked what her name is? (naming is powerful )

The "Go Time" event describes "anyone still in the region deepest within Yume-Jigoku will be swallowed up into the scroll", while "Day 8 weather" describes "The region of the village is cleared of the corruption, leaving a clear and sunny place without fog." Is the actual Blue Lotus Village still there, or did it get swallowed up by the scroll ritual? Did any of the villagers survive? (I think Ayako's "Go Time" post is the only one that explicitly mentioned trying to get a villager out...)

Thunder criteria, in rough order of weight:

• 1 per Clan
• Has GD
• Passed Lucid Dreaming
• Did well in most events, avoided/did poorly in a few
• Followed Shinsei's D1 advice
• Character development/had an arc
• Aligned to a virtue

She became one when you asked. XD

All the villagers survived! Two Blue Lotus Villages essentially existed in the same place at the same time - the physical village and the dream village. The scroll sealed away the dream village while keeping the physical village in the real world. So the physical Blue Lotus Village is still there.

Thanks for the support. It really means a lot. Especially those who reached out on Discord. I was spiraling, and I needed to hear from people who cared. You came through for me in a big way, even when I didn't know what I needed to know how to ask for it.

Thank you so much.

I'm doing a little better now as you probably surmised. I'll do my best try get things going and avoid stressing myself out again.

Take your time. Let us know if we can help in any way.

Canary wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 23, 2023 7:30 pm

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Take the time you need. I loved the game and as much as I look forward to the next I can wait for it.

Please take whatever time you need. Your health and well-being comes before any game.

I agree with the other sentiments. Take care of your health first and then worry about game stuff, when you are good and ready to.

/Salute

Yes. Thank you for the game. Now, take the time for birb. Let yourself recover. Don't burn yourself out.