Mathias' Edited Feedback Title Thread

[Mathias]

Updated 6/12/2014

Three years of Mathias. It must be terrible for everyone else having to deal with me, especially the GMs who have been stuck with me since 2013. Considering this opening post hasn't been updated since I wrote it, it's time to update it. Less capitalizing words. Less Batman music videos. More characters.

Matthew Hunter

Matthew Hunter's reason for creation is still the same: There was no Horde RP when I made my troll, so I made a human. Since I couldn't make a Mathias Hunter, I made a Matthew Hunter, who was completely different from how Mathias was going to be. Anyone that actually likes Matthew and his racist, nationalistic, Varian-supporting views can thank Krilari for having the in-game name Mathias before me. Everything about Matthew was made up on the spot when I picked the name Matthew, so that was fun, as I usually take my time with making new characters. Like a certain elf that I haven't made yet.

Matthew has been getting less and less RP lately, and I've been getting the chance to RP my Horde more. That's always fun, but I don't want to abandon Matthew to the retirement home yet. He still has plenty he can do. Like get married.

Jof'waz

Jof'waz's story is still the same, too. When the OOC zone was Oxynia's Cave, I asked if I should make an orc or troll character. The answer was troll, and so Jof'waz was born. The only problem was that I had no way to throw him in a crowd because he was made on the spot, like Matthew, but there wasn't as much Horde RP. Thanks to the Love Exchange, Jof'waz found a nice little spot to set up camp, and got his one-track butt-following mind. That was a problem. Jof'waz was a one-trick pony, and around the time I was gonna make another disappearance. So Jof'waz was killed off and wouldn't be revived until two months after I returned to CotH. I really do need to play that troll some more.

Garridan Devine

Another Horde character that gets no love from me. Garridan was made when another undead player (character was... Pawn or something?) wanted to make an Adventurer Guild and I decided to provide Garridan. Garridan was going to be completely different from the person he came to be. Yes, Garridan was not going to narrate things in life and put people in different groups. He would have been somewhat normal. Not to say he isn't normal. He is fully aware of what he's saying and is not suffering from any mindrot (yet). As Cappn does sermons, I like to bring Garridan (and another Horde character) around, just for Garridan to start learning about Shadow and eventually try to discover his real past. Eventually.

Norell Rocketpunch

The three above seem to be randomly made, despite me insisting in Matthew's paragraph that I like to take time before making characters. Norell is an example of me actually taking time to make a character. I love goblins, see. I wanted my Cata goblins when we were in Wrath, but I couldn't have them. I could have made a CMC Goblin, but I didn't want to do that. So I waited for nearly two years to make Norell, and I planned out his story during that time. Not as thought-out as Matthew's (Matthew having the excuse that he is around for certain lore events to take place, and I wanted to put him in them), but far better than Jof'waz and Garridan. I also feel that he isn't a one-trick pony, and he's my favorite of the Horde characters I got. I might focus too much on his love for cooking at times, but whatever. He's still cool.

David Hunter

Leader of the Defias guild. Breaker of paladin hearts (if those paladins are named Cristovao di Silvio). A violent man who manages to hide it well with his smile, calm demeanor, and "care" for other people around him. Would be the perfect Defias leader, if he was actually Defias and not just some sorta rich man who managed to influence his way to leadership. I like to think I did well with David and the Defias, storywise. Defias/Westfall was my second major storyline on CotH, and I did want to focus less on combat during Westfall and more on the story of the people of Stormwind, from the guards to the transients. Not much to say about David otherwise.

Zagosh Steelskull

Tol Barad really didn't have a Horde leader. Sure, we had NPCs, and some players would take up command, but the Horde forces felt like mercenaries while the Alliance forces had Ulrach for a leader and felt like an army. After puppetting a Horde Commander a few times, and Grakor insisting, I turned that NPC into a PC to help with the Tol Barad storyline and give Horde a leader. Zagosh Steelskull, another example of "Mathias just pretends like he needs time to make a character". I like him. Tol Barad isn't doing much these days, so I might have him pop up in other places so he doesn't gather cobwebs. If you want to RP with Zagosh, just ask.

Right, that's enough talking about my characters. How are my characters? How is my RP? How is my GMing? Don't be afraid of giving constructive criticism.

[CappnRob]

I SAY THIS A LOT BUT

Matthew is easily one of my favorite and best written characters on the server. I do feel he has become a bit stagnant (it happens to all of our characters at some point), but I'm looking forward to him breaking out some! He develops very slowly and deliberately, which I like. Little changes over time have had an affect on him, and he's been Cristovao's one consistent friend through it all, and the two have seen a lot together.

Jof'waz I haven't RPed with much, but he strikes a good chord of humor and seriousness! He's very funny without becoming grating or obnoxious. We should probably become heretic bros with Madugo.

Garridan is awesome. He's very tongue-in-cheek, and I enjoy his take on traditional storytelling. Plus, you're really good at making those ballads up on the spot. S'awesome. Maeia's in Black Harvest, so here's hoping they cross paths for unintended drama!

You're a great RPer, a great friend, and you have a great sense of humor and humility in everything you do. Here's hoping you stay for a whole 'nother year, bud <3














BTW BRING BACK CORIA I LIKED HER QUIRKY SENSE OF HUMOR AND STUFF HRGGGGGN

[Holynexus]

Jofwaz..only RP'd with him once and the server crashed cause of how awesome he was. :3

[Jonoth]

I got to RP with Garridan a few times back when I had TUN'KAR on Wildhunt. I loved his narrating of what went on, and found it to be one of my favorite parts of my time in the guild. It was entertaining without being OOC overbearing, and smart IC humor is always a wonderful thing to come across.

I'd like to RP with Matthew again sometime. I feel like I need to eventually have more RPs with him eventually than I've had ICC raids with him, so there's some catching up to do. XD

[mimloopen]

Oooookay. Your rp with Jof'waz is entertaining and funny. Your rp with Garridan is entertaining and funny. Haven't roleplayed with Matthew because idk. But yeah... your characters have clear and well-constructed personalities and manage to be funny without being snarky badasses (but they can do that too). Ensuena and Garridan rp is something I always enjoy

As for OOC... you're usually quiet until you have something funny or witty to say. Now that I think of it, both OOCly and ICly you seem to have trouble saying anything in a serious manner, but then I haven't RPd with matthew and its not a bad trait at all!

[Mathias]

Delicious feedback. I require more of it, but with more HATE to it.

[Loxmardin]

You have an awful sense of fashion. /shakefist

In all seriousness, though.

I haven't really roleplayed a lot with you past the... "tight" encounter between Jof'waz and Direi. Which didn't last for more than a combat turn and a half, really. But, you've been around on the server for a long time and I've watched you and chatted briefly with you on various different characters in the OOC area (Doris being the main one) and I believe you've got a very good personality. You're approachable and entertaining, from what I've seen, and it's fun to have you around.

While I haven't roleplayed much with you, as I said, I've been able to spectate a bit. I've seen you play Matthew and Jof'waz and I like what I see, so far. Matthew during the latest Solidarity (Royalist side) event was priceless and realistic. You play and portray him very well!

Jof'waz, I don't have much to say about. I haven't seen enough to know him as a character.

Not much, but it's something.

[Mathias]

Bumping for some love and hate.

[Mathias]

Bumping because, hey, maybe there's some feedback that someone has for me.

[Mathias]

This thread is getting bumped because I held my first event today, and it was a mess in my opinion. You experienced event holders, tell me what to do.

[Kull]

I had to leave halfway through for RL reasons, but these are my thoughts. Also, this was my second event on the server in my first week of playing. That's my disclaimer.

What I liked:
1. Communication - Everyone who was on at the time knew about it.
2. Availability - It was open to all Alliance (my lvl 1 could go in). True, this can't be the case for all events. But I learned more!
3. GM Participation - no need to elaborate, it improved immersion.
4. Simplicity - It wasn't a mysterious, dark, elaborate plot. In some cases, that's a plus I think. Keepin' it simple and fun!
5. Exciting - RP combat against a Tauren battle group, then a swarm of crocodiles, all while escorting a weak caravan of frightened ditch-diggers? Pretty cool man.

What I think could be improved:
1. The shout emotes by the raid leader should be more formal. I saw some OOC jokes. It lessens immersion. I adore excellent prose. I know you are capable of good writing, so this shouldn't be hard at all Matt!
2. More subjectively/personally, I don't particularly like the raid signs on targets. But I can ignore it/overcome that. But I also know it serves a good purpose, so it's not a biggie!

Other than that if you think the event didn't go well, that could be attributed to the fact there were only 9 people on as well. It was fun for me while I was in it, so I disagree that it was a mess. It was slightly a mess. Mostly good. I could definitely see myself immersing into an event you DM in the future.

[Thoradin]

Well, Mathias, my friend.

Like I said in Skype, it was a good event, especially for your first one. That said, there needs to be some polish for it, and that's why I am here. So we can get this going and get it going good.

[Rigley]

Righto;

Overall, I'd stress that you've got the basics down pretty well; I can't say there's too much to tell you to work on, but like a lot of things its going to require a bit of practice to get it down and polished.

The structure was good-- I think generally running in groups when in such large numbers is a smart move, and the way you handled attacks with thresholds is probably the easiest stuff I've worked out as well. I also am in pretty big agreement with a lack of a specified HP, since that does open up a bit more for player reactions and decisions.

The one thing I'll single out is pacing and the overall running length; I know I tend to run about two hours with my events so I won't tell you 'MAN GIVE A TIME CAP', but I would advise you to consider how you pace enemy encounters a bit. Generally what I do is use a lot of fodder, at least early on. On the battlefield, sometimes people do land precise shots. Sometimes there's not a drawn out scuffle but a quick clash before someone gets their throats cut open or stabbed through the gut. I'd advise you to use these sorts of things if you feel an encounter is going long-- wait for a good roll and just have it execute an enemy, just to ease things forth. In general you may want to give yourself a soft time limit on early encounters, just to leave a larger chunk for a climactic encounter (where applicable, of course).

In general that's about all I have to say-- aside from pacing I think you've got a good start to these events, and I think you'll find a good medium over the course of this chain.

I'll be sure to try and hop in on the next one as well! Hopefully I'll be able to not get pulled away every few minutes, heh.

[CappnRob]

Let me touch up on some more technical advice:

-Effective early rule establishment. Before the event even begins, use /RW to do the following things:

1: Establish what (if any) universal thresholds are for rolls. If your event makes use of unique roll rules (like Scout's horizontal/vertical/thrust rules), list these here nd now.

2: Turn order. Don't just say "Group 1, Group 2", but also list who is in what group, so everyone knows what's what.

3: Miscellaneous info, such as heals or AoE attacks, as well as crits.

4: If anyone asks any questions, always answer them in /RW. In my experience, RW is the best way to get your message across, especially in an OOC-chatty event, because it is BIG RED TEXT that makes a BIG NOISE on your screen. Make use of that!

[ImagenAshyun]

In addition to the above, here are some tips:

1.) Assign Assistant-DMs, even if they're not part of your circle of event planners. They can track things like rolls, player emotes, and HP. This will be less of a headache for you in running your event. What I'd recommend is that you (the head event runner) focus on storytelling and event direction while your assistants track the more technical aspects of the event like HP, rolls, and so forth.

2.) Limit your combat encounters, even if the entire point of the event chain is combat. A single combat encounter can last from 15 minutes to about less than an hour, depending on the HP, number of mobs, and how nice the Roll Gods are to you and your players. Two encounters is fairly short for a major event, but four or more is massive. Three is a golden number for a good 2-hour combat-focused event. Try to think of what enemies are the most important to face.

3.) If you haven't already, separate your chat channels. If you don't have WIM, you can create separate chat channels in-game by right-clicking your General tab, "Create New Window", then disabling certain chat options (Say, Whisper, Raid, Raid Leader) between them. If you don't know how to do that, I can show you in-game. If you DO have WIM, make sure the right settings are on (I can help you in-game).

Separating your chat channels makes your event running MUCH easier--you can focus on specific aspects of RP which you can tune out if needed while keeping track of what's the most important.

That's all I got for now!