Future game set-up concepts

[TH - The Hunt]

Sea superiority can be lost (and not just by naval action). Events can decrease the amount of units in play and the number of GB in circulation. My idea that the game can continue (and would be fun if it did) is premised on outside-the-box solutions that enable the game to get unstuck, so that the balance of power can be restored and more can be played out. I wouldn't want to continue the game either, if I believed everything was going to stay the same.

There's a lot that can be done short of a full reset. Starting over isn't easy, and a big reason why people enjoy doing it is because they look forward to getting to do things that they never get to do because the games end too soon (and tend toward overheating). We really do need to break that cycle, out-of-game just as in-game.

[HaQ - Hakim al-Qadr]

From a story narrative perspective then.

Game:
Hircine and the Hunt appear on the scene. Victory (Verdaloth surrenders). Stalemate (the failure to take Aegis). String of failed attacks on Karamhul that drain more of their resources than those of The Hunt. No one intervenes - a few years pass - victory concealed as stalemate (Shieldlands Crisis 2 - Islanders driven off mainland). Hircine seems to change course and no longer engages in wars (actually secretly at war with the aliens in an escalating conflict). Hircine "protects the world" and destroy Entities.

For there to be a story or a narrative requires there to be protagonists or antagonists. There is also the story trope of the 'bad guy' becoming the 'good guy' or saving the world "malgré lui."

Obviously this is the story from the lens of Hircine.

The crisis is coming - whether it takes place this game or next. Humanity is dying. The Entities are destroyed - or are they? Was Hircine trying to save the world really - or was it some secret plot? A vast conspiracy with the intended side effects?

[TH - The Hunt]

I agree with that.

The story from MF's perspective, in summary, is a peaceful start as the tribes consolidate. From their perspective, the episode where Filch raised an army and went to defend neighbouring provinces while Morcuan was away was just a blip. Then, there's suddenly a wild, extremely tense five-year long siege, which is successfully broken just in time for the fortress to be betrayed from within--after the valley's been virtually abandoned, also from within.

Some time later, it's discovered that the entire lake is surrounded by enemies. What follows is decades of rebuilding and preparations to break out from the encirclement, that have relatively recently escalated to successful plots and raids. There's a few more dramatic episodes, including the bit with the (alien?) deck of cards and the (alien!) spaceship, though they're more like complications than twists. The tension is, high and the climax is not yet in sight.

Will it end in triumph, tragedy, or something surreal? There's no way to know at this point. It's not even clear what the next flashpoint or the true enemy is.

There's too many interesting unanswered questions to list.

[SG - Sigrun Godefroy]

games end allways right when i start hitting my stride since i'm a slow player. If i wasn't being killed do to work and collage i'd try running the seeds of war game

[LK - Lady Katrijn]

I must admit that I haven't really been that engaged in the game for a while, not since maybe around turn 20. I participated in a bit, but has felt quite isolated. The Islands Alliance remain, but the driving force behind the alliance left, the one who maintained diplomatic ties and since then I at least found myself simply waiting, building, ruling, recruiting, but not really being fully engaged.

[HaQ - Hakim al-Qadr]

My primary point is that there needs to be actors - not just reactors. The only reason I have not turned to destroying Morcuan's island entirely is because - well - Morcuan seems to be the only entity activity trying to undermine the Hunt's power. And in Mishrak's world view - where there is no challenge - there is no purpose. Letting them build up and start the fight again was more interesting. But it doesn't mean we are unprepared.

The Alien-threat was a real tangible threat to distract him for twenty years. He was mildly hopeful when the Karamhul declared their research into the destructo-beam they would pose a challenge in approach and conception. But it was a bitter disappointment to find that they had not actually started building it prior to the meeting (this is not an OOC judgement - there are perfectly rational reasons not to have done so - wanting to ensure all the components were collectable - an agreed path could be taken etc).

[TH - The Hunt]

If you don't know what's coming, you can't prepare for it. (If you do know what's coming, you can, of course.) So whether the game can continue afresh depends on whether Morcuan is able to do something Mishrak or his agents aren't ready for, and whether it's sufficient to cause a reversal or setback large enough to give the rest of the players sufficient opportunity that they take action, and the game can drive forward.

I'm optimistic. (To the point where it seems to me the reason the bullies are working so hard to sabotage this game is because they're afraid I might be right, and that would really ruin their day.)

[WB - Water's Blessing]

If you don't know what's coming, you can't prepare for it. (If you do know what's coming, you can, of course.) So whether the game can continue afresh depends on whether Morcuan is able to do something Mishrak or his agents aren't ready for, and whether it's sufficient to cause a reversal or setback large enough to give the rest of the players sufficient opportunity that they take action, and the game can drive forward.

I'm optimistic. (To the point where it seems to me the reason the bullies are working so hard to sabotage this game is because they're afraid I might be right, and that would really ruin their day.)

I suspect the more likely reason many are ready to move on is completely unrelated to your plotline one way or the other. I don't think people are making a choice based off of what you were planning one way or the other, especially if most players are as of yet unaware of it.

I know that, for me, the choice is because the game seems to have lost its drive. The climax of the game (imo) came 10 turns ago, and has been slowly but steadily losing steam since. The only reason I think we didn't wrap it up 5 turns ago was that it wasn't clear who would become the greater gods. That is now clear. So, for me, the story that I was most interested is done. I'm ready to move on.

[TH - The Hunt]

I didn't say anything about 'many'. I know the reason why most players want to move on is because they're demoralized. I also know certain players--Rich and Sam especially, with John arguing most feverishly in support of them--have been deliberately engineering that demoralization by attempting to convince others everything's hopeless and Mishrak is unstoppable, including by having their characters dedicate their support to him, even when that doesn't quite make sense based on their character designs. They're trying to get other players excited about the new game and shift all their attention to it, even before this one can resolve, wrap up, and produce partial closure.

They're hostile to the idea of spending another month or two to establish how this game ended, having gone as far as decreeing predictions of what's going to happen as if it's obvious, and dismissing important details like exactly who fills the Pantheon as not important enough to bother with, also because they don't want that to shift or settle from what was on the board last turn.

It can't be completely unrelated to my plotline when there's sabotage occurring aimed to exacerbate and use the bad mood to arrange a specific, conveniently dark result. If that's not what's happening, why do they fight so hard and sacrifice so much for it?

[TF - The Fortress]

If you don't know what's coming, you can't prepare for it. (If you do know what's coming, you can, of course.) So whether the game can continue afresh depends on whether Morcuan is able to do something Mishrak or his agents aren't ready for, and whether it's sufficient to cause a reversal or setback large enough to give the rest of the players sufficient opportunity that they take action, and the game can drive forward.

I'm optimistic. (To the point where it seems to me the reason the bullies are working so hard to sabotage this game is because they're afraid I might be right, and that would really ruin their day.)

I suspect the more likely reason many are ready to move on is completely unrelated to your plotline one way or the other. I don't think people are making a choice based off of what you were planning one way or the other, especially if most players are as of yet unaware of it.

I know that, for me, the choice is because the game seems to have lost its drive. The climax of the game (imo) came 10 turns ago, and has been slowly but steadily losing steam since. The only reason I think we didn't wrap it up 5 turns ago was that it wasn't clear who would become the greater gods. That is now clear. So, for me, the story that I was most interested is done. I'm ready to move on.

+1