Roleplay Events

[Bradstein 17]

Hi all.

Yesterday, I hosted the RP event Troubles of Yokohama, in which around 20 players attended! I am very grateful to everyone who was able to participate, but while the event was definitely a learning experience for all involved, I think it is safe to say it did not go to plan and may have resulted in some players feeling let down. In this thread I would first like to discuss with you the factors that lead to this determination, as well as explain why the event was concluded early. To reiterate, this was entirely the point of this event and the Alpha as a whole, so we can develop our own skills and understand how we need to adapt to meet the needs of our players and vice versa.

Following the event, many members of the Staff Team met to discuss the outcomes of the event and have begun planning for methods of helping players and limiting the impact these factors have in future. I will also speak a little about this in this post.
 

Why the event didn't go to plan, from our perspective:

• There was a huge variety of players attending the event in terms of Role Play experience: There were some with a clear understanding of how to conduct themselves in "heavy" RP environments such as that encouraged in Shinobi Story, other players with experience with RP in general (but appeared to be generally unfamiliar with the format of events and how RP should be conducted) and many who had little or no experience. As a result, from my perspective as host, trying to adapt the event to make it suitable for all players was extremely difficult.
   
• A difference in English ability: Firstly I would like to make it clear that those of you who are not native English speakers are more than welcome at Shinobi Story, however it is generally expected that in a Role Play setting such as this a good standard of English is met. Please don't be disheartened by this and read on, we are eager to make sure those of you need help developing your RP and English skills are supported by our team!
   
• For me, it's been a while! This was the event event with such a high number of players I had hosted in quite some time, which takes some getting used to for trying to make sure everyone is involved and responded to. Unfortunately I know even though the event was shortened I still wasn't able to respond to everyone as quickly as I wanted, so I am sorry about that.
   
• All of these factors, as well as other more trivial points, meant that I didn't think it would beneficial to continue the event as I had initially planned. I had expected hiccups as with any test or Alpha period in a game, however unfortunately I hadn't anticipated these to have as much as an impact as it did. This is why I ended the event early.
   

What the Staff Team as a whole are doing to address these issues for future events:

Yesterday following the event, a large proportion of the Staff Team were able to meet up to discuss what we will take away from the event. This resulted in a constructive discussion where we brainstormed ideas for helping you as the player and advancing RP in the game. As with everything in Alpha, please don't take the below as a complete picture. These are simply ideas that we are looking into implementing.
 

• The Role Play team will set up "workshops" for players with less experience in Role Play, to help them progress and develop their skills. These workshops may vary depending on the level of experience players already have, and will also be open to players who would like some help in progressing their English skills too!
   
• Resources created by the RP team will be made, including simple guidelines for RP that all players can refer to when unsure, as well as tutorials and guides for those of less experience too.
   
• In-game development tailored more to supporting Role Play. This could mean the introduction of in-game tutorial quests, the introduction of reminders and tips for Role Play as well as ways of players being able to identify more experienced Role Players, so newer players know who to turn to in the community for help!
   
• Making sure the event management and RP skills of our own RP team are up to scratch! It's obviously important that our own Storytellers are able to RP and organise events for our players, so we will always be carrying out peer review and supporting each other towards this goal.
   

As always, we are constantly seeking your feedback and I would like to hear your opinions both of the event and our plans to try and address this in future. Thank you!

Edited April 16, 2020 by Bradstein