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Apprentice
 
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Friday, January 30, 2009 11:54 AM
Posts: 11,
Visits: 105
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What would you want on the player side of an online downtime system?
- ability to submit a downtime
- ability to edit your downtime up to the downtime cut-off date
- ability to view current and past downtimes and responses.
Any more? Anyone with any feedback on systems they have used?
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Knight
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Thursday, June 12, 2008 9:49 AM
Posts: 83,
Visits: 277
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| Hello, we run a downtime in character forum for our players (Fame and Fortune). We use it to keep the story going, so to speak. The players are permitted to say what they are doing in their downtime and we as a design team can put plot in and thicken up background on NPC's. We run fortnightly and as such it is not really nesecary to have this facillity but it does add to the game overall. We as players used to use the forums for in character stuff for "Oblivion" and some realy good interaction took place, poems were written speeches made rituals carried out, deals struck, alliances made so on and so forth. The only trouble was my faction ref never looked at the forums and all that had happend was wasted. So if you have a downtime in character forum it must be monitored and taken note of by the design team to save player disapointment. Also the rule of what you can and cant do must be made clear from the out set and re-iterated to new members as they join. We have the rules/guidelines that: Players can't harm another player or NPC (unless permission is sought from the design team via PM and even then only NPC's). Conversations that can be overheard will become rumour and get around to become common knowledge (So be carefull that you say only what you want everyone to know other wise use PM). If you post something that requires a response (regardless from whom) then you must wait for the response before continuing that thread. Importantly the design team cannot allow NPC's / Monsters to harm the players in downtime at all. In short it is only information that is passed on and a chance to develop role playing relationships between characters which always makes the game a richer experience. Have a look at our in character thread it basically tells the story so far with a few gaps that can be filled in by the players, it helps enourmously when writing for the next event. Regards Martin
"Its only a game"
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Apprentice
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Friday, January 30, 2009 11:54 AM
Posts: 11,
Visits: 105
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Several of the systems I've played have had IC forums which, to a greater-or-lesser extent perform that function. I'll bear it in mind.
Most systems I have experience of are somewhat different in terms of downtime actions, where every character at the event outlines what they are going to (try and) do next and the refs, after gathering all these, then work out what actually occurs across the universe. The refs then write everyone a downtime return, outlining what has actually happened and these are distributed to the other players. Part of the reason for this kind of downtime return system is that it lets the refs keep track of everything going on in the system (these events run two or three times a year typically) and it lets players get in the way of other players without them needing to know (a downtime of "I'm going to follow X round spying on them" is then possible). It's also a way for refs to keep track of skills being learned by each character.
I'll try and remember that some systems play on a more frequent basis than I've been thinking of 
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