Why Conflict Needs Consequences: The PBRPT

What would you propose to make things less secret?

Is it the staff that makes things secret, or the players?

If a pc initiates a gambit using his sole access to a piece of info and will be ruined if staff releases that info in other blatant ways, making the players secrecy obvious. Should the staff release that info despite the harm to the PC?


I don't believe summon was used by PCs. A lot of HoWing into gang rape of doom though. Can't blame that character either. Templar orders. Lame kills though, for sure. What would you do in the characters shoes?

The screwed up thing about this discussion is that Armageddon’s ‘setup’ as enforced by staff is simply not conductive to the positive suggestions that are listed here with the intent of promoting actual good storytelling.
Staff seem ‘glued’ to this concept that the virtual world is more important than good storytelling, or plot progression, or players having actual power and world impact.

• PC nobles are limited to ‘minor nobles’, just a small cog of a much larger ‘beast’, or Greater Noble House. They are liable to be shutdown at any moment by the NPC ‘Lord Controller’ or any other virtual figure with an ounce of 'authority'.
  
• PC Templars are ‘blue robes’, one of the lowest tiers of the Highlord’s enforcers. They bow to NPC/virtual Red Robes and the mythological Black Robes that put on fancy light shows for us players... let us be thankful.
• PC soldiers are limited to a single unit, playing Sergeants and Corporal and if you scratch the right area long enough, once every few rl years depending on your player notes, MAYBE a Lieutenant.
• PC tribals are overseen by virtual Elders, chiefs, seers, and ‘veteran warriors’ who only come into play when you incur the staff’s wrath.
  

• PC Byn are limited to a couple of units, where you cap out at Sergeant, and god forbid if you do something that the NPC Lieutenant doesn’t like.
  

You get the idea.

Characters do not have a metaplot that bind them. They have very little reason to interact. They have very little reason to search out conflict (unless bored) or to initiate plots, as what benefits do these provide? Hell, the smarter players with longer lived characters just avoid RPTs altogether because they recognize them for the pointless meatgrinders that they are. Or, they’re playing Templars or magickers and have a better understanding of how to use the code to their advantage. Great storytelling, right?

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This ‘setup’ or ‘attitude’ that Armageddon staff holds over the playerbase will never be conductive to meaningful roleplay or good storytelling.

RPIs like Atonement forced the playerbase to cooperate, and sometimes factionalize, to ensure survival. Plots were investigated and sought out because they had a genuine impact on the metaplot, the virtual city and the balance of power between the PC LED gangs that more or less dominated the game world. This applied in the Beta, which had more of a sandbox ‘Gangs of New York’ tone and then later on the Atlas, which was more survival horror. What did they share? A metaplot, PC leadership, lack of virtual ‘big boss’ interference.

Atonement and SoI also had a modified version of Diku, where combat and movement were generally slower and MUCH MORE conductive to combat, PvP and group fights. Strength played less of role in damage. Guns hurt bad, but players would slowly bleed out or succumb to trauma, instead of just dropping dead. (Take a note, archery in Armageddon is FUCKING RIDICULOUS.) edit: There could be so many positive changes made to archery, combat and the health system in Armageddon. The code is out there. Also, Atonement had a ‘group’ system kind of like following/unhitching in Arm, where you could type a simple command and see the relative health of everyone in your group. Extremely useful for group fights.

There weren’t meta spells like ‘hands of wind’ that Templars or gemmed could abuse (well, it’s not exactly abuse, it’s just a broken spell that should have never been included in the game) to dogpile and gank an enemy after pulling them from dozens of rooms away.

There weren’t broken races like half-giants or dwarves that promoted trash roleplay and granted insane boosts to the most important stat in the game.

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Solutions to these problems have already been discussed on this forum, years ago. Removal of broken spells and races. A rework of the stat and combat system. An Armageddon where there are no great virtual powers, and where there is actual resource scarcity, and where meaningful conflict can be generated between characters who start on a more equal footing.

Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll ever see this Armageddon. The current staff have no interest in seeing this version of things... it takes away power from them and destroys their virtual playground to actually promote positive change and progression in the Armageddon that we know today. If I’m wrong, prove it to me. Please, seriously. This game holds a special place in my heart and it sucks to see it tragically, slowly die because of inaction. The wheel spins, grinding away, and staff keep making the same age old mistakes.


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ADDITION: I’d like to note that the players who claim to have enjoyed this PBRPT and the current state of Arm assuredly fall into one of two categories.

1. These players are so starved for roleplay or excitement that they’ll scramble for whatever crumbs that they can get. Like the lone rinthi assassin who spends hours stalking that new rinthi char just to find a reason to murder them, however slim or shaky, these players are desperate to find reasons or ways to enjoy the game. Their tastes have become simpler and their standards are nonexistent.

or

2. These players have likely been playing for over a decade, but are so burnt out that they just treat Armageddon like their fantasy social circle, like a glorified chat room with plenty of nostalgia and desert tones. Like the first type of player, any excitement is good enough for them. They lack any ambition or interest in meaningful storytelling and cling to the game as more of a crutch or ‘community’ at this point.

To be honest. I dont know if there is a metaplot.

There is sooort of a metaplot that allows events to transpire that explains the changes in magick and psionics. And as new guilds are being added, changed, and balanced there might be some events going on that introduce the changes. But it's nothing to really base a story on for a player.

I suspect a lot of staff plots are affected by two things. Population within a specific sphere and presence of player ran plots. If the sphere begins to grow, staff would pay more attention to it and eventually create some kinds of events that sphere can get involved/react to. If there are big enough plots that are being ran by some player, staff would also be cautious about introducing some new events, as they dont want to stifle what's been player created.

Unfortunately sometimes this weird stand still occurs. Where a player begins a plot, but doesnt move too quickly, or the people necessary for the plot die out. During that plot, staff refrains from making their own moves. While the originator of the plot needs stuff to happen, except that plot is heavily reliant on other people, all of this takes time. Meanwhile, other people died, or left, making people who are necessary move on, or die as well. In short, everyone are waiting for each other and then they die.

That's not a metaplot so much as it is a series of events.

Arguably one of the first examples of metaplot in a RPG was the Dark Sun boxed set that began with the end of the age of Sorcerer-Kings and the beginning of the rule by the Champions of Rajaat. This opened up competition for precious resources between warring city-states. It serves to tie together world events and allow players to get involved in those events in impactful ways.

An example of a metaplot in Armageddon would be the Tuluki occupation and rebellion, and the Copper War. There was a great deal of player input in these major historical events, which led to a desired outcome. There was some minimal railroading, and foul play by a couple of heavy-handed staff members, but many if not most of the outcomes of these events occurred due to player ingenuity at the time.

The difference between your example and these examples is that in your example, staff pre-determined the events, the causes of the events, and the results of those events. In a metaplot, staff (or a DM) define current-day events and their causes, and allow players to extrapolate results based on their input into current events. That's an incredibly basic way to describe a complex writing technique, and someone will probably come along to correct or add on to what I'm saying, but that's more or less the gist of it.