05-02-2017, 06:01 PM
So two years running, I’ve hosted a pseudo-competitive event between June and August. Call it Dante’s Abyss or the ‘Summer Syntech’ Saga, since I toss out both as names. Anyway, I’d like to host another event under the Syntech banner this summer as well, but I feel like the current member base is a lot different from that 14 months ago. So I’ll back track to provide some background before I get to the point of this message.
If you’ve participated last year or already know the backstory, skip the spoiler tag.
[spoiler]
Two years ago, I hosted what can best be described as the Omniverse equivalent of Battle Royale/the Hunger Games. 45(!) primes were deposited onto an island. They were given collars that interfered with their normal powers. In return, they were given a randomized weapon. Writers could move their prime along a grid map, either hunting down their foes or avoiding them (and the dead zones that spread across the island). The mission was to be the last one standing on the island. At its core, it was a writing contest/writing event, but the normal Omniverse script was flipped in that the players had no control over how fights turned out. Whenever they ran into an enemy, the fight was written by me, with a result determined by how they had written beforehand, their current gear, current health, and any SP they wanted to spend.
The whole thing was designed to be a spectacle, and I’d wager those who are still around would say it achieved that end. It was also incredibly taxing on people, both the pace of the writing and what I’ll call the ‘out of character tomfoolery’ aspect. Alliances were made. Alliances were shattered. People were betrayed. All the stuff that’s fun to read but awful to live through for the victims.
Last year, I let those interested in the competition vote on their preferred event. The choice was a storyline saga that saw a group of primes crash land on a strange island in the Danteverse. Fog impeded their powers and they were forced to explore an increasingly hellish place in order to escape the island. Several primes did survive. The competitive aspect wasn’t explicit (there was only one fight between PC characters). Rather it was implicit, in that people were ‘eliminated from final prize contention’ every few days. In the end, one person ‘won’ but many survived and most of the final crop gained some degree of fame.[/spoiler]
So I’d like to host another event this summer. Just like last year, I’d like at least 15-20 interested parties. Just like last year, I wanted to provide people with a choice of what event they’d most like to participate in. Regardless of the option, all of them would start around June 3rd.
It’s set up so that everyone can vote for two options they are interested in. Feel free to ask questions if you have them.
I hope you’ll join me. The last three years, my work schedule’s been increasingly hellish, so this is something that I always look forward to. I don't think anyone would say I don't pour myself into these.
---
Option A – Battle Royale
Overview – This is the 2015 format with modifications and twists based upon a mixture of feedback from participants and just me wanting to try new things.
In this event, the participants are dropped onto an island. Collars have robbed them of their Moves and many of their Powers. Primes will receive bonuses based on stats. They’ve been provided with a map of their surroundings, some supplies, and a random Weapon or Support Item. Only one person will escape the island. Characters move around on a grid. Fights are decided and written out by the host. Random events may benefit or impair you. Teaming may benefit you. Or it might doom you. This is equal parts mind game, luck, and pure grit. You don’t have to be the best technical writer to win.
Fun Times – Strategy, betrayal, mind games… Plus I like to think that this provides the most ‘openness’ in the end. You don’t need to be the greatest writer to win.
Rough Times – People got stressed out. It happens, and I’m sorry for that.
Timeline – Less than a month, including a 5-day preshow
---
Option B – ‘Battle Quest’
Overview – Contestants are dropped onto an island (this is a common theme). Collars are placed on them to remove specific Powers. The map is divided into five regions. Each region hides objects that must be collected and returned to the center region. Every few (in-character) hours, characters must return to safe houses. Once inside, two characters are ‘culled’ and forced to fight one another to escape. These fights will be written by the writers with strict, non-extendable time limits. Whoever loses is removed (either from death or ejection), and the quest continues until all the items are collected or only one individual remains.
Fun times – This is designed to have less stress than Option A. Writers will get to go head-to-head with their peers, relying solely on their talent rather than some of the dumb luck mechanics that are in Option A. Killing is optional, as the contest can be won without anyone having to die.
Rough times - The lack of ‘random’ elements will provide an advantage to talented writers, as fights will be determined based on quality.
Timeline – Between a month and six weeks.
Option C – ‘Conquest’
Overview – Three rival armies are vying for control of an island. They each start off controlling a portion of the island. Each army is led by a PC and is made up of a number of PC primes (depending on the total number of PC entrants) and a few thousand secondaries that form the bulk of the army. Each army will be able to specialize its soldiers (provide them with classes). There will be neutral locations on the map that can be captured or won through diplomacy. Each army will be able to construct buildings and weapons of war in their attempts to defeat the other armies. Espionage, assassination, and treason are all possibilities. Primes can be killed or spared. Armies will have morale that must be maintained to keep them effective.
What will your strategy be to defeat your rivals?
Fun times – I think this is a pretty novel concept. I’ve been tweaking the alpha over the last two years.
Rough Times – This will involve a lot of collaboration with your team and the host. There’ll also be a learning curve, and much like Option A, there will be some built in ‘random events’ and other randomness.
Timeline – 2 months, although who knows, it could be shorter, but I’m expecting attrition. This is the only one that won't have hard time limits for posting.
Option D – ‘Survival’
Overview – In this event, contestants crash on an island. It is up to the survivors to figure a way off the island. They may work together or alone. The host will serve much like a GM in a tabletop RPG by providing prompts and events that progress the story or give clues to the primes. Every X number of OOC days will constitute ‘a round.’ At the end of each round, the host will give one individual a prize and then eliminate one individual from the pool of contestants (this may result in death or simply mean that person is ineligible to ‘win’ at the end).
Note – We did this last summer, so if this is picked again, it would be something totally different, story-wise.
Fun times – This is the most hands-off event format and provides probably the highest amount of freedom in regards to what you can (try and) do. Plus, it’s story-driven and no one has to die unless someone wants to take the route of being the rogue or the one who suffers a psychotic break.
Timeline – This event last year took… almost three months? It was long but it wasn’t punishing, since people only had to post once every few days.
---
Thoughts? Input? Votes?
If you’ve participated last year or already know the backstory, skip the spoiler tag.
[spoiler]
Two years ago, I hosted what can best be described as the Omniverse equivalent of Battle Royale/the Hunger Games. 45(!) primes were deposited onto an island. They were given collars that interfered with their normal powers. In return, they were given a randomized weapon. Writers could move their prime along a grid map, either hunting down their foes or avoiding them (and the dead zones that spread across the island). The mission was to be the last one standing on the island. At its core, it was a writing contest/writing event, but the normal Omniverse script was flipped in that the players had no control over how fights turned out. Whenever they ran into an enemy, the fight was written by me, with a result determined by how they had written beforehand, their current gear, current health, and any SP they wanted to spend.
The whole thing was designed to be a spectacle, and I’d wager those who are still around would say it achieved that end. It was also incredibly taxing on people, both the pace of the writing and what I’ll call the ‘out of character tomfoolery’ aspect. Alliances were made. Alliances were shattered. People were betrayed. All the stuff that’s fun to read but awful to live through for the victims.
Last year, I let those interested in the competition vote on their preferred event. The choice was a storyline saga that saw a group of primes crash land on a strange island in the Danteverse. Fog impeded their powers and they were forced to explore an increasingly hellish place in order to escape the island. Several primes did survive. The competitive aspect wasn’t explicit (there was only one fight between PC characters). Rather it was implicit, in that people were ‘eliminated from final prize contention’ every few days. In the end, one person ‘won’ but many survived and most of the final crop gained some degree of fame.[/spoiler]
So I’d like to host another event this summer. Just like last year, I’d like at least 15-20 interested parties. Just like last year, I wanted to provide people with a choice of what event they’d most like to participate in. Regardless of the option, all of them would start around June 3rd.
It’s set up so that everyone can vote for two options they are interested in. Feel free to ask questions if you have them.
I hope you’ll join me. The last three years, my work schedule’s been increasingly hellish, so this is something that I always look forward to. I don't think anyone would say I don't pour myself into these.
---
Option A – Battle Royale
Overview – This is the 2015 format with modifications and twists based upon a mixture of feedback from participants and just me wanting to try new things.
In this event, the participants are dropped onto an island. Collars have robbed them of their Moves and many of their Powers. Primes will receive bonuses based on stats. They’ve been provided with a map of their surroundings, some supplies, and a random Weapon or Support Item. Only one person will escape the island. Characters move around on a grid. Fights are decided and written out by the host. Random events may benefit or impair you. Teaming may benefit you. Or it might doom you. This is equal parts mind game, luck, and pure grit. You don’t have to be the best technical writer to win.
Fun Times – Strategy, betrayal, mind games… Plus I like to think that this provides the most ‘openness’ in the end. You don’t need to be the greatest writer to win.
Rough Times – People got stressed out. It happens, and I’m sorry for that.
Timeline – Less than a month, including a 5-day preshow
---
Option B – ‘Battle Quest’
Overview – Contestants are dropped onto an island (this is a common theme). Collars are placed on them to remove specific Powers. The map is divided into five regions. Each region hides objects that must be collected and returned to the center region. Every few (in-character) hours, characters must return to safe houses. Once inside, two characters are ‘culled’ and forced to fight one another to escape. These fights will be written by the writers with strict, non-extendable time limits. Whoever loses is removed (either from death or ejection), and the quest continues until all the items are collected or only one individual remains.
Fun times – This is designed to have less stress than Option A. Writers will get to go head-to-head with their peers, relying solely on their talent rather than some of the dumb luck mechanics that are in Option A. Killing is optional, as the contest can be won without anyone having to die.
Rough times - The lack of ‘random’ elements will provide an advantage to talented writers, as fights will be determined based on quality.
Timeline – Between a month and six weeks.
Option C – ‘Conquest’
Overview – Three rival armies are vying for control of an island. They each start off controlling a portion of the island. Each army is led by a PC and is made up of a number of PC primes (depending on the total number of PC entrants) and a few thousand secondaries that form the bulk of the army. Each army will be able to specialize its soldiers (provide them with classes). There will be neutral locations on the map that can be captured or won through diplomacy. Each army will be able to construct buildings and weapons of war in their attempts to defeat the other armies. Espionage, assassination, and treason are all possibilities. Primes can be killed or spared. Armies will have morale that must be maintained to keep them effective.
What will your strategy be to defeat your rivals?
Fun times – I think this is a pretty novel concept. I’ve been tweaking the alpha over the last two years.
Rough Times – This will involve a lot of collaboration with your team and the host. There’ll also be a learning curve, and much like Option A, there will be some built in ‘random events’ and other randomness.
Timeline – 2 months, although who knows, it could be shorter, but I’m expecting attrition. This is the only one that won't have hard time limits for posting.
Option D – ‘Survival’
Overview – In this event, contestants crash on an island. It is up to the survivors to figure a way off the island. They may work together or alone. The host will serve much like a GM in a tabletop RPG by providing prompts and events that progress the story or give clues to the primes. Every X number of OOC days will constitute ‘a round.’ At the end of each round, the host will give one individual a prize and then eliminate one individual from the pool of contestants (this may result in death or simply mean that person is ineligible to ‘win’ at the end).
Note – We did this last summer, so if this is picked again, it would be something totally different, story-wise.
Fun times – This is the most hands-off event format and provides probably the highest amount of freedom in regards to what you can (try and) do. Plus, it’s story-driven and no one has to die unless someone wants to take the route of being the rogue or the one who suffers a psychotic break.
Timeline – This event last year took… almost three months? It was long but it wasn’t punishing, since people only had to post once every few days.
---
Thoughts? Input? Votes?
![[Image: KarlSig.jpg]](http://omniverse-rpg.com/images/KarlSig.jpg)