Related Information to Aericsteele's Traveller - Mongoose Campaign Review

Aericsteele's Traveller - Mongoose Campaign Review - Page 6

As the Referee, even though you do have the Nag Player option, you as well as all Players should check the User's Introduction to ensure you know their 'status'.

This is why we continually ask Members in general to use their Introduction to update their status because the Moderators also uses it to inform Members of any actions taken, pending, etc. For example, did one of your Players change their Email address and did not verify it? Then they will not get your Emails and a Moderator will not enter a Role-playing Game to state it, but they may do it in the User's Introduction so all can be informed.

You can always use the Search Field to the top of every page by putting the Username followed by "Introduction". For example: Fusil Introduction Search Results
.

Review Campaign Mongoose Traveller Aericsteeles

Aericsteele, your Role-playing Game seems to be actively progressing, I know one Player was removed, do you have room for new Players or have you reached your cap?

Aericsteele's Traveller - Mongoose Campaign Review Reviews RPG & Card Board

I believe that I would have room for one more player to replace the one we lost.

Page 6 Review Campaign Mongoose Traveller Aericsteeles

Games night Friday. I'll see if my friend has worked out how to use his work-provided machine for forums. I know he's getting e-mails from the system. If you don't hear from either of us by Sunday, assume he's not interested. (Friday is a long night, and Saturdays I'm not near an internet connection).

Review Campaign Mongoose Traveller Aericsteeles

Lee is going to try and get a character together and join. Hopefully soon. If he has problems I'll walk him in next Friday. Make sure he has Sensors…

Aericsteele's Traveller - Mongoose Campaign Review

I was just reading some comments in the support thread of this game, so to help prevent the Role-playing Game thread from going into personal schedules and off topics I wanted to mention that in everyone's profile is an option to adjust "User's local time". Everyone should keep it up to date, that way you can know what someone's time zone is like but it still does not necessarily mean they will post any particular time. Members in general are always encouraged to tell about their presence through their introduction threads. This will help this game to keep its focus. The GM may also want to get a consensus of a time limit for players to 'make a move' so there isn't endless waiting.

Aericsteele's Traveller Mongoose Campaign Review - Page 6

As promised a few weeks back, I finally decided to draft a quick review of this game. Any other players feel free to comment on this feedback (Including AericSteele). I’m not entirely sure of the best format for it, but I’ll try to hit the points that I think are important. So without further ado…

Background

I found out about these forums and this specific game from a Traveller Facebook group. I’ve been running a homebrew Mongoose Traveller game with some friends of mine and I decided to give play by post a try since I enjoy the system so far. The game filled up relatively quickly with players. Chargen took a couple of weeks to get hammered down for players both new and familiar to the system. No complaints there as I imagine that is likely the case for any play by post game. AericSteele was quite accommodating in what kind of game everyone wanted to play, and it seemed that we had kind of left it up to a sandbox style of game. Shortly after player slots were filled up and chargen completed, AericSteele promptly made the opening post in the main thread.

Story and Narration

AericSteele clearly puts a lot of time into his posts. He does a great job of setting up the scenes and bringing the NPCs to life. There have been very few times that I have had to reread one of his posts due to lack of clarity. He also waits patiently for all players to post before posting again. I think the only critique I would make, and this is largely personal preference, is to perhaps post more often. These shorter posts may address just a few characters actions instead of all at once. But when dealing with different time zones, I can understand why he prefers to keep his posts longer with more breadth in narration. I think because this is the only play by post game I am active in, I prefer the former. But either way I am happy with the state of the narration.

Mechanics Transparency

For the most part, the mechanics are generally pretty clear. I’ve never felt like he was shorting us or hiding rolls at our expense. I especially like how AericSteele updates his character sheet to indicate random encounters and such in the form of a game log. During combat, if a player is hit, he indicates the rolls made and the damage clearly along with the post as an out of character note.

Player Management and Communication

AericSteele communicates well with the players in the Questions and Support Thread. In addition, relevant NPC, ship info, and maps are posted in either his referee character sheet or in the relevant map locations. When it came to the few player disputes we have had, he handled it diplomatically and fairly where everyone seemed to be happy with the agreed upon outcome. Players who go AWOL are given a few notices and then killed in some sort of way that generally enhances the narrative.

Activity

This game is pretty active. Thanks for all the players who keep showing up every day to post. I know everyone can get pretty busy at times, so appreciate the dedication to the game. It’s been fun playing with you all so far.

Final Verdict

Aside from a few lulls and perhaps a few moments of awkward pacing, AericSteele runs a fine game that I’d recommend anyone interested in Traveller or Science Fiction to join if a slot opens up.

Aericsteele's Traveller Mongoose Campaign Review Board Card & RPG Reviews - Page 6

A big thank you to Maiokus for your review! Giving constructive criticism along with identifying what you enjoy about the game helps me to improve, so thank you for taking the time out to post your review of the game.

This game is my first attempt at running a play-by-post game and also my first attempt at running the Mongoose version of Traveller. The players have been really good about bearing with me on rules/mechanics and have also been able to include their own experiences in the Traveller genre in the Support thread which has been invaluable in adjudicating rules and establishing game policy.

The sandbox style of the game has its pros and cons, but ultimately I tend to prefer that style over more linear types of games. I will admit that pacing has been among the issues encountered as a result of running this game in a more sandbox style, although I think this also stems from my attempts to iron out exactly what level of detail is going to be, or should be, involved in the game. This can lead to some jarring in terms of pacing as I shift from the forest to the trees and back as it were; trying to figure out how many and what kind of encounters the crew should experience can be troublesome when there is really no over-arching plot involved. The players can become confused as to what they should be doing and how much attention they need to place on a particular scene, especially when time is being more meticulously tracked (By the hour) and then suddenly a week passes with very general actions being described. This is an issue that I admittedly continue to struggle with as a referee.

Trying to determine just how much detail should go into describing daily ship operations, how much of the spotlight should be aimed at the characters daily lives, and how detailed we want to be in terms of tracking various items or resources has also resulted in some logistical issues that needed to be resolved in the Support thread before the game could move forward in the Main thread.

I opted for more detailed financial management mostly in an attempt to give the feel of a crew struggling to make ends meat each month and being forced to plan their operations accordingly. I felt this was a little more appropriate in a sandbox game, whereas in a more linear adventure focused game the focus would be less on financial management and survival and more focused on accomplishing the goals of the adventure at hand.

I like the freedom of a sandbox game though. As a referee I don't have to use encounters to guide the game along a plot arch. Encounters are primarily to prompt a response, any response, from the characters in the game. An overall plot or theme may or may not develop as the game progresses based on the characters actions, but I feel that the characters are able to have more input into the direction that the game ultimately takes.

After getting more comfortable the players have been very good about utilizing the Support thread to work out issues and guiding the game forward, keeping the in-character thread free from out of character chatter. Issues have come up regarding player styles, agency, and posting but these issues were handled in the Support thread in a mature and appropriate way and the disagreements did not seem to bleed over too much into the in-character interactions.

Activity is good, and I generally don't have to wait on player responses. I do recognize that my posting is often less frequent as a result of waiting to ensure each player has an opportunity to effect the scene before moving on. Policy requires a post from a player within 48hrs of my last post which does slow things down a little bit, but the reason I tend to wait for the entirety of this 48hr period (Or until everyone has posted) is because I want to have an overall picture of what is going to happen in the scene or overall game before I move it forward. My preference does tend to be fewer but more detailed and quality posts over more frequent but shorter and less detailed posts.

I appreciate everyone's activity level though. We have had a couple of players "Flake" out and disappear without notice, but overall everyone has been very active making for a very good experience so far. I am having a lot of fun running this game!