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Author Topic: Question about quest..  (Read 835 times)

Lynn1020

Question about quest..
« on: September 21, 2009, 05:41:02 pm »
Okay.. I have been meaning to ask this for sometimes.  I often do not do quest because I am not sure on how do let the gm know things I want my character to do.  

By that I mean, I will emote something and do a role or if the gm has requested I will wait to be told to roll.  So my question is.... if you emote something or ask a gm a question but you get no response... do you just take that as a no to whatever you did or continue to ask until you get a response?  I really hate bugging GM's on quest, even more so when there is a large party or demanding character/player on it.  So with that I often find it hard to get my characters involved on quest and feel like I'm just along for the ride.

Any ideas or tips from the GM's would be appreciated.
 
The following users thanked this post: Serissa, Pibemanden, Lord Dark, Hellblazer, Shiokara

Pankoki

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2009, 06:02:35 pm »
Unfortunately (Fortunately maybe?) all GMs have different ways of handling players in their quests. Some read off party text, some request a DM channel message, some let people roll freely, others forbid rolling until asked.

Personally, if you want to do something and emote it out in party and you haven't received a reply from me in a relatively short period of time, I would like to receive in the DM channel with the appropriate message to remind me. I often reply right away after that, but if its a particularly busy party and everyone is doing things, then I will likely pause everyone to catch up and ask that all requests are sent once again to clear them out.

Bottomline though, if you're in a quest of mine never ever ever assume that you're being purposefully ignored. Something will or will not happen from your actions, but you will always get a reply, regardless of how busy it is. Never assume that one thing happens without me responding, because retconning actions is never a fun thing to do.

But like I said, most GMs do it differently. Some have faster/slower response times, or simply approach the whole situation differently, so the best answer really, is to ask the person running the quest.
 

minerva

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2009, 06:03:41 pm »
In my opinion there is a big difference between trying to be involved and hugging the spotlight.
 
 As a GM it is my responsibility to get you involved as much as I can. I obviously can't always modivate those just along for the ride but I try to.
 
 That said, the screen rolling past at 5 billion miles an hour as people discuss, chatter, battle, whatever - things get missed. If that is the case - poke me again either in tell or the DM channel.
 
 On the flip side of this is when you are in a large group on a quest and you're just hanging out with your sidekick or making general chatter it doesn't have to be in the Party channel to reduce the amount of stuff I have to read.
 
 My personal stategy is - I try to think ahead about what my character is doing or might do in a situation - if it seems dubious I might send of a - Kat wants to try XYZ - is that ok?  If I get an ok then I emote what it is if that is appropriate and do the required rolls (hence why I love silent rolls so everyone else doesn't decide that rock needs to be looked under and tosses up a search).  If I don't get a response I generally wait a few minutes especially in a larger group and poke with a " did you get that?".  
 
 As a GM I might say - hey you can do XYZ but gimme a minute to deal with another player...
 
 Also - drive by rolls are annoying as get out ... ie you emote looking at a painting  but keep cruising down the hall so that by the time I ask you to roll a spot you are no where near the item of question.
 
 Asking specific questions also works better for me.  With Amanda - looks at the orb  *rolls a Spellcraft* will tend to yield less than  studies the round object intensely, checking the area around it for any magical traces or auras *rolls a Spellcraft*  Yes it requires you to think about what your character is doing and why rather than a shot in the dark .
 
 Just some random rattlings while waiting for some lab tests to be run and since they are back ...  *wanders out to the real job*
 

Tanman

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2009, 09:54:33 pm »
Different strokes for .... different GMs! I allow my players to do anything, but I totally agree with minerva and pan. As a gm we cannot see everything because the text from everybody flows through as white text and only those in the dm channel and tells are in different color. Thats why it is important to go to DM channel or tells...
 

Pseudonym

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2009, 01:53:14 am »
As others have already said, use the DM channel. Anything said anywhere else (for me) was, at best, 50/50 to be read.

In two and a half years of GMing I don't think I had an issue with anyone rolling checks or emoting something in a particular fashion. People were only ever ignored due to me missing something rather than using silence as a sign I was peeved at their behaviour. I found epic traps and hellballs to be a more effective sign by far.
 

Lynn1020

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #5 on: September 22, 2009, 02:00:35 am »
Quote from: Pseudonym
As others have already said, use the DM channel. Anything said anywhere else (for me) was, at best, 50/50 to be read.

In two and a half years of GMing I don't think I had an issue with anyone rolling checks or emoting something in a particular fashion. People were only ever ignored due to me missing something rather than using silence as a sign I was peeved at their behaviour. I found epic traps and hellballs to be a more effective sign by far.


Well that is the thing I really did not know how to handle. I have sent things across the DM channel with no response. I know they are dealing with a lot going on at once and I do not want to be annoying. So I wasn't sure I should keep sending the same thing across or just take it as a no..you didn't find anything.. or no you can't do that.
 

miltonyorkcastle

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #6 on: September 22, 2009, 02:12:33 am »
I readily admit that with a group of ten or more, I'll miss someone, something said, even on the DM channel. I will not be offended if you ask twice or even three times whether I caught what it was your character did. Four times might be pushing it. ;) Seriously, though, I'm pretty sure I always answer once I notice whatever it was you were asking. :p Oh, and with large groups (10 or more), I don't read what's passing through the party channel. Really. I don't even try. You're better off asking or explaining in the DM channel first, then emoting so that the rest of the party knows what you're doing. I communicate mostly through tells and the DM channel. The rest of it is for you players to use in interaction with each other.

Also, and maybe I should add this to my "GM bio," but I seldom require rolls. More often than not I'll ask what your current bonus is to the appropriate skill. If your bonus breaks the DC I have in mind for the task, no need to roll, I'll just tell you that what your character does/senses. The only exception to this is if you are in a particularly stressful situation (which invariably increases the DCs anyway) like combat or a timed scenario. This is because the dice roll is really designed to simulate the infinite variables that cannot be properly represented in every given situation, artificially and arbitrarily deciding how your character fairs given all the unseen "curveballs" he/she might run into trying to perform a task. In other words, if you're skilled enough, you are assumed to have already compensated for all but the very worst of scenarios, and therefore even a poor roll (the odds are working against you) will still result in success, which means there is ultimately no need to roll, with the added and obvious exception of extremely stressful situations like combat.

So, all that to say, bug me until I respond, and don't bother rolling unless I specifically ask you to do so. Like Minerva said, the more specific your question/action, the more specific of a response you'll get from me.

And last but not least: You won't get a "no" from me (at least 99.99% of the time), so not getting a response certainly does not and will not ever mean "no." You will always get, "If you do this, the world responds in such-and-such a way." If you don't get that, it's because you need to bug me some more. 8)
 

LordCove

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #7 on: September 22, 2009, 02:13:47 am »
If it's me..... and you get no response after a minute or two.... Poke me again with a repeat of what you are after.

I'm sure a lot of people know Im not the greatest when it comes to keeping up with and replying to 10 simultaneous requests for information.
Like Pankoki above, I'll never ignore a request for information with an emote and a skill roll... but I may miss it.

If no response, gently poke them again.
 

Script Wrecked

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #8 on: September 22, 2009, 02:24:11 am »
Don't be afraid to nag them senseless... You'll be sure to get their attention that way. :p

On a less life threatening tack, sometimes I just let these things go. If the DM has their hands full, then either someone else is trying to do something similar to what I'm trying to do, or I'm going to be able to participate in what someone else is arranging.

At times there is only so much action that can be fit into one scene. :)
 

Lord of the Forest

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #9 on: September 22, 2009, 06:40:10 am »
Not being an active GM here, but once upon a time I was, believe me or not *winks*

Sometimes GMs get flooded with requests, rolls, whatever and sometimes it is really really hard to keep track of it and answer all in time and I have to admit sometimes the GMs might miss something. The larger the group is the harder it is to keep track in general.

Back when I was GM could poke me for anything they wanted, might it be just some clarification or a roll. What I wrote in my quest rules was that you have to RP your roll and let me know via GM-Channel what you want to do.

Every action by a player will be read in general and it really happens that GMs might miss one emote from time to time. Hey, mere humans like anyone else after all ;)

What I used to do when things got really messy .. I said //Hold a moment guys, sorting out your flood of requests...

If you don't get a reply for some time. I doubt they will bite ones head off if you ask them if they missed it or whatever. At least I never did.
 

Dorganath

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #10 on: September 22, 2009, 09:43:43 am »
Pretty much what they said. *points up*

It's not "bothering" a GM to send them tells or DM channel notes on what your character would like to do.  We used to toss small, folded up notes to our tabletop GM over the screen to relay the intentions of our characters that were not meant to be obvious (at least not at first).  It's all part of the game.

As a player and a GM, I've found that follow-up messages like "*nudge* Did you see my emote?" or "Hey, did you catch my message?" or even "So did he find anything" (after a roll or check or something like that) are almost better attention-getters than simply repeating the same message.  I always give the GM a couple minutes (at least) on busy quests before repeating myself or prodding for details, because I know what it's like.

Party chat is hard to read sometimes, as it goes by so quickly. It's an art, surely, and often akin to "drinking from a fire hose", but even in large groups, it's sometimes difficult to catch all the tells and DM messages.  So yeah, as was said above, don't be offended if you don't get a reply. Just ask again.  I personally never ignored people, though I've missed their comments.  Occasionally (rarely, but it happened), I even brought the quest to a screeching halt so as to catch up with the stream of text and requests.  I don't mind doing this and I don't think it's a bad thing.  Some times, parts of the quest need to move much slower than normal simply because there's so much going on.
 

Lynn1020

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #11 on: September 22, 2009, 10:40:24 am »
Quote from: Lord of the Forest
Sometimes GMs get flooded with requests, rolls, whatever and sometimes it is really really hard to keep track of it and answer all in time and I have to admit sometimes the GMs might miss something. The larger the group is the harder it is to keep track in general.



*nods* That being the reason for my post.  I want to get my characters involved but not by annoying or pushy.   Even when Emie can be at times  ;)  Amanda is not and I often find it hard to get her involved.
 

minerva

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #12 on: September 22, 2009, 11:56:14 am »
Screeching halt..... man I miss the quest server and pause...
 

miltonyorkcastle

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #13 on: September 22, 2009, 12:04:50 pm »
Quote
Screeching halt..... man I miss the quest server and pause...


Ditto.
 

Rowana

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #14 on: September 22, 2009, 12:26:15 pm »
All I have to say that hasn't already been said. Please bother me. If I am running a quest I will answer you no matter what. If you don't get an answer. Bother, nag, pinch, ... well okay keep it PG and polite but you know! Chances are something shiny passed near by while I was considering your request.

~row

*also misses the quest server*
 

Lynn1020

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #15 on: September 22, 2009, 04:41:27 pm »
A lot of good advice here. Thanks!  

I think I have come to realize that quest aren't for everyone and I'm one of those. ;) Heh

I have to say big kudos to the GM's that do run quest.  It is not something I could do.
 

Script Wrecked

Re: Question about quest..
« Reply #16 on: September 22, 2009, 09:43:25 pm »
You just need more practise! :)