[Poll] MICE theory of game style

[Quint]

What I most enjoyed about the canon setting was being able to detail out rich character histories for the players that described where they had been and what they had done, year by year, over the course of their career using a combination of advanced character generation and the Cyberpunk 2020 Lifepath tables.

Players appreciated it, some more, some less, but they all knew that they had a ready made supply of contacts and knowledge - right there on their character sheet.

From there I might have a "big story" in the background (usually as a matter of fact), but the player involvement in this was usually up to them (often decided in large part before the campaign started) - again, they had a richer character to play with than the bare bones version the regular Traveller rules produced. This increased their investment because that back-story was created by their rolls - I just buffed it to shine with canonicity and to give them a "cool story" rather than bunch of unconnected events.

One of the things I like about MgT is that is gives me a little bit of both, so that I don't have to combine two rules systems to get the effect that want.

D.

 

[flykiller]

Rarely have I seen players or groups of players sit down and devote their time to a game in the name of story/setting/period. I have not seen players stop playing at the end of a particular adventure or module. The goal for them is not something bigger than themselves. For players and their characters, there is nothing bigger or more important than themselves.

well they can't develop their charaters without a setting, or without doing things, or by doing things without a reason.

the referee creates the milieu. the players create the characters. together they enact the ideas through events.

 

[Leitz]

In my recent game I have been trying to get a play style going where the players have a lot of license to make up what's going on in the story outside of their own characters. My hope is that this will make world-building less odious for them.

We're doing this in the TDW PbP; atpollard runs one game and I run another. Both of us have, as players, added to the environment. Sometimes it's key to our PCs, others it's just add on stuff. Each of us plays off what the other has added. It's a rich environment for our characters to grow in and enjoy.

 

[Leitz]

It has been my experience that players invest of themselves into their characters. It is when a character reaches the top of that Self-Actualization pyramid that they choose to try on another character concept, whether the current campaign or storyline is ready for them or not.

Not sure on this. I prefer character development, but part of that is facing a challenge and overcoming it through play. External conflict and internal growth combine to make a great game that can be long running. atpollard has run a PbP here for more than a year and we're still going strong. There are things lined up that will challenge my character and keep me gaming for the next couple years. I was in a Mini6 PbP where my character was trying to recover his family's honor. That one went for over four years real time. Another game, ACKS/BRP/RoTK went for more than a year. My character went from minor military leader to Duke, all in the name of China.

I find external challenge an integral part of gaming. Having tried several of the Star Trek Sims that are purely character, I felt no real joy.

 

[Sifu Blackirish]

A writer's dilemma

This poll made me stop and think.

Despite a lack of stability in my personal life, my creativity is unchecked. I am currently working on a story, which will become a game scenario, about adventures on a planet described as "Mercury on steroids." Although i have spent a great deal of time in research about this planet, it is character interaction that drives the story, as it should do in an adventure.

Just yesterday i was writing an action sequence and even though i know already how it ends, i was personally excited as the scene unfolded from my notes to full prose.

Group interaction is why we play, those of you fortunate enough to have live players. Having a sense of character accomplishment is what makes a story or game great. Without characters, you have a bland almanac instead of an adventure.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

I guess, event then.

This event happened (is happening). Now sandbox amongst yourselves.

 

[kilemall]

I don't like the question, it's a false choice. Each element should inform and influence the other.

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

Characters. Most important. Bigly. Everything else is secondary, although everything is important.

Milieu - The story is about the environment and seeing new places. Without characters, the descriptions of the Milieu end up being little more than a scenic tour.

Idea - Discovering a new race, solving a new problem. Mysteries fall into this group. Without characters, the descriptions of the Idea end up being little more than a sales pitches or plot synopses.

Event - Battles, conquest, meet a specific challenge. Without characters, the descriptions of Events end up being little more than an historical descriptions.

The character-driven plot is what makes literature and RPGs interesting. We identify with characters, not with environments (unless you're a conservationist), not with ideas (unless you're religious), and not with events (unless you're into professional sports).

If a millieu, an idea, and an event are all that are needed to create a story, and there are no characters there to react, does the story really exist?

 

[flykiller]

not with ideas (unless you're religious)

(laugh) 'pends on what you mean by "religious".

The character-driven plot is what makes literature and RPGs interesting.

more specifically it shows your interests.

was listening to a book-on-cd. I bought it because I thought it would have something to do with the theme it advertised. while there were a few scenes illustrating the theme it spent the vast majority of its time in a detail-by-detail blow-by-blow word-by-word account of character thoughts and actions - he said this, he said that, he thought this, he thought that, she did this, she did that - and in spite of the fact that these were describing high-power politics, espionage, plane crashes, and traversing enemy-held territory it was boring as all get-out because all of the characters were all isolated from the putative primary ideas and events of the story. half way through I realized it was going nowhere, that the so-called "story" was as character-centered and character-driven as could be, so I shut it off and gave it to the local library.

 

[barfoo]

Hard to choose. A mix between Milieu and Idea I guess.
Character is the least interesting part for me, especially the RPG choking straightjacket called character progression. Ifan adventure doesn't interest the players for its own sake it is flawed and no matter what skills, cash or trinkets the adventure is nothing more than part of an MMO like grind.

All IMHO of course.