User:Durango/reviewNovember10

Review time again! I only got five of my hoped-for 10 reviews :(, but I'm extremely grateful for the reviews I did receive!

Be sure to read all the way through to the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT THAT NO ONE SAW COMING.

LET'S GO.

'''001 Durango! Uh, I guess, be more visible really. I know you've gone half over to charstaff but I've not seen any TP things out of you lately, which is a crying shame, a real, actual tragedy because you are wonderful, and we need active people doing wonderful things. I know that your times are odd now, but I hear a LOT of people who are on at really late times moaning that there's not much to do (Nate, Comcast, Munition, Sky Lynx to name a few). Remember this isn't an American MUSH, it is worldwide so just cos you can't be on for EST doesn't mean you can't be on for anything. Also I love you :( '''

Little was it known to anyone, but I was secretly the guy who's been working on the Move Cybertron TP for the past year or so. I ended up not being able to run most of the scenes (other than the debacle that was Spacebridge to Regret), and due to the moving of the date of the moving (...), I ended up not being on hand to run that as I'd planned. As far as other scenes... you're right. Let's discuss this again at the bottom of the page.

I love you too :O

'''002 Haven't seen too much from you, probably due to RL stuff which is understandable. I've always liked your TPs and the enthusiasm you bring to the job, and also the fairness. I'm looking forward to your charstaff work, I think you'll do good things there (if you haven't already started). I also like that you listen to player complaints/problems and try to address them. It's funny but a lot of times an admin doesn't even need to do much, it helps just to know there's a staffer who is listening to complaints and explain where you're coming from instead of just blowing them off or shooting down. I don't have specific criticism for you, but here are some suggestions: I really miss TNFs, maybe you can bring those back. Even if you have to get others to help out (and really how much does it take to run a TNF??) I also wonder if you can help to prime the pump of Autobot activity. I think I'm gonna end up saying this in every TPstaffer's review, but really things just seem dead for Autobots. And I even see players trying to do stuff, so I don't think it can be chalked up to player apathy or lack of intiative. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it or new things you think staff or players can try.'''

Hrm. Re: TPs, see the earlier review. TNFs... this is something that comes up in discussion every now and then. As far as I can tell, TPstaff is about to get rolling in a major way, so it's possible that TNFs might become a moot point once again, as we start seeing more scenes pop off on regular basises. Is basises a word? Firefox tells me it's not. Oh well.

As far as the Autobot activity is concerned, according to the last Time Report (for last week), the Autobots actually led the other two factions in IC activity. Now whether or not this is manifesting itself in specific Autobot-focused plots or points is something I can't honestly speak to, as RL has been blutching me the past two weeks with travel and whatnot. I can discuss this with the others on staff and see what we can do to push things forward, but honestly, apart from the Big Things (Spaceships, Argosys, Planetary Invasion), most of the best faction-specific stuff I've seen comes from the players, so if y'all have ideas for the Autobots, be it silly, serious, long-term or short, then hit a TPstaffer up and go over them and see what they can do to help. 'Cause they will.

'''003 On the Charstaffer front, I honestly can't rate Durango, because I haven't ran into him in that context. I do, however, have an idle question on that front. Durango, why do you like being a Charstaffer? What do you get out of it? I mean, if someone is, say, Rodimus Prime, it's pretty obvious what he gets out of the staff bit; he gets to be Rodimus Prime, and that's awesome. However, as far as Charstaffers go, I am often baffled why they would ever want to be Charstaffers. They generally seem to be people who, due to work or time zones, can't find any time to actually RP. Wouldn't it just be frustrating and taunting? You have to read all those applications but can't actually have any fun. Do you just really like reading applications? Inquiring minds wish to know!'''

A great question! I love character work, I always have. In my REAL LIFE (OMG), I work in the theatre, primarily as a director and playwright. My job and love is helping other people find themselves in a character, develop characters and relationships, and dive deeper into the facade that is a fictional persona, and find the reality therein. I see character work here at 2k5 to simply be an extension of that; working with people to not simply prepare them to jump on the grid and say "ME GRIMLOCK," but rather walk along side and work with a player to discover what it is that makes "ME GRIMLOCK," well, Grimlock. And so on. Most people who've received application responses from me (few as they've been) have, with them, received questions and further discussions about specific points of character, which is something I intend to continue. I love having the chance to help equip players with a better understanding, and therefor more tools for RP, of their characters and their uniqueness. I realize this is all text-based robot wars, but there's no reason we can't shoot for quality and substance.

'''On the TPStaffer front, I would suggest that Durango needs to make his TPs a bit more open-ended and freeform. Being railroaded isn't much fun, and several of his TPs have been railroad-heavy. I understand that sometimes a plot has to come to a certain conclusion, but there are always several roads into Rome, and sometimes, the main road isn't the best road.'''

Well, since my last review, I think I've run all of one major scene, so I imagine this might be aimed directly at the crapfest that was Spacebridge to Regret. Here's the deal. I failed to plan for the contingency that turnout would be so one-sided, thus throwing the scene into the great Void of Implausibility. I then got the joy of dealing with a majority of the players, for various and valid reasons, pulling out halfway through, and being replaced with another set of players, which swung the Implausibility Curve hard to the other direction. By this point, I admit to being fairly jaded with the whole idea, but pushed forward anyhow, for the sake of the scene.

When set up, there was originally a planet full of possible roads. I was going to sit back and wait to see which ones people chose. I even was prepared to run two or three separate mini-scenes if different players saw different ways of going about it. We had opportunities for scientists. Warriors. Explorers. Pacifists. Technicians. Communications and intel types. All that backwork and legwork was there, and then everything fell apart in a way I've never before seen. Most of what could have been went up in the smoke of failure at the onset, when I failed to go out of my way to ensure that the group of players was balanced in such a way that would make the scene run. Thus, five or so months of work turned into a railroad, for which I apologize, but by that point, it was late, and I think we all just kind of wanted to get as much as we could out of it and move on.

(And yes, I put five months of work into a single-night scene. I'm crazy like that. I should've known better and just run a TNF I pulled out of my ass..those seem to work better.)

Anyhow, with your point, I agree fully. I wish it had been so.

'''Overall, though, Durango is a good dude. '''

Thanks! I do try. And I think you're pretty swell, too...whoever you are.

'''004 You're a blast, Durango! I haven't been around much, but I have no complaints.'''

Well thank you. I haven't been around much either, so we're Not-Around-Much Buddies! Woo!

'''005 Yay Durango! He's been friendly and approachable and has done more than most would to ensure that doesn't change. I haven't seen his Charstafferliness but noone can doubt his eagerness in his TPStaff role. About the worst you could say about him is that he is in fine company as far as the current admin structure is now, so rather than durango clearly being the best admin out there, he is a notable part in a fantastic all-star admin team. Keep rockin', Durango. Keep rockin'.'''

Thanks for your review, I think our admin are pretty rockin' myself. Which leads into the BIG REVEAL THAT I'M SURE NO ONE SAW COMING EVER:

As of today, I've moved on from TPstaff. I'm now on Charstaff full-time. With DepthCharge and Hazard moving on, there was a void that needed filled, and I think it's time for me to find other outlets for my talents. Hopefully this should open up TPstaff for even more awesomeness without me bringing it down. I can't wait to work with people on their characters and concepts. I'm excited again, which is awesome. It's a great feeling to have.

Let's rock.

(Editor's note: Durango's absense from TPstaff in no way saves you from the horrors that shall befall you in July 2009... you've been warned.)