Galvatron Review October 2008



Reviews for Galvatron ca. October 2008.

Reviews which named names were edited a bit for privacy in some instances.

Original reviews are in bold text, responses from Galvatron's player in italics.

Review #1
'''ayo galv. in honor of you i'm foregoing capitalization for this review. so first of all, mighty impressive job so far. everybody knew if nothing else you'd be super-active and full of ideas and would rp the hell out of 2k5's Big Gun. great job picking up where the previous guy left off in rolling out avenues for player activity for the faction. i didn't think anybody could follow that act but you did...and then you went and took it up a few notches with all the stellar tp work. and i must say that out of the recent airwolf events you come out looking the best. don't get me wrong most everybody seems regretful over what happened, but you also had ideas on things to do different and keep stuff like that from going down again. you deserve mad props for making a positive out of the negative. as far as suggestions, i have one thing to say and this is IC-wise: long-term political machinations...IN SPACE. in addition to the hinted at upcoming space action, i see a lot of potential for the 'cons to become a viable galactic empire using the whole conquerer of quintessons angle and more than just 'that one side in the cybertron civil war that spread to earth'. for people who aren't into it, just a change in the news files and offhand comments/posts on whats going on out there, but otherwise no direct affect to their mushing since its not earth or cyber or any of the space rooms in between. but for those of us that dig it, a fresh new place to make new stories. 'con gunboat diplomacy, 'bot green beret style insurgency, whatever. in space, it's still a war. but a 'cold war'. with rival intel divisions leading the 'fight'. but all that's just my insanely late at night thoughts, in general just keep up the great work'''

''Hey, thanks. I've started trying to capitalize more lately so a more accurate way of capturing my indomitable alpha-male essence would be to randomly capitalize and punctuate SOME sentences, forgo it completely on others, and break that whole paragraph into about 400 separate fragmentary lines. I mean, come on, it's not like ANYONE can do what I do there.

''On the serious-response tip though: I'm glad you're excited about our upcoming excursions into space. I feel the same way that you do -- there's a universe's worth of potential for pushing 2k5 into new areas and new situations, both literally and figuratively, while still remaining true to the overarching leitmotif of 'giant robots having a space war.' The action in the intelligence division has really picked up lately, as well -- Soundwave is up to no good and now has a fresh new Blaster to keep him busy, Nightbeat is as excellent as ever, we have a new Reflector, a new Red Alert, steadfast players like Wiretap... I think that it's really hard to run 'intelligence' plots without a big enough group of players willing to dedicate themselves to it, because otherwise you have, like, Gears versus Ransack in a brawl over some Super Duper Secrets. I hope the intelligence scene continues to grow, because the more players get in there and get active, the more dimensions the game has to offer, as opposed to just punch punch shoot shoot heal heal loop back. I'm glad to contribute to this in any way I can.''

Review #2
'''Honestly? Awesome, f*ing awesome. In the short time you've had the role you've been one of the best Galvatrons I've seen. Fantastic, dramatic RP (some of the best stuff I've ever seen), always up for running scenes big, small and casual, and even better, very open to RP with anyone, not just people ICly important or 'speshul'. You treat everyone the same, there's no favouritism, and hell, you're just fun to be around. I want to see you on more, lets have more of this glorious Galvatron.

'''I wasn't there, but reading all the logs, I am also very impressed with the way you handled the Airwolf affair. Her reaction was completely hysterical (I use that phrase in the most academic of terms. It was) and completely disproportionate. In my view you did nothing wrong at all - a player gave a suggestion, you thought it was a good idea and asked if you could do it, you were told no and so you accepted that. And then she exploded and nuked Cybertron's capital. People should never be afraid to have ideas and I'm shocked that the reaction to a simple OOC suggestion was met with such venom. Hopefully she will calm down and see she exploded over nothing. Some people seem to hate you for no reason, in a similar way - such as The Mysterious Player X, despite never RPing or even talking with you as far as I know. Obviously some people have been stirring a lot when really what matters is that everything you do has been utterly top notch. Don't let prejudices get you down and don't let people spreading muck out of simple jealous get you down either.

Keep on what you are doing, keep on being fantastic to every player alike, be they Soundwaves or Sunder, and I hope to see you with the canon cannon for a long time to come!

''First off, thanks for the praise. My schoolwork has hit a bit of a spike in the past few weeks that should, after this week, hopefully die down as more stuff gets in the bag. I do my best to be around to help with OOC stuff even when I'm not RP-worthy, too, so if anyone ever needs me and doesn't see me on the WHO list on a given evening, try paging me anyway; chances are, I idled for too long and got auto-set hidden, so you still have a decent chance of me being at the keyboard. And if I'm not there, I always check my @mail when I log in, and I even have an email account set up as a hotline for MUSH stuff -- galvatrizzon at gmail dot com.

''Secondly, regarding Airwolf, my position hasn't really changed since I posted it on the actual game, but since that post has (I believe) timed out, I'll reiterate: I acted hastily without considering the potential impact, and as a result Airwolf and I had a big misunderstanding. Airwolf and I have spoken briefly since; other staffers have been in more involved contact with her, and while she's currently declined to return, she was gracious enough to allow us to use her descriptions and layout for our brand new, buffed and shined Cybertron grid, so if you ever do see her, be sure to thank her for that. In all, though, it was a regrettable circumstance that I wish I'd handled differently, but I can at least take away a lesson on how to approach stuff like this in the future.

In all, though, I appreciate the kind words and the enthusiasm, and I'll do my best to get out there and make good on it.

Review #3
'''Galvatron is a good dude. He does his best to keep things on an even keel and does not give in to drama. My only regret is that drama sometimes comes to him even when he doesn't indulge in it himself, but that's not his fault of course.'''

''Eh, people who've played with me for the past year might be inclined to think it's karma. All the same, thank you!''

Review #4
'''I was initially dubious of him in the role of Galvatron. I liked how he played Cyclonus, but the scenes he ran as Cyclonus weren't amazing, aside from blowing up the spaceport (that was really cool). A St. Peterburg's Poem was confusing and disorganised, and Foxworld was similar. However, the way that he runs Galvatron has been a very pleasant surprise. The scenes that he does now seem crisper and clearer. He plays an excellent Galvatron, going from epic to nutty as the scene demands it. He's around all the time, and he's a great guy to go to with problems or ideas. Galvatron seems to go out of his way to ensure that he is not owning face all the time, which is considerate to the Autobots. I have seen him hold off on joining scenes or @emit gumbies in several scenes, just to make sure that he doesn't unbalance things, and that's really respectable of him. I mean, he didn't apply to play gumbies; he applied to play Galvatron, and he puts that aside for the good of a scene. Now that really shows someone who is looking out for the good of the game.

'''I know there was the whole Airwolf debacle, but Galvatron really didn't know what the issue was, and there was no reason why he should have known. I wish someone had explained the situation to him sooner. Also, Galvatron apologised. That's pretty impressive, to me! Sometimes, it's not how people handle the awesome times but how they handle their mistakes.

'''I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with being in charge of 1/5 of the Quintesson Empire. That's a very cool plot twist!

'''Overall, I really like Galvatron, and I hope that he sticks around for a very long time, because he is just that cool. I'm very glad to have him around.

PS: Please add a themesong box to the +oocfinger.

''First off, I really do appreciate the frankness of this review, because honestly, these reviews help just as much by pointing out the bad (when it's not "YOU SUCK AND EVERYONE BLOGS ABOUT IT TRUST ME" anyway) -- hearing feedback on stuff that didn't go over so hot helps me figure out my strengths and my weaknesses.

''Regarding the two scenes you described as confusing, yeah, they were to me too. I went into both with a vague plan for each, and then within the first round of both I think the plan had been completely uprooted by last-minute suggestions, whims, second-guesses, and other stuff; they were as much improv-GMing as anything else. While I still enjoy throwing a monkeywrench into my own plans to see how they play out, I think I'll be doing less of that with Galvatron, given the IC and OOC status of the character (not to mention Galvatron's IC lack of tolerance for shenanigans).

''I appreciate the bit about me staying out of scenes or emitting gumbies, though. I'm very conscious of my character's IC power level; I can go toe-to-toe with the likes of Grimlock or Rodimus, but how many of those do we have? Unless the other player and I think it would be funny or dramatic, I'm not about to have Galvatron take on Seaspray one-on-one if there's no IC justification, because it'd just be unfair. As much as it's my responsibility to play Galvatron, I've also got the TP staff bit, which is the responsibility to just plain generate RP, by any means necessary (short of codedly PKing people without posing, but I'm trying to get Blueshift to repeal that -- what can I say, I gotta be free).

''Diverting back to Airwolfgate for a second, I do regret that I didn't get up to speed, but there have been players who have been more than gracious with their time and experience in helping me navigate the always complex, often confusing web of continuity 2k5 hath woven. You guys know who you are, so yeah, I see you.

I also think a themesong field in +oocfinger would be super-duper.

Review #5
'''Lord of the Quintessons is amusing. Am interested in what more you're going to do. Keep up. Weirdwolf added to the FC list, should be.'''

''Agree says I Weirdwolf regarding. I wish we had all the G1 guys, honestly, just because as much as some of them are doofy, well... so are a lot of the pre-movie characters! I think that the players would find a way to make even the Firecons interesting, and even if characters sit unplayed until their prince comes... shoot, we keep Headstrong around, don't we?

Regarding Lord of the Quintessons, as the plot shall probably be known now, don't expect immediate payoffs, but trust me, as it unfolds, it will build to something epic.

Review #6
'''Pretty great and it isn't an understatement. I wish school gave you less work so you could do more Galvatron things!'''

Thanks -- and damn, me too.

Review #7
'''Heya. Just wanted to say that I had some concerns about your becoming a staffer. Sometimes, in the past, you seemed to be immature and dealt with players you had disagreements with in an overly hostile manner. However, I believe that you've taken your responsibilities seriously and have acted in an even-handed manner. You've shown concern for the quality of RP in both sides and that's admirable. You're also doing a good job as Galvatron. I *greatly* prefer the Crazy Galv portrayal we saw in Season 3 to the one in the movie. I also appreciate how active you've been since taking the role.

'''As for that situation with Airwolf, I think she overreacted to nothing and that it was extremely unfair of her to dump all of that drama on you, apology or no. You seemed to try to deal with it calmly and rationally. So, all I'll say is, don't let it get to you, and keep on trucking.'''

''Thanks. I definitely approach things differently as a staffer than as a player, which is not the most professional thing to say but oh well. DepthCharge made a tremendous show of trust toward me by offering me the character, and though he and I disagree on some things, in general I don't want to let that trust be wasted.

''Regarding Crazy Galv, I love Season 3 best out of all Transformers stuff. It's wild, unhinged sci-fi with real-world satire (if in a heavy handed Carbombya kind of way) and arguably more complex characters than the first two seasons, if only because characters became two-dimensional as opposed to one-dimensional (he's evil, BUT he's also crazy -- he's good, BUT he's also cynical -- etc. etc.). I could go on like that, but honestly, Crazy Galv is more fun to play, and the Galvatron I personally like better, no question. The catch is, I'm not just playing for my own sake -- like I said, I approach it differently considering the responsibility entailed in having a fachead role. I'm playing Galvatron to help all of YOU with your stuff as much as I'm helping myself with mine. So while Galv can get loopy IC, he's also got that serious-minded, lucid side, and I tend to fade from one to the other as scenes or plots demand. Not everyone likes Crazy Galv, and not every plot works with him, so I've got to find ways to split the difference and do as much for as many people as I can.''

Okay, that's it -- next time, I expect at least 10 reviews to chew on, or I will personally Galvcannon every single character on the game. Thanks to everyone who took the time!