So the issue of XP Disparity was brought up to me at the last game. At first, I have to admit that I wouldn’t have believed it. After looking in to the issue, there is a grievous disparity within the game that must be dealt with.
Before I go in to this, I want to make a few of statements.
First, I accept full and total responsibility for what has come to pass. Without attempting to make excuses, my intention was to spur player interaction between games and be more flexible in terms of working with everyone’s schedule.
Second, I do not want anyone to think that this post is meant to affix blame or responsibility on anyone else other than myself. The problems listed below are due to my own actions and I take full responsibility for them.
Lastly, I want to offer my complete and humble apology to everyone effected by this disparity. At no time was anyone’s role playing valued over any other player. I value each and every one of my players for their creative mind and what they bring to the game. Again, I am truly sorry for what has transpired.
In a nut shell, here is what was brought up to me. At the end of the last game, the issue of XP rewards was brought up to me. The means in which XP was issued out was seen as under valuing the effort put forward by the player(s). This action was making player(s) feel as if they were not as important or even being disrespected and was causing a sense of disenfranchised among the player(s). In short causing hurt feelings. The matter was raised to me with respect and deserved to be treated in the same manner. It should be remembered that everyone comes to the game to play and have fun. They do not come to our game to feel unimportant or otherwise unequal in terms of the storyline or plot.
While this was never meant to be the case, this is what my own research uncovered. The research also indicated that those without as much free time as others were unfairly disadvantaged in terms of character advancement. This only further the spread the XP disparity within our game.
Here is what I discovered in my research:
Issue One: XP Disparity. Between the highest XP Character and the Lowest XP Character there is a 11,800 XP Gap. While this does include missing one scheduled and two popup games (this will be dealt with in another issue), even if I remove these three games, the gap only narrows to 7,250. Because of this gap, characters are becoming out of balance.
Issue Two: Rampant explosion of XP awarded from non-game activities: While this was created to spur between character actions, this mistake has only further fueled the Disparity. It is my assumption (only my assumption) that this has also caused some players to feel the need to devote time to the online part of our game out of a sense of falling behind. Or forcing other players to simple give up any hope of being on level with those that do partake online. This will create disparity in the future if not addressed.
Issue Three: Breaking with Scheduled Games. During the past two Mondays, I allowed for popup games while one player had no chance or even invitation to attend. While these side games did not advance the overall main plot, it was still wrong. Not only was this wrong, it was disrespectful (which because the issue of respect was raised, I want to address this as well).
Issue Four: Time Warp Whiplash. Because of actions between games, some players are given access to discovery while others are not. On its face this is not a problem, however my lack of explaining what happened between games has often left players open to accusations of metagaming and given other players a sense of Time Warp Whiplash.
Issue Five: Timeline Continuity within the Game. While this was not part of the original issue raised to me at the last game, during my research it was discovered as part of a problem to overall player experience. It was discovered that when the players decided upon a course of actions at the end of one game, that this course of action allowed to be changed. This change has effected (but not limited to) the in game time frame between games. Because of this, the effects of Time Warp Whiplash are magnified.
Corrections to these Issues:
What I am going to do has never been done by me in the past. Because of the nature and how far out of control these issues have become requires me to make such drastic moves.
Issue One: XP Equality
I am going to bring all characters up to level 7 (XP 21,000). This is effective upon reading this post. Please make sure that your characters are leveled up prior to the beginning of the next game. At the end of all future games, ALL characters will be awarded the same base XP with no deviation. If a player cannot attend a game due to work or family issues and has communicated this issue to me in a respectful period of time, I will grant that character XP for the game that they missed (This is not meant to be abused, but meant to understand that sometimes life happens). This is not meant be unfair to the players how attend, but meant to not punish players for putting real life ahead of our game.
Issue Two: Online XP Rewards
There will no longer be any issue of XP for In Betweens done online. In Betweens can still reveal new information and afford characters the chance to interact with each other and with NPC’s. I cannot stress this importance in terms of In Betweens. It is recognized that After Action Reports are still very important for the party. This allows players to reveal their inner character thoughts on a matter and to help reveal the larger understanding of the game.
Because of this, AAR’s will still receive their XP Rewards (750 XP maximum). Remember that AAR’s are rated on their content, and reward will be based on your fellow players. How useful is the AAR to your fellow players in understanding your character’s actions in the past game or being able to predict future actions. Please keep this in mind.
Issue Three: Breaking with Scheduled Games
Hosting Games out of normal schedule is something that happens all the time. Since the very first time I gamed back in the 80’s this has been the norm. What wasn’t the norm, was hosting games without even having the respect towards fellow players to speak to them first.
THIS WILL NOT EVER HAPPEN AGAIN! It is disrespectful and unacceptable. The fact that I did this blows my mind. If I host a Pop-Up game in the future again, it will be with the consent of all the players within our game. A strict outline of the Pop-Up game will be created and followed to ensure that no one is left out of the loop.
Issue Four: Time Warp Whiplash
Prior to the beginning of each game, I will do my very best to explain all the events that occurred between the games. This way, when characters are part of a scene but were not actively part of the In Between they will still have access to the information that was discovered. Players will be able to see how information has gone from Player Knowledge to Character Knowledge. I ask all Players who partake in In Betweens to be prepared to take a few moments to share their experiences between the games with everyone in the group prior to the beginning of the next game. Please use common sense as to what is meant to be Character Knowledge and what is meant to be Player Knowledge. If a Character is attempting to do something behind the Party's back or in secret, this could change the need for a party "briefing." I am not going to force players to reveal such actions to the party.
Issue Five: Timeline Continuity
If the party decides on a lull in time between games, that this lull be enforced so that planned side quests can take place without shorting other characters. Most importantly, continuity within the time line of the will be followed. IE Side Quests will take place when there is sufficient time in the game’s timeline to engage in this task. This will also pertain to all In Betweens as well.
In conclusion
I want it made clear that the mistakes listed above were of my own creation. I do not lay blame or fault on anyone. I am deeply humbled by my discovery and shocked that I ran my game in such haphazard method. I would like to take this moment to once more offer my deepest and remorseful apology to all my players. Writing this was much more painful and difficult than any of you will ever imagine.
Thank you for taking your time to read and understand the events that has led to this post.
Issues with Game Play and Experience
