Event Review - In Your Hands (May 18-21)

[Aelin]

Pros - new site was pretty enjoyable.   It was good to see people after a few months.  The shapers I worked for while on shift Friday night were great.  Thank goodness it did not rain all Friday night; that was a godsend. Glad people are having the sense not to camp the bathrooms and be dicks, which is a case of a bit of positive meta.  Good job.

Otherwise - the steps on the cabins are not in the best shape, and treacherous.  Ew. Same gripe about the rabies effect; needs to be more clearly explained to both PC's and NPCs.

Found game to be incredibly slow on Saturday, and this resulted in my decision to go home early.  This is mostly because early in the morning a plot hook was sent out that was played off to be quite urgent to the people it targeted... And thus we spent a long time sitting around, shrugging off other mods, waiting for it to come back.  Seven hours later, nothing, and we decided to leave out of boredom. 

I understand npc camp can get super busy and disorganized.  I lived in it for three years. But I think if something is played off as urgent, don't leave people hanging waiting for it for almost eight hours. If something goes wrong and it gets massively delayed, send someone out to let people know.  Quietly ooc, or send the npc back to clarify.  I felt like we missed out a lot sticking around the tavern waiting for so long. 

Cest la vie, shit happens. I don't hold my decision to leave and seek other entertainment for the weekend against anyone else.  Don't hold it against me either.

[Izazel]

I had a wonderful weekend! Since this was the first four-day event of Ralinwood ever/first weekend event of the year, I felt that this event was a good indicator of how this season will go, and I wasn't disappointed.

PROS:
- The pacing was well done for the most part - I stayed pretty reserved to my own camp, but I found that when I wanted things to speed up, I could generally find/make mischief when I sought it out.
- The plant meadow/snake cave mod was so cool. I loved the RP mechanics of the plant picking, and the mechanics I heard about for the cave sounded really interesting and effective. Even the wrap-up timing was seamless. Excellent shaping.
- The challenge level seemed pretty balanced to the reward level - for the most part. It's hard to balance this when there's such a range in level and skill variation, but I think the team really pulled it off!
- Jade's inspector NPC was spot-on!
- Most of the NPCs I came across seemed to really care about their RP, and it amazes me that the lot of you kept enough energy to bring your 100% all weekend! Great job everyone!
- The new site is great. Being able to use plumbing is great. Thank you to everyone for keeping the site tidy. Warms my little faun heart.

CONS:
- Saturday's pacing was a little off, which I completely understand - I just wish that the pacing hadn't affected lunch... because RPing corruption while still consuming food is a little tricky. "Izzi, isn't your stomach upset?" *Heaves and gags, and stuffs hamburger into mouth* "Yeah."
- The infliction elementals - but only because I couldn't tell the difference between 15 and 50 (they sound identical)? I thought it was 15 (30 body) - which I could have survived - but then I was told (not by the caster) I was supposed to take 100 body, which seemed a little overkill. Don't know how to make that call more clear in the future.
- Rabies. The mechanic isn't the con, the confusion behind the mechanic is the con. Since it was present throughout the weekend, the effects should have been consistent (unless there were in-game influences that made the rabies different). Regardless, I heard 3 separate explanations, and that was extremely confusing.

PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS:
- Angelo's duck - Roberto's cat tackling him to the ground. You two are the best.
- Also, the 'respectable' cleaning lady visiting our camp. That entire scene was hilarious!
- Branya's song of Heroism - Morgaine you are a godsend.
- "I don't know who Lonely is, but I sure know how it feels."
- "Straight outta the horse's mouth!" - favourite pun of the weekend.
- With Sam's drunk NPC:
"Why are there four of you?"
"We're quadruplets!" *Begins listing names*
*Points to the empty space left of me* "That one's the prettiest."
- "Wait... is this the House of I?"
"... No... it's... the House of R..."
"What does the R stand for?"
"... Rutabaga."
- All the new characters that I got to interact with!
- Jax (A.K.A Ax because J's are lame) being hit with all the effects of the plants.
- Kyrem's laughing effect.
- Leon getting turned into a rabbit, while I was memorizing in my tent. I'm so sad I missed that.
- Also Leon being singled out by the inspector for being a 'prime example' of our community. EHEHEHEHE
- DAMN IT DEAGO STOP DYING.
- Camping and grilling. And frapps. I'm sorry orcs but OUR CAMP IS BEST CAMP!
- Also, thank you Ange, and others, for not glitter-bombing me. My fear is still very much real, but I think my resistance has increased?

SCRUMP'S PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS:
- Getting to see his girlfriend for the first time in months.
- Getting thrown at people and clinging to their armour.
- Adventures with Rain - she really does show Scrump a better time.

Also, thank you for everyone's patience with me Monday morning. I couldn't muster the energy to faun-up for a fourth day in a row, and I appreciate the leniency - it's also why I stayed in my tent until game-end. Just too exhausted from a really FAUN weekend.

[NPCJenW]

Here's what I loved!
-SCOTT AND KYLE YAY!!!! Q u Q I missed my buddies!! So getting there and just seeing them was wonderful.
-I LOVE the new location. the mod sites, the trails, the beautiful but stressful trilliums,  the fire pit, the cabins, the tavern, the pavilion, the creek, everything was just perfect.

-Being rolled around as a dead horse. =___=

-Dupont Dupont of House Dupont, you rascally gnave. Had to save his ass from gnolls and his own pride. But then watching him afterwards teaching PCs how to walk as a proper swashbuckler made me so happy.
"Putting 'i'm dumb' signs on gnolls isn't very nice..."
"But they were laughing! " 


-Danny's art of "two Orcs hanging out, lovingly worshipping Baaagh in their underwear, because their clothes got too bloody obviously."


-Manipulating the PCs emotions and trying to make them fight their town. I love that a certain person almost didn't care that he was about to fight other PCs. ;D

-Sucking out the happiness of PCs as a Nightmare Wolf under the command of scary scary fae. That was really fun and had a funny ending. And omg, the PCs in the cabin the next morning. 
"Sucking out your happiness 1..." 
"Well, that's dark."

-playing a greater ice elemental made jenn very happy and i learned can do good combat, if i write stats down on my hand. XD

-SKUNK BOMB!!! 

-The "witch" in a "gingerbread" house. Yes, PCs, please lick my windows to be sure they taste like varnish. "VERY SUSPICIOUS. NOBODY IS THAT KIND!"

-Seeing the lightbulb in Capri's head go off as he figured out the ghostly chain mod. 

-My conspiracy theorist being actually kidnapped. XD I know you guys mean well.
"*someone takes a random elemental rebuke*"
"SEE!? I TOLD YOU THEY EXIST!!!" 

-Having new players kill bugs for me and finally making my science experiment! i wanna see if i can do more of those.
"If that things blows up..."
"It won't! *whispers* I think.."


-The entirety of the silliness that was the Basketball Goblins. From watching them destroy a hold portal to 'save' some PCs, to them making a human tower to peek in a cabin window, to them slowly descending into not playing fair, to PCs maybe harming the referee to the retaliation of "Penk boys can't jump", i laughed so hard i cried about 5 times.
"PHYSICAL HEADBUTT!"
"AH! MY LEG! REF!!!"

-Playing a shattered elf was a lot of fun.

-Being a crow for both Danny and Trenton, the orc camp and trying to trade a wrapper for a dagger. ;D
"I HAVE A TWO SILVER BOUNTY FOR-"
"CAWWWWWWW!"
"I HAVE A TWO SILVER BOUNTY FOR-"
"CAWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

-good mama robin in the tavern

Not so much love!
-Felt bad literally chasing someone into the creek in the dark! >A< Sorry, friend!
-stinky water, but they say it will get better. its something to do with the filtration system.
-jenn did a fuck up on one of the mods but i am happy PCs still got the idea in the end from what i overheard. >A<
-I really really hate being told to "shut up" OOG. You can tell someone to be quiet and still be polite about it.

[Corri]

Excellent event. Just excellent.

This was the first event with my new PC, as it seemed to be for so many others, and I can't think of a better event to have started her on. Mad props to not only the Shaper team and the NPCs, but also the other PCs, who came together to make the town feel very very real. We had a real community, people interacted in interesting and realistic ways, and it was just beautiful.

The new site is a m a z i n g. The paths, the forest, the size, the cabins and the bathrooms. It's everything we every dreamed of guys.

I actually really liked the pacing. Some of it was slow, but it gave everyone time to interact and act like an actual town. I think this was much more realistic to what it would be like to live in Ralinwood everyday, where things are trying to kill us only about 75% of the time.

Related, I really liked how balanced everything felt. I noticed a lot of mods we're focused on different level groups, especially low level mods which lets people learn the game without being steamrolled by high level NPCs or PCs. Still, the mods I was on felt dangerous without feeling impossible. It was really well done.  The only mod that felt 'easy' was the Friday night mod, though this was 100% due to Morgaine being amazing. Without the song of heroism we would have had to fight MUCH harder.

I also LOVE how many new players we have! Welcome everyone! It was nice to see everyone including them, showing them the ropes and making sure they had a good time.

I did have a couple issues with people getting mad at me for my PC not knowing stuff IG. Guys. I know OOG, I promise. Explain to Cata, not me. The RP experience will be well worth it.

I also had issues with NPCs really not knowing the effects of magic being used on them. I get that not everyone knows every sphere, that's fine. I am also totally cool if  the marshal on the ground decides it works a certain way. But once a call is made, either due to the rules I kept on my person, or by the marshal, the NPC needs to follow them.

Highlights:
- The Mages Tower mods. 10/10 Will. You knocked it out of the park. Also Simon is one of my favourite NPCs.
- Friday night mod. As I mentioned above, Morgaine saved the day by singing for 15 straight minutes. I am so impressed by that alone.
- Confusing people with my lack of knowledge. Especially Sheyla. "This is the Cleric of Sybil!" "Neat! What's a Cleric?"
- Being able to use my magic effectively
- How to be a Wild Elf class
- Camp bonding in preparation for our cabin being burnt down
- Hunting Shattered Elves
- Knitting Club
- Thinking so hard about rocks the ground moved
- Landslide mod

[Wigzozz Teeftaka']

Pro's
*I was worried about how vocational training was going to play out with how Teacher is now and I was really really happy to see the that NPC camp sent out a couple vocational trainers this weekend . "CHAMP IT NOT WORK BECAUSE YOU NOT GO NYA-HA!"
*Everything Will A does as one of his many NPC characters. They are really unique and fun. "GIMME YER BELT! PUT 'EM UP!"
*The difficulty level of the monsters/mods I saw was ON POINT. Bringing in a new PC I felt useful in most situations (even as a distraction) but also scared enough to keep me on my toes without me feeling like there wasn't even a point of me being involved in the lion's share of what I took part in.
*The way the introductory mod was divided and stat'd was a great way to do things and I would love to see more introductory mods structured this way.
*Many new player/character mods. I know the Golem Fixing one didnt work out due to the timing, but it was THERE. THANK YOU. 
* The tension everytime I saw the inspector and his bodyguards was real. Great job deciding to make the plot on this one PC driven. It really made us all think out of the box and take initiative that we perhaps might not've otherwise. (I.E. all the blacksmiths banding together to smith back up the Church after the elemental ruckus)
*The fear on Sunday night when those bloody blinking shadows coming in and out, stealing people and throwing them out into the forest forcing a large contingent of players to band together. Best camp defense CROSSROADS
*Trying to play the PC's against one another through getting them to choose sides/deception in the Pirate/Sailor/"Einher Raider" mod. Very clever.
*The new site.

Neutral *All these are completely out of the Shaper team's hands
*Holy shit some areas can get muddy with the rain. Watch out for that hill right next to tavern and the entrance to the forest path down to river crossing folks.
*Sulfur water. PHEW. It'll get better though and frankly I don't gag like I do just walking past the porta-potties at old site so I can deal man, I can deal. 
*Having to medical out for a time. I didn't even realize how out of it I actually was until I was sat down and my symptoms laid out for me due to how much fun we were having. Something I  have to be more mindful of in the future.
*The light above the cabins plays absolute havoc with my night vision though it does have its benefits.

Cons
*Some of those steps into the cabins really, really need to get looked at. I was saying goodbyes after game and came out of one of them, walked down the stairs and felt a board shift alarmingly. If it was IG and someone was booking it down those stairs without knowing they're going to get seriously hurt.
*NPC's I know we're trying to be intense and scary but if you're going to fight in a half crouched position, going full-on dual-wielding ham against a 6'4" guy with a big two-hander in pitch blackness you're going to get bonked on the head. Strike accuracy may be a factor but you also need to consider not fighting as crazily in those situations. Especially considering the PC in question took 2 seperate shots to the nuts in the same extended fight.


Personal Highlights (Too many to properly recount, but off the top of my head)
* ORK CAMP BEST CAMP. GRILL. FIRE. FEAST!!!!!!!!! BLOOD JUICE FOR BAAGH!
* Orkish stuff in general. The Bloodbringer plot tension was great. 
* Pulling on Frey's leg. You're a good sport Trenton. 
* Getting the cursed coin and reacting to the SPLENDID internal narration. "You thought about them all puking, and then laying down in the puke and making a puke angel. A green angel. An ORK angel." "YESSSS GEWWWWWD"
* Using the innuendo's and turn-of-phrases from conversations around me to amusing effect with Krong. Loved seeing a few of you guys crack up.
* "THREE DAGGA'S!!!!!"
* GHOST HEADBUTT
* Java asking me to tell everyone he is going to Mage Tower, taking 3 steps and yelling at the top of my lungs that Java going to Tower, hearing Java sigh massively only to hear "Did you really expect him to do something else?"
* Meeting female pinky who used to be ork, but Skein "DAT SADDEST THING ME EVER HEAR"  
* Impressing my fellow orks enough to join Brewlords
* "YOU HONORARY ORK! YOU IS...... OROKRIHER"
* CROSSROADS
* In general how well received Wigzozz and his shenanigans were. I've been planning him since last Hallows and its really satisfying to see everyone getting as much entertainment out of my antics as me.

[Hopper Potts]

Not only was this my first overnight larp event, it was also my first time camping. Both of which were great, if not cold.

- Highlights -
- "The world needs you" note found in a potion that was gifted to me. Legit cried.
- Also tearing up trying to say anything for the haunt.
- Ghost headbutt.
- Getting the belt dwarf's prize without ever fighting him.
- Every wolf friend to let me scratch their ears without getting pissed off.
- "Hey it's ok, don't stress, it's likely you won't have to doctor anyone here for a bit"
Not even 10mins later I'm CPRing someone in their death count, on the first day.
- Big minotaur, small smithing hammer.
- Everyone sharing food, stories, and company at The Crossroads. Felt like a big family, it was wonderful.
- Sleeping in the church. Oz could talk a raging beast to sleep I swear.
- Somehow getting away with being way too mouthy.
-Learning that if anyone tries to drag me out of my own camp to doctor someone, in the dark, while shattered elves are everywhere, it's likely better for me to let them die.

Also sorry to Blackhorn to had to take a surgery nap in, like, the worst place. I forgot I couldn't move you after I was done. rIP. You're a sport, bless.

[Ostrozne]

- Sleeping in the church. Oz could talk a raging beast to sleep I swear.

My deep, sonorous voice has quelled many a mod and wrecked many a plotline.

[Zia Sashana]

I also had a really great time this event. I agree with the comments about how the new site made it feel more like a real community in game. Also about how it as beautiful - that path with the trilliums (and false solomon's seal and may apples and ramps and a bunch of other native plants) really just made me really fantastically happy, as well as the stream that runs through site, which has some very nice pools! I'm so glad we get to go back!

Things I enjoyed:
As always, rp with other PCs goes to the top of my list. Nothing else is in any particular order, but I had a lot of great moments this weekend, ranging from really intense to really relaxed and chill
NPCing Friday night mods and the Mages' Tower mod on Sunday
Hiding in the woods a few times on Saturday night during the initial Chaos (its really satisfying when you can hear animal scurrying around about their business because you're just being really still and chill)
Getting drawn in to the madness of late Saturday night stuff because I was dragging my feet on going to bed
Actually getting to use some new skills I picked up and the rp that went with that
Knitting Club <3 <3 <3
Almost dying but not actually dying at least twice (though one was pretty close)

Cons:
Crashing so hard once I did get to go to real bed on Sunday that I slept until I had to get ready for my 3pm NPC shift. I feel like I missed one of the better chances I had to go on more smaller mods or to do as much exploring as I'd wanted to in game.
I think I'm getting sick ;_;
As glad as I was of the bathrooms, I will be even more glad when the actual bathroom facility is open
A few annoying immersion/atmosphere breaking experiences

Neutral:
I think we need a list of what is expected for site clean up after game!

As usual, I feel like I had more to say and am probably forgetting things! Thanks to everyone - shapers, NPCs, and fellow PCs - for contributing to such a fun time

[Bikar Borba]

First time coming to LARP in a while and I am glad it was to this game. I had an amazing time.

-Being a low level nobody again. Seriously, any of you vet players feeling disillusioned, just let go and embrace whats fun in this game. It was amazing to be afraid of everything again.
-Being a low level nobody wearing no armor and still feeling like I was part of everything and making a difference (I credit this to good mod structure)
-The site, I am in love and cant wait to explore it further.
-Interacting with people I normally wouldnt, having spent the last year as a Skeleton who feels very little aside from a huge detest for the living IS pretty fun. But it was also really nice to just talk and be normal with alot of PC's I have seen around but know nothing about.
-Everyones interactions and reactions to our Einhier, you guys are what made it so fun. From sitting in a field speaking of the gods and Nieflhiem over a jug of mead after a hard night, to just generally getting to know others and see how different they are from us, the Einhier culture is really intresting and fun because there are so many dynamics and differences between clans, was great to be a part of that.

I have plenty good to say, very little bad. Good job guys I am looking forward to next event (but wish it was at best site)

[Branya]

Great game everyone! One of the most enjoyable in a long long time.

Pros:
- huge variety of characters and lots of distinctive cultural differences. It really felt like a community.
- beautiful pacing and mod leveling
- incredible new site with lots of access to washrooms and dry places to socialize (other than personal tents) during bad weather
- many persistent NPCs, well costumed and well played
- a sense of cohesion between plots and mods

Cons:
- unclear rabies rules
- the blink creature. Blink creatures should always have a phase count so that there is at least a small window of space for attacking and for trying to predict what may happen next. PCs feel cheated when they waste skills and accept damage for a creature that they were patently unable to respond to. In honesty, if it had hit me, I would probably have refused to accept the call and preferred to risk reprimand from the HoP rather than feel bullied by a mob that was more entertaining to the NPC than to any of the PCs being engaged. TLDR: If you cannot RUN, FIGHT, or HIDE, it has no place in Underworld.

Personal Highlights:
- camp meal times
- meeting and interacting with many new people
- getting to try out some of my previously unused skills
- meeting new players
- so many undead!