Event Review - The Issue at Hand

[Promises]

+ Boat mod. Props with mechanics to them add something extra to the game, I feel.
+ Brodirheim was a delight to be in.
+ McKraken bro's.
+ Loot felt generous
+ Breaking up groups like what the last mod did.
+ Incredible effort from NPC camp

[Zia Sashana]

I had an amazing time and I am sure I am going to forget things!

I think I already said that I loved the way this season came together!  The whole concept of these people turning to really evil things to accomplish a nominal goal of helping the town and forging relationships in them, was really interesting to watch and you guys pulled it off really well.  This was a bit of a challenge for me as a player too, because I had early OOG information that made me back off from some stuff I might have poked into more strongly otherwise - but once things came out more and I felt more comfortable leaning into stuff as Zia, it was really rewarding.  I love that we have a chance to really know our antagonists and have personal relationships with them - and that includes the Citadel folks as well as the Consantori.  Many thanks and kudos to this season's shaper team!

On to event highlights!

-Fellowship-of-the-ring hiding with Danny along the river bank, hiding from the Grim, especially when a slew of other players passed right by us across the river, being chased by ghouls and/or hellhounds.  That was amazing - they never knew we were there. Praise Dietremen?
-So much quality RP from folks, both PC and NPC.  I love and appreciate all my campmates <3 A few stand out moments were trying to comfort various people and feeling vaguely like a hypocrite, getting all upset about last year's hallows all over again, running out of mental energy to try and reason through things and accepting questionable Conclusions, trying to talk to Tobias about the Citadel and him, after initially telling me we can walk and talk, deciding "this isn't the time for this conversation."
-The drama of 'can we have a conversation before we get blown up' in the boat mod, and said conversation that was half honest and half distraction
-Many many things in that final mod.  Having various mechanics in play that let people affect the things we were fightng. Kicking over that gore bucket and just grabbing the thing we needed out of it.  Getting dropped right after putting one of the keys in my deepest pocket.  Getting the last key to Blank at the very last moment.  Lady Aminata swooning in my arms after I healed her.  The seven stages of grief over realizing that Captain Urquhart is the 'new noble from Duvain' I'd heard was coming that I need to talk to about maybe, MAYBE, getting a farm.
-Giving us choices of what mods to do.  Feeling like we were an important but also like not everything was riding on us alone.  I think plot did a great job of giving us helpful NPCs but not letting us rely on them
-some cool loot which means new costume pieces to come!
-my costuming held up really well through the delightful weather :x

Cons:
-still no farm ;_;
-a lot of 'hurry up and wait', especially for the sea cave mod
-???  

I had a really great time, thank you to everyone involved!

[Izazel]

Happy Hallows everyone! For the time I could be at event, I really did enjoy myself.

PROS:
- That final fight was exhausting, but exhilarating. Kudos to the wonderful combat NPCs that fought just as hard as the PCs during that long walk to the final mod site. The threat felt real and immediate, and rallying against the lich and undead felt truly rewarding.
- Even though the Grimm came out, and despite a year's worth of accumulated meta/RP breaking, I felt that the PCs this game stayed IG - maybe in fear of the Grimm, or maybe because the nature of the Hallows events are so immersive. Regardless, I think town did a great job this event learning from and dealing with the consequences of the Grimm.
- Final shoutout to the NPCs and Shapers for this event and this season. You guys put a lot of work into your roles and your creations, and you should be proud of your efforts. Ralinwood wouldn't be Ralinwood without the people behind the curtain, so thank you.

CONS:
- Didn't feel as scared this event, compared to past Hallows events - though I still did a great deal of running and hiding.
- From what I saw, there weren't many roaming monsters and the big baddies were generally demons, undead, and fae... generic, threshold creatures. Yes, it's Hallows. Undead, demons, and fae are expected. But that's the problem. "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." Tradition is important, but without variation it falls flat. Especially in horror.
- I'm a fan of stretching imaginations, but having two Hallows events in a row being "in the dark underground" or "in complete nightfall" during daytime has gotten a bit stale.