An invitation for staff to allow themselves the fun they desire

[Candelori]

I will begin by saying that I am enjoying COGG now more than ever. Having the ability to engage in chat on a second connection is a wonderful addition and is helping restore to me that feeling of community with my fellow players even if I have not been very active in chat myself. Societies are being released. CLOK's history has been accepted and is no longer a confusing unmentionable taboo. Many of the rough edges are being filed smooth and I give my sincerest of thanks and support for it all. I am having a wonderful time.

I have noticed a trend of late however coming from staff, and particularly Rias. There appears to be some struggle in regards to feeling fully comfortable and passionate with COGG. I have a suspicion as to why that might be happening, and I want to extend an invitation to Rias and staff: Allow yourselves to have fun.

It is my observation that there has been an increase of expected seriousness about the game's setting, and expectation of both staff and community. I believe this subtle shift began sometime during CLOK, before COGG was conceived. I do not mean to say that we should turn COGG into a game of silliness and popular culture references. I enjoy the dire setting of the Lost Lands very much, and I enjoy the serious situations we are presented with. I am a lover of the game's lore, its depth, and the seriousness with which it is treated so that it feels meaningful. I wonder, however, if it might help us to temper it with some degree of lightness, and allowance of the occasional waving of a hand in the name of fun.

As an example, I fondly recall situations in CLOK such as community events for holidays and the birthday parties of player characters. It is true, it may have been a stretch to believe that the Mayor would be attending holiday and birthday parties of these people who were often more wandering vagabond than town citizen, and there was some silliness such as the party poppers and the lightness of the situations amid invasions of infested and nethrim. It was simple, light fun. It contributed to the sense of community and it showed us that the GMs were here to have fun as well. I recall one party where the warlock Sceptus arrived to taunt the partygoers in Shadgard, eat some refreshments, cast a spell of haunting, and depart with an evil cackle. It made little sense if one thought overly long about it, but it was clear and apparent that it was a GM merely doing something to have some fun with us.

Speaking of the invasions, I will remind that there did not always need to be a major plot behind them. The GMs should be free to decide to have some fun by attacking the town with some nethrim just because it felt fun to do that day. The players can enjoy coming together to defend the town. We do hear the refrain of "this is the Lost Lands" quite often. Do not feel pressured to always have a deeper meaning or episodic series of events accompanying such things.

It is strange to see some areas closed off that once were not, such as the Shadgard Orphanage. I understand that this was done because it ostensibly did not make sense to leave the orphanage open to the public, and that there were players who would cause trouble in the orphanage. Yet I have many fond memories of catching people playing on the swings or the slide in the yard, or individual and community efforts to provide toys and clothes for the bins upstairs. There were many meaningful events that came from those troublemakers in the orphanage: The rescue of orphan Lisa, the adoption of Bors who would become a Templar squire, the investigation into the theft of the rocking-horse. These memorable events came from actions that may have been considered results of a situation that was not grounded in sense, but they were delightful events that deepened the sense of community for those involved, and I cannot recall ever hearing a complaint that having the orphanage open to all visitors ruined their immersion.

The strictness of the Monks, Templar, and Ascetics is something I support. The roleplay of a strict and disciplined spiritual order is why I am interested in it. I do hope that this will not mean there will never be new initiates. I will agree that initiates should only be made of those who are fitting, but I will plead for some degree of generosity to the approach of judging this initital fitness with some allowance for learning. The joy of the Church in CLOK was in its fellowship, and when problems arose with members there was enjoyment to be had in working through those situations. The fall of one monk became an event of major significance that powerfully shaped the game and its history. Rias, GMs: allow yourselves to have fun with situations such as this. Instead of attempting to prevent such things from ever happening with an ever-stricter set of expectations and setting, allow the possibility of mistakes or anomalies so that fun things may happen organically as a result.

I wish to be clear that I am not complaining about a lack of events. My intent is to invite the staff to enjoy themselves, to act on a whim, to allow for some situations that might not always seem to make complete sense in a setting where everything must be unerringly serious and believable. See anomalies as opportunities instead of tightening the reigns to try and prevent them from ever happening. My suspicion is that a contributing factor of these struggles Rias and staff have had to fully enjoy the game may be a state of over-seriousness and over-restraint. Over-thinking whether a spur of the moment action might not be completely appropriate to a serious setting and talking oneself out of what that GM had been excited to do. It is my belief that if the COGG staff can feel more comfortable and more free to act on their desires and impulses in the moment, they will be happier, and this happiness will transfer to the players.

Looking back at what I have written, I apologize for the disorganization of it, or if my suspicions are inaccurate. Some of my shared thoughts have been critical. That was not my intent when I began writing this post, but I am acting and speaking from my heart, just as I am urging Rias and staff to do. Even the Ascetic's Path teaches that an excess of restraint will lead to frustration and despair.

It bears repeating: I am thoroughly enjoy COGG now more than ever. I am brimming with optimism for the direction COGG has been taking. My hope for this post is to help Rias and staff feel more comfortable with reducing the expectations they may have set for themselves so that they might feel better allowed to simply have fun helming this incredible game for us.

I would invite any others with thoughts on the subject to share them.

[artus]

I do agree that the phrase "This is lost lands" may end up being the kind of phrase than unintentionally, silently and mentally influence the shape of the world and what it should become to the point that it feels like dark souls and shouldn't be anything else otherwise. I'm overexadurating, of course, but if the suspition given in the first post has anything similar to this element, I can see why it may end up causing burnout or dead end runs for gms just to make lost lands feel like lost lands.
A bit of some fun silliness doesn't hurt. I still enjoy seeing coydogs urinating on people all over the place when no one worries about when the next infested army will march into town.
It doesn't even have to be ic if ic doesn't make sense. Anyone on Clok remember the capture the flag race in the ooc area that had everyone dying like crazy? That's ooc fun to the max just for the heck of it. Some gms are particularly good at being silly and that's admittedly very infectious to see. Amidst making lost lands be lost lands, a good cheer and a good smile here and there is defintely welcomed, to you, of course. I already have it when I see you have it.

[Rias]

Thank you for the invitation and the thoughts! I do think that I'm at my best when I'm essentially winging it (based on foundations in lore and such of course) and flying by the seat of my pants. A very bad habit I've picked up is over-planning and analysis paralysis, so I appreciate the encouragement to be comfortable running with things a bit more freely. I'll try to get more into that headspace.

The points about "seriousness" stand, something to chew on for sure. I don't like the idea of relying too heavily on "don't think about it too hard" but the willingness to suspend some disbelief when necessary is appreciated.

The churchy society will remain on an invite basis (not auto-join like the two other societies we've seen recently early-released) but I agree that people shouldn't need to be already perfect to join, as part of the concept is the experience of seeking improvement, growth, and learning.

More invasions, you say? Well, if you insist ...