(no subject)

[nny]

I have to say, some peoples' attitudes to Milliways absolutely bemuse me.

Milliways was designed, as much as I designed anything when absolutely bladdered on cider, to be an exceedingly playable game. What I had in mind was that you could invest as much or as little time in it as was yours to give, that you could disappear for a week and no one would take you to task over it, that it was, in fact, a game for absolutely anyone.

A long time ago I was approached and asked if someone could create a fan community, and I said no. Because a fan community distances the writers/players from the readers, and that was not how I wanted things to be - the aim of the game was to suck everyone in. You don't have to be an amazing player, you don't have to come up with hugely detailed plots, you just have to play. Have fun. That's pretty much it.

So it's a game for players, not for readers. I don't know how many people do read without playing, but I boggle slightly - not only for the obvious fact that I can't imagine not wanting to play (I've probably had nigh on thirty characters over the course of the game) but also for the fact that I don't know how they can keep up with anything that's going on. I invest as much time as I can possibly spare in this, and I still haven't the slightest clue.

So I guess... I absolutely respect people who come up with detailed plots, and if it's a lot of fun to play, more power to 'em. I know that some of the work I've seen has absolutely blown me away... but so has some of the amount of stress going into it. Because... I dunno. I don't expect anyone to read my threads except the ones as are playing, y'know? I'm playing for me, not for an audience. It's gratifying to think one or two others might be reading, but that's not why I'm doing this, because it probably is only one or two others. I think it's possible, in Milliways, to overestimate your own importance. This ain't hp_dungeons, this is what it is.

I'd be very interested to hear opinions on this.

ETA: I want to make it clear that everything here is my own opinion. I speak as a player, not as a mod. Everything in this post should say "in my opinion" in front of it, but I'm too lazy to go change and repetitize. :) It ain't just my game - it's run by myself and three other excellent mods, and it belongs to any players, too. It's collaberative. The fact that I see it a certain way doesn't mean anyone else has to.

Comments

[dramawench.livejournal.com]

I'm actually really glad you wrote this, because it's something I've been struggling with for a while now. I'm not sure if it's just my fandom within Milliways, but I feel like I'm under intense pressure to play way more than I do. My life is crazy busy - I have a full-time job, so I can't be on in the evenings until 2 or 3 in the morning.

I sometimes feel like casual players are looked down upon by the really intense players. I mean, I would love to be on 6 hours a day everyday, but that's just not feasible for me. It's hard because I love playing in Milliways, I have intense love and passion for my characters, but I hate feeling left out of things.

Sorry, this became ranty and I didn't mean for it to be!

[wickedtrue.livejournal.com]

No, you're not the only one. Sometimes, I feel pressured a bit to play more often. I don't feel looked down upon, but I do feel pressured a bit. Well, strike that, I do, but only from the newer players that are still in their first several months of 'gotta have my Miliways all the time!' mood. And that's fine. They'll understand in a few months once they feel comfortable.

Sometimes, people don't understand that I just can't devote a lot of hours to this thing like I used to, but most of the people that I've played with for years now (golly, I can say that!) understand and enjoy my casual throw ins.

Well, I like your Inara when you can make time.

[dramawench.livejournal.com]

I know I'm not the only one, and most people are really cool about it.

Thanks so much! I don't get much feedback since I don't play a lot, but that means a lot to me.
Email me if you ever wanna thread together!

[vivien]

Pressure schmessure - real life trumps. We have to remember that this is a game.

As someone who's had to pull back against her will, I am here to tell you that Milliways, and the noble concept of handwaving, makes things so much better.

It's okay - come when you can, and be glorious as ever when you do. :)

[gramarye1971]

*nodnods* I know the feeling. In these past few months, I went from being a postgrad student who could stay up until all hours (and did, considering I was in Greenwich Mean Time for most of that time) to being someone with an 8-to-5 job who starts to lose writing coherency at about midnight on the weekends. And I've certainly sacrified sleep for Milliways lately, but I knew I'd have to work hard to make up for the sleep I lost.

I'm still trying to adjust from being an 'intense' player (or a fairly intense one) to being a weekends-and-the-odd-weekday-evening player. It's pretty humbling, in a way.

[dramawench.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it is. And I'm glad that I'm not alone in this. I hesitated on saying anything cause I don't want to sound whiny, but it's nice to know that other people feel the same way.

[jezrana.livejournal.com]

*nods*

I think it's hard to be a Firefly crew-mun and be a casual player, because they're a tight-knit group, and some of us are pretty active, and when the active ones are playing it's like "crap, my character should really be a part of that interaction, I should be playing too". Honestly, I've felt pressure to play Zoe more than I do sometimes, to keep up with others. But I don't think anyone means for it to feel like pressure or intimidation, if that helps at all. It's just...RL schedules are what they are, and some people are going to have more time than others, and that's not anyone's fault.

*hopes any of that was at all helpful*

[dramawench.livejournal.com]

This is totally helpful - I've wanted to say something before, but I didn't want to come off as accusatory or like a whiny bitch, "I can't play and you all hate me", because that's not at all how I feel. I love that we have such dedicated players, because FF works so well in the bar, it can just be intimidating at times.

I love your Zoe and hope we'll get to play together sometime soon!

[indy-go.livejournal.com]

*quick-comments before fleeing into the kitchen for LASAGNA*

Please don't feel pressured to play. I know I'm not an FF-mun and I haven't gotten to really play with you (which I wanna fix!), but it's not a case of "Man, Inara-mun sucks because she doesn't play as often as so-and-so," but rather, it's "Ooohhh, Inara-mun is playing tonight! SCORE!" etc etc.

In my eyes, any time players spend on this game is a gift. Especially when people take time to play in a plot of mine, I always thank them. Because you could be doing something else, but you choose to play with us! And that is a cool thing.

So. Yes.

*hugs and flees*