I've Got Two Guns, One For Each Of You!
Yes, what about them? There's some good stuff waiting to be acted on. Shouldn't we try some of them???
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." - Groucho Marx
Yes I am still here...Elias Steelgrave's attempt to buy up the land surrounding and within Kalispell is a good idea. It will make Matt's job as mayor a lot harder.
I'm also ready for anything else but I know others have been distracted by other things or are busy with real life...so whenever someone needs one of my characters for their plot just let me know.
Just let one of them Steelgrave varmints try and take over Granny Miggins' homestead and she'll part their hair for 'em!
I've Got Two Guns, One For Each Of You!
I guess the point here is we need the writers we already had and it would be swell to recruit new ones to the game to make any idea work.
The range war idea is all but mute. Meaning there seems to be no way that Lost Lake would be involved. Unless it's Steelgraves vs. Pikes which would be just me writing it, easily accomplished but not what this game was designed for.
The Railroad? Same, same. Actually any idea is vastly limited by nonparticipation of the writers we already have. And, I am as guilty as anyone, for not co-mingling threads, characters, and game ideas so as many as possible could play. The long honeymoon is about over once the Pikes get back to town.
Speed and Pike can readily step aside for new writers to take on the roles they were covering as Marshal and Deputy, I have zero problem with that. The Tyrell Thorton idea has fallen flat and he may move on to Oregon with the boy Rip.
Long rant short, for some the game has lost it's luster. We need to get it back.
I agree with you, Flip. There is no progress at all in the what was to have been the big focus of the rpg, least when I joined - the range war.
Other than all these fluff side threads like the picnic in town or women trying on dresses, or people eating at the diner, there isn't a lot to do. In particular major events involving a lot of the chars in town or ranches. We've already done a bank robbery. And we had a natural disaster wiping out a town nearby. And I tried to do some Indian stuff given 1876 was the year of the Custer defeat. We finished a couple of those threads at least.Not much even happens in the saloon. In the other western I was in for years, the saloon was the most posted in part of the forum. Here, nope. We had a town festival once, never did it again. We had a big town dance, never did it again.
Let's face it though, even in the so called wild west, for the vast majority of people their daily lives were mundane. We have done a lot of that to be fair.
I don't have any brilliant ideas or suggestions right now either. I've been rping since 2000 and let's face it, eventually all online rps die out. Some lie there festering a lot longer than others but in effect are done. One could argue that's where this one is.
Maybe I do have an idea but it is a radical one and I can understand if our players will be absolutely against it.
But maybe it's time to start a new western game. I love westerns but this one has lost a lot of it's luster for me tbh. Maybe tighten up the setting - not a big ol' town again, we are just repeating ourselves that way. Maybe run a wagon train (yes longtime players will remember we did do one many years ago in yahoogroups). Maybe run a big ranch in Apache territory and all players have at least 1 or 2 chars as part of the ranch. Not saying we can't have a town we visit etc. But just don't make the town the focus.
Maybe we move the time frame? Earlier 1800s and we are starting up a settlement from scratch?
Or do Civil War one - not armies fighting the big battles but smaller scale stuff - like the sort that happened in Bloody Kansas.
Again, all just me throwing things at the wall and hoping they stick? Feel free to boo but please don't throw hard objects at me. BUT if all we do is whine and don't try something different, then we keep doing what we are doing now and no one seems too thrilled anymore about that!
At least a refresh on the western theme might bring back enthusiasm and new char concepts. Not saying one can't keep some of the ones that one already plays. Example:
My Caroline saloon gal was Caroline the saloon gal in that previous western game I mentioned above. I changed things of course but it's pretty much her, just in a different town.
OK, I will shut up now.
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." - Groucho Marx
Some of the plots I wanted to do or involved in have gone nowhere for various reasons, so I agree with some of the things mentioned.
I hope we can work out something here but if we do start another western game, maybe we can set in a place where there is more chance of other people passing through on a regular basis for one-off plots and where it doesn't snow a lot making travelling or other outdoor activities difficult (as someone who only saw snow for the first and last time back in 1983, I prefer a drier and warmer climate).
Whatever the majority decide is okay by me as long as I know where you end up 😉
I've Got Two Guns, One For Each Of You!
I will offer this, we actually have a multitude of things in place that could be something but, that is simply not the problem, neither is the town, it is simply there. Yes a wagon train headed for Kalispell could be great fun, I agree with that. The fort is not doing anything but could be, Writing patrols, Indian attacks on outlaying ranches or farms. It is 1876 at least for a while yet and that bespeaks Indian trouble.
As for the saloon, I understand that it has been given little help by the writers, saying all of us in one way or another do not use it like we should. There's good reasons to make use of the place. Where I see the problems, aside from the failed range war between Steelgrave and Thornton, and folks may not like this BUT, we do not intertwine threads to include others, and yes I understand most threads are open to all of us, we just need to get involved.
Creating a new game seems to be a waste with al the work already done for Sagas. Kalispell is simply the town but it need not be the center of activity. And yes, the Fair, big dances, we have the big ranches already, the stage line could be used more, characters making a point of visiting the Saloon, there is alot that we could do without recreating the wheel.
Plot, we need to plot incorporating EVERYONE. That just might turn the trick. The Pikes have some ideas about that, but we need others to jump in and make the scenes happen.
Alright, fair enough, you make good arguments, Flip. I said I did not think my ideas would be popular :)
Let's see what plots can unite all these characters somehow, I await to read them.
When I did do cavalry threads (and I did come up with them and ran them to finishes), even then it involved very few actual PCs. The first one had you, me, and Javia. The second one had Bongo playing Addy and then you, me, and Javia. Hollywood aside, Indians did not attack towns - yes one can bring up a rare town attack in Minnesota but that was an outlier so naturally cavalry threads are not going to involve a lot of folks. And I dont see us doing the kidnapping of two women sort of plot again. That would really seem fakey. Also I will point out my char is not even in charge of the fort, the commander is basically never posted. Even at the dance he didn't dance with the woman (one of my chars Matilda Devereau) leaving her twiddling her thumbs.
Another town dance, sure........I'm fine with that. But it's not an action thread.I certainly think I've done more action threads (that involved more than 1 or 2 writers) than anyone else. Which is not my point so I'll leave that one lie.
As for major events like say the railroad, the elections, the range war, none of my chars are important enough to spearhead those. Such plots need to be set up and run - as in posting IC threads - by those who write the big shots, the leadership, etc.
Flip did a couple attacks having to do with the range war - a cowpoke shot while watching the herd, our marshal almost assassinated. I organized and did the biggest fight so far - 4 Evergreen hands vs. Quentin Cantrell which involved me, Bailey, and Longshot.
We talked a whole bunch about elections, Javia even wanted debates but that all fizzled. Now Matt is mayor. Realistically he would have won anyway but it was basically a non-event.
So yes, let's come up with this big event which will unite players in one plot thread - sounds cool, I'm all for it. But don't look at me to come up with what that is gonna be. I don't have any big ideas like that.
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." - Groucho Marx
One of the ideas I have been toying with is a murder mystery which would involve a lot of characters who need to be questioned (not just suspects). There might be other characters who aren't the law willing to help out or be amateur detectives (since private investigators wasn't really a thing until later on).
The murderer be a serial killer to make the plot go for a little while e.g. the first murder is considered to be one-off until someone else is killed in the exact same way. Outlying ranches and farms could also be involved if the murders only when the ranch hands, owners or farmers are in town on Saturday night or for some other event.
Other than that I don't know what else we can come up with. I'm currently watching "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" (as well as my other favourite westerns) and that has a lot of plots that could be transferred into our story but which ones I don't know for sure.
Like I said I am happy to go along with any other plots if you want my characters to participate.
Oh, the cleverness of me!
So...first thought is that I'm getting jaded to starting new groups/characters, because I get invested in the potential for them, and then POOF! Gone and over and start again, only to have it poof again in a few months. I love the interactive writing of RPG's, and I think we have a strong core of writers, but I'm starting to think that I don't want to join any new groups...like, why bother when chances are good in a few months it will have been abandoned. All the potential for a character just vanishes, and I'm getting tired of starting over.
So...next thought is that there's no reason to try something else, there truly is potential here, we've established characters and relationships, and almost anything that could happen in a Western setting can happen here. To a degree, I do think that a big set-back is that this is a relative metropolis...I had thought way back when that it was a small, back-water town, maybe not as small as Walnut Grove from Little House, but more like Gunsmoke Dodge. I was actually surprised to find out that it was a big city.
Anyway, I hope we can revive this game, I know it will be hard with key characters not being written, but we can work around that, even to having our range war. A serial killer could be interesting, just talk of people disappearing around town, then characters can get involved. And yes, there's a ton of ideas to steal from old Westerns! Weather events, political problems, trouble-making newcomers...