Stalkers Season 3 Post-Game Discussion and Feedback

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

@Noblejanobii *hugs* Sorry it turned into something stressful for you. I didn't notice any issues personally but maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention. Also sorry if I was the one you were saying was leading things too much. I know I tried to keep track of stuff we had done and post things that still needed to be done but I never meant to boss anyone around or make them feel like they had to do the things I suggested or had to run things by me. Sorry if I made you feel that way. I thought everyone did a pretty good job of working together but I guess it did get a little hectic at the end!

[Noblejanobii]

Yeah pretty much what Morzone said. I felt like I couldn’t risk doing any searches because I would lose my shot at an exorcism if I lost any sanity. As a result, I really only did three things in this run: locate Tashy, determine the number of Stalkers in the run, and exorcise that Numel character. Everything else was aimless interviews and solving a maze once. I wanted to do more than just interviews, i wanted to search and solve puzzles but I couldn’t because anything and everything would cost me a chance at an exorcism. And after working so hard to get exorcist in round 2 and never being able to use it, then only using it once in this round compared to two people who didn’t work for it like I had, it felt like an utter let down that their payout was more than mine. And granted, I had a lot of stress irl at the time, but it was the little things that just killed it for me. The big fight that broke out just made it worse. And I get teams won’t see eye to eye. I certainly didn’t with one of the people who I saw as taking over (and no Sarah it wasn’t you, you weren’t as forceful as this person). But the amount of bickering, or at least what I thought was bickering, just made me not want to play. So yeah, I felt excluded and useless because compared to everyone else who got to solve puzzles and discover all these cool secrets about the Stalkers, I was effectively sitting in a treehouse doing nothing because I feared the instant I went out to search for something I’d lose my shot at exorcising someone again just like I did in Round 2.

But it doesn’t matter. From my understanding, You said you’re getting rid of exorcism entirely anyway so my complaint there does little. I’ll just forever settle with the fact that I had a chance at 18 Stalkers and only got 1. Sounds pretty useless to me compared to 2/7. And as for my complaint with a person taking over, it seems I’m the only one that felt that way, so I’ll just let that lie. If it happens again next time, should I choose to participate, I’ll just suck it up if they join too. Though their participation might be a determining factor of if I join.

[Morzone]

But it doesn’t matter. Like I said, pretend I never even said anything. I’m just being self centered and not a team player, right?

Hey, being a team player is great. Everyone loves a good team player. but it's also ok to be a little selfish sometimes. It's pretty unlikely someone else is going to be selfish for you after all. You just gotta be you. And if you don't like being that you be a different you. As a roleplayer you've definitely had a lot of experience with the many different you's in you. Heck, I was really selfish throughout the whole thing. Half the time I didn't read the debates on Yandil and when I got told to do/not to do something by those certain pushy people half the time I said "Screw that, I'm gonna do what I want." So yeah, probably ok to be a little selfish.

I hope you don't quit on stalkers though. I really feel Neo is getting better at designing/running the game over time. This was the first stalkers I really got to participate in, being late to the first one and the second getting cut off, and it really was an amazingly fun experience. This probably sounds kind of insensitive, but I really want you to keep going until you can experience it to the fullest as well.

I kinda feel bad for the jokes I made about exorcist seniority after the end of round 3 though, probably sounded rather insensitive. Sorry about that.

[Noblejanobii]

I kinda feel bad for the jokes I made about exorcist seniority after the end of round 3 though, probably sounded rather insensitive. Sorry about that.

Don’t apologize for that. I knew you were joking and played the part of Madder in that instance. While the initial post was made in my fit of bitterness, all the following responses were me just playing Madder’s role since I knew you weren’t actually being serious. No harm no foul.

As for experiencing it to its fullest, maybe one day. The closest we’ve gotten to that was during round 2, actually, because the event was so big there was no way for one person to take it over. But, it got shut down despite my wishes against it. I only said yes to moving on because I thought Round 3 would be similar. But it wasn’t. Even with its short time, I had the most fun with the season 2 run. Round 1 I missed one cycle and suddenly got left completely behind. And this round, well, you know. Round 2 it actually felt like I did something. I worked for exorcism, I saved Minty the Oricorio, I helped chase down clues for our only stalker kill. I actually participated is the point I’m trying to make.

[Morzone]

Don’t apologize for that. I knew you were joking and played the part of Madder in that instance. While the initial post was made in my fit of bitterness, all the following responses were me just playing Madder’s role since I knew you weren’t actually being serious. No harm no foul.

As for experiencing it to its fullest, maybe one day. The closest we’ve gotten to that was during round 2, actually, because the event was so big there was no way for one person to take it over. But, it got shut down despite my wishes against it. I only said yes to moving on because I thought Round 3 would be similar. But it wasn’t. Even with its short time, I had the most fun with the season 2 run. Round 1 I missed one cycle and suddenly got left completely behind. And this round, well, you know. Round 2 it actually felt like I did something. I worked for exorcism, I saved Minty the Oricorio, I helped chase down clues for our only stalker kill. I actually participated is the point I’m trying to make.

Yeah, I definitely know where your coming from on season 2. Big, complex RPs with enough room for everyone to contribute in their own are definitely what Neo's best at and it really is a shame that they just don't get realized properly here on PXR. I'd really like to see season four be more complex than round 3, even if it is limited to keep things from dying out again.

[Noblejanobii]

Yeah, I definitely know where your coming from on season 2. Big, complex RPs with enough room for everyone to contribute in their own are definitely what Neo's best at and it really is a shame that they just don't get realized properly here on PXR. I'd really like to see season four be more complex than round 3, even if it is limited to keep things from dying out again.

Yeah that’s what I’d like to see. A world where I can participate and explore and solve puzzles! Not sit around all alone in a treehouse talking to a shadow, waiting for the one chance to do something useful.

[Neo Emolga]

A lot of this is going to happen in every team-based setting everyone will encounter in life. Sure, there's going to be that situation where people feel they wished they could have done more or that they want to be the star of the show and be the admired role model as they do everything, but the reality of it is that it's not always possible. Sometimes, yeah, you need to put aside personal interests in favor of what would be best for the team, but you can't get upset about that. Think about what everyone else did in terms of individual contribution. Not everyone did an exorcism. In fact most people didn't. To expect to do all of them is really not the right way to take this.

I really didn't notice that much of what I would consider "bickering," though maybe it just didn't sound bitter to me as it might be for some people. I really only saw it as a natural amount of open discussion and that yeah, sometimes not everyone is in agreement. It's a thing where you need to talk it out, but be civil as well. But expressing your concerns is a lot better than just keeping it bottled up to fester into anger. The comment about "I’ll just forever settle with the fact that I had a chance at 18 Stalkers and only got 1. Sounds pretty useless to me compared to 2/7" isn't the right way to play the game either. Think about how many players there are. Think about how much effort and teamwork is needed to reveal and take down a Stalker. There's no way one player is going to be able to do everything and pull off the finishing blow on each Stalker. Look at what some other people had to do. Look at Eric who gave up nearly every Night Cycle to keep Tashy protected. Look at the people who willingly plunged into the Stalker hideouts and had their Health and Sanity take a beating. They didn't get to exorcise, but they still made contributions. You have to take all the content that was involved throughout the entire game and distribute it among all the players that were involved. That's how proper teamwork functions. It's not something like a single-player video game where you, as the protagonist, are the main driving force behind doing all the heroic stuff and everyone else is just a NPC supporting character. Everyone is in on this.

I think this further confirms that the whole thing with how exorcism is currently set up needs to be done away with to make the actual elimination process on each Stalker a team-based effort as everyone gains some form of Stalker-elimination power or influence. It really has to be so everyone can feel like they had played a part in it. So on that note, expect for everyone to have at least some bearing and influence on how the actual elimination happens. Just note that this definitely will make the game tougher. You'll definitely need to coordinate, communicate, and be civil when discussing how to approach a Stalker takedown.

And guys, I can't do what was done for Season 2 once again. It was way too much work to host and people were getting lost and confused with it. It also broke poor Xanthe and even I was running on fumes at that point. Season 2 was created and run when I wasn't even working fulltime and that's not something I can keep going as is while now working a job that consumes most of my waking hours during Monday through Friday. I could try to aim for something more difficult than Season 3, but please bear in mind that I'm not getting paid money for this and I still have a fulltime job with many other responsibilities on the side. I enjoy designing the content and hosting it, but it has to stay within the realm of what I can manage in terms of time and energy. I felt Season 3 was a sweet spot. Anything too much longer would have left me feeling too drained. As much as I'd love to make this my fulltime job and have it generate enough income to make a living off of, it's just not possible without charging entry fees and I doubt anyone would enjoy that. So please understand how things go from my side, too. It takes months to make the content and then as you can see, more to put it into action. I doubt it will ever feel "perfect" for everyone and I understand it's impossible to shoot for perfect. But if I can make it great for most people, I think that's a win.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

I thought season 3 was perfect in length and difficulty actually. Season 2 was crazy and it felt like we were making no headway even after weeks of playing. I remember people were complaining about this at the time. There were so many leads and hints and things to do that it seemed almost impossible. I honestly don't know how you and Xanthe managed to plan and run it for so long as it was. Seriously impressive. But I enjoyed season 3 a lot more as we made steady progress and it never felt too huge or insurmountable. :)

[Bulbasaur]

I think it was done perfectly. My only issue was I wish I could've been more involved, but that's on me for not doing so. :P

[Noblejanobii]

Yeah I should have just never said anything. It's obvious the only one who understands is Morzone. I'm sorry I wasted everyone's time with my selfish desires.