How to Avoid Ruining RP Events (A Kermit's Guide)

kermit · July 13, 2015, 12:00am

How to Avoid Ruining RP Events (A Kermit's Guide)

This guide originated in the beforetimes when STO still gave us access to The Foundry to create custom missions in-game. At that point lots of RP events turned into complete disasters, and I thought it would be helpful to provide some tips for how to avoid ruining events - for players and GMs! A lot of that info is now outdated, but there are still some good practices relevant to current RP.

(Outdated sections included for posterity and can be ignored unless you’re here for nostaliga and/or lolz. RIP foundry </3)

Outdated Intro

Foundry Missions, RP Events, and YOU!
Kermit’s Official Guide to Not Ruining a Foundry-Based RP Event

The Foundry is a wonderful tool. We can create an incredible variety of environments, scenarios, and objectives. Foundry missions may be used as simply as backdrops to increase immersion, or they may be detailed enough to automate a large portion of a GM’s event-time workload.

Unfortunately, I’d estimate that about half of all RP events based on foundry missions are complete and total failures. Please don’t take offense to this, because we’ve all been party to it at some point or another. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find any one of us that hasn’t been a GM trying desperately to salvage a plot, or a participant having difficulty with the foundry, or even a participant becoming frustrated AT another player that is having difficulty with the foundry.

Whether you’re brand-new to STO, or a Beta Access Veteran, or anywhere and everyone in between, I hope you’ll find something useful in this guide.

For Event Participants: How to avoid ruining the GM’s day

Even if the GM does literally everything right, it is still surprisingly easy for even a single person to ruin an entire event for not only themselves, but potentially all of the participants. Everyone always worries about trolls showing up, or game bugs ruining things; but in my experience, participant mistakes or delays are equally as harmful - and occur far more frequently. Every single one of us owes it to all the rest to try to follow these simple tips.

Whenever possible, BE ON TIME.

Dealing with late arrivals can be one of the most difficult things for a GM to handle, especially for large or fast-paced events.
Being on time will (1) ensure that you get a spot on a team, and (2) seriously cut down on your chances of ruining the entire event.

Always PAY ATTENTION.

Time is key. If the GM needs to repeat things because you missed it, that means that you are delaying the event for everyone.
Making the GM repeat instructions is completely inexcusable in a medium where you can literally scroll up and read whatever you missed.

Know who the GM is.

Staff-run events are easy. The staff members are the GMs.
Player-run events are a little trickier, but for these, it is more important than ever to know who is in charge.
If you are not the GM, then don’t answer questions directed to the GM. You may very well know the answer, and you may just be trying to help. But then again, you might be wrong and risk derailing the event. At the very least, you are creating more chat scrolling (and confusion), if you and the GM answer simultaneously.

Shut the hell up!

Yes. You heard me. Both ICly and OOCly, keep chatter to a minimum. The more people present, the more conservative we all need to be.
During a briefing ICly, characters in attendance should only be talking/emoting if they are saying/doing something directly relevant to the briefing. Any whispers between attendees can be done in tells, and in larger briefings, even most reaction emotes can be done away with. This is all to prevent excessive chat scrolling, which can cause people to miss important details or instructions.
During a mission, stick to the mission. Don’t clutter up OOC chat, or neglect your team. Stay watchful for important info/instructions from the GM (because he/she might not be in your team!).
Note: Even if you are not participating in the event for whatever reason, this tip still applies to you: Don’t clutter chat with your off-topic conversation. Don’t try to pull other players away from the event. And for the love of god, don’t show up half way through an event and complain that you weren’t invited.

Do what you’re told.

If you’re told to create or join a team, do it.
If you’re told to be quiet, do that.
If you’re asked to leave the event because you’re being disruptive, can’t find the mission, or because the GM doesn’t like the color of your shoes, you know what? Go ahead and do that too.
If you’re offended by something that happened or something that you were told to do, during the event is not the time to deal with it. Step away, and talk to the GM or an admin after the event is over. Remember: it isn’t about you. It isn’t about the GM. It’s about all the other players that would potentially have to sit there while you argue through whatever the issue is.

Don’t rush.

Make sure you give everyone time to RP, before barreling through the mission.
Communicate with your teammembers, and with the GM, to make sure that you are progressing at a rate that everyone is happy with.

Outdated Foundry Info

Remember: Often, once you press continue on a foundry conversation, it disappears. Make sure you give everyone time to read the presented content.

Know how to locate and accept a Foundry Mission, and be able to do it quickly.

While there are some times where STO or the Foundry itself are bugged or otherwise causing problems, 95% of foundry issues boil down to operator error of some sort.
Your character MUST be at least level 10 to access foundry missions. If you are not level 10, you have no grounds to complain when the GM tells you to gtfo.
If you are unable to obtain the foundry mission in a reasonable amount of time (for ANY reason), you should expect to be left behind. The needs of the many…
If you don’t understand how to find foundry missions, the briefing is not the time to learn. Excuse yourself and find a guide. Conveniently…
Here’s a guide. With pictures. None of you ever again have an excuse for not knowing how to do this.

Details

Step One
First, press the ‘Hail Starfleet’ button to the left of the minimap.
The default keyboard shortcut is the ‘J’ key.

Step Two
Click on the ‘Foundry’ tab at the top of the window that you opened in Step One.

Step Three
Click on the ‘Browse All’ button on the left side of the window.

Step Four
Click on the ‘Become Reviewer’ button at the bottom of the window.
(Obviously, skip this step if you’ve already done it.)

Step Five
Accept the EULA
(Obviously, skip this step if you’ve already done it.)

Step Six
Return to either the ‘Browse All’ or ‘Review Content’ page.
(The GM will tell you which you need to use.)
Click on the small arrow in the top left of the window to open the search box.

Step Seven
Enter the text you want to search for. The mission author’s @handle is usually the easiest way to search
(The GM will tell you what to search for.)

Step Eight
Choose the appropriate mission, and then click the ‘Hail’ button to begin.

For GMs/Event Hosts: How to host a smooth event

As awful as it is for the GM when participants ruin his/her event, when the GM doesn’t keep an event on track, it’s just as terrible for the players. Not everyone is experienced at running events or leading people - and that’s OKAY. It’s a learning process, and nobody should be afraid to give GMing a try. We all had a first time. You will screw up, and that’s okay too. It doesn’t have to be perfect. With that said, do everyone the courtesy of trying to follow the tips I’ve listed here.

Just like the participants, you are expected to BE ON TIME.

There is nothing more annoying as a participant than showing up, getting ICly to the proper starting location, being all ready to go, and then having the GM be late or not show up.
If you absolutely must be late or absent, please make every effort to notify the players. Post to the event’s forum thread, or leave a line in the shoutbox discord. Something so that there aren’t people waiting around with no idea whether or not you’re going to show up, and when.
In fact, as the GM of an event, it is in your best interest to arrive EARLY. Make sure everything is prepared and ready to go at start-time. Put reminders about the event into OOC chat. This will also give you a chance to grab an admin in case there’s any last minute help or advice you need with your event.

Plan, prepare, and prepare some more.

Do not attempt to GM an event without having some idea of where the event is going to take you. Completely totally open-ended events tend to drag on and may leave some players feeling directionless. At the very least, you need to be prepared to guide your players towards their objectives. Because…
Pacing matters. Ideally you should have an idea of approximately how long you expect an event to last, and you should RESPECT that estimate on behalf of the participants. Keep an eye on the time and understand that you may need to speed things along to avoid running over time.
Pick a style and stick to it! Some GMs like to have players freely emote their actions, and respond reactively. Others like to present pre-defined options for characters to choose from. Some GMs will require rolls or skill checks, others are more freeform. Whatever your preference, it’s best to be consistent within the same event, and make sure you’re clear about what you expect.
Don’t forget about your bookends. You should know in advance whether you’re going to hold a pre-mission briefing and, if so, where it’s going to be. You should know in advance whether or not you’re going to have a debriefing at the end and where that is going to be. Make sure you account for the time these will eat up.
Consider getting a partner GM. Large events can be a nightmare to manage. If you’re expecting a large number of participants (6+) it might be a good idea to grab a friend or a staff member to split the workload. Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

Know who the GM is. (Spoiler alert: it’s you!)

This is YOUR event. Don’t let people walk all over you. Take charge. Be authoritative. If someone is stepping on your toes, tell them they need to stop. This leads nicely into…
Don’t be afraid to tell someone to GTFO. As the GM, you need to consider the needs of the entire event. If one person is being disruptive or making your life difficult in any way, ask them to leave. Once the event is over, you can chat with them about what happened, or if necessary, find an admin to mediate. But don’t let one person ruin your event.
Keep people quiet, and keep things moving along. If you leave long pauses between instructions, players will tend to go off on tangents or engage in unrelated chatter. Keep things moving, keep your instructions specific, and don’t let yourself get derailed or distracted. Stay on target.

Above all, be FLEXIBLE.

Things WILL go wrong. There’s absolutely no way around it. Your IC team lead may have an IRL power outage. The game server might go down. Characters might respond in totally unexpected ways and ruin all of your plans. You really never know! A good GM knows how to roll with the punches and adapt to the unexpected. Get creative, reinvent the situation, reschedule as a last resort, but don’t get discouraged and don’t give up!
Try not to run events that are completely “on rails”. Participants should feel like their actions and decisions have meaning. If you need the overall outcome to be predetermined, your job as the GM becomes finding a way to make the event engaging and interactive. Make sure you’re not just putting on a show.

Outdated Foundry Info

Plan, prepare, and prepare some more.

DO NOT attempt to GM an event without having some idea of where the event is going to take you. You should know in advance where your briefing is going to be (and if you want to have one), where the players need to go for the foundry gate, and where you’ll meet at the end of the mission (incl. whether or not you want to have a debriefing).
Give clear and specific instructions about what foundry mission your players are supposed to take, and when. Provide the @handle of the author (Best way to search, imho) and the exact name of the mission. DO NOT waste time attempting to help a player that can’t find the mission. It is THEIR responsibility to know how to obtain foundry missions.
Do not feed your players a broken foundry mission. TEST the mission yourself first. Play all the way through. Click on every option. Make sure it isn’t impossible to complete. When you’re done, assume that your first test was terrible, and test it again.

Understand the Foundry limitations, and plan accordingly.

Certain foundry elements impose a level requirement on any mission they are played in. See this page for more specifics. Know ahead of time what level is required for the mission YOU are trying to GM, and make sure your players do too.
Foundry missions are limited by team size. That means only up to five people can be in the same foundry instance. If you have more than five participants, you will need to break your group up into smaller teams. DO NOT wait until after your briefing to consider this. Nobody likes to sit around while you figure out who goes in what group. Take a headcount before starting, and make a note of who you’d like to team together. When it comes time to have people form teams, don’t ask for opinions. Assign the teams authoritatively and be done with it.

For Content Creators: How to make RP-friendly missions

Allllllll Outdated Foundry Info :(

As we've already seen, GMs and event participants are perfectly capable of ruining their own events without any outside help. The last thing they need to deal with is a broken or bugged mission. Whether you're making a mission for fun, or you're helping out the GM, or even if you're planning to GM the mission yourself: when you're setting out to make a foundry mission to be RPed, do yourself a favor - take a look at these simple suggestions.

Know your audience.

If you’re making an RP-friendly foundry mission, remember: people are going to be RPing in your foundry mission. If there is combat, leave room between fights, otherwise there won’t be any time to RP.
Don’t make the mission too difficult. If the players want to be hurt or killed, they can RP being hurt or killed. Nobody likes being OOCly unable to complete the mission because it’s too hard. Also, consider that…
Many RPers couldn’t give a single crap about STO’s game mechanics. Many will be underleveled, undergeared, and some may even be lacking in a basic understanding of how to pve as a team. Test your mission with minimal gear. Consider alternate solutions, and avoid forcing overly difficult combat situations.

Understand the Foundry’s quirks.

Because of the five-player limit, there are likely to be two or more groups running the mission simultaneously. As a result, RP-friendly foundry missions should avoid portraying unique events. If two groups are running the same mission, and the mission includes a scene where the players meet Captain Picard and have a nice chat about tea, then after the mission you might have 10+ people who will all claim to have had a very nice personal conversation with Captain Picard. That’s a problem. It doesn’t make sense. Plan for multiple groups.
Plan combat around ONE player. The foundry scales enemy spawns. That means that the number of enemies that spawn will AUTOMATICALLY change, based on the number of players on the mission. Because of this, trying to create very specific numbers of enemies is not practical and will often end up in far more bad guys being spawned than intended, when the mission is run with a full group. That would be very bad for our heroes.
Plan dialogue around multiple players. Too often, I see foundry missions where the player-character has a personal or private conversation with an NPC in the mission. When you have a team of five, that doesn’t make any sense. Even less so, if more than one team is running the same mission.
Try to clearly mark the last option of a dialogue tree. Once one of the players completes the conversation, it triggers the next part of the mission, and anyone that was still reading doesn’t get to finish. Some authors like to note that button with an ‘(( X ))’, indicating that players should put an ‘X’ into team-chat when they’ve finished reading, without actually pressing the button. Then once everyone has indicated that they are ready to proceed, the mission can continue.
Certain enemies will raise the minimum level requirements for the entire mission. Not only should you be aware of this if you are writing for a particular audience/group of players, but I also highly recommending adding a note of what level is required to the description of the mission itself. This will help with confusion at event-time.

Test Test Test Test Test

Seriously. The Foundry lets you preview the mission. You should be making sure that every step works as intended. Check all of the dialogue, run every possible fork of the mission, and actively try to break it.
If you’ve tested your mission in the Foundry and there are no issues, and you’re ready to publish, great! As soon as it’s done publishing, go hop on your real character and test it some more!

Conclusion

That’s all, folks. This is not the be-all end-all guide. It is simply a place to start. If you’ve never done a foundry-based an RP event before, hopefully this will help you get comfortable enough with it. Ask questions if you have them. Share advice and tips/tricks of your own, if you have those. Most importantly, have fun. Thanks for reading!