IMPORTANT: Sub-GM Ideas

[Spyke]

Due to... recent events, there has been an EXP cap placed on sub-GM plots. However, Gradius even pondered that sub-GMs should not give any EXP, and I find myself agreeing with that statement for several reasons.

Reason 1 is that sub-GMing occurs frequently enough that Gradius has to spend the better portion of a day, or even two days, in order to handle them all and then he is exhausted. This results in less time for him to relax, to plan, and to GM himself.

Secondly, we as sub-GMs have more difficulty balancing bosses and understanding the very subjective aspects of this amazing combat system. We tend to make bosses overly strong, resulting in too much EXP, or too fragile, and a waste of time.

I propose that sub-GMs do not give out EXP, and stick with awarding items for participation. Our boss data is to be submitted to Gradius, and the difficulty of the boss rated based on all circumstances that resulted in the battle. This will allow him to better balance bosses himself. If we awarded EXP, then the level-ups make our data useless to him because there is a sudden shift in power on all characters.

Items that are awarded should be mediocre, and not overly powerful. In fact, it is my belief that items awarded, other than simple one-use items, should be statted by Gradius, or at least approved in every aspect, as we have had problems (even from myself) of items being too strong.

[Li]

I agree with you on this one Spyke. Though I haven't GMed in this RP yet, I'm well aware of the difference in the subGMs and in Myth's GMing, and I think that honestly. Only a few of the subGMs are in my eyes capable of having a session well planned enough to even think of giving out EXP. Even though I would like to give out EXP for my session, I do not think that it's the best choice. As for the items we give out, it is by far better to have Myth approve them. There are items that can be called broken, but they are hardly used and people don't abuse them, which is good,but at the same time, there have been alot more abused items and moves that shouldn't be. You're given powerful things as a last resort, and it should be just that. You shouldn't throw it out just cause you wanna' beat someone in damage. Because first off that's dumb, and second off the record is way to high for almost anyone to beat.

Yeah, it's starting to sound like a complaint on the way players are acting, but I don't really care if it ends up like that. And as for the idea, I don't think I could think of a better one even if I devoted my full attention to it.

[Suih]

I really do agree with Li and Spyke. There is waaaayyy too much EXP being handed out in one mission.

However, not all of us can log in everyday/often, off to roleplay missions. We, the people, much like yourselves, have lives outside of dearest Nintendo-RP. School/College, Jobs, Chores, Clubs, etc. that we need to attend to. EXP would be nice, as they probably would be more useful than items/weapons and help to build up the image that the Player is giving the character, wether it be a badass like Sasuke (*cough*andemo*cough*) or a Demon.

You're also depending on Myth/Gradius too much, which is sort of a hassle asking him to approve every item, etc and what not.

Really, I believe EXP Cap is the way to go, in my opinion.

[sephiroth]

I would also agree that giving out XP in a side mission by sub-GMs is not a critical thing and sometimes the items can be a reward and fun in themselves. Perhaps if someone feels a strong desire to give out something of XP, leave the option that Gradius decide? Not giving out XP though stops some ugly scenarios that have cropped up, whether intentional or not, such as people giving out a lot of XP which also benefits their own characters. Also, it takes time to do up XP and some sub-GMs run free-form plots instead of using dice, so it makes it even more difficult for them. All in all I think it's probably the best solution, though we lose some XP and as suggested, perhaps if it is a very large campaign, discussion with Gradius maybe could allow for it. That would be all I would add.

[Mystic]

I agree and disagree.

Why? Because I see both sides, with their pros and cons.

Why Do I Agree: Spyke basically said it all, and Li as well. I would also like to add on that the system itself is very complicated, so newer GMs would tend to just think more simple and go overpowered on everything it sees. Believe me, a level "FUCK YOU!" Character going against a group of level "HELP ME!" characters is never appealing, and the massive EXP reward is, for the most part, far too generous.

Rewards are a given: They gotta be approved by Gradius anyways. As far as statting goes, I'd rather stat them myself and let Grad tweak it if he disagrees.

Now...

Why do I Disagree: In the long road, I can see players (and perhaps Sub-GMs themselves) not wanting to give out things, but have to because they are unable to just give out EXP. Let's face it, we all like a good RP, but we wanna leave with smiles on our faces. You know how when you play an awesome game, but the ending just sucks? That's how what an RP would feel when you end up fruitless at the end.

No, I'm not saying that EXP should be given out like hotcakes, I'm saying it should still be an option. The worst thing you can do is ban something that never really did any harm in the first place, and banning EXP, to me, would be a bad thing for people that wants an experienced character more than a character that is given hand-me-downs (Yes, I am saying that rewards are hand-me-downs).

Plus, we never even had this problem until last week, and now we just wanna put the ban sticker on it? I honestly have to say no.

Stick with the cap.

[loran]

I have to agree with Marco. I can see both points evenly, and while banning EXP from Sub-GMs would solve a few problems, it'd also open up a new potential can of worms.

Everytime I GM, even though I'm not to good, and have a bad habit of not finishing things, I've tried my hardest to balance the enemies to where they're memorable of the characters they represent if canon, and to at least make a memorable battle if original. And I try my hardest to make sure EXP is fair, and not HEUG. I mean, most of us with plans on sub-GMing take all this time to make it perfect.

The EXP problem only popped up in the last few weeks, and hopefully with some assistance to the new potential GMs, we can get them balanced and understanding an appropriate EXP and item level to give out.

I say stick with the EXP cap, and then if there are still problems down the road, we think about more drastic measures.

[delfin]

I'm not a sub-GM and I can't really add anything new to it since Marco sums it up the best to me.

Fix the EXP cap, make it reasonable and 9k/4.5k/2k doesn't sound very well thought through, even with a "half the remaining if you go over a tier" and it also sounds like too much, way too much.

If sub-GM's are going to be handing out that much EXP, then make some negative attached to it, either by saying you can only gain a max of "this amount of levels if you are this level" from a sub-plot or that you only get a certain % of the gained exp and wont get more of it until some event takes place, aka spread it out slowly instead of making one huge load that gives Grad a bunch of work to do at once from alot of people.

I'm not saying that last one is a good suggestion, but it's a valid one if people feel that a #k EXP reward is suitable (I do not).

From a sub-GM plot, I would expect like maybe around 500 exp, the kind that makes you want to stick around for several so you gain something slowly in a 'feelgood' way rather than play in a short plot for a day or maybe two and get gazillions... and I'm just rambling now -_-

Marco is right, rest can be ignored