An example of a Player Created Plot

[mansa]

Regarding player created plots:

I've had a (relatively recent) character that started a plot to change a portion of their surroundings.  There was a lot of back and forth with some requests, and roleplaying out in the area of the game I wanted changed.

At one point, the conversation was:
"You've been roleplaying in this area, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of pickup or interest from the other players of the game."
to which I replied:
"There isn't a lot of interest in this area of the game, because there isn't any impacting change happening in this area."

At one point, someone needs to start the changes, and once the plot starts moving, players want to jump in and play along.
Eventually, things started to change in that area, and I'm really glad that they did, but it did take a long while to get going.

In my story, my initial player created clan / player plot creation request is dated 2019-06-28 in the Request Tool.
I followed up with another request 2019-07-21, and another request 2019-08-15.   The August 15th request had the thread about "there's not enough player interest to change anything" and "there's no player interest because nothing's changed", which eventually got resolved when 1 NPC was created, 1 Firepit object was placed, and 1 (empty) Tent Object was placed in a room in late September.

To create even more interest, I started posting IC message board posts.

[Thu Sep 26 23:49:08 2019] The Gan Zein Marketplace is empty?  No more.

   For over a century, the ol' Gan Zein marketplace has been picked
clean by scavangers, grebbers, and many many rats, and was left to rot
forgotten by the denizens of the Labyrinth... Until this past couple
years.  A blue-skinned woman has been noticed leaning against a wall
with a handful of wares in front of her on the ground; blowdarts,
crossbow bolts, arrows, and maybe a blowgun.
   More recently, some of the debris and litter has been pushed aside
and a firepit surrounded by burned rat skulls has been maintained, and
what could only be imagined as a tent has been set up, canvas barely
giving any shade from Suk-Krath, with a hint of an ancient rugs set
out.  This blue-skinned woman has been spotted inside this tent, with
her wares out in front; blowdarts, crossbow bolts, and arrows.
   This empty, open market may one day have a reason to get lost
trying to find which alleyway leads to it.

[Tue Oct 22 00:16:48 2019] The Gan Zein Marketplace - Movement of Filth.

Overheard in the Crimson Folley:
   "Did you see that blue-skinned woman working in the Gan Zein marketplace?
She was moving rocks and picking up stuff, and it looks like she was scouting
out the place. I watched her for an hour and then she went to her tent by that
firepit and put out some crossbow bolts and blowdarts like it was a merchant
shop in the bazaar southside."
   "Bah, no. You're blind and dumb. Nobody works in that dead-end."
   "You ain't never been there in years, since you found those coins and that
sausage that turned your stomach. I was there -yesterday- and I know what I
saw."
   "So what's going on there, then?"
   "I think they're building something."
   "Ey Ey You two drunks! Stop bickering and pay your tab! Or if you want to
make some coin, go greb some rocks and wood and go trade it to Flow in that
old market. They've gotsa be building something alright. Go earn some meat and
move some debris around there."

[Wed Dec 18 22:10:20 2019] The Gan Zein Marketplace - Building a building?

Overheard at the Crimson Folley Tavern on the Westside:
   "So I went to that tent in the Gan Zein marketplace, and I saw that woman's
still there, selling her crossbow bolts and blowdarts. I'm surprised that she's
survived that long, what with her blue-skin and all. I didn't buy anything."
   "You never have coin to buy anything, ever. In fact, it's your turn to get
the next round."
   "No, no. I got this one, remember?"
   "Ehh. Maybe."
   "See?  Also, I went past that firepit there in that market, and saw work
_actually_ being done. I saw a dwarf working what looked like _actual_ building
and it was all blocked off with rocks and debris and construction. Who'd a
think that was possible -there-?"
   "I remember a year back or so hearing that blue-skinned woman was offering
jobs for people to bring in shit. It's finally getting done? What is it?"
   "It just sorta looked like a building. It's been over a year and it's a
sorta frame of some building. I saw that all the workers were wearing a leather
patch that had an orange flame painted on it. Maybe that's the crew. That woman
was wearing one too."
   "I wonder if it's a gambling hall. Maybe a new whore house. Or maybe it's a
spice den sellin' cheaper than the Screaming Mantis."
   "It's not that impressive, actually."
   "I'd like to see you do that."
   "I could do it cheaper and faster!"
   "You're cheaper and faster."

[Fri Feb 28 20:54:00 2020] The Gan Zein Marketplace - Crossbows, Blowdarts, and Arrows for sale!

Overheard in the Crimson Folley tavern on the Westside of the Maze:
   "I was looking for that blue-skinned woman in her tent in the Gan Zein
market 'cuz I was looking for more blowdarts, and there was another woman with
one arm there, selling Flow's items for her!"
   "A one-armed woman sellin' out of _her_ shop? Hm, she musta finally hired
someone. How's the prices? Flow usually rips me off. I once bought a bow from
her for a small and a half and it broke immediately after I tried to pull it."
   "Ehh, yeah, it was cheaper."
   "Good.  Fuck Flow."
   "Hey now. She's the first sellin' out of that market in a hundred years, set
up that tent, hired a bunch of half elves to knock down that rubble, hired a
group of dwarves to build that dilapidated building in the west corner, and
keeps pushing to hire more makers there."
   "She overcharges me!"
   "Everyone overcharges you, idiot. That's the rule of the labyrinth. I even
saw her try and hire some painted elves once, trying to convince them to set up
a gambling hall... And tried to convince some run-away mul to start a fighting
pit in the corner."
   "She just wants a cut from anyone setting up shop."
   "That's the rule of the maze. Pay dues to the ones higher up. I'm amazed how
you're still alive since you're that dumb."
   "I ain't dumb. I just don't like being cheated and ripped off."

[Sun Jun 14 16:22:13 2020] The Gan Zein Marketplace has another shop?

Overheard in the Crimson Folley tavern on the Westside of the Maze:
   "I was sneaking by the Gan Zein the other day and saw a new tent set up in a
corner. I peeked my head inside and there was a familiar face! Melisandra was
setting up shop, with some of her usual wares."
   "Eh?  That woman whose shop was burned out eastside?  I thought she was
a deader."
   "No, she made it out alive, a bit burnt and dirty. She said she'll be back
making clothes again soon enough, selling them out of her new tent in the Gan
Zein market. Can you believe it?"
   "She sells shitty clothes.  And she's a half-elf.  Why bother?"
   "I dunno.  I just thought it was interesting."
   "You have the stupidest stories."
   "Yeah, well.  I remember when the Gan Zein market was empty until that
blue-skinned woman showed up selling crossbow bolts and blowdarts.  I thought
she was going be jumped and murdered the first week but she survived too.  Now
that place has her shop - Flow's Bows - and Melisandra's clothing.  What will be
next?  A fighting pit?  A gambling stand?  A rat racing course?"
   "That's stupid.  Krath-damnit you're stupid.  Rat racing?"
   "Oh, yeah, also, there's guy saying he's a tailor in Melisandra's tent, too."
   "Do they sell spice there?"
   "No."
   "I don't care about it at all, then.  It's your turn to buy me a drink."


I wanted to share this experience that I had, because:
a) I was successful in changing a part of the world
b) I went through the player-created-clan process as far as I wanted it to go, and was satisfied at remaining "level 3", because "level 4" didn't make sense in the area that I was playing in.
c) It took a long ass time.

[Riev]

I think an important thing to remember is "there's no player interest because nothing's changed". There have been times where I've tried to do similar things (including this exact idea you copycat <3) but met with similar issues. Without getting player buy in, staff (rightfully) don't want to put in the effort to change things for one person.

However, until people start seeing things change, why would they buy in? The IDEAL SITUATION is that you come up with an idea so fun and interesting that other players want in, and your roleplay around the idea is enough to keep them interested. The REALITY is that a lot of players similarly don't want to put a lot of time and energy into an idea if it takes 100+ hours of playtime to see a campfire object placed.

[WarriorPoet]

I tried to get in on the action there a couple of times. Silly deaths and a sponsored role got in the way.

I loved to see the change and activity.

[Veselka]

Thanks for posting this Mansa -- It's a good reminder that change is possible, it just takes patience and gumption. I've found Staff in recent years much more amenable to the concept of incremental change of the game world. There was a byline for a while that the world should remain more or less Static, with the PCs coming and going from the world stage that remains more or less the same. But it seems like a LOT has changed in the last 5 or 6 years (since Tuluk's closure really, and then re-opening) that is more than enough change when you look back.

And here's to more change as we barrel ahead.

[Athapaxis]

This is really cool to read through - having interacted IG with the blue-skinned one and having seen things fall into place over time it's neat get an idea of how that has happened.

I do think its worth noting that the changes in how staff approaches the game and players has changed significantly over the past few years and it is very much appreciated.

[Lotion]

Awesome looking forward to your guide on how to write those sort of IC boardposts, I remember you told me one time but having somewhere to look and read would be nice...

advanced armageddon gaming PDF?