Operation Blackjack was an insanely unique and lovely experienced that I had enjoyed over the course of three or so weeks. Though lag and some technical bugs were speckled around the events themselves, the amount of effort the Game Masters put into providing an excellent passive environment AND enjoyable combat scenarios is nothing short of fantastic and admirable.
The level of detail and attention towards maintaining the overall 'vibe' of Halo (whether it be the background radio chatter, the event characters, the propping + environment, the music, and even the story itself) was absurdly well done, and very rarely did I ever feel taken out of a situation immersion-wise.
Pros:
- Coherent and fun storytelling
- Well-propped and themed areas for immersion
- RAD-X'S RADIO CHATTER!!!
- Goose's dedication and hard work to coding and providing an immersive experience through UI and weapons
- The death-numbered PK system was unique and worked very well
- Overall a very fun experience
Cons:
- Lengthy, long-term event. Can lead to burnout for some event-goers.
- Lag due to particles, NPCs, weapons, etcetera was excessive at certain points
- The facial models were ugly, but that's personal preference
All in all, Operation Blackjack proved to be a concept and experiment to branch out from the standard of HL2RP, and I feel it was overwhelmingly successful in the eyes of a player. I certainly won't forget the fun I had with this alternative approach to storytelling from the Short Stories team, and hope they consider it a valid example to provide more eccentric story ideas in the future!