Thanks for playing the third and final chapter within the American story-arc. The events are being put on hold for now so we can focus our efforts elsewhere for a time...
Here's the feedback I always request so I can actively make our events better in the future.
Section One
What did you enjoy the most about the events?
What did you least enjoy most about the events?
Did you / did you not like how long the event lasted for?
Section Two
Was the starting time preferable for you?
Were the Event's Staff helpful or unhelpful?
Did you like your preferred role?
Who do you believe excelled in their position in the roleplay?
Section Three
What do you wish to see in the future?
What do you not wish to see in the future?
In an honest opinion, how would you rate the event in its entirety?
Section Four
What did you enjoy most out of Chapters 1-3 during the American Story-Arc since it first began?
What did you enjoy least out of Chapters 1-3 during the American Story-Arc since it first began?
Do you believe the ending is satisfying to you after all of the events you have participated in (even if you only participated for one or two events)?
Would you participate in other elements of specific event arcs again, based on our interpretation of the Half Life universe?
Did you / did you not like how long the event lasted for?
It wasn't a problem about how long it lasted as it was a problem for when it started. Since we usually started early already, I recommend you move future events to 6:30 BST for your brothers in the eastern hemisphere so I don't get the shoe from my mom because I was screaming about my cops messing up.
Section Two
Was the starting time preferable for you?
AHA, I should've read this question before- shit. Yeah make it 6:00 - 6:30 BST next time
Were the Event's Staff helpful or unhelpful?
Seems that screaming profanities at headstaff works for me to get them to respond quickly.
Oh wait, I am staff. Was I helpfull?
Did you like your preferred role?
I wouldn't be fucking headcop if I didn't want that role in the first place now WOULD I?
Who do you believe excelled in their position in the roleplay?
What did you enjoy the most about the events? The cooperation of each character and how well it was handled by the moderation team!
What did you least enjoy most about the events? Well it's a very minor thing but I saw the use of OOC chat being quite frequent, especially when it wasn't needed, and it didn't take away from my experience that much but I felt like it should be toned down a bit, more on the responsibility of the players of course
Did you / did you not like how long the event lasted for? Decently timed, wouldn't want you to change it personally.
Section Two
Was the starting time preferable for you? Quite preferable, easy to join up as it's not a particularly busy hour for me personally, I wouldn't guess so for many of the other participants, it seems like most who applied got in!
Were the Event's Staff helpful or unhelpful? I didn't have much experience with staff help, but I can imagine it was on par, everyone I know who moderated the event I am sure are friendly and helpful individuals, and so I'm sure any help needed was handled as expected.
Did you like your preferred role? Yep, and I'm happy with the way it ended too, it was nice being very vulnerable for the most part and relying on others for protection, gives more of a challenge and from my character's start until the very end I've always been happy with the role I chose.
Who do you believe excelled in their position in the roleplay? It's a hard decision, but honestly everyone I was playing with did their job well, I'll just say that I think every character this time around did a good job.
Section Three
What do you wish to see in the future? Well considering the remaining survivors are travelling across the sea to Europe (I'm not too caught up with what happened in the midst of it, but this can link to what I'm saying too) I'd like to see a big big change in the environments they'll be facing, if I remember correctly they were sucked into a void of some kind or something like that, so that leaves a lot open to what environments you could play around with, maybe a parallel Earth or something, whatever works and fits really.
What do you not wish to see in the future? Hmm, it's a hard one, maybe controversial but less 'action' I guess, in the coming chapters I would really like to see more of an emphasis on how the Combine shaped the Earth, and the Long Haulers having to overcome the changes to the planet, its environment, more than the weaponised threats like OTA or anything, doesn't mean it all has to be gotten rid of in its entirety, but it would work really well if the Combine/Xen's impact on the natural side of Earth was more of a threat, maybe having to traverse through a wasteland created by a portal storm, countries almost entirely different to what they used to be, once lushous forests turned into a crowd of lifeless trees and Xen growth which releases toxins into the atmosphere. Anything like that would be super neat.
In an honest opinion, how would you rate the event in its entirety? I'll keep it short, 8.5/10, for what it is, it's very well done, with only a minor couple of setbacks more on Gmod's and Source Engine's side with its restrictions and flaws, but ignoring those, very very good.
Section Four
What did you enjoy most out of Chapters 1-3 during the American Story-Arc since it first began? Being out in the wild for the first half, until the leadup to New York City, it felt like we were really traversing the American countryside in the midst of an Alien Invasion, the atmosphere, everything like that works so well.
What did you enjoy least out of Chapters 1-3 during the American Story-Arc since it first began? The Passiverp events in New York were really good, however I feel like some people might have missed out on them since they thought they would just be minor things with not a lot going on, since it's being labelled as mainly just 'Passiverp', but in reality there's a lot more going on that does add to the story a tiny bit, maybe it's just me, but I kinda felt that people were missing out on a lot.
Do you believe the ending is satisfying to you after all of the events you have participated in (even if you only participated for one or two events)? Satisfying, for sure, I'm happy with sacrificing my character at the end as it felt like I helped drive off the OTA and CP forces away from the boat, and it makes the escape more meaningful in a sense, like it was a big accomplishment but with a minor consequence, a character loss, yet I'm quite happy with it.
Would you participate in other elements of specific event arcs again, based on our interpretation of the Half Life universe? For sure.
Do you have any suggestions if it is a yes? Not for now, no, but I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with
What did you enjoy the most about the events? I enjoy the action-packed, but stealth-optional pace presented to us when the event begins. I'm always awestruck by how well RAD-X (and whomever else might be controlling it) is able to give us choices in how we approach our objectives during these events. Oh, I also love how they execute sound.
What did you least enjoy most about the events? Technically, this is out of Staff control, but I'm annoyed with how certain players acted as the event progressed. The military had a plan that basically specifically involved leaving us behind and splitting us up in an unfavorable way, such that I essentially had to delegate all of the zombie killings to my crowbar. There was also Old Man Bunges fucking up the whole stealth gig for the refugees by triggering an alarm in one of the stores. It was just really frustrating.
Did you / did you not like how long the event lasted for? I did enjoy doing it over the course of two days. I think that provided more opportunities for roleplay.
Section Two
Was the starting time preferable for you? It started at 1:30, my time, which leaves me very fortunate that I'm done with school don't have much going on in that time frame.
Were the Event's Staff helpful or unhelpful? Well, I had to ask them to set health many times, and I'm lucky they didn't get annoyed with how often I requested help. Nevertheless, I'm glad they were patient and, yes, helpful.
Did you like your preferred role? Yes, but now I'm somewhat interested in other roles. Now that I better understand how these events work, RPing a different role in the future sounds exciting to me.
Who do you believe excelled in their position in the roleplay? ICly, I'd say Delilah did. Without her guidance, we probably would've fallen apart due to the military men's' somewhat flimsy plan. OOCly, I'd say... honestly... Atle. I don't think anything really compares to the humorous, and remarkable situation that crazy fuck put me in, which he didn't have to.
Section Three
What do you wish to see in the future? More opportunities for... individual missions. Like, maybe there are a lot of components needed for a mission, for example, and there can be tiny or even singular-person teams sent to retrieve components in highly stealth-based or small-scale combat situations.
What do you not wish to see in the future? Overwhelming time stress. Seeing a timer go from "300 minutes to reinforcement" to "5 minutes to reinforcement" in just 20 minutes was extremely stressful and I'm honestly lucky to still be alive, as are most of the people who made it to the freight ship.
In an honest opinion, how would you rate the event in its entirety? 8.5/10. And honestly, I don't think I've ever given an event that high a score before. HL2RP events tend to be lackluster for one reason or the other, but the managers go above and beyond here.
Section Four
What did you enjoy most out of Chapters 1-3 during the American Story-Arc since it first began? I wasn't here for most of the events. I was here for The Harbinger's Lair, and this. I think I enjoyed this the most.
What did you enjoy least out of Chapters 1-3 during the American Story-Arc since it first began? Well, I guess the Harbinger's Lair, if I really had to pick.
Do you believe the ending is satisfying to you after all of the events you have participated in (even if you only participated for one or two events)? As disappointed as I am that certain people didn't make it, and as disappointed as I WOULD be if *I* didn't make it, I am, and probably still would be, satisfied with the outcome of this event as a culmination of all the previous events.
Would you participate in other elements of specific event arcs again, based on our interpretation of the Half Life universe? Sure, why not?
Do you have any suggestions if it is a yes? Do your freaking best.
What did you enjoy the most about the events?
I'd say the factor of having that 'danger' aspect of having to go back to save our friends and to get the codes needed for the cargo ship. It was a rather stressful situation for my character who hardly knew anything about guns, and having to give him a firearm which meant that he would have to defend himself one way or another was an interesting concept, and something I very thoroughly enjoyed.
What did you least enjoy most about the events?
It'd have to be the 'narrow-minded' feeling of trying to do what was needed. It was basically we go as one big team to get our friends, and then get the codes needed. The other added part was that sometimes I'd try to interact with some of the folk (for example, trying to figure out how to use a pistol), and I was entirely ignored, which was lightly irritating, but I got passed that because my 'main purpose' was to make sure to take care of anyone that was injured, which was fine for me.
This next part is a bit controversial, but I didn't like having to be put into a S2K scenario. It was more so of the factor that I was against folks that were around 5-30 ping, while I being an American, had roughly 180-200 ping. I do know it's supposed to be used to make the flow of 'combat' go by faster, but I've always enjoyed S2RP; something that a lot of people usually don't like.
My last gripe would be having to be rushed when doing MedRP. I like to try and be descriptive in what I'm trying to do to help someone, but if I'm having to go down the clock, I feel like I'm better off just half assing it and saying, "he removes all the bullets and stitches the wounds shut and gives the man blood," all in one sentence, rather than going into the technical of how he is removing the bullets, usingcertain clamps to pinch parts of the wound to prevent bleeding from anything he's trying to fix up internally etc. If anything I'd like to be given a set of say "turns", like you can only type out so many sentences, use them wisely.
Did you / did you not like how long the event lasted for?
Honestly I felt like it was kind of rushed. I would have liked for it to go on a little bit longer, but I understood that the people over in Europe are on a different time (an eight hour difference than me).
Section Two
Was the starting time preferable for you?
Yes and no. The time was perfect, as it was 12:30pm for me when it started. However the sudden "we're having another event" situation was a bit too quick for me. I've managed to make it work but I wish there was some form of better communication just in case for those like myself that may or may not have plans. I was fortunate enough to have plans 'cancelled'.
Were the Event's Staff helpful or unhelpful?
I didn't really need any help, so I don't know much about this one.
Did you like your preferred role?
To be honest, it's a different pace that what I'm used to funny enough. I used to MedRP a little bit back in the past, but it was usually for minor situations, and even then I normally placed as a Civil Protection officer. So being on the side of the 'resistance', and trying to make sure that our friends keep on pushing and living was a major different ball park.
Who do you believe excelled in their position in the roleplay?
Whomever played as Wyatt and Delilah did a pretty good job. Despite having my character not agreeing much with Wyatt from time to time with his plans, he stuck well with his character because of what happened in the past, and I heavily enjoy that 'character development'. Del was taking note of the scenery so we had some form of a common footing, which I thought was an interesting touch of 'thinking' that some people don't always do. Everyone else did their part fairly well, some better than others, but these two I believe stood out more.
Section Three
What do you wish to see in the future?
Possibly more S2RP if there's any chance given, and to allow us folk who like to type out longer sentences/paragraphs to just be patient and let us do our thing. For example Robert tends to display a good some amount of sentences to a paragraph, either explaining what they are doing physically, or just speaking in general, which makes me love the game even more, compared to others who do a couple of words. Sometimes long sentences aren't needed but if it's a common theme then it does make it kind of stale.
What do you not wish to see in the future?
This one actually ticked me off greatly. And it's that I do NOT want to be interrupted during my medRP. When it came down to it I had to make a choice, and it was either Gary 'Sandman' Sanderson, or Wheelchair Wyatt. My character at the time didn't care for Wyatt because he did not like how he was going about things, but at the same time he was a leader which unfortunately started to weigh out more than Gary. It didn't help that he was pushing for Wyatt to live anyways but still. So I knew that Gary probably wouldn't have a chance to live, but I wanted to at least do my best to get him all the way fixed up, only to have an even more dramatic ending if it was to come and have that feeling of, "I did literally everything I could, and it wasn't enough", rather than him being slayed and yeeted.
In an honest opinion, how would you rate the event in its entirety?
I didn't say much about the first event, but I'd give it a decent 7.3/10, and this one at first a 8/10, down to a 4/10 near the end. THEN a whopping 9/10 for a mega twist.
Section Four
What did you enjoy most out of Chapters 1-3 during the American Story-Arc since it first began?
Well I was only able to participate in a little bit of passiveRP with some of the people just before Chapter 3, but I liked the twist of events the Old Man gave. It was one of those situations that made it seem like that there was a choice, which could have really been, between just giving up and MAYBE having a chance to live, or continuing on and trying to resist. And to be honest I felt kind of biased at the time, but I probably would have been tempted to siding with that old man back then. However when he pushed the alarm at the hardware building, it immediately make me think that he was a traitor and was trying to sell us out, which promptly made him stay with the Long Haulers. HOWEVER, he does still think about whether or not that was the right choice. *Hint hint*
What did you enjoy least out of Chapters 1-3 during the American Story-Arc since it first began?
Probably would have to be how much people rushed things. I never meta anything, as I've GMed before on other servers, and heard of plans of what may or may not happen in the storyline so I can get a feel as to what could happen, and when I roleplay I "into the eyes" of my character. However I did a look around the map and saw how much we have missed out, and that angered me because there would have been so much more potential done, but people just had sort of a narrow-minded thought process, which was point a, to point b.
Do you believe the ending is satisfying to you after all of the events you have participated in (even if you only participated for one or two events)?
It's a 50 50. On one hand I was sort of annoyed because I felt like I was being rushed at the time, so I couldn't enjoy rping the situation. The end result was an interesting bit and makes me curious as to what may or may not happen. If anything I'd say what would've been better is that there was no timer at all, but hint that something is going more and more wrong the further the 'healing' was done, and have that inevitable fate befall upon the Long Haulers: THAT, would have been an amazing twist.
Would you participate in other elements of specific event arcs again, based on our interpretation of the Half Life universe?
Do you have any suggestions if it is a yes?
I would love to continue participating, and I do have several different suggestions, ones of which that I may relay to Rad-X or Robert if they want them (considering that I usually talk to them the most and feel the most comfortable with).
Who do you believe excelled in their position in the roleplay? ICly, I'd say Delilah did. Without her guidance, we probably would've fallen apart due to the military men's' somewhat flimsy plan.
Anyway, let's do these for once... feedback here and there is maybe more in general towards all past events, not this one in specific. Section One
What did you enjoy the most about the events?
Let me be clear (and don't be turned off by the big answer on the next question): the concept of The Long Haul is great. This is what HL2RP should be in my opinion. Actually, this is what any RP should aspire to be in my opinion. It honors the concept of roleplay, and is a stark contrast with the grind that RP has become on regular servers.
The roleplay in between the big events and little passive/mini events so far has actually been the best. It's been the only times really that there has been room to develop any serious character and catch up with events. The Long Haul was all about driving towards the main story for me and the odd times we had to catch a breath was where that came into play the most. The passive/mini events worked wonders to shake things up just enough to keep everyone going and creating the build-up towards the larger events (or to let people recap and settle after big events).
I really like it when our fuck-ups finally catch up with us and there are actual Consequences to our actions. The PK's in the bank were a good thing, we should have had those much earlier in the event chain (or at least some heavy/permanent injuries being doled out). Narrative creates consequences, consequences drive character development. And within a context of some real form of risk being attached to it all, it creates room for good memorable achievements or actual fuck-ups that we won't forget after 10 minutes. There have been some good stories to tell that came out of The Long Haul, although there could also have been more.
What did you least enjoy most about the events?
In all honesty? The roleplay in the big events. Even though without them the in-between roleplay would become meaningless, up to now I feel like there hasn't really been any of it. Playing as a refugee it has been difficult... Either the events are one big rush of chaos, or I have been left taking care of the group of refugees and trying to make the event more enjoyable for them in the midst of all the chaos.
Generally speaking it seems that the military always just takes the lead and shoehorns everyone through the event. IC'ly I haven't quite known what was going on during any event (other than maybe for brief times during the beginning) and if I hadn't had access to the event design documents I wouldn't have been able to say OOC'ly what the fuck we were doing either. It's always been rushing from one clusterfuck into the next.
The refugees have sort of been usually left to fend for themselves and expected to just tag along with things. Some passive RP here and there before being told 'all clear, move up' by other people. There has been little effort to create any meaningful role for them, and there has been little done to stop the military from steamrolling the map. E.g. all the unarmed/barely armed people in the depot shitstorm, the small vehicle squad after the depot that was expected to just... drive around, the refugee group in the city, the refugee group in the city 2: electric bogaloo. If we were lucky we got to deal with a little side-quest that other people skipped over in their rush, if we were unlucky we got to figure out ourselves what our own side-quest would be.
In between all the chaos, and especially towards the end of events when things entirely go out of hand, I must admit I have been metagaming what our objective is and what admins are saying on discord (because even though all the military guys seem to exactly know what it is, IC'ly for some reason that is never communicated and my character didn't quite know) just to try and get shit into order and haul the refugees through and over the finish line. Again examples because I can: literally screaming over radio non-stop in the depot to stop people from going up and get them to going down to the train, having to pick up a bunch of stragglers in the ending-chaos of gm_fork, babysitting refugees in the city, being the only one who actually bothered to go for the bank codes in city 2: electric bogaloo.
Coming from SSTRP where big events like we run here are basically the daily bread and butter, my major gripe is with the fact that people rush through a map with little to no RP. It is beelining from one objective to the next objective with little to no breaks, little to no discussion and most of the time basically no plan whatsoever. I think the beginning of Chapter 3 (first time in the city) has enough examples of this, and perhaps my biggest turn-off in second part being the rush on the bank. I understand people want to do the objectives, but we all should make an effort to involve everyone else here. This goes especially for whomever leads the event IC'ly. GM's have little direct influence there, but indirectly a lot can be done (slap whatever group is rushing hard, create some obstacle they can't overcome without involving the rest, or just straight up shift the main focus of the event to a secondary group).
Did you / did you not like how long the event lasted for? It was good, I especially liked it that we've basically switched to doing it over 2 evenings. Keeps it manageable schedule-wise and not too draining to play through it all in one evening, but gives us enough time to have fun and do something proper. Added bonus for being able to adjust mid-way through without having to improvise on the spot.
Section Two
Was the starting time preferable for you? A bit earlier would be nice, but as long as it is friday/saturday evenings the current time is ok.
Were the Event's Staff helpful or unhelpful? It has improved a lot since the first event, so good job! Next up I am still integrating /help with SAM though so there are claimable popups for everything.
Did you like your preferred role? Yes and no. I've liked that I have been able to contribute to giving people a better experience in the event, but I'd also wish that I could have just played in the event without having to know what would happen.
Who do you believe excelled in their position in the roleplay? All the refugees. I can't say I have always done my best to interact with them/RP'ed half as good as I'd like to when I did, but I've enjoyed watching from the sideline and seeing them do their thing. Keep it up, I'd say
Section Three
What do you wish to see in the future? More passive, more RP'ing through objectives rather than running/pressing 'e'/shooting, more risks/injuries/PK's, someone to actually lead the group who isn't also fighting on the front-line (sorry but they are 2 mutually exclusive jobs).
What do you not wish to see in the future? People rushing objectives with no real credible threat/resistance being put up, half the people being left out of the main mission in the event
In an honest opinion, how would you rate the event in its entirety? Overall it has been a 7/8'ish experience, at moments maybe even a 9. The ending of ch3p2 drags the entire thing down to a 5 at most though.
Section Four
What did you enjoy most out of Chapters 1-3 during the American Story-Arc since it first began? Answered above
What did you enjoy least out of Chapters 1-3 during the American Story-Arc since it first began? Answered above
Do you believe the ending is satisfying to you after all of the events you have participated in (even if you only participated for one or two events)? I am going to skip this one because of PK (also see answers above)
Would you participate in other elements of specific event arcs again, based on our interpretation of the Half Life universe? Maybe, if they aren't a repeat of the past 2 chapters in terms of how they go.
Do you have any suggestions if it is a yes? See ^ and ^^^
What did you enjoy the most about the events? The journey culminated in a tense, high-stakes situation with a satisfying pay-off at the end.
What did you least enjoy most about the events? Unbalanced pacing and railroading in the second half of the event.
Did you / did you not like how long the event lasted for? Event timings were fine.
Section Two
Was the starting time preferable for you? Yes.
Were the Event's Staff helpful or unhelpful? Generally helpful.
Did you like your preferred role? Yes.
Who do you believe excelled in their position in the roleplay? All played to a significantly high standard - really enjoyed participating alongside them.
Section Three
What do you wish to see in the future? More interesting, player-controlled scenarios where choices genuinely matter.
What do you not wish to see in the future?
- Lack of rigidity when it comes to Player Kill rules - what occurred during the event had no significant negative backlash on my behalf (I harbor no bad blood, grudges at all obviously - everyone did their best), but I would like to see a more rigid, set in the stone system for handling deaths and injury during events. Although it did serve the narrative, Gary's death seemed somewhat unfair when it originally occurred following high-tier medRP and lucky rolling (although I'm not a huge fan of life/death dependent roles for any player). I understand PKs happen, but having a more rigid and robust system that all staff agree to follow for these Short Stories is pivotal to avoiding arguments - even if they are civil.
*as a note, I'm not pushing for harsher or softer PK rules. I just want more consistency.
- Lack of dynamic fail-states; there was a bit of a kerfuffle with the magical boat codes afaik, and it led to a bit of frustration on my behalf when I didn't really understand what the prevailing objective the GMs were trying to show was. Instead of hand-holding to make it more obvious, I'd suggest setting up more fail-states and consequences for the party. Got the keys, but no code? Instead of replaying the map to find it, lead a forceful raid on the ship that might incur a loss of supplies/danger or restriction of boat facilities. Just spitballing here for an example, but I really think that having extra fallbacks with consequences will make the experience feel less gamey and railed.
- Try to balance pacing in action-oriented events. I know that might sound like a contradiction in itself, but the immediate 1-100 in tone and action during the second half of the event felt like an incredibly jarring shift at the time, and lead to my RPing a lot less than I'd typically like. Although my ping was consistently okay, I noticed a lot of non-EU players peaking at around 100 - this isn't ideal if we're relying on constant action and S2K.
- I also wish to avoid OOC spam from players - setting a much longer timer and relying on /gmhelp or /modhelp would be much more preferable - imo the immersion shatters when there's a great white wall of OOC text.
Although my list of complaints is longer than it usually is, that doesn't come from a place of bitterness; I've really enjoyed all of the events so far, and wish to see them improve even more. In essence, I want rigidity in the OOC rules so I know what to work within, and dynamics and freedom in gameplay choices so it feels like our characters really are at the helm.
In an honest opinion, how would you rate the event in its entirety? Strong contender - although some gameplay aspects fell slightly short of my expectations, the narrative drive was incredibly strong and held the experience together. Other players roleplayed to a very high standard.
Section Four
What did you enjoy most out of Chapters 1-3 during the American Story-Arc since it first began? The consistently high tier maps, addons, and storytelling made the experience feel very professional and proper - they're some of the best out-of-server events I've been able to play.
What did you enjoy least out of Chapters 1-3 during the American Story-Arc since it first began? Clashes between player motivation/choices and railroading. I fully understand you can't possibly prepare for every single wacky thing that the player base might come up with, and strict, linear sections are required between open-areas for pacing/story-telling. However, I think Chapter 3 was by far the most egregious example of the two clashing - the code goose-chase felt inorganic and clumsy.
Do you believe the ending is satisfying to you after all of the events you have participated in (even if you only participated for one or two events)? Yes.
Would you participate in other elements of specific event arcs again, based on our interpretation of the Half Life universe? Yes.
Do you have any suggestions if it is a yes? See above - emphasize player choice above all and avoid strict railroading when advertising a large, open map. Otherwise, keep it up!
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