[OOC] Outplay 2023 Feedback Thread

[Bhelogan]

This is a feedback thread designed to help the organizers of 2024 Outplay. The first step of planning Outplay every year is to pull up and review the previous year's feedback and use it to help make changes.

This is not to be used as a complaint thread. Any posts that contain disagreements with the decisions of the GM's or the judging will be deleted from this thread. However, we are definitely open to ideas and suggestions on things we could do to improve the experience of the tournament.

We are asking that each person submit no more than ONE post on this thread, although it could be as long as you would like it to be and you may edit it as you see fit. Both players and readers are welcome to put suggestions here. Feel free to place feedback you would rather not have in public in a secret block.

There will not be any responses to recommendations from the organizers on this thread.

[Mindsiege]

So far, I think the only feedback I have would be positive.

I think the changes to the Outplay system and scoring this year have really improved the competition. Playing without the mechanical scores feels just so much better with a rules-light system, and eliminating the Move types (Buff, Damage, etc...) feels like an improvement as well. I really like that a lot of the concept's mechanical power is now decided based on what ever training a character's Job/Role has granted them, and I think doing it narratively like that can easily be ported into any setting. So that's something I hope will stay like that.

While I haven't seen the Code of Conduct impact anything, its job is certainly more of an invisible one, and I think it makes for a great addition that helps all the Outplay participants to get on the same page.

I really liked the Outplay judges' introductions this year and that everybody set some expectations for how to do well. That definitely makes it far easier for an Outplay player to prepare a game plan for the competition (if they're inclined to do so, unlike me ).

I think the preparation and setup for the competition (setting information, Q&A, schedule, the video, etc.) were particularly clean this year. I might be biased because I took part in the last two competitions, but I barely had to drop by the Q&A thread and most other competitors didn't seem to either, so that definitely caught my eye.

I really liked the private threads for players to officially collaborate on the narrative. That's my jam.

Although I was a bit skeptical at first, I think the flags make for a really great addition. I haven't seen them brought up much during the judging of Round 1, but I think how a player chooses to interact with any given flag certainly adds something quantifiable that good roleplay can be measured by.

I enjoyed the format of Round 2 immensely! I think adding a 'choose your own adventure' segment was a great idea!

I think adding the countdown BB code to the GM posts should remain the standard henceforth. It adds a lot of clarity and makes the stress of the time crunch feel a lot more manageable after expectations are set and commuicated.

That's it for now, I'll see if I come up with something during the following rounds.

[Vex]

Don't get me wrong, I'm having a ton of fun with the current Outplay. The story is interesting, the story updates work well for me, and the other characters are a blast. I'll play along as long as Sherman is part of the narration.

But I downright hate the system. That hatred is a personal thing, because I prefer good, clear core mechanics to "I'm just going to interpret how that skill works in this situation, and for that other situation, I'm going to twist it to make sure this benefits my vague skill as well".

Apart from my dislike of wishy-washy systems, I find this unsuited to Outplay. The free form we players get to describe the situation meant that all of us for the most part (unless faced with particular challenges) rolled 3 dice for every single skill check. I feel this makes the skill system mechanically obsolete and could have been replaced with just the narrative side.

The system as written might work better for a game where there's more interaction between DM and players, instead of this format where we players can define the situations ourselves.

I also find the system of requiring X rolls to succeed mechanically very unsatisfying. Round 2 handles this much, much better than Round 1 in my opinion, because it gives me the scope of the whole skill checks. I found the project-based narration in Round 1 very frustrating. "Yes, you're making progress, but just roll again" felt incredibly dissatisfying.

It still is a bit dissatisfying (though Piper does well, moving from task to task), but the rest of us are just rolling the same skill check after same skill check 4 days in a row now, occasionally interspersed with an interesting thing requiring a different skill check before allowing us to get back into the routine.

Of course, finding a new narrative aspect describing the same thing happening over and over again is a challenge in itself, but one I wouldn't want to compete with again next year.

In conclusion, I would love to have a system where I don't only have narrative choices, but also mechanical ones that matter. I fully realize this is probably just my own opinion.


Some positive feedback: The judges are doing a kick-ass job, as is our DM. There's a lot of different things happening, and Bhelogan manages to keep track of them. Don't know how you do it. I really, really appreciate the detailed judge feedback and can't wait for next round's, even if it's negative.


Just getting my opinions out before anyone can accuse me of being bitter because I don't make it to the next round.