I just wanted to take a moment to note that we’ve received a lot of negative feedback about the way in which we handled the aetherstorm last game, and I wanted to make sure you all knew that it has been heard - if we do something like that again, we will radically change the way we phys rep/implement it, since we have no desire for anyone to have an unpleasant Friday evening, as we apparently provided this game. The tavern was loud, visually cacophonous, and packed with people - a recipe for discomfort at best and physical symptoms at worst.
I am sorry we did this. The phys reps for the storm were my idea, and I take full responsibility.
Thank you all for being the kind of players who will roll with an experiment that didn’t pan out, and thank you all for being the kind of players who feel comfortable letting us know, so we don’t repeat our mistakes.
I cannot promise definitively that we will not make a misjudgment like this again - we’re trying to do bold things, and we’re going to miss the mark. But this experience has definitely informed and influenced the way we will think about these sorts of events in the future, and I wanted to make sure you all knew that your concerns have been received.
Thank you again for being incredible players. We’ll do better in the future.
It was great and I hope that yall continue to do things like it in the future that change the way we interact with the environment of the town in order to make sure events don’t blur together. Please don’t be dissuaded from doing things that force people to adapt their set routines. Please continue to try to bring us out of our comfort zones. Aether storm was cool and I would be sad to see things like it avoided in the future for fear of backlash.
While I appreciate the sentiment and agree that the GMs should continue their innovation (I also enjoyed both the thunder and the addition of unusual constraints; messing with one’s preconceptions is fun), it’s worth noting that this wasn’t a backlash for trying something new that was unappreciated, so much as a notice that it crossed lines from being kind of uncomfortable and unsettling to being extremely claustrophobic and stressful for a significant number of folks.
Anyways, I’m super pleased that the players are comfortable enough with the GMs to voice these kinds of concerns, and I suspect it’s precisely because they know the GMs will keep in mind the diverse needs of the players as they grow the world. Not everything’s for everyone, but there’s something for everybody.
I very much liked the idea and the concept! I think I would have preferred the source of the sound outside rather than in, though. The Tavern was extremely overwhelming noise wise, whereas being out in the heart of the storm itself was silent. Noise complaints are a thing though so I could see how that might not work out. XD
But yes, agreed that trying new things is awesome and encouraged even with the understanding that it isn’t going to be knocked out of the park each time necessarily. You guys are awesome and you put on an awesome game and we are very grateful for it! <3