Seven Nations is Closing(Kind Of)

[Testament]

Bad News: Seven Nations is shutting down.

Kinda Good News(?): It’s only sort of shutting down.

The realization this past weekend hit me that ever since I’ve taken a new, albeit temporary position at my work, I’ve had very little time to really focus on the game. The passing of my elderly cat last month didn’t help, as the two basically happened right on top of each other. It was also pointed out to me, by numerous people that I had been burning the candle at more than a couple ends, with my almost obsessive focus on the plot, making sure that everyone had a large part to play and going out of my way to create a far more story-driven game rather than one that was driven by the players. I started to ask myself if this was a game with a story that the players wanted, or if it was a game that I wanted. And at that point, i was no longer sure. In my desire to make sure no one was overlooked and everyone felt like they were apart of something larger, I think I lost sight of something important.

One of the things I noticed was the large reliance upon me when it came to staff running plot. There was a noticeable lack of scenes run by players, be it social or otherwise. In the beginning I looked at this more as simply an aspect of having a lower amount of players. But as the game grew to around, at it’s peak…18 players, I think? The number of scenes didn’t really improve. I had started to consider at that point something was wrong, but I wasn’t sure how to fix it at that point. Fundamentally, I couldn’t keep things going as they were, but also the fact that we were so deep in, I wasn’t really sure how to fix it.

There’s a lot of other factors. The wiki never got a place where I wanted it. I think I had created too much lore(a terrifying amount that I had never actually put onto the wiki), a magic system that worked…okay and clunky at best, and potentially unbalanced at worst. And the biggest issue that I was never really able to solve in a way that I found adequate, being that I had made the game too big. Having grand aspirations and then trying to temper those aspirations with something more realistic is a lesson I’ve tried to take away from this, a fact that had been pointed out to me by other staff. Even in the planning stages of the game. I made the game too big. Any of the seven nation themes could have been it’s own game within itself. I could have made a game surrounding the Empire, or the Noble Clans, or the Vhenedhal, or those weird Lanites. I saw a lot, and figured a melting pot like Karwald would have been a good way to handle it. Problem was, I don’t believe I ever introduced those nations in a smaller way to make it apart of the world and rather felt like it’s own world in of itself.

So, where do I go from here? Firstly, as I was mostly held by threats by my friends and other staff that I just…go be a player for a bit. Clear my head, just play some various MUs. “Yes, we know you love to run plot, Testament, but you don’t need to create fun for everyone all the time ever because you’ve been doing it non-stop for the last two years.” Okay, fair point. Besides, with this job I’m in, I can’t really do much running anyway given the workload, which far more relaxing in an odd way, is also far more demanding of my time. But it’s not infuriating work, if that makes sense. Just less stressful work. And this goes till June, where I get tossed back into the salt mines of my personal hell.

I’m going to revamp Seven Nations. I still believe in it’s core themes, I still believe in the weird, dark fantasy post-apocalypse world that I had opened two years ago. I know it can be better and I’ve definitely learned what not to do. For starters, I’m decreasing the scale of the game. I don’t know where exactly, but it’s going to be a smaller location made for a more intimate game. Maybe some frontier town on the edge of the Wastelands. Maybe everyone is Stalkers or Lost Legion and the game takes place operating one of their larger outposts, separate from the major factions. Maybe it’ll take place between the underground cities of Cairn Praha and the stupidly hot deserts that’s above them. Or I’ll cop out and everyone gets to be Vikings of various Noble Clans, I don’t know. What I do know is that I need to hammer down the magic system and create a location that’s smaller and encourages the players to RP their own scenes without waiting for me or another staffer to show up with one of the various NPCs to drop some metalore information. Because I did that far too much.

Regardless, I’m taking this time to recalculate and rethink. Then plan, and start writing again, refining what I already have. I’ve learned a lot about running a mush, and for all the headaches I got, i still really enjoyed it. And I’d do it again. Which, I will do it again.

And this time I’ll get rid of the fucking Discord.

[Gasboy]

@Testament Your friends are good people and are entirely right in suggesting you go be a player for a while. Also, a vacation from writing and planning and game running and even playing is a completely beautiful thing to do. The muse will thank you for giving her time off.

[KarmaBum]

@Testament taking a break from staffing and just playing is the best thing I’ve done in ages, it has given me a million thoughts to percolate.

And even if you never go back to running that game or any game… I hope you still enjoy playing. It’s why we’re all here.

[Gasboy]

@KarmaBum Yeah, the RP’s the thing.

[Roadspike]

It sounds like this is a great decision not just for you, but for the game as a whole. There really is a lot of setting information on the wiki, an amount that can be overwhelming even to someone who really likes setting information.

I’m always in favor of games focusing in narrowly to bring characters together in the same place with the same purpose, and think that being medium-sized fish in a little pond can often be a lot more fun than being big fish in a big ocean. Sounds like you’re making a (series of) good decision(s) for the right reason(s).

[Polk]

@Testament said in Seven Nations is Closing(Kind Of):

And this time I’ll get rid of the fucking Discord.

Sounds like a great idea.

[Roz]

@Polk said in Seven Nations is Closing(Kind Of):

@Testament said in Seven Nations is Closing(Kind Of):

And this time I’ll get rid of the fucking Discord.

Sounds like a great idea.

Did – something happen in relation to it? Or did it just contribute to the mental sense of not being able to disconnect/take a break?

[Testament]

@Roz said in Seven Nations is Closing(Kind Of):

@Polk said in Seven Nations is Closing(Kind Of):

@Testament said in Seven Nations is Closing(Kind Of):

And this time I’ll get rid of the fucking Discord.

Sounds like a great idea.

Did – something happen in relation to it? Or did it just contribute to the mental sense of not being able to disconnect/take a break?

Specifically? Not really, nothing happened to the Discord. The Discord was kind of a legacy aspect back when the game was being built. A lot of players really liked it for ease of convenience and it was easier to stay connected with the game via Discord use. I think a number of players found it easier than logging onto the client or the web portal and then it just became apart of it. People didn’t log onto the game nearly as much and looked more to the Discord for information than they did the game. And that’s largely on me for not cutting the cord once the game opened and calling it good there.

I had told myself at the time that because the game tended to move at a slower pace than other MUs and was designed for that, and because at the time the smaller playerbase I do admit made it easier for everyone, including myself. However, in hindsight, I wouldn’t of kept because i think it was more of a detriment than a benefit.

That said, I do think there was a bit of mental fatigue of being unable to disconnect. All the players had my Discord name, and i was always happy to answer questions whenever they came to me. I wanted to have an open door policy, and generally it was fine until my new job started. Then I simply ran out of time and my ability to reply in a timely manner got worse and worse.

[Third Eye]

@Testament said in Seven Nations is Closing(Kind Of):

That said, I do think there was a bit of mental fatigue of being unable to disconnect. All the players had my Discord name, and i was always happy to answer questions whenever they came to me. I wanted to have an open door policy, and generally it was fine until my new job started. Then I simply ran out of time and my ability to reply in a timely manner got worse and worse.

This is my big issue with wanting to keep the game on the game as much as possible. I don’t mind people I have an off-game social relationship with talking about game stuff because…we’re just talking as people and it’s part of the hobby we share. I also don’t feel obligated to respond to some rando who wants to discuss character stuff in the same way I feel obligated to deal with ‘suggestions’ or stuff they want to do about a game I’m staffing on with someone who won’t deal with it on-game, but will happily talk to me on Discord all the live long day.

[Testament]

I also want to thank everyone who played on Seven Nations. So many great people that I loved creating stories for and with. I loved writing for you. I don’t know what the future is going to hold for Seven Nations and Ternia as a whole. If you stay or go or find someplace else to play, I wish you all nothing but the best. And I hope when Seven Nations does eventually reopen, I hope you will come back.

I do plan on working on things to make them better, and I welcome whatever input. I also want to thank @Aria and @imstillhere for giving such great perspectives and advice. And @Roadspike for popping by to help with combat balance.

I’m sad that it didn’t work out. But I’m not sad for having lived the experience.

[Gasboy]

@Testament Better to have tried and failed, than to never have tried at all. My last attempt was a mud, and it exploded unexpectedly. You’re still out there trying, which is more than a bunch of us can say.

[bear_necessities]

@Gasboy said in Seven Nations is Closing(Kind Of):

@Testament Better to have tried and failed,

But is it really a failure? @Testament ran a game, had fun for awhile, made stories. Sounds like a success to me. No game lasts forever, and I wish you the best of luck in your future games.

[icanbeyourmuse]

I don’t think I would call it a failure, at all. Deciding to close or change a game does not automatically make it a failure. Some of us players are interested in seeing if Testament will re-open and/or helping it reopen. I would say having people still interested means the game was a great success. Closing/changing parts of the game because you know your limits is not a failure. I would still consider it a success even. People invested and even willing to wait means a great gm/ storyteller. Even more reason to consider Testaments game a success. I will argue with anyone, even the game owner, that says Seven Nations was a failure because it was/is not.

[Ashkuri]

@Testament I don’t think we/you failed at anything. Turns out game design is hard, lol.

We had some fun and learned a lot about what we’d do differently for version 2. “Everything is perfect first try” was probably never realistic.

We learned that no one can provide a good player experience if they haven’t taken time to enjoy being a player.

All good homie. Onward and upward!

[Testament]

@imstillhere And next time, 100% more bears in barns.

[Ashkuri]

@Testament ok nm go to hell

lololol

[Testament]

@imstillhere

ilu

[Aria]

@Testament said in Seven Nations is Closing(Kind Of):

I also want to thank everyone who played on Seven Nations. So many great people that I loved creating stories for and with. I loved writing for you. I don’t know what the future is going to hold for Seven Nations and Ternia as a whole. If you stay or go or find someplace else to play, I wish you all nothing but the best. And I hope when Seven Nations does eventually reopen, I hope you will come back.

I do plan on working on things to make them better, and I welcome whatever input. I also want to thank @Aria and @imstillhere for giving such great perspectives and advice. And @Roadspike for popping by to help with combat balance.

I’m sad that it didn’t work out. But I’m not sad for having lived the experience.

Don’t worry, dude. Game or no game, I will always be around to yell at you to scale down, slow down, and calm down. Only one of us can be a perpetually panicking possum and clearly, it’s me.

[Gasboy]

@bear_necessities Well, if one says they are sorry it didn’t work out, this leads me to believe that it did not end as intended. Maybe not a failure if people had fun, made memories and maybe out of game friends.

But if it failed, it doesn’t mean it was a bad thing.

[baron8550]

@Testament Hey. Made an account just for this post.

With no way to contact anybody in the game, this is the only way I get to say this - but I instantly fell in love with the depth of this game’s lore, it’s thought-out factions. Everything. A prevailing thought though was it could use a little scaling down, hah. So yeah, you may be right there.

Idk. I’m down that I missed the peak and active eras of this game. I would have liked to contribute. It is a wonderful work, with excellent writers. Maybe limit it to something more actionable by its pawns - like, maybe, focussing on the Cold War aspect between Maxon and Varnell, with Karwald still as the center? Should be a chance of winning and such, with statistics to back it up?

Could be a whole metagame and such players can Game of Thrones in the background. Factionalization is always good!

Idk. I could only ever offer opinions and ideas to try and help. I hope to see Version 2. Where do I get updates? Should keep the Discord on. You do have fans. Could help tether the community.