Grandkhan
Telvanni Master Wizard
No worries. Thanks for running the game guys, it was great 
-Prethread- NCNESIOT: Blackened Skies
- Thread starter Nuka-sama
- Start date
gay_Aleks
from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
Tolni Being An Asshat: Volume Infinity
tobiisagoodboy
Prince
Thanks for the game. Lets hope that everything works fine until next year ^^
Immaculate
unerring
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2003
- Messages
- 7,623
Thanks for game. Sorry I bailed.
Hello world,
I wanted to swoop in like some kinda light bomber and drop a payload of update about this game, why it's on hiatus, and why it might not come back. I want you all to know that, first of all, I am exceedingly grateful for and humbled by the positive attention this game received while it was running. I don't mean this in a really gay "thanks for the support guys! uwu" way -- it is just really, sincerely heartwarming to see the effort and the care you all put in to owning this world and making it vibrant. I can't really praise you guys enough on this count, so I won't bother trying; the point is that the player base was as good as, if not better than, what I could have hoped for. It would be disingenuous not to name a few names, so I'll go ahead and say that J.K. Stockholme, Ahigin, Robert Can't, and Double A all impressed me with their gumption and world-building. Many others of you, Masada, Tyo, Tolni, and Johanna especially, wrote great, flavorful orders as well that helped put us in the "world," so to speak.
It is because I feel that this player base was better than I or Nuke deserved that I feel obligated to explain why we went on hiatus. The party line has been that, since it was reported that I was leaving for China, there was some uncertainty about whether or not we would be able to maintain our update schedule, and to avoid all that and create room to fix outstanding issues, Nuke and I "agreed" to schedule a return for January, when things would, presumably, be a bit more settled.
The actual reality is a lot bitterer and has mostly to do with me and misgivings I ended up having about the game as a whole. After the last big rules update, Nuke pressed, and I relented, for a quick update to keep the momentum going. In Nuke's view, speedy and regular updates were part of our "brand" and why people liked this game. While I think this is a reasonable view, at this point I was getting burnt out and there were several unresolved issues with the engine's implementation of the new rules. In order to meet this accelerated schedule, we rushed out the update and I cut some corners on the stats, hoping to finish them over the next week.
The rushed update, I felt, lacked some of the quality that made it operable, and it's hard to say this was not because the stats were completely wrong pending being "fixed." The moment I recognized this inconsistency, I pulled the stats and announced they were still being worked on, and then stopped working on them because I couldn't stop dwelling on certain problems in the canon of the update, and (big-picture) problems with the universe that, in my view, were compounding and spiraling out of control. Like any good manager, Nuke tried to pep me up, but it was no use: I had become completely disenchanted with the world of Blackened Skies -- and, worse still, discouraged that I was having so much trouble realizing my vision for the new rules.
During the "hot months" of May-June, as many of you know, I was processing major rules changes on a nearly weekly basis as part of my mission to create the complex but accessible game that I felt this hobby deserved. From the beginning, that's all I ever wanted, was to create something beautiful, and I really believed I could do it. I believed in this so much that I dismissed everyone who recommended that I slow down or take a more moderated approach. In the end, I crashed and burned and blamed everyone else.
So what about returning from hiatus? Well, at this point, I sincerely doubt I can muster the passion to reboot this setting until I have a much clearer idea of the game engine I want from a holistic standpoint, and a much MUCH clearer idea of what's going on in the setting, what is canon and not, and what will lend towards credible simulation of a World War 2-type scenario. I'm not exactly sure what that will look like, but the point is that I lack this impetus on both counts right now and do not see a change in this category occurring by January. I feel bad, but that's just the way it is. No getting around it.
In general, my belief in grand strategy/political roleplaying games and my belief in the power of tools to help realize complex worlds remains unshaken. It is only my belief in myself that has become compromised. This might sound like melodramatic sympathy-farming, and yeah I get that, but it's just the truth as most sincerely as I can express it. I don't require any pity, I just want you guys to know what's going on. I have some ideas for other game systems and scenarios that I hope to debut over the next few months.
Thanks for all the fish, lads.
I wanted to swoop in like some kinda light bomber and drop a payload of update about this game, why it's on hiatus, and why it might not come back. I want you all to know that, first of all, I am exceedingly grateful for and humbled by the positive attention this game received while it was running. I don't mean this in a really gay "thanks for the support guys! uwu" way -- it is just really, sincerely heartwarming to see the effort and the care you all put in to owning this world and making it vibrant. I can't really praise you guys enough on this count, so I won't bother trying; the point is that the player base was as good as, if not better than, what I could have hoped for. It would be disingenuous not to name a few names, so I'll go ahead and say that J.K. Stockholme, Ahigin, Robert Can't, and Double A all impressed me with their gumption and world-building. Many others of you, Masada, Tyo, Tolni, and Johanna especially, wrote great, flavorful orders as well that helped put us in the "world," so to speak.
It is because I feel that this player base was better than I or Nuke deserved that I feel obligated to explain why we went on hiatus. The party line has been that, since it was reported that I was leaving for China, there was some uncertainty about whether or not we would be able to maintain our update schedule, and to avoid all that and create room to fix outstanding issues, Nuke and I "agreed" to schedule a return for January, when things would, presumably, be a bit more settled.
The actual reality is a lot bitterer and has mostly to do with me and misgivings I ended up having about the game as a whole. After the last big rules update, Nuke pressed, and I relented, for a quick update to keep the momentum going. In Nuke's view, speedy and regular updates were part of our "brand" and why people liked this game. While I think this is a reasonable view, at this point I was getting burnt out and there were several unresolved issues with the engine's implementation of the new rules. In order to meet this accelerated schedule, we rushed out the update and I cut some corners on the stats, hoping to finish them over the next week.
The rushed update, I felt, lacked some of the quality that made it operable, and it's hard to say this was not because the stats were completely wrong pending being "fixed." The moment I recognized this inconsistency, I pulled the stats and announced they were still being worked on, and then stopped working on them because I couldn't stop dwelling on certain problems in the canon of the update, and (big-picture) problems with the universe that, in my view, were compounding and spiraling out of control. Like any good manager, Nuke tried to pep me up, but it was no use: I had become completely disenchanted with the world of Blackened Skies -- and, worse still, discouraged that I was having so much trouble realizing my vision for the new rules.
During the "hot months" of May-June, as many of you know, I was processing major rules changes on a nearly weekly basis as part of my mission to create the complex but accessible game that I felt this hobby deserved. From the beginning, that's all I ever wanted, was to create something beautiful, and I really believed I could do it. I believed in this so much that I dismissed everyone who recommended that I slow down or take a more moderated approach. In the end, I crashed and burned and blamed everyone else.
So what about returning from hiatus? Well, at this point, I sincerely doubt I can muster the passion to reboot this setting until I have a much clearer idea of the game engine I want from a holistic standpoint, and a much MUCH clearer idea of what's going on in the setting, what is canon and not, and what will lend towards credible simulation of a World War 2-type scenario. I'm not exactly sure what that will look like, but the point is that I lack this impetus on both counts right now and do not see a change in this category occurring by January. I feel bad, but that's just the way it is. No getting around it.
In general, my belief in grand strategy/political roleplaying games and my belief in the power of tools to help realize complex worlds remains unshaken. It is only my belief in myself that has become compromised. This might sound like melodramatic sympathy-farming, and yeah I get that, but it's just the truth as most sincerely as I can express it. I don't require any pity, I just want you guys to know what's going on. I have some ideas for other game systems and scenarios that I hope to debut over the next few months.
Thanks for all the fish, lads.
gay_Aleks
from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
It was a great game. A great game in which I was mostly awful at, as both Nuka but especially Crezth can testify to. Regardless of my ineptitude (and in one or two cases, lack of spine) in playing this game, I must admit that I had great fun (at being bad) in this game. It was a good world that you two have created, criticisms about whether it was too dystopian or not nevertheless. Very ambitious stat-wise, as well, but not in pure numbers but more of an attempt to give the best possible of stats without falling into the typical trap of overburdening themselves - I must admit, BLS stats were one of the clearer stats, especially for a game of its size.
And now, to a more, how should I say, personal part. So as to speak. I must admit, without BLS, I probably would've never ran my very own game, Arcanum (Yes, yes, I'm perfectly aware it's been three months.). Without the Nuka/Crezth Co-GMing together a successful game (aka one running past t3), I would've never even fathomed doing Arcanum on the scale it currently is. Furthermore, in a more general note, it has also shown Co-GMing in general to work, and as such, several games have indeed tried this. Which is nice.
And now, to a more, how should I say, personal part. So as to speak. I must admit, without BLS, I probably would've never ran my very own game, Arcanum (Yes, yes, I'm perfectly aware it's been three months.). Without the Nuka/Crezth Co-GMing together a successful game (aka one running past t3), I would've never even fathomed doing Arcanum on the scale it currently is. Furthermore, in a more general note, it has also shown Co-GMing in general to work, and as such, several games have indeed tried this. Which is nice.
JohannaK
Heroically Clueless
Might be the pessimist in me, but I can't say I didn't expect this to happen in some way. Oh well, it was quite the fine and fun ride while it lasted, and I look forward to your net projects.
christos200
Never tell me the odds
It was great as long as it lasted. I've had lot of fun in this game and is among my favorite IOT/NES. BLS Russia was pure evil and I enjoyed it. This was thanks to the great setting and modding of you two.
jackelgull
An aberration of nature
Crashing and burning was not precisely fun... but it isn't an experience I regret. I look forward to your next game if it happens.
Grandkhan
Telvanni Master Wizard
I just want to say Crezth and Nuka that you guys are straight up machines and that what you guys actually accomplished was amazing.
Like you guys, in your own time, set out to model and automate an approximation of a global economy, in some degree of detail. People spend entire careers doing that - I don't blame you in the slightest for getting a little burned out on doing it in your own time.
I just wanted to say that the game was great and an incredible achievement and I really enjoyed the time i spent on it. So cheers for running it guys!
Like you guys, in your own time, set out to model and automate an approximation of a global economy, in some degree of detail. People spend entire careers doing that - I don't blame you in the slightest for getting a little burned out on doing it in your own time.
I just wanted to say that the game was great and an incredible achievement and I really enjoyed the time i spent on it. So cheers for running it guys!
Thanks for playing guys. I spoke with Nuke today and he considers Blackened Skies a success at the end of the day. I am happy with what we accomplished and I feel grateful that so many of you enjoyed playing as much as I enjoyed running.
See you later, space cowboys!
See you later, space cowboys!
