Yeah, dropping. Have fun in your messed-up IOT.
The whole mess with NPCs and the NPCGM totally ruined my enjoyment. I fully agree with Sonereal that NPCs should be just some blank space with a military, instead of with individualistic personalities. I also state that NPCs in and of themselves are overdone and we need to go back to a no-NPC era.
I will not be joining any further games that feature an NPCGM unless I am drastically proven wrong about how pathetic the concept is, as defined by me. Tani's decision to add Thorvald as one in MP2 was the kicker as to my withdrawal there, and Ailed as one here has solidified my decision.
I also(As much as I really like the guy, don't get me wrong, he's cool) am appalled by Tani's "democratic" approach to the game. The GM's authority is absolute, and there's no room for votes because that undermines his authority. Adding a second GM, not to harp on that subject, further undermines things by dividing who the players look to for verdicts on subjects. The answer is always the prime GM, hence the NPCGM position is also redundant because it has no authority in a properly-run game.
That's my 2 cents. Ignore them if you want, but this series tanked after MP1 precisely because of stupid decisions like those that have plagued this thread: dumb player nations, lack of immersion, NPCGMs, crazy NPCs, a "soft" GM, no central authority, player confusion, steadily less sensible spending rules and economic modifiers . . . I would rather play an MP1 clone, with all the issues it had, than any of the 4 sequels.
So yeah. Rant over. So long, and thanks for all the fish.
-L
