Alright. Let's address some of the things flying around.
First of all: the point championed by
@Simon_Jester, that I failed to break the update at the most appropriate time for a vote, despite my prior resolution to do so at that point. To be honest, I sympathize with this a great deal, because I did originally say that. I can understand why some people are angry, even if I don't appreciate how they express that. However, when it came down to it, I ran up against a reason why I
couldn't break the update.
The issue was this: the vote was structured as an attempt to use the memory of Dandeer's massacre to disorient Yammar, enabling Kakara to get to Dandeer and use her as leverage. The goal: get to, and use, Dandeer. Vote breaks there. So I wrote out my update, reached that point, and got ready for a vote. Except...I had a moment, while writing the options. What should I even
put? Kakara tries to use Dandeer as cover while she heals people? I know for a fact that Yammar's response to that is a wide-area blast, forcing Kakara to break concentration to avoid her shield being vaporized. Have Kakara IT away? Well, the issue is that Yammar's response to Kakara trying that is, again, a wide-angle blast. And the issue with both was, Kakara
literally couldn't do it. Without eating a distraction malus, Yammar was too good for Kakara to succeed on level ground like this. He has too many traits; he has too good skills. The hostage actually hindered you more than him, given his willingness to play brinkmanship! So, the issue is to convince Yammar to look away...
how? His Deceit is debuffed, sure, but he can
sense that there aren't any opponents worth his time in the Hall. It'd be like trying to convince somebody that the unconscious person in their field of view was actually behind them. So what, convince him that Kakara was ITing behind him? The issue there is that his response to that is just to release an area blast, because Yammar likes indiscriminate techniques, meaning that Kakara would need to cover Dandeer to prevent her being incinerated. Try to talk him down? He's not going to negotiate.
So what, have Kakara drop Dandeer? Immediately after a vote about grabbing her? For what reason? Sure,
after Kakara tries to disengage and fails it's apparent that the hostage is weighing her down, but until that point there's no IC reason to change course, and
following that point, you're in combat where the hostage is useful again.
I tried everything. I'm sure in the wake of this post, I'll have a tidal wave of comments suggesting various things I tried. Go ahead; I'll confirm that I tried them. The issue was, with the situation as it stood, there was
no way Kakara did not end up in hand-to-hand with Yammar. So I was faced with the prospect of presenting, functionally, the following vote:
[ ] Engage Yammar in hand-to-hand with Yammar.
[ ] Engage Yammar in hand-to-hand after being knocked off-balance due to your disengage failing.
I do not write trap votes. I do not offer the illusion of choice. If I gave you a vote, we'd end up here anyway, but only after a long voting cycle for the sake of...actually, I have no idea whatsoever. Here's where I address the railroading concerns:
do you all seriously think that I enjoy this? Do you think that this response was somehow
unpredictable? I knew this was coming! Staring down the choice of continuing the update to its only logical conclusion or offering a
blatant trap vote, I already knew that I'd be sitting here, drowning in complaints! This isn't fun! It's not engaging. I'm not sitting here, cackling maniacally from the comfort of my supervillain fortress about how I've diabolically trapped a group of
absolute strangers into a pointless situation. What is even the point of railroading supposed to be? You're all convinced that I'm doing it; maybe you can tell me what I'm supposed to get out of it! I
don't get it! I get the most kicks out of the bizarre ways you all surprise me! The first Dandeer-flail was my favorite update in the past three months! And I knew, looking at the choice I had, that no matter what, I'd have people accusing me of railroading!
The fact of the matter is: I do not offer trap votes. If there is only one plausible outcome for a vote, then I do not break there. That's not the place for a vote. I'm not writing a Persona game here. I'm not going to check in with you every so often just to check and see if you'd like to say, "Yeah," "Sure," or, "Okay." It's pointless, and it's a waste of my time. If you're voting, that means there's a real chance of you affecting the outcome. Now, does that mean every option leads to success? No; that would be a trap vote. If you're seeing a vote on your screen, then the options lead different places. Here, they didn't.
So I went all-in on trying to give Kakara the best possible chance at success. I burned a cookie on a power level boost. Even before we reached the point of no return, I burned another on the roll to unlock Novice Combat Precognition, not that Kakara even knows she has it at this point (it fired twice in the update; you can find them). I went through a long Communication stunt to try and debuff Yammar prior to engaging. You legitimately had a chance. Not much of one, but better than the, "mathematically impossible," of the earlier votes. I played it to the limits of my abilities, desperate to secure a good outcome and avoid having to field these complaints. But that didn't happen. Kakara lost. Yammar was not debuffed enough by the presence of a hostage -- you saw how he eventually got her away from Kakara -- and knocked Kakara out. And I started in on the next thing in the list, hoping against all sanity that it would preempt some of all this.
I understand why people are frustrated that I didn't break for a vote. I truly did mean to. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, I realized that there simply was no vote to be offered. I do not offer you all the illusion of choice. If that was my idea of fun, I'd write a fanfic. I write stories all the time. I do it professionally. I'm not here to write one. I'm here to write a quest, and that means offering the player base
meaningful choices. Unfortunately, by the time you were standing in front of Yammar, holding Dandeer, with him under no maluses...there just wasn't a way out. That was the point of no return. That's not where you put a vote.
Next thing: people complaining that Dandeer is a boring villain-
of course she's a boring villain, you engage with Yammar more than you do with her!
Every time you've been around Dandeer since the Sealing, you have consistently voted to antagonize or evade her. You do not interact with her; you do not investigate her; you do not ask about her. She's been staying in Clan Vegeta, well away from you, as much as she can, and you've been content to leave her well enough alone. I have a
lot of work put into this character. What you've seen from her is a
very singular side of her. But you have
never given me real opportunity to show anything else about her. It hasn't happened. I can't work with that, because -- contrary to opinion -- this is not a fanfic! If I want to show off a character, I need there to be a situation where the player base goes and interacts with them. Dandeer isn't going to willingly interact with you; it's clear you hate her. And you all have never voted to investigate her Clan, and learn about her. So of course she seems flat. That frustrates me too; I've put a lot of work into her that I'm sure is
never going to come to light. I feel like I've wasted my time; and worse, that I will never be able to convince people that the waste was not my doing.
I've also seen people arguing that things like the new vote structure, or -- somehow -- Kakara's pacifism are to blame with this. *sigh* No. The vote structure is not at fault; you worked up a perfectly serviceable plan, a key component went wrong, and the situation became locked down at that point. No, Kakara's pacifism is not to blame; being willing to go lethal wouldn't have helped at all at this stage. You could make an argument that it messed things up earlier, but you rallied from that, and the point where the chance of victory started turning Talt-ish was well after that point. I get that these are many people's pet issues, but they're not the cause of all of your woes, least of all this one.
"God Mode Dandeer."
*long sigh*
Aside from setting it up, Dandeer's barely been
in this fight. You took her apart in hand-to-hand and broke her tail. She was completely helpless before you. What took you down was other ki fighters who are better at this than you are.
I understand people's frustration. But this is
over the line. I made an explicit appeal for civility and calm, and this is the response. You need to stop. This is too much by any reasonable definition. I sympathize with and understand your frustration, but you nevertheless really need to bring it back in.
