You folks can leave the asteroid anytime you want, but I'll need some direction as to where you're going or what you're doing.

Truthfully, until you do, even the originals can't get a drink of water. The barrel is on it's side, so there's no where for Rev to put some.

What I said directly above 3 days ago still applies: I need input so I know what you folks are doing.

Or has his game died already?

I had posted.  Then Etherian.  Waiting on others.

That was Wednesday. Friday I asked for instructions Form the party. No one posted. Today is Monday.

So, we've been waiting 5 days and almost no one has posted. Certainly sounds like the game is over.

I believe we are waiting on Salash

That's the problem, everyone is waiting on someone else.

I have to ask for input for every update I make. That's a pretty good sign this game is dying.

I'll give it until Wednesday.

It gets tricky when we get to information bottlenecks. Without the helmsman the ship won't move, two of the possible helmsman can't pilot for long enough to escape the asteroid's gravity, and one other may not feel trusted enough to do so.

We can RP until the cows come home, and likely will, but if you want some kind of decisive action that really has only one source, or perhaps two.

Escaping an asteroids gravity well is a matter of minutes. They might not be able to escape a planet's gravity well, but an asteroid is not a planet.

All games have their frustrating moments.  You just have to work through it.
I think we need to add a seatbelt to the helm....

In reply to Dzik-tzo'Dzmmm (msg # 155):

This moment is almost a month old. I've been having to ask for player input a couple times a week for several weeks now.

I can't work through that, only you players can. If not, it's a clear message.

Felzi has left the  game. Someone else will need to attune the helm.

And the reason I don't just NPC a PC to suit myself or everyone else is that it is not fair to the player to just take over a character whenever it suits me or you folks, Dzik. Unless you're saying I should take over yours when you aren't doing what I want? Because that is what you asked me to do to Salash.

Taking an hour to attune while someone else is tying things down, and others are actually doing other things should not be a problem. And should be much preferable to just usurping a PC when it suits me (or you). It really should. And it gives the player of Salash time to come home form work and make a post. Or wake up, or whatever, depending on his time zone.

Nor do you orbit asteroids. Folks, they are like ships, not planets. A bit bigger (sometimes), but the same wonky gravity planes and air envelopes.

While I am inclined to agree with the desire to let players decide their own characters actions I think it is also important to keep in mind the decisions they have already made.  We are at this point several days into a pattern of shift rotation where each helmsman has passed the attunement on to the next one when that action became appropriate.

While it is possible someone would refuse to do so at any given point I don't think it is to much of a stretch to presume they will continue with their own pattern of action until such time as they declare it changed.

For my part if one of the new people wants to take a crack at flying us out of this odd position they are welcome to do so, or Salash can just do it as he is still on the seat.

And from my stand point, That is fine. The hour to attune the Helm can be done in the background while other things are being done, such as the tying down of gear someone wanted to do...I think before take off.

I'm not seeing the problem here. It is NOT necessary for me to take over a character to make the ship take off. Simply volunteering to be the next helmsman would fix everything. Instead I'm being requested to do an unneeded NPC of a PC, and it's become an issue.

It's been a few hours of a single day. if you folks put this much effort into IC posts, it wouldn't be an issue at all. Rev, you're basically insisting I NPC someone else's character to do something you could do yourself. Why not just do it yourself? Hell, the damn helm is sideways, so who is better to spend the hour attuning it?

And, when it comes to that, not a single person other than the departed Felzi has volunteered to man the helm. Several of you actually can. Yet you're insisting I NPC a PC to do what you should be doing yourselves.

Seriously, folks, this sort of "OOC only, everyone avoid anything IC" and "someone else can do it" behavior is why I'm about to shut the game down.

I feel like Rod Serling is right behind me taking notes for his next script.

My understanding is that Felzi is the only helmsman with any level of proficiency in it, thus the best suited from an IC perspective to take off from a difficult position, and he seemed willing to, even trying, do that.  I am unsure why that didn't work.

In reply to Revrykal (msg # 160):

Because this all got to him, too, apparently, and he left the game before it could. But we have plenty of folks that CAN do it, including yourself.

I don't understand why THAT is a problem. Again try to do things yourselves rather than depend on another PC or an NPC to do it for you.

The problem here is, no one will. You yourself, have made multiple posts trying to get someone else to do it OOC, through me NPCing them.

I'm sorry, that's enough. I think that pretty much proves the game is pretty much dead. If players refuse to actually do anything, there is now game. By my count that's Felzi and Rev, at least, which means we're down to 4 again. I don't have it in me to spend all my time repalcing characters for a setting no one else will even DM. I want to actually see the game played some.

Player turnover is a common thing on rpol, particularly at the beginning of a game, it is hardly a surprise that it is a little bit more frequent in such an unusually styled game.  I should think spelljammer would be worth a little bit of a rocky start (pun intended) but some things are just hard.

Here are two reasons behind having Salash do the job.
1) He is already up there, and
2) Having someone else get there would require some climbing rolls on a wooden surface that does not likely have hand holds.  Which, maybe a plasmoid could do.  I don't know enough aout them to say one way or another.
Once the ship is upright, Rev takes over, and Salash the NPC can take a flying leap for all we care.  Or he just gets off at Ceres and disappears.
Look, I don't want to see the game die because of a little attrition.  We can work with this.
Besides, when a Player leaves, the character becomes an NPC with which the GM can do whatever.  Want to make them a villain we have to fight?  An ally we can go to for information?  Or, just some drunken slob we happen to know in a watering hole on some asteroid?  Go for it.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:31, Wed 18 Oct 2023.

In reply to Dzik-tzo'Dzmmm (msg # 163):

IC posts 215 and 216: Salash has stated he can't.

And the game is dying because of this very issue: No one is willing to do anything themselves, they all insist it be someone else. And that I force it, not even allowing the player time to respond.

I have asked Rev to post IC several times and it just hasn't happened. But Plenty of OOC posts have appeared.

No, the game isn't dead from attrition, it's dead because if the players won't do anything, there's no point to it. The DM isn't supposed to do everything, just adjudicate what you folks do.

But if you folks refuse to do anything, there is no game.

Sorry all. Just a quick post. But things are a bit hectic in RL at the moment so my posting is going to be horribly sloww and sporadic. If needed Salash will attempt to fly the ship off the asteroid.

Can I not take off on the ship? I have proficiency in piloting ships

I think at this point anyone is welcome to try, but we don't know much about the new people so they might want to explain a bit IC before jumping in.

Rev, I've pointed out several times you were capable. I've asked you several times to do something IC. You've not done so, but you've kept posting OOC.

Are you interested in playing this game at all? And do you intend to do so at some point? Because you keep refusing to when requested, which is why I'm shutting things down: it's too much work to get people to actually act IC. As you've just proven.

I figured I would give the new people a chance to do something, particularly if they are good at it.  Rushing things, or hogging the spotlight, isn't really my style.

Ok, but that's the problem. I kept asking you to post, and you wouldn't. That's been a problem with this game, and makes it impossible to run.

In fact I've said more than once not to wait for others to post...and you've just said that you insist on doing so.

THAT, as I have said a few times now, is why this game is dead and over.

Let's remove any doubt.

With apologies tot he 2 new folks, who didn't deserve to get caught up in this:

Consider this the require 2 week notice to deletion.

Truthfully, it may just be character deletion and an attempt for players that will actually post, but the last 2 days, and Rev in particular, have me dreading seeing a post from this game right now.