Hi all,
Based on the excitement in the community surrounding the NOVA narrative-style event concept, I spoke with Chase, and we are going forward with the event. We are scheduled for April 5th, which is in the traditional Saturday timeslot.
I've been chatting with some members of the community seeking feedback, and I'd like yours as well. I really want to try to make an event where everybody can have a great time, and where people can get what they want out of the event. I'd like to implement a few things on top of what the narrative includes, as well as modify some of how the narrative works, *all* with the intention of maximizing player choice and fun.
First of all, the narrative supplements are something I think is a really exciting opportunity for so called "positive comp", where, instead of penalizing the game's toughest units, you promote units that are less-used into something very much worth taking. The issue I see in the context of a BG tournament is that they are restricted to "Factions". Unfortunately, that can leave folks in a situation where they can't do something cool because all the spots on a given faction are taken, or someone drops last minute and now we need to adjust factions, etc. So I suggest we make factions and the supplements independent. If you're on team B and you want to use team A supplements, GO FOR IT.
Another thought is maximizing opportunities for sweet prizes. Traditionally, BG has offered a handful of relatively large store credit prizes to the best generals and painters. This is great, as it encourages friendly competition, but I think that in the context of a narrative event, we can go above and beyond by offering prizes for... unconventional honors. For example, there is a Fame and Infamy mechanic that is begging for a Glorious Hero/Dastardly Villain pair of rewards, and a covert mission mechanic that suggests a 40k ninja/007 award (and so on, and so forth). I propose we award super cool, non-store credit prizes for this type of awards (prizes TBD).
I would also like to propose allowing (with restrictions, or review....) Forge World units and army lists. While many may complain that FW is broken, or FW isn't available to everyone, I think that if everything is broken, then nothing is. That's exactly the point of the narrative supplements. I think that in the spirit of maximizing player choice, we should, perhaps on a case by case basis, allow Forge World units/army lists.
Lastly, a really cool opportunity that comes with running a narrative event is that there's a narrative! In a perfect world where this first event goes well, and folks are interested in future events, we can have a narrative that builds from event to event. In the spirit of having lots of awards/honors, I propose we have "narrative rewards". The idea is that in honor of doing something cool in game (your warlord personally kills all three warlords he faces, for instance) something in the narrative universe we create happens. Following the warlord slayer example, leadership amongst the opposing faction could fall apart... or something.
Anyway, I thought I'd post up to say that the narrative is in fact happening (expect a stickied post from Chase in the next week or two, once I've nailed things down a bit more), and that I'm interested in your feedback. This event is all about making something cool happen for the community, and getting folks excited about 40k again. Let me know how I can make that happen.
