Since I was in Rochester for Da Boyz GT I couldn't be there for this...
So here are my proverbial two cents. as I wasn't there, and there was no summary posted I do no know if anything I have to say was already addressed. If it was I apologize for rehashing.
I will begin my critique of the Storm of Shadows League/campaign with a set of definitions intended to provide clarity to my statements. I will in as much as is possible also offer a suggested plausible solution to any Issues noted if I can do so.
I will be dividing my critique into three sections, Mechanical, Structural, and Morale.
Definitions
Mechanical: The Rulez, under which the campaign was run (specifically the rule packet)
Structural: Logistical and administrative concerns
Morale: community engagement
Logistical: Planning and executing the campaign rules
Administrative: Follow through on logistical planning, as well as communication to and from players.
Lore: the non game mechanical background (aka "fluff")
Buff: non core rules effect intended to enhance or increase the abilities of an army or force.
Mechanic: Rule affecting play.
Bottling: Voluntarily abandoning territory.
Attrition: Loss of effectiveness due to combat damage
Economy: system of exchanging points for in game things (armies, buildings etc)
The active critique begins below.
Part I Mechanical issues
A. Racial abilities
ISSUE: some racial abilities were or are perceived to be far superior to others. Whilst this may accurately reflect in game lore it can detract from "fun" of players.
Suggestion 1: Offer a "menu" of abilities to players to choose from equally.
Suggestion 2: Have unique buildings (one per planet/province) that provide benefits similar to the racial ability "buff" to the player that controls it.
B Racial abilities affect on campaign balance
ISSUE: The blood angels racial ability of +1 movement unbalanced the point generation of the campaign. This buff gave Blood Angels a max move speed of 3 hexes as opposed to 2 hexes for every one else. (Note this was solely due to the size of starting areas, theirs shape/layout, and how the point generation mechanic was implemented. Point generation specifics will be addressed in a later point)
Suggestion: Lower standard movement to 1 hex. (making Blood angels a 2 hex max speed preserving the character of the original racial bonus whilst avoiding the part that made it a potential issue.)
C Reaction distance of defending armies.
ISSUE: The distance which an army can defend territory was not well defined if read as written it could very easily be understood that an army on one planet could defend territory on another one.
Suggestion: Define "empire" and "territory"
D Army Attrition rapidly unbalances the campaign.
ISSUE: The attrition rate of army forces in the campaign led to an extreme polarization of players. This was both due to and exacerbated by a combination of the point generation mechanic and the army creation mechanic.
Suggestion: create a "recovery" mechanic to mitigate degree of losses, or abandon the individual unit tracking dynamic.
E Point generation
ISSUE: The emphasis on generators as the sole source of additional point generation combined with inherent scaling issues of 40k led to an extreme attrition curve, and effectively broke the campaign economy.
Suggestion: Allow each tile or hex to generate points intrinsicly, and allow generators to multiply that amount.
F Map Issues
F1 Planetary traits
ISSUE: It was hard to identify (visually) by looking at the campaign map what planet had what special rules.
Suggestion: Add a graphical key to denote planetary traits.
F2 Interplanetary travel
ISSUE: The transit time of armies moving from one planet to another caused at least me to be uncertain as to when things would arrive. (this in part led to the communication failure that led to my not taking part in the closing part of the campaign.)
Suggestion: cap transit time to a single amount (one week, being my suggestion) regardless of "MAP" distance traveled.
F3 Map depiction
F3.1 ISSUE: the pictorial rendition of the map was largely useless for remote viewing. This was caused by blurry pictures, and insufficiently contrasting army markers.
Suggestion: Use a virtual map for forum posts.
F3.2 ISSUE: changes from the original virtual map to the analog one posted in BG. altering the numbering scheme resulted in erroneous orders and unnecessary confusion.
Suggestion: Keep numbering of map tiles/hexes consistent.
G Empire founding after bottling, and elimination.
ISSUE: The process to restart an empire after either being eliminated or voluntarily bottling off of a planet needs to be more clearly stated. It was not clear to me what were valid orders to issue when I had no planetary tiles, as well as what format to use when issuing orders.
Suggestion: create a table with check marks to show what orders are valid when.
H Hammers blow
ISSUE: It was not clear wether there were multiple hammers blow battles or one big one.
Suggestion: set a specific date for the end mega battle with planet specific objectives. (one fight different objectives for the empires on different planets)
Structural issues.
A. Fog of war
ISSUE: It was unclear as to who should be sent orders and questions regarding the campaign, as well as the preferred means of contact.
Suggestion: Have the same person be "in charge" for the duration of the campaign.
B. Player to Player communication
ISSUE: no list (public or non) of player contact information to set up games as needed. This led to confusion as most folks forum name does not really indicate much of anything.
Suggestion: have a list of contact info for campaign participants at BG behind the counter (name, Forum handle, Email addy, telephony information)
C. Staff to Player communication
ISSUE: it was very difficult to get information when issues did arise. This would largely be mitigated by the creation of the contact list from the above point, especially if the staff contact information was equally though on the list. not every one has all of the above info (Email, telephone etc.)
Suggestion: None really other than improve the "phone book" of participating parties.
D: book keeping
ISSUE: Tracking army attrition and point generation was not clear.
Suggestion: simplify the presentation of information. Leave prior weeks out of it, and just give a total for the current week.
Morale
ISSUE: no real ability of the non campaign community to interact with the campaign as either spectators or participants.
Suggestion: integrate more open "special" events like the monster mash day Chase participated in, or the Zombie crawl, or such into the campaign to allow folks to not have to join the campaign to participate.
I have tried my best to only offer positive suggestions. Again I'm sory that I was unable to attend the in store debrief as I would have very much liked to hear what others saw as issues.
Sincerely,
Samuel Butler
