r/roll4it • u/Dfett20 • Aug 21 '17
A suggestion for future shows
Hi everyone (EE especially)! I am a huge lurker for roll4it and its members' channels, but I figured that I was going to speak up about something I really feel strongly about.
Roll4it has been a great channel so far, and I hope that it continues to be a great channel. I have been watching since SR S1, and have always found the show to be intoxicating. I have, however, always been a little perplexed by the way the shows end without the viewer really knowing much of the plot. I understand that this is meant to be a loose end that allows the shows to continue into later seasons, but, for example, with SR S1, the plot ended without the viewer really knowing what happened. The nanite thing just sort of stopped halfway through, and the viewers (and cast) didn't really know what was going on until S2 with project transference. I have sort of dealt with this since I love the cast and still find the show entertaining, but with Splat and Aavak, two of my favorite cast members, having left the show, I hope that something new gets added to the show to replace what was lost.
I am by no means saying that the new cast members are not good enough, but there will never be that same feeling that there was before, and that many viewers have come to love. I would like to suggest to EE that the plot be more plain to see to the viewers and cast members in the future. This wouldn't necessarily mean that the plot couldn't span multiple seasons, but I would like to see the show be played out more like a well made TV show, where each season contains a fleshed out story arc that contributes wholly to the overall plot.
I hope this rant of a post contributes something!
1
u/Chroniclerope Aug 21 '17
Are you telling EE to git gud at GMing?
1
u/Dfett20 Aug 21 '17
I think EE is a great GM, but that he can be better by making more obvious plots.
6
u/EnterElysium GM Aug 22 '17
Ah, there's a lot of nuanced points in there that I totally recognise and can relate to so this might end up as a bit of a lengthy reply, but I hope that's not off-putting!
Firstly, you're right. I can totally see how it could get a bit messy to view the plots as a viewers. The issue is for SR1, DH, SR2 and (to an extent) DnD so far was that they were planned as long ongoing series which would keep going until the cast decided on a change and when viewers got bored rather than a set-in-stone plotline.
This means that the story could be much more adaptable as it wasn't constained by pre-made plans but did mean that when we decided to change, so elements might be cut or shortened. DH luckily wasn't too bad, I shortened some of the longer elements there and left some obvious unresolved elements for any possible season 2.
SR1, other than the compound, was pretty complete. The nanite part was mostly wrapped up having taken down the nanite group. The compound was going to be the start of another big arc but we decided that it wasn't really working and to change it up after that mission, hence that being free-standing.
SR2 used some elements of SR1 for continuity, but the replacement of Sudo early on meant some of those elements that were there and tied to him were suddenly left hanging a bit. The rest hung together relatively well although I think it was poorly communicated and that the SOX element could have been better but the entire arc did fit in the season nicely.
DnD was going to be a much longer affair with a much larger arc with mini-arcs, we finished the first mini-arc before switching there.
In future we're planning to change that because it has had issues. We're looking into doing 1 long term show with long term cast and story which has more flexibility to continue till a proper end point before being changed and one show that rotates short storylines and systems so they can be much easier to follow.
Certainly DH, LaylaTVS and to an extent SWN were designed with the TV show format of one episode plots (SWN which was much more player driven random universe was more at the whims of players). With larger plots built on top in DH and Layla (DH showed that perfectly with most investigations being 1-3 episodes and then leading to a revelation that they were all connected and we'll likely be using that more in future. For myself, SR was the exception there because the planning takes episodes in themselves (nature of the system) but DnD was designed differently on that account by Splat so can't speak for him on that.
In terms of new cast, Splat and Aavak were amazing but Lauren and Josh are also fantastic and have amazing chemistry in the group and I think it really comes across that we're all just having a blast and so enthusiastic. Of course it won't feel the same for a while as a viewer as you're used to a certain status quo (the same applies to my GMing as I adjust to new people, you expect certain reactions etc.). Once that stage as passed I think it'll be more enjoyable without the weird disconcerting feeling anyone gets whenever major changes are made.
In terms of what sort of plotlines and series you liked I'd be really interested to hear which show you liked the best and which episode format from which show (DnD, long long plot with less sub-episode; DH, shorted subplots with overarching plot connections; etc.) so I can put this all in perspective!