The Future of The Great Experiment (Urgent - For all players)

[Lumine]

As you know, The Great Experiment has proven far more successful than what I originally envisioned, and it has certainly been an inmensely fun and rewarding experience for the past six weeks. Alas, we are also placed in a curious spot as due to RL pressure several key players have been forced to take a step back, and others have also informed me they need to step down as well. The fact that the game has grown into something rather complex and time demanding hasn't helped either, despite all the fun we've had.

So, I'd like to ask the opinion of the players as to what exactly we should do, and how we can build on the current success. The way I see it, we have three alternatives:

1.- Carry on as normal: I don't think this is a particularly realistic option because while the game has worked well it has also become complex, and it is tough for people to spend the time needed for the game. Losing key players is also a troublesome factor.

2.- Simplify the game: This really depends on player opinion, but one alternative is to make the game simpler and simulate less aspects of it, particularly reducing the Government phase to return to a more election-based focus for the time being.

3.- Take a break: One of the advantages of the game is that with 200 hundred years of US history still ahead of us it is certainly feasible to make time jumps into the future, allowing us to divide the Game on "Phases". Under such a mindset, we could argue that the formation of the parties and the departure of Madison close a small era of the game, which could allow us to suspend this for a few weeks until the player base has more time and retake the simulation either on 1792 or at a later date.

4.- Election: A final alternative assuming the remaining Government players aren't enough to satisfactory hold on to 1795 (two more weeks), we could see to it that a new General Election is called and given appropiate time for new players to be recruited, and thus shift the game for a few days into a less intense electoral simulation.

Thoughts?

[Orwell]

skip to a future where the Muhlenburg family has established an American Absolute Monarchy

[DKrol]

I was planning on announcing my departure from the game this evening, not because of a fault in mechanics or a lack of RL time, but because of my own faults as a player and the direction of John Jay and the Tories. My suggestion would be to skip forward in time to the mid 1800s.

[Galaxie]

I would say taking a break is likely what will work best for me. I took on the role of Morris hoping to be rather inconsequential, knowing that I'd be time-limited here, and in the process fell down the rabbit hole. Whether we jump forward or stay in 1792 I'll leave to the GM to decide, but I've had a hell of a lot of fun on here.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

In no particular order, some thoughts:

(1) As others have said and I will say again, this has been and is the most fun I've had on the forum in a very long time. The planning and execution on Lumine's part is nothing short of brilliant, and the players—even the one's I've unceasingly maligned—make this a game well worth preserving, in my humble opinion. If we need to make some changes for the sake of the player base, I'm open to that, but above all I don't want to see this die.

(2) I do think it could be potentially profitable to simplify gameplay in two respects, namely (a) making gubernatorial elections run more on autopilot (I think this was the original intent, but the effort others put into their gubernatorial campaigns makes it practically necessary for everyone to do this, and that's an extra wall of text to produce each turn); and/or (b) limiting the number of bills each party may introduce by parliament, as opposed to by turn (forcing us to focus on one or two big issues each sitting, which I worry the present system has allowed us to burn through too quickly). THAT SAID: these are fairly minor quibbles in the grand scheme of things, and I don't think either has a significant negative impact on the game. Lumine has far more experience running this sort of game than I do, and has done a phenomenal job thus far, so I'm happy to defer to his judgement.

(3) I personally like the equal focus on government and elections. There's nothing wrong with having an elections-centered game, I guess, but I enjoy the research and debate that go into passing bills in the Assembly.

(4) On taking a break: the thing that worries me most about this possibility is that everyone will go their separate ways and forget about this (not because they'd mean to, but because it can be difficult to get a group back together once it has dissolved and the initial enthusiasm has been allowed to die down). Of course, plowing ahead with two or three players isn't exactly viable either—but if we do take a break, we should use that time to recruit new players for Round 2.

(5) I'd be okay with skipping ahead to the 1830s or 40s, though part of me selfishly wants to stay where we are, partly because it's one of my favorite periods of American history and partly because I just became First Secretary.