The Future of the OP?

[Tombstone]

You want immersion?
We had a guy break down and cry at the AONW Zombie Shoot House.
I had a group of kids ostracize their friend because they shot me, the only person who knew how to get out of the lab.
TOOT TOOT TOOT TOOT TOOT.

Point it, immersion is actually quite simple to pull of, its just having the right people who will put in the effort necessary, and to make it nearly impossible to escape the storyline.

[Junto]

You want immersion?
We had a guy break down and cry at the AONW Zombie Shoot House.
I had a group of kids ostracize their friend because they shot me, the only person who knew how to get out of the lab.
TOOT TOOT TOOT TOOT TOOT.

Point it, immersion is actually quite simple to pull of, its just having the right people who will put in the effort necessary, and to make it nearly impossible to escape the storyline.

The players also have to be willing to be part of that storyline, as well. You can have all the actors, scripting, and props you want, but unless almost every player on the field is willing to play some sort of role and stay in that mindset, immersion breaks.

[Riddick]

The players also have to be willing to be part of that storyline, as well. You can have all the actors, scripting, and props you want, but unless almost every player on the field is willing to play some sort of role and stay in that mindset, immersion breaks.

completely agree. I would like to see more immersion games but again like junto said we need to have cooperation from the players to pull it off.

[Electric Sponge]

You see, the way I see this game format working to provide a higher level of immersion is this. Major plot developments will be handed down from the game administration to the faction generals who will then in turn hand down the information to their subordinates. The players are then tasked with dealing with these plot twists and then their actions help write the stories in between these events. I think that the balance is key to creating an immersive environment. Having too much of the story being scripted can lead to the player feeling like a puppet in the game, too little and the story can easily fall apart as a result of a lack to willingness to play IC and overall creativity.

[Merchant]

This is all exactly what I had in mind when I planned my event for the 6th of Nov. I had seen this lacking in games as well and was slightly disappointing by it so I decided to do my own OP. I just hope I am able to keep the feel well enough. There are plot twists the players won't know about as well. It all depends on what objectives are accomplished.

[Matt]

The problem with OPs lately is all you fuckers tooting your own horns. For whatever reason, be it money, recognition, or just to say "This was my idea" - everybody wants to keep secrets and do their own thing. The community is segmented into several promoters competing with each other. Locations are withheld, contacts are withheld, and ideas are withheld.

Well, let me tell you something about that. One of the best outdoor games I have ever been to was run by damn near the ENTIRE Washington Airsoft community. OP: Gallant Saber II. For many of you, this is before your time... and it's sad that we have not had a game to rival this one in several years. It takes damn near a platoon of people to pull off a good game. Not 1 guy who has "new ideas." There are no new ideas. All of these have been done at some point in the last decade of Airsoft. The success comes with how you execute the ideas.

The problem is that we try to replace cool things like expensive props, vehicles, pyro, effects, with silly over-complicated gameplay rules and try to pass them off as "nobody has done this before, look at my cool idea." In reality, if we would just work together we could accomplish a lot more. YES, part of the immersion is up to the players but if the environment is awesome, the players will WANT to do it right.

The only problem with that is that unfortunately a lot of us would be stuck in an admin role instead of playing.

[CommieHunter]

I'd admin for a game like that.

[Catch22]

You see, the way I see this game format working to provide a higher level of immersion is this. Major plot developments will be handed down from the game administration to the faction generals who will then in turn hand down the information to their subordinates. The players are then tasked with dealing with these plot twists and then their actions help write the stories in between these events.....

You haven't been in command at alot of Ops have you? This happens quite frequently... Throught out the game admin will tell Co's about new missions to accomplish. Game host often set up several contingency plans for Ops... How a team is doing dictates the flow of the game and the missions to accomplish.

[Darius137]

I've never hosted a game because if the game is worth playing, I'd be playing in it.

[Junto]

You see, the way I see this game format working to provide a higher level of immersion is this. Major plot developments will be handed down from the game administration to the faction generals who will then in turn hand down the information to their subordinates. The players are then tasked with dealing with these plot twists and then their actions help write the stories in between these events.

Problem with that is... a lot of players won't listen to orders handed down to them, or will quit trying for their objectives after they die a few times. People quit playing the OP and decide to go skirmish for kills on the field instead of completing their objectives and there's no way to convince them to get back on task, no matter how many people you have in charge.

[Electric Sponge]

You haven't been in command at alot of Ops have you? This happens quite frequently... Throught out the game admin will tell Co's about new missions to accomplish. Game host often set up several contingency plans for Ops... How a team is doing dictates the flow of the game and the missions to accomplish.

Nope never, but would sure like to give it a shot given the chance, been working on a few story ideas as of late

Problem with that is... a lot of players won't listen to orders handed down to them, or will quit trying for their objectives after they die a few times. People quit playing the OP and decide to go skirmish for kills on the field instead of completing their objectives and there's no way to convince them to get back on task, no matter how many people you have in charge.

So are they deserting their objectives because they can win anyway with simply getting more kills, or are they deserting their objectives and compromising their chance to win? The former I could understand but the latter is just beyond me.

Could you maybe keep the game more focused by limiting their size to say 100-150 people instead of 300-400?


And on a side topic, has anyone ever suggested creating some kind of organization where people who plan and run ops can get together and pool their resources?

[Merchant]

You see, the way I see this game format working to provide a higher level of immersion is this. Major plot developments will be handed down from the game administration to the faction generals who will then in turn hand down the information to their subordinates. The players are then tasked with dealing with these plot twists and then their actions help write the stories in between these events.

Problem with that is... a lot of players won't listen to orders handed down to them, or will quit trying for their objectives after they die a few times. People quit playing the OP and decide to go skirmish for kills on the field instead of completing their objectives and there's no way to convince them to get back on task, no matter how many people you have in charge.

But this is why I like Mini Ops-because there is a smaller more manageable group of people who will hopefully be more inclined to stay on task.

[Matt]

You can't blame the players. People generally do follow orders and stay on task if the OP is well executed. If the promoter does a horrible job on the OP, that's when it falls apart. People just don't care at that point.

[Blitzkreig]

You see, the way I see this game format working to provide a higher level of immersion is this. Major plot developments will be handed down from the game administration to the faction generals who will then in turn hand down the information to their subordinates. The players are then tasked with dealing with these plot twists and then their actions help write the stories in between these events.

Problem with that is... a lot of players won't listen to orders handed down to them, or will quit trying for their objectives after they die a few times. People quit playing the OP and decide to go skirmish for kills on the field instead of completing their objectives and there's no way to convince them to get back on task, no matter how many people you have in charge.

But this is why I like Mini Ops-because there is a smaller more manageable group of people who will hopefully be more inclined to stay on task.

The best games I have ever attended were Butterfly Wings and Hurricane. They were mini-ops at the Silverton field. Drug cartels versus the U.S. I was a cartel member and we were all given bags of powdered sugar to carry around. There was also a laptop with information on our contacts that we had to secure. Alex Kaeda did an excellent job. I had a lot of fun.

[Junto]

Problem with that is... a lot of players won't listen to orders handed down to them, or will quit trying for their objectives after they die a few times. People quit playing the OP and decide to go skirmish for kills on the field instead of completing their objectives and there's no way to convince them to get back on task, no matter how many people you have in charge.

So are they deserting their objectives because they can win anyway with simply getting more kills, or are they deserting their objectives and compromising their chance to win? The former I could understand but the latter is just beyond me.

Could you maybe keep the game more focused by limiting their size to say 100-150 people instead of 300-400?

Size seems irrelevant, in my experience, and yes, I mean they abandon their chances of winning the game because taking objectives is harder than just shooting people. They either go skirm for kills or sit at spawn and phony pony.