The deashcanification of Misspent Youth

[Robert Bohl]

I'm giving myself a goal. I intend to get the full-and-final version of Misspent Youth out in time for JiffyCon Greenfield 09, in June. If you've played a game (or better yet, a series) of Misspent Youth and haven't told me how it went, please do! I have a few rules tweaks to try out at Dreamation 2009 in February in Morristown, NJ.

Over the next few weeks--as I organize the feedback I've gotten--I'm going to post a series of planned (or under consideration) alterations. Your feedback will be welcome on those, as well.

[HiQKid]

Ah, I know I kind of dissapeared, but I did run the game... it didn't go very well.

I think it was mostly my players, as well as the fact that 3/4s of us were sleep deprived, but one thing that did come up was that when we were making the authority and world, the players were already making characters in their heads. This was just an ingrained processs they're used to.

When we got the casting part, however, they only threw out ideas for the characters they already had in their heads (and then took them), essentially making the casting a wasted step.

It's possible that simply alerting players to this would work, and I would have told them that if it had occured to me.

[Robert Bohl]

Good idea. I'm sorry it didn't go well. Was this merely a world-creation session? Are you going to try actual play later?

[HiQKid]

It was world creation + play.

One player decided to completly alienate his character from everyone and everything else. He purposefully took neglected and sold out to misanthropic as soon as he possibly could (perhaps because he considers himself a misanthrope in real life?). This made it diffucult to really connect his character to the game, as (correct me if I'm wrong) games (this one in particular) don't tend to work to well if the characters (and/or players) don't care about what's going on.

The other players for this game were an on-again off-again player who's usually intentionally antagonistic to me and my ideas, while the last player was mostly indifferent.

I feel it was more a disfunctional group issue than anything else, with everyone screaming (not literally) for what they wanted most, and me all caught in the middle. The most disruptive players are now gone, and the rest are all moving away to school, leaving me and one other.

I've been trying to find new players, but without much luck. I do intend to give the game another go, but you'll more than likely have the final out before then.

On a side note, myself and the only player who's got a strong interest in actually playing this game have both been trying to make it up to one of the JiffyCons. We just missed the last one. If you get the final done by then, what're the chances of you running a game?

[Robert Bohl]

I will definitely be running the game at JiffyCon Greenfield whether or not I have it completed in time. The rules are done, it's just getting off my ass and writing.