Post by ferrousbuelr on Feb 14, 2012 20:00:42 GMT -5
One thing I've struggled with as the stories from my game play came out is how much time goes by between each episode. Obviously, we can't use IRL time as this would mean our characters achieve maturity in a matter of minutes. Some have used the character's level as a measure of months...cough...Irondrisia...cough...a great idea, by the way.
I've sort of taken a quantum physical approach that Time is Relative. While leveling in the starting zones, time goes slower, so those first 4-6 levels happen in hour. The next few take a little longer, i.e., 7-10 might be a week. Each time we log out in an inn, and then come back? Overnight? One week?
I also take clues from the quests themselves. Some, like the "go see this guy across the room and give this shiny orb to him" obviously only take a minute. Some, especially if travel is involved, take a little bit more, from a few hours to days. In the end, I try to choose narratives that express some duration or extended time interval without being too explicit.
This gets a bit tricky when trying to weave story lines that are happening at the same time, but on toons at different levels, and even different states of being alive, or not. I had no idea that trying to continue a story arc and have it make sense across toons that are alive one moment and dead the next could be so complex. "But I'm not ready for you to be dead, yet!" I would think as I stare, dumbfounded, at my still quivering screen corpse. I guess that is part of the challenge I have taken on.
But back to the original topic. Do you have some kind of standard for measuring how time flies in Azeroth and how this affects your stories?
Ferrousbuelr, Draenei hunter, level 16. Cryo Core lag @ Bloodmyst
Zheleznyi, Draenei hunter, level 36. Minion of Omen @ Moonglade Lunar Festival
Krashnyia, Draenei hunter, level 43. Elite Hydra @ Dustwallow Marsh
I've sort of taken a quantum physical approach that Time is Relative. While leveling in the starting zones, time goes slower, so those first 4-6 levels happen in hour. The next few take a little longer, i.e., 7-10 might be a week. Each time we log out in an inn, and then come back? Overnight? One week?
I also take clues from the quests themselves. Some, like the "go see this guy across the room and give this shiny orb to him" obviously only take a minute. Some, especially if travel is involved, take a little bit more, from a few hours to days. In the end, I try to choose narratives that express some duration or extended time interval without being too explicit.
This gets a bit tricky when trying to weave story lines that are happening at the same time, but on toons at different levels, and even different states of being alive, or not. I had no idea that trying to continue a story arc and have it make sense across toons that are alive one moment and dead the next could be so complex. "But I'm not ready for you to be dead, yet!" I would think as I stare, dumbfounded, at my still quivering screen corpse. I guess that is part of the challenge I have taken on.
But back to the original topic. Do you have some kind of standard for measuring how time flies in Azeroth and how this affects your stories?
Ferrousbuelr, Draenei hunter, level 16. Cryo Core lag @ Bloodmyst
Zheleznyi, Draenei hunter, level 36. Minion of Omen @ Moonglade Lunar Festival
Krashnyia, Draenei hunter, level 43. Elite Hydra @ Dustwallow Marsh