No, that is fine. I’m just glad to be able to join in!
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Time for some 
character development
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Just letting you know I’m aware of this post, just out of time to give that a proper response. I’ll address it later, assuming Chrome doesn’t give an answer for it.
I think a public internet/datanet article would be something for me to tackle. I’ll keep it brief, and if there’s something I don’t get right, lemme know and I’ll rewrite my post accordingly.
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Could I get a general layout of where each character is in the ship so I can visualize it better?
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Salvage is on the bridge, while Overgrowth and Beta Maxx are in the cargo hold. I’ll let the other players say where their characters are.
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alright
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Low-Tide is in the main lounge having a bath. Nova and Niko are having a moment in Gungnir’s living cabin, while Gungnir happens to be in the cargo hold. And Maximus and Axis were outside talking with Kitai. But since we’re about to take off I’ll say they’re boarding now.
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Razor is in the medical bay, while Oreo is in a nearby hallway.
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How large is the cargo hold of the ship?
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The cargo hold takes up about a third of Deck One, probably. It’s oval-shaped and mostly flat, and right now the only things in it are some energon tanks, two mechs belonging to Maxine’s characters, and two NPCs.
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Unfortunately the promised character development has been temporarily postponed mid broadcast, due to a busy schedule.
However thanks to the benefits of the weekend, your regularly scheduled character development will continue this evening.
This scene with Nova and Niko is taking a fair bit longer than expected but man I’m loving how it’s turning out.
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Review of Transformers: DoaNA - 7/31/2022
As of writing this, I realize it has only been a couple months and that the game has hardly started. For some, this is probably too early to give any sort of commentary on how the game been going so far, but I can no longer give my grace of silence. Yet to spare anyone who rather not read my entire ramblings, here is the bullet list version of my complaints so far:
- Narrative and Plot are poorly structured
- World and environments are lacking, poorly described, and unresponsive
- No incentive for players or characters to do anything
- GM fails to pick up on obvious player cues
- Several rules are harmful to the game due to GM’s failings
The bullet points are just some of the takeaways from my complaints and not the order I’ll be speaking. My structure will jump around here and there, but will generally go from start of the game until now. So let’s get started.
Beginning - Celebration on Iacon
In terms of the mechanics for story and gameplay, the opening failed at what it was trying to setup at best. If I had to describe the start it would be, “This is pointless.”
From what I can determine, the primary purpose of this holiday was to explain why there are other options aside from Cybertronians to play as and how/why they’re currently on Cybertron. Along with why all the other PCs would be on Cybertron and in Iacon. A soft opening with plenty of opportunities for the PCs to meet each other, slightly learn some things, and have fun.
It could also be foreshadowing what is to come and the motives of the villains. It’s likely there are those who don’t want the Cybertronians to be back in the main galaxy again. Perhaps there are Cybertronians who think the same or still harbor ill-will towards organic races. Could be the wider galaxy trying to exploit this small and growing divide in the empire for some other gain. Maybe it’s even some rogue Quintessons manipulating all sides to cause a galactic war and invade again while this reality is weakened. But surely, this reunification must be more than an excuse for more race options and important to the story, right? Pin that for future reviews.
Then there is the plot and gameplay purposes of the party. It’s in Iacon, a city historically trashed and things going wrong. It’s also a big celebration, everyone from everywhere is here. All the players, and even plenty of characters, think something big and bad is going to go down. Possibly for the reasons listed earlier, but everyone is expecting something to happen. And instead, nothing happens, the party goes off with little incident, and disaster doesn’t happen until later. It’s a calm before the storm, building up anxiety for some, until the subverted expectations.
So why does this fail?
For one, I can’t tell if the possible subversion of everything going fine was on purpose. Because the GM seems incapable of making anything living or responsive outside of time, it could have been pure coincidence it happened the following day. He had no idea what to do or write, so he just pushed time forward until it was pushed enough that he decided it was time for the attack. Less subversion of what’s expected and more like delaying the bullet exiting the barrel of Chekhov’s gun.
But let’s say it was on purpose, why doesn’t it work? The characters had nothing to do. The GM presented little to no events at the start or indication of what they could be doing, and as the rules state the players can only control their characters and nothing else, left little to no room for players to come up with what they were doing at the party. Even after the initial post, the GM presented little to no other events or activities for the players to do. Leaving everyone to guess around as to what they could do, what they should do, and where they can go.
There are several cases where players stated or heavily hinted at what their characters would like to do, only for nothing to happen. Like Tokamak looking for a race, but outside of the GM possibly suggesting that Tokamak would have to start one himself, it was clearly stated he wouldn’t. So he just had to wander around and random chitchat. No other alternatives or possible things to do were presented.
Or pulling from myself again, Roaster looking around at the screens in the bar to see what was playing on them. Perhaps I needed to ping the GM, but there was no response to that. Leading to me taking initiative and controlling the environment to get a scene of drama and character development.
Something similar happened later at the hospital, where there was a surgeon NPC that was supposedly helping them with Headbite. Only they did nothing, there was no response or acknowledgement of being offered cake, etc. They might as well have never been there in the first place. Or, as back in the bar, ignore the GM’s rules and just take control. I’ve already learned that the rule clearly means nothing. Or perhaps Chrome doesn’t pay enough attention to pick up on direct statements and needs to be heavily chatted with for anything to happen. I suppose I’ll learn the correct course of action after this.
Anyway, so PCs couldn’t control what they could be doing at the party, the GM gave little for them to do, and before everyone knew it the party was over. Several characters barely chatted with a few NPCs before suddenly it was night time and everything was wrapping up. I’m sorry, but what? Why? Is it because the GM had nothing for this segment? Or just an inability to do anything with the world? Is the celebration seriously just a single day, only a couple hours?
In terms of worldbuilding, this doesn’t make much sense. There are multiple cultures in the Cybertronian colonies that are known for massive and continuous parties. Not to mention the countless other alien cultures and the huge milestone this represents. So why, after barely starting, is it already over? Surely this should be a couple days, perhaps even a week, at the very least. Maybe the PCs started out on the largest part of the celebrations.
Heck, why isn’t there a World Fair type of deal? Everyone is finally open to each other, right? Have Iacon host a galactic fair so everyone can see and exchange new technology, entertainment, get a better taste of each other’s cultures, everything. World Fairs go on for months and Iacon, let alone Cybertron, can’t last for more than a day? Maybe it’s even a traveling fair, where it’s on Cybertron for a month, then maybe on one of their colony worlds, or one of the other races’ planets. So everyone can, if they so choose, go around and more actively see the parts of the galaxy that was closed off to them. Even if it’s only in Iacon, then it gives all the PCs a perfect reason to stay in the city even after the big party is over. There’s still so much to see and catch up on.
But I guess Axis Prime only wanted something really small? Both sides are just really cautious? Maybe it’s just a fair between the lost colonies and the rest of the Cybertronian empire. There’s just a lot more that could have been done to make the world and galaxy feel more alive and give players and characters more things to do and reasons to stay. It would even make the attacker later, even if not during the party, all the more devastating.
Or, was the party this short and “small” as a way to explain why the countless number of NPCs didn’t get involved to stop the attack? If the terrorists were already going to smash and grab, guns blazing, and taking hostages…why would more NPCs being around hamper that? Just increase the number of terrorists if that’s an issue. Or surely most would be more cool-headed than some of the PCs and hold back when hostages are threatened. Plenty would just run away and that commotion could then attract the PCs in on the action. It would also make the PCs stand out more as active heroes, going in while everyone else fled. And because all of them were caught by demands of the plot, it couldn’t have been to allow them to escape. Their ship was caught regardless of the fleet being there.
Once again, I’m back at the idea that the reason why this party went the way it did was to be subversive. But whatever the case may be, the party going peacefully can’t be a subversion as nothing happened and nothing was done with it. The party might as well not even happened.
The characters had nothing to do, players are just disappointed because what they were hoping for didn’t pan out, and the cast didn’t get much of or great introductions and hardly encountered each other. Most didn’t even get a chance to say what they were doing when the party ended and then the morning attack was suddenly there. And the few that did were leaving for home or elsewhere. This party has served no real purpose so far.
If it was to be subversive, there should have been more events and things for the characters to do. For the party to be fun in the mechanics of gameplay and story. And to really sell it, allow the PCs to go home. The party was great, everything went awesome, and then sometime later the attack happens. Any PCs that lived in Iacon or stayed get involved in the attack. Obviously, something to do would need to be given to the PCs no longer at Iacon, but afterwards Axis Prime could just go recruit them. Put out some mission statement and the PCs volunteer. That would be subversive and give both more agency to the PCs getting involved and to the setting itself.
With that, I’ll end my discussion on the party for now and move onto the attack.
Plot Kickoff - The Hall of Records Attack
I’m not going to chat about the battle itself so much as the aftermath and getting to motives/plot later. I imagine most already know how I feel about combat and overall it was about what I expected. Though the opening and place could have used better description. And after the confusion, it should have been reinstated or further clarified to Maxine and Flux that either their posts needed to be edited or make new posts and then continue on. Instead, events just continued to go on and Maximus, Flux’s characters, and others just mysteriously vanish. Assuming IRL responsibilities didn’t take Flux out of the game, I imagine his attempts being erased and not being readdressed after clarification would do it.
But the PCs fight, they win, and then the cops just let them go. Again, I ask why? Why didn’t the police immediately take in everyone for questioning? Was it to give the players a break from the action and plot, allowing them to bumble around and do other things?
Or was it to seem less like a railroad?
That seems more like the cause to me. A break being more of an accidental benefit rather than a purposeful one. The police didn’t immediately bring everyone in because it would seem like the players are being forced further into the plot.
. . .
Except that doesn’t make sense. Anyone who has seen a crime drama knows the police would bring everyone in for questioning. Or at least ask them questions at the scene and come back later. It would make more sense to the world and setting for the police to gather up all the PCs then and question them. This would also serve in finally getting most of them to meet and chat with each other and potentially learn more about the plot. Then after the questioning, decide what they want to do from there. Perhaps some go to do investigation work while the others decided the cops got this and explore what else Iacon has to offer. Assuming it still takes Axis Prime as long to discover the second drive on the journal, then she could go collect those involved. That way, everyone still gets their chance at a break and can resume the plot later if they so choose.
But with how it happened instead, all the PCs were allowed to run off. And then the cops came separately running around, collecting people before they left Cybertron. Well, most people. And that felt a lot more forced, since they weirdly got away and then it’s, “Come on everybody, get back on the train it’s plot time!” . . .Only for the cops to not really have anything to say, hardly prompted anyone to talk, and barely anything got out. It also made them look really incompetent, which if that was the point, great job, everyone is annoyed in and out of character.
Still, it doesn’t feel like the world is properly reacting or responding as one would reasonable expect. And then Axis Prime comes in, interrupting and killing some potential character development going on, and further drags everyone along the railroad tracks. I realize that is more on Maxine than Chrome, assuming there was no background collaboration, but that right there killed anything interest I had left in this game. So until something worthwhile comes up, I’m just writing my characters through the motions.
Now about those motives. . .
Plot Drive – Sentinel Prime’s Journal
It wasn’t just Axis Prime’s interruption and lack of consideration on Maxine’s part that killed my interest, it is that in tandem with what appears to be the main driver of the plot - the journal.
So we’re expected to believe that hidden in this journal is a second secret drive that’s heavily encrypted. And no one else has discovered this…until whenever the villains learned about it. Either no thorough research has been done on the journal or it was magically that well hidden, except to the villains. Meaning it’s someone who could have gotten access to it and tried to study it, or perhaps someone who knows alternate timelines.
This could, once again, point to the Quintessons as being the primary villains. They have seen enough alternate universes to know that Sentinel Prime probably has secrets hidden in there. But then again, if that was the case, wouldn’t they know what’s in it? And if they have that info already, why would they need the journal to do whatever it is with it? Unless, since Sentinel Prime was the failure that lead to the Great War, the info contained within is only to help further drive a galactic war between species. Or maybe the secret drive is an anomaly to this timeline and they also don’t know what’s in there.
But alright, let’s assume it’s not Quintessons and it’s someone else that somehow learned of the second drive. Once again, more on Axis Prime’s character than totally the plot, but why doesn’t she believe that this is the villain’s backup plan? Perhaps there was a mercenary there to fight against the terrorists incase the blew it so they could tag along with the Prime. This just screams of the tropey, “heroes deactivate all the traps and get all the treasures only for the villains to swoop in and take it.” It would be legitimately better for the journal to be destroyed. And if it being destroyed ends the plot, something better should have been planned.
And ignoring villain motives and future plot consequences, how did the super computer and knowledge keeper fail to crack it? It doesn’t even sound like they tried. They discovered it, failed to open it at first attempt, and then gave up. A drive supposedly made and encrypted by Sentinel Prime.
Yeah.
Right.
From what we know of Sentinel Prime, I don’t buy that for a second. And knowing what I do about codebreaking and encryption, I don’t believe he could have made something the all-powerful super computer couldn’t crack with some time. If you’re going to have these forces in the world, come up with better reasons for why they failed. I have no reason to believe the PCs would do better. Thus I have no reason as a player to pursue this route, nor does any of it work with my characters.
Current Verdict: This game is quickly becoming annoying due to a wishy-washy GM, with a tropey plot and narrative held together by a poor structure. The game likes to pretend it’s somewhat open world and that the characters can go anywhere or do anything, but not really. Any time someone tries and veers too far, provided they wouldn’t mind player or character suddenly vanishing from the game, some nonsense comes in to pull them back on track. The setting doesn’t much exist or come into play and the GM appears afraid to do any sort of actions with the PCs outside of minor chitchat, assuming they even think of those possibilities. There is no incentive for proactive or intelligent characters to go along with the current story.
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And people say Primes never party
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Flux’s departure was due to a personal matter which I won’t disclose here, out of respect for his privacy. I know that I sometimes miss when people rewrite their posts or when people prompt me to throw something at their characters, which is why I made a post in here letting everyone know that they should feel free to holler at me if they feel like I’ve been ignoring them. If I haven’t been as receptive as people want me to be, I sincerely apologize, and I’ll do better going forward.
I understand that I’ve made some missteps since the attack. Letting y’all go without the police immediately dragging your characters in for questioning was illogical, which is why I had them chase y’all down- though, as you rightly pointed out, that probably felt even more railroad-y than if I’d had them brought in for questioning in the first place.
I don’t feel like I’m afraid to allow everyone’s characters to do meaningful things. I want y’all’s characters to have the spotlight, and I want to set them up to do some awesome stuff as we continue through the game. It’s just that this whole “get the gang together and find a ship” part has gone on for much longer than I intended it to. Truly, the plan was to bring everybody together in the attack, throw a starship at y’all, and send you on your merry way. It probably feels like there’s nothing to do in Iacon because I never wanted to keep y’all in Iacon for several months. Things probably would have gone much faster, and we’d be doing a lot more right now, if I didn’t let everyone’s characters split up after the attack- though I already figured that was a problem, as I just said.
Similarly, the plot and narrative probably feel as shallow as they do because we haven’t gotten deep into them yet. I am by no means a master writer or storyteller, but a lot of what you’re bringing up about the journal’s contents, the identity of the villains, their motives, and why the villains are acting the way they are, are all things I plan to address in the story as the game goes on. It’s just that we haven’t gotten to all of that yet. This is another consequence of things slowing to a crawl in Iacon the way they have been- and I understand that I’ve had a part to play in that and, and I’ve been trying to rectify it.
You’re making valid assessments about where the game’s at right now, and my shortcomings so far as the game master. All I’m trying to say is that I’ve been aware of these things to some extent for a while and that I’ve been trying to pick things up again and do better. I completely understand why people would be losing interest, and I apologize if it’s felt like I haven’t been trying to make things better. Now that we’re finally on a ship and leaving Iacon, things should start to improve. It’s just that my responsibilities in the real world have kept me from launching the Pulsar just yet.
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my apologies for not being present, I’ve been neck deep in iliad work and likely will still be for another week.
I’ve kept up with the game to make sure I’m not missing anything, but only to the extent of skimming. When I’m back for real I’ll make a summary and you can correct me if I missed anything.
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Okay. There’s no need to apologize.
Foreshadowing much? 
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Actually, that was a recap of the first game.
Though, yeah, things are gonna get wild here, too
Actually, the Pulsar is still in Cybertron’s atmosphere. The Tomb of the Primes is just a short flight away from Iacon, so the ship doesn’t have a reason to break orbit or anything. I apologize if I didn’t communicate that clearly.
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Hey, just a heads up for everyone. I’m gonna be out camping with a friend this weekend. Sunday to Tuesday. So expect my activity those days to be limited to nonexistent.
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