darkweaver
Sergeant
For the love of god, please don't write about the mission where you rescue the merchant's brother. We all may have heard that story once or twice before.
For those thinking about writing an AAR...
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darkweaver
Sergeant
ejnomad07 said:What if they leave him to die?darkweaver said:
Well then it's not the mission where they rescue the merchant's brother, now is it?
darkweaver said:ejnomad07 said:What if they leave him to die?darkweaver said:
Well then it's not the mission where they rescue the merchant's brother, now is it?
Ah. so you mean a detailed analysis rather then mention of the mission itself.
That would be an interesting twist that would be worth writing . But I agree with darkweaver: everyone starts with that merchant quest, and if everyone starts his or her AAR at that point, we all get to read the same introduction over and over. You can also start at another point. A good example is Wyvern's 'Realm of the Wolf', a completed AAR on the Paradox forum, where he starts just before he forms his own kingdom. That's refreshing .
socks: I know, and feel very guilty.
. But I agree with darkweaver: everyone starts with that merchant quest, and if everyone starts his or her AAR at that point, we all get to read the same introduction over and over. You can also start at another point. A good example is Wyvern's 'Realm of the Wolf', a completed AAR on the Paradox forum, where he starts just before he forms his own kingdom. That's refreshing .socks: I know, and feel very guilty
.darkweaver
Sergeant
monnikje said:A good example is Wyvern's 'Realm of the Wolf', a completed AAR on the Paradox forum, where he starts just before he forms his own kingdom. That's refreshing
Thanks for the link, starts out very nicely, I'll be reading that one!
Peter Ebbesen
Regular
Ah, but have you read a version like mine in My Inevitable Greatness before?darkweaver said:
(Which is admittedly an exercise in just how puerile I can write without slitting my wrists and does on no account qualify as good literature, but if it wins even a single chuckle or two from my readers, especially those who know the mission by heart, then it is worth the trouble)Even if you have read my AAR and think it would be better off without that chapter 5 or think that it should be skipped on general principles, AAR-writing is done at least as much for the fun of the writer as it is for the readers. So long as somebody wishing to write an AAR thinks that writing about the merchant, his brother, and their trials and tribulations when subjected to the actions of the protagonist is valuable to what he wants to convey, he will do so. (In my case, I used it to some success to deepen the character of the protagonist and also to poke fun at some of the more bizarre game mechanics, knowing that the readership on the Paradox forums include many people, who haven't played M&B Warband - other writers will have other reasons. It might even teach the experienced player something he might not have known before and which is arguable of little value to most characters - that it is possible to get the normal town guards to attack the guard captain's men).
It can certainly be skipped and, indeed, I would expect most people writing more than one AAR and especially experienced AAR writers to occasionally choose different starting points for the narrative or to leave it out entirely depending on which AAR format they have chosen - as you say, we have all heard (or experienced) that story before - but skipping it on general principles? No. That is going much too far.
As a really good example of starting the narrative later in the gameplay, Wyvern's Realm of the Wolf comes to mind. He is, like me, an accomplished AAR writer in many games and likes to experiment. In this case he wanted to tell a story of rebellion, love, and kingship in a war-torn land and, as a result, chose a starting point relevant to his narrative.
A good example of starting the narrative earlier is my abovementioned AAR - since I present it as somebody's moderately crappy book published in an environment that has some level of censoring on the subject of my main character and based on select quotations from the autobiography of the main character, it actually starts at the birth of the main character and runs through the character creation stages in four chapters before even reaching Calradia. I probably wouldn't do that a second time, but for my chosen narrative and goals, it fit, and that is what is important when choosing the narrative AAR style; - it wouldn't fit well in, say, the newspaper, dialogue-driven, or diary-format, to take three other common AAR styles.
The exceeding arrow
Knight at Arms
and put some pictures of your adventures! makes it easier to read and proves your not making everything up
I tried shooting him on my second playthrough so I could tell his annoying brother who can't leave well enough alone that he'd died at the hands of the bandits. Unfortunately, he's immortal.ejnomad07 said:What if they leave him to die?darkweaver said:
darkweaver
Sergeant
Peter Ebbesen said:
If someone is a good writer, they certainly don't need *me* to tell them what to write about.
To your point that AARs are for the writer, while this may be true, if they actually do post them on a forum, we have to assume they are for the reader, too.
My point was that these are an exercise in creativity. An unimaginative retread of that mission is anything but.
Weathereye
Veteran
Avoid making lame jokes on the account of flawed gameplay and bugs in general. Better not mention them at all. I know it's tempting. I mean seriously. We encounter the bugs in our gameplay all the time. Must we encounter them in yours too? Please.
The Darklord
Sergeant
TBH it not as much what they contain but how it set out, I agree starting with the Merchant Brother quest is not that good, given that everyone starts there.
As for bugs depends on how they are written into the ARR for me, it needs to fit in a story wise context, (possible for some I think) if this cant be done then yes better to leave them out.
Here my take on what be a good start for an ARR beginning anything that explains where X came from and what he's after. IE why he adventuring in Calradia what ever that maybe and continue events from there (After all if you meant to be a mercenary band leader if would be better to get a few soldiers and then start ARR there. If a Lord of X then you need to join X faction and have a few troops etc before ARR starts etc).
As for bugs depends on how they are written into the ARR for me, it needs to fit in a story wise context, (possible for some I think) if this cant be done then yes better to leave them out.
Here my take on what be a good start for an ARR beginning anything that explains where X came from and what he's after. IE why he adventuring in Calradia what ever that maybe and continue events from there (After all if you meant to be a mercenary band leader if would be better to get a few soldiers and then start ARR there. If a Lord of X then you need to join X faction and have a few troops etc before ARR starts etc).
