Why don't you mod?

[Morg]

So I've retired, and I was thinking about this question. All you people who are players in Tazlure and don't mod: why not?

I've left out the most obvious reason for not modding, which is RL time constraints. That's something that everyone suffers from, and is too easy an answer. Besides, we mostly all have time to play. And modding doesn't have to be anything more than a single thread, so it can be less work than being a player. It also gives you more creative freedom in some ways.

So why don't you? This isn't a criticism, just a genuine interested question. What is it about modding that makes it less appealing to you than playing?

If it's a combination of the things I've mentioned, vote for the one that is most important to you. If I haven't mentioned your reason, post it underneath! (But the first person to mention RL will be shot. )

Oh, and mods can vote too. Just vote for the aspect of modding that's least appealing to you!

[Fialessa Valenstri]

I think for lack of better option - I would say continuity. Not that I'm scared of getting it wrong per se. Just that I'm not entirely comfortable mucking about in someone else's vision.

I took the seminars (they weren't bad/scary) and I did a little modding (for those few who remember my very brief forays in Pax & Dort). I am mostly an administrative type - I like organizing and building. I know I can moderate adequately, and even very well if its my own vision - but I rather think I prefer playing in someone else's world than trying to direct in it.

[Tilha O`Renimin]

Me thinks it's mainly about the commitment.

I'm notorious for starting things with grand plans in the initial enthusiasm, then ditching them when the rest of my life imposes me to choose. All the half-finished parts of my house are a constant reminder for me about that.

And I don't want to ditch any player. Living in a crappy house is my problem, but disrupting other people's hobby would not make me feel good. So, I'll go slowly.
If, when the kids school rhythm is established, and my experience in Taz is older than one year, I still feel enthusiast, I might re-consider. In the meantime, I'm finishing the seminar, to be ready to jump in, just in case. Very interesting anyway, because this work on the game mechanics also allows you to become a better player (well, I hope).

I also understand Fia point. I'm more a gamer than a writer myself, and I enjoy much more setting a scene and creating characters and background stories than writing the day to day events. But on the other way, this continuity being one of the things that make playing in Taz so enjoyable, I accept the drawback easily.

[Danomel]

I have to go with the responsibility thing. Although I tend to take the far view of responsibility, in a more generalized sense. That is to say that as a player, you make your posts, read responses and mod posts, and then respond yourself.

When one is running a game, any game, there are several layers of responsibility that are added above and beyond what a player would experience.

[Corbin Dillon]

Commitment. I'm far too lazy, I'm afraid. I'd hate to leave people hanging whilst I was procrastinating - it would be unfair, and I know myself too well . I have great respect for those who do mod - thank you all for doing such a magnificent job!

[Hastarl Ras'diath]

I think it must be the continuity. I fell scared sometimes that if I'll be a bad moderator I'll ruin someones joy for the game. Plus the feeling that I might make a fool of myself because I don't speak nor write fluent english. It's not that I am bad at english, I just don't know all the little phrases to twist my language, which ends up in a boring style, especially for the player.

Besides that I don't have any roleplaying experience besides this year with Tazlure, so I am not comfortable with controlling a story if I don't have the grip of writing it partly.

That all together the reason I joined Tazlure was never modding, but rather expanding my vocabulary, improving my writing and having fun at the same time, both reading and writing. Enjoying and living the lives I like to read about. Being a moderator is an even greater opportunity to be a storyteller but I think I want some more experience and confidence concerning the storytelling before I jump into it.

[Quinlan Corodin]

I voted for the pressure. Speaking as someone who is only completely satisfied with the posts for his own character about 1/3 of the time, being a Tazlure moderator - a position which carries the responsibility of serving as an example to all other mods and players, in my mind - is not something I'm totally comfortable with.

I have another reason that's more selfish that wasn't on the poll. Simply, I don't like having control over Tazlure. Part of the fun for me as a player is that I only control my character and not anything nor anyone else. Anything that happens, any changes or accomplishments, are based solely on his actions and abilities. If I have the power to alter Tazlure's reality, even if only for others, that diminishes over time the fun I have as a player.

[Mezatino]

All those are good reasons as to why I might not do it, but for the most part...its because I'm fickle. I'm afraid to commit to something like moding, because if the post I'm giving just isn't my particular style, its either going to be poorly written (which I refuse to do), or I'm going to specifically change it to fit my style (which very well may be the player's particular anti-style). I'm just unwilling to do that to someone else. Though I will admit, I keep playing with the thought of moding say a single thread to help out, but like I said I'm fickle, and also change my mind alot.

[Reinhard]

Oddly enough, I don't like to mod in games I play in because I might end up forgetting I'm modding, and leave some poor player stranded.

In all my games, I'm either a player or a GM. I either control the world, or play in it. If I try to mix the two, I might end up with a brain freeze and confuse everyone....

[Gwayne of Vendeling]

I just never finish a mod seminar Mostly because of projects or because of fear

[Vanir Alfheim]

Well I am a retired mod, so I already know what I liked and didn't like about it. However my problem was that I took on so many projects and threads that I got burnt out. Of course my personal life was not all screwy back then, so I didn't have much of a RL to get in the way either. It would be harder now and I could never do as many threads as I did back then. I have enough trouble getting around to threads I am playing in nowadays. lol

[Keaira Morgandy]

Meh. The seminar. I ran through 99% of it and then finally when I was asked to come up with a plot, nothing came to me instantly. So I said "screw it."

[Tygress]

Been there. Done that. GM'd. SGM'd. GD'd. Coordinated. Admin'd. Wrote CAT, headed CAT..... you get the idea. >.>

Finally just got burnt out. But you notice I don't ever actually go away.

[Raevyn D`Altamooriana]

I'm also a retired mod. from way back in the day, as some folks say. I burned out taking on too much. Not just here, but another game as well. In totally I was modding at two sites playing four characters between the two, my life at the time, just sucked ass and I didn't like anything about it. Which basically made me a not so nice person.

I've also failed to finish the modding seminar twice due to IRL issues. Well the first one I failed, and the second I didn't finish. Maybe someday in the not too distant future I'll get it all sorted out, and finish one. Although I would say that even if you DON'T plan on modding, take the modding seminar anyway. It's great for helping improve your writing here at Taz.

[Reise Silverskye]

Well for me, none of those answers really fit... for me, it's more of a time issue. Right now, with my work in the Navy, I just don't have the time to be an effective mod. If I had a more regular job - one that didn't require me to be away from home for upwards of a month or more sometimes - I'd be much more willing to be a mod. In fact, I hope to start going through the modding seminars once I get out of the Navy in 2009. But we'll see what happens when that time comes...

[Brytan]

I voted continuity, as that is my main pitfall when I mod. I am the kind of person who wants to do right by a location and an idea. Since I left the modding seminar and started moderating I jumped from one place to another and had to adjust to the setting of each location, it's history and the PC interaction with the environment that had already been established.

Tazlure can be quite overwhelming in that way. There is a lot of history, a lot going on, a lot of people and a lot of information.

Yet I still mod.

How do I do it? First of all by letting players know when I feel overwhelmed. That happened to me recently. I felt crappy about how I wrote for them, having picked up their threads. They came back with a lot of support, which motivated me to try even harder. I'm currently digging through a lot of information to mod better for them. I love to mod and develop old material. (I took Ursa Etheria and ran with it, now I'm doing the same with Pan's Isle

So yes, it does get a bit too much at times. But talking openly with others who play in my area has gotten me through writer's block before and I trust it will in the future. I'll be here for some time yet.