Jack Adams

Active Member
Mar 1, 2019
528
4,454
I think this, and the use of cliffhangers, would be the wrong approach. I get the appeal, but I think it would hurt the big picture. Think about it from the perspective of someone playing the game a year or two from now. If every scene ends on a cliffhanger, or has high degrees of drama, the audience will be exhausted. This is an age old dilemma for writers, writing a serialized story vs writing an episodic sorry require different approaches. By going to an event based release schedule, L&P needs to be careful to keep the serialized nature of the story in mind. While drama filled events would be more entertaining for us as we play then in real-time, they would conversely create a more disjointed game for those that play it all at once. If Sophia is running from one drama filled event to the next, the audience would be right to be a little confused about how this person could live a life with so much drama. Downtime, and relaxed events, are critical to keeping the story grounded; even if those are boring updates for us as we get them in real-time.

If you're interested in learning more about how a episodic story with cliffhangers can be difficult to translate into a serialized story, I suggest you check out the YouTuber Folding Ideas, and his review on 50 Shades of Grey. He details how 50 Shades was originally fan fiction written in episodes that were drama heavy. Each chapter ended on a cliffhanger which kept people in suspense until the next chapter. Folding Ideas speaks at length about how this was a nightmare when adapting the story to films because the story structure itself was not designed for a coherent 3 hour narrative. AWAM would be in a similar situation. Sophia's demeanor from one scene to the next is already sometimes difficult to justify at times. If we crank up the drama to make the event-based releases more exciting, hey demeanor from one scene to the next week be very hard to keep straight.
I agree completely that a story that is drama-heavy without lighter scenes lacks the levels that a good story provides. These levels essentially release tension and 'resets' the audience for the next scene. If I am reading your post correctly you are ascribing my description 'introduction-tension-resolution' to mean 'drama'. This was not my intent at all.
Good story-telling is much like good music writing. There can be high 'drama' phrases as well as phrases that emote tranquility. In both cases the chord and note progression often resolve leaving the intended emotional or artistic affect in the audience. It is true that some phrases do not resolve until the end of the piece (and this is strategic). In my experience long compositions such as classical music withhold a full resolution until the end to 'announce' the end.
An example of introduction-tension-resolution in a tranquil scene would be: Sophia enters her home via the front door; tells Dylan she is expecting an important call so she may have to break from their conversation; Sophia receives the important call. I know this appears bland in its description, but could be very entertaining done well... and can be written as comedy or as a stress breaker. In spite of this, the audience feels satisfied because the resolution took place. I hope this helps clarify my meaning. Feel free to ask if you want to know more.
Sincerely, Jack.
 

darji

Member
Nov 3, 2021
402
616
so how will this work? Wil we get AWAM or the Patreon version first? Will he jst upload the new version and give us a link via email?
 

PimbyBoink

Member
Apr 20, 2019
188
462
Does anyone remember how long it took, with the last update, to go from 100% to testing to release? I seem to remember it taking about a week.
 
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