Penguin DM

[~Aoria-sama~]

Event: Shifting Mines

Responsiveness: The Narrates were very well prepared and dished out in a timely manner. I never felt like I was waiting long for a response at all, and everything was very well thought out in each response. I didn't need clarification on anything, and didn't feel the need to ask any questions. It was very well worded and clear.

Balance: The balance of the event was fair. It started out at easy and ended at very difficult and made me SWEAT. I love that! You could totally feel the EC power levels change!

Storytelling: This was my favorite part of the event. Not only did it tug on my heart strings OOCly, but it was amazing dev for Sayenia and what she would like to do with her life.  Sayenia is selfless, kind and very loving toward the innocent. But she is also very skittish, fearful, and timid. Putting her into a position where she had to choose between letting an innocent soul suffer, or her own life? Top tier dev. I will never forget that moment. It was insane and SO meaningful!

Fairness: No complaints about this one. Even if I am a tree hugger and had to hide in the corner LOL

Event Highlight: The craziest moment was when the innocent soul was taken and thrown into that vortex! Having to decide if we wanted to jump in to save her, or possibly die?! Crazy stuff. I dove in head first.

Overall: 10/10 Absolutely no complaints. We had to work for our rewards, but there was also a lot of life development opportunities to be had here.

Any other comments:

Please run my next event, I need these good stories in my life. <3 They bring me so much joy.

[Frothier76]

Character: Oliphr Ishiko
Which Event: Mystery of the Shifting Mines

Responsiveness (Were their narrations posted within a reasonable time-frame and were they quick to respond?): Narrations were great and timely, didn't take long for one post to be up, even to some of the more unique things that happened during the event.

Balance (How entertaining were the battles, and any obstacles/traps?): Started weak, ended DIFFICULT. 100% like boss fights ramping up for each stage beaten.

Storytelling (Did it feel like an adventure, did the content of the narrations meet your expectations?): I legitimately cried for parts of the story- I am very into the honorful gaining honor and peace- to help miners trapped for about 300 years find peace in the afterlife and fighting the Shengese general from the War of a Million to put his soul to rest- I get goosebumps just recalling it.

Fairness (Were the punishments justified and earned, was the risk to reward ratio good?): Definitely, lot of Ancient Shengese related materials for a mine that hadnt been visited since the 1800s AC and it reflected the story well. If I could have taken one more material, it would have been hell to decide which one I'd want as well- they were all so cool!

Event Highlight: The event helped my character get over some trauma from the loss of basically everyone he cared about- not all of it, but a significant enough part of it.

Overall: 10/10, good puzzle, good story, good fights, amazing sprites.

Any other comments: Definitely gonna ask Penguin if I have another event I need ran.

[Doru7]

Character: Lily H. Akatsuki
Event: The Mystery of the Shifting Mines
Responsiveness: I can only count one time where the flow felt interrupted, and that was because Penguin had to improvise the script slightly due to time constraints. Everything else flowed super smoothly!
Balance: Considering the fact that our party was spread out between 205 and 240, Everything felt significantly balanced. A lot of boss NPCs were incredibly powerful, but with telegraphed attacks that were feasible to dodge. Granted, the final encounter was designed to keep PCs from getting close, and my build involves getting close to land attacks, but besides that, it was incredibly well put together!
Storytelling: IT WAS THE COOLEST ADVENTURE I'VE HAD WHILE PLAYING MERANTHE AND I'M SO GLAD I GOT TO COME WITH THE PARTY!! HISTORY! MYSTERY! ADVENTURE! STAKES! COOL LOOT WITH LORE!! YESYESYES!!
Fairness: Again, the final boss NPC was designed to be hell to stay close to, and my build was designed to stay close and punish for not breaking away, so that resulted in me earning a perm. However, I figured that out after the first round of combat, and decided to risk it anyways for the sake of engagement and a fun story, so the fault is mine. Otherwise, Every encounter felt challenging, but in a way where any mistakes made were my own, rather than questionable boss mechanics. Super fun!
Event Highlight: JUMPING INTO A PORTAL TO THE VOID TO SAVE A LITTLE GHOST GIRL
Overall: Yeah, it was alright. I guess.
Any other comments: HIRE THIS FLIGHTLESS BIRD DO IT NOW YOU'LL REGRET IT FOREVER IF YOU DON'T

[LadyRegent]

Character: Miyumi S. Irontail
 
Event: Fangxiangshi

Responsiveness: I've no issue with the time waited for narrates, most of it needed plenty fast and it wasn't the issue that kept us waiting. Every scenario had a different emotion and feel, great work.
 
Balance: The balance of the event plenty fine on the damage side, perhaps just a bit more HP would've led to more danger, say ~10-15%. But that isn't a big deal at all, many times people were left teetering on the edge, myself included. I think you did wonderful, especially considering this is your return after a break.
 
Storytelling: You did a great job to include everyone is some way, whether small or large. Especially with your ability to coordinate the special guests. While the scene was long it was very moving and carried a lot of weight for the story moving forward. I am happy for the inclusion, thank you!
 
Fairness: No complaints, I felt like I was rewarded for my time and I'm happy with what I was able to achieve in walking away. Both from a mechanical viewpoint and especially from a story viewpoint. It wasn't an event meant for me, but with your inclusion of our special guests it carried a lot more IC weight.
 
Overall: Fantastic event, though it did run a little long (~10 hours) I wasn't complaining during any parts of it and probably would've been able to sit an hour or two longer if needed. Most of the extra time came through people's interaction with what was happening. Though a few small things likely could've been cut, we were warned it would be long entering, so I don't hold it to you.
 
The one thing I would change is likely adding the inclusion of the guests to the end, only so others who couldn't manage to stick around the entire time due to IRL needs got to experience everything outside of the surprise.
 
Thank you for running the event and assisting people in moving forward in their story! It takes a your personal time to plan and run these things, and you clearly took out your time to make this the best you could. Spiriting new things, finding images for every scene change and background, researching people's backgrounds and throwing in things around it. Even coordinating with players outside of the event cast. You did excellent and I hope you're happy with yourself.

[Zilly]

Event: Fangxiangshi

Responsiveness: Penguin had almost all of their narrates prepared ahead of time. We hardly had to wait at all, even when responding to our characters on things it was all very quick!

Balance (How entertaining were the battles, and any obstacles/traps?): The battles were scaled pretty well I think. I ended up suffering a down but I didn't feel like it was due to anything unfair. The only chaotic thing is that we had two players with gravity magic and most of the EC's also used it. So it was a guessing game of which black hole is bad.

Storytelling (Did it feel like an adventure, did the content of the narrations meet your expectations?): This part was honestly amazing 10/10. Penguin had planned out pretty much everything in advanced, had backgrounds and characters for each part of the story. It was really immersive thanks to this and there was even a few surprises such as one characters dead family members showing up.

Fairness (Were the punishments justified and earned, was the risk-to-reward ratio good?): Yah the injury table was pretty standard from what I've seen. I walked away with a temporary injury and wasn't sore about it. I got the reward and IC development i had asked for so no complaints there. Penguin even made sure every player got something nice.

Event Highlight: For me it was how Penguin made me feel, every step of the journey was building up our characters for the ending that we knew was coming but was such a relief when we got there. I had asked for a coming of age tale and that's exactly what we got

Overall: 10/10 would skydive to cleanse a dragon of corruption again

Any other comments: Penguin was a delight to have as a DM, I hope I can have them again in the future.

[Kiseki]

Event: Fangxiangshi

Responsiveness: Very quick! Penguin had a lot of things prepared beforehand, and at most, they sometimes just had to adapt them to the scenes.

Balance (How entertaining were the battles, and any obstacles/traps?): Battles were fun, and just the right amount of difficult, in my honest experience.

Storytelling (Did it feel like an adventure, did the content of the narrations meet your expectations?): Penguin brought Haruna's parents back from the dead, for that last exchange they were otherwise denied. My heart was destroyed, and I ugly cried for a good part of the night. 10/10 would do it again.

Fairness (Were the punishments justified and earned, was the risk-to-reward ratio good?): Injury table was fine, and befitting of the event.

Event Highlight: That scene between Haruna and her parents. That right there broke me.

Overall: 10/10.

Any other comments: Big apologies for the delay on this! I'm a world famous procrastinator.