Campaign/story narrative/progression feedback

I want to start by saying i love this site. I’ve wanted to play D&D since i was young (i’m not, anymore) but could never get a group together for more than a session. This site lets me play. It’s really fun! That’s why i want to provide feedback. I’d love to see the game grow to something amazing. I fully understand it’s in Beta, and even that i could be neglecting or overlooking some things i could do to improve my experience.

But i’m having some real issues with the storytelling of the models.

I previously paid for a month on the starter tier. I initially decided i should begin by learning the ropes and hire an NPC do some simple hunting. Franz, as any good DM would do, had plans for greater things. Immediately, he hinted that there was SOMETHING going on at some ruins to the east. And he hinted. He hinted some more. I went with my new, more experienced companion to investigate.

We did. We found a big monster and defeated it, and cleared the ruins of all danger.

Except we didn’t. There was something more. Deeper.

Okay, Franz, we’ll check that out too! We go deeper…

…Literally encountering the exact description of the exact area we’d just cleared. With the same monster in it. The same environment. The exact same chambers with the exact same puzzles in them. Which we cleared again. Only to be urged by Franz to go deeper, because there was more to this place and we must investigate.

This is when i got a little frustrated, a little meta, and a lot snarky. I called out Franz. I called out the world. I literally called out in character dialog, lamenting how everything was repeating. I called out to my party, PREDICTING the next room, the puzzle, the encounter with the same big monster. I was right. They were amazed.

At this point i’m pretty sure I began running the campaign, not Franz. I would call out the looping repetition, and Franz would alter it.. until he didn’t. We might skip the loop one time, only for it to return. One time we tried to literally walk away, only for the rooms to reappear - in reverse. There was even a time i screamed to… whoever could hear me (Franz) that by my calculation, the party had been in this loop in these ruins for twelve days with no rest, no food or water, and no change. Immediately the party discovered some strange rocks in the wall that must be a secret passage. It was. it led directly to a room with beds and food and water, and a few little treasures (wooden carvings? Birds? Which i’ve heard are a thing around here.) Convenient, but obviously Franz was trying to save a campaign that was literally going nowhere, and frustrating me.

I directly discussed my frustration with Franz. He literally reassured me this was going somewhere, he had a plan, that he’d fix it.

He almost did.

The plot moved forward and concluded nicely. Except it didn’t. The big issue we faced, the big character we encountered, a tragic non-villain that had been plaguing the whole forest, was soothed through much problem solving, involving apparently well-known glowing stones and talking to trees. A sorrow-leaking nexus rift was closed. The forest was saved.

The party went back to their Inn. And immediately felt a call to the east, i mean immediately, We sat down for the first time in at least twelve days to eat food in the first time in that many days, and within seconds, my companions were asking me “Hey, you hear that? To the east? There’s something in those ruins!”

No, really. I actually did it all again. This time for realsies according to Franz. Concluded the whole thing AGAIN, soothed the tortured tragic spirit AGAIN, closed the rift AGAIN, and went back to the inn for rest AGAIN. I took a little break, my subscription expired.

Recently heard the site had a new model. Took as chance on it with a renewed sub. Started playing again on the new better model! Party at the inn, got some new gear, and decided where to go from here. Fresh new adventure!

Met a new NPC, bought some gear, traded tales of our last adventure for a map of new places. New places that lead directly to a rift. A rift like the last two identical rifts we closed. But no, it’s different! Really! Franz told me so himself, after i called out the repetition in the last story i got through. No, this rift, it’s a happy rift, not a sorrowful rift like the others. By the way, Player, there are some ruins to the east. Something is going on there. You can go check those out if you want…

I don’t think i’ve noped out of anything so fast. Now here i am, typing this, instead of playing.

So now i feel like i wasted money on the new sub to only be railroaded into a campaign i already concluded twice, i believed, as soon as i started again. I thought the new model may be more creative and less repetitive, but it seems not. I’m definitely not thinking i would pay MORE for a sub in the future in the hopes this won’t happen again.

I’m not sure this is everyone’s experience, and a sitewide thing, but it was mine, and hopefully posting this might lead to some improvements.

Sorry for being a downer. I really do hope the site can improve. Thanks for listening!