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- Jan 19, 2016
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*hiccup*The classic example would be an extremely difficult posting restriction (for example, having a player write all of their posts without using the letter 'e'). Many players dislike posting restrictions from the get go (though other players, like myself, enjoy them), but the more difficult you make the posting restriction the more work and time you are asking a player to put in to your game for no extra benefit. I think it's important to be careful that the work you ask your players to do correlates with the payback they feel they receive from it, otherwise you are essentially telling some players that their contributions to the game are not as important because the cost to simply participate in the game is so high.
As I mentioned above, I actually quite like posting restriction roles, but understand that many players don't. For that reason when I have planned them to be in games I almost always make following the restriction optional, but will give the player something in exchange for following the restriction that scales with the level of effort they put in.
As an example, in the MMeat game I ran a few months ago I had planned to have a bacon player who would have had to mention bacon at least once a post in the game if they followed the restriction. To sweeten the pot I had planned to give them the ability to have the mods confirm their affiliation on thread once during the game if they followed the posting restriction to a reasonable degree during that day cycle. I had contemplated allowing other abilities in exchange for following the restriction but ended up scrapping the role before I ran the game based on how many people I had signed up to play. In this way the restriction can now be used as a strategy and players can engage with the role on a level that they enjoy, and the role feels less useless to them overall. Doing this can mess with balance a bit (since you are taking a role that was originally vanilla-lite and changing it to a role that may have bigger implications on village strategy), but I also think it's a bit more fun.
Some people quit and complain about even very simple posting restrictions though, so you always have to beeee understanding!
We had a posting restriction in the zoo game I believe (?) where it coincided with my 21st birthday and everyone had to actually drunk on the thread or just simply add a word like *hiccup*. Oh man, I got so many angry messages from that one.