Why do people do AARs?

Started by airboy, January 16, 2019, 10:00:49 PM

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Tanaka

I've been back and forth about doing my first ever AAR on my first ever WITPAE PBEM game. I LOVE the game and all of the detail but the turns especially as the Japanese take a lot of work. The first turn took me about two weeks and now I am doing 1 turn per day. So after spending so much on a turn per day I can't imagine spending even more time on an AAR. I think it would be really fun to do to document the game but I'm back and forth on the time and commitment. I think it would wear me out. I really admire those that do.

Karri

It's creative writing for me. More importantly probably to be part of some (online) community. Also, once upon a time, it was a good way to learn English. I must have written my first AARs some twenty years ago.

fran

 It is sharing with others the 'oh sh**' moments that are normally only experienced by an individual with others. Allowing me to follow games I won't necessarily play or don't have the time for.

al_infierno

Quote from: fran on September 30, 2021, 11:39:39 AM
It is sharing with others the 'oh sh**' moments that are normally only experienced by an individual with others. Allowing me to follow games I won't necessarily play or don't have the time for.

Mainly this, I rarely do AARs but every now and then I have to jot down a writeup of a nice "Damn!" moment I had while playing a game.  Usually a cool story thread involving struggle and adversity and ultimately failing in hilarious ways.

Also adding to what Karri stated above, it's a nice creative outlet where the story and characters are already plotted out for you.   :dreamer:
A War of a Madman's Making - a text-based war planning and political survival RPG

It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge.  War endures.  As well ask men what they think of stone.  War was always here.  Before man was, war waited for him.  The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.  That is the way it was and will be.  That way and not some other way.
- Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian


If they made nothing but WWII games, I'd be perfectly content.  Hypothetical matchups from alternate history 1980s, asymmetrical US-bashes-some-3rd world guerillas, or minor wars between Upper Bumblescum and outer Kaboomistan hold no appeal for me.
- Silent Disapproval Robot


I guess it's sort of nice that the word "tactical" seems to refer to some kind of seriousness during your moments of mental clarity.
- MengJiao

Toonces

Quote from: Tanaka on September 10, 2021, 03:46:32 AM
I've been back and forth about doing my first ever AAR on my first ever WITPAE PBEM game. I LOVE the game and all of the detail but the turns especially as the Japanese take a lot of work. The first turn took me about two weeks and now I am doing 1 turn per day. So after spending so much on a turn per day I can't imagine spending even more time on an AAR. I think it would be really fun to do to document the game but I'm back and forth on the time and commitment. I think it would wear me out. I really admire those that do.

I haven't done this, but I have considered doing a WitP:AE AAR from the perspective of one ship or one commander.  Rather than try to capture everything that is going on, you simply tell the story from the perspective of a unit or person, say the USS Enterprise or even a Japanese DD, or maybe Spruance or a VF squadron commander.

I think that would make for a very compelling narrative.  In fact, I might just have to try this.    :nerd:
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs


Gusington



слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

undercovergeek


Gusington



слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Stormtrooper

The only AARs I've ever done were for Aurora 4x space strategy game and that's how I learned it's a thing in the first place, because it's somewhat popular among the community there. I started doing them as a result of my initial... disappointment with Aurora. This game is advertised as the "Dwarf Fortress in space", but... I found it simplistic and lacking in areas like economy, technology and alien life. I won't go into details here, but Aurora only really shines in ship design and seeing how they perform when put to the combat test. Rest of the stuff almost any generic 4x space game does in a more interesting way.

So I started doing AARs focusing on the things most Aurora players don't (or at least don't give them enough attention IMO) which are the stories of society developing and expanding, new technology changing life and ways of thinking of every citizen, not just the firepower of starship's laser blasters, and what research had to be done to assemble those blasters in the first place, new ideas and philosophy appearing, new policies, new hopes and new struggles, tensions between various groups of society as well as the nature of alien life encountered, ecosystems on exoplanets, cosmic mysteries and all that. Oh and space battles I try to keep at least semi-realistic in their descriptions since Aurora doesn't have Newtonian physics.

Tl;dr: For me AARs are an option to expand on the things that I wish were present in Aurora 4x but aren't.