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[OhWhatProvidence]

PMing styles, levels of interactivity and such.

[inkflamewriter]

Now, I can't say I have a lot of experience as a PM, but I can certainly share what I enjoyed most when I did do things like that.

When I designed the story behind the character I played, since I was PMing as a part of a team, I created ways for the players to find out the information about her bit by bit. If I wanted them to make a choice, I made a puzzle that would help them figure out just what that choice was and what the consequences would be.

Ultimately, it was the story that became the most important. I was very heavily into the ARG-as-a-story deal and the puzzles became the means to telling said story.

I've noticed that part of why many blogs and ARGs become successful is because players actually care about the characters involved. When you, as a PM, are actively contacting them under the guise of a fully-rounded character, your players will start to care, which means that they have a better likelihood of not giving up on you if something happens and you need to step away for a few days. They'll reach out in ways that you could never have dreamed of.

Example: a character I played in the game I helped with had a best friend in serious trouble. I actually had people angry with her for going after her friend to help him.

Even better, I killed off my player self when I made the transition from player to PM and made people cry. They hated the killer and never really forgave the people involved for my player-self's death.

[BubbleBoy]

Read "a guide to transmedia storytelling". I PM'd years ago (7 to be exact) and decided to get back into it. That book has helped soooo much. I enjoyed the "seat of your pants" style. But that doesn't always work, and I think that goes for most styles - not all styles will work for all kinds of stories.

As far as puzzles are concerned, I have always believed that puzzles should hide important information but not be needed to advance the game. So many PMs make puzzles and then the story stalls because the players are stuck on it for weeks. Stories should have a constant flow to them. Once it stalls you lose the flow.