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Rome AARisen - a Byzantine AAR

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Wow...it's over. It's really over...I remember three years ago, I stumbled upon an epic scene of Romans fighting Mongols. From then on I was enthralled. Every week, I would go and check out the AARs of a game I never played just to see if there would be an update. The ebb and flow of characters, the triumphs and successes, the twist and turns, all of it was an experience. I am not ashamed to say that I have shed more than one tear or laughed a great number of times. To think, three years gone and for others more! Thank you BT for sharing this with me. I can honestly say that this AAR, no, this epic will forever hold a place in my heart.
 
There's still the wrap up to be done though. ;)
 
General_BT said:
Saithis – Considering in my AsundAAR AAR (I truly expect others to write some, and maybe write better ones than mine!) I’m going to be switching countries either every ruler or every ten years, haven’t decided which, I think I’ll respond to your statement with a question. “Which challenge?” Mali colonizing the New World? Iberia holding together as an Empire? King Arthur uniting Britain? There’s a slew of them available aside from the obvious ‘Rebuild the Empire.’
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You're kidding me, I had that exact idea for an AAR like two years ago, but was too busy to follow it through!
 
Ah, I forgot to actually ask the questions I wanted to ask! (AuthAAR fail...)

I'd like to know two things from everyone. These are intended for me to learn and grow as a writer. Your answers can be as specific as you want, or as general as you want. Please, don't cut around edges... in this regard, criticism is going to be as useful to me as praise!

First, what was the best scene in the story, and why do you think it worked?

Second, what was the worst update in the story, and why did it not work?

I'm looking for analysis of how you, the reader, liked my work as a writer, but also feel free to add what your favorite scenes and least favorite scenes were, independent of actual writing quality...
 
Best scene: the scene when Gabriel and Alexandros spot Labarum with incoming Roman forces at Ishafan. It's effect on me was similar to Rohirrim charge at Minas Tirith - last minute reinforcements in hopeless situation.

Worst - Not sure really. Starting chapters can't compare with the later ones, but that was expected (and fixed). There wasn't any particulary bad scene I remember.
 
Best scene: the death of Thomas III. It was dripping with atmosphere and it managed to invoke emotions, which is very important. Plus I think most of us did not expect him to end in such a manner. One of the most interesting death scenes you've written.

As for the worst, I can't really recall reading any update and thinking "bah, this didn't work", but if I do remember I'll mention it.
 
I will give you two best: 1) the council of the kings before the Crusade: I loved the whole intrigue and personal feuds/ambitions of every king and of course the twist in the end with Magnus. 2) the battle of Messina: intrigue, swordplay, tactics and Thomas's death. What's not to like?
As for the worst....I would say the meeting of Thomas and Frederica...I'm sorry to say the joke didn't work for me...
And better late than never, congratulations for your epic AAR, been following it for quite some time, sad to see it end but it was a hell of a journey! :D
 
Wow! I wasn't expecting the collapse to go that far. I was expecting something like the situation after Andronikos I's death made permanent, with 4-6 fairly big states where one great empire used to be. Not for everything to shatter. Still quite awesome. But so very sad. It's almost enough to make me buy DW (I have HTTT) so I can play the mod and reunite the empire and rule it correctly, with a Laskarid touch.

Best scene: The great charge at Neapolis, or the Norman cavalry charge at Mt. Tabor. The second one is quite early in the AAR and isn't as epic as the first, but it to me was by far the most memorable piece.

Worst scene: Can't really think of one. I admittedly wasn't a big fan of the sections where you jumped to the present, such as the ones with the university professor. I thought they were well written; I just didn't enjoy them as much.


But congratulations on finishing an utterly astounding piece of writing.
 
General_BT said:
Ah, I forgot to actually ask the questions I wanted to ask! (AuthAAR fail...)

I'd like to know two things from everyone. These are intended for me to learn and grow as a writer. Your answers can be as specific as you want, or as general as you want. Please, don't cut around edges... in this regard, criticism is going to be as useful to me as praise!

First, what was the best scene in the story, and why do you think it worked?

Second, what was the worst update in the story, and why did it not work?

I'm looking for analysis of how you, the reader, liked my work as a writer, but also feel free to add what your favorite scenes and least favorite scenes were, independent of actual writing quality...
Click to expand...

I very much liked the Conquest of Rome with Thomas I, and his death at the hands of Thomas II. AlexanderPrimus provided great music (IIRC), and the writing quality of both were fantastic. Actually, all of the Thomas I, II, and III updates were fantastic, but those two were especially good.

I also liked the scene, I forget which, where Basil (I think), the King of England, the King of France, and the Kings of Poland, Denmark and Norway are all sitting at a table and arguing about the Crusade, and the King of Norway turns out to be the smartest one there. That was funny.

Additionally, I liked the "soldiers of the Empire" updates, and wish you would've done more.

As for least favorite... Probably most of the Andronikos I updates. They lacked the "soul" the rest of the updates had, in my opinion. I lost a lot of interest in Rome AARisen after them. Thankfully, you came up with Andy II, who was great. Possibly the Nikolas updates as well, they were kind of boring, but then again, I read them a lot.

Anyways, since I forgot to say so earlier, excellent ending, I loved it! Timur rendering the Queen of Cities to a smouldering wreck, and the broken splinter empires scrambling to pick up the pieces... And the Scottish Komneos, of course.

As a side note, are the Danemark/steppe Danes still around? I'd love to play them in an EU3 mod.
 
Oh, General. I can't remember if this has been asked before...
What was your originall plan for Zoe Komnenos, sister of Gabriel and Thomas III?
I was always a bit sad she never got to pplay a part...
 
General_BT said:
Ah, I forgot to actually ask the questions I wanted to ask! (AuthAAR fail...)

I'd like to know two things from everyone. These are intended for me to learn and grow as a writer. Your answers can be as specific as you want, or as general as you want. Please, don't cut around edges... in this regard, criticism is going to be as useful to me as praise!

First, what was the best scene in the story, and why do you think it worked?

Second, what was the worst update in the story, and why did it not work?

I'm looking for analysis of how you, the reader, liked my work as a writer, but also feel free to add what your favorite scenes and least favorite scenes were, independent of actual writing quality...
Click to expand...

I don't recall all of the chapters any more, sadly. I do remember that I was particularly thrilled when you first had the Mongols roaming around and clashing with the Comnenid armies! I was pretty much hooked all throughout that story arc.

Some other chapters still stand out in my mind:
- the one where David was murdered in his chamber, in Marrakech (I think it was Marrakech... and the murderer was Mehtar, or hired by Mehtar)
- the two young princes, trying to escape the burning house... the prince who survived was Thomas I, right? Or was it Thomas II?
- the one where Thomas III was walled in (super sad!!)

Minor quibbles:
- Throughout the story, when you had two characters in dialogue, they would interrupt each other all the time. Finishing a sentence that the other started, leaving his sentence to end on a hyphen or an ellipsis ("..."). I think you over-did that particular thing, especially when you were doing it to have one character appear smarter than the other. In real life, a guy who interrupts people all the time would be perceived as a total jerk. People don't interrupt each other that much in real life.
:)
 
General_BT said:
First, what was the best scene in the story, and why do you think it worked?
Click to expand...
Thomas III imprisoning himself while each Lord hands him another brick for him to put upon the rest. The emotion that this scene actually invoked, as well as showed exactly how broken a man Thomas III had become, was great.
General_BT said:
Second, what was the worst update in the story, and why did it not work?
Click to expand...
I can't remember any "bad" updates or scenes in the story of the top of my head. I don't think there are any that weren't good in the last 100 (?) updates or so which just shows that you as a writer have developed alot since you started.
 
Best scene: All of Thomas the second ,all of Basil , the sack of Rome, The starting updates of Manuel. They were all extraordinarily well written all incredibly character driven which I think you excelled at. The two best ending scenes for character would have to be when Manuel was exiled and the aforementioned Thomas the Third ending.

Worst scene: I think the closest to what would be your bworst scenes would be the interjection to the present. For me it
just really slowed the pace and atmosphere of the story. I much enjoyed those scenes better when you placed them at the end of the story arcs.

But by far it is the Best CK AAR that has ever been written.
Congratulations on finishing this epic :D
 
Personally my favorite Thomas was the original mainly because it was a nice break from the constant successes of the earlier emperors. As for my favorite scenes, I think were the quality of the AAR dramatically improved (not that it was bad to begin with) was when the various Kings of Europe and Basil began plotting the Crusade forSpain. Which is probably my favorite update as well, with a close second being the Battle of Messinia where Thomas I met his end.

As for my least favorite update... well err... Obviously the update(s) where Theodoros and his army were beaten to a pulp and destroyed! (JK they were all highly entertaining). In all seriousness however I have enjoyed almost every update you have put out.

However if I have to pick one that I feel was weaker than the others, was the update awhile ago that introduced Petros Komenos. He and his friend were introduced... and then we never heard of them again, they just drifted away. We don't hear about Petros again except as a small footnote in the background, till really the recent updates where he has gone from a nervous 16 year old in his first battle to a kin slaying jerk-ass in the recent wrap up article. In addition his friend whose name escapes me was never mentioned again or if he was I never caught it he just simply disappeared. It just seems like this update could have been spent focused on something else going on because the plot threads opened in this update never really seemed explored.


Also Anastasios was an interesting fellow in the recent updates he was in a similar position to his father Leo and in alot of ways seemed more competent than his opponents (exception of Timur) and managed to outmaneuver (almost) everyone however he was horrific as a diplomat (Killing the Patriarch derp) and his inability to secure his vassals loyalty pretty much constantly hindered and reversed every gain he made and sapped his limited manpower to the point where his army was a miserable assembly of conscripts and mercenaries with dubious loyalties. Even then he managed to fight on for quite awhile despite pretty much then everyone gaining up on him.
 
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Best: Loads. The twists like Manuel's trick in Hagia Sophia, Manuel II's sudden death, Andronikos's betrayal on Arghun. Also the battles especially when the tactics are explained so that we can picture it better, also the diagrams greatly helped.

Worst: I would say that the timing of the interims. I think it's better if you put them between the chapters. Also, the names! The bloody names. I always get lost and say "Who the hell is this again?". But then this issue isn't entirely the author's fault. Partially it also goes down to me and to the game. A small reminder when you reintroduce the character would help us with short memories.
 
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