Haven Nightmares and Secrets. I'm gonna rate a few things and give a breakdown.
[Setting] 6.5/10 Modern "Horror" paranormal.
[Progression] 4/10 Will explain in depth.
[Community] 2/10 There is no sense of the word amongst the pbase. Forums and discord = Rat poison
[(Meta)plot] 3/10 Will explain in depth
[Staff] 1-2/10 will explain in depth.
[Lore] 6/10 The lore is solid and somewhat engaging
So the breakdown. Haven is set in a modern day universe in a small Massachusetts town (Named you guessed it) Which happens to be a crossroads between worlds, where magic is stronger do to "The Gate" which the Societies (games version of factions) fight to control it for their own (usually nafarious). Sounds engaging right? Yes and (but mostly) No. Thats what the game sells face value but most of the players on the Grid spend time using the games VERY robust sex and /rape/ code (Which players and /staffers/ will use) complete with period and hormone tracking to a full blown pregnancy code.
Progression is a little complicated as its a multi facated affair. Without going in depth. Essentially there are 5 tiers. 1 being the weakest like normal humans and sick supernatural 5 being something like True Demigods (like Percy Jackson). You have to earn what's called karma which you mostly have to earn by Storyrunning which is the equivalent to being a DM. Which isn't bad in my experience but you can't get passed Tier 2 without SRing. Period. Also tied in with progression. Once you get passed T2 you're lore bound to become more corrupt, meaning your character has to deteriorate morally the stronger they become. (Corruption = power is the theme)
The staffing is done by 3 people. 3 people who all admit that they do not talk to eachother. I have no personal opinions on any of them, except for that staffing in Haven feels nonexistent, and is largely inconsistent.
The metaplot. The metaplot is run by one person Daed. There is a significant lack of player impact in the game unless you're RPing with Daed or one of his PC's. I find that to be the most crippling part of a game that derives so much from player content, since a lot of it is forced through SRing. Not all of that is Daeds fault but largely it is him. (He's an okay dude when he isn't throwing a pity party for himself.)
Community:The community is mega toxic, Monsanto's roundup aint got nothing on Haven. Avoid the forums (though they've been dead, except foe the staff account posting in the music threads) and avoid Havenrant discord. OOC culture is full of cliques, predators. Stalkers, and some possessive people who blur the lines between themselves and characters.
I'd take this game at face value. Its in the 200's rank for a reason.
The whole game gets a 3.2/10. Not something I'd tell anyone to put time into. If you do just be prepared to be sponged off of.
Use the following form to submit your comment. Please keep in mind these guidelines:
Expect bugs while we transition TMC to a new platform, please help us by reporting them!