What Makes A Good AAR?

[Sir Boo]

Well, at my time in the forum I have noticed that AAR's are on the rise. I know many people who would like to write one themselves though, like me they do not really know what makes a good AAR?

Please simply post your thoughts below, If you would like to view a good example of one please view Nutranurse's Sicilian Story...

[Beefeater]

Self-discipline is quite important.

The easiest thing about an AAR is starting it; the hardest is seeing it through to the end. So it takes quite a bit of discipline to keep on writing the AAR. It also takes self-discipline to stop and proofread each entry before posting it.

[Sir Boo]

After reading a few I believe that screenshots enhance the story as you cans ee the battle being described as well as making the post more bearable to reed (if its quite long)

[General Zhukov]

Like beefeater said, the most important thing is to be determined to see it through. Screenshots to illustrate the action and for the 'wow factor'. The perfect formula is difficult to give. I can't tell how much detail people are prepared to read through... It's a balancing act between keeping interest by showing the dramatic parts and glossing over the tedious stuff.

[pevergreen]

Roleplaying each character, so having parts of the family grooming their sons to take over their mini "empire" is awsome to read about. See beefeaters Vigenette 3

[Shahed]

Graphics first as a picture is impactful, writing second to support the picture. I favor this approach over others, being a "visual" person.

Unorthodoxy, what makes an AAR stand out from the rest. The way it is presented, written, told, the perspective from which it is told.

[Wizzie]

Innovation is always a surefire way to get success. Look at what Beefy did; nobody else had done a snappy vignette of a short campaign before, people usually focusing on doing large play-by-plays Long Campaign AARs. And people loved the change.

[belbel]

I think the best ones are simple and objective, telling exactly how you played with little dramatization/fake characters.

[Sir Boo]

Graphics first as a picture is impactful, writing second to support the picture. I favor this approach over others, being a "visual" person.

Unorthodoxy, what makes an AAR stand out from the rest. The way it is presented, written, told, the perspective from which it is told.

The problem with this being that junior members cant post attached pictures...Anyway I totally agree\2

[sapi]

The main thing to me is that it's written well...outside of that i couldn't care less; but if it's not interesting enough to get me reading in the first place all the piccies in the world couldn't save it.

[Sir Boo]

I know there are many aproachs to an AAR any which you would veiw better than other eg a diary entry per post from each characters point of view or a third person comentary etc

[econ21]

Moving topic over to the Throne Room, the (new) home for most M2TW AARs.

[Braden]

Ok, I’m going to sound like an utter “numpty” and ask:

“What is an AAR?”

[econ21]

AAR = after action report; basically a write-up of a game - perhaps with a story angle. PBM battle reports are a kind of AAR.

[Braden]

Thanks for that Econ, I am enlightened now.

[Severous]

Screenshots.

[Dutch_guy]

Well, don't clutter the AAR with a lot of pictures. The amount of pictures should never be more than the amount of paragraphs, you'll kill the lower internet connections and you'll shift the interest solely to those pictures. I'd say ones well thought out role play, or character development, I'll get moved to the readers' second priority when faced by a huge quantity of pictures. Instead, one should take a couple of, if possible, the most important moments of one's story, and then expand on that moment with words.

In my opinion, stories are the best and most refreshing to read if that picture - word balance is the right one, it has to be captivating enough for those reading to actually continue to read.

Further more, as others have wisely stated, self discipline and how well written the story is are two things which obviously make a good AAR. People should, at all times, be able to visualize what's going on, and will also wish to see some sort of an ending - either of a battle, a Prince, a war, or an Empire. That's where self discipline comes into the picture. Don't start a story which you have no intention of actually finishing. A good strategy for something like that is by simply writing stand alone AAR's, which may even form some sort of coherent story, or even some sort of an epic (:D).

Now, I am by no means a master of AAR writing but I do tend to find these above mentioned points quite important. And it is what I like to see others do, as well

[Severous]

I tend to write mine as I go along. Half a dozen pictures, a sentence or two with each picture. An update every day or so.

Use thumbnails (or links) rather than big pictures.

Heres some of mine
Brutii campaign climax in the civil war:
http://rtw.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/f...&f=10,2359,,10
Gaul Campaign. The whole thing. Loads of pictures.
http://rtw.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/f...10,2381,30,100
Long German defensive campaign.
http://rtw.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/f...f=10,2435,0,20

[Hellenic_Hoplite]

I have been tempted to start a campaign and write one my self but im a little worried it wouldent sound as good on here as it usually does imagianing it.

[Dutch_guy]

I have been tempted to start a campaign and write one my self but im a little worried it wouldent sound as good on here as it usually does imagianing it.

Well, that's pretty much the case for 99 % of the people. Just give it a shot, and keep doing it whilst getting feedback along the way. Needless to say you'd improve, don't be scared it might not turn out the way you pictured it - that's pretty much un-achievable.

[baron_Leo]

When I get my membership I will start a Hungary AAR, I haven't seen one around, I would love it as I am Hungarian, and hope I can make it iteresting. By the way, how do you add pictures into a post? simply [img] and at the end [/img]