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I've recently started an AAR and found that it's lots of fun, especially when readers throw their comments or encouragement into the fray. Do others here who post AARs also find that they "feed" off of the readers too? I've done AARs for UV before but this is well, shall we say not the same. I find that I'm spending almost as much time doing the "story" as my turns!

They can be addictive and become a labor of love:  Good and Bad.
 

back in the day the simple combat reports and a few maps were enough. [:D]

then writing geniuses like Cuttlefish[&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o] came up with AARs like The voyages of the Hibiki. while thats all well and good and truly enjoyable, not all of us posess his skill in writing for years, and creating something fresh with every paragraph, but along the line, it seems to have become expected that AAR writers create works like Cuttlefish.

some of us just cant. (Like me)[:D][:D]

not to say that its no fun to read an AAR of such style, its just that not all of us can do that. or even, really, have the inclination. which is a shame. [:(] but to each their own, cause no matter what, people are different.[:)]

indeed theres a big difference between writing an AAR, and writing it WELL, to make you WANT to read it.

though, i do enjoy the well written AARs greatly, i only wish i could write my own half as well [:D][&o]

my aplogies in advance to any toes that feel stepped on[&o]

It certainly helps to keep up the momentum of an AAR, if you know somebody is actually reading it.  You've got to be a pretty die-hard narcacist to keep posting an AAR where all the hits are your own.  [;)]
 
I'll also say tho, that besides the story-telling, there a significant degree of "accountability" in an AAR.  If you say you're going to play a PBEM game for better or for worse, and AAR is a good way to keep you in the game, because now you're accountable (or at least visible) to rest of the forum.
 
I get behind on my AAR, simply because I'd rather do turns than do AAR (and Bilbow gets turns out very quickly).
 
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I started one for my first "real" game, partially to keep me motivated and to take notes (I take notes while giving orders too but sometimes I think of something else when I retype them).

I don't really care if people are reading/commenting or not (especially since I'm a newbie and playing the AI so I doubt I will have some sort of strategic brilliance for quite awhile, or people should expect any), they can if they want to and if not I won't take it personally. I have posted some questions to my readers though if they want to answer them/help me out, and I do try to reply to reader comments when possible.

In case of something horrible like a HD crash or lost/corrupted files I have a backup on this site, as well.

I'm having fun writing my AAR and I figure that if I make it an interesting read then somewhere along the line I'll pick up a steady readership.  I don't mean this as a critisism, but an AAR of Combat Reports is kind of boring to me.  Letting my imagination run free is fun.  I also hope to pick up some pointers from the experts as I fumble and stumble my way across the Pacific.  The bit about an AAR adds to the probability of my staying in the game, well I never thought of it that way because I'm in for the long haul. 

I really look forward to reading my opponent's (Steve) AAR when we're finished as I'm sure it'll be a real eye opener for me.  [X(]

AARs are dangerous for us readers, I find myself reading to much, at the expense of playing.

ORIGINAL: stuman

AARs are dangerous for us readers, I find myself reading to much, at the expense of playing.

So true, I love the story lines some of you guys create, I could read them all day! It takes alot of time, effort and thought to make them good. I thank all you AAR'ers that make your 'alt. histories' so enjoyable to read. [;)]

I've found that keeping my AAR up to date with even simple summary daily updates is a great way for me to keep track of things that are going on in the game.  Probably half of the turns that I've posted an AAR update have reminded me of something I wanted to do.  [:)]

Hyakutake, Iwaya, Inoue,Juni and Nakamura have taken over my life (Im already disliking Miyazaki -hope he buys it)[8|][8|][8|][8|]
Im playing as much to see what happens to 47th next as to what cantona does next!

I've noticed the same thing as you put a character into a situation and things kind of take off from there.  I thought that writing an AAR as a story would be a daunting task, but I've found it to be fun.  I browse for pics to use and I insert WW2 news for a given day that's unrelated to the Pacific War.  I find that I'm wishing for a second turn in a day so that the game can get ahead of the AAR, which I post once per day.  My wife says that my desk is a mess (she's right) because of my notes to be used in the AAR.