I can actually see both sides to this.
Knowing Dante and Sennah as I do, I don't think their intention was to create a scripted scenario where A must lead to B must lead to C in that exact order or else you're ruining it. I think they were simply setting up a plague scenario with various ways to reach the outcome of a cure, where the players involved could dictate the path. I don't think it's necessarily scripted, but the concept requires some controls in place, which is really hard to implement when it's open to everyone, and not everyone reads message boards. Maybe it'd come off better if some of the rules were rephrased, but ultimately it's not much different than an EM event, where a scenario is created and people are expected to react and help dictate the outcome. Just without any EM powers. But we also know that no matter how world-threatening an EM event is, it's not like the shard is actually going to be destroyed or all our precious drops will be rendered useless, and eventually it'll resolve itself.
That being said, I also see where you're coming from, Tazar. Especially with respect to the ARPC, and that whole approach of posting a story-line, dictating all the roles and the outcome, and then asking everyone to help take it from A to B to C in the exact manner dictated. Or the sort of OOC comments telling you that you're wrong or wouldn't know or do this or that. I honestly think that's more symptomatic of a specific type of role-player, one that always needs to win and never wants to be at risk, but then again that's probably also the reason that the role-playing presently taking place on Atlantic has nothing to do with the ARPC. And don't get me wrong, I do have some friends among the ARPC, but as an institution, I'm far from fond of it.
Despite the fact that they have an ARPC board, in my experience Dante and Sennah's guild aren't really like that and don't have any bizarre control-freak agendas and aren't going to flip out on anyone from taking an unwanted step. I think they're genuinely trying to create something that will attract players, and I also think they're reasonable enough to listen to constructive criticism that might win over those with reservations. Maybe people can make some suggestions about what changes they'd like to see in order to be inclined to participate more?
For example, I don't really have a problem with the initial story, since it reads like a prologue/setup thing, but I could see how some of the rules post might rub people the wrong way. Sometimes using the word "can" instead of "should" can go a long way. Also, I can see how Rules #3-5 might do the same. I think #1 could simply read "Please leave the barrels alone as a courtesy to us" and #2 is a good disclaimer, and the symptoms and methods of infection make sense since all stories need some kind of internal logic behind them.
