PLOTTTSSS. I'm big on plots. As a GM of 17 years it's just what I expect.
However, writing plots or constant never ending danger gets... well exhausting. And it doesn't give anyone a lot of time to sit down and get to know each other. A balance is necessary. Do a plot for awhile but remember to give your players some time to breath. The current plot my FC is doing we're going to end about a month before Heavensward (Hopefully, since it isn't very scripted we just gotta hope it goes as fast as we want) and then nothing will be going on for a while. Like, probably not till August. I always space out plots in such a way, 2 month whirlwind then two months of a break or so. It's necessary - social RP is - and it's fun in it's own right. I like deep character depth too, learning about characters and long, slow romances, and that's really hard to do when you're in the middle of a Garlean horde all the time.
However, writing plots or constant never ending danger gets... well exhausting. And it doesn't give anyone a lot of time to sit down and get to know each other. A balance is necessary. Do a plot for awhile but remember to give your players some time to breath. The current plot my FC is doing we're going to end about a month before Heavensward (Hopefully, since it isn't very scripted we just gotta hope it goes as fast as we want) and then nothing will be going on for a while. Like, probably not till August. I always space out plots in such a way, 2 month whirlwind then two months of a break or so. It's necessary - social RP is - and it's fun in it's own right. I like deep character depth too, learning about characters and long, slow romances, and that's really hard to do when you're in the middle of a Garlean horde all the time.