Luceti Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lucetimods) wrote2013-11-29 11:03 pm
lucetimods) wrote2013-11-29 11:03 pm
Entry tags:
Announcement!
Hey everyone, Akai here with some word-vomit for y’all to have a look at. There are several very important announcements and modly business to sort out, so please, eyes here for a few minutes.
First, the boring normal stuff:
A) Friend Add/Remove for this cycle! Copy-paste here.
B) Applications will be opening on December 1st, so now is a good time to start recruiting/kidnapping your friends! As always Reserves are already open. The Test Flight Meme from last month seems to still be active, but if people would prefer, we can certainly post a new one. Just let us know! It might be helpful to run them bi-monthly, anyway.
C) I’m sure most of you have noticed, but in the last week, Masa and Bayley have unfortunately left Luceti, which means that on top of losing two wonderful long-term players, the mod team has lost some heavy hitters in the plot department. Masa especially has been a huge driving force to Luceti’s plot and development over the last couple of years, so while his departure was not entirely a surprise, it has left the rest of us somewhat flummoxed over how to fill the void his presence has left. A lot of the plot developments, NPC interactions, and mission systems were organized by him. So now that it’s up to us, where does that leave the game?
Well… it’ll be interesting.
Okay, here’s the thing- those of us remaining have talked, and we wanted to open up the floor to general discussion regarding the format/function/nature of Luceti itself, get some feedback, maybe rework a few things to help us get organized. If we’re going to rework things, might as well start from the bottom up, no? First of all, though, let’s just clear the air with a few things:
no, the game isn’t ending.
no, we’re not hiring new plot mods to replace them. yet.
yes, you should think about whether or not you’d be interested in such a position in the future should the need arise.
no, really, the game isn’t ending.
With that out of the way, what is happening?
1) We’re pondering another tech/app mod. Maybe two. We’ve got a lovely bunch of App Helpers (that only we can see, ohoho) that have kindly volunteered to be available for aid, but that only works when players have volunteered the canons they know. We’d like some steady folk to help update all the fun things that need to be updated. It’s a bit of a dry job but I imagine Kyo could tell you that it’s not a very taxing one most of the time. So think about that, too. We’ve taken applications for both plot and tech mods before, so
2) The meat and potatoes of this announcement: when Masa told us he was stepping down, the first thing that popped into my head was, "what in the world did he have planned?" The truth is that due to a lack of proper organization that we all take responsibility, Masa had the majority of the plot on the go himself, and that’s no way for a team to work. We’re hoping to fix this. Delegation and fair division are going to be key, and we’ll be taking turns with the plot/events and supporting one another. Hopefully that will prevent any one mod from becoming overloaded.
However, before we can do any of that and carry on with the plot, we’d like to reorganize a few things within the game, sort out what was going to happen and what will happen from here on out. Instead of trying to do both at once, we’d like to let the plot take a backseat and open up some space for players to run their own goings-on, at least temporarily. What does that mean?
Player plots! That’s right, the calendar is 100% open to your plots right now. Let’s say you had an idea for getting something big going, but weren’t sure about when to do it- YOUR TIME HAS COME! Want to create a big ruckus with an evil character or two? Want to run a holiday event, like a big party to celebrate the season? Want to do something wacky with the school or organize a festival? Let us know, sign up, and go nuts. We’d love to get some cool stuff from you creative bunch penned into our calendar.
Alternatively, if no one has any player plots planned or on the go and enough time has passed, we’ll poke at the Event Suggestions post for something to fill the void, so feel free to make suggestions there, as well! We’ve been busy-busy with everything else that the poor thing’s a bit old and dusty. Let’s change that!
3) Another thing we’ve been discussing as a team is that Luceti has gotten really complicated over the years. We have such a rich and lengthy history developed, and so many features and functions and plotlines going on, that the whole experience must look awfully intimidating to newcomers, right? Heck, even I look at the game sometimes and go “wow remember when it was just some evil scientists kidnapping people?”
Obviously, change is good, and natural development is great. But when it becomes a detriment to the game’s growth, when it intimidates those who are a part of it, it’s too much. Trying to decide how much is too much is, however, much too big of a job for just us. Thus we are turning to you, the player base. Is there a part of Luceti that confuses you? That seems too complicated? That doesn’t interest you at all? That seems unnecessary? Please, please let us know. We want to make your lives easier, and our lives easier in the process, as well as remove or alter features that could be turning off new players or even older veterans who’ve had enough of this or that. We know that not everyone is going to agree on what should stay or go, but if enough people have something to say about a certain aspect of the game, we’ll know that it needs some work.
Now, here’s stuff that we’ll keep because it requires little to zero maintenance:
established voluntary missions (they’re there, they’re written, let them be used)
involuntary abductions (a Luceti standard, come on)
the recently-introduced random in-village Shifts (because why introduce it just to remove it immediately?)
And here’s stuff we are considering revamping:
the FAQ/guides need updating. god do they ever.
mission sign-ups, points, organization - the requirements OOCly are a bit over-complicated for what it actually accomplishes ICly. It would be helpful to simplify it somewhat so people make better use of the system already in place.
NPCs. We kind of have a lot, and we’ve lost a few of the players who played them! So we’re going to decide their fates and murder them all reorganize a bit.
the main plot - how often should it develop? where do we go from here? do we like the direction? what are we working towards accomplishing?
Lots of fun stuff we can’t talk about in detail yet, naturally, and there are still some plans that have not changed despite everything that’s happened and despite what is potentially going to change. But your feedback for the game, its plot, and various game features is absolutely vital in this transition-y stage. Let Luceti be your clay; mold it, change it. ...Or at least tell us what you’d like to see it become c:
We’d prefer that this discussion happens here so that you all can discuss amongst yourselves as well as with us, but if you feel that you have something you can’t say publicly, feel free to PM the mod journal or private-plurk myself, Aly, or Kyo. (Don’t PP the mod-plurk, we don’t track it.)
That’s it! Thanks for reading all of this, guys; your attention and feedback will be muchly appreciated and can only be used to make the game better for all of us! Go forth and discuss. Thread for mod questions can be found below.
...And seriously, the game isn’t ending. Over my dead body, my lovelies.
First, the boring normal stuff:
A) Friend Add/Remove for this cycle! Copy-paste here.
B) Applications will be opening on December 1st, so now is a good time to start recruiting/kidnapping your friends! As always Reserves are already open. The Test Flight Meme from last month seems to still be active, but if people would prefer, we can certainly post a new one. Just let us know! It might be helpful to run them bi-monthly, anyway.
C) I’m sure most of you have noticed, but in the last week, Masa and Bayley have unfortunately left Luceti, which means that on top of losing two wonderful long-term players, the mod team has lost some heavy hitters in the plot department. Masa especially has been a huge driving force to Luceti’s plot and development over the last couple of years, so while his departure was not entirely a surprise, it has left the rest of us somewhat flummoxed over how to fill the void his presence has left. A lot of the plot developments, NPC interactions, and mission systems were organized by him. So now that it’s up to us, where does that leave the game?
Well… it’ll be interesting.
Okay, here’s the thing- those of us remaining have talked, and we wanted to open up the floor to general discussion regarding the format/function/nature of Luceti itself, get some feedback, maybe rework a few things to help us get organized. If we’re going to rework things, might as well start from the bottom up, no? First of all, though, let’s just clear the air with a few things:
With that out of the way, what is happening?
1) We’re pondering another tech/app mod. Maybe two. We’ve got a lovely bunch of App Helpers (that only we can see, ohoho) that have kindly volunteered to be available for aid, but that only works when players have volunteered the canons they know. We’d like some steady folk to help update all the fun things that need to be updated. It’s a bit of a dry job but I imagine Kyo could tell you that it’s not a very taxing one most of the time. So think about that, too. We’ve taken applications for both plot and tech mods before, so
2) The meat and potatoes of this announcement: when Masa told us he was stepping down, the first thing that popped into my head was, "what in the world did he have planned?" The truth is that due to a lack of proper organization that we all take responsibility, Masa had the majority of the plot on the go himself, and that’s no way for a team to work. We’re hoping to fix this. Delegation and fair division are going to be key, and we’ll be taking turns with the plot/events and supporting one another. Hopefully that will prevent any one mod from becoming overloaded.
However, before we can do any of that and carry on with the plot, we’d like to reorganize a few things within the game, sort out what was going to happen and what will happen from here on out. Instead of trying to do both at once, we’d like to let the plot take a backseat and open up some space for players to run their own goings-on, at least temporarily. What does that mean?
Player plots! That’s right, the calendar is 100% open to your plots right now. Let’s say you had an idea for getting something big going, but weren’t sure about when to do it- YOUR TIME HAS COME! Want to create a big ruckus with an evil character or two? Want to run a holiday event, like a big party to celebrate the season? Want to do something wacky with the school or organize a festival? Let us know, sign up, and go nuts. We’d love to get some cool stuff from you creative bunch penned into our calendar.
Alternatively, if no one has any player plots planned or on the go and enough time has passed, we’ll poke at the Event Suggestions post for something to fill the void, so feel free to make suggestions there, as well! We’ve been busy-busy with everything else that the poor thing’s a bit old and dusty. Let’s change that!
3) Another thing we’ve been discussing as a team is that Luceti has gotten really complicated over the years. We have such a rich and lengthy history developed, and so many features and functions and plotlines going on, that the whole experience must look awfully intimidating to newcomers, right? Heck, even I look at the game sometimes and go “wow remember when it was just some evil scientists kidnapping people?”
Obviously, change is good, and natural development is great. But when it becomes a detriment to the game’s growth, when it intimidates those who are a part of it, it’s too much. Trying to decide how much is too much is, however, much too big of a job for just us. Thus we are turning to you, the player base. Is there a part of Luceti that confuses you? That seems too complicated? That doesn’t interest you at all? That seems unnecessary? Please, please let us know. We want to make your lives easier, and our lives easier in the process, as well as remove or alter features that could be turning off new players or even older veterans who’ve had enough of this or that. We know that not everyone is going to agree on what should stay or go, but if enough people have something to say about a certain aspect of the game, we’ll know that it needs some work.
Now, here’s stuff that we’ll keep because it requires little to zero maintenance:
And here’s stuff we are considering revamping:
Lots of fun stuff we can’t talk about in detail yet, naturally, and there are still some plans that have not changed despite everything that’s happened and despite what is potentially going to change. But your feedback for the game, its plot, and various game features is absolutely vital in this transition-y stage. Let Luceti be your clay; mold it, change it. ...Or at least tell us what you’d like to see it become c:
We’d prefer that this discussion happens here so that you all can discuss amongst yourselves as well as with us, but if you feel that you have something you can’t say publicly, feel free to PM the mod journal or private-plurk myself, Aly, or Kyo. (Don’t PP the mod-plurk, we don’t track it.)
That’s it! Thanks for reading all of this, guys; your attention and feedback will be muchly appreciated and can only be used to make the game better for all of us! Go forth and discuss. Thread for mod questions can be found below.
...And seriously, the game isn’t ending. Over my dead body, my lovelies.
QUESTIONS
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Example: Mission volunteer page has the required "Power Level" written on them, but no explanation of how the Power Levels are determined. That's on a completely separate page found through following two different links - if you didn't know that, you'd have no idea where to find it.
That said, I'm totally up for offering my help to revamp, condense, and simplify anything needed in the tech sections.
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I think a lot of them could be condensed into fewer pages with more information on them (and links at the top, of course, like how the Nitpicker's Guide is set up) just to make it easier for people to go through and find things.
I'll also throw in an offer to help with that if it's needed!
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I don't really have anything to add to what Luna and Souji-mun have already said but I'd be willing to lend a hand to getting them reorganized for sure. :)
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- This might just be me (after all, a while back I thought the kidnappings were dated but the recent Shifts in village are so similar to my idea to fix that at the time I'm more than cool with it) but I think that the Rogue Malnosso (the ones who do the kidnappings current) are starting to become more than a little superfluous in the main plot.
As it stands a lot of the plot has the Malnosso as untrustworthy and underhanded but ultimately not quite allies but definitely in the ballpark of that for the characters (ironic, given they run the experiments and all). There's also now two factions of the Third Party who are in turn at odds with each other and lesser independents like the FTSA (though they may or may not be gone) and the Iron Eye. And really, of those, I tend to think that the Rogues are the most unnecessary.
To explain what I mean: For myself and other older I think we associate Zompano with the Rogues and from that perspective, it seems silly that there are two factions with his sort of ideology. But for the new people, I imagine it's just straight up confusing that there's effectively two factions of the Malnosso, but because the more evil one is a secret society it tends to seem like there is only one... but then are they evil or are they helping or grrrash.
And then on the shallowest of all levels: While there's no way that until there are major plot developments we in the enclosure could totally defeat the Third Party or the Malnosso et al, I do think it's feasible to have a series of missions wherein the Rogue Malnosso are rooted out and then after it if we still want involuntary kidnapping someone else can take it over who is clearly independent of the Organization. It would feel like a victory and get rid of that thing I tend to think of as being dated.
But again, that could just be me.
EDIT: NPCs -- I think it would be a shame to retire Alice this early but I could see how that might be a thing. CJ could easily be relegated to a background NPC if needed given his new position and while I would miss his humor that wouldn't be the biggest loss in the world. I do think that Davis would be a loss though even if it might be much harder to use him without Masa. So if he gets ousted all I ask for is a proper sendoff to the guy so important to Unique Missions (manly tear)
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Agreed. That last mission was absolutely fantastic, both in terms of the effect on the plot itself and the IC fallout that resulted from it. I also loved how it tied in to a couple of the previous missions too, which gave a real feeling of continuity there and the sense that what the characters do on missions does have an impact on the bigger picture. I'd love to see more missions like that one, the Depot 8 one and the Droid Sabotage one, where the characters are forced to make choices that have higher stakes than just "do you want to do this thing or that thing?"
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As such, I like Charles' suggestion of a series of missions to root them out. Like he said, it could be a great victory for Luceti and would make for a good plot spanning the course of several months. I'll develop the idea step further too, to present a feasible way for kidnappings to continue for those who want them.
Regardless of the above, I think something settling the issue with the Rogues should happen. As another benefit, it could bring a conclusion to the NPC Molly's story, now that there's no one to play her. Her uncle was revealed a year ago to be the leader of the Rogues. A conflict with them could bring her back into the picture, either to remove her from the enclosure or wrap up her story in some other way.
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I think we actually need more of these because it gives lots of opportunity to get involved in the plot to both newcomers and the veterans. Of course, I understand mods are humans with lives and all that but it would be nice to see some of these cropping up more often than a handful of drafts and missions throughout the year.
EDIT:
Actually to add, I think Drafts also need to take a page from the last mission we did. While I often enjoy myself in them it just seems very obvious that Luceti is going to win against whomever they're up against. The zombie draft was probably the exception but I've only played in two so I don't have much to go on. Either way a voting type system or resource system that affects the success of the draft would be cool.
An example of this I guess could be The Manlosso's main city is being attacked. You're given an explanation that the cultists are attacking and they're hitting two main parts of the city. One being the industry section where all weapons and shift stuff is being made and the residential area. But you only have so many people in the draft. People would get to choose where they could go to help out but in the end it would decide the fate of whatever.
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But I'm not opposed to things which shake up the status quo either (hell, I welcome it) but I would caution doing a ROLL BACK TO THE OLD DAYS thing.
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Wouldn't need to be too long, but maybe make an IC-OOC plot roundup thing.
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But okay no seriously. I feel like this would give the village a lot of understanding they could benefit from while still keeping enough in the dark that we don't figure out the plot too quickly. Could be a fun way to handle NPC's who can no longer be played too. Instead of shooing them out of the picture, they can just be doing things out there.
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I wish I had more constructive and coherent things to say about the recent plotty stuff like Therapist Alice and the recent Unique Missions and the tunnels/rooms under Luceti and some of the things that got revealed about the other enclosures during the Malnosso World event (ICly and OOCly) other than "YES PLS MORE OF SAME." I guess what it boils down to is that it's great to see this new world opening up to Luceti characters, and I'm looking forward to more ways for them to play around with that.
I think the one gripe (which might even be a strong word to use in this situation) I have is that, for me, the wings have kind of become superfluous/overlooked in terms of what they signify OOCly. They mostly come into play as either a point of amazement/horror (when characters first arrive in Luceti) or as a point of life or death (such as in drafts/missions). The former wears off after a while, and with the Luceti enclosure being generally peaceful, it's not as necessary to think about the wings for the latter issue from a player perspective. ICly, I know (IIRC, anyway) the wings function as a universal translator and as the conduit for characters to learn Filial magic, but those are pretty passive functions. And of course characters can't really fly with the wings, which rules out the obvious method of putting their presence in the forefront of players' minds. Unfortunately I don't have any suggestions as to how to go about fixing this, and in fact I kind of have my doubts that this is even something that can be "fixed." (I also fully disclaim that I may have overlooked other aspects of the wings, and that it might just be my own fault for forgetting about them all the time.)
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Plot-wise, I've actually thought for awhile that it feels like there's been an influx of NPCs and NPC organizations. There's The Malnosso, The Rogues, Iron-Eye, The Third Party, Zompano's group, and the other major enclosures. Trying to cut back on some of them by wrapping up their roles in the story or just finding a way to phase them out/combine their roles with other NPCs/organizations could probably help cut back on the work for the mods running things in the background.
Like, honestly, a part of me has always wondered if the Malnosso were being honest about the "rogue" facilities really being separate from the organization itself, and didn't just use key research facilities as scapegoats to gain the Lucetian's trust. The records found under the village do seem to allude to the fact that they got something out of doing individual experiments in the past, so it seems kind of weird that they'd just stop doing it? They're not all that different from the monthly experiments, and it's already known that the main organization is responsible for those...
Of course it's also possible they (the rogues) could be phased out altogether through a plot (thus, ending the kidnappings) but as someone who's a rather big fan of the kidnappings, I'd personally like to see them stay. Since they've been a staple of the game for so long. :'D
But maybe they could replaced with "compulsary/drafted" missions of sorts, which could sometimes wind up being shift testing (which would be similar to kidnappings, then). Then the idea of kidnappings would still be in place, but the rogue faction of the malnosso could be removed. The malnosso would rationalize it to them in that shift testing would only happen sometimes, and they'd still get points for it.
/MAY ADD MORE IDEAS it's late
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The way I see it, there's a bit of a divide in the playerbase. There's the slice of life half who's content with having the village a little more peaceful and there's the half who wants action-action-action!. What drew me to Luceti all those years ago was the concept of the experiments as they were back then- the chance to be absolutely merciless to my characters. Heck, there were horrifying village-wide experiments that you couldn't opt out of. Remember the plague that killed a great deal of the residents? MAN, that was amazing.
I know Luceti's not that game anymore, but every so often I still see someone put their character through a gruesome ordeal through experiments and I smile a nostalgic smile. I'm glad the option is still there for those who want it, but I can see why some others might go for 'silly effects' like genderbending and whatnot.
So that said, while the slice of life part of Luceti doesn't need much mod support, I get the feeling that the other part of the playerbase isn't getting as much support as they used to. There's a lot of underlying plot, but none of it we can actually use. It's just... there. Drafts/unique missions are minimal these days and the standard missions are usually handwaved because it's just so much easier that way. There are those of us who really want to send our characters out to do stuff and actually write it all out, but our hands are tied in the way the game's set up right now.
I understand that things like drafts and unique missions take a lot of time and effort to set up by mods, which is why they don't happen that much. Perhaps it'd be a good idea to actively encourage players to write out their own draft/mission settings? That way, mods would only have to rework the suggestion a bit before posting it. I know there's already a mission suggestion post, but I get the feeling a lot of people forget about it, and where would draft suggestions go? Revamping and promoting the suggestion post(s) would help, probably.
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If we do have more drafts in the future I think a resource system would be a cool thing to implement into it. First of all it wouldn't be a resource of what the Malnosso has. It'd be what Luceti has in influence on other enclosures, actual resources and power capability or something. This could determine the way a draft plays out. If Luceti has made a good impression on an enclosures Luceti can sway that enclosure into doing something for them OR work against Luceti like losing Malnosso equipment. Or even both
How you'd get influence/resources could actually be Missions. Do something that helps one enclosure and gain their trust. Or do something on a mission the Malnosso doesn't approve of? Lose support. A lot of this could build up to some interesting outcomes.
Of course this would require a lot of work but as it is only a suggestion I won't be heart broken if people don't agree with it. It would just seem like it could help people feel like they're having an effect on the plot.
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To add: I feel like this could help work with our faction problem with there being too many and all as stated by Sarah. We could pretty much convince two groups to end up joining together through good actions or force two groups to work together because Luceti is screwing around with them so much.
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I actually know that there was some of that! Like, touching base on old plotlines that got lost in the shuffle of modship changes - but I missed it all and that is something I truly regret. I don't mind the missions, I have yet to take advantage of them, but I really wouldn't be sad if there was less focus on them.
Some other people have also mentioned that Luceti's got a lot going on, which really does make the game feel really busy. There are a lot of different things going on and not all of them are getting as much focus as they could be. I don't think that those plotlines should be dropped entirely, but maybe some should reach a conclusion or be streamlined into a more overarching plot so there's not nearly so much going on.
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I agree with Charles and Chris re: keeping the Unique Missions because of how they give our characters more agency and the chance to impact the plot. The voting system is a great thing, I think, because it allows for IC discussion and possibly conflict to arise from characters having different views, which to me was one of the things that made the Iron Eye mission so much fun. It really gives characters a more personal stake in the plot and is a great springboard for both plot and character development.
Adding to what Meowzy and Shikki are saying, I too would like to see more village-wide things like the earthquake, the plague, or the recent invasion-- events that really drive home the fact that Luceti isn't as peaceful as it appears most of the time while also encouraging cooperation and problem-solving by the characters.
As far as the NPCs go, I personally would rather not see any of them written out permanently if possible just because I feel that there are so many interesting things that can be done with them, even if we don't hear from some of them for a long period of time or whatever.
And this is probably my own personal bias speaking, but I would love to see more of the Iron Eye after that last mission.
... I'm sure I will probably come up with more things as soon as I post it, but that's what came to mind for now!
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But I really wouldn't mind seeing some of that again, like, a reminder that even if they are here and they are impacting the world they're still technically prisoners in this not-so-utopian world.
I think that's kind of the thing that makes or breaks RP eventually, is the players feeling like what they do matters to the plot. For me, the two most memorable plot events in the game were the Zombie Draft and the Iron Eye Mission. And I wasn't even in on the second mission! But that one really felt like what the characters chose to do--and they had a huge choice to make--really had an effect on the outcome. Same with the Zombie draft, since it felt seriously desperate and like what we did had a significant effect on the world.
So really, I'd like to see more stuff like that. While I know there's a limit on what characters can do to effect the outside world when the setting is a jamjar, I still would like to see some development going on. Things like that don't have to happen often, but having them happen at all is pretty awesome
(Also, my favorite experiment ever was the amnesia one, but that's probably just because it wrecked Loki's shit for all time.)
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On a return to the darker days of Luceti
But in the short term, and getting creative, a return could be fun. Time travel event? Everyone spends a month going back to Luceti's old roots? That could be neat. But it suddenly make a resurgence (especially through the Malnosso, now that they have Carol in the village) would not.
The plot's too complex/player involvement
However, I want to say that I don't think its complexity is the main issue. I feel the root of the problem is how uninvolved the characters themselves have become in it, even when they get to play a part. It only feels like too much is happening to keep track of because so little of it affects us.
The major plot of the world happens for the most part around the characters rather than engaging them in it. Drafts and many other experiments used to depend on the villagers coming together to plan; now they're just literally being thrown into it. Pressing NPCs might get a few kernels, but often results in a runaround. Those that get a glimpse of the plot happening in the mess relay what they know to the village, and so Lucetilocked has become more of a spot to infodump than a place to have discussion and make action as it used to be. A lot of that information goes over player's heads too - not because it's not important, I do think most try to follow it. But so little of it becomes relevant in the long run that in the end it's made obsolete.
tl;dr I feel it's high time the people of Luceti take or be given the opportunity to interact with the plot on a wider level again. The mystery of the world around them is one of my favorite bits of Luceti, but it's losing its charm with how slowly we're being allowed to understand it. Notice which plots and missions have worked the best in the last few years - it's typically been the ones the characters have got to have a say in.
Suggestion: experiment voting
Money
Maybe it's time currency was introduced to Luceti? It exists outside the barrier, and in select enclosures. New Feathers could be given vouchers for things like housing and to get their own stuff back, of course. I don't know. I think it could be a fun new element for the game, and encourage more involvement, consequences, and creativity for those interested in just the slice of life aspect too.
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Honestly? I have never seen this happen. Like, I'm not trying to be patronising or saying you're wrong, there's a big chance I simply missed it, but... I never considered the free stuff to be a problem and I myself would be thoroughly opposed to a form of currency.
How would that even work? Would characters need to get jobs? Would they get a 'fixed income' per month regardless of whether they have a job? I just can't picture this at all.
But again, that's just me.
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THAT all said, I actually forgot to come back and edit this comment. On plurk we got to discussing this and other things, and Showan made a good point I had to agree with that games with currency just tend to make things complicated. So in hindsight, I agree with you that money wouldn't be the best way to go anymore. At most, people forgetting it doesn't exist is a nitpick I have I wish could be ironed out rather than a serious problem. Maybe it just needs to be broadcasted better?
Event timing
Now that apps are open every month again, I feel it's important to note how the pacing of the game has changed in the last few years. Most of us who've been here a while are slower taggers than we were. Part of the thing I see many tell people on places like ATP is that we're more medium-paced, and back-tag friendly. It's something that's becoming more and more true as time goes on.
SO considering all of this, I think spreading out the events might be a good idea. A lot of the time I feel like I'm just barely catching up with the last event before a new one starts. I'll have no closure from it, or anything to show from the in-between. I know a lot of others are the same - you see plurks all the time asking for event tag amnesty as a new one is about to begin.
The game being open to player plots while you guys think things over really excited me, actually. I remember that summer when apps were closed and we had nothing BUT player plots. It was a really productive time. I'd encourage keeping things like that, actually. Maybe a mod event every other month, with some breathing room for player plots.
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I think if more people were aware that it existed and used it, the mods could then schedule events around player plots-- for example, if someone had a player plot with a widespread effect, the mods could then choose not to have an event that month to give the player plot more time and attention. It would allow for a good balance of mod-run and player-run events.
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Which is a good idea, but I don't know how much it'd help with the main point of the problem I mentioned - ie that it often feels like too much is happening to keep up with the way the pacing of the game has changed.
It was starting to feel like a lot before, but with new feathers and an event every month on top of unforeseen things like reacting to and coping with drops, there's no time to absorb things anymore. I think the time to wind down is necessary. When you finish the last big thing and want to start something new and there's not an event right away, that's not necessarily a bad thing! It's time to make a player plot, explore your character - have them do something crazy like bulldoze a house! An interim, so it doesn't always feel like we're rushing from one thing to the next.
Whoops, I tl;dred again my bad. But to offer a solution that maybe satisfies both crowds: I've liked this fear event. Having a subtle even that lasts for as long as this one has felt really clever to me. It has the easy, outside-the-normal accessibility you favor while being downplayed enough someone like me can take their time with it. Maybe more things like that in the future could work well.
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I do like the idea of having more things like the fear event too (even if I haven't done anything with it yet WHOOPS)-- something that's passive rather than active, but that allows people to do a lot of things with it. How it plays out is entirely up to the individual player, as is the length it affects the character. I think more events like that would be great because they satisfy the people who want something to play around with while also allowing the people who would rather take a break to do so without having all of their CR going wacky all around them from a more obvious event.
Basically, what I'd like is to have things to play around with if you so choose, but I also want those things to be just as easy to opt out of if you're not interested for whatever reason. Because, let's face it, sometimes you're really just not feeling an event.
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+1 and an opinion
But My main thing on this would end up being to try and make the events more plot related than just whacky/hilarious fun times that in the end really have no effect on anything.
Not that I don't mind those kinds of events, I loved the theme park one. But, lately it seems we've had more of those events that it's just there to do something silly or whacky with a character. I mean, our last real serious event that I can remember was when everyone was put under Cultists hypnotism and could've been the cultists slaves and such.
I just feel if we were to implement a system of having an event every other month it should offer some impact on the setting/story. I mean, of course we wouldn't have a plot event every time but I'm sure there's a happy medium in there somewhere between plot and just having fun.
That's just my two cents though.
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It feels like the some parts of the plot have become more "What can we learn about this world and its problems?" than "What can we learn about this world and its problems that can help us get back home?" The plot's definitely expanded over the years, and there's been a lot of development of different NPCs and the world at large, but I find myself looking at a good part of it and asking myself, "How is this going to resolve the root cause of the world being what it is?"
Part of this may be because the Unique Missions, which I believe were meant to originally enrich the plot, became so developed and used elements of the plot that they seemed to become the plot. (Which it may very well be now, I'm still not sure myself.) They've allowed people to interact with the plot and make choices that seemed significant, while also limiting how many people can actually participate in them.
I'm not sure how feasible it is, but more plot-related events where characters' choices or progress led to a change in the event's outcome (and maybe even plot direction) would be great. The Twila introduction/Filial spirit possession event worked well in that the solution wasn't set in stone and there were in fact multiple ways to exorcise Twila. The Vaskoth draft worked well in that there was a conclusion (decided by the Malnosso) that was ultimately altered because characters volunteered their characters to work towards a cure. Things like that, where all the characters have the chance to be involved.
I'll also echo what others have been saying in that there's a lot of loose ends that can be tied up through missions (unique or recurring in some way). It would help make it more obvious what's still relevant and what can be set aside as satisfactorily explained and dealt with.
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I also feel pretty out of the loop plot-wise too despite trying to keep up and find it hard to know how to get involved with all of that or what's really going on everywhere. So tying up loose ends will certainly help with that. x.x
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Yes, I miss the darker days of Luceti and yes, I'd like them to return. However, I'm not saying it needs to return for everybody and result in events that you can't op out of. I understand that there are plenty of people who don't want the grimness, but let's face it, that's where the roots of this game lie.
So what I would ultimately like is the option of grimness for those who do want it. It doesn't need to be in the way that it used to be, because like many people have already stated, that wouldn't work. Yes, we can squeeze ourselves into corners and use some Plot McGuffin to have the Malnosso change their motivations, but such a thing really isn't necessary.
Something entirely different could be the cause of the tragedies. Something more selective. Things like the zombie draft, for example. Missions and drafts that can turn extremely dangerous, but so long as the players know about this beforehand, they can avoid it. Exploration of new areas- Areas that not even the Malnosso fully trust. Dangerous experimentation that could be very beneficial for everyone if it were to work, so some brave souls would have to sign up for that risk. That way, the people who miss the 'darker days' can sign up for a similar experience, but the people who don't want their characters put in a position like that can refuse.
And I still am for village-wide threats. I admit, those are a lot more difficult to opt out of because it affects everyone and there's nowhere to run. However, I found that all the villagers being faced with the same threat can lead to great organization and teamwork.
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One potential idea, if it makes sense as a potential thing that could happen, would be to introduce some kind of malfunctioning shifts during events. Something that can be handwaved through a pseudo-sciencey explanation like certain shifts messing up badly on certain physiologies or something. Basically, this can give muns a darker option to play with during events if they so choose. Otherwise, there's also the possibility that more drafts and missions could involve the option of characters getting caught up in those "natural shift" things, which can also be used to set off characters experiencing horror shifts.
Those are just some shift-based options that come to mind. And I do agree with the more village-wide threats. Building up this sense of community among the Lucetians through the type of unity it can inspire is potentially a good way to help solidify the remaining playerbase in light of all the drops. I've loved being here in Luceti largely because it allows for a variety of tones for CR to develop through: through everyday things, through zaniness, through fluff, through action, through drama, through deliberation over moral decisions. It does seem fair that more avenues for darkness are opened, but only if it doesn't come at the cost of the rest of the variety.
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I'll go ahead and plus one that, Gore. Half of the reservations I think people like me have at the idea is that we like the variety, grim included, but don't want any one element to be overdone. Angst without hope or adventure especially because unlike other elements, even if you opt out, your character's CR could and probably will be affected and you get dragged into it anyways.
BUT it is a thing I think a lot of us love, so there should definitely be more opportunity. Meowzy's idea for exploring dangerous areas is a great one, actually. It presents the rare opportunity for danger and disaster characters would actually LEAP to sign up for! Heck, you could do a whole plot where there's no limitations about how many people go on this exploring journey, but then say their way back to the village is cut off and-- I'll cut myself off before I get carried away, but there's all kinds of ways you can go with that. XD
Village-wide threats would be excellent too for all the things Meowzy had to say. The village really does perform at its best when under immediate threat. I actually like the idea of a long-running one myself (like two months?), just because of how quickly Luceti tends to go back to status quo of not caring after it's over. Really all it comes down to is a matter of intensity: darkness just for the sake of darkness vs. risk and harshness to spice things up.
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Going back to the Vaskoth draft (I really liked that draft don't judge me) here I think part of what made that draft was the fact that it was like super hopeless and grim and awful but there was also the potential to create a cure and make things alright in the long run.
The idea of leaping into disaster sounds great too and I mean I know I'd eat that up immediately- plot relevant, kinda gritty and harsh, but still serves a purpose.
Help I'm not good at these talks I just think everything's pretty cool if it stirs people up or moves things forward (but especially both) (development!!)
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Because if so, I absolutely agree; the Vaskoth draft also happens to be one of the most fun things I've ever done in Luceti, too. (To be honest I would also personally love it if that zombie virus was revisited; maybe some characters are reinfected with it or something similar at the end of a mission or draft and bring it back into the village? That would be god damn great in my opinion. There's also a cure now, right? So not everyone has to get super infected or die or whatever. That's still just a personal preference thing on my part, though.)
The drafts and missions are also great venues to let people opt out of these kinds of things, too; you can split things between what's going on village wide and what's going on draft wide, especially since it's becoming more and more blatantly apparent that big things are going on outside of the enclosures and the odds aren't exactly in the malnosso's (or any of the enclosures', for that matter) favor. Of course, I love that sense of agency stuff like the Iron Eye mission gives the players and want more of that too, but some smacks in the face that's not in as much of a forward and positive(?) direction would be great as well.
I also personally agree that some village wide problems that bring people together would also be nice to have more often. It doesn't have to be a frequent thing by any means, but it would bring about a sense of community. (Something I talked about briefly in a plurk was the idea of maybe the barrier kind of moving so it cuts off about half the village and everyone's kind of on their own on the outside for a while and have to work together and keep it together until they can be shifted back in.)
Of course if I missed the point entirely feel free to clarify (and I know I drifted into my own thoughts a little I apologize!)
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