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.
no subject
- 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)
no subject
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?"
no subject
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.
no subject
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.
no subject
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.
no subject
Wouldn't need to be too long, but maybe make an IC-OOC plot roundup thing.
no subject
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.
no subject