Announcement!

[lucetimods]

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.

manage_circle add_read sealanddesuyo manage_circle add_read aqueousliving manage_circle add_read relinquishing manage_circle add_read antivanleather manage_circle add_read wipesfaith manage_circle add_read sand_lost manage_circle add_read bunsofsteel manage_circle add_read redshifted manage_circle add_read feathersharp manage_circle add_read thecatsnya manage_circle add_read dunkinchili manage_circle add_read readytobe manage_circle add_read precioustool manage_circle add_read lorentzian manage_circle add_read vulgaris manage_circle add_read stopmjolnirtime manage_circle add_read the_dead_pool2 manage_circle add_read hollower manage_circle add_read defieddracula manage_circle del_read skysung manage_circle del_read cynicism manage_circle del_read teenwonder manage_circle del_read eyecondition manage_circle del_read texting manage_circle del_read curiositykills manage_circle del_read bamboozler manage_circle del_read markofthewise manage_circle del_read snikting manage_circle del_read originaljackass manage_circle del_read wilderchoice manage_circle del_read whatwalls manage_circle del_read scarilycute manage_circle del_read alloys manage_circle del_read gleamed manage_circle del_read precipitous manage_circle del_read noitatnacni manage_circle del_read thepinkest manage_circle del_read funnygirl manage_circle del_read crimsonblade manage_circle del_read borntorebel

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.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[lucetimods]

If you have anything specific you'd like answered, toss it here and we'll do our best.

[hisapprentice]

I will come back with solid thoughts on all of this but I am here to say I am so glad the game isn't ending thank you for allaying that fear.

[ahappylie]

Player vote here for FAQ/Guide/Mission pages updating because I know that's the most confusing. There are so many pages spread out in so many places - IC and OOC information both - that it's difficult to explain to new players, let alone old players who are looking for a quick check on a mission type.

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.

[generalflirt]

- I do think we need the Unique Missions or something like them, just to throw that out there. Me and some of my friends here really enjoy the level of agency it gives the characters to change things in the world without the plot NPCs basically coaching them through every step of the way. In fact, a lot of the most recent ones were taking that concept a set further and making them very open ended with that voting system and while I could see ways to streamline it or optimize it the whole idea was really excellent.

- 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)

[feathersharp]

Some housekeeping stuff -- I feel like the official game summary both here and here could use an update -- possibly incorporating more specific references to things like the Third Party, the Iron Eye, the world of the Malnosso besides the scientists, and the other enclosures. That way, if we wanted to link it to someone, they'd have a better idea of what the game currently looks like from a plot perspective, which would ease their transition into the game if they wanted to join. At present, the summary just reads like "ooooooh mysterious and dangerous jamjar ooooooooh," which I know is how the game started out, but at the moment it's really more like "your character is dropped into a jamjar alongside a shelf of other jamjars and sometimes someone comes along and pops the lids off all those jamjars and shit gets real. Also maybe the world is trolling you with this resurrection bullshit."

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.)

[distressedude]

Updating the FAQ/rules/etc pages would be a great idea. I know I was actually looking for clarification of AC for someone once, and it doesn't actually say what AC is anywhere, it just links to previous ACs run on the mod journal. There's also some things on the nitpickers guide that might be confusing for new people (like mentions of the "filial of the past" -- I've seen new players mention them like they still exist, probably because they're mentioned in the synopsis of the game like they still exist).

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

[ps3pirate]

I know a lot of people have already been throwing in suggestions, but I'd just like to write up my own two cents on Luceti as it is right now.

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.

[hero_of_smiles]

I had mentioned this in Charles comment but I wanted to make it more fully realized.

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.

Edit:

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.

[dickmoves]

I'd really like to see a bit of return to form to the old Luceti that Meowzy mentioned. Luceti is very much a game that is what you make of it, and I always felt like the old form had a nice balance of Slice of Life, Action, and Fridge Horror. Luceti's grown very far from that game! 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 personally would love the status-quo to get shaken up.

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.

[voidseeing]

Most of what I was thinking I'd say has already been touched on in some way, which actually makes me happy in the sense that a lot of people seem to be on the same page about things!

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!

[complicatedliar]

Like Shikki said:
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.)

[endgames]

All right, rolling back in here. Sorry that this became a long comment - I'm trying to be brief, but there's multiple things I thought of while kicking around these discussions in the last week. I'm gonna give each topic it's own comment, actually.

[chikaidestroyer]

It's taken me awhile to really put a finger on what's bugged me about the way the plot's been progressing, but I think I've got an idea now.

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.

[dealsinshipping]

As one of the people who commented on missing the darker days of Luceti, I think maybe my words were misinterpreted a little, so I'd like to clarify.

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.