state of the game
Hello everyone! Now that we’re officially done with Chantes and moving forward into Nalawi, we thought it’d be a good time to go back and do a review. Futurology’s gone through a number of adjustments already, but we’d love more feedback as we finish designing the next mission: What went wrong in Chantes? What went right? What are you hoping to see more or less of as we move forward? In an effort to facilitate discussion, we wanted to provide some context behind our decisions so far, as well as issues we’re aware of and working to fix. Topics we’re addressing:- PACING: In hindsight, we feel as though the earlier months of Chantes had too many low-key events placed together, and the end of it had too many active ones. The recent rush was partly to finish Chantes and move on, while December’s slice of life focus was for the holidays; neither of these cases will be the norm. Moving forward, we’d like to return to fewer events, but with more impact on the PCs and active tasks in each of them.
- PLOT CLARITY: Futurology was originally created by one mod anticipating about 30 characters -- and it’s become far more than that! Exciting as this growth has been, there’ve been a few issues along the way. The more mystery-oriented parts of the plot were unwieldy and didn’t have enough leads for characters to follow, and with the size of the game it was difficult to permeate information to everyone ICly. We also failed to communicate how deeply the plot progress was affected by character decisions and player plots. The arrest and subsequent jailbreak, sungazing log, peacekeeping, etc were all directly formed by player inquiry and suggestions, and much of the overall direction of the game was developed in response to IC decisions.
Our hope was to have characters directly influence the success and flow of the mission, much like a D&D campaign, but we also feel that this left a number of weeks where things felt aimless, or that characters were meandering to fixed plot points. There were also a number of plot possibilities raised but not followed through, and overall progression was choppy.
In the future, we plan to provide more mod structure and direction, while hopefully avoiding a plot that’s too inflexible. Events will also stay away from mystery and will instead be oriented towards exploration and discovery in addition to the usual action. As brought up in the above point, we’ll also avoid having too many lowkey or extremely active logs scheduled in excess.
- NPC THREADS: Going forward, we’ve increased the number of mods handling NPC threads and will aim to lead them to satisfying conclusions. However, as much as we would love to thread out everything with everyone, it’s not a sustainable workload. For more passive thread topics like item discovery and politicking, we will continue to err towards handwaving and OOC discussion.
- PLAYER PLOTS: First off, thanks to everyone who submitted plots in Chantes! We’d like to take a second to explain how the process has been going so far and what we’re looking for. When players ask questions that we think could lead to an event, or when suggestions are submitted, we’ll usually PM and discuss how to integrate ideas into the plot and game schedule. We do try our best to make player plots relevant, but it’s much more likely to get integrated if the playerbase as a whole can participate. For example, if the mission goal is to build a bridge across a river, we encourage players to submit plots for everyone to go chopping wood together rather than one character finding the solution on their own.
After a plot has been submitted, we can help with write-ups and how to adjust details so everything works in the setting. Please don’t be afraid to submit plots or ideas! Many of our favorite game developments were thanks to player involvement, and we’re looking forward to what everyone has for our next mission as well.
If you have any suggestions, our page is open here. We’d prefer comments to this page rather than PMs.
- WHAT ABOUT. . .?
Uniforms will be announced on the upcoming event log. We’re currently working on a more relevant set of Test Drive Meme prompts that will be stickied and updated on the meme community. A Chantes Epilogue will be available at the beginning of Nalawi, similar to how Anwick results were shared at the beginning of Chantes. Also similar to the Oska Burning event, we will be trying out a flexible time ratio during events to give everyone enough time to thread things out.
Activity check and hiatuses:As we grow as a game, we would like to take the time to clarify our activity standards. - AC will continue to be two proofs per monthly cycle. A single proof counts as 5 action comments or 10 network/inbox comments. If a thread on a network post switches to action, it may count as an action thread.
- AC begins on the first of the month and lasts until the fifth.
- Threads with NPCs (including ALASTAIR NPCs, plot NPCs, etc) will not count toward AC but may be used for Bonus AC.
- Bonus AC is outlined in this post. It was recently updated, so if you haven’t had a chance to look yet, please do. Bonus AC is processed concurrently with AC, so please only submit your bonus threads during the AC submission window.
- Players may choose to hiatus at any time. However, using a hiatus as an exemption from AC is not allowed during consecutive months. In other words, you may use a hiatus to be exempt from AC in January, but not in February as well. Strikes function as hiatuses; you may not take a strike in January and also use a hiatus for AC exemption in February.
- Of course, life happens! The mods are willing to work with players on an individual, case-by-case basis. If you know you will have difficulty meeting AC and cannot take a strike/hiatus, please let us know as soon as possible and we will see what we can do.
See the comments section if you have any questions, but otherwise please feel free to use this post to discuss with us and each other about the state of the game, how you feel about how things are going, concerns, etc. We also have a comment over at the HMD for general mod critique! Let us know over there how we’re doing as a team and if you have any feedback about mod behavior. |
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axiology2016-02-27 08:11 pm
QUESTIONS
Mod HMD is here if you need it.
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If I put up an event starter and two people replied with enough comments, could I turn that in as both AC proofs? Or would it only count as one proof because they're under the same starter comment?
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I wanted to say thank you for putting this together as well as making notes above about things! It's a relief to know a little more about the behind the scenes things.
I feel like I may be jumping the gun on these things, so I'm more posting them here as a 'something to be considered in the back of the mods minds as things go forward' more than 'this is an immediate crisis' and I would have held off except pretty much every member of this game on my plurk highly encouraged doing it now since it was bothering me now (which is mainly #3).
1. mission setups & plot
I'm not sure if this is even a critique so much as a clarification point and I am fine with whichever it is, I just want to know so I am not expecting something different. This could also absolutely be just a case of things getting tied back into your notes above in the 'plot clarity' section. Since uniforms are mentioned, though, I figured I'd say it, anyway, just in case.
When I read the game information and when I first joined, the game being advertised as characters being employed by a company with missions to deal with timelines of other worlds, I was expecting a certain setup in terms of what a mission is.
One of the players here pointed out to me that people's terms of a mission game can vary greatly and I agree with them, but it's not so much to me this being a mission game I expect it run a certain way so much as clarifying what is meant by 'mission' .
From the game writeup and going in, I was viewing ALASTAIR sort of like the British Secret Service with James Bond. (In general) James Bond is briefed on his overall mission, given some gadgets that may be of use to him in dealing with the area while on his mission and make mission success easier, and then given any important stipulations before being shipped off. Usually, to start him off with a better idea of what the heck is going on, he is given an initial contact to find in the field and it goes from there.
That's the impression I was getting from ALASTAIR sending their recruits in from the IC information and how the game was advertised. I wasn't expecting them to be checking in on them during missions or it to be specifically laid out in steps (we know that James Bond has every possible unexpected problematic situation ever happen to him), but I feel if the company takes their mission seriously in any sense they would care enough to at least have a situation like this. Their reputation should matter to them and simply dumping individuals associated with them to carry things out... they would at least bother to ideally give them the basics for hopeful success. Jame Bond isn't even supposed to be affiliated with Britain. If he screws up, his life is collateral and not the responsibility of the BSS.
Is this the kind of mission that characters are supposed to be sent on? If not, that's totally fine. Being dumped in a world with nothing and a simple end result is fine, too, and could be considered a 'mission', it's just not how I would deem a company or any organization that has an intent and cause to bother. I think Uruz mentioned in the recent NPC!post to a character that ALASTAIR doesn't have enough people working for them as it is, which to makes even less sense why they would be okay with simply 'dumping' the characters into a scenario.
That doesn't mean they can't, it's just all the ooc presentation/advertisement of the game point to 'dumping' being a really sloppy way for the ALASTAIR company to execute things.
It's totally possible the lack of this sort of obvious structure is due to your notes in 'plot clarity' OR because it's simply not meant to be viewed as such an organization/structure, but it wasn't very obvious to me, if so.
I really just want to get this cleared up (or, give this crit, if it is indeed supposed to be what I thought!) so I can have it in mind rather than me getting caught up on things like "this is all wrong" ICly. My character is a military leader and tactician, so while this seems probably nitpicky to most, how I go about having him ICly deal with ALASTAIR and the situations is actually (really) significant. I don't want him ragging on ALASTAIR ICly simply because oocly I've misunderstood the intent of the games missions to begin with, if that makes sense :(. Also, I think the plotty stuff of this game is cool but something small like this ICly can really change the view of things, and I feel as if the characters already 'get it'/'know' at least on this level what they are dealing with from even just being Oska last time right before the start of the game.
2. Test Drives(ish, not sure)
This is just kind of a thought/suggestion! Even if not now, would it ever be potentially possible to make a TDM (even if it's a separate one) that is set in Oska and is almost like a place recruits from anywhere can cross paths and chat from time to time? I say TDM because I feel like it should be open to just about anyone, anyway, but it was mostly me thinking of a way for previously dropped characters to interact with the crew, still, even if not in game, and also maybe be a more "gradual" sort of test-drive where a person can go in and chat with varying recruits not in a mission environment. It sounded better in my head and I can't explain it so well, but I was trying to think of something that could always be open and around/kept an eye on for new players, too, that didn't require you guys thinking up new scenarios. It also seemed possible to be an easier place to integrate into canon if the characters app in or if they were dropped and are considered transfer.
This idea also came up to me because of rolling apps; I was trying to also think of a way people could get a little head jump in who to go to or where to go if they were on the waiting list! So while they wait if the player was interested in trying out a little bit of the potential CR they could have or even just have an ic way to keep up with the mission rather than being accepted and dumped in midstream. This may all be a bad example, I'm really not sure, but even if it's bad maybe the intention will spark someone else a better idea or whatnot.
3. game caps/secondary characters
Okay, this is my huge concern (again restating that it's mostly one that's heavily futuristic because as of right now it could be considered an issue or not rather easily. So, yes, it's directed more towards as the game goes on even though I use current numbers).
I want to preface my concern on this with I absolutely 100% understand why caps are necessary and that sometimes it's just the way it is. So, if the response was "yeah this is too much work to consider right now and we just gotta leave it as is" I understand, that too. Various players here have already expressed to me that they think I am worrying too much about it and it won't be a concern but I was encouraged to say something, anyway.
I've been in games that have collapsed or otherwise suffered greatly under their own restrictions like these and were a similar concept (missions to other places with plots and needing a limit on how many characters, etc.), too, so if I don't express it I feel I'm not being as supportive as I should be of this place.
I don't necessarily have an issue with the cap being at 80 characters or with secondary characters (actually, separately, i have no problem at all with either), it's just with them combined and the process we have right now that worries me as the game continues on, especially because of rolling applications.
It's true our app queue is small right now but I partly believe that, while it may not be the shiny game to app to anymore, this game already has been labeled as "you're never going to get in if you app so don't even bother queuing" and that most people have put it out of their minds or don't know anything about it. The game I particularly was in in the past suffered from a character cap because there wasn't enough rotation of new player potential coming in. It makes sense to me that as current players see less and less apping, even if they were holding off on a second to offer space for as many new people interested as they could prior, they would app their seconds if they had one when the queue is low and no one looks interested.
The problem is I feel this is really misleading and if we seem to be always at cap or only having one or two slots open to newcomers, they will turn away more quickly than considering the game even as a future potential. However, if the reasoning of other people apping seconds is because they felt there wasn't anyone else interested in the slot so why not so they can have more to do in a game as well as offer more to the game that would be absent if the spot is left vacant, it almost becomes a vicious circle. Last I checked I think we had 9 or 10 players that have second characters. All things considered with a cap of 80, that's actually a significant number of slots now cut off to new players.
People can say that the game is just not dragging in new people but I can say if no one had those 2nd characters and we had 70/80 listed on the rolling apps, I think new people would be more inclined to give the game a shot and try it out. It's not a bad thing to have no queue and our cap not be full, in my opinion.
I don't think people should be denied the opportunity to app second characters, though, either, if the games says they can. I also think it's no good to discourage apping seconds because of A LOT of reasons. There are also a couple players who have dropped their seconds here specifically because of the game cap to make room for new people rather than because they just didn't feel like playing the character anymore. That's is a nice gesture, but for lack of a more tactful way of saying it, sucky if that spot is taken by someone else's secondary character (through no fault of the apping player, either, because they probably didn't even know who dropped/why).
Obviously there are various ways to try and adjust this to try and accommodate everyone, but nothing is going to be absolutely fair no matter what you do. It's not even fair now, so I'm not really not out to make it more fair but more opportunistic for new blood, if possible. (My other reason for this, too is when you have a game like this, should people with two characters drop, it becomes even more misleading to outside players and they may see it negatively towards the game than positively as open space to try it out. It's not a secret these days DW RPers are really cautious and wary of joining games that they worry may be losing momentum and will close on them if they app and most people do that by judging drops/when slot availability becomes amazingly increased when there are app caps.
{ TL;DR: Is there possibly a way to modify the cap that allows plays their secondary characters without misleading new people into thinking it's not worth giving the game a shot because there's a queue (no matter how long/short it is)? Or put restrictions of some sort on applying for secondary characters (such as, you need to be a player for so many months, or you gotta purchase secondary character opportunity with some AC coins, etc). I just know the game would look way more appealing to app into right now and in the future even with a queue if it was at 67/80 and I think it's actually GOOD if we sometimes have no queue and spots left open. It's good opportunity for new people who can help add to the game and while I said this is still not an immediate concern, if the trend continues upward and you have a lot of players with more than one character perpetually taking up 2 spots, I think it's something to be kept away for future consideration). }
I did have a thought/suggestion for a cap modification, but I'm not sure how well it would work in the long run, but I'll pitch it anyway. It raises the cap a little and I know the mods went from 90 > 80 on cap decisions, too, so I'm not really sure what the idea is.
If we have a character cap of say the current 80, once we hit that cap, what if the number of current secondary characters taking up slots was open for new players only to app into? So if we have 10 secondary characters and are at 80/80, there would technically be 10 new players that could still be accepted if they are in queue without anyone feeling they need to drop their second to make space or wait for a current player to drop? If it goes back below the 80, then things go back to normal. Or even half (so instead of 10 slots for new people only, there's 5. OR, I don't know, maybe it varies depending on how the workload of the mods are feeling at this point in time.)
I just feel 80 is a tad too small for letting people app secondary characters (I would be more okay with it at a cap of 100, personally) when we're not swimming in space, especially because of the player base we have who really like this game and want to take on a secondary character. Those who have secondary characters here seem to really like the game in a "i'm absolutely here for the long haul" so I'm thinking they're happier to play their seconds than not. I think a lot of players are courteous here enough to consider dropping them, though, if they knew new people were wanting to try it out and no open spaces were happening, but it would be nice if they didn't feel like they had to do that to make more space.
Again, this is not necessarily something for immediate concern (maybe it never will be, even) and I'm more worried if it keeps on the current trend rather than now. Still, while the hype for the game is over, this is still a really crucial point of the game's growing stages and new players shouldn't be turned away if it can be helped in any way, even if it's just so they will consider the game at a later date if we have space open. I think even constantly considering ways to make it more accessible if the cap stays stuck high will help that alone.
final
While I do have these concerns, I just want to also state that it doesn't mean I'm dissatisfied with the game. These are really particular things that have bothered me as someone who really wants to see the game not run into any problems that may be self-induced. Regardless, I think the mods have done a really great job and I personally really appreciate how friendly and approachable they are with their responses. I've never felt blown off or ignored, and that's super worth saying (I just don't think you ant another comment in your inbox with my name on it after this post haha :( )
So, really, thank you so much for everything you've done. It's been a really excellent experience playing under you.
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1.
For a longer answer, this was never really intended to be the sort of game where mission objectives are given to characters who then fulfill them. While we do plan to provide more structure and less outright guesswork in the coming missions, we intend that most of the play be in exploring settings, working to discover what is needed in them, and then reaching the desired results in whatever way the characters (and therefore, players) can think up.
And on a similar note, because we offer so many different ways the issues within our plots can be solved, we are sometimes left with plots that weren’t pursued and loose ends that get brushed aside in favor of an idea submitted by a player. This does tend to result in a little bit of a frayed narrative, and while we of course will streamline it as much as possible, that’s to be expected in a setting where we place so much plot agency in the players’ hands.
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And again, thank you so much for bringing these concerns to us! It’s important to us to hear from you, and we appreciate your speaking up with these concerns. (And also your patience in hearing back from us!)
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You guys are fantastic and I appreciate the time taken to get back to me and with really satisfying answers. They help a lot and I feel way less concerned/insecure now. Thank you again, please have an awesome day.