axiology | POLL.

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mod post

POLL.

Hello, worldhoppers! Now that you're more settled in, it's time for some polls! The questions are as follows:

★ How often would you like app cycles?
If apps are monthly, the app cap will most likely be lower. Bi-monthly, there'll be a higher app cap. It could be less often as well. There could even be only one app round per mission, depending on your answers to the next question.

★ How long would you like missions to last?
The current Chantes mission is slated to take closer to six months. Shorter missions will mean they're a bit more fast-paced and action-packed, since there won't be much time to hang around. Longer missions will be bigger and more complex, likely with several different stages.

★ How much downtime would you like between missions?
'Downtime' means time back at Oska. If it affects your answers, know that Oska will become more important as the plot moves on. If you'd like a few months, there will still be things to do; however, they'll be less pressing, and a little more sandboxy.

★ Would you like a character cap?
The game is geared towards a smaller amount of characters, ideally. However, it's important to hear your thoughts, too! If your answer is more than 70 characters, give a ballpark number of what you'd like in the comments. Currently, the game isn't particularly suited towards more than 100 characters, but adjustments could possibly be made.

★ How much ALASTAIR NPC involvement would you like?
Currently, the focus is on world NPCs, not on ALASTAIR. Although there are plans to involve them more when Oska becomes more important, currently they're not as important. Would you like a lot of interaction with NPCs, a medium amount, or have the focus be entirely on NPCs in the current world?

The poll can be taken here. Please feel free to discuss in this entry! Any other suggestions are welcome as well; the goal here is to make the best experience for the most amount of people possible.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's really hard to say before the game has started, but I was in a semi-plot heavy game that did fine with 150 characters! And I think that's because some were more active than others, with a good portion of the game who didn't care much about plot involvement.

Right now, I'd like to say that I'd love to have a cap of more than 70, but we should see how the game does as is before we decide on a concrete number. Regardless, a cap means a limited number of app slots! So a bi-monthly cycle sounds like it would work best.

+1 for this.

This got long...I'm sorry. :(

APP CYCLES AND CHARACTER CAPS:
As someone who's suffered through some tightly capped app cycles in the past, I'm leaning heavily towards bimonthly app cycles. Obviously I don't know what the cap will be for either option but I feel like a higher cap in general puts less pressure on both the mods and the players when it comes to writing and submitting apps, as well as making verdicts. In terms of gameplay, I think the missions themselves might also run a bit smoother if apps are bimonthly, allowing for players to devote more focus on missions for longer periods of time instead of having to take a short break every several weeks to deal with typical new character things.

I don't have super strong feelings on character caps other than maybe limiting characters to around 100. Right now it feels like I can get and maintain CR with a good chunk of the playerbase without overexerting myself, but I do have less time/energy to devote to RP than others so this is highly personal. It seems like the bulk of the work would be on the mod side in any case, both in terms of plot and overall management, so I'm happy to defer to mod choice on that.

MISSION LENGTH AND DOWNTIME:
Overall I'm more concerned with the pacing of the missions than strict length; I'd rather have longer missions with slightly more spaced out events than have everything crammed into 3 months and subsequently not have enough time to react/finish threads from prior events. Admittedly, I am a slower tagger so this may not be as important for others, but I thought I'd bring it up regardless.

I'm happy with one month periods of downtime in Oska, with that time increasing as plot shifts towards it. I think it'll be a good amount of break time for players to relax after missions/wrap things up without giving us too much time to get ansty or bored. But again, I'm ~~old~~ slow and need breaks. /shakes my cane at all of you

ALASTAIR NPC INVOLVEMENT:
I have no comments. Go wild.

In general, since we are super new and technically haven't even started yet, I imagine we'll have to see how the game goes and tweak things again after a few months.

Going to have to +1 to mission length and downtime. I like the option of taking my time and being creative with the world laid out for us, so I'd even appreciate downtime in-between events.

Thank you for writing this because I agree with everything here too! Bimonthly cycles sound just right!

>Apps
Much rather bi-monthly. I try to help integrate new characters but if apps are every month I find by the time one wave is getting settled in the next is getting accepted. I'd like to be able to alternate between focusing on plot for my own character and focusing on helping other characters get into the game and jiving with things every month. This is just how I play but for me this works best. I feel like it'd be easier on the modteam too.

>Cap
I like 70. It's easier for the modteam to give characters individual attention (NPC threads, tailoring consequences to specific characters) without getting overwhelmed. And I find the plot can get more interesting because you don't have to keep it generalized to appeal to a large amount of characters who don't all have the same motivations and needs. As a player I find it easier to affect plot too when there's less characters so characters are forced to draw together and actually work together more instead of splintering into their own factions doing their own things independent of everyone else. If it's upped I wouldn't really want to go past 100.

>Mission length, Downtime, NPCs
Mission length and downtimes kind of feel it's a play it by ear situation. As long as plot scales with the time I wouldn't mind six month missions but if it's like a Sly Cooper game with trying to do this one task and having to do a bunch of minutiae for six months to get to it I think I'd get burnt out on the mission goal at the four/five month mark. Hard to say without knowing plot details though so I could be wrong! Downtime I'd sort of prefer two weeks. I can sandbox but if all there is to do is SoL things and training montage threads I'll get pretty bored by the end of week two. Again depends on actual details though so...!! Far as NPCs go I'm not that interested in NPCs so I'd prefer they weren't vital to thread with.

Mainly I don't really feel that strongly about mission length/downtime/NPCs. I'll try to work with whatever works for everyone else definitely doesn't bother me.

On character caps, I don't have strong feelings about anywhere between 70 and 100 as a player. It depends on what you guys have energy for. I think you'll need a per-player character cap if you want to stay under 100, though.

On frequency of apps... on one hand, it sucks when there's only a few slots and apping turns into a race to hit submit at the stroke of midnight. On the other hand, waiting two months to app for someone who's not in a game yet is paaaainful. I guess I suggest monthly for now, and scale back to two-months if the app cap fills up within a few minutes of opening. I'm also the person who replied with "Keep applications open all the time, hand out 'accepted but on a wait list' notifications, and pull people off the wait-list and into the game every week or so based on the number of drops in that week." But I know that can be unwieldy ICly and OOCly.

On downtime and NPC interaction, I'm personally not a fan of SOL, so I'd prefer shorter periods of downtime, or that the downtime come with a healthy dose of NPC interaction or learning about ALASTAIR.

Edited 2015-09-30 21:14 (UTC)

I like app queues. I think that could be a good compromise? It depends on turnover like if people are sitting in the queue 2 months that's no good but I think at that point apps would just have to be closed indefinitely until there was significant turnover no matter the system if there's a cap. But yeah I like that idea!

+1 to maybe more NPC information/learning about ALASTAIR during downtime, I think that'd be pretty neat if the mods have the time/energy for that.

Also I haven't been on the side of having to wait two months for apps but I can definitely see how that'd be frustrating. 8( Starting out monthly and scaling back based on responses seems like a reasonable suggestion.

I had really bad timing once and realized I wanted to app into a game right after apps closed. Oops.

APPS:

So, one of my other games is monthyl, the other being bi-monthly. I know every two months can be a long, long wait when you decide to look into a game and sort out an app, so imo preferably monthly if possible? Which could potentially later be scaled back depending on circumstances later down the line, I guess. Depending on what the rest of us say, what you mods are feeling up to in that regard! I mean, you guys were awesome this round and really, really quick with responses to accept apps and I wouldn't want it monthly if that would put more pressure on you, or potential timing with events/missions making it awkward? Again, that's hard for me to say exactly without details, but I'm guessing if you're putting the idea out there that either monthly or bi-monthly is possible.

CHARACTER CAP:

I think 100-200 is decent? Anywhere around there. That's not too overwhelming, but also again, this depends on what you think you mods can handle in regards to apps/figuring ac and all that maintenance as a result. I know one of my other games has a cap at 200 max, the other at 100, and whatever the difference is that is how many apps total are capped at being accepted each round. Or alternatively, like has been suggested, if we reach cap then some can be slotted in for their apps to be a priority next round or something?

MISSIONS/DOWNTIME:

More difficult to say, given we don't have details on the missions but I'd say at least maybe couple weeks downtime in between would be nice for them to get their bearings and take in the aftermath of the missions and all? Seems a decent length to me anyway. Not too long that it delves too much to sol but enough for them to catch their breath in between it all.

ALASTAIR:

I'm going with a yes on this! I'd love to get the characters nosing around and interacting with them in between it all or even during the cluster fraks that could be the missions, depending on results. Getting that initial cr and awareness of those NPCs will make it all the more meaningful when it gets to that point of focus on Oska, imo.

Ha, I know this is kind of repeating suggestions already noted, but there we go. I figured I'd give my musings to get my 2 cents in.

I love seeing people's thoughts on this kind of thing - especially since it provides a lot more insight from a lot of different backgrounds/experiences - so I for one appreciate you leaving your 2 cents. 8)b

Never worry about repeating anything! If you repeat something, that just lets me know more people want it.

True. The more +1s you get the more you know people want this particular option. Which might have been easier to do if I am repeating a bit but hopefully it's still helpful. Throwing some vague possible options out there, anyway. However we can help you guys make this work!

I feel like a lot of these I can't really give a definite answer on, since we haven't started yet, but I'll try to speak largely from experience :X [ALSO SORRY I've been up since 4:30am so I'm exhausted.

App cycles
Bi-monthly would be great in a game structured like this to help people integrate in the game and get CR, for sure. And it would be easier for the mod team, certainly, so that they have breather room in between plots, NPCs and question. If that is something that happens, I think that's a great idea. It'd be good for players and good for moderators, so yes!

Caps:
Makes sense to me, maybe around 100?

Missions and down time
I can't really say, not until the first one goes down until there's a better gauge of it. If it's a few months and offers some down time to have more open world exploring and sandbox-y things, that does sound appealing. For now I'm just gonna go with everyone else and wait and see what happens! As long as there's time in between missions and there's down time, that's great. And, again, that's more breathing room for mods, too.

NPCs:
Also one I can't really give a solid opinion on, not yet, other than hopefully something that won't overload the mod team. CR with NPCs would be awesome, just as long as we aren't pounding you guys constantly.

Edited 2015-10-01 01:41 (UTC)

APP CYCLES
i don't think bi-monthly apps are too much of a big deal, but i do think it might be better to have monthly app cycles at least at the beginning! everyone is still sort of getting a feel of the setting, so there would be less of a gap between existing players and newer players, and then once the game sort of gets settled in with the plot, perhaps slow down the app cycles so that it's easier to integrate newer players/pay them more attention so they don't feel lost!

MISSION LENGTH
this really depends on what sort of content the mission involves! i think it's fine to have varied lengths - shorter and longer missions, as long as the events are paced all right. ideally i figure two mod events a month would be good pacing?? again, it really depends on what we want to get out of the mission, and how much time it would require. i don't think there's anything wrong with spending an extended amount of time on a mission (six months ish?) and getting really attached, or the opposite: being ripped away after only a short time.

DOWNTIME
unless there's some plot related shenanigans to be had, i don't really think downtime should scale more than a month...! though ofc, it really depends on how things go c:

CHARACTER CAP
i think a cap of 100-150 is fine! coming from a mission oriented game, there were so many types of characters - some that were heavily involved with the plot through npcs, some that were involved through player interaction, and some that didn't care for the overarching plot. even within these, characters got involved in different ways, and it was interesting to see. that said, i wouldn't like to see the mods overexert themselves, and if any more than 100 seems too unwieldy, then that's fine with me!

NPC INVOLVEMENT
i think this is case by case... like perhaps when plotting posts go up, players can ask about potential npc involvement? like, "can my character talk to an npc about x?" or "what will the npcs do if my character does x?" if there are set npcs with personalities that would lend themselves to interacting with pcs, then that's fine with me, and if not then that's also all right. personally i prefer log threads with npcs over network threads, though i understand that's a lot of work! so really, however the mods think it's best to use npcs to weave the story...

App Cycles: I put bi-monthly down on the survey, but there's a lot of factors to weigh. Monthly might suit the game better now, as it's getting started, or it could end up being completely overwhelming. Personally, I like bi-monthly, because it's easier to set some time aside to focus on the influx of new characters and building cr with them.

Downtime: I'm all for expanding downtime later, as Oska gets more important to the plot. Right now, I think a month leaves just enough time to wrap up any hanging threads from the last mission and also do some new cr building things.

Character Cap: Maybe 100 to 150 characters? I also like the idea of app queues, but only if that doesn't add too much extra work on top of what the mods are already doing.

APP CYCLES/CHARACTER CAP
Bi-monthly might be easier on mods with this a new game just kicking off. It'll mean more time to prepare for influx and mess up fewer schedules, letting the game run more smoothly. As for a character cap, I'd say play it by ear to get a feel for how many players the game can support without forcing modly burnout. We're relying on you guys to help guide the game along, so please take care of yourselves! ♥

MISSIONS
Someone else already mentioned they'd probably get burnout with a mission around the 3/4 month mark, which I agree with and would even shorten to 2/3. Six months spans a lot of RL obligations for me, I'd be bummed to have to miss out on IC info/dealings to do with the same plot I'd rather have wrapped up sooner. Missing out on half a plot, if it came to it, would be preferable to never getting resolution on one I'd put a lot more time into.

NPC INVOLVEMENT
Maybe come back to this question after the game's fully in swing for a while.

DOWNTIME
A couple of weeks to reorient our characters and relax. It sounds like a lot of time but it really isn't when you factor in RL commitments, and it would be nice to foster IC relationships without having to do a lot of OOC planning; sliding into someone's open log to have characters meet naturally where they're housed would be a nice change of pace from missions. EDIT: On second thought I'd say a solid month for downtime. A single SOL thread for me lasts a couple of weeks in between working, thinking about it, it would be nice not to have to rush!

Edited 2015-10-01 18:20 (UTC)

app cycles/character cap
I voted for a cap over 70, but I think keeping it to 100 or below would be nice! I've noticed in games before that after 100, it feels less tight-knit overall and it makes modwork pretty intense. It's also probably easier to implement a lower cap and then gradually increase it as time goes on if the mod legwork proves to be more manageable than expected. Opening it up to say, 120-150 and then realizing it's too much might be tougher to recover from.

I totally get that it sucks when a bunch of people are interested and can't app because there's a huge wait, though. So monthly might be friendlier in general? Because ultimately, a bimonthly schedule will probably make life a whole lot easier for event scheduling, but if it's not massive app rounds each time I don't think it'd make as big an impact either. There's definite merits to both.

mission length
Agreeing with some people above that having every mission be 6 months might be draining, though I'm sure it'll depend on the importance/point of each mission! Maybe 3-5 would be a good settling point unless it's really vital/plot relevant.

downtime
I think downtime is super great for recharging and having time to backtag, though a month of nothing can get really killer for game motivation from what I've seen. If it's used for info gathering, easier events, etc, as opposed to strictly nothing, I think that's cool. But given that December is upon us so there'll almost certainly be a dip of activity then, plus the fact that missions will have their own downtime within them (or so I'm guessing!!), I think any more than a month would be maybe too much. For me 3ish weeks seems like a good amount of time to chill out and do optional sidestuff, but that's just a personal gauge.

npc involvement
NPC involvement is hella cool, and I'd love to see some during downtime! But overall I think this is where mods can get overwhelmed the most, and between missions I'm sure there'll be a lot of planning for... the next mission, so whatever you guys think is feasible. It'd also be awesome to be able to participate in world politicking and ALASTAIR mysteries without having to thread extensively with NPCs imo, since that's not everyones cup of tea.

However it all goes, thank you guys for all the updates and work so far!

APP CYCLES/APP CAPS

I'm strongly in favor of a bi-monthly system. However, while we get our numbers up, I might actually keep them open for the first few months instead to give more people a chance to app in. I'm fine with a cap anywhere between 100 and 150, though if I had to specify I'd probably aim for something on the lower end to keep the roster manageable. Numbers aside, though, the moment you guys start feeling the strain on the mod end is the moment an app cap should be implemented, IMO. For your own sanity and general health of the game.

MISSION LENGTH/DOWNTIME

I would prefer missions to last no more than a few months and for downtime to exceed no more than one month. Otherwise I feel we're risking burnout, boredom, or both. Six months seems like a big stretch for a plot to run, and as someone who's dealt with such a plot that's lasted this long (and longer!) in a game, it can get really tiring really fast. Same deal with trying to find continuous things to do in slice-of-life mode.

NPC INVOLVEMENT

I won't lie, I'll take as much as I can get! Since it's already been established there will be no NPC favoritism or special treatment for currying that sort of CR, I don't feel heavy involvement of NPCs would lead to any issues. The way it's set up should be pretty low stress for the mod team to handle so I'd love to see what you all come up with in this arena. NPCs can add a lot of flavor to the game and it can be a lot of fun in a panfandom environment bouncing off all kinds of characters.

I'm sorry in advance for typos I am on mobile but wanted to do this before I forgot :(

★ How often would you like app cycles?

★ How long would you like missions to last?

★ How much downtime would you like between missions?

★ Would you like a character cap?

★ How much ALASTAIR NPC involvement would you like?

Just some really quick answers to your questions!

I'd like to give players unique mission intros to integrate them into the game if app cycles aren't as frequent, yes!

And by saying that it's suited best for around 100 is assuming that everyone will get the chance to have an active role, and would include things that would be a little more tailor-made to the current team. Tasks right now have been made with a smaller playerbase in mind, but as said before, adjustments can always be made.

Thank you for such a quick response!

In that case, bi-monthly apps regardless of how long or short missions are would be awesome. I look forward to see what you come up with since some of the fun best events in past games have been unique intros for new characters.

Regarding the character cap with this information, I think I might need to see how things go for a bit to give a more useful/definitive answer. I do like the idea of more than 70 for a cap, still, I just am not sure if I am for more than a cap of 100 characters or not.

Again, thanks so much for the quick answers as well as for doing a poll for us to be able to give our thoughts.

★ How often would you like app cycles?
Bi-monthly would be best, if only for the first round, to give everyone a chance to settle in.

★ How long would you like missions to last?
However long they organically last, though I think six months is a bit long, unless characters are given lots of direction, which in turn would mean lots of involvement for you guys. I think ideally there'd be a mix--longer missions, followed by shorter missions, maybe some could be aborted earlier than 'intended' because of IC consequences, that sort of thing.

In general, I think 3-6 months is a good average.

★ How much downtime would you like between missions?
A month, tops.

★ Would you like a character cap?
The game cap should be whatever you, the mods, can adequately handle, whether that's 50 or 250. Personally, I like a strict cap since it keeps the mod-to-player ratio manageable and allows for more flexibility. As the game progresses, if you guys feel confident you can handle more, I don't see why you couldn't raise it, but don't feel you have to just to please us; it's no use getting 150 characters if you guys burn out early. I think 70 is a good number.

★ How much ALASTAIR NPC involvement would you like?
Well, I'm a sucker for worldbuilding so I'd love to meet more ALASTAIR npcs, but I'd be glad to have that woven into Oska visits as the game goes on. My answer is the same as above: whatever keeps you guys happy and stress-free!

I like all these answers. I'm especially in agreement re: character cap; I immensely prefer when a game's mods decide what they're ready to handle and cap things there rather than scramble to try and make things work on a completely different scale than planned and can't quite get things to work out right.

The one place my thoughts diverge is that I could see a longer period of downtime on occasion working, if there's some kind of big metaplot thing in place happening around Oska - but for the average situation of just "waiting for the next mission and getting some time to breathe," a month seems plenty.

When will the poll be closing (if it hasn't already) and results posted? Just in case anyone who might've been busy when this originally went up but would still like to toss in their two cents has a chance to.

Final results will probably be checked around the 14th; it might take awhile longer to fully decide what to do since there's been a lot of 'Other' answers to sift through, but most likely no longer than a week after!

That makes sense. Thank you very much for the speedy reply!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

POLL.

character cap + app cycle

Re: character cap + app cycle

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+1

QUESTION

Re: QUESTION

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