POST-MISSION ASSESSMENT: ZETA-12

[futurologists]

post-mission assessment Hello, Audentes! With the completion of the Zeta-12 mission, we'd like to once again open up a discussion on game observations. To view our previous post-mission assessment, click here. Game updates: TEAM NAME: Our characters' specific ALASTAIR team was selected as being called Audentes, which derives from the Latin phrase audentes Fortuna iuvat -- "fortune favors the bold." BOUNTY BOARD: Beginning with Zeta-12, we now have a bounty board so characters may work on side missions to keep them busy during the mission proper. The number of bounties will be scaled to how long we spend in each mission world. If you haven't yet looked at the bounty board, please give it a glance! Players may submit their own bounties for approval as well. We will be adding the bounty board to the main nav for easier access. CAST CAP: To better suit the needs of our changing playerbase, we have recently lowered the cast cap from eight to six. AC CHANGES: As a preventative measure, we now require one AC proof (of two) to be from a non-castmate. In other words, Clark Kent can no longer submit two threads he had with Bruce Wayne during the same AC period, but he may submit one proof from Bruce Wayne and the other from Han Solo. Future changes: PLAYER CAP vs. CHARACTER CAP: This suggestion was brought to our attention several months ago, and we have been discussing it amongst ourselves. Currently, we have a character cap which means we only allow 80 characters in-game, with a maximum of three characters per player. The proposed change would move us to a player cap, which would limit the number of players in-game, with a continued maximum of three characters per player. A hypothetical player cap would be lower than 80 (likely between 60-70), which would lower the potential amount of players in game, but would take the pressure off players who worry that apping multiple characters would take up a "slot" that could be filled by someone else. Applications from current players would be able to be reviewed each weekend instead of waiting in the queue. This could potentially result in creating a more intimate game experience, with current players being able to exercise more freedom in switching out characters and continuing momentum. As of August 18th, we currently have 62 players in game, with only 7 playing more than one character. If we adopt a player cap, we would grandfather in anyone above the number, whatever it may be. Please let us know your thoughts on switching to a potential player cap! We will be taking player opinions and concerns into consideration, as this impacts the entire game. Zeta-12 Review PASS/FAIL MECHANIC: We introduced a new pass/fail mechanic in the Zeta-12 mission. (Please remember to fill out your progress report before August 31st, 23:59 UTC! It is required to pass AC this month.) Our intent in having a "report card" is to ensure character actions have more of an impact on the result of each mission. Having the progress report be required for AC is to ensure players are involved in our missions! CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE: As a trial run, we gave you the chance to submit character actions to certain subthreads and receive results that were RNGed but took into account the course of action chosen. While this was used for the report card this mission, it might or might not be in the future. PLOT: Our aim was to give a lighthearted break from the intensity of Nalawi and have a mostly open mission. This was a mini-mission at about half the length of a normal mission -- let us know if you would like more mini-missions interspersed with regular length ones in the future -- and due to its nature, had a much simpler, less involved plot. We included elements like caretaking/escorting natives, a focus on player vs. nature conflict, and a higher level of customization. YOUR THOUGHTS?: Let us know what you thought about Zeta-12! What worked? What didn't work? What would you like to see in the future, and what would you not like to see again?

Comments

Thoughts on game mechanics

[asscan]

Character vs Player Cap

My initial impulse is to say that we should retain the character cap. The biggest aversion I would have, were I new to the game, would be the waiting queue, and knowing that the 60 player limit would mean I might have to wait until someone dropped two characters, not one, would make wait times hypothetically longer. I don't think it'd alleviate the pressure of the queue that we have going here, but would rather incentivize multiple character applications once a player got into the game (especially if they'll be allowed in ahead of the line), which in my opinion would be a mixed blessing. This needs more careful deliberation about who you want in the game and why (who being characters, players, etc.)

All games have churn where players try a character out, find they're not working for whatever reason, and either try again or move on. I feel that with our current cast-cap drops and AC precautions, the mod team is really hanging a lampshade on players needing to tag out more--which is great--but it conflicts with the idea of a player cap in that it's still not getting to the gritty details of 'making newbies feel more welcome and slowing the roll of app-in-drop-out that current rule changes seem to attempt to address.

Zeta-12 Review Thoughts
The pass/fail mechanic appended to AC is a game changer, though I feel it's appropriate given we also have an AC bank. I hope it is not too much work for the mods, and I fear that that extra thread cross-checking might overwhelm you guys over time, especially if someone ollies out as mods are wont to do every now and again. Is the intention of this also to whittle out those who are sitting on a spot? I think that if you include this in all upcoming missions, you'll be fine for the possible cap changes: odds are that someone failing to fill out this report card/who can't be arsed to will flake off more quickly, freeing up more spots and making the app queue less daunting. It also means that those who want a second character but who aren't sure about it will (hopefully) not feel so bad--and their players will be more familiar with the AC process! Everybody wins? (Except for those who are lazy or those who make frequent and silly mistakes.... >_>;)


I loved the CYOA mechanic and while I can't see it being sensible with every mission, I'd be all for seeing it (or different iterations of it) in the future! Maybe we could use it to RNG the success of the entire group who signed up for one choice instead of another, to further emphasize IC teamwork and community?


The plot was admittedly really fun for me. I would like to see these every now and again, either just the idea of a shorter, less involved mission, or more player vs. nature... or even more nurturing aspects of characters being put on trial--all of these things were a hit, for me at least. Thanks! I wouldn't expect them constantly, but you guys chose a good time for this one.


As for what didn't work... really, this one was much easier to get involved in for me, and though I still wound up missing about every other week due to tag loads and my IRL work-load taking away from RP time, I didn't often feel completely overwhelmed. I've enjoyed building up a foundation of CR with other players that wasn't gritty or ICly morally crushing, which after Nalawi was a relief. I'm not sure how other players feel, but having those ins will be really useful in future mission threads, as I hope that Laedo will be able to see team members as valuable and unique. I wonder if more people dropped during this mission than the average, or less? I wasn't really keeping stats on hand, but I'd be curious to keep a longitudinal sort of study of what plots are interesting to what demographic of players, you know? Maybe having heavier plots and lighter ones interspersed when the app queue is at different ebbs and flows will help engage more of the population of our game for longer.

(My inner nerd wants to start compiling graphs of apps-to-drops and length-of-players-in-game, but that's a serious digression that's mostly given to blithering rn.)

TL;DR: It was a good one, thanks!