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◣ STATE OF THE GAME - JUNE ◢
STATE OF THE GAME ❀
Each month, we will provide general updates on adjustments the mods are making to help the game thrive as we see things develop. We wish to see the game develop organically and to be responsive to player needs and receptive to alterations that will improve player experience.
These posts will also act as reminders about any housekeeping items that need player response, deadlines, etc.
Additionally, State of the Game posts are a great place for players to ask miscellaneous clarifying questions; we'll make ourselves available to turn these around relatively quickly whenever possible.
We have been updating and will continue to update our setting page after each major event log to add any information that was revealed, developed, or changed as a result of questions asked by players. If you ever find inconsistencies, please let us know! This is an ongoing project to try to help the playerbase as a whole stay on the same page.
Based on the workload NPC engagement creates for the mods, we are working on revisiting our strategy for NPC engagement. For the foreseeable future, NPCs threads will rely on a request-based system where players come to the MOD QUESTIONS thread to explain their goal for an NPC thread before we make one available. Our goal is to use our NPCs to facilitate characters affecting the setting and developing their own plots.
We are also feeling out our reporting methods for event actions that might influence the overall setting (such as the Thessyx and Critter threads). We realized after the fact that we were unclear about what we intended these threads to represent and the information gleaned. This is not a player error — we feel that you guys reacted in a way that made sense upon our review of our initial text! However, we will be revising our approach to threads of this nature to improve cohesion down the line.
Our overall goal is to use the MOD QUESTIONS thread to clarify information, and any other self-reporting threads to influence future development and logs. We're also going to work on condensing and streamlining how many different decisions players have to juggle and report on, and we want to emphasize that deadlines on these submissions are designed with giving players time to RP and allow stances/actions/plans to develop naturally in mind. We wish to give people adequate time that allows for busy schedules, varying timezones, etc, and not to create a feeling or sense of an opinion not mattering because it came in 'late to the party with Starbucks', as it were.
We have also revised our formatting and explanations for the plot engagement post. After looking over the first few weeks of requests, we felt our guidelines were unclear. Plot requests — i.e., requests that involve detailed exploration, setting growth, and/or plot discovery — are limited to once every three months per character. We also expect players making these requests to make IC and/or OOC effort to bring any other interested players on board — such as a network post, OOC discussion, or open log.
To be transparent about our reasoning: plot engagement requests are limited primarily by the mods' time and creative energy, coupled with an effort to maintain the realism of how much time characters have in a given day (or week, etc.) on top of the work they are expected to do to help the IC community survive. The more people who participate in a plot, the further our investment will go!
Please keep in mind that Tier I & II plots are exempted from these limits. We also do not mind helping you to determine which Tier your plot would fall under! This is strictly for our Tier III, which include all plot requests. We will be keeping an eye on this and ensuring it feels fair to our players, and may make adjustments in the future as we progress.
We want to make this a place that players can ask generic questions to facilitate their non-event CR and plans. However, we also want this to a place that players can provide suggestions on how our process can better support your gameplay.
Below are a list of things we would like player feedback on:
It seems people may not have felt comfortable jumping right into our thessyx arrival event, and we want to ensure that players have the information they need to play. For events that will have interactivity like this one did, we are considering the possibility of putting up a plotting post a few days in advance of the actual log so that players can get OOC answers and clarification that allows them to jump right into playing on the day the event log goes up. Let us know what you think. Would you like to see OOC plotting posts for our event logs that involve player choice?
We're currently seeing most gameplay happen in hatching/event logs — is this something the playerbase feels happy with? Is there something we could be doing to help players drive their own logs/plots separate from this? Basically: How's the pace? Do you feel like you have enough to do, enough room to initiate threads?
We're getting ready to post a new Test Drive Meme — do you think it would be better for it to go up before this July round of reserves, or should it come after our July application round to better serve the August reserve/application round? What timing serves your needs best?
If there are specific aspects of the setting, survival tropes, etc. — things that you would like to see in future events/hatching logs, feel free to request them here.
Can we better format our events and informational posts for accessibility? Let us know here.
This is your reminder that activity check closes on June 30th at 11:59 EST. All activity must be dated and submitted before this time to our STATIC ACTIVITY CHECK POST.
(As a note, we saw there was some confusion over the posting of May activity for new characters, and we'd like to quickly apologize for not being more diligent about providing examples for how to format things. We will improve this in the future, and we have (hopefully) clarified our phrasing on the post. No one was penalized in May for the way they formatted their submission, and no one was dropped due to inactivity! Yay!)
ACTIVITY REQUIREMENTS:
As a reminder, BONUS AC can be submitted once during any three-month period. It can also be done at any time during the month. While June will not be eligible for Bonus AC submissions because everyone is new, July will be! So we want to make sure there aren't any questions about its submission. If there are, please let us know.
Bonus AC provides the opportunity for: plot/story tidbits, interesting weapons or items tooled by the mods for your characters, an item from the character's home or an in-game power or ability.
GENERAL NOTES:
These posts will also act as reminders about any housekeeping items that need player response, deadlines, etc.
Additionally, State of the Game posts are a great place for players to ask miscellaneous clarifying questions; we'll make ourselves available to turn these around relatively quickly whenever possible.
❀ ANNOUNCEMENTS
Our overall goal is to use the MOD QUESTIONS thread to clarify information, and any other self-reporting threads to influence future development and logs. We're also going to work on condensing and streamlining how many different decisions players have to juggle and report on, and we want to emphasize that deadlines on these submissions are designed with giving players time to RP and allow stances/actions/plans to develop naturally in mind. We wish to give people adequate time that allows for busy schedules, varying timezones, etc, and not to create a feeling or sense of an opinion not mattering because it came in 'late to the party with Starbucks', as it were.
To be transparent about our reasoning: plot engagement requests are limited primarily by the mods' time and creative energy, coupled with an effort to maintain the realism of how much time characters have in a given day (or week, etc.) on top of the work they are expected to do to help the IC community survive. The more people who participate in a plot, the further our investment will go!
Please keep in mind that Tier I & II plots are exempted from these limits. We also do not mind helping you to determine which Tier your plot would fall under! This is strictly for our Tier III, which include all plot requests. We will be keeping an eye on this and ensuring it feels fair to our players, and may make adjustments in the future as we progress.
❀ MOD FEEDBACK
We want to make this a place that players can ask generic questions to facilitate their non-event CR and plans. However, we also want this to a place that players can provide suggestions on how our process can better support your gameplay.
Below are a list of things we would like player feedback on:
❀ ACTIVITY REMINDER
This is your reminder that activity check closes on June 30th at 11:59 EST. All activity must be dated and submitted before this time to our STATIC ACTIVITY CHECK POST.
(As a note, we saw there was some confusion over the posting of May activity for new characters, and we'd like to quickly apologize for not being more diligent about providing examples for how to format things. We will improve this in the future, and we have (hopefully) clarified our phrasing on the post. No one was penalized in May for the way they formatted their submission, and no one was dropped due to inactivity! Yay!)
ACTIVITY REQUIREMENTS:
You must submit a combination of TWO of any of the following types of activity:
☆ A log of 5 or more comments
☆ A network thread of 10 or more comments
☆ An open post in the network or log community where the player made a reasonable effort to reply**
Players may mix and match the above to any effect, as long as it meets the two proof requirement (e.g., 10 network comments and 5 log comments, or one open log and 10 network comments). "Reasonable effort to reply" to an open thread is defined as responses to some or most of the replies accrued on an open thread.
These two proofs must be with different characters from month to month. (If you submit a thread with Mario and a thread with Luigi this month, then next month you will need to submit one with Bowser and one with Peach; you cannot submit a thread with either Mario or Luigi.)
☆ A log of 5 or more comments
☆ A network thread of 10 or more comments
☆ An open post in the network or log community where the player made a reasonable effort to reply**
Players may mix and match the above to any effect, as long as it meets the two proof requirement (e.g., 10 network comments and 5 log comments, or one open log and 10 network comments). "Reasonable effort to reply" to an open thread is defined as responses to some or most of the replies accrued on an open thread.
These two proofs must be with different characters from month to month. (If you submit a thread with Mario and a thread with Luigi this month, then next month you will need to submit one with Bowser and one with Peach; you cannot submit a thread with either Mario or Luigi.)
As a reminder, BONUS AC can be submitted once during any three-month period. It can also be done at any time during the month. While June will not be eligible for Bonus AC submissions because everyone is new, July will be! So we want to make sure there aren't any questions about its submission. If there are, please let us know.
Bonus AC provides the opportunity for: plot/story tidbits, interesting weapons or items tooled by the mods for your characters, an item from the character's home or an in-game power or ability.
GENERAL NOTES:
☆ There will be no AC warning list — this post is your warning.
☆ Activity sweeps and drops will be announced in the OOC Intro/CR Meme to facilitate plotting of those players'/characters' close CR. (This cycle will include drops from May as well.)
☆ Dropped characters disappear, but their belongings are left behind. If you have questions about a character's inventory left behind, you can approach the mods. We have all the apps recorded.
☆ Activity sweeps and drops will be announced in the OOC Intro/CR Meme to facilitate plotting of those players'/characters' close CR. (This cycle will include drops from May as well.)
☆ Dropped characters disappear, but their belongings are left behind. If you have questions about a character's inventory left behind, you can approach the mods. We have all the apps recorded.
QUESTIONS
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Check in and link to hiatus comment? No action required at all? This may be stated somewhere, so apologies if I’ve missed it! (But I figure that if I have, I can be the slightly embarrassed test case: sick people overlook things sometimes.)
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Players who have submitted hiatuses to the drop/hiatus post are completely covered — no need to check in unless you want to for your own sake. We reference the drop/hiatus post when processing AC. We'll edit this into the AC post for clarity.
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We hope this is a satisfactory compromise!
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what is needed for bonus AC? is it just one extra AC-length proof (e.g. 5 log comments) or is it a full extra AC (e.g. 5 log comments + 10 text comments)? if the latter, does the extra AC need to be done in one month, or can it be spread out over the 3 months (e.g. 5 log comments in July + 5 more in August)? do we only need one month of bonus AC to get a bonus, or do we need three months of it (e.g. 5+5 log comments for each month of July, August, and September)?
also, when can we cash in/receive our bonuses? right away, when we submit the bonus AC, or do we have to wait until the three months are up?
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Bonus Activity does indeed require full extra AC for a one-month period! The AC has to be in a single activity period, and has to be threads you have not utilized for normal AC. We will edit the page to make it a bit clearer.
You can put in for AC once for every three months (so you could put it in for June!) and you receive the reward right away (depending on what it is. A plot might take more time on our end to pull together than a power approval or an item from home!) After that, you would have to wait until October's AC period to submit again. The Bonus AC submission form is the reward request form-- you just apply for the reward when you want it, and you can't apply again for 3 more months after.
We hope this clears it up, but if not feel free to ask more questions!
FEEDBACK
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EVENTS
Giving us an OOC plotting post for events like this is something I'd like! Personally I get a little overwhelmed with getting all the information on the same day as it starts, and I was definitely one of the folks asking 5 million q's with caveats on how my character would respond dependent on answers. I was also someone who was hesitant to engage in the critter part of the event right away for the same reason. Another option might be to break up large, month long events like that into two parts? That way it's a little less overwhelming trying to figure out where your character will land on their actions-consequences.
PACE + REQUESTS
I think the pace alright? I'm on the slower end though (this past month has been hectic for me!)
Requests for the setting/future plots: I have a character that is comfortable with combat/survival setting stuff and generally physically capable but tends to keep new people at arm's length , so this is gonna be super vague but I'm hoping to have more opportunities to individually break him down? Like, I know this is not everyone's cup of tea but give me an excuse for some temporary (or otherwise) body horror nonsense that forces him to rely on others, shared hallucination weirdness, or anything in that vein. Also any excuse to go outside of the Leviathan more!!
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i might come back with more thoughts later but this was my first gut instinct
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Pace: I think the pace is okay. I think it might be helpful to have a bit more information on what's happening outside of events. There haven't been a great number of posts made this month, and I'll admit I was a bit worried about making AC because of that (and for the same reason, I'm worried about the requirement for AC to always be with different characters). I'm not sure what the mods could do about it really - everyone is obviously new to the game and finding their way. Maybe having more of a sense of what life is like for characters day to day would help?
I'll also second what Jay said about breaking up larger events, though I realise that would mean more work for you guys.
Test Drive: I would favour a new test drive before each app round, personally! Do test drive threads count for AC?
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I definitely think having a plotting post a few days before an event would be helpful! Sometimes players over-plan and have spent so much time discussing it before an event that most stuff gets handwaved, but having advance info and some time to think can help people hit the ground running with top levels. Overall, it encourages threading.
Nonetheless, while I’ve been out of things due to illness, it does look to me like things are going well overall!
Edit: whoops, left out the TDM thing. That depends on how much you want to emphasize them or tie them into game events. I think some kind of reward for existing players participating in them is nice: even if not for AC, then perhaps for bonus?
Also, as far as tropes and concepts go: outside of exploration threads, the existing Leviathan camp is survivalist enough for my tastes (and it seems like there are mechanisms in the game design to keep it that way, like stuff that keeps a hypothetical Hermione from solving all the camp’s problems and scarcity with magic). What I would like to see is some psychic/psychological stuff that ties into the setting (i.e. explores some unusual effects that the setting can have on people’s minds), esp if it gives us a mystery to solve or etc.
Ultimately, “it depends what you want to emphasize” is probably my answer to most of these questions. 🤔
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OOC:
i’m a planner-type, so i’d appreciate having the ooc post in advance and then having the event after.
EVENT PACING/EVENTS GEN:
so far in terms of the event pacing, i think the pace is okay. i guess my only comment is that the event in itself is kind of too open-ended for me - referencing the calendar for june, i get that there’s two points of interest that are waiting on how the player base interacts with the event, in this case the thessyx/shell and the critters. this is fine, i’m excited with this, but personally i’d prefer it if there’s one ‘resolved’ event that we can play with to the end of the month. since the thessyx can be npc’d by the players, and there’s plenty we don’t know about them … for me there’s not much there to engage with other than a meet and greet aspect, if that makes sense? if we have one plot as players that we can play out to the end of the month while waiting on another to get resolved i think that’d lessen the dependence on plot things to be approved.
this is just my feelings on the matter tho; im not sure how others see it as well!
FUTURE STUFF:
it’s too early to say i guess, since i’m interested in seeing where the game heads to. for me i like the mystery of the ship wreck, but i think it’d be cool if we tackle something that explores more of the setting and checking out different areas of the planet. i'm down with a mix of tropes, and i feel the game is in its early stages still that there's plenty of room to see what it'll turn into.
TDM:
doesn't matter to me either way; both are good.
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PLOTTING POSTS
i think we would benefit from having the plotting/info post up a few days before the event. i didn't get a chance to tag into the post until very late because my work schedule suxxx but i read the info part immediately. so i think having it spread apart would help for scheduling purposes too?? idk cater to me and me alone etc
TDM
im cool with anything but i would strongly suggest, if the new TDM is also a hatching log, not making a hatching log for the first event as well. i didn't tag the first event at all because i felt it was just a rehash of the tdm, despite the new prompts.
TROPES
i like metaplot/worldbuilding, particularly if we are uncovering a ~mystery. some of my fav types of events are when characters are stuck away from "base camp," like marooned on a ship wreck or something and everyone has to work together to return.
ACCESSIBILITY
i did notice that some of the fonts are super tiny but i think you all might have fixed that already!
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Events
I think a plotting post would be great! Most of the issue for me is that most of the plot points in the log had determinant outcomes, but we didn't know what those outcomes were and in that situation it's very hard to write toplevels. For instance, some of the natural things to do in the log would be talking about the meeting and dealing with the creatures, but what the meeting was about (and who was going to be in on it, if anyone) was something we didn't know, and same thing with how the creatures would be dealt with. That basically just left the sinkhole itself as a main plot point to work with for toplevels, but if the OOC part of things is handled in advance with a plotting post, that might take care of the whole thing. If we know what the outcomes are going to be before the actual log goes up, it'll be a lot easier to engage with it.
That all said, the actual plots themselves are super interesting and I'm excited to see where they go! It's just difficult to engage in this particular log.
Pace
This I think would be fine if the issue with engaging in the plot were fixed. I think the hatching logs get the most activity because there were a lot to immediately do that didn't need any sort of feedback, and it is kind of unclear what goes on day to day to react to and discuss in a network post or something. However, since there's room for player plots that's not necessarily on you or anything; part of it is probably also just new game + new players still feeling things out.
TDM
I feel like it might be best to go up for the next round; the game is still new and the last TDM was very active, so holding a new one before the next app round seems like a good idea.
Tropes/Engagement
Anything that brings characters together and/or puts them at odds! The rescue mission from the TDM gave a lot to work with because it was something dynamic to do that we could just NPC ourselves and therefore get moving. Any incentive to go out of basecamp and explore is good, anything that might make characters feel the need to discuss and coordinate with each other (dangers, supply shortages, whatever) always make for good thread material.
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OOC PLOTTING POSTS
would love to see these, as i think you're right that it'll help people get their questions/clarifications out beforehand so we can all jump right into the log! it's also just easier for people who may not have plurk/discord to get involved in shenanigans.
PACE
i think part of this is just new game jitters where we're all still feeling out the setting, but i do agree with the john player above me that it might be nice to get a better sense of what's happening in and around the camp in any given month, even if it's just mundane things like the weather is terrible or there's a bunk shortage because a tent collapsed, idk, so that it's easier to drive our own logs. maybe this kind of thing could be put into the plotting posts?
i also agree with the vidar player about the thessyx/critter event, in that it was harder to engage with because it felt a little too open-ended. basically everything haru said i agree with lmao, just throwing that out there.
SETTING/TROPES
i'm really loving the setting so far, especially the exploration/mystery part of things, and everyone all working together in order to survive! i would really enjoy more opportunities to explore the planet and tease out the mysteries, i.e. the crash, the dragon, etc. just my 2 cents.
ACCESSIBILITY
i just have one nitpick here, i'm sorry, and it's that the font size in the CR meme code was small enough to make it hard to read, at least for me. it might just be that it was gray and a serif font too, idk? i was just strugglin a little
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Pace etc. - Since it's still early in the game I haven't considered an independent post, especially with still tagging threads in the initial log. That's probably me and this habit of thinking in more organic terms of flow than practicality, as well as just in terms of the character I'm playing. While I was looking forward to the event that came up, it did seem limiting for what could be done because of points already brought up by others, and it also seemed to me that tagging and new threads on the event log suddenly tanked mid-month so I wondered if I was missing something elsewhere. ...maybe this is all better fitted under event or something, now that I think about it.
TDM - Maybe after July, to give people more time to settle and all? I really don't have any preference for this.
Accessibility - Things are fine so long as the information part isn't too long, or at least sectioned off by relevance.
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That said want to agree with many above that hatch log prompts were great, the atmosphere is lovely, and I am super interested in the thessyx and the dragon mysteries. Y'all are doing a great job!
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plotting post
i'll agree with most people on this post and say plotting posts would be helpful! because with this log and the last log, it seems like there's a lot of people engaging with the questions threads or asking for clarifying info, i think having the event info even a day in advance might help people feel ready to "jump in" when the event is officially up.
setting/general tropes
i personally like scarcity-like tropes where there are shortages of resources or stuff like that, and i also think unraveling the mystery of the adamant's crash would be a good thing for the pcs to explore. tropes or situations where some pcs get really hurt, sick, or kidnapped/separated from the main group and others don't (like alien viruses or maybe some bad reaction to a native plant or animal, or a natural disaster splits up characters away from each other) are fun too! i think any sort of prompt that gives players the opportunity to be on different sides of a situation, or where not all pcs may be affected the same way by an event can be pretty dynamic and help prevent people feeling "stuck" on prompts. i hope that makes sense 🤧
◣ WRAP-UP ◢
☆ We are going to post OOC plotting posts 3 days in advance of events.
☆ Additionally, we will endeavor to include a mixture of open-ended and close-ended event prompts so that players aren't left feeling unable to engage the event while waiting on event wrap-up. Any open-ended elements of the events that require check-in or vote will be included on the OOC plotting post rather than the log, and the deadlines will be made clear in multiple locations.
☆ We want to provide you with more information about what daily life is like on the basecamp With this in mind, we expanded a prompt on our Test Drive Meme to include more information about what daily life is like on the basecamp. This prompt information will be expanded and developed over time into a new info page, so keep an eye out! In addition, we will include small daily life bullets on the hatching logs that suggest specific, smaller events and more granular happenings around camp for that month which give an impression of the overall vibe. As always, if you are looking for more information, please don't hesitate to pop by our FAQ post.
☆ We plan to post new test drive memes for every application round. However, to account for the workload involved and to avoid repetition with our hatching logs, these test drives will be more standardized and uniform than they have been in the past. Each TDM post will feature one new sub-heading, and more of our creative energy will be directed towards the hatching logs. As discussed here, to incentivize play, current players can use their TDM threads for bonus AC (but not for normal AC).
☆ We have updated our MOD CONTACT page — we will no longer be checking the mod email for these purposes. Please reach out to use via DM or our Mod Contact post if you have a concern and need to chat with us privately.
☆ Ideally, we would like to respond to player questions within 24 hours; however, we recognize this as aspirational. We do, however, check the mod inbox every 1-3 days and make sure each of the mods are updating their duties multiple times per week. Thank you for your patience as we find a rhythm that works for us.
☆ Those of you who submitted trope preferences, we are looking at ways to incorporate these into upcoming events! On the whole, players expressed interest in events that force characters to depend on one another, events that highlight ideological differences and provoke conflict between characters, events that involve exploring outside the basecamp, events involving resource scarcity, and events that develop the overall worldbuild or address some mysteries.
Thank you again to everyone who took the time to respond here and provide feedback. We appreciate all the work you do to help us make this community run!