TEMPERATURE CHECK

[baymods]

⋆✩ temperature check ✩⋆

STATE OF THE GAME

Hello everyone! Welcome to our very first temperature check, where we discuss how things are going, what we like or don't like, what might change, and all related concerns about how the game is running. The game is brand new, but there is a lot that's flexible in how we are running things, so we wanted to open the floor for discussion on a number of things so far. There are currently 16 players in the game, which makes for a wonderfully cozy vibe oocly, while also welcoming even more direct character impact on the plot than you might experience if the game were, say, 50 players or so. So, with that in mind, we have a few things in mind.

PACING & SCHEDULES
We found that the early TDM made for a lot of downtime between TDM prompts and the actual application acceptances, so moving forward, we're looking to shift the scheduling on a number of things. First, rather than application rounds, we are interested in keeping applications and reserves open at all times. This would mean that the personalized acceptance notices can still get the attention they deserve without detracting so many days in a row of mod time. Reserves would have a designated length of time before expiring (1 week, probably) where mods would reply with the expiration date when confirming a reservation. With this method, we would still have a designated chunk of time to accept applications, but there would no longer be an ooc intro, and instead we would post regular bi-monthly plotting posts. We would like to hear opinions and feelings on this as a decision before moving forward with it!

Secondly, we had placed extra prompts for the following month into the TDM in order to try and make up for the distance between app acceptances and TDM, but it seemed to only create confusion. So moving forward, TDMs will only have prompts for the month of character arrival, with no specific time limits other than the arrival prompt itself. We still want to give just as much in terms of prompt amount, but the timing will be better. TDMs will also work as the event for the month for in game players, so will not solely focus on arrivals, either. TDMs are still planned to occur every other month.

Here is a rough idea of the schedule we have in mind moving forward:

TDM MONTHS
1st QUESTS POSTED (mostly smaller quests)
3rd QUEST SIGN UPS OPEN
10th TDM
15th-20th APPS PROCESSED

QUEST HEAVY MONTHS
1st QUESTS POSTED WITH OOC PLOTTING POST (heavier, plottier quests along with smaller)
3rd QUEST SIGN UPS OPEN
15th EVENT LOG (this would likely be just guilds doing smaller things, or if theres a festival, etc, and the heavier plot comes from quests, so no plotting post for this)

If this schedule seems to appeal to most everyone in game currently, then the calendar page will be updated to reflect it, and March will be considered a Quest heavy month. We will wrap results from the nightmare question on our last post into the quests, so look forward to that! EDIT: There has been a suggestion to make March a TDM month instead, so give your opinion here!

QUESTS
Moving forward, we would like to release quests and board rankings on the 1st of each month, with sign-ups opening a couple days later on the 3rd of the month. We would do this with the idea that quests could be threaded throughout the month. We also plan on increasing the number of quests, especially when it comes to rescue quests and exploration quests. The quest page may be adjusted slightly moving forward, as we would like to streamline rescue quests to have more "fill in the blank" RNG responses that still provide a customized experience that's fun to roleplay, but also don't take multiple days for us (the single mod) to write out. These may also be renamed to "help quests" or something else in the future to allow for more types of prompts, and varying additional rewards.

Those heavier, plottier quests would be exploration quests (or unique quests, in the future), and this month we limited those fairly heavily. In the future, we're considering making them unlimited, but with the caveat that you can only get points from each one once.

Essentially, with this and the rough schedule above, we'd go for an alternating "arrival, TDM + light quests" month and "heavier plot quests + guild activities/bonding" month.

FAQ/QUESTIONS
We would just like to make a note that most theoretical questions are handled on a case by case basis, so if you're looking to apply for a character that is unique in some way, or have some other unique circumstances, please make use of the mod contact post to work it out with us at the time of the TDM.

We also would like to mention that while we are fine with answering quick questions on plurk that may not apply to everyone, all relevant questions should be asked under question headers or in the FAQ so that others can see the answers. We will not always be able to view or respond to plurk questions in a timely fashion, and some questions are not suitable for plurk.

GENERAL FEEDBACK
Are we handling everything okay so far? Are we yapping too much? We're going for a very transparent and personalized approach that might feel different from most DWRP games these days, so we'd love feedback on anything and everything! Application standards, the app itself, quest content, anything we didn't cover in this post yet. And also, out of curiosity— do you prefer to have long posts collapsible, or just behind a cut but in full view?

For the above schedule, we have one main OOC plotting post, as the smaller quests we assume would be fine to reach out individually based on preferred contact listed on the taken page. Does this sound good? Would players benefit from the mod plurking a "plotting plurk" on smaller quest months for quick and easy plotting? Are players in need of additional options for plotting, such as a discord channel, or would this be uncomfortable for anyone? Keep in mind that if a discord channel is desired, we would not have time to moderate it ourselves and would appoint two moderators for managing the channel. Also please know that OOC communication will ALWAYS be placed on the ooc comms when relevant to the game, and that plurk or discord are not meant to be replacements, but just additional tools should players desire them.

CLOSING COMMENTS
Thank you all again for your patience. If you'd like to give feedback privately, the mod contact page is screened for your convenience. Otherwise, feel free to use this post for discussion, bouncing ideas off of one another, or however you'd like!

Ideally, we'd like to do a temperature check in another 6 months or so, but could do one in as soon as 3 months if it seems like things need discussion.

Lastly, thank you all for the patience in dealing with little bumps and delays! NPC threads and exploration quest results will come as soon as possible, but if you need something worked out sooner for IC reasons, please feel free to use the mod contact to speak with us about it OOCly. The mod is currently dealing with unexpected RL interruptions that will hopefully clear up over the next month, but we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused!

Comments

[seacub]

This was noted on the Plurk announcement, but I think making a sort of soft-schedule regarding the regular apps might be a good idea- having a designated processing day per week, and otherwise leaving the apps open, should help to avoid interrupting other planned events. I know it was suggested to have set weeks, reserves and applications going back and forth, but personaly I feel that loses the feeling of being open at all times. Just have a set day for the game to be handling processing, so that people know when to expect it.

That said- I did see that you're worried about losing out on the personalization flavor as a result of this; my advice then would be to stick to the every-other-month, open-closed apps. There was a lot of charm in those initial acceptances, and if that's something you enjoy creating, I think prospective players will prefer that to a 'fast acceptance' by far. This game is brand new and it already shows so much heart and care, and that's something that deserves attention.

Now, moving onto the TDM versus Quest months, and the quests themselves! I think everyone's already weighed in a good amount on this (albeit in plurk), but provided it's not somehow causing a great pile of work out of nowhere I do agree that a TDM in March would be wise- if you're encouraging regular applications, a fresh TDM will do wonders for that, and as well, it'll help ease the slow-down that happened from the confusion over February (Since I suspect much of the slowdown on replying to such prompts was because of how far down the line February felt)

In terms of the number of quests, I think that you have a good number already (particularly if this was meant to be a 'quest Light' month), but that also might be because we have a nice cozy number of players. It might be good to watch for how much bigger the game gets before increasing that quest board too too much, unless you anticipate keeping certain quests on that board.

For the moment, they shouldn't get so snapped up with your 24 hour rule in place either; I think it would be best to see how quickly the Limited quests are taken in the next board announcement before changing the number/limit, etc. Many of us moved really quickly this time, but again, all of those people will now need to wait 24 hours, giving others a chance. And it may well be that...not so many people go for them next time!

Whatever the case, I would say it's definitely best to find a good way to streamline responses from the Mod end before increasing that number- you want to make less work from the Mod end, not more after all!

Regarding plotting, I think the best way to handle things is to encourage the use of the OOC community; I've seen so, so many cases where creating discord avenues or dedicated plurks, just...causes the OOC plotting posts to fizzle entirely in their activity, and that's really a shame! Because some people...Still prefer using the OOC com! And while the Mod voice is always there, a lot of the players end up not, and it can become pretty isolating. So I think, 'no' on making a dedicated plurk, and on the discord end, if players want to contact each other then that's in their hands, but stick to encouraging the OOC com as an option.

Anyway, above all, hang in there on the RL! Look after yourself dear Dedenne!

[baymods]

Thank you so much for your input!

Just to be clear, are you saying you would be uncomfortable with the presence of an optional discord server/optional mod plotting plurks, or that it wouldn't bother you? We are trying to take note of everyone's feelings on this, and regardless, it would be optional with OOC comm focus. But we know some players feel it can still detract, so we want to make note of it if that's the case!

[seacub]

I would not be uncomfortable! Game discords are certainly a thing I have been part of- still am- this is just an observation being made as part of that (like, the ooc plotting posts in my one game are...Barren). Essentially, I have seen players in other games struggle with discords while additionally losing out on planning and plotting because what goes on the discord doesn't necessarily make it to the OOC com- at least not from player posts.

With optional plotting plurks I'm more intruiged if that makes sense? That's an avenue I've never seen, and I've been part of DWRP for a full decade now. That one ultimately just comes with the same concerns a discord has though- will all the players be able to access it.

So to clarify- if a discord is made, if optional plurks are made, I will not be uncomfortable with it. I take a very 'if it happens it happens' stance on it, and am primarily thinking from the awareness of what has happened in the past.