Thusia Game-wide Community Discussion

[devotedtothecore]

Sup Thusia! Let's talk about Thusia.

The game's been a bit slow lately and while I know a heavy part of that's due to the September back-to-classes crunch and other RL gremlins punching people in the face, it seems like we could use a talk about what we can do to restart/boost interest for everyone, as well as talk about any other gamestuff we might like to bring up/have bee thinking of bringing up for a while, no matter how big or small.

COMMUNITY TALK, LET'S GO

((I'm gonna make a couple of top level comments for specific stuff so stand by!!1)) DONE, FIRE AWAY

Comments

[Things That Are Going On/That Happened That Got You Interested]

[devotedtothecore]

What kind of stuff in Thusia gets you engaged/got you engaged in the past? What was/is the stuff you had fun with? ELUCIDATION GOES HERE etc.

Re: [Things That Are Going On/That Happened That Got You Interested]

[foil]

I really love large group posts, plot and exploring posts. Basically anything that drags a whole bunch of people together, because there are definitely divisions in character groups and for me it's taken something either very big plot wise or my character nearing on death to get someone's attention. Nearly having Leo drowned was by far the strongest opener to CR I've gotten in game, and I had to actually thusiaping IRC to get anyone's attention to step in.

Also adding that Priesting has really helped stick with the game when I hit lulls. More to come when it isn't the wee morning hours.

Re: [Things That Are Going On/That Happened That Got You Interested]

[knighting]

Thus far my favorite post and the thing that got me really loving this game was the 'let's save Yukari event', I loved how many people were in it from different fandoms and we all were working for a goal. We also got interaction with two gods and had a for-real adventure!

It was the possibility of having that kind of post that got me to app in the first place. My utter love is when you can get an almost new character out of someone because you get cross-canon relationships through the dynamic events of the game.

Re: [Things That Are Going On/That Happened That Got You Interested]

[overclocking]

I LIKE PLOTS THAT ENGAGE LOTS OF PLAYERS/CHARACTERS

And this doesn't necessarily mean just mod-run plots (like the flood plot), because I know that's rough on the mods. But player-run plots have been aces too, like Karl's murderstatue plot or Yukari's S'vx plot etc etc. Especially ones that could have lasting effects on the environment (like how flood plot ended with us RELOCATING HQ, that was rad).

Because while shorter, one-off events are super fun, and I love them, I also like the idea of things having a longer-lasting impact? Like this is a story and we are making strides forward and CHANGES ARE HAPPENING. 8|a I think that's good for giving characters traction as well? At a certain point the environment can stagnate, and then characters follow suit, but if things are changing, then characters have to adapt, too.

... This got more rambly than I intended and it could technically fit under the category below, too, but w/e!! tl;dr EVENTS THAT HAVE IMPACTS ON CHARACTERS/THE ENVIRONMENT HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL, LET'S HAVE MORE.

Re: [Things That Are Going On/That Happened That Got You Interested]

[misterious]

Seconding what Chrono said, especially with S'vx arriving/Albinia's meeting/Yukariplot since there was still stuff for noncombatants to do. (It's really a shame no one else can read the Shade reactions, because it was pretty great '-')

Priesty-things in general have been super helpful, at least for Kirigiri as a character. I would extrapolate but I don't want to make this all about me, so.

Re: [Things That Are Going On/That Happened That Got You Interested]

[coughinguplove]

For a little while I was excited to see a discussion post, but then I realized I...had no ideas! I've always had this perception of Thusia as a chill place to just go ahead and try whatever you think might be fun whether that's showing up somewhere and singing or storytelling or NOW WE RUNNING OFF TO GET IN TROUBLE WITH BEASTIES, so.

IDK I guess my two cents is I'm cool with whatever people think will reinvigorate the game for them.

It does remind me that I should get on with Izumi doing some chemistry teaching shenanigans, though. :3

[Things You Would Like To See]

[devotedtothecore]

Things you'd like to see happen/make happen/help make happen in the game /o/

Re: [Things You Would Like To See]

[knighting]

I second foil's comment.

Re: [Things You Would Like To See]

[foil]

G-God apps... p-pleasseeee. I find the gods (active ones at least) to be some of the easiest CR to create. Those that have priests encourage some grouping from series that don't always cross or people that stay all on their lonesome. I also suggested god sponsorship awhile ago to give people some instant CR and contrast.

Re: [Things You Would Like To See]

[offalia]

I would like to see events that are less people vs world and more people vs people. I don't mean in terms of literal conflict or competition (though that's always OK) but in terms of things that really do force people to interact. Events that change the characters/force interaction soforth. Things like the cards/ax crazy events from camp, or something similar in function to games (though, for obvs IC reasons steering away from Games is probably a good idea.)


Basically what I mean is a lot of the events, like the god-themed mingles have still been just that. Kinda themed mingles. I'd like to see things that REALLY force characters to interact.

Re: [Things You Would Like To See]

[deretsune]

i've been really intrigued by the idea of team-based games for a long time, and the idea of shoving characters into situations with people that they have little to no CR with and need that group to get through something-or-other.

I know one of the biggest complaints about this game in acj/rpanons/whatever has been that characters in thusia are really closed off into their own CR circles/casts and not entirely open to newbies that aren't part of their cast/instantly adopted/etc. I'm guilty of this too!

SORRY I'M A LITTLE TIPSY IF THIS IS MAKING NO SENSE basically what i'm trying to get at is it would be nice if we had a few events shoving mostly-unfamiliar characters together into some kind of thing(nature run? quest? idk?) where it would force them to make cr with others. for those that are a little lazy/unwilling/unsure how to approach non-cast members or whatever-the-fuck.

OR SOME VARIATION THEREOF idc i just want to be shoved into cr SHOVE EVERYBODY INTO NEW CR

Re: [Things You Would Like To See]

[over_the_fop]

Project posts... not so much the building though that can be fun, but sometimes just the sheer beautiful hilarity and stupidity that can come from the final results (like catapult testing.)

Overarching villain plots. Social movements are very hard to manage, as much as Thusia was built for them in mind (or seems to be) but one thing that does work is player versus player. Honestly, I've got a few ideas I'd like to do, but don't have the right character for it (yet).

Advancements, theories and nerdcaving. IC specifically, talk about conspiracies, huddling, problemsolving and mysteries.

Re: [Things You Would Like To See]

[overclocking]

ALSO SOMEONE (Lady?? Claude?? idk) talked about this on plurk but the possibility of a timeskip is intriguing to me. Not now, obviously but someday!!

Because I mean. Obviously we're re-creating a world here, and right now we're just working on reclaiming one building. But... eventually this building will be reclaimed, and where do you go from there? Out, obvs. But if it takes an OOC year to reclaim one building, then without a timeskip, we probably won't ever get to see Thusia expand into more than just said building. IF... THAT MAKES ANY SENSE? Because the idea of seeing Thusia become a world/society/even a small town/village unto itself is one that gives me sparkle eyes every time I contemplate it.

Re: [Things You Would Like To See]

[unmaskedlizard]

I liek the above comments!

ALSO. More posts that encourage (and thus signal a Safe Place for nervous folks) all kinds of mixup intermingle with new people shenanigans would also be good - every time everyone just fearlessly piles onto each other cross-usual-CR, it tends to work out great! If not big events like Save Yukari, where it just makes sense for everyone to pull together - which I'm all for big events like that to happen more often, and it was great that it was spurred, carried through and completed purely by character motion - we could also have posts where whatever happens is just OOCly encouraging of jumping strangers? In general I just love threading with new people, and like Leo said there's definitely some character group patterns, and while familiar CR is a nice safety net when things are stressful, I think everyone feels the most energized making and developing unfamiliar relationships and stories =3c

Since a lot of the world IS about exploring and building, posts that make those things available that also encourage grouping together towards a certain goal - whether that goal is person or setting oriented - seem like they would be really awesome =|a Like, instead of the usual Exploradora Go, maybe make one with a prompt that immediately encourages people to comment in groups that Go In At The Same Time? That way it's less

> everyone goes down their own character path and maybe 2 or 3 people are in the same path

and more liek...

> Someone comments with "This pathway has sticky and humid floors and goes upe"; 30 minute delay to Group while Leo, Aerta, Gokudera and Ling comment, ICly and OOCly gathering, then whoever commented with that pathway runs that pathway to goal

> Someone else comments with a God being all HEY I JUST REMEMBERED THERE WAS SOME REALLY AWESOME FOOD THAT GREW SOUTH OF HERE I THINK WE COULD GET IT, BUT MAYBE YOU ALL NEED JETPACKS, I'M GONNA NEED SOME TRIBUTE. Delay while Elliot, Rota, Allen and Chrysos comment and then get geared up with jetpacks to somehow make it as a team to the food supply because *that can't go wrong*, that God runs that thread

> and then in advanced levels these threads could be related to the same topic and intersect sometimes maybe??

It's late but these seem fun 8|a

[weddingcake]

I definitely agree with the idea of things that force people to band together. Tokiomi is a bore and a loner, so it's really hard to get him interested in other people and doing anything other than single-mindedly working on his own creature comforts. Saberlancer got adopted into a CR pocket on day one and hasn't been getting out much since, which is my fault, but having excuses to branch out for both of them would be nice.

An idea, perhaps, is giving people positive reasons as well as negative. For example, having people do group activities to get some sort of upgrade or benefit for the whole lot of them would be just as fun as "band together or die" events.

Also, judging by the reaction to de-aging, things that take people outside the box of normal behavior and experience seem like a good idea. Right now our only real options to explore alternate sides of our characters are things like dreams and unconscious games, which while really fun (and I love them and would like to see them continue), seem to effect things mostly within the event themselves. I'd like to see things that give characters development pushes by putting them in situations outside of the norm. The entire environment is "out of the norm" to begin with, but the characters vs nature thing as a general whole (outside of special eventy bits) is setting and becomes, well, the setting after awhile. It becomes routine for the characters themselves.

Combining these two concepts (putting people in groups in odd situations that will force them to look at things/themselves from different angles) is what I'd personally enjoy most!

Using Banding Together Prompts?

[fill_the_blanks]

SO I just wanted to point out a thing that I'd love to see more of!! Obviously people have mentioned up and down this discussion post that they want more Group Stuff happening, so I wanted to point out a time when that was successful.

Which was basically Dera's riot during the flooding event! I mean, obviously there was plenty of motivation for that ICly and OOCly, so it went rather smoothly, but I'd just love to see more of that going on! It was pretty much Dera's idea and it was set up ICly and OOCly by the player (she did poke mods briefly just to check that it was fine but that's about it on our involvement). But it pretty much didn't have too much work to it, it just relied on people being interested in participating.

:|a It would probably take some fiddling, and like Boxy (Sabra!Allen) mentions somewhere above, a new sort of tagging mentality and event/group running might help with encouraging more people to participate when less dire things are happening, but basically IT IS AWESOME WHEN PEOPLE DO STUFF.

We try to leave lots of projects or prompts in announcements and flavor mingles for Things People Could Work On Communally as far as stuff around the HQ, and I know I'm happy every time I see someone pick up an idea and do a thing or post or event around it. :U LIKE RECENTLY with the stinky rotty stuff on Levels 2 and 1, Tare did a post with flowers/air fresheners. It helps with the sense of environment when people respond to it even in little ways like that.

SO ANYWAY I guess that was less WAYS MAKE BANDING TOGETHER EASIER and more I'D LIKE TO SEE PEOPLE UTILIZING THESE THINGS MORE TO DRIVE BANDING TOGETHER IDEAS??

Re: [Things You Would Like To See]

[thevineintervention]

ANOTHER THING I WOULD LIKE TO SEE is more priesthoods that are... hm, I'm not sure this is the right for it, but more dynamic? Like some priesthoods are "behave this way get this power" but others offer a character arc, or a place on a team, or appeal to a certain type of character, but then give them things to struggle with. I'd love to see new priesthoods, or revamped priesthoods that really give characters something to CHEW on.


So to speak ♥

Re: [Things You Would Like To See]

[supraliminally]

Well, IRL has eaten my life, but I'm hoping that situation will improve shortly, so here goes.

I definitely enjoy player versus player kinds of conflicts as well (although the player versus world can also be fun when the "world" involves the gods, since they are characters, basically) and I think introducing elements to encourage them could be fun. In general I think the best kinds of conflicts in this area are conflicts that are driven somehow by a character's desires/interest.

It's always possible to make a character conflict based on survival - something along the lines of "battle royale" fight-to-survive type deals, and those can be fun. But a pattern of them I think can be problematic for a few reasons. A lot of trauma, which ends up causing characters to be discouraged from being productive, which means they end up holing up, stagnating, possibly no longer branching out from their CR, that sort of thing.

Something I enjoyed about the whole Leo/Yukari/S'vx/lolsplosion thing is that it was nudged forward by S'vx's (w o w that fuckin word I just typed) threat, but also very much driven by Leo's own desire. It's not as if S'vx directly said "get me Yukari or I will murder you personally." There was a threat to spur things into action, but Leo was following his own interest, and I thought that was really cool. And then everybody running in on RESCUE!!!!1!111 was also following their own interest. Character driven!

And obviously character driven plots are not all on the moderators. They're on us as players as well. I think that mods have a responsibility to encourage player plots and try to do what they can to make them work out, butttt at the same time, player plots can't happen without players! I am not 100% sure how best to encourage players to do major plots with their characters? I will think on this. When it is not very very late. I have some ideas but they are all just kind of. Swirling in my head.

Re: [Things You Would Like To See]

[foil]

Also, randomly.....

I absolutely adore the slightly apocalyptic nature setting, but I know there are tech people out there who might be discouraged. With the flying HQ, that felt like a great step to encourage people who might otherwise not be interested in Thusia. Maybe keep throwing that in - more subtle technology for those who are interested.

[Things You Would Really Rather Not Like To See]

[devotedtothecore]

And conversely, stuff that you'd prefer not to see/be involved in, if any 8<a

[Things That Could Be Done Better]

[devotedtothecore]

If you've got any thoughts or suggestions on this front...

Re: [Things That Could Be Done Better]

[over_the_fop]

Gods become less of tools for trade, and more like gods in traditional senses.

They have interactions, favorites, relations... But also to be forces of their own nature. Heavy prevalence of what they ARE in their conversations becoming the draw to it, rather than what they offer. Speaking with one BECOMES an event with risks, benefits, consequences and possibilities. As they get more power, become stronger, agendas and even playing with the lives of our adorable little mortals becomes more pronounced.

[ anything else that doesn't fit into the above four categories idk]

[devotedtothecore]

^^^????

[ THREAD OF EXISTING ]

[devotedtothecore]

Finally, comment here if you existed in this post.

Re: [ THREAD OF EXISTING ]

[foil]

[raises hand?]

THE PLURK THAT STARTED THIS DISCUSSION

[boundbydevotion]

For those who missed what was said on plurk: Click here!. I believe everyone should be able to read Claude's plurk even if you don't have an account yourself :|a