thusia_ooc | DISCUSSION: To Plot and Beyond

Hey guys, your resident mods here with a... not quite a full-out discussion post, but we'd like to get some ideas and points of note out there and your feedback on the matter. Particularly involving the latest plot and currently running plotlines. There have been a few discussions on plurk, but we'd like to have something more formal to make sure everyone has the opportunity to read and get their input on things that'll affect them.

There's a few things we'd like to touch upon with this post, the main points revolving around current/past/future plots and how we as mods can make things more fun for you in the way we handle them. Also on our agenda are things like State of the Game, God Functions, Player Accessibility, and probably more. To keep things organized, we'll be using header comments to cover specific topics and linking them in the post for easy navigation, so once you see a topic linked here, feel free to jump right to it.

CURRENT PLOTS: Moving HQ | Bitey Dogs | Weres

Week of my Life Posts | State of the Game | Affecting the Gods | Nature

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

HOKAY this is about the worst time/format for discussion for me because I do not have time or brain to tl;dr while at work but I would love to see the game in this kind of format.

So it's... not exactly all topical and also I think it is incoherent but I wanna TL;DR WHILE THE IRON IS HOT

I think it would be rad to just have a lil game where the plot turns as it will, and the worldbuilding is more a... background on which such things can happen.

There are some really cool ways in which that's already happening, which have really a lot of the time been using the god/NPC system that's already in place!

I think that if NPCs were really enabled to do their own, self-directed plots then that would help the game a great deal. I know that there are some really talented, creative people involved. While there has been some really cool things coming out of gods, I've also felt that a lot of them have been... stagnant? I'd love to see the concept of gods retooled a little to take even less emphasis from the offerings/exchanges and more regarding their power to affect and be affected by people.

S'vx was an AWESOME example of this. He showed up, had demands, and reacted to people based on how they treated him. Bitey Goddess is also me kinda trying to be me playing around with this idea. The way things with her are going to play out are going to be SUPER dependent on how people interact with her and her critters.

But I don't think these need to all be villainous, of course! I mean, obvs antagonists are awesome for stirring conflict and plot. But i'd love to see for example some priest-vs-priest conflicts of interest. Just pulling an idea out of my patootie here: maybe the Hellions get wind that there are cameras all over?

Really encouraging players to have an immersive, motivating priesthood would be cool too. Like, buh, I hope I don't feel like a big-head for offering it, but I think I have a pretty good instainct for what can help pull in and motivate characters, so I would love to be an idea bouncer for current or prospective gods? Like, I would love to see priesthoods evolve into something like a profession. They can give characters a self-sustaining purpose and arc!

However! Mm, I feel like all of this is stuff on the player-end of how to make "sandbox" fun and sustainable. I think there have been a lot of mod practices so far that have discouraged this to the point where I know that there have been people who have left the game due to frustrations about lack of agency/engagement/satisfying environment. In addition to discussion about what can happen ICly and plotty-wise, I'd kind of also like to hear from the mods what their plans are to now foster an environment where these things can happen from their end. Like, concrete changes in their policies from the way things used to be handled? If that makes sense...

I think, to address our plot policies specifically, up to this point we've been doing what I mention in the second paragraph here which we thought would work because we put all the power in the player hands to do things but... it doesn't! The player needs support from the mods, I think, to feel like 'hey I am doing a thing and it is a thing that is affecting other things' because if we don't give recognition to something going on, it ends up feeling more like a inclusive player plot rather than a world-affecting plot that the player had intended.

One thing I personally want to have us doing is that all mods being aware of potential player plot points happening/going to happen in the game (and will be facilitated through a use of the new 'week of my life' posts as well as all of us reviewing player plots sent through email). These last few months, we've been leaving that and a number of other responsibilities on the shoulders of one mod and it's been stressing her out and that was plain out not cool of us. While we do have a mod slated as an 'event mod', I think when it comes to player-initiated plots we should all be taking a look and from there can work out the best way to help that player run their plot (ie something Link may not be able to help with, I could, etc). We mods all hold very different views and one mod can see a way to make something work that another mod couldn't, so I think making use of that and having all of us actively participating again could really help.

We also as a team are aware that we need to work on our communication efforts between each other to ensure we're all on the same page. Some really great suggestions came up in plurk and I'd like to work on implementing those! I'll admit it's going to be kinda rough for us because, at least in my case, I'm going to have to break through some bad habits of neglect and focus more attention on Thusia as I should have been, but the only way to do something about this is to well, do something about it.

I'm not sure if I've done much of a job answering your question and I am only speaking as one mod at the moment, but if there's anything specifically you'd like to address you are free to!

"Maybe the Hellions get wind that there are cameras all over?"

A REASON FOR NOVA TO START ANOTHER RIOT YOU SAY???

Which is to say, yes I would be all over basically anything ever for the Hellions. (HELLIONS LET'S DO MORE SHIT TOGETHER NOVA WILL MAFIA-TIZE YOU. WAY COOLER THAN DEPUTIZING!!!)

DISCUSSION: To Plot and Beyond

Re: STATE OF THE GAME and also other feelings

Re: STATE OF THE GAME and also other feelings

Re: STATE OF THE GAME and also other feelings

Re: STATE OF THE GAME and also other feelings