mod post: monthly state of the game

[riverviewmod]

monthly state of the game

Hi everyone! Welcome to April's State of the Game post! This won't be a long one, but has some very important information regarding a transition in how I will be handling ACTION/EXPLORATION PLOT and ACTIVITY CHECK. I know it's a little early, but I was excited to post it!

transition of handling of exploration plot

So, it's been just over a year since I decided to open this game and I'm honestly really happy I have! As much as I've slowed down over the past few months due to real life, I'm still really passionate about the concept and setting of the game.

I have, however, over the course of running the game, noticed that the exploration aspects and missions don't get a lot of play. I have taken feedback in the past and have revamped the exploration page and done my best to facilitate this aspect in a more hands-off way, but over the course of the year, it hasn't gained much traction and I can tell there's something definitely wrong with how I'm handling it.

Over the past couple of months, I've been ruminating over how to correct this issue, and noticed that you guys really enjoy mingle logs and the prompts from the TDM that allow for open individual logs. I want very much to maintain the exploration system to allow people to take on plot when they have the time and energy to do so, but I also want to make the exploration aspects of the game as accessible as possible and start doing some action and exploration mingles for characters in the game as well.

This month I will be posting a quick and easy mingle within the next week or so, for players in the game to clean up, clear out, and help move the fence to encompass the new area that was powered up a few months ago (see this TDM post and the exploration page for some details on that if you are new to the game) as well as to allow players to interact more with the TDM prompts.

I would appreciate player feedback on how to handle these kinds of mingles going forward. I have a few options in mind as ideas:

● i. Posting the additional mingle on the 20th of every month along with the TDM, mirroring the TDM prompts and adding the extra exploration prompt. This option would include moving the CR meme to the 21st of each month to allow for plotting.

● ii. Halving the detail/intricacy of the monthly holiday posts and adding the exploration prompts to the monthly mingle that goes up on the 1st. This would make the monthly in-game mingle similar to the TDM, with both slice-of-life and exploration/fighting prompts, and would involve moving the CR meme to the 8th of each month to allow for plotting that includes new arrivals.

● iii. Posting an additional mingle with just the exploration prompt on the 15th, so it goes up at the same time as the current CR meme, between the closing of applications and posting of the next TDM.

These are some of the options I've come up with. I don't want to overwhelm the playerbase with mingle posts, but I also don't want to cut down too thoroughly on slice-of-life events, because you guys seem to enjoy them! If you like any of these ideas, hate them, or have another idea for how this could be handled, please let me know. There is a thread in the comments for discussion of this, and I would love to hear all your thoughts. 100+ heads is better than one, after all!

activity check standards

Since November, I've been tracking the type of activity submitted by each player as I process it, and have noticed a few troubling patterns that I'd like to address through Activity Checks going forward. This trend involves players who consistently turn in AC that doesn't show a strong involvement in the game. Going forward, and starting with the next Activity Check, I am going to be letting people know that they have a pattern of this kind of AC and request stronger AC for the month after.

I know everyone has rough months (I've had many myself), so I will only be doing this in cases where it has been a pattern for three or more months before the AC in question. Getting this reminder and request is not a warning, punishment, or 'getting in trouble' but it is a reminder that it's good to engage with the game more thoroughly. The types of AC that I will be giving this reminder for are as follows:

● Split AC: This is when a player submits two short proofs instead of one proof to AC standard. This type of split proof is intended only to avoid a strike in the event of a rough month and shouldn't be relied upon consistently.

● Castmate/Close CR AC: This is when a player consistently submits AC-length threads only with castmates, ship partners, or other close CR. This is one I don't always catch because I am not completely familiar with the relationships that every character in the game has, but I do notice when AC is submitted very consistently with only one other character or group of characters.

● Late AC: This is when a player makes AC but is consistently on the warning list.

The past couple months have been particularly rough with AC, so I wanted to address some of the concerns I've had about it, especially since the game has both an overall cap and a canon cap.

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Comments

[somnioergosum]

Thinking it over, I prefer option three, especially since it coincides with the CR meme. It's easier to go "yes, and I threw something up just now- here" while everyone is more excited about the prompts having just come out. The timing just works better since it's at the middle of the month, when I notice things start to slow down activity wise so it might keep the momentum going. I think it also just works well for the newer characters who might have missed out on the mingle or if you're having a late start to the month in general.

I initially liked option one more, since there have been times when I thought it'd be nice to be able to have a mingle using TDM prompts for characters already in the game. I wouldn't want to see the TDM get less activity because of it though and having it at the end of the month seems like it might be too close to the beginning of the month mingle.