mod post: monthly state of the game

[riverviewmod]

monthly state of the game

Hi everyone! Welcome to July's State of the Game post! There's quite a bit going on this month, so please read through all the information in this post!

game cap: app queuing, penalty for ac sweeps, tdm and other housekeeping

Despite my expectations to the contrary, we've actually hit the game cap with this application round! Conveniently, there were exactly as many reserved and unreserved applications accepted as there were slots available as of the 7th, so there is no one waiting. However, with the game cap filled at 150 characters, this means a few gamewide changes (at least temporarily) in relation to how the application process works. The changes and how they will affect the application process are outlined below:

application cycle, reserves, and test drive memes

Applications will remain closed throughout the rest of July, and will open as usual on August 1st at 7:00 PM EST, after which time they will remain open and stay open indefinitely. Application cycles will resume when enough character spots are available at once to sustain a resumption of cycles - around 30.

Reserves will be closed indefinitely, until such time as application cycles resume. They will not be opening on July 15th, and all applications submitted going forward will be processed on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Test drive memes will continue to be posted as usual, on the 20th of every month at or before 7:00 PM EST. This is to allow prospective new players to test the setting, interact with current players, and form CR that can be carried into the game (with both parties' consent) if they are accepted when their application is processed.

application queue

As soon as applications open on August 1st, applications can be submitted at any time going forward. Applications will be processed in the order they were posted to the application page, as spaces become available. For example, if a character is dropped, I will then process the next application in the queue. A list of all queued applications will be posted on the Application Page in a scrolling box.

Since there will be no regular application cycle, for each accepted application from the queue I will provide the date of that character's first AC in every acceptance notice. The smallest amount of time between acceptance and the first activity check will be 15 days.

ac penalty for idling out

Considering the character cap has been reached, there will be a penalty starting with the most recently closed activity check and going forward, for anyone who idles out as opposed to posting on the drop post. Since using the drop post as intended frees up a space for the next application much more quickly than allowing a character to be idled out, anyone who idles out of the game will be noted, and if that player re-applies, they will be required to submit 20 short tags, or 10 long tags for their first two activity checks back in the game.

memory loss event

Some of you may have already seen the memory loss/amnesia event on the calendar or mentioned on the mod plurk, but I wanted to give a bit of additional information! First off, I decided to make this an in-game event rather than a TDM event because it seemed like something that would be more enjoyable for characters with established CR. There will be a follow up in the TDM posted August 20th, so prospective players and characters can help solve the problem.

This event will be following the completion of the Lost Research exploration mission. While recovering the research, Jim Kirk and his team discovered that the scientists on the mission had been affected by the pollen of a plant that erases memories, with the effects worsening with prolonged exposure.

While the team's bodies, clothing, and all other supplies were decontaminated as thoroughly as possible, unfortunately some seeds and pollen were carried back in a tire crevasse and have taken root. Starting on August 12th, until August 19th, the pollen from these plants will spread. This will result in bouts of amnesia for characters in the game. This is completely optional - if you don't want to participate, it's easy to assume your characters didn't inhale any of the pollen. The extent and depth of the effects on your characters is also completely up to you. Whether they're forgetting everything including how to eat or brush their teeth, forgetting their life at home, forgetting their life in Riverview, only forgetting certain people but not others, forgetting an embarrassing incident...the extent is totally up to you. Be creative!

Feel free to plot a bit for this event in the comments of this entry.

exploration page cleanup

As some of you may have noticed, I recently went through the Exploration Page to free up any missions that were claimed but not yet completed. A couple were freed up, and there are a few others that haven't yet been claimed. Available missions:

● Carnivorous Harvest
● Civilization in the Lost Ravine
● Waking the Dead
● How to Train Your... (ongoing, can be completed by multiple teams at any time)
● Pride of Pestilence
● Waking the Deity (as far as I know, this was not completed on the most recent TDM)

I will also be adding missions as this month continues and I think them up, so if none of these appeal, keep an eye on the Exploration page for new ones.

The missions are great ways to stir up some CR and affect the setting of the game. The mission outlines are brief prompts specifically so the team who accepts it can organize it however they see fit, and choose their own outcome. While I never have a problem answering questions, the exploration missions are there to invite players to collaborate with me on the setting and player experience in the game.

Despite the game's lack of an overarching background plot, I am very open to outcomes that affect the world as a whole, and am completely open to player suggestions for missions, particularly ones that might enable expansion into the Abandoned City. The setting is definitely not static, and I would love to play around with testing the boundaries of its flexibility. That's honestly my favorite part of modding this game.

feedback?

I just wanted to give a quick thanks to all of you for being an exceptionally cool playerbase. I've received such well-thought-out feedback, suggestions, and ideas for the setting. Please, keep them coming. I like hearing from you guys, both about what works and what doesn't work, and I absolutely love questions about the setting, what you can do in it, and hearing new and creative ideas.

navigation

Comments

QUESTIONS

[riverviewmod]

Ask any questions here.

[longblack]

i've got a question re: missions--how do characters learn about them icly? is there like a mission message board of some sort? or is it just the more proactive, explorer type characters going to the perimeter guard and asking for something to do?

[riverviewmod]

No problem! The missions are generally advertised - there is a sort of mission message board at the Perimeter Guard headquarters, but (depending on the severity of the mission and who's sponsoring it) there can also be advertising on the network.

Bulletins about missions often go up as small "newsflashes" on various advertising screens around the city, missions sponsored by businesses (like the Carnivorous Harvest one) could be advertised at places of business. Perimeter Guard cadets often hand out or post up flyers with missions on them around the city, particularly large-scale or high-profile missions might even have a little ticker bar show up at the bottom of an internet browser on various electronic devices the character uses during the day. If your character isn't the type to seek out a mission, but you want her to find one, she could even hear some off-duty Perimeter Guard members chatting about it.

Let me know if you need anything else!

MISSION RECRUITMENT

[riverviewmod]

If you have claimed a mission on the mission page or are looking to create one, and need more team members, post up your needs here.

Waking the Deity

[alchemyfreak]

There's a few of us who are brainstorming for the Deity plot so if anyone is interested (especially supernatural savvy characters) that would be awesome!

[somnioergosum]

I'm interested. Ronan's already been almost killed by one demon so why not go up against a god.

[krasnaya_vdova]

Related to that discussion, Ava will happily get tossed into this.

Re: Waking the Deity

[worldsaway]

Thor would defs join in

[onblackwings]

plops down in here too! so in for this 8)

[couldkillthedevil]

Also here for this.

[pulledpunches]

I'm so down!! Akihiko would sign himself up 50 times for higher chance of a call back.

[thegreatninja]

I'd love to throw Yuffie at a mission if there is still space. If there isn't space I totally get it because lots of people.

[bluechampion]

Link would definitely be interested. He'll be joining the Perimeter Guard once he gets back from the Lost Research event, so if there's no more room for this one he can join another.

[stevegrogers]

Steve would so get involved in it!

Mission: Petcetera

[megabond]

So I'm planning to take this mission by this month or August, so if anyone is interested, just hit me up in here.

As for the characters I'm looking for, I just need one or more characters who are good with animals, have trained with them, or have animal-related abilities and one or more members of the Perimeter Guard or characters who are skilled fighters for protection.

PLAYER MINGLES

[riverviewmod]

If your character is hosting an event, party, or business-related mingle, feel free to advertise it here (either OOCly as a player or ICly as the character involved).

Exploration mingle

[alchemyfreak]

Floor six is still doing this. There's a link to the IC action log at the bottom of the post there, if anyone wants to get involved they can tag into one or both of those posts!

AMNESIA EVENT PLOTTING

[riverviewmod]

Drop a header here with what you're interested in doing with your character, and tag around with others to plan!

Thor Odinson

[worldsaway]

I'm decided on having Thor forget Midgard/Earth/His Emotional Journey, returning him to cocky, brash, hot-headed and violent Thor.

He'll be back to square one as far as Midgardian customs and non-Asgardian creations go and he'll be mostly looking to start fights and drink. If anyone wants to get a bad impression of him, hmu. If you want someone who knows him to get a surprise, h. m. u.

Yuffie Kisaragi & Kate Fuller!!!

[thegreatninja]

Hello all! I'm thinking of having Kate forget about someone important since she's currently asking almost everyone she's seen about her brother or the Gecko's. It'd be interesting for her to lose all memory of that just because it's her current focus. I'm honestly open for stuff and new so I really want to get my girls out there and involved in stuff. They're both kinda stubborn and easy to drag into stuff.

Yuffie needs people to bother or for people to bother her. I'm thinking of having her forget something SUPER EASY and then she can be made fun of for forgetting it. Like tying her shoes.

Ciel Phantomhive

[sweetlies]

He doesn't have much CR yet but he's also met a few people who only know the harder Ciel, the one who serves his queen.

I'm planning on him forgetting everything that happened after he was sold to a cult, his family murdered, but before he summoned his butler from hell. So instead of a cynical noble with little regard for truth and life, he's a sweet boy if a little terrified.

And the added bonus of this month's chapter of Black Butler potentially revealing what his real name is if not Ciel.

Jason Todd

[hititwithacrowbar]

I've decided Jason will forget finding his mother and dying and all the aftermath. Thus only remembering being a more happy and stable-ish 15 year old teenaged boy wonder.

Be prepared for bad puns.

Undertaker

[somakemelaugh]

He will be forgetting.... nothing! Who wants this dude being weird at them?

Edward Elric

[alchemyfreak]

Ed's CR will notice a much calmer, relaxed Ed for the duration of the event. He'll seem less stressed out and happier around his brother than usual.

He won't seem any different to people that haven't met him yet so even though I'd be down to plot with new CR he's not going to change drastically enough upon recovery of his memories to make plotting during this event all that relevant. Feel free to hit him up anyway, if you're so inclined.

Augustine Sycamore

[megabond]

So I decided to have Professor Sycamore forget all about Pokemon, especially his memories of his sweet old Garchomp as well his Pokemon knowledge.

That means he will end up being scared of his Garchomp as well being clueless at the Pokemon around him. Thankfully, he still hasn't forgotten his memories in Riverview. That also includes his powers as well with his CR, so feel free to help this guy out.