Sol Raveh Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
solravehmods) wrote2016-10-18 05:04 pm
solravehmods) wrote2016-10-18 05:04 pm
State of the Castle: November AC sweep and Mod HMD!
Hello Ravehnites! As we creep over the halfway mark in celebrating Sol Raveh's first year, we have a few housekeeping updates and information- some of which relies upon YOU!
As always, the mods are continuing to put in work to keep the game as up to date as possible. Outside of the general pages which require attention monthly, expect changes in the following over the months to come:
Pokemon Claims and Drops: Leia has set up a new page for anyone looking to claim new pokemon, or give away those they no longer feel capable of raising! The new page can be found here, and explains the process on how to do both!
Favor Accruals: Due to a large html error discovered late July, it was necessary for our Accruals page to be rebuilt from scratch, and a second page added to split the rather sizable HTML. This should in theory ensure that the HTML does not break in the future, and players are encouraged to double check that their characters accruals have been updated accordingly!
Settings Page: We realize that currently, there has been a gym and pool added to the Safe Zone, an upgrade to the Infirmary to make it larger, and more rooms have already been requested since! Currently, the Safe Zone now includes multiple new areas that will be added to the map, and it is a high priority to ensure this is done. Until then, if you have any questions regarding the state of an area, please contact the mods, who will help you orientate yourself as best we can!
FAQ: With the introduction of the network and generator systems in February, our FAQ is well and truly ready for an update. This is another high priority task, and alongside the Settings, is most likely to see an update in the very near future.
Statue Room: we've lost many a loved one over the course of the game, and currently, the statue room does require some upkeep. Bear with us as we get back to you on the current state of the statues of those long gone.
Bestiary: There has been movement in the background and sincere eagerness from the mod team to see more and more insidious creatures walking within the castle walls. As improvements to this page are made, more and more of the suggested monsters will begin to appear, and become available for use outside of events.
After July's activity sweep, we asked players for their input into how they felt about the changes that had been made to the game, and encouraged criticism and suggestions for improvements to the game overall.
This month, we'd also like to ask the same. Below is a toplevel to include your opinions- be they positive comments about changes you've enjoyed, constructive criticism of something you've struggled with, or commentary on something you'd like to see in the future! As always, all of the mod team is happy to hear from you, and if you feel there's something you'd like to discuss in private, please check the mod contact page and message us however you'd like!
And that's all for this State of the Castle! As always, thank you to players both old and new for joining us in this adventure, and we hope that you continue to enjoy yourselves in the months to come!
General Updates
Pokemon Claims and Drops: Leia has set up a new page for anyone looking to claim new pokemon, or give away those they no longer feel capable of raising! The new page can be found here, and explains the process on how to do both!
Favor Accruals: Due to a large html error discovered late July, it was necessary for our Accruals page to be rebuilt from scratch, and a second page added to split the rather sizable HTML. This should in theory ensure that the HTML does not break in the future, and players are encouraged to double check that their characters accruals have been updated accordingly!
Settings Page: We realize that currently, there has been a gym and pool added to the Safe Zone, an upgrade to the Infirmary to make it larger, and more rooms have already been requested since! Currently, the Safe Zone now includes multiple new areas that will be added to the map, and it is a high priority to ensure this is done. Until then, if you have any questions regarding the state of an area, please contact the mods, who will help you orientate yourself as best we can!
FAQ: With the introduction of the network and generator systems in February, our FAQ is well and truly ready for an update. This is another high priority task, and alongside the Settings, is most likely to see an update in the very near future.
Statue Room: we've lost many a loved one over the course of the game, and currently, the statue room does require some upkeep. Bear with us as we get back to you on the current state of the statues of those long gone.
Bestiary: There has been movement in the background and sincere eagerness from the mod team to see more and more insidious creatures walking within the castle walls. As improvements to this page are made, more and more of the suggested monsters will begin to appear, and become available for use outside of events.
Activity Check for November
July saw us undergoing an AC sweep for the first time within Sol Raveh; the results of this sweep was 34 inactive characters being swept from the game, and whilst this result was positive in regards to what the mod team was aiming for, concerns were raised at the time in regards to whether the approach that was taken was best to ensure the least amount of stress for players.
Currently, we are seeking to arrange another sweep of characters in game for November; though this time, we would like to ask you about the approach you consider best! Below is a link to a poll with some of the options the mod team has considered, including a final option for those who may have ideas of their own. Please take the time to help us arrange this in the best way possible for everyone involved! As we hope to ensure that players are aware of the details by the 1st of next month at the latest, we do ask that people respond by the 25th at the latest, to ensure that you voice is heard.
July saw us undergoing an AC sweep for the first time within Sol Raveh; the results of this sweep was 34 inactive characters being swept from the game, and whilst this result was positive in regards to what the mod team was aiming for, concerns were raised at the time in regards to whether the approach that was taken was best to ensure the least amount of stress for players.
Currently, we are seeking to arrange another sweep of characters in game for November; though this time, we would like to ask you about the approach you consider best! Below is a link to a poll with some of the options the mod team has considered, including a final option for those who may have ideas of their own. Please take the time to help us arrange this in the best way possible for everyone involved! As we hope to ensure that players are aware of the details by the 1st of next month at the latest, we do ask that people respond by the 25th at the latest, to ensure that you voice is heard.
Moderator and Game HMD!
After July's activity sweep, we asked players for their input into how they felt about the changes that had been made to the game, and encouraged criticism and suggestions for improvements to the game overall.
This month, we'd also like to ask the same. Below is a toplevel to include your opinions- be they positive comments about changes you've enjoyed, constructive criticism of something you've struggled with, or commentary on something you'd like to see in the future! As always, all of the mod team is happy to hear from you, and if you feel there's something you'd like to discuss in private, please check the mod contact page and message us however you'd like!
And that's all for this State of the Castle! As always, thank you to players both old and new for joining us in this adventure, and we hope that you continue to enjoy yourselves in the months to come!
Activity Check Suggestions!
Re: Activity Check Suggestions!
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HMD
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I'm just used to this game having a little more breathing room.
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Initially when taking on suggestions for this month, we wanted to make sure we used all of the suggestions that came our way. It is a new game, and there is a lot we've been experimenting with in regards to what works and what doesn't- the intro event was so big in it's own right, that realistically it could have been a singular event on it's own, with one more additional aspect to the month in line with our event calendar since July.
We're very glad you enjoyed yourself, and I can promise you that the overly large amount of events this month is very much noted-- as well as a forecast of a gentler ride for next month that allows for a little more breathing space.
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+1
They're all GOOD ideas but not so many at once?
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+1
Also going to +1 to this, and I'd say your (the mods, I mean) response here is definitely the right direction and more of what I'd like to see, but I'd also like to expand on this point.
As said, I'm in agreement with the others that this month in particular was just a little too packed (with GOOD ideas though! I got excited for each one, even if I didn't do much with it), to touch on something Charles said below, there were also a lot of high RP-intensity events before this. The result has been there's always been something going on, back-to-back, for the past four months without much breathing room.
Now this isn't me complaining, because by FAR of course I want something to do! And the cage event early this October, in particular, added so much substance. But I do think "downtime" is an important aspect of RP too, to encourage player plots, normal interactions between characters, etc, etc.
It also feels important to me considering the setting and game premise. Unless an event is designed to unlock new areas, progressing through the castle is hard to accomplish when too much is going on. Either 1) the event makes attempting to do so an unwise or dangerous decision for the characters (the food shortage), or 2) attempting to put together an involved push becomes too taxing to play out for the players, who are trying to keep up with what's already going on.
tl;dr I think balance is the important thing to keep in mind here. The solution of "keep to one time constrained event a month at most, with one-two elements that stretch out over the month" is the perfect starting point, but with consideration to how it will the move the playerbase as a whole. IE:
Is the event going to be light and cheerful, like the festival in May? Maybe make the month-long element something more engaging. Is it going to be high intensity, like the cage plot earlier this month? Then maybe schedule the week after a plot is set to end for some IC downtime for characters and players alike to decompress. So on and so forth!
...this got super rambly for what is largely repeating a bit of what others said, ROFL I'M SORRY. Hopefully it tracks though.
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By Bird I mean...yeah okay it me. herp.
I do believe that there has been a lot happening in the timespan that's detracted from looking at having the pushes go forwards, and in some cases, events like this months intro and the intro from March were definitely more viable in providing a sense of urgency whilst allowing characters to breach parts of the castle yet unseen. Both the characters and the players also need a rest from these sorts of situations, which is readily apparent from the influx of burnout in this month.
Scheduling downtime definitely sounds like the best idea in high intensity cases, and more thought will need to be put into months where thematically, a festive spirit is being enticed.
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Perhaps one major event per month and one social event?
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Then & Now Comparison
Moderator Duties - I'm seeing the main high traffic pages being kept up to date each month. I recall you pledged to come up with better ways to tackle routine upkeep and the distribution of labor and, far as I can see, it looks like there have been tangible improvements in the routine upkeep of information. Thank you!! It's super helpful to know our Taken, Housing, and Favor pages are up to date!
FAQ - Already mentioned in the main post /THUMBS UP.
Plots, Memes, etc. - I've been having a fantastic time with how MUCH there is to choose from the last few events, and I've been enjoying the CR memes and other fun activities that have been added to the game. There's a marked increase in the overall level of player engagement (measurable in amount of chatter over plurk and level of engagement in q&a threads, as well as the sheer volume of tags that took place within a short time frame, etc.) in these events and they've promoted a lot of interactivity. It's awesome! Great job!!
P.S.: where is our david bowie
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something completely differenta proper response!Thank you very much for providing so many positive insights into what has improved since July! Certainly, we'll continue to look at more improvements, and keeping you guys in the loop as to what's been happening as we do. It's been readily apparent that a lot more activity has been happening in game, which is fantastic to see! And even more fantastic to note that others have also been seeing this, as well.
PS. See above.
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Another, somewhat lesser concern I had was with stacking high concept high intensity events one on top of the other across months. I know when the soul bonding thing came out right after the shadow thing especially in comparison to the pace of the game I'd seen at a glance to before I joined that seemed like a lot to me. Now, again, that worked out for me personally and in retrospect the idea of a Queen-caused event followed by an Ozuma-caused one is probably a good idea, but I'd just like to say that while I love the ambition of increased pacing and stuff in general I'd caution having too many intensive events in a row without a comparative breather for people to then make pushes or do player created things or whatnot. I don't think we're at the point of that being a danger yet for me personally again but it's just something to keep in mind.
As a newer player my only other concerns are mentioned with the above updates to the FAQ, maps, and Statue Room. There have been a lot of instances where I've needed to talk to some older players or PP a mod or something in order to understand or check on the details of some comparatively basic information or where I've not been in the loop for some game change like the infirmary's size. And while some of that could be my own ignorance, I'm hoping updates to those will make that happen less.
But on the whole I've been enjoying my time here a lot, it should not be taken otherwise. I'm glad to see that the idea of an AC is still floating around too tbh. Please keep up the good work because we're clearly trending positively.
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+1
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