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raisetheearthooc2015-12-09 04:00 pm
raisedmods) wrote in raisetheearthooc2015-12-09 04:00 pm
State of The Game
Hi, everyone. We mentioned before that were talking about ways to handle activity in Raise the Earth. We've come to a couple conclusions there, and addressing them will have a couple effects on the game as a whole, so this is going to be a bit long. We're aware some of you are fine with things the way they are, but going forward with what we've come up with should be good for the game as a whole.
Before we get into the meat of things, a brief announcement: Zalein has elected to step down as a moderator. She helped us with lists and formatting for the game; we're glad to have had her, and she has our thanks and well wishes. Two moderators is a little low for something like this, so in the interim, we're promoting Razorsaw the rest of the way to a proper moderator, bringing us back to three.
So, let's talk about the game. Yes, we know it's the holidays, and people are slow in general around this time. That's not really a big surprise, but some of what we've noticed started even before the season, a month or more ago. Our concerns are more generally about activity and trends, so bear with us for a bit.
When we first announced Raise the Earth, we wanted a place for people - ourselves included - to continue their characters' stories. But when we reached out to the previous team to get information about the game's plot, for various reasons that we won't get into but are not the fault of the team running Save the Earth at its end, we didn't get all the story information from the past game. Certain metaplot information and backstory data weren't available for us, and so we've had to make some of that ourselves - it's why you're seeing certain NPCs in much larger fashions than you've seen before, and why we've tried introducing new elements of our own. However, as much as we do those things, they expand on the format of Save the Earth. That is, they present problems for the reincarnates to solve themselves, with the intent that nothing will change without that interaction. Unfortunately, it's become increasingly aware that that's more of a system geared towards a game with more players than we have.
But what happens when there aren't so many characters in the game? There are fewer forces to advance these things, which can be harder to figure out in-universe. This isn't something that's anyone's fault, but it's also a reality we have to face. We recognize that these tendencies are problems, but our toolbox - in terms of Save the Earth, which is what the game is based on - has only a limited number of tools to address them.
Opening up the setting to an entire world is also an issue; while it makes sense after the events of Save the Earth, it makes plotting and events much harder, especially with the above concerns. Running something in New LA is hard when characters are spread out across Locke City, Shepherd's Haven, Gateway City, and occasionally more, whereas most games have a much smaller and more focused area to cover. There's also no real sense of urgency in some cases, which is partly on us, but also ties back to the worldwide scale. When there are no limits on where characters can lay down roots, it can be difficult moving everyone around to the areas where things are happening. Thus, it's oftentimes likely for something to happen where a character is not necessarily inclined to go, which limits our ability to come up with plots and events that help everyone be active.
That brings us to the main point: how do we address these problems? We can't slow down, because we're already moving at a moderately slow pace. It's not just a matter of throwing more events out, because that unfocuses things when we've struggled to provide focus in the first place. That leaves central control of the plot as an initial place to start. So the question ultimately boils down to whether or not the situation we have right now is the best for everyone, whether or not it demands more than both mods and players have the resources to provide, and whether or not a traditional game is the best model
At this time, our solution is something that sounds simple on paper but will require a bit of work, and may also be a little surprising and a bit upsetting: we're seeking to turn Raise the Earth into a moderated musebox. Activity requirements will more or less drop to zero, though we may retain an interest check. Applications will be significantly shorter; we'll be mostly looking to make sure people understand the concept of character reincarnation and the differences between canon character and reincarnate. Echoes will remain largely unchanged, though our standards for approval will likely loosen a bit. Plot will be a little more spaced out - we'll still run events, but they'll be less frequent and perhaps more focused. Players will still be welcome and encouraged to run their own plots, and we'll still be happy to help out where we can.
If things pick up, changing things further, and perhaps making things more traditional, may be possible. But the way things are, there just isn't enough steam for things to stay the way they are. This change will help us run a game that is more in line with what everyone has time for, without fear of consequences like activity hanging over people's heads.
Some parts of how we'll move forward with this aren't finalized yet; if you have any suggestions, ideas, or comments, feel free to share them in this post's comments, or message the mod journal or any of the mods. This was a little bit of a long announcement; we appreciate your patience, and we hope you'll stick with us as we work through this change.
Before we get into the meat of things, a brief announcement: Zalein has elected to step down as a moderator. She helped us with lists and formatting for the game; we're glad to have had her, and she has our thanks and well wishes. Two moderators is a little low for something like this, so in the interim, we're promoting Razorsaw the rest of the way to a proper moderator, bringing us back to three.
So, let's talk about the game. Yes, we know it's the holidays, and people are slow in general around this time. That's not really a big surprise, but some of what we've noticed started even before the season, a month or more ago. Our concerns are more generally about activity and trends, so bear with us for a bit.
When we first announced Raise the Earth, we wanted a place for people - ourselves included - to continue their characters' stories. But when we reached out to the previous team to get information about the game's plot, for various reasons that we won't get into but are not the fault of the team running Save the Earth at its end, we didn't get all the story information from the past game. Certain metaplot information and backstory data weren't available for us, and so we've had to make some of that ourselves - it's why you're seeing certain NPCs in much larger fashions than you've seen before, and why we've tried introducing new elements of our own. However, as much as we do those things, they expand on the format of Save the Earth. That is, they present problems for the reincarnates to solve themselves, with the intent that nothing will change without that interaction. Unfortunately, it's become increasingly aware that that's more of a system geared towards a game with more players than we have.
But what happens when there aren't so many characters in the game? There are fewer forces to advance these things, which can be harder to figure out in-universe. This isn't something that's anyone's fault, but it's also a reality we have to face. We recognize that these tendencies are problems, but our toolbox - in terms of Save the Earth, which is what the game is based on - has only a limited number of tools to address them.
Opening up the setting to an entire world is also an issue; while it makes sense after the events of Save the Earth, it makes plotting and events much harder, especially with the above concerns. Running something in New LA is hard when characters are spread out across Locke City, Shepherd's Haven, Gateway City, and occasionally more, whereas most games have a much smaller and more focused area to cover. There's also no real sense of urgency in some cases, which is partly on us, but also ties back to the worldwide scale. When there are no limits on where characters can lay down roots, it can be difficult moving everyone around to the areas where things are happening. Thus, it's oftentimes likely for something to happen where a character is not necessarily inclined to go, which limits our ability to come up with plots and events that help everyone be active.
That brings us to the main point: how do we address these problems? We can't slow down, because we're already moving at a moderately slow pace. It's not just a matter of throwing more events out, because that unfocuses things when we've struggled to provide focus in the first place. That leaves central control of the plot as an initial place to start. So the question ultimately boils down to whether or not the situation we have right now is the best for everyone, whether or not it demands more than both mods and players have the resources to provide, and whether or not a traditional game is the best model
At this time, our solution is something that sounds simple on paper but will require a bit of work, and may also be a little surprising and a bit upsetting: we're seeking to turn Raise the Earth into a moderated musebox. Activity requirements will more or less drop to zero, though we may retain an interest check. Applications will be significantly shorter; we'll be mostly looking to make sure people understand the concept of character reincarnation and the differences between canon character and reincarnate. Echoes will remain largely unchanged, though our standards for approval will likely loosen a bit. Plot will be a little more spaced out - we'll still run events, but they'll be less frequent and perhaps more focused. Players will still be welcome and encouraged to run their own plots, and we'll still be happy to help out where we can.
If things pick up, changing things further, and perhaps making things more traditional, may be possible. But the way things are, there just isn't enough steam for things to stay the way they are. This change will help us run a game that is more in line with what everyone has time for, without fear of consequences like activity hanging over people's heads.
Some parts of how we'll move forward with this aren't finalized yet; if you have any suggestions, ideas, or comments, feel free to share them in this post's comments, or message the mod journal or any of the mods. This was a little bit of a long announcement; we appreciate your patience, and we hope you'll stick with us as we work through this change.
no subject
I've also got a little pooch I may roll in here for some fun, and it might be nice to not have to worry overmuch about AC with her.
no subject