tushanshu_ooc | Event HMD | Powerdown & Malicant Plot

As before, and for anyone who may have missed it, at the end of every mod-run event in Tu Shanshu, we ~~try to~~ toss up an open dialogue post so that the events can be discussed. This is mostly to see if everybody's as happy as possible with the direction the game is going, whether or not the events could be considered a hit or a miss, that sort of thing.

This particular HMD covers the Meta Power Reduction & Malicant joint event.

What are we looking for?
Feedback of all sorts! Did you like what happened? Did the event run too fast, or too slow? Were you able to feel like your character contributed or made a impact on the event? Would you like to make more of a difference? Has there been too much 'downtime' for the characters, do you have any suggestions to make about future events, etc etc? Did the event run long enough for you? Would you like to see more NPC-driven events, or less? Did you feel that there was enough for combatants and non-combatants alike to participate in?

OBVIOUSLY if you have more comments, questions or concerns than those listed above you can add those as well! This is pretty much just a general list.

Do we already have a focus?
In part, yes. We've identified the following issues with the event and would love to foster discussion on these points:

> Team Structure
There were some players that had multiple characters assigned to a team and others that volunteered and did not make the final teams. This was an oversight on Alex's part and she apologises! That said, do you have any suggestions on how we could avoid such an oversight in the future? Should we limit sign-ups to one character per player?

> Multiple Options
Each team was asked to pick only one option per clue set regardless of their characters' proclivities towards exploring multiple options. This was to reduce administrative workload and tie-in with the reduction of powers. Do you have any suggestions as to how we could make taking multiple options feasible for any future event structured in this way?

Note: Alex here! One option considered and taken off the table would be preparing all of the possible branches off the options and clues before the event starts. This is because I found creating the sets during the event really allowed me to adapt the scenarios to suit the actions of each team in a really organic fashion. In summary, it let the characters further influence the event rather than being stuck on rails (see: swizard). I'd really prefer to find a solution that allowed mid-event creation of the clues without sacrificing the multiple options, tbqh.

> Outcomes
The pre-event survey concluded that players were okay with getting dead-ends for their characters actions and so this was included. Two teams had a major impact on the health of the turtle and a variety had other impacts that lessened Malicant's grip on Keeliai. Do you think we should have included more largescale impacts? Less? More impacts in general? More complete dead ends?

We'd like to emphasize that any and all feedback is welcomed and encouraged! These are merely some areas that we've identified as concerns from our standpoint and would like to hear your thoughts on.

Do we have a form?
Yes, in fact! This time, we're offering a quick text form to help provide some structure to the feedback received. This form addresses some of the concerns we noted on a mod level and tries to give as much freedom as possible to anyone that chooses to use it. Please note that you do NOT have to use this form! It's provided as an option only. :3

Please remember, ANON IS ON for this and IP LOGGING IS OFF so if you have anything you'd like to say but maybe you're more comfortable putting it forth anon that is a-okay! You can also feel free to PM us at this journal, or to toss a private plurk at either of the mod accounts (those being

vonnerdyce or

reignsdown) if that suits your fancy. Any and all comments are welcome, and though participation in this meme isn't required it's definitely encouraged if you're up for it.

Thanks again, guys, and happy turtling!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Power reduction:
Would you please clarify as to how he was inoperable? The character was specified as still being able to move, communicate, interact with and participate in the events that occurred. It was our understanding that the player chose to use the nerfing to the extent he did to facilitate a reason for a hiatus, which we had no issue with.

The game-wide power loss was not opt-out, because at its core Tu Shanshu is a plot driven game. Setting the plot up to affect some characters but not all negates the effect of the atmosphere we are attempting to convey. We apologize if this is inconvenient for you, and we understand and are taking into account that the event may have ran too long for some people's tastes and will be taking a closer look at any future power loss events, but in order to maintain the integrity of the game itself, wide-scale events are meant to affect the entirety of the game populace. We appreciate the investment players put into their characters and the game itself and regret that we can't in all cases both maintain the progression of the plot, and answer every concern.

Four weeks of power loss out of a planned run-time of roughly thirty months is a very small amount, and we do hope that anyone primarily interested in us as a non-nerfing game would be willing to work with us towards the plot and vision that everyone signed up for upon application to the game despite the roadbump it presented.

NPCS;
There are actually several plots in the works to allow characters to infiltrate the palace, and such things have also occurred in the past. It's our goal to be as open and flexible as possible when it comes to accommodating player plans as relative to our NPCs (ie: during the last landfall we made it abundantly clear that the Emperor could be kidnapped during her visit to Atamsichar, in case anyone wanted that as an available option, and we've consistently said throughout the game's play time that none of the NPCs are infallible and/or indestructible).

But unfortunately, as we are equally fallible, it's very difficult to think up and detail every possible thing or angle that players might want to try or go forward with, which is why we very strongly encourage the use of our plot page. In a game of this size and speed, we effectively need people to come to us with the ideas rather than us coming up with every available contingency, and we have had success in the past creating fun, interactive things for characters to do outside of the direct scope of our influence.

The PSDs will be held in reserve for usage as dictated by plot, but if, say, a character wanted to orchestrate their theft, we'd definitely be willing to organize that, which I believe might help to mitigate the 'haha players can't do anything!' aspect of your concern.

Theme:
The theme of the game has always been very clearly stated on our information page, that we are a plot-driven game with science fiction/horror/fantasy elements, that there are consequences for IC actions (on both an individual and a grander scale) and we have always made the knowledge that characters are here for a fight available, though perhaps, by your comments, not as clearly as we should have. If our current players are unhappy with the direction, we are willing and available to work with them to try and find a middle ground, but there are only so few ways to portray a possible war that don't unnecessarily make light of it or diminish the overall effect.

Event HMD | Powerdown & Malicant Plot | June 16th - July 13th

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