Mod & Housekeeping Changes

[ironwood]

Greetings lovely Chelonauts!

Li here and I have a lot of big news for you all today, so bear with me as I ramble go. First and foremost, I would like to ask you to join me in welcoming our game's THREE NEW MODS:

AL, player of Clark Kent, Frank Zhang and Jim Hammond
KATE, player of Billy Costigan, Hayley Stark and Mike Weston
LIS, player of Stiles Stilinski
All three have modding experience and I'm wildly excited to delegate get them rolling on plotting and organization aspects that are going to benefit the game as a whole. In that vein, the new modteam has had our first discussion regarding the state of the game and we're ready to put forward some updates that we'll be making.

1. APPLICATIONS
Effective immediately, we have some app related changes to announce that have already been updated to the Apps page itself.

• Original characters can now be applied for by anyone, including as a first character, without the requirement of having a canon character in game and passing an AC beforehand.
• We are now accepting linked third person/prose samples for the application, provided it meets a couple of stipulations that are outlined in the app guidelines.
• We are significantly scaling back the scope necessary for the Setting section of the application, which should hopefully streamline the overall process quite a bit.

2. EVENTS & CALENDAR
First of all, I've updated the Event Calendar with the month of June and rearranged some things. It is our goal to have two events a month: one "big" event which lasts approximately 7-10 days and one "small" event which lasts approximately 2-3 days, where one of these each month will be a "light" event and one will be a "serious" event. It's our hope that this will bring back a balance to the game's tone that doesn't run counter to the metaplot re: Malicant, but does give some temperance to it.

Player plots will of course be added into that mix with whatever dates works best for those coordinating it, save where it drastically clashes with any current event (like throwing a wedding in the middle of battle, etc) but we'll always try to work with any suggestions for timing. Additionally, we will be having a LANDFALL IN JULY, so that's something to look forward to. It's our intent to have this be closer to landfalls like Sinbrilee or Atam, wherein characters can disembark Asti and retrieve item requests.

3. MISSIONS
With a full compliment modteam and based on input from players, we are looking to give the missions an overhaul. The things we will be focusing on most are: increased mod guidance, more open-ended scenarios, greater player control over necessary NPCs, and more options for teams to ICly sign up as opposed to strictly RNG'd placements. It may take us a month or two to get traction on this (since we're almost at June already) but you can help us fine tune the adjustments by providing as much feedback as you can regarding what you did and didn't like about missions.

So these are the initial changes we're making that are going live immediately. We will always keep you guys updating when we change, revise and introduce something new so that you can get the most of your plotting!

Comments

[skybluejeep]

I feel so tiny and short there at the bottom of the new mod pyramid. XD

[everylittlegirl]

You complete me.

[skybluejeep]

It's all overbalanced tho! Me with my one character can't hold up all the awesome that is you and Al.

[everylittlegirl]

Save the best for last, yo

[skybluejeep]

I'm having a Martha Jones moment suddenly.

[nowthatsfunny]

Welcome new mods!

I really like these changes - especially the app changes. I think it would be nice to have the option to use a test drive thread as one of the samples, too. This would both give mods the ability to see the character "in play" as it were, in the game setting, and also potentially give the test drive meme a bit more traction!

But overall these look like good changes, thanks!

[ironwood]

We did discuss TDM samples actually! We've decided not to go that route at this time, because test drives can get a little cracky, but we may revisit that in the future.

[nowthatsfunny]

I'd say a test drive is primarily a function of the tone and setting of the game it's set up for - and that there is probably a higher chance of samples from other games being cracky, given that they could be from games with significantly different tones!

All this to say, yes, I hope you do reconsider that in the future.

[wrathfulkhan]

Welcome new mods! I'm excited to see how this will progress (and hopefully help take some of the onus off Li a little)! Congrats to all of you!

[strategisch]

Hello new mods! Glad to see that Li is getting some help, and I'm looking forward to the implemented changes.

[alterer]

New Modly Mods! Congrats guys and thanks for taking up the task. C:

[ixis]

SO WHERE'S MY SPECIAL PRIVILEGES WE DISCUSSED SHOULD YOU COME INTO POWER, LIS

WHERE ARE THEY

(I am just playin'. Grats to Lis, likin' the changes, looking forward to getting involved in the game again now that my hiatus is up!)

Also, question re: OCs. Does that still rule out main character PCs, like WoW guys or Skyrim Dragonborns?

[cherrywood]

Those are actually okay, and that's a good point I didn't touch on in the guidelines so I will go and edit that in, thanks! Basically if the malleable protagonists have established background elements (the Dragonborn is a good example of this) then we accept it as a canon character. Whereas a created character like from WoW (not the established NPCs) would not be because they're entirely headcanon.

[skybluejeep]

You get nothing!

[tactile_telekinesis]

OMG who the fuck are those people? GAWD I bet their all losers!

Grats guys! You're all amazing Mwa haha fill me in on plot stuff! jk