One: stop making it so easy to app a fourth character, gdi.
Two:
a) I think I'm in the majority here when I say a lot of the "slowing down" of the game did begin around the time our original mods announced an endgame. It made sense objectively, especially as a sort of "warning" so far in advance so people could plot accordingly, and wasn't a big surprise to those of us who'd seen Roy and/or Alex talk about the game only being planned X number of years on plurk, etc etc...but there was just something about that sense of "okay you have this much time left and then ALL DONE" that sort of put people off. So I am extremely happy to see that plans to end the PLOT are still being carried out on schedule, but with the intentions of continuing the game afterwards with new shenanigans and adventures. A world like Tu Shanshu has so many possibilities. Personally, I can think of a dozen potential plots off the top of my head.
b) There was also another factor which may have contributed, and I think it was the shift in tone to a more War-like setting. Now, don't get me wrong--I'm hardly complaining in the least. I LOVE it. I think it's exciting and is really driving the game forward even moreso than when I first apped. Things are happening, and even during the downtime, there's that sense of unknown and mystery in the air. Even more so than when the game was first starting. I have two characters who are very much invested in this plot as well, but considering I also play Midii, I can somewhat empathize with those who felt like their character suddenly had much less to do. Not even so much because of a "darker" setting, per say, but simply because a lot of the subsequent plots and happenings were somewhat catered to characters who could fight. Which is to be expected, but I think it also ignored a lot of hidden potential for so much more to be done. Yes, the main purpose of the game is to defeat the big baddy. But in focusing on the offensive, a good portion of the Turtle Life has been lost.
Let me give an example: when the explosion plot hit, most everything was plotting how to help directly with putting out the fires or checking for more explosions or trying to find out clues as to who did it, or how to deal with those who were severely injured or even died. Characters dove straight into burning buildings to drag people out, and a lot of threads were very action-y based. What got lost in all the chaos were the few characters who took on entirely different roles. Midii, for example, was a very passive participant. She was a victim, yes, but once she arrived at one of the Shelters that had been set up, lost and dazed as she was...she accidentally found a purpose: to help look after the youngest of the children. The innocents in all of this. Even something as simple as reading them a story while everything else was going on around them, to take their minds off of the scariness of it all.
I think if some of the happenings of the game were broadened to give characters with those kinds of stories a chance to be told or heard from, it would open up so many more possibilities for muns who might otherwise feel like they've reached a Limit to what they or their character could do. Have missions with a little more variety. Not just sieges and highly advanced technological research, but even the smaller things like doing repairs to the city or trying to maintain the peace among the locals--whom have been repeatedly established as non-fighters. Not to say that some of this isn't already happening, but that I think it should be MORE of a presence. Show MORE of the city that everybody's trying to defend, and more to the War than just the fighting.
I know it was hinted at that something re: the baby Turtles might be happening soon...so that's a good start? Maybe? I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO SO I CAN'T SAY FOR CERTAIN but you know what I mean.
no subject
Two:
a) I think I'm in the majority here when I say a lot of the "slowing down" of the game did begin around the time our original mods announced an endgame. It made sense objectively, especially as a sort of "warning" so far in advance so people could plot accordingly, and wasn't a big surprise to those of us who'd seen Roy and/or Alex talk about the game only being planned X number of years on plurk, etc etc...but there was just something about that sense of "okay you have this much time left and then ALL DONE" that sort of put people off. So I am extremely happy to see that plans to end the PLOT are still being carried out on schedule, but with the intentions of continuing the game afterwards with new shenanigans and adventures. A world like Tu Shanshu has so many possibilities. Personally, I can think of a dozen potential plots off the top of my head.
b) There was also another factor which may have contributed, and I think it was the shift in tone to a more War-like setting. Now, don't get me wrong--I'm hardly complaining in the least. I LOVE it. I think it's exciting and is really driving the game forward even moreso than when I first apped. Things are happening, and even during the downtime, there's that sense of unknown and mystery in the air. Even more so than when the game was first starting. I have two characters who are very much invested in this plot as well, but considering I also play Midii, I can somewhat empathize with those who felt like their character suddenly had much less to do. Not even so much because of a "darker" setting, per say, but simply because a lot of the subsequent plots and happenings were somewhat catered to characters who could fight. Which is to be expected, but I think it also ignored a lot of hidden potential for so much more to be done. Yes, the main purpose of the game is to defeat the big baddy. But in focusing on the offensive, a good portion of the Turtle Life has been lost.
Let me give an example: when the explosion plot hit, most everything was plotting how to help directly with putting out the fires or checking for more explosions or trying to find out clues as to who did it, or how to deal with those who were severely injured or even died. Characters dove straight into burning buildings to drag people out, and a lot of threads were very action-y based. What got lost in all the chaos were the few characters who took on entirely different roles. Midii, for example, was a very passive participant. She was a victim, yes, but once she arrived at one of the Shelters that had been set up, lost and dazed as she was...she accidentally found a purpose: to help look after the youngest of the children. The innocents in all of this. Even something as simple as reading them a story while everything else was going on around them, to take their minds off of the scariness of it all.
I think if some of the happenings of the game were broadened to give characters with those kinds of stories a chance to be told or heard from, it would open up so many more possibilities for muns who might otherwise feel like they've reached a Limit to what they or their character could do. Have missions with a little more variety. Not just sieges and highly advanced technological research, but even the smaller things like doing repairs to the city or trying to maintain the peace among the locals--whom have been repeatedly established as non-fighters. Not to say that some of this isn't already happening, but that I think it should be MORE of a presence. Show MORE of the city that everybody's trying to defend, and more to the War than just the fighting.
I know it was hinted at that something re: the baby Turtles might be happening soon...so that's a good start? Maybe? I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO SO I CAN'T SAY FOR CERTAIN but you know what I mean.