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tushanshu_ooc2013-02-12 11:02 am
ironwood) wrote in tushanshu_ooc2013-02-12 11:02 am
Six Month Anniversary | Discussion Time!
OKAY SO. Hello Chelonauts!
Guess what? Tu Shanshu has passed the six month mark! That means that there are some changes we're thinking about making, as mods and in relation to players, that we wanted to run by you guys.
These changes are mainly about streamlining the game and, frankly, making modding such a wonderful and well-sized playerbase easier on the two mods. Due to a number of factors, including the nature of the metaplot and the background administration, adding a third mod is not under consideration. We're basically considering some changes and wanted to get feedback on them and some other topics before we implemented anything.
Just to be clear, any and all changes that we decide on will be made on a henceforth basis! For example, if we up the app standards, that will not be retroactively applied to currently accepted characters.
First of all...
APPS
Application Cutoff & Cap
Currently, Tu Shanshu runs on a weekly application cutoff of Friday night, with verdicts going up by Sunday night at the latest (with one forewarned exception). This means that every weekend, there is an influx of new characters and new posts to respond to. This also means that the mods have to get together once a week and make their final verdicts on the applications, which can be somewhat taxing when there are a lot of applications or when one/both of us is on the road for work.
We're looking to put a cap on the number of applications considered in each period, as well as extending the cutoff period to being twice a month (the first and the fifteenth). The application cap that we are looking at is ten applications per cutoff period.
Why are we looking to do this? This is to control the size of the game for the sake of being able to plot with our casts without being overwhelmed with the number of inductees and/or risking a downturn into slice of life. Tu Shanshu is first and foremost a plot-driven game and we aim to be inclusive with the events -- having an overall cap on the applications would assist us in keeping up with new and old cast alike and facilitate optimal inclusion of all in events.
The second thing we're looking at is...
Application Quality
Every game has differing standards for application quality and Tu Shanshu has operated primarily on the technical level (completeness of application, demonstration of character knowledge). There's been some feedback that we could tighten up quality control in general and therefore we're bringing it to you, the members, to help us decide whether to notch up the quality bar.
What does this mean? Applications would be judged a little more thoroughly than they've been in the past. This means a higher chance of rejection would naturally follow, even for players that have characters presently in the game. We would be looking at apps not only with an increased scrutiny on technical aspects but possibly also a creative one as well – ie: is the app engaging overall, do the samples present options or incentive for people looking to tag them, etc.
Applications are the big one, but we've also got a few discussion points below that we'd love to hear feedback on:
Activity Requirements & Reclaims
Activity Requirements
We implemented a less stringent activity requirement commencing the November 2012 activity period and are curious about how it's going! Do you agree with the one post OR twenty comments requirement? How about the fact that the thread must be started during the AC period? Do you think we should increase the AC requirements? Any and all thoughts are welcome!
Reclaims
Tu Shanshu's activity requirements state that you can reclaim a character once and only once if they fail AC. This could, in all technicalities, mean that a character that has been in the game for ten months and failed their first AC, but passed all subsequent ones, would still be subject to the reclaim disqualification. We're looking at instituting a shelf-life on the reclaims of six months, meaning that any character that has been reclaimed, but subsequently passed six months of activity checks, would have that reclaim stricken from their record. This time period could be shortened or lengthened, depending on if you'd like to see this implemented and your thoughts about how it could best be done.
General Feedback
CR With Me
We currently offer a monthly CR With Me meme on the OOC community to facilitate the plotting and gathering of additional CR for any and all characters in the game. The idea to put it up every six weeks instead has been floated past us and we're looking for thoughts. Do you like it monthly? Would you prefer a longer time period? Also, do you have any feedback on the form that we use? Are there any other memes you would like to see?
Event Suggestions
We're always looking for event suggestions, be it player-run plots or ideas for gamewide mod events. If you have anything that you've been dying to see happen, feel free to make a suggestion here!
Mingle Log
Rather than have a burst of intro posts every time verdicts get posted, we're considering a ground mingle log to be posted. Thoughts?
General Feedback
Here is your forum for anything else that you would like to see changed, added, or removed from the game. We're at six months and want to make sure that you, the members, are still receiving the gaming experience that you joined to have!
And here's a handy-dandy code for organising feedback, if you'd like to use it!
As with all feedback opportunities, 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 drop by the Mod HMD if you'd prefer!
Guess what? Tu Shanshu has passed the six month mark! That means that there are some changes we're thinking about making, as mods and in relation to players, that we wanted to run by you guys.
These changes are mainly about streamlining the game and, frankly, making modding such a wonderful and well-sized playerbase easier on the two mods. Due to a number of factors, including the nature of the metaplot and the background administration, adding a third mod is not under consideration. We're basically considering some changes and wanted to get feedback on them and some other topics before we implemented anything.
Just to be clear, any and all changes that we decide on will be made on a henceforth basis! For example, if we up the app standards, that will not be retroactively applied to currently accepted characters.
First of all...
APPS
Application Cutoff & Cap
Currently, Tu Shanshu runs on a weekly application cutoff of Friday night, with verdicts going up by Sunday night at the latest (with one forewarned exception). This means that every weekend, there is an influx of new characters and new posts to respond to. This also means that the mods have to get together once a week and make their final verdicts on the applications, which can be somewhat taxing when there are a lot of applications or when one/both of us is on the road for work.
We're looking to put a cap on the number of applications considered in each period, as well as extending the cutoff period to being twice a month (the first and the fifteenth). The application cap that we are looking at is ten applications per cutoff period.
Why are we looking to do this? This is to control the size of the game for the sake of being able to plot with our casts without being overwhelmed with the number of inductees and/or risking a downturn into slice of life. Tu Shanshu is first and foremost a plot-driven game and we aim to be inclusive with the events -- having an overall cap on the applications would assist us in keeping up with new and old cast alike and facilitate optimal inclusion of all in events.
The second thing we're looking at is...
Application Quality
Every game has differing standards for application quality and Tu Shanshu has operated primarily on the technical level (completeness of application, demonstration of character knowledge). There's been some feedback that we could tighten up quality control in general and therefore we're bringing it to you, the members, to help us decide whether to notch up the quality bar.
What does this mean? Applications would be judged a little more thoroughly than they've been in the past. This means a higher chance of rejection would naturally follow, even for players that have characters presently in the game. We would be looking at apps not only with an increased scrutiny on technical aspects but possibly also a creative one as well – ie: is the app engaging overall, do the samples present options or incentive for people looking to tag them, etc.
Applications are the big one, but we've also got a few discussion points below that we'd love to hear feedback on:
Activity Requirements & Reclaims
Activity Requirements
We implemented a less stringent activity requirement commencing the November 2012 activity period and are curious about how it's going! Do you agree with the one post OR twenty comments requirement? How about the fact that the thread must be started during the AC period? Do you think we should increase the AC requirements? Any and all thoughts are welcome!
Reclaims
Tu Shanshu's activity requirements state that you can reclaim a character once and only once if they fail AC. This could, in all technicalities, mean that a character that has been in the game for ten months and failed their first AC, but passed all subsequent ones, would still be subject to the reclaim disqualification. We're looking at instituting a shelf-life on the reclaims of six months, meaning that any character that has been reclaimed, but subsequently passed six months of activity checks, would have that reclaim stricken from their record. This time period could be shortened or lengthened, depending on if you'd like to see this implemented and your thoughts about how it could best be done.
General Feedback
CR With Me
We currently offer a monthly CR With Me meme on the OOC community to facilitate the plotting and gathering of additional CR for any and all characters in the game. The idea to put it up every six weeks instead has been floated past us and we're looking for thoughts. Do you like it monthly? Would you prefer a longer time period? Also, do you have any feedback on the form that we use? Are there any other memes you would like to see?
Event Suggestions
We're always looking for event suggestions, be it player-run plots or ideas for gamewide mod events. If you have anything that you've been dying to see happen, feel free to make a suggestion here!
Mingle Log
Rather than have a burst of intro posts every time verdicts get posted, we're considering a ground mingle log to be posted. Thoughts?
General Feedback
Here is your forum for anything else that you would like to see changed, added, or removed from the game. We're at six months and want to make sure that you, the members, are still receiving the gaming experience that you joined to have!
And here's a handy-dandy code for organising feedback, if you'd like to use it!
As with all feedback opportunities, 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 drop by the Mod HMD if you'd prefer!
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Cap & Cutoff:
While I understand about not wanting the game to suddenly explode, I think that at this time, putting a cap on applications might not be for the best. If you guys are feeling overwhelmed by processing apps, I think having a cutoff might work for you or you could ask for mod helpers when reading apps. I've been in a number of games that had a set of application mods just for reading.
Quality:
How would you judge creativity? Or characters who wouldn't have a lot to say over the networks, which would reflect in their samples? I think that going that route would be a bad idea. It's always a good thing to tighten up how you judge your apps and handle quality control, but this seems subjective and difficult to judge. It would be unfair on the players to write what you would think is a creative app.
Other than that, I like everything else. I agree with the shelf-life of reclaims being six months.
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That said, we are flexible with the number of an app-limit - right now we're thinking ten, do you think there's a number that's a little better suited?
no subject
Ten seems like a good number to me. I haven't really seen more than ten in an app round yet? I know there was a bigger-ish one recently, but I'm not sure if it was more than ten. So if you guys go the cutoff route, I think that's a pretty good number.
I am so sorry for rambling, lmfao.
no subject
I think the most we've had so far in an app round is thirteen, but we've definitely been seeing a significant increase in interest (and a consistent amount of apps at about 7/8 per round) in the last couple months, which is why we're starting to think about these things sooner rather than later.
You did mention that a cut-off might not be for the best - might I ask why? Is it a variety of factors or does it just seem too stand-offish/exclusive to people looking at a new game?
no subject
I don't think that it sounds too exclusive for people looking at a new game, but it might make them a little wary. I say it might not be best because it's almost like cutting off a problem that isn't a problem. If the worry is an influx of new characters + intros, then having app rounds (cutoffs) with a mingle log could definitely help to take care of that.
Although, if your worry is to take control of population size in order to work with your plot (which I totally understand), then that makes sense.
In general, though, I'm happy to go along with whatever you guys decide. From what I've seen in my short time here, you two seem like really capable and involved mods who have the best intentions for both the game and your players. c:
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