You may go cross-eyed from all of the reading.
Hey guys!
We'd like to present all of you with (some) of the fruits of our labor during the past month.
Make sure you read EVERYTHING below-- we're going to use this post to re-explain a couple of rules, along with some other rules we've been talking about, tweaking and are introducing. There are also details that will affect your character and help gameplay.
ON ACTIVITY
Okay, just so everyone is on the same page concerning activity, we're going to explain once more what counts during activity checks.
1) We have an activity requirement of two posts per month. One post may be replaced with a thread or with participation in a log.
2) All characters MUST make at least one network post per month. You cannot substitute a network post with a log or a thread. You may use a joint post to do your network post, although we'll cover that later.
3) You may use a log as your second post requirement. Again, you may either POST a log or PARTICIPATE in a log in order to meet requirements. If you choose to participate in a log, we ask that there's just a bit more substance than just one or two comments.
4) You may also use a comment thread in place of a second post. This comment thread MUST contain AT LEAST twenty comments by YOUR CHARACTER. It's not a twenty comment total for the whole thread. If you don't have any threads that are that long, we're going to start allowing the combining of two or three threads. We just ask that you don't link us to a bunch of one or two comment threads. A good rule of thumb is to keep it so that there's a minimum of ten to fifteen comments made by your character in one thread already.
5) Starting July, joint posts may only count for ONE of the characters involved. A joint post is when two or more characters are involved in the same network entry. They are still very much allowed, and they will still count for both characters until the END of June. There's been some confusion concerning this rule, so we're cementing it now, along with giving you guys time to make plans accordingly.
6) We're introducing a new rule concerning inactivity. If you've been MIA for a month, and haven't commented to any activity post, you will have TWO WEEKS FROM THE END OF THE MONTH to drop us a line before you're automatically purged.
ON HIATUSING
1) PLEASE, PLEEEAAASE make sure you comment to the hiatus post every time you go on hiatus. This is a failsafe for both the mods and the players in case we don't catch a hiatus post in the ooc community.
2) If you know a player has gone on hiatus, and it's been a while since they've made any kind of contact, yet they haven't commented to the hiatus post, we are now allowing another person to make a comment for them-- just make sure you have the expected start and end dates.
3) If an emergency happens, and you're unable to make it to the hiatus post and nobody has covered you, PLEASE come talk to a mod about it to avoid having your character thrown out. We're flexible! However, we can only allow this one month for every six. We'd like to recommend that you take the hit and do the extra posts for the next month, and save it for a true emergency rather than something like school or work. This is of course if time allows it.
We are NOT saying that RP should come before RL in any shape or form, because it really shouldn't, but that players should use their best judgment and take a hiatus if it looks like things are going to get rough, rather than rely on contacting a mod after the month is over and they've failed to meet requirements. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, and we're not going to penalize you if something huge has happened, we're just trying to encourage everyone to take initiative.
4) If you're going on a hiatus, we'd like to ask that you make a comment to the Permanent Activity Post saying that you won't be making activity that month-- again, this is to make sure you're accounted for for when we do the final checks!
ON APPLICATIONS
1) The application itself is remaining the same-- BUT YES, WE'RE GOING TO BE EASIER ON THEM NOW. With this rehaul, I believe we've found a good medium between tooth-rottingly easy and heart-attack inducingly hard.
ON VARIOUS LISTS
1) We spent some time cleaning up EVERYTHING concerning our current cast counts, room assignments, etc. With that done, we'd like to let you guys know that the drop page is there mostly for mod use and to help keep us up to date, so please don't rely on it too much, as we'll screen comments once they've served their purpose. If you DO need to check to see if someone has dropped, we invite you to look at either the Taken List or the Room Assignments page as they are updated regularly.
2) There's going to be a new Profile Page that'll be easier to navigate!
3) We're also working on making everything really pretty.
ON PLOTS [BOTH MOD AND PLAYER]
1) We're still very much encouraging player plots, however, if there's a planned long-term event, we ask that you send a basic plan of action to the mod e-mail at gargleblasted@gmail.com. This is so there's a basic map to fall back on to avoid any confusion, and to also help the mods plan accordingly. We're also more than happy to offer our help in running a player plot, including providing information on the workings of the ship, what characters may find should they snoop around, and information concerning law enforcement and how the NPCs work.
2) Improbability Drive Events happen once a month. We don't want to bog the game down too much with random chaos, as that leads to just that… random chaos with the same "OH NOOO" reactions. However, we're also going to use this time to say that we've been using the suggestions we get in the suggestions post and we're going to keep it that way! When it comes to what kind of events occur, the players have all of the say in it. We'll still give notice days in advance as to how long the event will last and what to expect, so please continue to give us ideas!
3) Character Death. This isn't retroactive, so if you've had your character die recently, you don't need to worry about having the rug pulled out from under you. However, we're amping up consequences for character death: If you have your character die, you must be prepared to sit out of game play for one week while your character's revival takes place, and all of their papers are filed. In that vein, we'd like to ask that you notify the mods when you're having your character die, just so we have a way to keep track. Whether it's a comment to the Mod Contact post, an IM or a quick e-mail is your call.
META GAME STUFF TO KNOW
So, the game has grown exponentially in the ten months we've been open, and we've decided to finally flesh out a few details for your reference. If you've fudged said details in the past, please don't worry about retconning! [I-It's really not a big deal. ;; Promise!]
We'll be updating the (eventually new and improved) profile page with the following:
1) The S.S.Thor is HUGE. It's about the size of a large city, meaning that there's around five million inhabitants. The hallways share the same width as a few city streets combined.
2) ROOM LAYOUTS. I'M WORKING ON THEM I PROMISE!!! Along with those, I'm going to work on one or two illustrations of what the interiors of the ship look like. And then use them for my portfoli-- I MEAN
3) Credits! Your character may opt to have them as loose 'change' (small chips able to fit in the palm of your hand) or put them all on an electronic CREDIT card. (HAHA! SEE WHAT WE DID THERE?) One credit is equivalent to enough to buy a small drink. Five would be enough to buy a sandwich. A hundred million billion fafillion zillion jillion your own personal galaxy.
4) Breaking the law. There is a law enforcement and judicial system in place, with cells designed to keep in individuals of all species and holders of all special sparkle powers. The higher ups have taken a notice to increasing tensions and violence, and, although they don't care about the refugees too much, there's going to be increased security and punishment for crimes committed. PLEASE SEE THIS POST HERE
5) Speaking of violence: not all parts of the Thor are safe. Feel free to have your character find themselves in a shady part of the ship! Or, conversely, in a disgustingly NICE part of the ship.
6) Society. Like a full fledged city, the Thor runs on different tiers of social classes, part of which your characters have been/will be climbing. However, as refugees, expect to be treated like dirt for a good majority of the time. Once you hit your stride in terms of jobs completed, and show that you're pulling your weight, your character MAY have more respect from the NPCs.
7) If you have any other questions concerning meta game, please don't hesitate to ask us!
AGAIN, if you've fudged these details, DO NOT PANIC. The available Deus Ex Machina is that everything was finally standardized and replaced while your characters slept/were otherwise distracted.
MISC
1) This is just a friendly reminder not to use the spam community too much! Another general rule of thumb to follow: If someone has posted a meme recently (within the past couple of days), maybe wait a bit before posting your own. We trust your judgment concerning this, but would just like to bring it up!
Thank you so much for reading, everyone. As always, we're open to questions, suggestions and comments. We may be a bit slow in replying, but we'll try to answer everything accordingly. We WILL be putting the changes up in the game's rules as well.
We'd like to present all of you with (some) of the fruits of our labor during the past month.
Make sure you read EVERYTHING below-- we're going to use this post to re-explain a couple of rules, along with some other rules we've been talking about, tweaking and are introducing. There are also details that will affect your character and help gameplay.
ON ACTIVITY
Okay, just so everyone is on the same page concerning activity, we're going to explain once more what counts during activity checks.
1) We have an activity requirement of two posts per month. One post may be replaced with a thread or with participation in a log.
2) All characters MUST make at least one network post per month. You cannot substitute a network post with a log or a thread. You may use a joint post to do your network post, although we'll cover that later.
3) You may use a log as your second post requirement. Again, you may either POST a log or PARTICIPATE in a log in order to meet requirements. If you choose to participate in a log, we ask that there's just a bit more substance than just one or two comments.
4) You may also use a comment thread in place of a second post. This comment thread MUST contain AT LEAST twenty comments by YOUR CHARACTER. It's not a twenty comment total for the whole thread. If you don't have any threads that are that long, we're going to start allowing the combining of two or three threads. We just ask that you don't link us to a bunch of one or two comment threads. A good rule of thumb is to keep it so that there's a minimum of ten to fifteen comments made by your character in one thread already.
5) Starting July, joint posts may only count for ONE of the characters involved. A joint post is when two or more characters are involved in the same network entry. They are still very much allowed, and they will still count for both characters until the END of June. There's been some confusion concerning this rule, so we're cementing it now, along with giving you guys time to make plans accordingly.
6) We're introducing a new rule concerning inactivity. If you've been MIA for a month, and haven't commented to any activity post, you will have TWO WEEKS FROM THE END OF THE MONTH to drop us a line before you're automatically purged.
ON HIATUSING
1) PLEASE, PLEEEAAASE make sure you comment to the hiatus post every time you go on hiatus. This is a failsafe for both the mods and the players in case we don't catch a hiatus post in the ooc community.
2) If you know a player has gone on hiatus, and it's been a while since they've made any kind of contact, yet they haven't commented to the hiatus post, we are now allowing another person to make a comment for them-- just make sure you have the expected start and end dates.
3) If an emergency happens, and you're unable to make it to the hiatus post and nobody has covered you, PLEASE come talk to a mod about it to avoid having your character thrown out. We're flexible! However, we can only allow this one month for every six. We'd like to recommend that you take the hit and do the extra posts for the next month, and save it for a true emergency rather than something like school or work. This is of course if time allows it.
We are NOT saying that RP should come before RL in any shape or form, because it really shouldn't, but that players should use their best judgment and take a hiatus if it looks like things are going to get rough, rather than rely on contacting a mod after the month is over and they've failed to meet requirements. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, and we're not going to penalize you if something huge has happened, we're just trying to encourage everyone to take initiative.
4) If you're going on a hiatus, we'd like to ask that you make a comment to the Permanent Activity Post saying that you won't be making activity that month-- again, this is to make sure you're accounted for for when we do the final checks!
ON APPLICATIONS
1) The application itself is remaining the same-- BUT YES, WE'RE GOING TO BE EASIER ON THEM NOW. With this rehaul, I believe we've found a good medium between tooth-rottingly easy and heart-attack inducingly hard.
ON VARIOUS LISTS
1) We spent some time cleaning up EVERYTHING concerning our current cast counts, room assignments, etc. With that done, we'd like to let you guys know that the drop page is there mostly for mod use and to help keep us up to date, so please don't rely on it too much, as we'll screen comments once they've served their purpose. If you DO need to check to see if someone has dropped, we invite you to look at either the Taken List or the Room Assignments page as they are updated regularly.
2) There's going to be a new Profile Page that'll be easier to navigate!
3) We're also working on making everything really pretty.
ON PLOTS [BOTH MOD AND PLAYER]
1) We're still very much encouraging player plots, however, if there's a planned long-term event, we ask that you send a basic plan of action to the mod e-mail at gargleblasted@gmail.com. This is so there's a basic map to fall back on to avoid any confusion, and to also help the mods plan accordingly. We're also more than happy to offer our help in running a player plot, including providing information on the workings of the ship, what characters may find should they snoop around, and information concerning law enforcement and how the NPCs work.
2) Improbability Drive Events happen once a month. We don't want to bog the game down too much with random chaos, as that leads to just that… random chaos with the same "OH NOOO" reactions. However, we're also going to use this time to say that we've been using the suggestions we get in the suggestions post and we're going to keep it that way! When it comes to what kind of events occur, the players have all of the say in it. We'll still give notice days in advance as to how long the event will last and what to expect, so please continue to give us ideas!
3) Character Death. This isn't retroactive, so if you've had your character die recently, you don't need to worry about having the rug pulled out from under you. However, we're amping up consequences for character death: If you have your character die, you must be prepared to sit out of game play for one week while your character's revival takes place, and all of their papers are filed. In that vein, we'd like to ask that you notify the mods when you're having your character die, just so we have a way to keep track. Whether it's a comment to the Mod Contact post, an IM or a quick e-mail is your call.
META GAME STUFF TO KNOW
So, the game has grown exponentially in the ten months we've been open, and we've decided to finally flesh out a few details for your reference. If you've fudged said details in the past, please don't worry about retconning! [I-It's really not a big deal. ;; Promise!]
We'll be updating the (eventually new and improved) profile page with the following:
1) The S.S.Thor is HUGE. It's about the size of a large city, meaning that there's around five million inhabitants. The hallways share the same width as a few city streets combined.
2) ROOM LAYOUTS. I'M WORKING ON THEM I PROMISE!!! Along with those, I'm going to work on one or two illustrations of what the interiors of the ship look like. And then use them for my portfoli-- I MEAN
3) Credits! Your character may opt to have them as loose 'change' (small chips able to fit in the palm of your hand) or put them all on an electronic CREDIT card. (HAHA! SEE WHAT WE DID THERE?) One credit is equivalent to enough to buy a small drink. Five would be enough to buy a sandwich. A hundred million billion fafillion zillion jillion your own personal galaxy.
4) Breaking the law. There is a law enforcement and judicial system in place, with cells designed to keep in individuals of all species and holders of all special sparkle powers. The higher ups have taken a notice to increasing tensions and violence, and, although they don't care about the refugees too much, there's going to be increased security and punishment for crimes committed. PLEASE SEE THIS POST HERE
5) Speaking of violence: not all parts of the Thor are safe. Feel free to have your character find themselves in a shady part of the ship! Or, conversely, in a disgustingly NICE part of the ship.
6) Society. Like a full fledged city, the Thor runs on different tiers of social classes, part of which your characters have been/will be climbing. However, as refugees, expect to be treated like dirt for a good majority of the time. Once you hit your stride in terms of jobs completed, and show that you're pulling your weight, your character MAY have more respect from the NPCs.
7) If you have any other questions concerning meta game, please don't hesitate to ask us!
AGAIN, if you've fudged these details, DO NOT PANIC. The available Deus Ex Machina is that everything was finally standardized and replaced while your characters slept/were otherwise distracted.
MISC
1) This is just a friendly reminder not to use the spam community too much! Another general rule of thumb to follow: If someone has posted a meme recently (within the past couple of days), maybe wait a bit before posting your own. We trust your judgment concerning this, but would just like to bring it up!
Thank you so much for reading, everyone. As always, we're open to questions, suggestions and comments. We may be a bit slow in replying, but we'll try to answer everything accordingly. We WILL be putting the changes up in the game's rules as well.