We are Moving | Part II
RESULTS ARE IN!
Thanks to everyone who participated! We’re going to be moving on January 25 and we’ll be switching to community base. It was kind of a tough call for the journals/comm, but community won out in the end. This post will now give a general outline on how both the move and the community posting will work.
MOVING DATE: JAN 25
Since this is the earliest day, we have only a little over a week to get everything prepared and ready for players to be able to post into Somarium. If you haven’t already, start making your Dreamwidth accounts! We’re slowly but surely reworking all the pages and putting them into the new comm. We expect all of these pages to at least be moved over by the end of the week.
This is the timeline that everyone should be aware of:
Jan 16 - Reserves Open: We have a reserves page open on the DW site. It can be found here and you can comment via OpenID if you do not have a DW account yet.
Jan 21-31 - Player Check-In / AC: As mentioned before, this month’s AC is a simple check-in where you will only need to comment saying whether you are moving to DW or not. For those moving, this is where you will tell us what your new DW account so we can adjust the lists accordingly. You will also start joining the comms at this time. We have it closed at the moment, but we will open it up for everyone. We will alert those on hiatus to give them a chance to comment. Remember, they will still be automatically carried over.
Jan 25 - Start Play: All new posts should be made on the DW site. However, we do allow exceptions for those who are staying behind, and such posts can be continued to be made on LJ until the end of February. Backtagging and making backposts on LJ are also perfectly fine! There is no time limit as to how long backthreading can go on. Also, we will have a sort of “event" going on to help kickstart the move. Nothing too groundshattering, but it will give everyone something fun to do and work with while everyone is still trying to settle in.
February 1-10: Application Cycle: Applications will be open for an extended 10-day period! There have been no changes made to the Application Post, so no worries there. The new Application post can be found here.
February 29: Last day for LJ Comm: The LJ comm will still be accessible and people will still be able to backtag in it, but no new posts will be allowed to be made on there. Even though we will have imported the entries and comments onto DW, we will not delete the old community.
From then on out, we’ll be continuing with our normal schedule.
SWITCHING TO COMMUNITY BASE
This may take some time for current players to adjust to, but we are switching to community base. So what does this mean? We will have two communities where all the gameplay will be on. As mentioned, we are doing a slight restructure to make this more organized. Again, it might take some getting used to, but it’s really simple. Here’s the general low down on how each will work:
So in short: network comm has pretty much everything from the previous journal system and focuses on Dreamberry communication; log comm has everything else that is more physical interaction oriented.
About mature content. We do allow mature content in the game in general. However, we also have certain rules about it as Somarium is not intended to be a mature rated game. All content should be under a cut and there should be adequate warning, especially if the content may have potential triggers. Due to the switch to community base, we also have to alter how such content should be handled.
Other Journal Use. As we mentioned before, you can use your journals for Voicemail posts, and we actually encourage this. This will help reduce private posts on the network, and our acceptance notices will still make the suggestion for a Voicemail post to be made on the journal. Profile memes and any other OOC housekeeping can also be used on the journals. Journals will also be allowed to be used in multiple games at once, including journal based ones. Just make sure to mark Som-related posts so that players can find them if they need to.
That should be it. We basically ran down how Somarium’s posting system works as a whole, so if you want the list of specific changes (other than the obvious), here they are:
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Just a heads up, but for those use their account inbox rather than email for notifications, DW does not provide inbox notification for the “Someone replies to any comment or community post I make" option. You do get an e-mail notification, but there is not one in your account inbox. If you rely more on your account inbox than your e-mail, a way to work around it is to use the tracking option. Free accounts can have up to 25. At the moment, I do not have any information about whether or not this will be changed, so if someone else knows more about it, that’ll be helpful!
THE END
Thank you everyone for being so patient throughout this ordeal. We know nerves have been tested and everyone is struggling just to move forward. But we’re almost there. Once everything is moved and done with, we can just throw this all behind us and move on. We know not everyone is happy and that we’ll be losing some great people because of the various poll results. So let’s make the rest of the time as enjoyable as possible.
And then we can party in Rio.
Thanks to everyone who participated! We’re going to be moving on January 25 and we’ll be switching to community base. It was kind of a tough call for the journals/comm, but community won out in the end. This post will now give a general outline on how both the move and the community posting will work.
MOVING DATE: JAN 25
Since this is the earliest day, we have only a little over a week to get everything prepared and ready for players to be able to post into Somarium. If you haven’t already, start making your Dreamwidth accounts! We’re slowly but surely reworking all the pages and putting them into the new comm. We expect all of these pages to at least be moved over by the end of the week.
This is the timeline that everyone should be aware of:
Jan 16 - Reserves Open: We have a reserves page open on the DW site. It can be found here and you can comment via OpenID if you do not have a DW account yet.
Jan 21-31 - Player Check-In / AC: As mentioned before, this month’s AC is a simple check-in where you will only need to comment saying whether you are moving to DW or not. For those moving, this is where you will tell us what your new DW account so we can adjust the lists accordingly. You will also start joining the comms at this time. We have it closed at the moment, but we will open it up for everyone. We will alert those on hiatus to give them a chance to comment. Remember, they will still be automatically carried over.
Jan 25 - Start Play: All new posts should be made on the DW site. However, we do allow exceptions for those who are staying behind, and such posts can be continued to be made on LJ until the end of February. Backtagging and making backposts on LJ are also perfectly fine! There is no time limit as to how long backthreading can go on. Also, we will have a sort of “event" going on to help kickstart the move. Nothing too groundshattering, but it will give everyone something fun to do and work with while everyone is still trying to settle in.
February 1-10: Application Cycle: Applications will be open for an extended 10-day period! There have been no changes made to the Application Post, so no worries there. The new Application post can be found here.
February 29: Last day for LJ Comm: The LJ comm will still be accessible and people will still be able to backtag in it, but no new posts will be allowed to be made on there. Even though we will have imported the entries and comments onto DW, we will not delete the old community.
From then on out, we’ll be continuing with our normal schedule.
SWITCHING TO COMMUNITY BASE
This may take some time for current players to adjust to, but we are switching to community base. So what does this mean? We will have two communities where all the gameplay will be on. As mentioned, we are doing a slight restructure to make this more organized. Again, it might take some getting used to, but it’s really simple. Here’s the general low down on how each will work:
- Dreamnet - Network Comm. The new network community will be called dreamnet, which is the actual IC name of the Dreamberry network. This is where all network posts, including certain dreams, are to be posted. For the record, all posts and comments are to be in [action tags], or what we usually call “first person." Filtered posts will function the same way, though we discourage an private network posts to just one person. We still encourage the Voicemail posts in the journals, so it’s better to take such one-on-one private threads there like we have been.
- Non-interactive dreams only: These are your typical dream posts that anyone has the potential to watch through the Dreamberry and make passing comments on them. Note: The dream headers will carry over, so dream posts should still state what kind of effects and any other notes that other players should be aware of.
- Tags: Tags will be the character’s name in Western (first/last) order and we will also have !type: [format] tags. These just specify what type of post it is: !type: video, !type: voice, !type: text, !type: dream. Everyone will be responsible for tagging in their own character (though anyone should be able to add tags if they feel up to helping tag maintenance).
- Headers: We are actually not going to require any specific type of header format for this community, so you’re free to label your posts however you like. We only ask that you put the type of post somewhere in the post, like on a subject line (which is what we believe most players do in their journal posts already). That way players can easily see the type of post in case you forget to tag it properly.
- NO ACTION: Just like in the journals, there should be no action threads occurring in network posts. Action threads are designated to the logging community.
- Exception: If there are two or more characters involved with the post or a character is in the same room, then threads between those characters are allowed. This is the same exception as in journal posting, so it is being carried over.
- Non-interactive dreams only: These are your typical dream posts that anyone has the potential to watch through the Dreamberry and make passing comments on them. Note: The dream headers will carry over, so dream posts should still state what kind of effects and any other notes that other players should be aware of.
- Somarium - Logging Comm. This really has no change except for that fact that we are designating certain other types of posts into the comm. Both action logging or prose logging (first and third person style) are still allowed.
- Mixed Action and Network Posts: Some players may want to have a post that’s a mix of a network post and a physical log post. Rather than make two posts and spam the game, it’s easier to just combine it. Please note that both action and network responses would be allowed. Just make sure that the comments are properly labeled so as not to confuse others. By the way, this should not be confused with mixed network type posts. A Video/Voice post or Video/non-interactive Dream post would still be in the network. This is only for a post that is mixed as a log.
- Interactive Dreams: Following the “action post" motif, all interactive dreams should be posted in the logging comm. This isn’t as odd as you might think. When interactive dreams were first introduced, they were initially posted on the main logs community. It’s kind of flip flopped since, but now we are making it clear that any interactive dream should be on the main community. Like the mixed posts, both network responses and action responses are allowed. Note: The dream headers will carry over, so dream posts should still state what kind of effects and any other notes that other players should be aware of.
- Tags: We’re importing the original tagging system, so it will stay the same. There will be the character name in Western (first/last) order as well as various location and event tags. We are also adding three new “!type: [format]" tags: !type: log, !type: mixed, !type: dream. You can probably guess what each stands for. Again, this is for pure organization purposes.
- Headers: The headers will remain the same: Who, Where, Style, Status. There’s also an optional “Notes" that you can tack on at the end if there’s anything you’d like to add for other players. By default, a post in the log comm will be considered a normal log if only because those will probably be the bulk of the posts made in there. But if the post is an interactive dream or a mixed post, please indicate it somewhere either in the subject line or in the post itself. This is just to serve as a double check in case you forget to tag it or if a payer misses the tag. If it’s an interactive dream, don’t forget to include the additional dream header (just the effects and any other notes).
- Mixed Action and Network Posts: Some players may want to have a post that’s a mix of a network post and a physical log post. Rather than make two posts and spam the game, it’s easier to just combine it. Please note that both action and network responses would be allowed. Just make sure that the comments are properly labeled so as not to confuse others. By the way, this should not be confused with mixed network type posts. A Video/Voice post or Video/non-interactive Dream post would still be in the network. This is only for a post that is mixed as a log.
So in short: network comm has pretty much everything from the previous journal system and focuses on Dreamberry communication; log comm has everything else that is more physical interaction oriented.
About mature content. We do allow mature content in the game in general. However, we also have certain rules about it as Somarium is not intended to be a mature rated game. All content should be under a cut and there should be adequate warning, especially if the content may have potential triggers. Due to the switch to community base, we also have to alter how such content should be handled.
- Member locked. The post itself will be on the community, but it is member locked so that only the current playerbase will be able to see it. All warnings and proper cuts will need to be applied. For those worried about random users joining just to cheat and see the post, we will close the open membership to the communities after the end of each application cycle.
- Journal locked. If you feel more comfortable posting mature themed posts on the journals, then you may do so. All the above rules apply, though F-locking is optional unless it’s something that’s really NC-17 or trigger inducing. In that case, it must be F-locked with adequate warning. To get the playerbase’s attention, you can make a “fake post" on the community that links to the real journal entry and member lock that entry. However, if it’s a private log, you do not have to alert the community by a fake post.
- M-Rated Dream Example. Laena writes up a really smutty, M-rated dream for Tamaki. Not feeling very comfortable posting it on the community, she posts it in the journal instead, f-locked. Still, it was an awesome smutty dream despite the rating and she wants people to read and tag it! So after granting everyone access to Tamaki’s journal, she then makes a member-locked entry with the basic headers and summary with a link to the journal entry. Everyone tags in the journal entry instead.
- Private Log Example. Laena and Lina write some delicious smut about Tamaki and Haruhi (that was probably a result from the previous smut dream), but feeling uncomfortable posting it in the community, they take it to the journal instead and f-lock it. Laena being the shy person that she is decides to forgo making that fake entry linking to it. So now their log is perfectly secret and safe in the journal and if they for some reason want others to read it, they would just have to grant access and link it.
- M-Rated Dream Example. Laena writes up a really smutty, M-rated dream for Tamaki. Not feeling very comfortable posting it on the community, she posts it in the journal instead, f-locked. Still, it was an awesome smutty dream despite the rating and she wants people to read and tag it! So after granting everyone access to Tamaki’s journal, she then makes a member-locked entry with the basic headers and summary with a link to the journal entry. Everyone tags in the journal entry instead.
Other Journal Use. As we mentioned before, you can use your journals for Voicemail posts, and we actually encourage this. This will help reduce private posts on the network, and our acceptance notices will still make the suggestion for a Voicemail post to be made on the journal. Profile memes and any other OOC housekeeping can also be used on the journals. Journals will also be allowed to be used in multiple games at once, including journal based ones. Just make sure to mark Som-related posts so that players can find them if they need to.
That should be it. We basically ran down how Somarium’s posting system works as a whole, so if you want the list of specific changes (other than the obvious), here they are:
- Non-interactive dreams are network comm only
- Interactive dreams are log comm only
- Mixed network/action posts are comm only
- Mature content can be member locked in the comm OR f-locked on the journals with fake member entries on the community for player notice
- New tags made for organization purpose
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Just a heads up, but for those use their account inbox rather than email for notifications, DW does not provide inbox notification for the “Someone replies to any comment or community post I make" option. You do get an e-mail notification, but there is not one in your account inbox. If you rely more on your account inbox than your e-mail, a way to work around it is to use the tracking option. Free accounts can have up to 25. At the moment, I do not have any information about whether or not this will be changed, so if someone else knows more about it, that’ll be helpful!
THE END
Thank you everyone for being so patient throughout this ordeal. We know nerves have been tested and everyone is struggling just to move forward. But we’re almost there. Once everything is moved and done with, we can just throw this all behind us and move on. We know not everyone is happy and that we’ll be losing some great people because of the various poll results. So let’s make the rest of the time as enjoyable as possible.
And then we can party in Rio.