Okay, after reviewing the comments and the poll results, we modly types have come to a decision that we hope will help keep things in check while also allowing more freedom! (We know we said we'd do a second poll, but we need to get Dayshift on the roll already and since we aren't putting down any modhammers here, we figured it'd be okay to proceed. If there seems to be a consensus of serious unhappiness towards all of this, we'll have a new poll before the next Dayshift.)
THERE WILL BE AN OFFICIAL PLOT POST FOR EACH DAYSHIFT.
This post will be made by the mods and the emphasis will be on plotting, not straight-out adoption. So basically, people will post with a subject line containing the names of the characters that they have interest in plotting for; then, in the body of the comment, they specify what kind of interaction they want for a particular shift(s) rather than listing out available shifts for the entire day.
THERE WILL NOT BE AN OFFICIAL SYSTEM OF LIMITING A CHARACTER'S SCHEDULING.
Each plot post will remind players that it is entirely optional and that we strongly discourage characters from being completely scheduled up or scheduled without any clear motive on the part of the player and/or character. Still, the choice will, in the end, be left at each player's discretion, and there will be absolutely no micromanaging on the part of the mods.
CHARACTERS WILL STILL BE FREE TO SCHEDULE ON THE BULLETIN.
Just to clarify, characters may still plan meet-ups and such as much as they want (so long as it's consistent with their characterization, of course)! However, you now also have the option of screwing up your character's plans by leaving them open for an interruption or getting them side-tracked altogether. More details below.
THERE WILL BE DIFFERENT/LOOSER TYPES OF RESERVES AVAILABLE.
In order to put a damper on the mentality that each shift should only be spent with only one other character, we'll be implementing the three methods of reserving that we mentioned in the poll (which will now have specific OOC notes for clarification's sake). In total, there will now be five general options:
Free: [ Free for threading. Limit: # ]
Notification: [ Eventual threading with _______. Limit: # ]
Loose Reserve: [ First post reserved for ______. Limit: # ]
Strict Reserve: [ Exclusively reserved for ______. ]
Closed: [ Closed from threading. ]
As you can see, in the free/notification/loose reserve threads you can specify the amount of people you'd like to have in the thread so that a two-person thread isn't assumed. For example: if you indeed want a two-person thread, you put "Limit: 2"; if you wouldn't mind a thread with three total participants, you put "Limit: 3". If you don't care how many people join the thread, you may also put "Limit: any". Exclusive reserves may, of course, include however many specific characters are listed.
If two or more people are already threading even in a free/notification/loose reserve thread, any potential newcomer must contact one of the threaders to get permission to join. If, however, you want to keep your thread totally open to any random person even while people are already conversing, you may add "no contact necessary" or something along those lines in the OOC note.
We're also adding the option of a "closed" thread for players who want to have their character keep to themselves during a shift or who want to close off a thread altogether once their thread partner leaves/if the thread comes to a definitive end.
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We hope that all sounds reasonable to both those who enjoy scheduling and those who prefer not to. Either way, the potential of the different thread types certainly has me excited, and I hope the rest of you are also looking forward to seeing them implemented as well. Also, while Nightshift isn't as rigidly scheduled, still free free to use those OOC notes to clarify the amount of interaction you want your character to have as they set out into the hallway or such.
Again, feel free to share any comments/questions/concerns, though we'll probably keep this general set of rules going for this Dayshift, at least, to see how it all goes. If this system indeed becomes permanent, we'll update the
posting guidelines to reflect that.
Thanks for all of your input, guys, and we hope this all works out!