Tentative Decision Regarding the Synopsis
Based on your input and suggestions, this is what we propose to do with the Synopsis. Please share your opinions with us here as far as what you think of this resolution! Will this work for you? Will you use it?
We really appreciate all the response we received from everyone! It helped us to know that most of you found the synopsis useful for the purpose for which it was originally intended, and also what bits, precisely, were the road-blocks for trying to get them done.
1. Administrative Posting of the Synopsis
We will now go to bi-weekly entries in the same general format as we have used thus far - the admin team will give a general over-view of what has gone on in the world-at-large and Admin-Driven NPC's.
This was the most common suggestion, and seems to make sense considering how fast our game moves and how hard it is, sometimes, to know where a thread is going when the synopsis comes due each week.
2. Player response to the Synopsis
Based on your response, and how much it became clear that people do, indeed, use the Synopsis to keep up with and/or catch up with our game, we will continue to ask our players to respond to the admin posts with their own character information, with these changes:
a) Bi-weekly or Monthly is up to you -
Some of our characters are only active intermittently, and feel they could keep up with their information adequately with a monthly input, while others with more active characters might choose to reply every two weeks. If you chose the 'monthly' option, please try to reply to the first Synopsis of each month for consistency.
b) Optional formatting -
Some people find using the html tags too cumbersome. If it is easier, you can simply post the raw links to your threads, with a title or brief description of those threads. People who like their present format will continue to use the narrative format.
c) More useful Information -
It was suggested that at the end of one's "standard" synopsis post, regardless of how often or what format one is using, you might also add links to old threads your character has recently completed. Our game is quite large, and sometimes it is easy for old-threads still in progress to get 'lost' so that players and watchers alike forget to go back and read it, thereby 'losing' some of the fun conclusions of threads. Adding links and blurbs to old stuff now complete will give those threads more exposure.
++++++++++++
Please note that there are a few inherent challenges with the Synopsis from a player standpoint, no matter which format or frequency you choose to use. LiveJournal only 'supports' custom-friends-groups for two weeks. If you, like me, rely heavily on going 'back' in your custom-friends-groups to keep your interactions in chronological order when time to do your Synopsis, you will 'lose' some of your flexibility.
We highly recommend that you find some way that works for you to keep track of your active threads. I like to use my 'email notifications' as a tool for this as well.
I, personally, keep one 'private' journal entry in Snape's journal where I just copy and paste any new threads he joins, whether Journal conversations or main-game, so I can quickly and easily find them when it is time to do my synopsis.
We would really like to see greater commitment to using the Synopsis from all of our players, for the very cogent reasons so many people gave as to why it has been useful to them. We are very hopeful that this change will bring more concerted effort to 'keep up' on these from everyone.
Cheers!