State of the Game - Feb 2021

[tramitem]

✦ State of the Game - Feb 2021 ✦

... And when my good dream came to an end, I woke up more than ready to bend ... Full Game Navigation

Happy Birthday, Tramitem! First of all … Happy 1st Game-iversary to Tramitem! Thank you all for being here with us … what better way to celebrate than with a State of The Game? We (your mods: Ryah and Ang) have been talking quite a bit since the start of the year! Ang posted a very informative poll on Plurk, asking players far and wide what drew them to a game. One of the most common answers was the ease of access to/understanding the mechanics of the game. We’ve been talking a lot about this and how to apply it to Tramitem... So a lot of what we are here to talk about today is making things easier for everyone in-game, as well as prospective players interested in the game. We also realize that several players are experiencing burnout and loss of drive, so we would like to talk to you all and get your opinions on how plots and player interaction can be made better in light of this. There’s a lot here, but it’s all important, so please bear with us, and give us your honest, tactful feedback. We want to make this game the best it can be, but we need your help to do it! We will be making a separate post in coming days where players can vote on options, once there's been some discussion. Proposed Changes to AC, Points, and Spending When it comes to the Activity Check process, we understand being totally stress-free is impossible, but we feel our system could be easier. We also want a mechanism that characters can use to earn things relevant to their canon lives. It’s obviously a balancing act we want to get right. Activity Checks The biggest idea we keep coming back to is making AC separate from tallying points. The Monthly AC would consist of base AC only. AC requirements would stay relatively the same, one instance of play a month with 5 or more comments from your character, and players would still have the same window of the 1st-7th of the month to submit AC. Memory/Item/Power Redemptions As for point spending and memory/item/power redemptions, we have two strong ideas: First Idea Players would earn points on threads that meet Bonus Point Option criteria. However, these points would be tallyed in a separate space on the Points page. Under this system, players would be able to submit for bonus points at any time during the month (for example, February 1st through 28th). Threads would have no expiration, but once they are used, they cannot be used again. Pros - This system similar to what we are used to (points/point spending). Cons - keeping track of points on top of keeping track of threads can be odious. Second Idea Alternately, we are considering phasing in a new memory and item redemption system altogether. In this proposed system, players would submit threads to redeem for memories/items/powers instead of points. We have a full cost table drawn up, but since we don’t want to completely overwhelm you all, we'll just use an example for for right now. It would look something like this - example is for earning 10% of memories: To get a 10% portion of memories or powers, it would cost three threads. Threads must be links to your character tagging into another character’s post, and have a minimum of five comments from your character. Players may substitute one thread with a post made by their character, however, every top level must be addressed by their character in some manner. Threads can be used at any time, from any month. Each thread can only be used once. A character must have a passing AC on the most recent AC, and No Strikes. Threads are accounted for and ‘spent’ directly on the Redemption Forms (such as the one used for Memories). Points from the original Point System would be grandfathered in at the ratio of 4 Points = 1 Grandfathered Thread. We would provide a simplified chart on the Redemptions Page for the thread cost for memories, items, and powers. Pros - Forms would be easier & no math necessary Cons - It's new and untested Changes to the current Point Spending System As far some changes we want to make regardless of what system we land on using for memory/item/power redemptions, we do want to make a few changes. Firstly We are considering making mini player plots free to submit and run so that players can more easily help shape the game. 'Mini Player Plots' as defined in our rules are: things that affect a small portion of characters, major criminal activity, pregnancy lines, and character death outside of Game Plots. They used to cost 4 points. We'd like to make them free - just requiring Mod Approval. Our plan here is connected with the creation of a Plots Page (which we discuss below). Player Run Game Wide Plots do not seem to be a thing that players are interested in right now, so our plan would be to eliminate that option from point spending altogether. Secondly We'd also like to separate Asking The Bureau Questions from the memory/item/power redemption system as well. Our idea is that each character would have one free question to ask the Bureau during the month. How this is handled exactly is up in the air. For example - should the mods make a post every month to collect these questions and on which, a Bureau member will respond? We'd really like to hear your thoughts and ideas about this. So please, give us your suggestions! ~*~ These are our thoughts about AC, Memories/Items/Powers Redemption, Changes to the System. Feel free to use the comments below to provide honest feedback and thoughts. (Again, we'll have an actual poll in another post for players to vote on things.) For now, we are open to feedback and ideas. Revamping the "Player Communication" Pages The first thing that makes this page so confusing is that it has several names: the Player Communication Page, AU Workshop Page, New Canonmates Page. Second, it’s two pages (which we originally did so that players could track one post, but all spamming would happen in another post…) It was an attempt, but is still ... yup, very confusing! So, to counter this confusion we have a few ideas. First, we want to bring these pages down to one. We will also no longer require tracking on that post! Our plan would be that when an interested prospective player comments on the page, the Mods will post a link to it from the Mod Plurk account and also ping any potential canon castmates. Second, we’d like to change all the names we use for this page to just one title: The Interest Page. It will serve two functions: the already existing Canonmate Check form so that existing canonmates’ players can hop in to discuss ideas, and a new AU Workshop form, for players who are interested in bringing in a character but would really like some help developing the Earth AU for their characters. In terms of the AU Workshop specifically, we’d like to rework it so that all players can chime in to help these players seeking help, even if it’s not a canonmate. We’d like players to feel free to say ‘This is what could work for the setting’ or ‘More characters fitting this Type would be great to play with,’ but also giving honest, useful feedback on a proposed AU idea. Plot Suggestions & Frequency Plots Page In conjunction with the spending changes proposed above, we will also be implementing a Plot Page on which players can suggest plots or request a Mini Player Plot. Players can submit thoughts on plots both large and small here: we will have a form to fill out which will specify things such as basic plot details, duration, and whether or not the plot proposed would be player- or mod-run. There will also be a form for Mini Player Plots which will specify details and which characters will be affected. There will be no cost for submitting comments to this post. Plot Frequency Regarding plot frequency, Tramitem’s base mechanic is that it is a memory regain game - but the portals to other dimensions are a side effect of all the multiverse trouble which is causing the memory overlap in the first place. We want the game to have a good balance between the normal New York life (and how the memories affect it), and the otherworldly events that the wayward portals make possible. Since the growth of the Bureau mystery and the way that it all affects the City depends on how the players interact and react, we feel we may need to change the frequency of setting-altering plots. The original game structure was to have Expanded Universe Plots (like Krajina Božstiev and Pahuuden Maa) on the Solstices (Summer and Winter), and convergence events when other worlds crossed over into New York on the Equinoxes (Spring and Fall). However, over the course of mod discussion, we decided to ask you how frequently you would like these plots to occur. Due to the holiday season, a Winter Solstice may not necessarily be the best time for a big event plot … so our new proposal would be to have large events only on the Equinoxes, in March and September, saving smaller plots or events set in New York for the Solstices. That being said, we have a world-leak plot in place for March that will affect events in New York... which will lead in to characters seeing more activity in and from the Bureau. This will be in the same spirit as the Star Wars crossover from last October, but less combat-heavy and far more conducive to exploring. We would love your thoughts on the frequency of events, so please drop a comment below. Page Coding Update & A Rule Revision Some of you may have noticed that last summer’s code push at DW had messed up the coding of our game pages. Due to mod illness, finding a fix and making changes to each page has been a slow process. However, we are proud to say that only three pages remain to have their code revised: the Character Locations page, and the two aforementioned new pages, Interest and Game Plots. Last but not least, we have made a change to the rule regarding age limits for characters. The rule now reads: “A character's canon point can be from any point in their canon so long as there are enough memories to make them work. A character's Earth AU age does not need to match their canon point age. However, due to the nature of the game concept and setting, Earth AUs must be a minimum of 16 years old. Younger AUs may be considered on a case-by-case basis if discussed with the mod team.” In Closing ... Since you’ve made it this far … you can see we want to do the work to make this game the best it can be, and we want you all to be involved so that this is a game you feel invested in and satisfied with. Thank you for bearing with us - this SOTG may be just a bit overdue. As always, both of us invite you to submit comments through mod contact or reach out to us if you ever have thoughts on the game - not just when we have votes or posts like this. We promise we don’t bite (even if one or two of our characters may on occasion). So please leave us your thoughts and comments below. TRAMITEM GAME LINKS Premise | Welcome | FAQ/Rules | Taken | Wanted | Reserves | Apps Player List | Mod Contact | New Canonmates | AU Workshop Hiatuses | Drops | Points Page | Credits | RP Resources | Game Plots | Calendar New York City | Expanded Universe | The Bureau | Character Places COMMUNITY LINKS Network | Comm | Logs | OOC | Memes | Mod Journal

... What dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause ...

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