takamagahara | State of the Game + April Announcement + Game Style Poll

State of the Game

State of the Mods

As we announced recently, we've received assistance in the way of List Mods. What we still needed was a World Mod to replace Kohaku's efforts, as well as another Mod to spread out some of the duties previously accounted for by Kira. For about the last 3 months, you had 2 people doing the amount of work that used to be covered by 4. The Main Mods' time allocated to mod duties had been consumed with much more routine tasks. We tried to balance those tasks across both of us but were not satisfied with the results.

Today, we accepted an offer from Rynn to step in as the new World Mod, which means she is now a Main Mod as well. After she has a chance to ramp up to our processes, she will:

Answer FAQ questions
Read Applications for game canon compliance
Assist with Event, Prayer, Mission, and TDM by reviewing for game canon compliance

Even so, we are looking to wrap up the Cult plotline within 2-3 monthly events - see more below. After that is over, the balance of Slice of Life and MetaPlot is up for debate. You have a poll at the end of this post to help us decide what kind of game The Far Shore could be going forward.

State of the Metaplot

The game has been running on the consistent plotline of The Cult since the game started. With so many characters passionately invested in resolving The Cult plot line, we feel that they should be rewarded. We have an opportunity to completely wrap it up and start a fresh arc, so we'd like to take it. We believe this is in the best interest of the game. Once the Cult arc has concluded, we will update the Premise page accordingly.

We have ideas for a new arc that would be more sustainable given the amount of time the current Main Mods can dedicate to modship duties. We're not saying we have to close the game. It will include an overhaul of how Metaplot is handed out to players.

Right now, the way metaphor is handled is on the premise that we should keep it hidden and so specialized that only players who want to be involved can be, while other players who want to focus on Slice of Life and Character Dynamics can focus on that. The last time we took a poll about this issue, we came away with the impression that a significant chunk of the playerbase likes to RP both of these major aspects, so we've tried to continue to cater to both. The way we've done that so far - which was announced by the mods a long time ago - is by giving teaser concepts in some mod-run game events, while the breadcrumb clues that would eventually push the game into Endgame are reserved for Custom Missions - where only characters who go looking for more clues will find them. Additionally, this left room for player-suggested events. Notably in the past, we've enabled an Ageswap event, because a character in the game caused it to happen, not because of the Metaplot. We would welcome more player-driven events like that in the future.

Unless the poll tells us that the game is more interested in Slice of Life by a wide margin, future major metaplot hints will be handed out broadly to all characters, rather than in specialized NPC interactions and Custom Missions that require characters to pass on that information before it becomes widely known. We will begin to write out the major plot-demanding functionalities of the NPCs and remove Custom Missions as the only way to engage with them and fulfill plot goals.

Please trust that we're doing the best that we can with the time and resources that we do have.

April Event Announcement: Where Do We Stand?

The event post will not go up until April 4th in deference to both April Fool's Day and to allow for discussion time: the event itself will be a sanctioned mingle for characters to discuss big metaplot questions. Which ones though?

The mods will ideally create 3-5 top levels on the event post to help narrow discussion topics, as well as to assist players in finding relevant information later on. Please chime in below with what topics your characters are most passionate about resolving, getting answers for, etc. relevant to the Cultists. If you see a topic someone else suggested that you like, please add a +1 to it in some fashion.

The topics that players collectively most want to see addressed can then fuel both swapping of information during the event as well as how the mods wrap up the Cult plotline.

ICly, there will be a timespan without any Heavens bureaucrats present at the mingle. OOCly, one more top level will be included from the start of the event, which is when Suijin arrives to ask the characters what they have learned about the Compound, the Cult, and the recent oddities, which she can pass on to Amaterasu. In conjunction with OOC interest levels, what the characters tell Suijin will also affect how the Cult plotline gets wrapped up.

State of the NPCs

We will now begin the transition of NPC duties for Suijin and Votelli to Fru. We have introduced the OOC Contact Post for the NPCs. We hope that players will utilize that post to aid in satisfying their CR goals for NPCs in the game.

If players are not comfortable OOCly communicating with the NPC's player for any reason, they should contact the Main Mods.

Event and Game Style Interests Poll

Poll #21713 Event and Game style interests

Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 31

How interested are you in events that cater to answering Metaplot questions?

Mean: 3.58 Median: 4 Std. Dev 0.91

Not interested at all 1		1 (3.2%)
2		2 (6.5%)
3		10 (32.3%)
4		14 (45.2%)
Top priority 5		4 (12.9%)

How interested are you in events that cater to Slice of Life and CR building?

Mean: 3.77 Median: 4 Std. Dev 0.97

Not interested at all 1		0 (0.0%)
2		3 (9.7%)
3		10 (32.3%)
4		9 (29.0%)
Top priority 5		9 (29.0%)

This concludes our primary initiatives for the Mod Transition, but we continue to welcome Suggestions on game improvements,
- The Far Shore Mods

State of the Game + April Announcement + Game Style Poll

Other Questions?