etcircenses: (Default)
Panem Events ([personal profile] etcircenses) wrote in [community profile] thegamesooc2016-01-02 01:20 am
Entry tags:

State of the Game: Endgame plotting

Please read! If you do not respond, your silence will be taken as consent to whatever is decided.

Hey everyone! Your friendly neighborhood modteam here to address some concerns.

On the recent HMD, we've been told that the pace of the game has been too quick for people to keep up with and still get everything they want out of the war. We've been aware this is a bit of a problem for some time and have finally worked out a few different solutions to present to you guys on a vote! They're down below. But first, we'd like to let you know where we've been coming from thus far.

Games like ours, large ones with an overarching metaplot, tend to die in endgame because of pacing, or drops, or any number of reasons. In an effort to compensate for that and not end up like some of the past great games that have ended up with only three players to see their completion, we set up a schedule of events for ourselves, an end date, and other useful tools for pacing to make sure nothing ever stagnated and that there's always something to do, which is a complaint we've had from players in the past.

It looks like we overcompensated a bit (oops...) and we want to give all of you an apology, and a thank you for sticking with us as we sort things out.

To rectify this mistake, we've come up with a few options for pacing for which we'd like to hear feedback from you, the players. This game isn't just for us, its for everyone here that has a hand in shaping our collective version of Panem. We are, however, sticking fast to the rough end-date we have in store; any longer and we risk the game stagnating.


Option 1: Keep on Keepin' On

This option is for those who find the pacing just fine and don't understand what all the fuss is about. The Games would continue with twice monthly District Liberations and plots in between, putting us at something posted every week for players to interact with. The Game will end roughly in mid June.

UPSIDE: No changes
DOWNSIDE: The pace remains quick, which is what we've been told is unwanted.


Option 2: Cut it Down

District Liberation posts would be once a month, but instead of the remaining eight Districts, players would only see four of them. Certain other plots concerning Avoxes, some Peacekeeper stuff, and other smaller plots as planned would be cut to allow for more free pacing up until the run on the Capitol, and the plots would be all related to the metaplot. The end of the game being placed in May.

UPSIDE: Slower pace, earlier end date.
DOWNSIDE: Less District missions means less of the world is seen, also less shuffle opportunities and the District stuff has less of an impact on the overall war.


Option 3: Mash Up

District Breakouts would run two at a time for the remaining duration of the war and be posted once a month. Players would be required to decide which Breakout each of their characters would like to participate in for that month and note it on the OOC District Roll post. Each breakout would be given more time to run, and plots would still be run later in each month for extra plot and flavor, but staggered a bit to allow them to gain a bit of steam and resolve before the next thing happens. The shuffle chance would be lower here as well, but we will allow for players to choose a side for each character before the Capitol run. Game's end would still roughly be in mid-June.

UPSIDE: Slower pace with no change in end date. No content is cut.
DOWNSIDE: Characters will only get to see four of the remaining eight Districts. Lower shuffle chance.


And there you have it! These are what we feel are the three best options going forward, but we want everyone to be in on the final decision. Please fill out the form below and put it in a comment. All players are requested to vote. If you do not reply by 01/08 we will assume that you agree with whatever is decided by majority vote.



If there are any questions, please put them under the appropriate heading below.

We hope that with this vote, we can reach a solution that everyone can be happy with going forward into the end of the game. Thank you again for your feedback and your patience.
earthborn: (Default)

Questions

[personal profile] earthborn 2016-01-02 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
I've been looking forward to playing in/for the D13 side for a long time, but the RNG hasn't been cooperating. I'm worried that, even without the proposed schedule changes, that I won't get a chance to have any of those threads after all.

Can there be some other mechanic for shuffling tributes from one side to another, in addition to the existing shuffle. Or, if there is one, what is it, and how do I sign up, please?
gamemakers: (Default)

[personal profile] gamemakers 2016-01-04 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
We would like people to be able to play what they would like, so we'll be instituting a policy where if you have been on the same side for 3 breakouts (2 if we end up mashing them together), then the person will have the option of being able to buy a switch over to the other side for 400 credits.
earthborn: (Default)

[personal profile] earthborn 2016-01-05 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
That sounds great! When will this mechanic be implemented?
cigne: (Default)

[personal profile] cigne 2016-01-02 02:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Can I ask why there's so much arbitrary pressure for the ending to be June (or earlier)? Why is it not simply an option to slow the events down further so that people have more time to tag things, make timely open posts, build CR, etc? Even in terms of IC motivations, D13 is taking in and deprogramming/imprisoning way too many people too quickly, and the Capitol canonically destroyed an entire District pretty much over one person, so why aren't they just bombing the shit out of literally everything until the rebels can't fight back anymore? Thousands of Peacekeepers were sent to D8 when they first tried to rebel, factories were bombed, the entire District went on lockdown, etc. The Capitol is willing to shoot itself in the foot if it means they get a clear shot at the enemy.

I'm not saying we should push it back by a year or anything like that, but why is it so important to end at such a particular time? With eight Districts left, even if we went down to one District breakout a month, that puts the end of the war at September. Why is that not an option for us?
shieldofrohan: Art by Ellaine on dA (Smile)

[personal profile] shieldofrohan 2016-01-05 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
I'm not arguing with any of this, but I would like to point out that the current schedule puts the end-date slap bang in the middle of exam time for a lot of people (for instance, my exams run from May-June, so I'd be out of it whichever option gets chosen)

Have you considered maybe extending it by one or two months, rather than the three months Sarah suggested? Just long enough to set it in the summer, which in my experience of modding is when people are most active, rather than at a time when a lot of people are likely to be stretched pretty thin already.