Important Game Discussion

[cityship]

The first order of business: Due to RL, both Mala and Anders have decided they don't have the time to mod, so they've stepped down. The mod team appreciates their help, even if it was short-term, as it's been very hard modding with such a small team.

The second order of business: The mods have been talking about issues at the game for a while, especially in re: to the slowness and general lack of interest in the game, other than a few scattered parties here and there, and we need to discuss the potential option of shutting the game down.

The problem with endgame is and has always been that to really wrap things up, whether we do it in the fall or whether we did it back when these discussions first started, that it would take a lot of effort, enthusiasm, and cooperation among the playerbase to pull off. Any form of endgame, whether a shortened one or a longer one, one back then, one now, or one later, would have required that. The interest just does not really seem to be there, and it's too much work for such a small mod team to invest in something if nothing is really going to be done with it.

We want to gather the opinions of the playerbase on it. If we do end the game, we are not running endgame early. Just as we said when the issue was first brought up, we do not have the manpower for it. It was always something we would have needed some momentum going into and a lot of players riled up over and willing to help with it, which was why we needed to see if the game could pick up momentum again. We would, however, be willing to provide all the game materials and what was intended so players have the option of museboxing those things with other players if they were so inclined.

Ultimately, what happens next is up to the playerbase and we really need you all to self-examine and figure out if you're interested in the game anymore.

EDIT: New Suggestions from chat

Comments

[on_your_nerves]

Okay, so we did some heavy discussion in chat and people do think things can work out if there's some reorganization, because a big part of the problem is the structure of the game is meant for a big game and now we're a small game, so here was what was suggested:

- People having a sit down moment and deciding if they have the time and desire to stay

- Repodding everyone as part of a villain's plot and repopping them as a way to sort of start over from scratch. It's a way to sort of regroup the crew to one single CR group rather than fractured groups.

- Reorganizing command and departments to something INCREDIBLY simple. IE, captain, commander, very few, very simple departments with no heads.

- Crew meetings that are kinda of threadhoppy with everyone talking to each other. Not the most organized, but fun, and a way to get the crew tight-knit again.

My suggestion is...if we go with this, we do villainship and then have the villainship plot build to this. Something bad happens when they beat the villains--maybe the whole thing was a way of getting a lot of people off the ship so they could pull some kind of shenanigans on the ship. Stacy repods them to save them.

Maybe they could even be out for like a year and when they wake up the war's all but lost, and we launch into the plots leading to endplot pretty much as part of endplot.

What say you?

[thisclinchesit]

I like dis idea here. As neat as the command/department structure is, it does seem things would work better with a wipedown and regrouping.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

I'll say here what I said in: People need to be absolutely, 100% honest with themselves and each other in considering their desire to stay. We cannot pull this out without a significant fraction of the players who choose to remain committing to turning this around and sticking to that commitment. It is better for the game and for the players if you choose to leave rather than commit to something you don't actually have the time, energy, interests, strength, whatever for. I say this without prejudice, andno one should hold a drop against anyone for those reasons.

For those who stay, we need participation. Lots. Make posts. Tag posts. Stick to your plots and see them through. Only a serious, sustained, OOC effort is going to pull us out of this.

Having said all that, I'm in favor of what's been proposed here. I also think we should have some sort of mechanism in place to mitigate or blunt the loss of close CR on this happening, so we don't have to devote a post per character to them coping with their missing friends and shipfamily without it being OOC for them to show no signs of grief. Because frankly that gets tiresome and not fun.

I also suggest the City be rendered unusable. Hull breach, exposed to the Bleed, you can't go in there without protection and you can't stay in there long-term.

[iaijutsu]

I like the City and I wanted to do some stuff down there that I hadn't gotten to yet, but I actually agree with this last bit. It's...kind of huge. Having fewer places to spread out into, with the size of the crew now, would help force people to occupy the same space and do things and have conversations and all that good stuff.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Current chat is for ejecting the damn thing entirely, and I think this is a reasonable idea. At the moment, it's only serving to spread people apart IC.

[iaijutsu]

Moments when I wish I could remember my AIM password: now.

But yeah, it's...a pretty cool thing to have when you've got like three hundred characters around, but at the current size, not so much.

Regarding the City/Repodding

[whyarewehere]

Just depositing ideas from chat here so we don't forget/lose them and so folks who weren't in can see:

REMOVING THE CITY
The idea being tossed around was to entirely eject the city from Stacy, probably somewhere safe/floating around a moon where it could potentially be retrieved when they can deal with it again.

This could be for a variety of reasons ranging from it having been wrecked/rendered dangerous to Stacy needing the maneuverability letting go of it will grant.

This could possibly be something Stacy did while the crew was repodded?

REPODDING THE CREW
Vague idea so far is to have something cause the crew to NEED to be repodded to protect them, possibly as a result of villainplot? Stacy going into panic lockdown and fleeing?

addendum

[on_your_nerves]

Rather than moving the city entirely, there's been the suggestion it's just a little more dangerous, so folks have to go down in pairs and groups and can't sleep there anymore. They have to sleep in a communal sleeping area where life support resources are gathered and there's proper avia protection.

Re: addendum

[dust_and_echoes]

This is Here! :D

Re: addendum

[cheeseandcrackers]

I kind of like the idea of the city being unusuable, tbh. It could be interesting.

[governorkang]

I liiiike both of these.

[iaijutsu]

I really like the idea of having villainship build into this, and it sounds like it would help a lot on cutting things down. I feel like we have almost as many departments as we have people, looking at the lists.

[thisclinchesit]

Also, since someone casually mentioned the idea of Simon taking over as new captain, I'd be okay with that. Waking up with Yet Another Person Close To Him Gone (Allenby) could push him into the "okay that tears it" take-charge kinda guy he is after his canon point, and do some inspiration-y talking to talk people into carrying on the fight after waking back up, should it be needed.

[on_your_nerves]

We really need someone ICly and OOCly active and enthusiastic so I think he'd be a very good prospect.

[dust_and_echoes]

I, Zita, am in favor. Disregard unrelated journal.

[morphitudinous]

I'll give it all a try.

[cheeseandcrackers]

I'm willing to go whatever way the majority decides they want to go? I do like the idea of crew meetings and a reorganization of how the departments are set up.

[nerves_of_steel]

I'm liking the looks of all of this as well. My stamp of approval for this!

[splendid_roman]

Would repodding and re-popping mean the characters all start again from scratch? If so then I'd be against that idea because there's experiences they've had and things they've done on Stacy that I'd hate to lose.

[on_your_nerves]

No, they'd have all the same memories and all that. It'd be more they just get repodded to be saved from a catastrophic event and wake up to find the ship a mess and the war in chaos.