Temi claims, "Okay, not hearing anything, we'll move on, but if you think of anything, please do let us know! If not, we can have a little dance party, or let you all back to RP."
Temi grins.
Temi says, "Okay! Anyway, staff updates."
Temi claims, "Just a light dose of the usual stuff for me. I've had a pretty busy week of real life."
Deedee says, "Same"
Temi claims, "Still planning on doing more of the skill mini-quests, though, but not any big projects beyond that currently."
Ghed claims, "I really like those"
Temi asks, "Okay... Leta?"
Deedee queries, "How much are those being used?"
Deedee asks, "Do you keep track?"
Leta pontificates, "I had a pretty busy real life week myself. Handled some plots, built a few phomes, processed the usual requests and recommends. Nothing too exciting!"
Goat says, "Is there a way to learn about what they are?."
Ghed claims, "I don't think we can really take track other than manually searching for how many instances of each are on grid"
Temi claims, "Not really, but some of the more obvious locations always seem to be gone."
Deedee nods.
Temi states, "Some of the more out of the way locations are usually there."
Temi claims to Leta, "Thanks! Sorry, for talking over you."
Temi grins.
Ghed says to Goat, "Yeah they are NPCs whose 'action' indicates what they need. YOu look at them and they have additional instructions."
Leta states, "No worries"
Leta grins.
Ghed says to Goat, "For example A man wants help buying a tunic means that you look at 'em and it will say how to help him."
Goat claims, "OK thanks."
Ghed thumbs up.
Deedee states, "You'll also see them listed as recipes in your trade"
Temi claims, "Anyway, they are basically little NPCs or objects that need help or such, and depend on some sort of skill. And then you fulfill their need through the craft system."
Temi nods at Deedee.
Temi drops a little boy trying to train his dog.
Temi states, "Here's one."
Ghed states to Temi, "Rude"
Temi grins at Ghed.
Temi exclaims, "Okay, well, Ghed's turn then!"
Ghed says, "This week I've been busy with school and real life stuff, so I didn't do a lot. Leta and Temi took over for me a little.
Some.
A lot. "
MUDnoob declares, "Danke!"
Tasker states, "Smh"
Temi exclaims to Ghed, "Real life comes first!"
Ghed says, "Lie"
Temi wonders, "Thanks for what you've done in any case. Okay, Salem?"
Ghed thumbs up.
Trajen muses, "Lol Multi Undergraduate Destroyer? Isn't that what it used to be called?"
Deedee says, "Apt name"
Temi grins at Trajen.
Deedee states, "I had to quit while I was in uni"
Deedee claims, "Then WoW got me"
Ghed claims, "Quit uni"
Ghed nods.
Temi says, "Perhaps back in the day. I think most of us are past our undergrad now."
Goat states, "I had the 4th attempt at a work exam on monday as someone who left school in 2001 and has not revised since then"
Sophia states, "I remember undergrad desteuction or whatever yeah that was in the 90s though"
Temi says, "Okay, looks like we may have lost our Salem. We'll get back to her when she's ready."
Temi wonders, "So, player heartbeat! How's RP been this week, everyone?"
Trajen declaims, "Great!"
Tasker states, "So much ash in the air we might be having a nuclear winter soon"
Violet states, "Lots o' pyres"
MUDnoob says, "Quiet for me, RL has been super busy. Hopefully will have more time to play next week."
Kalana claims, "Nice to see the Farin-themed stuff last week for sure. Been a bit scarce since that, but nice little event today"
Lans says, "The pyre industry has been profitable"
Violet states, "I've been trying to idle in public places and gotten a few good scenes out of it, so thank y'all for that"
Temi pontificates to Violet, "Oh, that's always nice to see!"
Temi says, "I did note all the pyres. Love to see that strong Order presence! Hopefully people are enjoying it."
GeeBee pontificates, "It's been really busy IRL on my end, but it is nice to see various people from the event today!"
Lans claims, "Players have been very nice and fun to rp with -- I mean the ones fueling the fires"
Lans bows respectfully to Trajen.
Temi nods.
Deedee questions, "Oh I missed the Farin activities? darn"
Trajen claims, "Thank you. I appreciate the Order players too. I imagine that can be tough"
Salem states, "I am back. I mostly did code things on the back end this week."
Temi claims, "It always helps when those reaching the end of their stories do so as part of the stories, instead of OOC upset"
Sparkles claims, "Thank you to everyone who came to the Circus and such last weekend by the by."
Temi says, "From what I hear, everyone this week has been pretty good about that"
Lans states to Trajen, "It's easy with good players like you"
Lans states, "The circus was great"
Leta nods to Salem.
Temi declaims to Salem, "Thanks! We couldn't run half so well without all of that"
Temi claims, "Even if the incremental bits aren't always obvious"
Temi queries, "Anything bothering anyone that staff ought to know about?"
Sophia claims, "Alright gou g afk as usual for work but feedback this week is holy crap tons of fun both as alenta and my new character who struggkes with basic communication but is more devout and tries her best to do charades and be helpful even when not wanted. Everyones dealt with her antics in fun ways"
Temi exclaims to Sophia, "Fun stuff!"
Temi states, "Alright, well, not hearing a lot from folks."
Temi queries, "We didn't have any topics on the list. Did anyone have any that they have thought of?"
Deedee says, "Just wanted to apologize for being absent lately. Very busy time at work, but should have a lot more time soon"
Violet claims, "I just wanna remind people generally to be mindful of RP ebb and flow. You offer your own plot hooks, and hopefully people bite and engage with you, but there are also times to leave room for someone else to offer theirs"
Temi nods at Violet.
Temi states, "Good reminder."
Tasker muses, "Have a brief temperature gauge of a topic if nobody else has one?"
Temi states, "It's always nice to get to be the center of things sometimes."
Temi nods at Tasker.
Temi muses, "Okay?"
Violet trails off, "Not trying to call anyone in particular out, just... it's a bit of a balancing act, and I know we all struggle with it at one point or another, so I figured I'd give it a PSA"
Goat asks, "As in people hogging the limelight?"
Goat wonders, "Or not giving people something to work with?"
Tasker wonders, "So! Having some experience of being a covert GL, it seems almost impossible to ever raise your GL support without tremendous effort which ends up being fleeting anyway. It seems common with both covert guilds that the GL's really struggle raising approval. What do people think about giving them a minor boost in support from the get-go?"
Deedee says, "That's a tricky one"
Temi queries to Goat, "Bit of both, I imagine, at different times. I think this time may be more taking over things other have people have put work into with your own change of direction stuff?"
Goat queries, "Would having it tied to the crime factor help?"
Violet claims, "I guess both! Sometimes someone gets so excited about their character's hook that they go a bit overboard and don't leave room for other people to do anything else. Other times folks don't offer anything, and you feel like you're emoting with a rock. It's just one of those balance things that's never perfect"
Anonymous says, "I personally think that covert GLs should ignore class/race boosts or malus's for their support. Because they're covert. They could be aaaannyyyyoooooooneeee."
Goat asks, "If crime is high it adds a bonus maybe?"
Temi claims, "Guilds are tied to various metrics"
Temi says, "Both a positive and a negative one"
Deedee wonders, "Guilds are, but is GL batometer?"
Deedee states, "Barometer*"
Goat claims, "I understand now, Violet"
Temi states, "I don't believe so, no"
Leta says, "Covert guilds do not have negative class penalties for GLs"
Temi claims, "We also have plans to change how class interacts with GL positions, when we can get to the coding of it"
Deedee nods.
Temi states, "Separating out expected classes and class changes, and making those optional for only those situations that more call for them."
Deedee questions, "How's that?"
Temi states, "But I think we're still sorting out the details of how to work it"
Temi states, "We'll let folks know once it's imminent, in any case."
Temi asks, "For those who have tried covert leadership, how does it feel on the ground, anyway?"
Temi muses, "If you're staying active and involved, are you just sticking around neutral? Or having problems?"
Temi says, "We may not have the right people here for the discussion, though. Not sure if we have much more than Tasker on that side of things"
Tasker states, "For me, especially the nature of the guild, it's just not very possible to go out and court support from outside the guild without a lot of time and effort put into it - and even then, I imagine it would not keep for overlong so the effort would go to waste. It's difficult to reconcile it IC'ly when outside support and approval would not really affect or change anything internally for the guild."
Deedee states, "Gotta go"
Deedee muses, "Could I get transed backed?"
Temi states, "One big effect that we've seen a lot of has been inactive weeks knocking down support though"
Temi nods.
Tasker states, "Yup, it's pretty damming and it does take a while to get back to where it was after being hit with the inactive debuff."
Leta muses to Tasker, "Hmm, that's an interesting point about outside support. Maybe we can look into how this effects other people's approval and get back to you?"
Temi says, "Outside support may be tough though. Shouldn't get too much outside subversion though."
Leta claims, "We do weight it such that internal support is worth way more than external"
Temi nods.
Temi muses, "Any other thoughts folks want to throw in? "
Tasker says, "I do think the system is very obtuse and obfuscated though. Everybody seems to have their own idea on how it works when I ask around, and nobody seems to be correct. I think there should be an updated helpful with what exactly impacts it, and by how much, because I've never been convinced the system actually works. It could very well work, but it's all very muddied right now you can never be sure."
Temi states, "We can certainly keep an eye on it, especially if we revamp guild approvals, though I don't think we have any good plans for how to do so now. But it's not exactly what we want now"
Salem states, "The math is very clear in the code. It does work to my knowledge. Can't judge on the balancing."
Tasker says, "... Could even just remove it, it was removed from the sister mud and I gotta say it feels a lot better to GL without that meter hanging over your head."
Sparkles claims, "I'd argue yes and no."
Goat states, "I think coming from other games where systems are meta-gamed and leant into, if people think they need to do x y z mechanic to get a b c best outcome, it may detract from RP"
Leta says, "We struggle as staff to balance transparency on this sort of thing. We don't want people attempting to min-max. "
Temi nods at Leta.
Trogdor says, "Min max bad"
Anonymous queries, "Min maxing support?"
Anonymous questions, "I mean... doesn't everyone already try to do that by gaining as many supporters as possible and as few subverters?"
Goat says, "And if you have a small pbase and trying to get rp support to balance a game mechanic, it might cause forced rp that isn't natural"
Goat states, "So I would say it might be better to have a GM monitor and pull the balance depending on quality of rp, things going on, etc"
Goat claims, "Or whatever is the way to judge it"
Temi questions, "You mean staff monitor it?"
Goat states, "Yes, to make up for the unique issues that are posed"
Goat claims, "Then it isn't dependant on players to try and force it against the odds as it appears to be"
Temi says, "We don't have great insight into what all the guilds are doing, really, and we don't log RP here, except after policy issues."
Temi claims, "Though we do try to be an additional function for keeping an eye on complaints and such if they come up"
Trogdor questions, "You mean all those times i was RPing with my NPCs no one will see? :<"
Leta says, "We are very open to hearing suggested changes to this system, to be clear. We know it isn't perfect. It's just been a struggle to figure out how to implement changes without making it worse, either for GLs or for players"
Temi claims, "The support system also tries to provide a place for IC political maneuvers, not just good or bad gls."
Temi pontificates to trogdor, "Just you, I'm afraid!"
Goat states, "My main point is if people feel they have to crank the lever to keep the engine running, they will focus on that and RP will take a hit"
Goat says, "Or so I've seen in other places, it might not be so here."
Lans states, "That's reasonable, but TI is designed so that 'cranking the level' is linked tightly to RP"
Tasker states, "I'd say trial removing it perhaps, there was nothing I hated more in my time GL'ing on TI that courting people for support. From the Knights, Order, and Mages. It feels very forced and artificial to me, but that might just be me."
Lans states, "Lever"
Leta states, "We did post a discussion topic in the forums about gambits and GL approval after one of these chats, but it never received much traction"
Goat wonders, "Is there interplay between the covert guilds enough to create a sort of 'black market economy' arrangement where these supports can be leveraged that way or are they very different and separate?"
Leta nods to Goat.
Goat claims, "Like a goat and a chicken hanging out, type thing"
Anonymous states, "I don't belive that there is."
Trogdor says, "Maybe we are looking at it too broadly. maybe specific guilds have different ways of gathering support"
Temi nods at Leta.
Trajen trails off, "YOu just said that because... j/k"
Tasker declaims, "Attempts were made, but it never really went anywhere Goat!"
Temi states, "That would be lovely to see more traction in."
Trajen claims, "I was referring to the chicken and goat comment, jokng."
Goat says, ":)"
Anonymous states, "Keep in mind that the two covert guilds right now - the brotherhood and sanctum - are thematically against each other because the brotherhood clings to religion as a unifier."
Anonymous claims, "So they're not gonna be too chummy, themewise."
Sparkles says, "I'm just wondering if the bigger issue here isn't support. But in general the trouble with Covert Guilds and RP and theme etc."
Leta nods to Sparkles.
Salem claims, "On another note as a sanctum Psa. They are taking in all kinds of heretics not only mages."
Temi nods.
Leta muses, "Do you mind elaborating on that?"
Temi says OOCly, "Entirely possible."
Lans claims, "W h a t"
Goat claims, "Yeah, maybe unique ways of gathering support is good then. Like .. in a game I played called Armageddon which was based on the moon. Think it was called that.. the gangs would go out and RP doing things to gain support in the community like helping to fix up people's crappy shelters or they might go a different way and bang peoples door in and demand they pay their dues etc"
Anonymous claims, "Tasker I thin kyou're giving lans a crisis"
Tasker states, "Mission acomplished"
Goat says, "And then if the sanctum is witches, then I dunno, doing rituals and calling down their magic and currying favour (not another goat joke) with their spirits"
Tasker claims, "The Sanctum takes in anyone, Mage, Scholar, heretic. It's a fun bunch. "
Anonymous says, "The sanctum is the spooky covert mage/anti-Order guild."
Trogdor states, "Or, and please hear me out, they can present themselves to order officials for cleansing"
Trajen claims, "I never noticed the two secret guilds were opposites. That's cool"
Sparkles states, "So ... overall the threat/concern/worry about interaction with people in the Covert Guilds tends to keep a lot of people from wanting to interact. While Invite can allow for RP, it doesn't protect from the consequences of others discovering said RP occurred."
Leta nods.
Lans claims, "It certainly is up to player courtesy, and player courtesy alone"
Temi muses, "Any ideas how to improve it?"
Tasker states, "I'm not sure if that is a big issue"
Lans states, "I've been told not to go aggro bc someone invited someone, but it wasn't a policy thing"
MUDnoob declares, "Some avenues are not obvious for contact, either. I've been trying to get hold of someone from a covert guild, and if you haven't been playing for ten years and know the gist of things, it isn't easy!"
MUDnoob states, "Without using seek, obviously."
Anonymous states, "I've always had luck with plain old mail, but I'm old fashioned"
Tasker claims, "Only nerds read"
Ghed nods.
Temi says, "Mail should be able to go to their aliases, yeah, probably the easiest option"
Anonymous says, "'course, the last time I wrote a letter to a covert person, they wrote back saying they'd do mean things to me. lol."
Ghed writes angrily
Anonymous says, "I knew it. gheds had it out for me this whole time"
Temi grins.
Goat wonders, "Is it largely down to the root players to take responsibility for the others and cultivate a garden of RP?"
Temi states to Goat, "Likely, yeah"
Goat wonders, "So if I am big mage boss/Heretic G, should I then try to create opportunities for scrub heathen and apprentice wizard?"
Anonymous claims, "I would say that just like any master of a profession, if you meet a junior person of the same profession, consider having PROFESSION RP with them."
Anonymous states, "... which is my way of saying yes. yes you should do that."
Goat says, "I think so too"
Leta states, "We tend to be pretty hands-off as a staff, so yes. In many ways we ask the GLs and masters to generate thematic guild RP for their members. We also expect nobles to generate RP in thematic ways on grid, and they have higher expectations for their activity"
Temi says, "That's always great if you can, and is something we expect of guildleaders. Though people should take responsibility for their own RP too."
Goat claims, "Yes, absolutely."
Trogdor says, "And don't forget an NPC that you puppet to rattle things"
Violet states, "You do get QP and stuff for hosting events and STs and the like, which is nice
)"Temi muses, "Well, we're at an hour. Any last minute comments from folks before we wrap up and send you back to grid?"
Violet states, "Speaking of, lil event still going on in Paarin Park if folks wanna pop in for socializing
(:"Tasker claims, "Dav was fake news and was actually a twitter bot controlled by Big Oil"
Ghed nods.
Anonymous states, "Oh my god"
Anonymous states, "I knew it"
Lans states, "Doesnt make it any less attractive"
Trogdor claims, "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"
Lans claims, "Join the winners, kids, it feels good"
Temi grins.
Trajen states, "Lol"
Temi states, "Okay, folks, sending you back. "
Anonymous says, "I'm going to melt your calipers."
Temi trails off, "3..."
Temi trails off, "2..."
Temi trails off, "1..."