Ghed questions, "Before we begin, folks, here's a reminder of the OOC Chat Pact: Everyone on TI does the best they can, given what they know at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand. We will be respectful of this and each other at all times." Today's Agenda is: - Staff Updates - Player Heartbeat - Player Topics Is there anything anyone would like to add to the agenda to make certain we discuss it today? If you register a topic, please pre-write it so you're ready to present it when called upon. Finally, who wants to scribe for today?" Leta has transferred Inkblot. [OOC] Leta gives a miniature whale's skeleton fashioned from white chocolate to Inkblot. Inkblot waves. Deedee waves to Inkblot. Ghed nods. Deedee queries, "Oh, did targetting ooc names get fixed?" Urtha looks at dee Urtha shrugs and shakes their head Deedee says, "Maybe not. worked with ink though." Urtha claims, "That was a feature I was going to request" Ghed states, "It's not broken, it's just not implemented" Leta has transferred Anonymous. [OOC] Leta gives a miniature whale's skeleton fashioned from white chocolate to Anonymous. Ghed queries, "Who'd like to scribe?" Deedee claims, "It works with uncolored names, but breaks on color codes I think" Ghed states, "It's not that, it only works with your actual character name" Deedee claims, "I can if no one else will." Ghed states, "It works with staff bc we tag the character name, which is visible to us" Ghed nods at Deedee. Ghed claims to Deedee, "Thanks" Ghed has awarded you 2> QPs: scribe Deedee claims, "No one's named ink and" Ghed has transferred Ikeala. [OOC] Deedee claims, "Oh didn't work that time. weird." Leta gives a miniature whale's skeleton fashioned from white chocolate to Ikeala. Ghed claims, "Okay, time to start this week's Staff Update." Inkblot declares, "Maybe I'm just special!" Ghed chuckles Ghed pontificates, "This week I took things lightly. I helped finalize the Inventor's Faire with Leta, I puppeted a thing or two, I did player requests. That's it. It was a busy RL week!" Leta states to Ghed, "You also sorted through the Real Estate board with me" Ghed states, "Oh yeahh" Leta claims, "I've mostly been in plot-mode. I finalized the area and puppeted for six or so scenes so far. Hopefully everyone has been enjoying themselves. If there are plots you want to get involved in and we haven't overlapped yet, just shoot me a tell or pboard! Happy to schedule things." Leta claims, "Plot lines, rather." Ghed claims, "It's been fun" Urtha states, "Yeah.. I feel like I'm -involved- in one, but havn't had to mess with the plot board stuff at all. I hope that still counts." Leta claims, "I am a fan of minimal plot-processing. There are certain schemes that require it (like broad-scale interactions with vNPCs), I am happy to oblige, but this plot is designed for on-grid action so I much prefer to help you RP" Urtha high-fives Leta Errisar pontificates, "It's been great so far!" Ghed says, "It has " Leta grins. Leta claims, "Glad to hear it" Leta exclaims, "Eurus fixed several bugs for us, including some with the new emotive crafting commands. He's also implemented a few things for my plot. For example, the ability to have room-playable instruments!" Ghed claims, "He also fixed wolf AI (they kept defending) and some demon things for usssss." Urtha states, "The less I have to POLCA, the happier I am" Anonymous craft Errisar asks, "May I ask what you mean by room playable instruments, or is that a question for a different time?" Urtha claims, "Room playable instruments weren't already a thing? I thought that BIG harps were furniture that had to be installed. " Leta says, "Temi is combing through magecraft recipes with the goal of making more retoolable." Leta declaims to Urtha, "Sadly no! Seems like an oversight if you ask me, but now we have it" Leta states to Errisar, "Items like the new harpsicord can be pmoted with while dropped in the room, rather than held" Urtha states, "Ok cool either way. I'll have to check out the one the troubadours have. Might be something worth carrying over to the furniture sized harps" Leta nods at Urtha. Deedee states, "Neat" Leta states, "The items for sale in the lutier's tent function that way. After the faire, I will probably add recipes for some of these larger instruments." Urtha queries, "I assume if someone is holding an insturment in a room with a furniture insturment, their pmotes will use the skill for the instrument they're holding?" Ghed muses, "Alright people, let's move on to Player Heartbeat: how has the week been for y'all?" Ghed claims to Urtha, "Oh uhhh" Leta says, "Pmote should default to held over room" Urtha sticks a thumbs up Leta says, "So you could have someone not holding an instrument and playing the floor harp, then a second person holding a flute and playing that" Inkblot states, "I haven't been able to RP as much as I'd like to" Ghed nods. Deedee wonders, "If there's multiple room instruments, can they be targetted, or will it use the one on top?" Inkblot states, "The scene I did have was fun though" Deedee claims, "I've barely had time to log in myself. I'm thinking of just taking a hiatus from TI entirely" Ghed nods at Deedee. Ghed pontificates, "That's too bad! I hope things are alright" Leta claims to Deedee, "We'd miss you if that were the case, but understand if real life is taking over." Deedee claims, "I'm enjoying the work, but just doesn't work well with mudding." Leta nods at Deedee. Ghed wonders, "Alright, is there anything bothering anyone about TI that can be shared here and now?" Errisar states, "Low player base concerns still." Leta nods at Errisar. Ghed pontificates, "Yeah! It's one of those times" Errisar nods at Ghed. Urtha says, "Always a dip during a holiday" Ghed states, "Thanskgiving season plus other things" Leta states, "This is also our normal low-point, with people going back to school and work" Ghed nods. Leta claims, "And the holidays, yep" Urtha states, "Y'all can try my Netflix meme to bring people in" Ghed chuckles Leta grins. Ghed says, "Good one" Leta says, "That was great." Ghed states, "Alright, time to move on to Player Topics." Kirale questions, "Is that on the Discord?" Ghed nods at Kirale. Ghed declares, "I think we have no topics today!" Urtha nods, "Yeah, been getting steady RP, and nothing to complain about this week Leta nods at Urtha. Leta says, "If there are no topics, I have one I'd like to hear feedback on" Ghed peers at Leta Deedee turns attention to Leta. Errisar nods at Leta. Leta asks, "Our next big overhaul will likely be assets, resources, income. What do you want to make sure we address?" Deedee muses, "What's planned?" Leta says, "We are still drafting specs, so much is up in the air. We want to simplify the system to some degree, because the polcas are a UI nightmare" Deedee states, "I think one issue a lot of people have is the time to break even on them" Ikeala is idle. Deedee says, "It might be better to bring back RPXP as an option, even on grid." Ikeala is no longer idle. Leta says, "We also want to scale assets by activity and engagement. So slightly less weighting by iMetrics, and you can increase the amount earned by scening at locales or with guild members, sending mail, etc." Kirale says, "It would be nice to have more options for the type templates at each level. The options listed when making a new asset mean that there is not one of each type at each level." Leta claims to Deedee, "That has been a rather controversial idea, in the past. Pros are that it makes wealth more accessible, but cons are that it would likely further emphasize the divide between new and old accounts" Deedee claims, "It could cost more RPXP than they did before, and encourage people to RP more to earn them easier" Urtha claims, "I've been saving up for my first non-starter asset. I'd be all for a few more templates. It can be hard to think of a great IC reason for some characters to own higher level assets. (and probably lower ones too) " Leta claims, "We don't want players with old accounts to have an unsurmountable advantage" Urtha claims, "Ooh, Kirale said it before me" Leta nods. Kirale high fives Urtha. Deedee says, "Hm" Leta says, "We can definitely work on that." Ikeala says, "One thought would be having some assets/asset templates set aside for members of certain Guilds. Because sometimes it can feel weird that new(er) players can't invest in the Metric of their Guild because those slots are all taken up." Deedee questions, "You've already boosted the starting XP by my recollection?" Leta nods at Deedee. Errisar claims, "Agreed with Kirale and Ikeala. Also, it is a slog for money, even as a new gentry, and even more for a freeman. I've had chars in the past that couldn't afford new outfits even after months of play." Leta states to Deedee, "We did, but an extra 15k is not going to compete with individuals who have accrued a mil+ XP" Ghed nods. Ikeala claims, "But I ... also have kind of a potentially controversial idea where I kind of thing that assets should be in chargen before class. And potentially the two should be linked. " Deedee says, "The assets could be priced so that you can choose one or two extra assets at the expensive of purchasing skills" Urtha states, "This is my first freemen, and honestly I haven't had any issues with income, and I held off on even joining a guild for a looong time. I might've just got lucky with the metric my newbie asset was on, and I didn't invest in clothes until later and I did have assistance with financing that. I bet if you jump into the game and get right to buying a bigger house and nicer eq it could be a slog though" Raquel states, "The thing is you can really only earn money two ways and that is assets / being some guilds. Also assets are really expensive and you just don't break even for a long time." Leta queries to Ikeala, "We do that to some extent with titled nobility, since they enter grid with a level 2 asset for their domain. How would you like to see it scaled?" Ikeala claims, "I think people making Gentry and Nobles when they don't have the XP to 'outfit' them properly with the assets to support themselves seems to lead people to be frustrated with the game and with others. And I wonder if that isn't just ... not a great idea to encourage. " Raquel claims, "I almost wish there were other things you could do to earn a little extra cash, nothing crazy." Ghed states, "You can make money selling items, even outside the merchants" Leta nods at Raquel. Ghed states, "But yeah you know that" Leta queries to Raquel, "What sort of things?" Errisar states, "Agreed with Raquel. My first freeman chars had terrible assets. I've made less than 50 silver a month on some of them." Urtha says, "There are a number of other ways to make money Ray. Some are less legit though" Deedee questions, "Does crime pay these days?" Kirale claims, "If assets could be bought with XP, maybe have a cap on the level and number that could be bought with XP? That would add the option while keeping it a little more even for new and experienced players." Errisar nods. Ghed hmmmmmmmms Raquel states, "I think it all depends on what your character does. Some people have an easier time earning money others do not due to their niche and own background." Ghed declaims, "That's very fair!" Leta nods at Raquel. Leta states, "I did want to remind everyone that you can make money now by submitting books, poems, etc. to staff" Urtha claims, "The black market is open. You can sell items and crafts (illegally) as a non-merchant. Or get the paperwork or whatever to do it legit. But also, I've had money making opportunities presented to me via RP. Some rich folk might pay you to be their bodyguard, or to obtain materials as a scavenger/forager. etc. etc. " Leta states, "Not that it solves the problem of income more broadly, but we love to see new works on grid =)" Deedee nods at Leta. Ghed says, "(new players can also check help making money)" Deedee claims, "I guess the other option is to make silver-purchased assets cheaper" Urtha claims, "I have also, made IC friends with wealthy characters that have often offered assistance in making big purchases. And the merchants willl offer loans" Kirale states, "As someone who actively sought that out on my first character, finding wealthy characters that do that is a matter of luck." Ikeala questions, "I guess are we discussing assets specifically or just broader economy/money stuffs at this point?" Deedee says, "As a GL, I often offered to fund asset purchases, with the caevat that they'd need to get a resource that benefits the guild." Ghed says, "I do have two topics so we can move to those soonish" Errisar claims, "Agreed. Even when I was pplaying a well-liked Poet Knight seeking out financial opportunities, I strugled. It all depends on circumstances and individual interactions which vary wildly." Violet says, "Merchants are always looking for people to fund in exchange for resource purchases" Raquel says, "Also consider crossover and maybe the fact you can't get close to wealthy characters due to the policies in place. Unfortunately everyone's circumstance is kind of different. " Errisar states, "I agree that there are opportunities, but Kirale and Raquel have valid points. Balancing assets and making them easier to get will significantly help." Leta nods. Ghed nods. Urtha nods, "True. But there are wealthy characters in every class. I imagine the brotherhood might be willing to offer assistance to freemen. But also I am all for asset improvements" Errisar says, "That hasn't always been my experience." Leta states, "I think it's fair to say we can do both. Improve assets and income, while also encouraging people to reach out and creatively approach money-making on grid" Kirale asks, "I think we're getting lost in money making opportunity talk. Maybe this is a forum topic?" Errisar nods. Ghed declaims, "Yup!" Deedee queries to Ghed, "You said we have some topics?" Ghed claims to Deedee, "I did" Ghed wonders to Errisar, "Would you like to share yours with us?" Leta states, "Also: remember that it is okay to have the same acquaintance on two alts" Errisar says, "This is a concern that I just was able to put into words, and I don't think it can be easily resolved, if at all. I've been playing on and off for a few years. I don't know how to make a new character that can compete with a similar new char made by an account that has loads of xp. Specifically, when one can improve their stats to max from go and has the xp to raise skills through just grinding, you can become very powerful very quickly. On all my characters I've had to strugle to keep up with RP just to maintain enouggh XP to pool a few skills, and I've never had the xp to improve stats to their potential." Leta claims, "The issue comes when those two alts are both benefiting that character financially, with support/intel, etc. (Alt A is telling Bob the order is onto him, while Alt B supports him codedly and is his business partner) or if the relationships get significant (Best friend is alt A, spouse is alt B, or employer is alt A, spouse is alt B)" Ghed nods at Errisar. Leta nods at Errisar. Leta says, "That's a challenge we have as well" Ghed states, "Unfortunately, for better or worse TI's design assumes a certain amount of XP gain and skill progression" Leta queries, "We haven't found easy solutions, but are trying to tweak things in a positive direction. Do you have any ideas about what we could do to improve things?" Errisar says, "I'm not sure, but I can brainstorm and put them on the forum I suppose." Ghed pontificates, "Please!" Ikeala states, "I think one thing is to ponder we aren't in the same level of competition that we used to be. The game has in large part gotten away from PvP/PK outside of executions so a lot of times other characters having higher skills or stats doesn't mean as much as RP/effort/IC connections and things that can be done through RP rather than anything coded. Particularly during times when important game positions are open." Leta says, "Some of our thoughts have been: 1. Do we want to cap how much account XP can be used on a new char? Or would that just make things less fun for everyone. 2. Should we add more character-specific RPXP for cyans? We did boost starting XP by about 30 percent a few months ago, but we're unsure if that was a significant change for most players." Leta claims to Ikeala, "This is true, but I imagine that players who lack the XP to level up in their skills might feel differently" Urtha states, "So.. I think -generally- this isn't a game where you compete on a char vs char basis, and for that reason that shouldn't be a worry or issue. However that is certainly not true when it comes to combat characters. Reeves/Knights vs Brotherhood/Mages. In which case the imbalance is likely rather unfair and possibly insurmountable" Leta says, "If they can't try the crafting recipes or spells they're excited about while an old account can pool to 75 immediately, that might feel limiting." Leta nods at Urtha. Leta says, "That too." Deedee says, "I have suggested this before, but" Errisar claims, "Yeah. I've at times had to forego very valuable learning opportunities for lack of experience." Ghed says, "A maxed up, careful and aggressive villain can be undefeatable, specially if a mage, unless they get overwhelming, perfectly coordinated opposition" Deedee says, "How to explain" Deedee says, "Basically a use it or lose it for skills, where they slowly degrade if not used." Ghed says, "We've considered it, also for magery and magic skills" Leta states, "I believe the counter to that at the time was a concern it would just mean more grinding" Raquel claims, "I am pretty sure it's more about being crafty / cunning over an outright stat stick. I feel like the culture of the game is way more focused on RP than just pure stats." Ikeala claims, "No one seemed particularly keen on that the last time it was suggested that on the forums." Ghed nods at Raquel. Deedee nods. Urtha states, "Uugh, yeah I don't wanna grind every skill in my skill list just to keep them usable" Leta claims, "We do think that for magery, where there are a limited number of slots, we might benefit from having individuals 'lose their gift' with a certain level of inactivity" Ghed nods at Urtha. Deedee muses, "If you're not using them though, why do you need to keep them up?" Violet claims, "I don't cook on my char every week, but it sure is important to me when I'm planning events or trying to teach someone" Ikeala says, "Because I'd prefer to be in roleplay interacting with new players/characters rather than locked in a room spamming. " Inkblot muses, "Does lowering the level of a skill return the XP once someone is out of chargen?" Deedee says, "Possibly." Deedee asks, "Or, do you mean purchase down?" Deedee says, "I think that's only while cyan" Errisar claims, "I do think the disparity is strongest in PVP RP. I've been part of a group of multiple folks who had no chance of taking down one or two established chars, but never tried because of the disparity and the extreme risk of trying at all. I don't like the idea of losing skills or giffts, if one was playing a mage." Inkblot claims, "I am not sure. I just wondered if a character could level up skills, then realize they're not in line with character growth and lower the level to focus on something else." Urtha says, "Would you consider increasing the exchange of QP to XP? So if someone needs more XP than they can get via RP, they could earn more QP from pvents etc. and turn that QP into XP. 1 QP to 200 XP feels totally wrong to me. 200XP is almost nothing compared to the value of 1 QP" Raquel says, "I think you only lose the mage stuff if you go inactive right? Since the mage slots are limited." Raquel exclaims, "Also yes agreed with Urtha. change QP for XP lol!" Raquel states, "200 is not worth lol" Ghed claims, "I could consider that" Leta says to Errisar, "The problem is the third of our active, awakened mage population who does not use magic AT ALL. We wouldn't require PvP with it, but when players are holding a special slot that they don't utilize, it's a big bummer" Errisar claims, "I think Agreed with Urtha as well. 1 QP to 200 XP is a little low. I might be able to propose some other positive reenforcement loops to address the problem, but will need to sit down and do some brainstorming. That way people feel like they are getting something rather than losing it." Anonymous states, "I dislike and have been against the ability to use QP to buy skills over 36 in chargen since I started. That is all." Errisar nods at Leta. Errisar claims, "I didn't realize it was that bad, and retract my objection." Ghed declares, "That's totally fine! Your opinion is valid" Raquel says, "Also it's not just using QP, you have to pay the XP as well so it's both. " Leta claims, "We did decide to implement an 'Inactive Mage Room', similar to what we do for nobles, that takes mages who aren't active off grid at a certain point" Anonymous states, "I don't care." Errisar smiles at Leta. Anonymous states, "I still don't want skills purchasable over 36 in chargen. That's my opinion." Errisar states, "That sounds like an excellent suggestion." Ikeala asks, "Why?" Raquel states, "I guess it's good we all have our own opinions :)" Deedee states, "I can get where Anon's coming from." Anonymous says, "Because it's part of the 'established players have too much advantage when starting new characters' issue. I can, right now, make a character, bootyblast a weapon and 2 defense combat skills up to 75, and still have xp left over to increase stats a hefty amount, though probably not max them all" Leta claims to Errisar, "I really look forward to hearing your thoughts on the forums, when you get a chance to think it out. This is a challenge we've struggled to solve as staffers" Anonymous claims, "And purchase wealth a whole bunch of times and outfit with plate and a damascus weapon" Deedee claims, "Right now I have enough xp and QP to grand master 3 skills and master a few more if I decided to roll a new character out of the blue" Anonymous states, "On day one" Leta nods at Anonymous. Kirale says, "I'm with Anon on this. There isn't much reason to be above 36 when coming out of chargen." Errisar says, "I realy feel what Anonymous is saying." Urtha states, "I think there's a good argument for allowing players with XP in creating a character with greater than 36 in certain skills so that their concept can be more trained in certain ways. That said, I wouldn't mind if it was like a ceiling of 46 or 60" Anonymous states, "I don't think I or anyone else should be able to do that with a fresh char. Besides which, I also think that it takes away from the growth opportunities that come with having to increase your skills on grid." Errisar states, "Sorry if I let a whole pack of cats out of the proverbial bag here." Leta muses, "I suppose the question is: if we make it such that new characters have no way to increase their abilities, will we be perpetuating the divide between old characters and new?" Leta questions, "And will people be okay with that?" Ikeala says, "Given we have had for a while important Guild/city/Kingdom positions open for application - expecting someone to be able to be in charge of other characters and possibly teach them while only having 36 in their skills feels ... off." Ghed claims, "I don't know. Sometimes, particularly when no one else has a particular skill, and you've been playing for years and through many characters, there is merit in starting stronger" Ghed nods at Ikeala. Deedee nods at Ikeala. Ghed says, "And also that, yes, a justiciar with 36 in a weapon skill feels a little strange" Leta questions, "Perhaps we allow QP purchase for application positions?" Errisar states, "Everyone has excellent points here." Anonymous states, "You can make exceptions for app characters." Anonymous states, "I would be fine with that." Errisar nods at Leta. Kirale nods at Leta. "That would be a reason for it." Deedee claims, "That could be a fair compromise, and might encourage more to app into roles" Raquel questions, "Also what if it doesn't match people's character concepts. You're going to tell me my character who has been working with animals her entire life should be capped at 36 husbandry? Just seems weird. What if you limit the number of skills people can raise in chargen instead of just saying 'no not at all'?" Deedee says, "There's many that just sit there forever" Kirale says, "Although, if we're that low on characters on grid that people need to make a character with the sole purpose of taking those positions, we have another issue." Ghed states, "This could encourage people never to retire their PCs though" Ghed states, "Specially fighter types that roll in at age 18" Leta says, "We had complaints about older characters being 'impossible to beat', however. Even some earlier in this OOC chat! Some players have complained recently on the forum that they feel like they need to start as an 18 year old with no skills to make sense of how they enter grid. (I believe Crayan made a forum thread about it?) How could we balance keeping old accounts from immediately min-maxing without making it impossible " Leta claims, "For new characters to compete" Leta claims, "I agree with many of these ideas, I am just trying to explain why we've been hesitant to implement" Deedee nods. Kirale nods. Errisar nods. Anonymous says, "Numbers > All in terms of impossible to beat." Errisar queries, "How often do more established characters retire? Do we have data?" Ghed says, "Not off the top of my head" Ghed states, "It's very rare for a +3 year character to retire" Anonymous states, "If you roll up on a heavy hitter combat character with max stats and there's two of you and one of him, even if you aren't quite at his level, he's going to lose. Unless the skill/gear gap between you is like... 50+ skill ranks." Raquel muses, "But why should someone who rolled in fresh on grid be even with someone who has been playing a character for OOC years?" Ghed states to Anonymous, "Or you get outfoxed" Urtha trails off, "This is a silly idea that would keep high xp oldbies from min/maxing a brand new character.... more and more skills so that its just impossible " Anonymous says, "That's a skill issue then." Leta grins at Urtha. Ghed chortles Ghed says to Urtha, "Play long enough and you run out of ways to use xp" Leta claims, "I like the idea of capping how many skills can be purchased beyond 36 in chargen." Errisar nods at Leta. Raquel claims, "I think capping how many skills is a good compromise." Leta claims, "We also have an issue of players purchasing one level in every language so they can pool it, for example" Deedee queries, "How many skills, or how many ranks?" Ghed says to Leta, "That's the worst" Ghed claims, "At least for me" Deedee states, "I think language gains are too low for that to even matter." Deedee states, "Maybe they should just pool from 0 anyway." Leta says to Deedee, "I am not quite sure! The idea just seemed like an interesting middle ground. I think we would need to be a discussion before we defined the number of skills or the skill level cap" Leta nods at Deedee. Ghed looks at his wrist sun dial Ghed claims, "Hey will you look at the time" Ghed claims, "I like some of these ideas a lot anyways" Errisar says, "I can write up some of these different ideas for the forum post. Multiple options are best, but we should probably move on. :)" Ghed says, "Thanks for brainstorming" Urtha claims, "Maybe have some legendary sort of things built into the game that cost ridiculous amounts of XP just to give something for oldbies to grind towards. Like spend 100K XP and you get to design a wandering NPC or something like that" Ghed claims to Errisar, "I'd apprciate ita lot" Ghed declares to Urtha, "Yeah!" Leta grins. Leta says, "We'd love some ideas for things like that. The QP shop has done a lot in terms of reducing the QP divide, for example." Ghed says, "God I can't type" Urtha says, "Then they'd save it up for silly shit and not spend it on maxed on new PCs (if they even do that)" Deedee says, "I'd pay 100k to NOT have to design a wandering NPC" Ghed says, "There we go" Leta claims, "Thank you all for your thoughts on this." Ghed claims, "We can introduce real world ads and you pay xp not to watch them" Ghed sagenods Ghed states, "Please remember to post rumors, cnote discoveries, and recommend each other for meaningful RP =)" Deedee waves. Ghed claims, "Srsly cnote or you get real life ads" Errisar claims, "LOL" Leta waves. Errisar waves. Kirale waves. Ghed trails off, "Warping in 3..." Ghed trails off, "2..." Ghed trails off, "1..."
Log of OOC Meeting 2022-10-29
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