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STATE OF THE SHELL SURVEY | DECEMBER 2018
✽ GAME UPDATES AND PLAYER INPUT SURVEY Hello Dreamers! Khu Ioduan has now been running for about a year, and it's time to do take a look at where we're headed next year! This post contains a few process changes that will be implemented next year, and a player survey that will be a required component of December AC. You can reply to the survey any time between now and when December Activity Check closes. • PROCESS CHANGES • AC CHANGES - Starting January 1, the AC requirement for all active characters in game will be reduced to ten (10) comments from that character per month. These 10 comments may be accumulated across up to 3 separate threads on any qualifying network post or log, with any other player's character, as per our existing AC policy. All other aspects of AC will remain unchanged. EVENT MANAGEMENT - We are going to be implementing new management for large plot events based on some player input. Prior to the posting of an IC log, an OOC post will go up explaining the details of the event. The OOC post will have sign-ups for individual players to lead one or more specific quests or mini-plots within the broader plot we have planned. The player(s) who sign up as leaders will OOCly be given all the things that needed to be uncovered IC, and will be able to direct the gameplay within their thread(s) that way. It is our hope that this will reduce the need for regular mod input on threads and allow players more independence to interact with a plot. NOTE: Characters played by individuals who sign up as mini-plot leaders are NOT automatically 'leaders' of their team(s) of characters. That character can take a leadership position if agreed upon ICly, of course. We encourage all players to sign up to be a mini-plot leader at least once! OUTREACH RESOURCES - As we move into 2019, we hope to ramp up recruitment of new players and appreciate the efforts of our existing players who regularly visit comms like ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small} enablemeplz to show off our game. To help make this process easier, we are going to be adding an 'elevator pitch' or talking points about Khu Ioduan, likely to the Game Ad.We are also going to change how we solicit Wanted Characters from current players. Instead of a monthly Wanted Characters OOC post, there will be a static page with monthly comment headers where players can submit a request at any time during that month. There will be posted reminders in the monthly agenda where players will be directed to the new comment header. • PLAYER SURVEY • Our initial plan with this survey was to present an outline of our metaplot plans moving forward for player consideration, but with some reflection we decided that it would be more beneficial for the modteam and the game to better understand your individual narrative (IC) and OOC objectives. We believe that this will provide us with stronger guidance of what our players wish to do in this setting than asking for input on specific elements of the metaplot, and allow us to provide paths for your objectives more effectively. Your answers aren't binding in any way, and if you do not have a clear answer that's alright! Just write down your initial thoughts, and you may be as succinct as you wish. NARRATIVE/STORY OBJECTIVES (IC) - These are the goal(s) you have for your character(s) in-game, or the overall objective(s) you may want them to achieve through the metaplot.
OOC OBJECTIVES - The reasons behind why you wanted to join Khu Ioduan and why you stay may have changed over time, and we are dedicated to providing an enjoyable, supportive player experience. Some of you may play to decompress, to experience something new, or to exert some control over life in a chaotic, unsure world. Knowing what draws you here and what you hope to accomplish OOC will help us make the game more welcoming. And you can have multiple goals!
METAPLOT AND REAL LIFE - We are living in a time of great uncertainty and we want to be sensitive to the circumstances of real life when building metaplot. Aspects of our metaplot that make for complex and rich storytelling may also hit too close to home depending on how they are rolled out (e.g. the past war and standoff with the Chihuelans). Tl;dr: we don't want to make things too dark. Please use our Content Opt-out post as needed!
Use this form to answer the survey questions about IC and OOC objectives. You may be as succinct as you wish; please try to answer all the questions in your response. A response to this post is required as part of December AC. A line will be added to the AC Check form to link to your comment here. If there are aspects of any questions which you would like to answer but do not feel comfortable commenting on publicly, please use the Mod Contact page to submit your answers instead. Mod Contact • Calendar & Plot Suggestions • Game Navigation |
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Character Name(s) Trahearne, Draz'ohv'inadax
NARRATIVE/STORY OBJECTIVES (IC)
What goal(s) do you have for your character(s) in-game?
My primary goal for Trahearne is for him to eventually come to terms with everything he went through during his life, and then find a new identity and meaning for his 'afterlife' in Khu. Part of my writing for him specifically deals with that aftermath in the form of PTSD, and considering he spent his whole life working towards a single goal, suddenly being in a place where he gets to decide a whole new direction for himself isn't necessarily easy.
When it comes to Zohvin, he was just taken from a place in his story where he was literally about to fall to the dark side for the sake of the first person he ever loved. Khu is a chance for him to deal with how his experiences have changed him, what that means for his shaky Jedi beliefs, and it might even give him an opportunity to figure out what the healthiest path is for him personally. Might.
What adventure(s) do you want to set them on?
Ideally, I'd like for Trahearne to participate in either some form of research or mystery-solving. Zohvin is fine for action but I'd prefer to have him get involved in intrigue or politics (though I'm aware that these are fairly difficult to pull off in group games).
What challenges would help your character grow, and what challenges would prevent or slow that growth?
While having the support of his friends helps a lot, what Trahearne really needs to grow is to discover a new purpose for himself. He's already had his growth slowed by game events that dredge up painful memories from his past, and those will likely continue to be troublesome until he can work through some of his problems.
Zohvin is more in danger of stagnating unless he chooses some sort of goal for himself, whether good or bad. He hasn't been in the game long enough for that to happen yet. Anything that deals with the nature of good vs evil is likely to draw him in and get some character development going.
OOC OBJECTIVES
Why did you want to join Khu Ioduan? What elements of setting and community attracted you? Have these reasons changed?
The detailed, unique setting is what got me looking at Khu in the first place - that's something that's lacking in a lot of other Dreamwidth games. I stayed because the game is a little heavier on prose-based logs than most other games I looked at, and even with newer characters it's not hard to jump into the action without feeling left behind.
What do you hope to get out of playing in Khu Ioduan?
Just having a place to write and get more of that sweet sweet character development is the big one. I don't tend to come up with personal plots for my characters that often, so being able to use game events and plots for that development is pretty big for me.
What, if anything, made you feel welcome in the game, and what could have been improved? Honestly, I feel like being here when Khu first opened helped me get integrated pretty fast, but everyone here is also very welcoming on plurk/discord in general.
METAPLOT AND REAL LIFE
What are some examples of media (books, movies, games, etc.) that you feel balance or handle serious topics gracefully?
I'm seriously blanking out on what I would call 'graceful', but if you can be more subtle than Star Trek I think you're good. If you're worried about the game getting too dark, I feel like that's less about how you handle serious topics and more about just having things not be constantly depressing - in which case, look at something like the Phoenix Wright games, which are basically comedies but still has legitimately high stakes cases and dangerous situations that aren't cheapened by jokes.
What kinds of conflict do you find engaging, and what kinds of resolution appeal to you?
Uhhh this one's tough for me to answer because I think all sorts of conflict can be engaging provided that our characters feel personally involved somehow (which is definitely the hard part of setting up a conflict). A sense of making progress in some way also tends to make a resolution to a problem feel more satisfying, even if the problem isn't entirely solved.
What are your thoughts/concerns about the possible intersection of metaplot and real life?
As long as it's done respectfully and there are warnings for the worst stuff, there's not much to worry about. Fantasy and sci-fi are great avenues for exploring parallels to real-world issues and a lot of my favorite stories do just that. That said, avoiding touching on current events specifically is probably a good idea, because yeah escapism is nice.
OTHER/NOTES: You already addressed the biggest concerns I had with the game in this post (btw thanks for the change on AC requirements), so there's not much there I'd need to elaborate on.
The one other thing I want to say is that after how everything turned out, I'm really not inclined to try running a big character plot again. That's probably not going to change unless we get enough of an influx of people to make running one again even remotely worth trying.