HOW'S THE GAME?

[paradisamods]

HOW'S THE GAME?

It's been awhile! It's time for another round of Game Discussion, also known as "How's The Game?"

Here we come together to discuss the game, its plots, the settings, and just about anything we can think of that we'd like to talk about, expand upon, improve, change, etc.

This is not an HMD for players and their characters; this should be about the game's function as a whole and not the people in it. If there is something you feel is absolutely necessary to address that involves a specific person, please IM a mod first to discuss it. We can be reached at terraqueous orb (Kayla), end title (Fudgey) or a great fanfare (Jenn). (Though Jenn is on hiatus right now because her laptop is broken, so Kayla or Fudgey would be best for right now!)

Anonymous will be left off for this round (see first section).

Here are the sections that we've come up with. Add your own and we'll edit it into the list.

Anonymous: Why is it turned off?
What do the mods/helpers do, anyways?
How is my activity being monitored?
Activity check changes
Applications/turnover rate
 → Test Drive Comm
Abilities on the application
Villains & Heroes
 → Recent Villain Activity
 → Upcoming Villain Activities/Plots
Death
World Plot/Paradisa Lore
 → Concrete Resolutions, etc.
Canon Updates
Mini-plot Planning
Changes since last HTG
Plots in General
Regular Plots?

How's The Game will now be held quarterly, in order to avoid excessively long stretches in which there is no outlet for discussion.

Comments

Anonymous: Why is it turned off?

[paradisamods]

ANONYMOUS: Why is it turned off for the HTG and not just the HMD?

There is likely a good bit of confusion about this decision, and we feel like we owe you guys an explanation. We decided to turn off anonymous for HTG too for a variety of reasons, mostly centering around anonymous behavior we've seen as of late in various places. We had decided pretty much immediately after the last HMD that we were going to shut off anonymous there because we had given warnings about it and they were not heeded. But after the recent bouts of needless hostility on Anon Comm towards a wide variety of players, we feel that it is unlikely that we can expect much civility or polite/constructive conversation in this discussion from anyone who chooses to remain anonymous.

For the people who were not intending to use it in a hostile manner, we apologize, and certainly recognize the benefits of being able to remain anonymous. For the time being, however, it will be shut off, until we believe that using the Anonymous feature can be handled appropriately and maturely by anyone who chooses to use it.

That being said, if you have a concern you wish to address (or perhaps a topic you'd like for us to bring up in HTG) to a mod but also wish to remain anonymous, please consider making a sock email to email us with or sock journal to PM us with. We take the concerns of our players seriously, and we'll do our best to look into it and help you out. If you have a concern about any player, mod, helper, or otherwise, please don't be afraid to send it to us. We do our very best to remain as unbiased and open as possible to anything the players bring up.

What do the mods and helpers do, anyways?

[paradisamods]

WHAT DO THE MODS AND HELPERS DO, ANYWAYS?

We've had a lot of questions and concerns raised about what, exactly, the duties of either position are, how much is being done, who is doing more, etc. We've made a general list of the different duties each position has on a general/daily basis to clear up some of the things that go on behind the scenes where the players can't see.

FUDGEY:	JENN:	KAYLA:	DOLLY:	TF:	VALERIE:
➜ Apps (vidya, animanga, wherever needed) ➜ Player questions ➜ Player complaints/concerns ➜ Canon bump/loss permissions ➜ HMD monitoring    ➜ Occasionally Q&A page ➜ Occasionally floor map/misc Wiki stuff	➜ Apps for books, comics, television, movies and misc ➜ Activity check coordinator ➜ Hiatus chart maintenance ➜ Tag organization ➜ World plot coordinator ➜ NPCing ➜ General Q&A ➜ Contact list update ➜ New characters page ➜ Player conflicts/counseling ➜ Hmd monitoring ➜ Permissions/requests approval ➜ Account removal ➜ Writes many of the announcements ➜ Sometimes: Questions page ➜ Sometimes: Floor map update ➜ Sometimes: Statistics/tracking	➜ Approving applications when possible ➜ Discussing revises/questionable apps with helpers/other mods ➜ Player Q&A ➜ Permissions (canon bumps, loss changes, deaths) ➜ Player concerns/complaints/counseling ➜ Editing wiki errors/locking pages/making new pages ➜ Discussing/critiquing player plots w/players ➜ NPCing (Joy, Ironette, Flora, etc) ➜ Discussing with other mods about future plot schedules ➜ Monitoring HMD ➜ Sometimes: Questions page ➜ Sometimes: Taken/Floor map editing ➜ Sometimes: Writes announcements	➜ Apps/Drops ➜ Monthly AC charts ➜ Animanga/video game/movie apps ➜ App queue & research (when no one knows the canon) ➜ Player Q&A ➜ Monitoring HMD ➜ Census Report ➜ Contact List errors ➜ Misc data entry	➜ Drops - Removing characters from the taken list, floor map and contact list. ➜ Apps - TV/Movies, Comics/Books. And anywhere else where I might know the canon better than others via the discussion board. ➜ Answering player questions. Approving the microwave destruction. ➜ Monitoring HMD ➜ Part of the AC team.	➜ Reserves ➜ Apps (vidya games, misc, tv/movies) ➜ Player questions ➜ HMD monitoring ➜ Activity Check ➜ Timezone chart (rehaul soon) ➜ Wiki/Contact/Coding maintenance

As a team, we frequently (at least once a day, if not more) contact each other via email or AIM about various things pending approval, problems we've noticed/gotten complaints about, etc. in order to discuss them together and use our various viewpoints in order to come up with a reasonable answer.

[baleouts.livejournal.com]

My main concern right now is that what happens to the moderating team when 2/3 of the main mods are on hiatus? Jenn's laptop will be back by tomorrow (?) but she took a mod hiatus (and now it had to become a full one) and Fudgey is currently on a three week hiatus.

Does this mean Kayla is the one we have to go to for all our questions and concerns? Real life takes precedence, but I'm not sure what goes on when the mods and helpers are taking hiatuses or are busy with real life repeatedly. I think this is why people constantly ask what the mod team does, because we don't get to play with them too much and when we do, we're wondering what that means for apps, questions, complaints and anything else game-related.

[hard-talker.livejournal.com]

Thanks for laying this out - this is SO very helpful. Now I know exactly who to go to with my questions! FEAR MEEE, muahaha. ;D

How is my activity being monitored?

[paradisamods]

HOW IS MY ACTIVITY BEING MONITORED?

Currently, Paradisa has the rule that each character must post twice per month (or be able to provide similar threads to cover for any missing posts). However, more recently, we've been hearing many complaints that despite meeting check, some people have still been guilty of character squatting or being frustratingly inactive. Because of this, we've started keeping some charts in regard to various aspects of activity in the game to better monitor squatting and general player performance. If we notice that a character has been consistently doing some/all of the things listed below for 3 or more months, we will be sending them a warning to improve their activity.

Main Factors:
➜ Rushing to make AC
➜ Frequent/constant dropped threads
➜ Using only private/filtered entries to make AC

We will also be using this information to determine whether we feel it is appropriate for you to apply for another character on top of your current roster.

Activity check changes?

[paradisamods]

ACTIVITY CHECK CHANGES

As mentioned above, Paradisa currently has the rule that a character must make two posts per month to make activity check. However, there are often many flaws with this system - for example, many characters who dislike/avoid the journal, characters that just aren't the type to write about their day/experiences, as well as characters not branching out to others aside from anyone who may comment to their post.

Would you like to see a change in the activity check requirements (likely focusing more on threads in other posts) to combat these problems? For example, instead of requiring 2 posts per month, instead ask for 10+ threads of 15 or more comments?

[knifestorm.livejournal.com]

I would like to such a change implemented. 10+ threads seems like a bit too much, in my opinion, given that many typical posts get around 4 replies (this is an arbitrary number, which may differ depending on character popularity/how accessible the post might be etc).

A combination of posts and threads, such as 1 post + 5 threads with 15 comments, for example, would be good as well. But I'm sure that's considered acceptable anyway, since I've used that to pass AC before.

I also remember an anon discussion mentioning holding players up to be more responsible for their activity by having them submit a record of their posts and/or threads during AC time in order to prove that they have been suitably active. It doesn't have to be a complete log, of course, just a collection of links (the example I raised above would take 6 links, for instance). If anyone has thoughts on that, I'm interested in hearing them. It seems like an interesting idea.

Applications/Turnover rate

[paradisamods]

APPLICATIONS/TURNOVER RATE

A problem frequently brought up by players is the high turnover rate we experience more often than not in Paradisa. We have discussed some options to help make this less of a problem and have characters stick around longer.

➜ Stricter rules about character swapping? Should we have more rules to discourage constant swapping? An example of a rule here would be something like "Players must wait at least two weeks after dropping a character to apply for a new one."

➜ Switching to app cycles? Should we change our application system so it is only open for a small period of time (For example, one week a month)? This may discourage impulse apps and make the player think about whether or not they REALLY want the character.

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

I'm not a big fan of app cycles. While it might lend to people thinking more before applying, it also leads to big rushes of new characters introing at the same time in the game, which ultimately leads to not everyone getting as much attention. I much prefer them being spread out and gradually coming in at different times.

And I haven't noticed the swapping going on enough to comment on. If it's a problem that's been going on, I wouldn't mind that rule of waiting between apping being used.

[paradisamods]

ABILITIES SECTION ON THE APPLICATION

This was discussed last HTG, but since we have quite a few new faces in the game now, we'd like your input again before officially adding this to the application.

Essentially, we'd like to add a section to the application for detailing what powers the character might have. It does not have to be detailed, or have a word minimum; a link with clear/distinct information on the character's capabilities would suffice if there are too many to list (for example, we would not ask a Harry Potter character to list every single spell they are capable of casting). The section would have no bearing on the final decision on the app, it would simply be a good way for us to get to know the character and what they are capable of right off the bat. It would also give us a good idea if the characters powers may need to be limited in some way (for example, if they are able to create metaworlds, that ability would be taken away).

Thoughts?

[percepts.livejournal.com]

I think this is a good idea, and for the very least, it would help you guys out. (I've always sort of wondered how come there wasn't one.) And it would be no skin off my back to add a section like that to my apps.

Villains/Heroes

[paradisamods]

VILLAINS & HEROES

This was brought up on the last HTG, and we'd like to bring it up again, as there's been some more concerns brought up about it. As it is impossible for the mod team to entirely police all villain and hero encounters without being completely overbearing, we'd like to see some plotting occur to counter the problems people have been having. This section is more open to general discussion on the issue of having both in game, but here are some important issues we've noticed/would like to be discussed:

➜ How can we hold villains accountable?
➜ Can we uphold a Paradisa justice system? (Could this recent trial be the beginnings of one?)
➜ What kinds of consequences should villains suffer for their actions? Death and prison are more often than not ineffective or make it difficult to continue playing the character.

➜ How can we make it easier for villain players to feel comfortable playing out schemes/plots/heists?
➜ Is destroying CR with other characters by being 'bad' a big concern?
➜ How can we make having negative CR fun?

➜ What can we do about the imbalance between them? See here for more details on the available statistics on villains and heroes.

Death

[paradisamods]

DEATH

A reoccurring problem in Paradisa is the general attitude towards death and how it is handled. Many characters are apathetic towards it at this point, and it often makes plots involving death meaningless or pointless.

Because of this, we've decided to make a change to how death in Paradisa works. As Paradisa is always growing and changing, it will often come up with new methods to disturb the residents and their peace.

Starting now, if a character dies, they WILL be revived with a new permanent loss on top of the one they already had entering the game. This has been a suggestion in the past, but it will now be enforced for every death. For every death the character experiences, the new loss added on will be progressively worse (more memories lost, more skills lost, etc.).

On top of this, bodies will no longer vanish after death. However, because people in Paradisa do not age or change at all, the bodies will not decompose. They will simply turn pale/bluish in color and remain wherever they were killed (unless moved by other characters), with whatever injuries they may have sustained upon dying. To avoid any cases of people waking up buried alive/in an enemy area/etc., they will disappear and reappear in their room to wake up.

Upon waking up, characters will find themselves extremely malnourished/dizzy/weak. It will take a little time to recover and be fully on their feet again.


We'd also possibly like to gradually add in some more aspects to death at a later date. Here are some ideas we came up with -- feel free to nix them, discuss them, or add your own.

➜ Character wakes up from death with a visible scar where they were injured upon dying
➜ Character has something like a "curse mark" or "dark mark" which grows the more they get killed and cannot be washed off or removed
➜ Character experiences a Silent Hill-esque world while dead
➜ Varying/lengthening amount of time spent dead to keep characters on their toes?

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

I love this! I was really interested in the idea of another permanent loss after death, and I think that's a really cool way to handle it. I think scars staying would be a great idea, and some kind of dark mark would be interesting. Especially if the mark starts in the same place for everyone, so people who figured out what they meant could look for them.

I'm less sure about the Silent Hill world while dead idea, just because of how much trauma the other stuff will bring about when they get back that they might not be able to function... but then I can't remember exactly how far you'd go with that. What about being part of the castle ghosts during that time, serving people without knowing what they're doing? Not to say that's where the castle ghosts came from, but maybe they could use an extra hand while they've got someone...

Two weeks is pretty long (that's what it's at right now, isn't it?), I wouldn't want it to be more than that.

World Plot/Paradisa Lore: What do you want to see?

[paradisamods]

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE FROM WORLD PLOT/PARADISA LORE?

There have been several glimpses at the World Beyond and the inner workings of Paradisa in some of the recent World Beyond plots and events. Of course, there is plenty more to come, and much more for the characters to learn and experience within the world of Paradisa.

So we'd like to know: what would you like to see in future World Plots? What secrets are you dying to get a hint about? More secret conversations between spies and rebels? More fights? More neutral grounds? Discuss!

[bogusmagic.livejournal.com]

:|a I am not entirely sure where this would fit, but I'd enjoy seeing City Royale fleshed out some more. How I have no idea... the only thing I can suggest are physical maps of the town and the powered zone being made to give people better mental images of size and location.

Canon Updates

[paradisamods]

CANON UPDATES

We've heard quite a few concerns brought up about the monotony (and really, the whole idea in general) of canon bumps and updates. While we don't feel it's necessary to remove them altogether, here are some things to consider/discuss:

➜ How can we make canon bumps more exciting? Most of the time, a character ends up getting knocked out, spends a day unconscious, and everyone knows that they have probably "gone home" for the day. It's become something characters are apathetic to.

➜ How much sense does it make? Theoretically, characters are often getting months or years of information shoved into their head in a space of a day or two. Does it make more sense for them to gain this information slowly/gradually in some other manner?

[percepts.livejournal.com]

I agree that canon updates can be abrupt and not make much sense. It's a little weird to have so much time shoved into your head (even a couple months is a lot, to me) and then have to insert yourself back into life at Para. So I think that could definitely use some rethinking/revisiting etc, but I'm not sure what would be a good way to do the gradual thing..

[knifestorm.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if this warrants a whole new section on its own, but there doesn't seem to be any I can comment to, so...yes.

A common response to the concern of there being a lack of plot(s) to be involved in seems to be, "Submit your own!" Or...that's the impression I get, who knows how many feel that way.

Aside from the monthly CR meme and the Castle Connections (http://paradisaooc.livejournal.com/3330027.html?thread=89667051#t89667051) update mentioned above, maybe there could be a regular miniplot/idea post like the one from last April (http://paradisaooc.livejournal.com/2618136.html). This could be for small events that don't necessarily need to involve certain characters or players, although there might have to be mod approval granted for those which could impact many characters.

Thoughts?

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

I would love to see this. It helps with people who have vague ideas about things they'd like to do, but would like to discuss them and gauge interest before starting them. :)

[senri.livejournal.com]

After this post has run its course, could we maybe get an ooc comm post reprising what's been concluded and what changes will be enacted in game? As it is, it's really hard to know what kind of follow-through we see from how's the game, I'm not even sure what changes were enacted from last time.

[orz-woeisme.livejournal.com]

We're definitely going to, yup :) This post has some of the implemented changes from last HTG announced but we're going to have another as soon as we look over everything from this time to outline all changes made, hopefully before June/mid-June (since it's hard to get together and discuss everything between all six of us at once).

WOW I AM SO LATE 1/2

[wornbright.livejournal.com]

And I'm like... unsure where this goes as I wrote it up a while ago now.


Okay, so. I have a lot of things on my mind and things I want to say. Paradisa is my only game and I’ve never felt more welcomed and had so much fun anywhere else than here. I don’t know if I’m the only one who has this stance on the game but I need to say them now, because I love this place, its players and everything it offers in an RP. I don’t like what’s been happening in the past several months.

For one, what has happened to this game’s drive? I’m speaking strictly on World Plots – they are less frequent than before and when they do spring up, they are extremely vague and almost pointless. Once in a blue moon we are given a post to either participate in or watch and personally, I don’t understand what they’re about anymore. I know the anon comm is not a sounding board (in recent events, I understand many players have been turned off by the community for the trolling and wank gone down there but ignoring that, there are still legitimate issues brought up. I know it’s not the correct channel but people use it and will continue to and again, it’s a personal thing but I’d rather not turn a blind eye to it) but it was once mentioned almost every World Plot/event ended with ... well, there was no conclusion. The player base have been given no answers whatsoever as to what is going on with it. What’s Reno Brown’s deal? What happened with Roy Harper exactly? What happened with the spiders? What about that “lump” creature that Damian had discovered back in November when residents were being kidnapped by some unseen force? We get absolutely nothing and it’s frustrating and unsatisfying as a player to not know what my own game is supposedly dealing with. This overarching plot is so awkwardly spaced out, too. It pops up every now and then and while surprising us is fine, they just... don’t end up playing out so well. (I understand when plotting things out, everything looks fine on your wordpad and may play out different when put into motion.) For example, we now know there are spies in the castle and there’s been no follow up. That is my issue with this plot; we never get a proper continuation or conclusion and more things are added on to the World Plot, without bothering to deal with the older things. It’s become a jumble of events that may or may not be related and many of us are left to sit here scratching our heads, trying to find a way to keep ourselves and our characters engaged in the plot.

And on the topic of plots, I understand people needed a break after Slenderman. I for one was really glad we took a plot hiatus because it was straining my characters ICly but we’ve gone long enough without any event to motivate characters and players. Reading back on old plots, almost every single one of them had a common factor: they enforced unity and teamwork among the residents and players of the game. When we go too long without a plot or even a short event, people get bored fast. We’re a huge game and with a number of players who don’t know what to do with their characters nowadays. I didn’t feel the Slenderman plot worked out the way it was planned, however it was. It was extremely straining on characters and left a sense of hopelessness. Why bother fighting against this world when something can so easily come and do away with them? There needs to be something that will let residents feel accomplished once in a while. Also something that will get them to work together. As someone who originally wanted a plot break, it was mostly on extremely traumatic plots with no feasible opt-outs. I don’t see anything wrong with your average Paragodzilla vs. Residents plot as long as the residents aren’t entirely forced to deal with repercussions they didn’t ask for. Some events, it can’t be helped but now the game feels like a sandbox and it’s almost as if the mods have stopped caring for pushing the game forward in any way. If the mods don’t show enough care for a game that they run, the players will eventually stop caring... which is what is happening right now.

2/2

[wornbright.livejournal.com]

I’m starting to believe we need a game discussion and HMD every month, alongside each other. So many issues have built up since the last discussion (in November) and even then, we accomplished nothing in the past one. Many issues were laid out, nothing changed. Why has nothing been done about this? I think at least with a monthly HMD and discussion (or one every two months), issues won’t build up for too long and we can get them out every month. If we can’t have a discussion every month, then I firmly believe and suggest the mods leave a comment for themselves on HMD so people can address game/mod issues there. I’ve seen other games do it and I’ve always been curious as to why Para doesn’t.

plots in general?

[custodismundi.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking a lot about the flow of plots/the sorts we've been implementing as of late, and I think some of the problems the game has been having (re: villains vs heroes, the turnover rate) could be improved if we look at this basic principle of the game.

There are - and have been for a while - long periods of time between "stressful" or big plots that leave characters, particularly ones who are anti-social or harder to form CR with, with little to do or interact with. Yes, this can be remedied with effort - creative open posts or reasons to get them out there and socializing, but I believe half the reason that plots are so integral to a game is to keep the player base interested and garner CR between our characters.

In my opinion, the "pace" of the game could be evaluated on a whole. We have long stretches of "dry spells" where most of the meat of the game comes from interactions... but without interesting and new things to post about, without events forcing people together, it can get stale fast. Characters have months at a time where they might be left alone to themselves and their rooms if they're the type to stay indoors without a reason to brave Paradisa and get out there. And as for veteran characters who have been here upwards of months, even the socialites can start getting a bit on the bland side. There are only so many ways to interact with the same surroundings without things getting old years later.

Some suggestions I have would be:

1. A predictable 'flow' of plots. I mentioned this on the anon meme some time ago - a sort of "timeline" in which bigger/dramatic/hectic plots are spaced a fair distance apart and interspersed with ones of lesser/lighter a caliber. This gives characters a time to deal with the issues that the big plots bring up before the next one hits, and feeds them with lesser, interesting things to discuss/keep them busy without getting stagnant. They can make new CR or opt out if they're too busy/dealing with other problems. There would be plenty of room in the "off" months where big plots aren't scheduled for losses and mini-events.

2. The types of plots we run. Everyone has their own personal opinions on what constitutes the most enjoyable plot, so there should be a little bit of everything during the course of the game! We shouldn't put the focus too much in one spot. There should be a few light-hearted and easy plots (the holiday plots tend to fulfill this criteria), some mysterious plots (think the Christmas/New Years event when the castle was going batty last year), and plots focused on exposing new aspects of our characters/forming new CR in interesting ways (memory plot). There should be scary plots (Dead Space, Slenderman) and exploratory/free form plots (NYC/LA). If we look at the sort of plots that have transpired in the last year alone, we see the 'flow' and 'type' have been off in big ways compared to the year before that, which I personally loved to fuck and is a big part of what had me falling in love with this game when I first joined it!

Alongside this, I personally feel that plots should always have a 'purpose' or 'objective'. They should, regardless what they are, provide plenty of opportunities for new CR, and hopefully add the chance to deepen the CR our characters already possess. This sort of goes along with the above - if we have a "rhythm" of plots, the types will sort of fall into place. We won't have too much of the big, traumatic types -- and plenty of opportunities for variety when lesser plots come around. However, I want to stress that we need to start looking a lot more closely at the timing and implementation of things. I have heard a lot of issues cropping up because of unforeseen scheduling mishaps, and it could be avoided with more clear-cut and hands-on timelining.

3. Keeping on top of the calender. Knowing what is happening and when is a HUGE help to us! It may be a small thing, but it's an awesome thing and making sure we have the month's calender to access with events already plotted out in advance ready to be viewed is an asset.

I know I have more to say... somehow..... but my brain is all over the place and this is tl;dr enough sldkjfsdf. THOUGHTS?!!

[sahara-storm.livejournal.com]

Everyone has their own personal opinions on what constitutes the most enjoyable plot, so there should be a little bit of everything during the course of the game!

Yes yes and yes. I think someone mentioned it somewhere in this post, but it can get really tiring and draining to have only one type of plot keep cropping up. So. YES. More variety, and etc.

[thehumanfactor.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh, so I'm not sure where exactly I should mention this, but I'm hoping no one minds too much if I do it here: I think the tags in the Logs comm are full up, because I couldn't create one for Jamie when I tried tagging him into a post the other day. :(

[orz-woeisme.livejournal.com]

Yeah looks like we maxed out on tags there )8;; Wow! I'll see what we can do to fix it!

REGULAR PLOTS?

[dusk.livejournal.com]

REGULAR PLOTS

What would you like to see for other plots, World Plot aside? Any thoughts (genres, specific canons, specific resolutions ... ?)? We'll try to take stuff suggested here and throw it into a poll going up in the near future. :)

Re: REGULAR PLOTS?

[save-the-souls.livejournal.com]

I miss world changes! I know they aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I really dig the world changes that give characters a lot of freedom about what to do and plot out (the first half of high school, LA, NYC)! There can be a plot that does happen along with it, but yeah just in general I really miss these things.

[tomatoandbasil.livejournal.com]

And now, someone who's still relatively new's perspective.

I still feel relatively new here (even though I've been here roughly three months and have gotten a feel for everything IC and OOC I still have missed a lot as this game is an old one and a lot of the players are long stayers) so I don't feel I can contribute much to this right now outside of agreeing/disagreeing with more OOC/Applying aspects of the game.

However, I don't feel this is a bad thing right now. I'm sitting here and reading a good lot of what's being said about what and am pleasantly surprised at how well everyone's getting along here, mods and players alike. There's genuine concern, even if it's been spurred on by some anonwank crap, and that gives me hope for this game's future. This all allows me more research time and more time to feel absorbed in the game. OOC is just as important an aspect as IC.

I've always felt very welcomed here and comfortable, right from day one. I've not really had that at other games. Even when I've rubbed people the wrong way here a couple times, the mods were kind to me about it and it was resolved in a way I didn't feel attacked for. If I have ever done this to you now, I apologize sincerely. I am working harder on returning the feeling I get from others here IC and OOC and seeing all this means it is totally worth it.

I don't know much about the game's lore or past except for what info is available in the wiki and that one megapost Lana did IC. So I won't try to offer help with that until I feel I know enough to. This is no fault of anyone, just my own view. As I settle in, I'll be giving more and looking forward to seeing more game-verse HMDs like this.

The way this is all being handled is amazing to me. I cannot stress this enough. I'm not sure if I'm even making sense or if I'm rambling or what. Just that I wish I had something like this occur in past games I played in.

Thank you, Para. I mean it.

[percepts.livejournal.com]

just gonna tack on my +1 here.

I LOVE YOU PARA. I LOVE YOU GUYS.

ON CR/TAGGING/INTRO POSTS

[advocacies.livejournal.com]

This totally slipped my mind. Way to go me.

The mods have already taken a look into the lack of tagging in game here (http://paradisaooc.livejournal.com/3250655.html). This goes to prove a large portion of the game is not tagging around as much as they should be. We do all have responsibilities pertaining outside the game, to our jobs, school, family, etc... so it's understandable we cannot be on the ball 24/7. That seems impossible anyway.

However, what can we do to fix the tagging problem we have in game, guys? People have constantly brought up a "cool table" and how they felt it was harder to establish CR with older players. I'd like to hear what others think and how they feel. What can we do to fix this? I'd really love to try and come up with a solution. Ena started the buddy trial system, some players are tagging intro posts more often but as far as I know, it's not enough.

What should we do?

[dusk.livejournal.com]

I think the biggest difficulty here is that ... we can come up with all kinds of plans and methods and ideas about how to make new characters feel more welcome, but none of them are going to work without people following through. We've already got the OOC buddy system in the works, as well as people feeling more inspired to tag intro posts based on the statistics we posted.

Basically, I'd just like to state that all it takes is tagging one intro per character per month. Just one, out of however many posts you end up tagging per month. That alone would dramatically increase results and I think it would make people feel a hell of a lot more welcome here. I'm not sure there is any viable way to make people do this, but maybe, put this way, more people will be more willing to work it into what they've already got on their plates. I absolutely don't want people to feel unwelcome here. :(

[dupable.livejournal.com]

This may seem kind of random, but I've noticed recently people speaking out/questioning the slash pairings in the game. At first I only noticed it with one of the pairings in the game, but recently I've seen other comments that seem to suggest people have issues with the idea of some of the male characters in the game having relationships with other men in the game.

This kind of baffles me, honestly! I've always felt that the players of Paradisa have been overall very open minded people who are accepting of people's sexuality. I realize that speaking out against a character who hasn't necessarily shown interest in members of the same sex in canon being in a homosexual relationship in an rp game is way different than speaking out against people having relationships with members of the same sex IRL, but it's still kind of discouraging to see. Especially when I see the argument that these relationships are OOC for the two characters not because of the two personalities, but because they're a same sex couple.

I'm not really sure if this kind of comment is conducive to much discussion, but since it's something I've seen come up more than once and it does inadvertently give off the air of slash (and possibly femslash?) intolerance I thought it might be worth bringing up?

[booyoumortal.livejournal.com]

All I can say here is that if people have an issue with something they deem is OOC, firstly they need to try the people in question's HMDs. If nothing productive comes from it or they feel the players will absolutely not listen, then they need to speak to one of the mods/helpers(?) about it. If they're uncomfortable, making a sock account might ease some of the tension about being discovered or worse, judged because they found two characters were being OOC together.

RP is a place where yes, we can explore the many facets of a character's personality and even sexuality. Sexuality is impossible to define properly and in a setting like this, it all basically comes down to one's interpretation versus the other's. (I mean, obviously Kate will never be in a heterosexual relationship with a man, because canon and Rucka and Williams' interviews have written her as gay and only interested in women.)

That said, I'm not sure what else can be said here without opening a can of worms.

TL;DR'S YOUR FACE OFF ABOUT ROMANCE/SEX/RELATIONSHIPS

[innate.livejournal.com]

This was going to be a response to the above comment, but then I kind of went off on my own tangent so ffff. It's own...comment...it gets...I guess.

1.) I kind of always thought people in RP in general were very accepting of pairings and slash, and I never really thought of Paradisa being any different until recently. Though TBH sometimes it's been hard to tell if these people actually have a problem with slash, if they really just find the characters OOC, or if they're simply personal attacks against players they don't like. So I really don't know what to say about that topic specifically... Personally I really don't give a damn unless someone is being so OOC it hurts.

I honestly have to say that seeing all the rage that's been going in regards to ships, slash or not, have made me VERY, just kind of...wary of having any of my characters pursue any kind of relationship/whatever like that. Not that any of them are the type to just go I WANT A GIRLFRIEND/SEX but you get my drift.

2.) But this also kind of leads into something else I've often wondered at Para, and just online RPs in general. Why is sex such a taboo topic? I understand that there are minors here, and so obviously we should not be plastering sex everywhere. But if there is a WARNING in the post, and it's behind a cut, WTF is the problem? None of my characters have ever really been in a position in Para where this was an issue, but I've seen it come up with other people. I mean sometimes it makes me feel like I'm a horrible person for ever wanting smut, and that I need to join a sex game if I'm ever in the mood and any of my characters are the type/in a relationship.

And in regards to casual sex, I NEVER hear about this ever happening outside of characters like say...Bad Girl and Sister, who are the two most extreme women to ever stroll through Para, when perfectly normal women and men can have a one night stand once in awhile, or once in their life, and regret it later, or even have that lead to an eventual relationship, who knows?

3.) And in the same flavor of this topic...it's not just sex that seems to be a taboo. It's sex outside of relationships, or it's one-sided crushes, or somebody getting in a relationship, breaking up, then having another one soon after.

I mean...these things happen IRL. A LOT. And I understand that manga/video game characters often lead lead very different from our own, and thus their approach to this stuff can be very different. But a lot of them, and the more normal characters in the game, are very likely to experience any of these things at any given time, but it feels like players are too scared to ever pursue any of these things because they're worried about offending or scaring off players.

Why is this? It sometimes feels like people take some of these things WAY too seriously in RP. I mean...life happens. And that includes raging hormones/boyfran/girlfran drama/innocent crushes/etc. Especially to teenagers, man. So long as people are being IC, and are respectful and realistic about certain things, I just kind of don't see the problem.

Also a quick note that I'm not trying to convey that I WANT people to RP underage sex (although two sixteen-year-olds having sex is not uncommon or strange). I'm just sort of addressing all of this stuff in general, and again I am not just talking about sex. I'm talking about all things relating to hormones, romantic & sexual feelings alike.

/edits forever

+138509238509

[autophoenix.livejournal.com]

Uhhhh basically all of this yes.

This is Jenn the Mod, having difficulty changing accounts on LJ... D:

[heirdom]

Still on my iPod so replies may take a while:

How would people feel about a community-driven expansion of the handbook?

Would you be interested in proposing a topic (ie, "how to..." or "history of..." or "how aspect of lj rp works") and, if topic approved, write the article for publishing?

I feel a lot of the handbook is out of date or just not inclusive enough, but I also feel that the staff writing it solely would make it ours, rather than the whole game's.

Once I get the city map and more detailed World Beyond maps done, I will also be looking for community input on describing buildings and their contents, as well as regions in the dead zone. We can write a world-history onto whatever places you come up with, too :)

Thoughts? Would you volunteer??

[bogusmagic.livejournal.com]

I'd volunteer! Making the star chart was a lot of fun and I enjoy doing worldbuilding in general.

Requested characters

[whichswan.livejournal.com]

Here's a trivial matter compared to the rest of them, but I was wondering if there's a way to keep the Requested Characters page more up to date?

Right now, there are long lists of requested characters from crews that don't even exist in the game anymore. I'm not saying that you can't request from canons that don't yet exist in Para, but that those lists seem to have been left there for a long time. My suggestion is to have requests expire after 1-2 months, and for the requester to simply post another request to revive it if they still want the character.

I hate saying this because I don't want to add more to the mods' overflowing plate, but I would volunteer my time to help too! If everyone just posts the date they made the request beside the characters' name, it would be pretty straightforward for anyone to just go down the list and delete the ones that have been there for, say, a month. Muns can simply update the date if they want to keep extending it, since it shows that they're still interested.

Thoughts?

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

I agree that it'd be great to get that cleaned up! I'm not sure about making them expire every month or two months (I know I wait a longer than that to entice someone into the game sometimes), that might be a lot to keep up with.

Maybe taking out all the requested characters from fandoms no longer on the taken characters page for now? Usually the requested characters is for canonmates, and while that's not always the case, it'd help give it a fresh start.