JULY ACTIVITY CHECK

[groundrules]

Heya! A couple of items this round, starting wiiiiiiith —

ACTIVITY CHECK

To pass activity requirements, you need to have produced one of: 1 network post or 5 log comments or 10 network/text-style comments in the month of check. Activity can be carried out in game communities or in character inboxes.

In June, insufficient activity was found for:

Lilah | alterare &dmash; swept as a result of two consecutive AC strikes
Okita Souji | deathcough — RECLAIMED
Su Xunxian | topoiran — RECLAIMED
Diego Hargreeves | gladiokinesis — RECLAIMED

Check in here by 23:59 on 5 July to reclaim a character, or if they have activity that may have been missed. You will be required to meet regular activity requirements this month, if you reclaim.

Don't hesitate to PM by the same deadline, if you have any extenuating circumstances you don't feel comfortable disclosing publicly.

ADMIN

■ UPDATED: the July calendar.

■ Activity is waived for July except for those who reclaimed in June. This is just for one month, because of some mod upheaval.

■ APPLICATIONS: our next applications cycle will take place between 24-30 July, on an invite-only basis. It will be the last one for some two months after, and we may need to see how comfortable we are with numbers and whether we want to implement any kind of caps after.

■ YE OLDE ENABLING: ahead of the app cycle, do you folks want an Enable Me / Characters I'd Love to See Meme? Chip in here.

■ SMALL REQUEST: it's been a bit more the case recently that characters obtain NPC or plot information, but don't get around to sharing it with the group ICly — in turn, this can create bottlenecks for those who are trying to uncover the mystery of the day. As usual, A+ if we can please try to post ICly about these items.

Also, if anyone has an idea for how characters can relay information more efficiently, we can brainstorm here.

Comments

[groundrules]

I think your idea does a good job of compiling what everyone's been throwing around!

Everyone seems to like the thought of a discussion fixture to communicate what they've learned. I worry a little that if it's done exclusively OOCly, it could devolve into joyless hand-waving. However, I'm really intrigued by this idea of a hybrid you're suggesting — all top levels into that post can be very short OOC-style summaries (either of discoveries or of what's been being undertaken as investigation), and characters can ICly comment with their reactions, their questions, their speculation.

That could be a prospectively very elegant solution to keep things compact (through OOC summaries), responsive (with IC interaction) and timely (through a regular fixture). There's an inevitable danger of 'what if something is discussed ten times over in various subthreads,' but I admit I don't think that's ever going to be 100% avoidable.

I guess the one thing is: if characters aren't... really compelled to post ICly about their clues, would they submit their information to the compilation post? And who'd run it? I guess one easy answer would be having whatever NPC is in charge of them do it. Presumably characters would feel a tiny bit more compelled to answer the call of that 'authority.' Or enough so that it could give players a plausible reason to say they did.

[weifinder]

I wonder on this: for each event section, can we "pin" a post in the Network Community to act as that kind of touchstone? I forget what the limitations are for communities and post pinning, but that way it's always easy on hand, so you can roll in there and add a new bit or check in and start up an IC interaction for someone's bit anytime without losing track of it on the community?

As far as compelling, maybe have it be part of the structure of signing up for NPC interactions or plot pieces. Posting an OOC summary in this Network Post, and responding to any IC interactions it spawns? The handwave can be why characters all know of this, being that they're perhaps networking with each other more regularly -- or we don't worry about it at all, since that's a logistics failure I see happen often enough in games, just go right for it instead of worry over the specific whys?

+1

[rumorate]

I like this idea! I think it's a great way to track what's going on, and if it's an actual live post, people can track top levels so they can stay on top/tag in as things are added/relevant to what they have to offer. It also means having to comb through less posts/threads to try and keep track of what's being discovered.

[weifinder]

My other thought here is -- make a network post, but have the summary of what was learned and a link to that post in this Gathering Intel Post, so you can find it easy, but people can go wild talking there and keep the Gathering Intel Post clear and easy to look through. For the same less combing through to figure out what's important, and more motivation to post over information learned to share around ICly.

[rumorate]

Yeah, this also would work too! As long as we had like ... one central depository for plot information so people can engage and plan I think that would be a big help.

Re: +1

[groundrules]

Any idea if journals without a paid account can track top levels? Just want to make sure we wouldn't be unintentionally excluding folks.

Actually, I'm talking as if I don't have a perfectly useful non-paid account here. I'll give it a whirl.

Re: +1

[rumorate]

Yes! All journals can track top levels. You click the bell -> More Options -> and then select the checkbox for tracking top levels (also make sure to remove the check box for sending all the comments if you don't want them).

It's easy and I use it to keep track of top levels on event posts all the time.

[weifinder]

Yeah also this for top levels, though it wouldn't tell you about conversations within those threads, for where that matters (or if it does).

Re: +1

[groundrules]

Thanks so much — we could include the tracking instructions for grandmas like me in a post note. I'm not sure about pinning it — I'll give that a think. But for sure we can tag it.

I think my only other lingering concern is: removing plot discussion from the network and centring it in just a compiled post could effectively heavily reduce IC network use and opportunities for characters to make new CR. But let's give things a go first and see where we land.

Re: +1

[rumorate]

I think if we follow Rizzy's lead and leave the option for responses to the compiled info to be IC, we can still allow for that. But I think for the smaller pieces of the puzzle - before it reaches something that warrants a network post - this could help get us to those network places faster.

But that's a valid concern and definitely something we could look out for on a test run.

+1

[inferus]

YES I'd still really love the option to just ICly thread off of like a little clue that someone found that they summarize oocly even if they link to another post/thread about it.

I hate making too many network posts myself and would be more likely to comment to a bigger post. It just streamlines the whole information sharing process, but still allows for IC interactions etc even on small clues.

[groundrules]

Yepyep, I see where you're going with this — assuming no other solution we like better emerges, we can give this a go on the 8th.

And I can try to flag where information qualifies as big and where the ask would be to make an individual post. That can be framed as a pre-condition of signing up for certain quests or NPC threads, where applicable, so people aren't blindsided by the request, and it doesn't unexpectedly take a toll on their personal availability.

[weifinder]

Let me check -- yes, you can track a whole post for every time a new comment is made to it with an unpaid account! You can't track individual threads, just the whole post.

+1

[inferus]

The pinning would be super helpful and having one post per like event, or per part of the arc, or monthly/whatever makes the most sense. And I agree not worrying about the why would be really nice too, because there's so much information that being able to disseminate it easily and straightforwardly to as many people as possible is the most important part.

[weifinder]

Yeah, and as I was also thinking about up above: having one Gathering Intel Post, and using it to leave links to the actual network posts to discuss the info that on the Gathering Intel Post is summarised and linked to. Mostly so we can streamline the Gathering Intel Post, and keep the fun of IC interactions in the network comm happening, but not have to hunt around for when info was shared.

Also means you could leave a comment to the Gathering Intel Post top-levels with "and here My Character talked about Evil Jellyfish Driving the Boats, Actually" or whatever else they knew but hadn't made a full post about yet, but did bring up in someone else's network post.

[inferus]

I think if people had a post that they could collectively come to in order to offer up their clues in an easy, streamlined fashion, they would. They may be feeling like the rest of us, thinking their small clue isn't worthy of its own network post or not having the time to manage an entire network post based on a small clue or hoping that whoever had the rest of the clue saw their post and realized it related.

Maybe they're looking for an opening to share/exchange information more easily.

I think the issue with a NPC-ICly posting it is that none of the characters trust any of the NPCs like at all. However, if the post was just like a placeholder for all potential clue discussion and not from a specific NPC at all (even if the mod journal is the one that made the network post) then characters would use it more if that makes sense?