In Darkness - OOC

Hey hey hey!

Just reporting on the dropped characters since we had a massive purge tonight.

Kvothe and Jack Harkness were dropped over the weekend. Remus Lupin was dropped but Nate picked up a younger version of him.

Mandy dropped:

Alice Cullen
Hiccup Haddock
Hiei
Regulus Black
Barney Stinson
David Torizol

I dropped:

Astrid Hofferson
Jasper Hale

The canons have been added to the previously played list, and are available to be picked up if anyone is so inclined.

Hey guys.

This is a serious post and I am requesting that everyone comments (comments are screened) to acknowledge that you've seen and read it, even if you have nothing else to say about it.

We have discovered a serious oversight in our current activity rules. The way the rules are phrased now, it essentially allows any person with one character to remain inactive for most of the month but still remain in the game with a thread during activity checks.

This is not really what I want to see for the game.

That said, we were having a little bit of trouble coming up with exact parameters to define activity requirements. After dicking around and discarding ideas and finding flaws in all the ideas, we've come up with this. We honestly think it's the most fair way to ensure the game stays active, that people are not simply idling in the community or sitting on characters for the majority of the month, and that we have maximum player participation.

If you don't feel that you will be able to keep up with the new requirements, we'd like you to consider that ID might not be a good fit for your particular schedule or style of play.

We have a sliding scale of activity

What this essentially means that, if you have one-three characters, we will be requiring somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-5 threads a month (collectively, not per character) + optional network activity. If you have 4-7 characters, we'll be looking for a minimum of 5 threads a month (collectively, not per character), plus significant network activity from any non-threaded characters. If you have 8+ characters, we'll be looking for something closer to 1-2 threads a month per character + optional network activity. Regardless of the number of characters you have, all characters must have some form of activity each month.

If you have any questions or need this clarified or have any other thoughts on it, comments are screened (and signing in is required).

Oh, so bet you thought I forgot, didn't you? ::brow waggle::

First, our guaranteed moves:

Chase Collins
Sir Didymus/Ambrosius
Matt Prept
Faye Valentine

And then our random rolls, whoa:

Lily Evans
Severus Snape
Ichabod Crane
Bruce Banner
Hugo Weasley
Spike Spiegel
Magius

If you only have one (or two) characters and he/both are moved and you've changed your mind and rather he/one of them not be moved, you are welcome to change one of them. Just let me know ASAP. You have ... really, until the move (which is tentatively set for 10/13; to ensure a proper cast list, we might shift checks to mid-week the week prior rather than Friday, or end it early).

For the move, the island description writeup will remain in i_find until everyone is moved, then it will be placed in the mod journal. There will be a cast list in that journal as well, but I'm going to wait to see who we lose after checks before expending the effort to put people on it only to take them back off. For the duration of the bear plot, both hotels will have "complete" directories. That is to say, the old one will still list the moved people in their prior rooms, and the one on the new island will list everyone from the old island in the rooms they'll be moved into. And people in the new place can report these arrangements to the old place >:D

s'okay. That's that, and if you have questions or want to shake things up, go 'head and lemme know. I'll be here ... well, for a little while then we're going out to get noms, but then will be back again.

NOW THAT I'M ALIVE AND AN ADULT! it's time to get something out of the way.

i think i'm going to have to drop my other characters, besides scully. :( so that means manyskills/xena, drusil/drusilla, lroslin/laura roslin. I KNOW WTF. i'm just having trouble maintaining my muses for them D: and i figured i'd let the whole group know, so that no one suddenly goes "... wait, wasn't xena here like five minutes ago?" i miiiight bring them back later, but for now, you're just stuck with me and scully!

that I am my muses' bitch? Yeah.

I has a Katrina. ::points:: from Sleepy Hollow. she was all "whine whine whine I want to come be kidnapped too" and i told her i had enough pups and she pouted and ... i'm pretty sure she chased off Chase to make a spot for herself? I don't know. But anyway, here she is. ta-da!

I am excite. Because we are epic and awesome.

Ahem. That said.

Next week's plot starts on Monday. I think at least one or two of you was here for the first incarnation of this, but for those who were not ...

Starting at exactly midnight on Sunday night (so very technically, Monday morning), there will be music piped through the hotel speakers. In the elevator, in the hallways, in the lobby, in the rooms. In the kitchen, in the library, in the rec area. Outside, in the mall, in the store. Everywhere. The end of the island farthest from the hotel (but still inside the line) will be the least affected.

Now, this will not be just any music. Oh no. It'll kick off with Ke$ha's Tik Tok at concert volume. Oh yes. They will be playing lots of dance type music (Lady Gaga and Ke$ha and Katy Perry and Black Eyed Peas) and then some classic rock -- the sort with the really long high pitched squealy guitar riffs in them? Like those. Possibly some rap as well, you know, for variety.

This will continue for the duration of the week. The volume will vary from "comfortable" background noise to "shake the windows" concert volume.

I think it's pretty straightforward, but if you have questions for clarity, fire away. :)

But there wasn't really much to maintain.

I have the room database done for the group move, for the most part, unless we get surprise!suite requests. XD And I wonder how long it will be before suitemates become roommates ::brow waggle:: (Btw, I totes put dora and spike in a suite, and ches, lizzy, and ari in one)

So right, taking suggestions if you think the FAQ or the new!island writeup needs anything. Even if you think it's a dumb/obvious thing, suggest it anyway because the odds are good that someone else is wondering the same thing and thinking they're dumb for not knowing the answer. ;)

Oh! There was one thing. We'd decided at some point and I never got around to updating ... the application is going to have a test-thread option, for people who don't have existing samples and who'd rather play something out than write a sample. It's totally optional, but it's there and we'd be using the alt-comm for it. Sort of like I'm doing now with Ari ;)

Okay. Think that's about it for right now. Keep up the good work and the activity!

All right. Since everyone who replied seemed to think this was a good idea (or at least didn't think it sucked XD) we're going to go ahead and ... move early!

Not everyone, of course, because that defeats the purpose of a control group going early.

We're aiming for Wednesday, October 13, which is the week of Earthquakes and when the move is suggested. The lottery will follow that Friday, and the bears will arrive on the old island that Monday, and then ... everyone else moves. So it's roughly 12 days before the group move.

Remember: volunteering to move means your character cannot play in the bear plot. There may or may not be something going on at the new island that week, depending on what we think we want at that time. The bear plot is probably going to mostly be a hide-and-seek plot, because I feel bad killing the bears, who are really getting screwed over as it is since the Heads snaked their armor. The hotel's going to get totally trashed in the process though.

But I digress. The bear plot writeup comes later.

( Rambly! )

So, you guys really do have until Friday, but if everyone replies tonight/tomorrow/whatever, we'll roll up then. NOT THAT I'M TRYING TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO REPLY OR ANYTHING. ::cough::

Um. a few random facts that might influence your decisions if you're straddling a fence:

1) there will be ammo on the new island. not much, but some, because there are going to be JUNGLE BEASTIES at random and ... they might need shooting.
2) the network's available, so that method of interaction will be open
3) when the splinter group is moved, there will be webcams available on the laptops.
4) the new place is really nice, and has a proper infirmary that i haven't gotten around to updating about yet but TOTALLY WILL
5) you miss the last half of earthquakes, and all of ice bears, but you stand a chance of getting into the lottery as it will be held on new!island

Okay. That said, tell me what you want, baby!

so, there was method to the madness of posting the schedule. For people looking out windows and seeing patronuses, there's now time-frames for what patronuses will be out.

for reference, these are the patronuses attached to each character:


Sirius - dog (big shaggy dog)
James - stag
Lily E - doe
Balthazar - eagle
Harry - stag
Remus - crow
Hugo - hedgehog
Tristan - werewolf
Lily L - monkey
Dave - depends on who casts, so monkey while he's with Lily Lu
Severus - doe
Magius - shield

So, since we are a group-run game (no, really, we seriously are), and you're not all part of the discussions on twitter (I really need to stop modding over twitter XD ), I have a proposal.

I could probably lay out the progression of events that lead to it, but I don't remember and it would give you dangerous knowledge of the inner-workings of my devious mind, and we just can't have that =P

At any rate, Matt wants a control group for the new island, to move them there a week or two early (but probably not longer than that).

What this means is:

1) People moved to the new island would be unavailable to play in the Ice Bear plot since that immediately precedes the group move.
2) the network would still have access to the old island, so network posts would be available to all characters, regardless of their location (meaning people on the new island could still talk to people on the old one)
3) threading, however, would be restricted to people on the character's current island (So if your character was moved and X character was not, they couldn't thread together, but they could still talk on the network).
(I was also thinking about having the lottery be held on the new!island, but the attack take place on the old one just to screw with people XD )
4) this is not replacing any of the existing plots; this is an additional thing. You could call it a select experiment. ;)

We are currently engaged in debates for how to select people to move though. I'd like a group of rough a dozen people (in the 10-15 range) so everyone has interaction opportunities on both sides. So we can either roll randomly and players who don't want to move their character can opt out and we can re-roll (or take volunteers) for the open spots, or we can call for volunteers with the stipulation that Matt is choosing a control group, and may discount some people for IC reasons. (For example, he wants Chase to go to see if escape's possible and I'd like Jaime to go so she can't make the bear plot too easy >:D ) But I am open to suggestions on how we'd like to see this handled, or if we even want to do it at all.

So, have at. Debates are open; let's hear what you guys think of this idea.

All righty. Someday, I think I'll learn not to do plot writeups at obnoxious hours of the AM, but that day is not tonight.

( Follow the cut! )

If you have any questions/need clarification/think I got something wrong/your character doesn't have a soul per canon and you want to discuss effects ... comment and we'll discuss.

ETA Dementors are invisible to everyone but the wizards/spell-casters. See, because I miss glaringly obvious things is why I shouldn't write up plots at 2 am.

ETA 2 Dementors can be heard, and they cause cold. Cold, not colds. XD So even though they cannot be seen by non-wizards, they can be sensed.

For those interested, a sneak-peak of where they'll be moving to next month can be found here

All righty. Activity checks are now closed.

Thank you, to everyone who signed in. At the end of the post will be a list of dropped characters, for the sake of reference or if any of your characters want to notice them missing.

For the next check, we will be allowing threads started during the prior check to count under certain circumstances. For example, if you have twenty characters and are being active but only managed to thread with X character once during the prior check but the thread took three weeks to complete, it will be allowed to count since activity with the character was recent, even if the thread was started during checks.

However, under no circumstances can one person use the same thread to count for two consecutive checks. For example, if I had a thread started on Wednesday during a check and used the thread to count for the current check, I could not use said thread for the following activity check. If you need this clarified or have if/then scenarios, please present your conundrums in comments.

For this month, we will be evaluating dropped threads, so please make sure you use the "!dropped" tag when you consider a thread dropped, and communicate with your thread-mates if there are circumstances that are slowing you down so you aren't unfairly marked as dropped. If we notice you are consistently dropping threads, we will ask that you consider cutting some characters from your cast, or dropping the game entirely if you don't have time to keep up with it. I know it's a slightly faster paced/more thread-intensive game than most, and I'd like to maintain a 'completed thread' standard, rather than having a majority of our threads dropped.

Announced hiatuses or "oh shit this week of RL is killing me" OOC posts will be taken into consideration when we look at the threads as well, though if possible, give us a heads-up before rather than after. We really aren't psychic, as much as we'd like to think otherwise. ;) Most of you are really on top of this though, and we definitely appreciate the communication.

There will be a plot-post outline written up after this ... at some point ... eventually, so keep an eye out for that.

Thanks guys!

( dropped/removed )

So as for many others, classes have started back up again and even while I'm typing this, I can barely keep my eyes open. :|

I just figured I'd let everyone know formally that I fail, and that I promise to be a grown-up again soon D: I owe tags up the wazoo and I will tryyyyy to work on them.

( way more than you need to know about the state of my middle finger. may be triggery for squemish types )

Suffice to say, with the move and the school and the work and the volunteer work and now the finger? Tagging form me is going to slow down even further.

I swear, guys. One of these days Halo is going to get tired of my hypocrisy and throw me out and then you will not have to put up with me anymore =P

Yeah. Somehow, it just seems easier to keep it on Wednesdays.

Not too much to cover this week, so this'll be a quickie.

First, activity checks are almost over, so if you haven't signed in, please do. If you did sign in and are not listed under the 'signed in/safe' header, then IJ ate your comment and you should do it again.

Second, posts/tags. Please please please remember to use the date tag, and please please please remember to put titles. I've had to comment to a couple of people about this, so thank you to the ones who have fixed things up :) Much appreciated.

Third, dropped tags. I'm seeing way, way too many dropped tags. If you're busy IRL and honestly can't drop your partner a note, at least try to get in touch with them as soon as you can so they know to hold the post open for you. If you're the one having the tag dropped on you, please don't hesitate to use the "!dropped" tag for the post -- even if you weren't the one who started the post. I, personally, give it at least a week, but you're welcome to set your own drop point, be it five days, a week, two weeks, whatever.

If you engage in a post, or post an open, we kind of expect some back and forth interaction. Even if it's only a tag every couple of days or whatever pace your RL allows, that's fine, but when it goes untagged for weeks (and we see you tagging elsewhere/in other people's threads) that's just not cool.

We'll evaluate the dropped threads between now and the next check, and if we notice any players consistently dropping all their tags, we may consider amending the activity rules to address this behavior.

If it's a matter of having trouble keeping track of your active threads, you can create a "!player" tag, and stick it on your active posts. Then you just click the "!yournamehere" tag to bring up your posts. That way, even if notifs fail, you have a backup system in place.

Fourth, the plot timeline. I swapped around the Ice Bears and the Calla/Thunderclap Wolves, because the bears can theoretically do more damage to the hotel, and we can use the wolves for an actual kidnapping plot to involve a rescue mission rather than simply an assault on the (new) hotel. So that puts the move between the two events, and I think it makes more sense.

The plot timeline's done through the end of the year, though nothing's set in stone as far as sequence of events go, but we will inform you of any changes before they happen.

Okay, think that's about it for now. Questions and the like can be sent my way, as can opinions, suggestions, ideas, comments, concrit, and especially praise ;)

Howdy, All! This is GW, and I am bringing in yet another character, an OC I made up for the use of this game.

One Matt Prept, who possesses the ability to give life temporarily to the inanimate objects around him. He's been adventuring for awhile, and won't be quite sure what to make of this place, but definitely excited to meet everyone. He's 13, and completely new to fighting, so he'll likely be hiding behind someone else during the battle, even as he tries to help and not freak out. Which brings to mind other pups, but... no, not yet!

Anyway, plotting, chatting, either is welcomed!

So, she came about I think when we were discussing Wash. She sort of dropped into my head and started telling me her story, and then that was followed up by a demand to app.

Well, since I already had her story ... I figured why not?

This is Lucinda "Lucky" Washburne, future child of Zoe and Hoban Washburne of Firefly fame. Since she actually does have a canon reference (in the comics, as a pregnancy XD ) I'm counting her as a canon character. A technical canon (like the J. Dornys and S. Cappers of Harry Potter fandom), but a canon all the same.

Bwahahahahaa.

She may or may not show up tonight. I ... need to throw out a Dora post at some point before all the hours of the night flee.

So, in a modly discussion over twitter (not ... even gonna lie. It's all there for the world to see XD ), we've decided to break up the OCs by fandom-based and original to help further balance things out.

Essentially it just means there are now two OC "fandoms" listed: fandom-based and completely original. OCs still count toward their own category and not the fandom they're based in.

The cast list and by-fandom page have already been adjusted to reflect this change, but I thought I'd give you a heads-up anyway in case you were considering an OC but saw we were near capped and didn't want to be the one to cap us. :) (Which is silly. You totally should).

As always, if you have questions, there're five million ways to get in touch with one or both of us mods, so fire away.

Thanks guys!

Also, if you haven't signed in to the activity check and want to stay in the game, don't forget to sign in with your threads!

And hereeeee's Billy, straight from canon. He's a character from DC Comics, and normally he is the superhero called Captain Marvel, but that all changed recently. He's mostly a student of magic and a very bouncy young man.

Me? I'm GW, and this is my ...nth character.

Oh hai!

Something tells me I should have done this ... sooner. In fairness to me, I had a very busy weekend.

First, I updated the application slightly. It was mostly just adding a couple of parentheticals for clarity. No major changes to what we need to know, but things that people seemed to be unclear on ... have been clarified. Theoretically.
( Kidnappings )

If you didn't sign up the first time around and want to now, there's still time to do so. Up until Monday night, you can sign up to have your kid kidnapped.
( Lottery )

Third, the return of powers.
( Powers )

I think that covers everything for this week. Next weekend, we'll get into details on the dementor attack; we still haven't fine-tuned how that's going to be handled/played out yet, but hey. We have a week to line up our ducks XD

If you have any questions or need something clarified, please don't hesitate to comment, IM me, email me, hit the drop box, etc.