Madison Valley OOC

I have completed the new match-ups!

Any match-ups still left over from last month have now expired, so just go ahead and do these instead.

Remember, they are worth 50 points each, and since by definition they are with someone outside your fandom, they fulfill ALL of the standard activity requirements for the month.

( Match-ups! )

You have until November 30th at 11:59 pm to finish these match-ups! Have fun!

Happy November, everyone!

I just want to say that October was a wonderful month for us! We had a lot of activity, we got a lot of new players, and I enjoyed it immensely. I want to give my love to each and every one of you for making it such a wonderful month of RP.

I'd love to hear your ideas of where you'd like to have the plot go this month! I have a general direction in mind, but I'd love to hear what you guys would like to do with it too. This is not my game, but our game, and I want everyone to continue having fun with it.

I have completed the Activity Check for everyone, and I am very pleased with the results. If you will need to do a catch-up month in November (THE LAST MONTH THIS WILL BE AN OPTION)) you will have received an e-mail by the time you read this.

Your activity check results are in, and are as follows:

( Drum Roll Please... )

Nico di Angelo | Percy Jackson | sonofhades | sAmmii

Alicia Florrick | The Good Wife | alicia_florrick | Aika

ADDS

Lindir | Tolkienverse | the_minstrel | Iggy
Eärendil | Tolkeinverse | the_mariner | sAmmii

DROPS

Maedhros | Tolkienverse | nelyafinwe | Iggy

The Activity Check will be held Friday, November 1, 2013!

I'm going to be doing the activity check myself, and I will post it on November 1, so you can see what you've got, and how you're doing. If you don't meet the 50 point minimum, or if you don't have a thread, you'll have next month to earn 75 points - THIS IS THE LAST MONTH THIS WILL BE AN OPTION. Any characters who don't make the 75 points will be removed from the game on December 1.

NOTE: If you joined the game after October 20, you only have to post your character once in either a network or a thread.

The following characters have not yet met the 50 point minimum:
( Read more... )

The following characters have not yet posted (or replied to) a thread:
( Read more... )

If you need a thread, there are a bunch that have been posted and not replied to!

Fix getting beat up
Kvothe getting in trouble at school
Roland practicing target shooting
Thomas at Madison Valley's only nightclub
Annie Cresta having a freak out
Jo Harvelle target practicing

MATCH-UPS

Match-ups didn't go so well this month, but I'd still like to do them - I really enjoy them. Remember, Match-ups are worth 50 points each, and since they'll be with someone not in your fandom, they fulfill all the requirements for activity. One thread! That's it.

If you're interested in signing up for match-ups, please comment to this post with the characters you'd like to have included (it is entirely voluntary, and you can include all, none, or just a couple of your characters) by THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31 and I'll give you all the new Match-ups for November.

Thanks, and keep on being awesome. :D

~sAmmii

Éponine Thénardier | Les Misérables | onmyown | Carrah
Stefan Salvatore | The Vampire Diaries | humane | Tobi
Helga Hufflepuff | Harry Potter | huffleloyalty | Mylia

Dmitri Belikov | Vampire Academy | inaduster | Cat
Oliver Queen | Smallville | dl_greenarrow | Angie

Hey guys, this is a rule change I've been considering for a long while, and have finally decided to implement.

From this point on, when you want to hold and/or apply for new characters, there's a minimum activity requirement. Namely, all of your current characters have to have reached 25 points of activity before you're allowed to place a hold or apply for another character. I'm not doing this to punish anyone, but just because it's important to play the characters we have before applying for more. This does not apply to any characters currently apped or currently on hold.

Also, after this month there will be no 'probation' for characters who don't make activity. This month, you're fine - but starting in November, you'll have to make activity or your characters will be cut at the end of the month.

If you're finding it difficult to make activity, please contact me. I am very understanding if you're having a hard time, or if stuff is going on in your life, but I don't know what's going on unless you let me know. You may have a really good excuse for not posting, but if you don't drop me an e-mail then I can't tell the difference between a good excuse and a simple loss of interest. Communication is key!

EDIT: Also, to make things easier for everyone, starting November 1, open logs are going to be worth 40 points. This means all you have to do to make activity is to reply and/or post to ONE open log and ONE open network. That's it! Two posts in a month, and you're good with activity.

Thanks guys, keep on being awesome. :)

Okay, guys! Not exactly sure how to go about this, so I'd like to hear your opinions.

There's going to be a council meeting this week. Would you guys like to play that out in a thread, or would you rather just have an OOC post and decide on what happened? Either way is fine for me, and a thread would be cool (if it's manageable?) but whichever you guys want is fine. :)

So, just let me know your feelings on how that should be done in the comments. :)

Thanks!

~sAmmii

Beth Greene | The Walking Dead | choosestolive | Cindy

Hey guys, just a few things.

First, a reminder that the activity check will be on November 1. I will be doing it, you won't have to do anything (unless you want to double check my figures). I'm just trying it this way this month to see how it works, so we don't have a long drawn out week of activity checks. The requirements are as follows:

• You must have one thread. This can be an open thread, a closed thread, or a narrative thread. It can be one you posted, or one that you have replied to. There is no minimum number of tags, although of course it would be better if it were more than one a piece. Please don't take advantage of this, try to do something with your threads. But it's not going to make a difference on activity. If the thread is unanswered, it still counts for the person who posted it, same as a narrative would.
  
• You must have at least one interaction with someone outside of your character's fandom. It is a panfandom game, after all. ;)
  
• The total number of points you have must add up to at least 50. Remember:
  
  • 5 pts = Closed network/comm
    
  • 10 pts = Open network/comm
    
  • 25 pts = Narrative or closed thread
    
  • 35 pts = Open thread

As stated in the rules, if you don't meet the activity requirements, you will be put on a sort of "probation" which you can get out of by doing 1.5x (75points) the activity the next month. If you don't make that, your character will be removed from the game.

If you have any questions on activity requirements, please contact me. If for some reason you can't make the activity requirements, please contact me. I am reasonable and understanding, but if you don't tell me, I don't know anything's going on. So far, I only have one person (Adelai, for a family emergency), who has been exempted from the month's activity check. Everyone else will be expected to make 50 points with the above requirements.

Another thing - In the rules it states that holds for over ten characters will have to be approved by the mod. I've decided, to make it clear to everyone, to elaborate on how exactly that will be done. In order to have a hold approved for any characters over 10, you must have met monthly activity for all of your current characters. This will not apply to those who already have over 10 characters, but it will apply to any new ones. This is just to make sure that characters get played, because that's what we're all here for, isn't it? :)

Questions and comments welcome. :)

~sAmmii

Karrin Murphy | The Dresden Files | karrinmurphysi | sAmmii
Random Dent | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | random_dent | Aika
Caroline Forbes | The Vampire Diaries | agelessbeauty | Jess

Rose Hathaway | Vampire Academy | roza | Lena

Dean Winchester | Supernatural | goodsoldier | Cat

And the three representatives elected to the council are:

Lissa Dragomir
Georgia Mason
Cesare Borgia

Congratulations, and have fun!

Daryl Dixon | The Walking Dead | crossbowed | sAmmii

Hey, guys! I'm finally going to get to go see my little niece! I'm leaving Thursday morning at about 4am and I'll be back...Tuesday or Wednesday (not sure exactly). I'll be taking my phone and my computer, but my brother lives in a tiny little town in South Dakota so I'm not sure what kind of signal I'm going to be able to get.

( What I'm going to get to cuddle and squeeezeee )

Anyway, I will get back to e-mails as quickly as I can, but apps will be frozen until I return.

~sAmmii

Hi, everyone!

So activity checks (roll-call) is now over, and your points are updated and available for use. We've had several players not answer the roll-call, and a few characters dropped, so the following characters have been deleted:

( Purged/Deleted Characters )

I've also set up a Wanted page, please post here if there are characters you'd like to see in game!

Keep being awesome, and remember to tag your entries!

~sAmmii

Marius Black | Harry Potter | marius_black | sAmmii
Christian Ozera | Vampire Academy | fightwithfire | Cat

Hi, everyone!

We're going to do everything a little bit differently this month, so far as activity goes. Actually, I'm going to be doing everyone's activity this month, instead of having a check. I think it'll be better and easier for everyone involved. Players will simply be asked to check into a roll-call.

The requirements are the same as ever:

50 point minimum.
1 Thread
1 Open Network
1 Interaction with someone outside your fandom.

If you want to keep track yourself, feel free, but it's not required.

But the one thing I need you guys to do for me is TAGS. I'm going through (as many of you have noticed), and adding tags to things where I see them, but remember - you won't get credit for things that aren't tagged. So PLEASE try to make sure you put your player tag on everything that you post.

I've also noticed there's been a bit of confusion about what constitutes an open or closed network.

An open network is anything that is open to everyone in game, or a significant group of people. This would include networks open to "all magic users" or "all people under the age of 20," for instance. Anything that applies to a group of people NOT LIMITED BY FANDOM counts as an open thread.

A closed thread is anything that is locked to one person, or several people by name, or a thread locked to a certain fandom (ie, "Dresden people").

If a thread is open, but also has a closed filter (for instance, this post) - it will be treated as a closed thread (worth 5 points) to those who respond solely to the filter.

Any questions?

We'll see how this works this month, and go from there. :)

This will be the last month that I will be sending out e-mails the day before the end of the activity check.

The activity check lasts for a week (from the 1st to the 7th) and there will be reminders in game, so I don't think it's too much to expect for that to be enough.

Thanks,

~sAmmii

From this week on, every weekend I will be posting a stats page. This will include important OOC and IC goings-on in game, new arrivals, departures, stats of the week, and a list of open threads that you're still welcome to tag into! I do this in the hope that those who don't log on as often as others will be able to catch up on what has been happening in game easier than by simply scrolling back. If there's anything else you'd like to see here, please let me know. :)

Welcoming!

Mary Winchester | Supernatural | startedthedeals | Mylia
Roland Deschain | The Dark Tower | ofgilead | sAmmii

OOC Events

The activity check (roll-call, this month) ends on Sunday. If you have not yet checked in, please do so Here.

A discussion on activity requirements is taking place here.

IC Events

*The hospital is now off limits for refugees. There has been a clinic set up to use instead, and Michael Carpenter is looking into setting something up at the church.

*The Council is looking for three representatives from the refugees to become part of the council.

Stats of the Week

Number of Open Networks for October 1-5: 18
Number of Closed Networks for October 1-5: 14
Number of Open (and unanswered) threads for October 1-5: 1
Number of Open (and answered) threads for October 1-5 : 1
Number of Closed Threads for October 1-5: 1
Number of comments for October 1-5: 1706

( Open threads/networks for October 1-5 )

Mary Winchester | Supernatural | startedthedeals | Mylia
Roland Deschain | The Dark Tower | ofgilead | sAmmii

I'm moving this conversation to the main forum so that everyone here can participate in it, and so it doesn't clog the activity check thread.

There has been some talk that the point minimum requirement should be take away from the activity check. As the mod, I am strongly opposed to this, and I'll state my reasons why.

• Activity is crucial in a role-playing game, especially one of this size. All characters and players are important, and the burden of carrying along dead-weights is greater when spread among fewer players and characters.


• Having a point minimum, in my experience, both motivates activity and gives us a way to get rid of those who don't make it. I've seen games where people carry along people who haven't posted in months. The characters these people have are thereby barred from other people who might actually play them. This isn't acceptable to me.


• The fact is, it's not difficult to make activity. There are three requirements - an open network (10 points), a thread (25 points or 35 points), and interaction with someone not in your fandom. There are good reasons for all of these requirements. Assuming the open network includes someone from another fandom, that is a minimum of 35 points right there.

The argument was also made that it is difficult to get activity with all the closed threads. So I went back and looked at September, worried that perhaps there weren't very many open networks that people could reply to. In September (which has been a bad month of activity for everyone), there were 99 open networks, and seventeen open threads, many of which have still not been answered.

There are, of course, reasons that characters can or won't reply to many of the open threads. That's completely understandable. But it takes five to make the activity point minimum, and that's without a thread at all.

I'm also very open to people telling me why they can't make activity checks - as long as you communicate with me, I'm not going to boot you out for not having enough activity. I want people to participate - that's the whole purpose of the activity requirement. And people who go days or weeks without checking in are going to miss out on plots and in the nuts and bolts that keep the game and its overall plot moving forward. I don't want that, which is why I have the requirements I do.

I am, of course, open to hearing what people have to say about the activity requirement. Having been in games which didn't have one, and having suffered because of it, I'm loathe to do away with it (and had actually been considering raising it to 100), but I'm willing to listen and take the views of the players into account.

ADDS

Ciel Phantomhive | Black Butler | thequeensdog | Iggy

ADDS

Diana Meade | The Secret Circle | purewitchrising | Random

DROP

Ichihara Yuuko |xxxHolic | nomore_noless | Caitlin

ADDS

Rowena Ravenclaw | Harry Potter | ravenfaire | Kay
Godric Gryffindor | Harry Potter | gryffinbold | Shaz
Maximus Goratia Cartamandua-Celestine | The Lighthouse Duet | maximusgoratia | sAmmii

DROP

Cordelia Chase | Angel/Buffy | queen_cordelia | Angie

Okay!

So as Molly and Harry's thread lays out, there's going to be a snow-storm this afternoon, as previously said.

Feel free to have your characters react to the sudden cold weather!

This isn't a big plot or anything, more of an FYI.

This Sunday, on the Autumnal Equinox, it's going to snow. Yes, it's freakishly early for it to snow in Madison Valley. When I lived in the town it was based on, it was pretty much unheard for it to snow before Halloween.

So what's happening - Molly Carpenter is the Winter Lady, one of the Winter Fae Queens. Harry Dresden is trying to teach her how to control her powers by provoking her emotions, and in so doing, he's going to push her over the edge and she's going to draw on the power of Winter. Within in an hour (around 5:00pm EST), the temperature is going to drop 55 degrees Fahrenheit, from around 70 to about 15 or 20 degrees F. It'll be cold and blustery, and overnight it will snow, although it'll melt quickly.

It'll stay cold (although gradually getting warmer) through Tuesday, when regular temperatures will return.

Do with it as you like!

~Madison Valley Mod

PS - If anyone else would like to have their characters do something that would affect the whole town, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail! Such little mini-plots are very welcome.

Lady Sybil Crawley | Downton Abbey | ladysybil | Aika
Lizzy Carrerra | MV Citizen | lizzycarrerra | Aika

Alright! So I assigned every character a number and put them through a random number generator (only making sure that nobody was assigned to write with themselves). And here are the match-ups for September/October!

If you still want to sign up for this month, you can, but I'll have to wait until there are at least two players signed up to assign you. :)

( Match-ups! )

Remember! Each of these is worth 50 points so long as they have AT LEAST two posts from each player (the first post does count). Technically, you have until October 31 to finish these, but if you're finished before September 30, you can be rematched. :)

Have fun!

Fela | The Kingkiller Chronicles | relarfela | sAmmii

Valen | The Lighthouse Duet | magnusvalentia | Iggy

Marley Rose | Glee | marleyr | Mylia

ADDS

Lissa Dragomir | Vampire Academy | ldragomir | Mylia

DROPS

Gwen Raiden | Angel | Lauren
Rogue | MCU | Lauren
Mary Winchester | Supernatural | Lauren

Lucrezia Borgia | The Borgias | vaticanjewel | Shaz

Okay! I'm back in Mishawaka, and since the feedback on the random match-ups sounds pretty positive, we're going to go ahead with that. Here's how it will work:

1. You will be randomly matched up with another character who has been volunteered.
   
2. You will have 1 month to complete your match-ups.
   
3. If a match-up is completed, with at least two tags per player, you both receive 50 points (yes, this qualifies as your entire activity requirement, if you do the match-up).
   
4. If the month passes and you do not do your match-up, that character will not be eligible for match-ups the next month.

This month, since we're already about halfway through, you will technically have until October 31 to finish your match-ups. However, if you finish them on September 30 or before, you will be rematched. :)

So! Fill out the following form for me by Friday evening and I'll get the match-ups ready for this weekend. :)

This is completely voluntary, and you can enter any/all of your characters you wish.

<b>PLAYER NAME</b>: <b>CHARACTERS AND JOURNALS FOR MATCH-UPS:</b>

Fingon | Tolkienverse | findekano | sAmmii
Maedhros | Tolkienverse | nelyafinwe | Iggy

I've noticed recently that a quite a few open threads have gone unanswered, and in an attempt to remedy this (and due to the fact that this is a writing community), I'm adding a rule that one thread of at least two replies EACH is required for each character to pass the activity check. Most of the good juicy work of character building gets done in threads, so let's have fun with those and get to know each other's characters. Open threads are great, because random characters get to meet up, but closed threads are perfectly good as well.

Secondly, you can now also buy home upgrades with your points. Moving to a two-bedroom apartment will cost you 500 points, but other than that, it's going to be on a case-by-case basis. Show me what kind of house you want, and what kind of neighborhood it's in, and the cost will be decided from that. While not required, it would be cool if you found houses that were actually in Madison, Indiana...which can be found easy enough on real estate sites. :) If you have any questions about what areas are nicest, most expensive, etc., PLEASE ask me, I lived in this town for 30+ years and will easily (and happily) answer your questions.

Also, for those of you whose open threads have not been answered - they still count for the full 35 points. You made the attempt, and it's not your fault it wasn't answered, so you will receive full points for it.

And! A question - How would people feel about being assigned threads with random characters? This is completely voluntary (you'd have to sign up), and it would be worth 50 points a thread (as well as your thread requirement). I've seen other games do this, and it's a good way of getting to know other characters and forming relationships. Would there be any interest in this?

Also! I am leaving tomorrow to attend the US/Mexico Soccer Game in Columbus, Ohio. I'm not taking my computer, but I will have my phone and my kindle. I will not be around much, but I will be able to answer questions via e-mail, and possibly do a few tags. Applications will be on hold until Wednesday, when I return.

Keep on being awesome! :)

~sAmmii

Clara Oswin Oswald | Doctor Who | girlwhodied | Mylia
Michael Guerin | Roswell | drankethsnapple | Cat

Erik Lensherr | MCU | iprefermagneto | Anna

Congratulations, we've just finished our second activity check (our first full one).

So just a few updates and reminders.

First, three rules that need to be emphasized again.

1. Threads (logs) have a word count minimum of 100 words. I'm not going to be counting words on all your threads, but please try to keep at least the majority of your posts this long (or longer).

2. It is stated in the rules that you must reply to everyone who replies to an open network thread in order to get points for it. I'll quote the rules here: You will not get points for a comm or network if you have not replied to everyone who replied to your post. You don't have to have a long conversation with them, but at least acknowledge that they posted. It's not fun to be ignored. I've let this slide the past few months, but as I think it's an important rule, I'm not going to anymore. I'll be checking open posts to make sure that everyone who has replied has at least one comment. If there is an IC reason for ignoring them, then tag the comment and tell them that, ooc. But acknowledgement is required.

3. If you have a difficult month for activity, that's fine. You can make it up the next month. If you do not have the minimum level of points, you will be put on a sort of activity probation. You will have to make 1.5x as many points the next month (for a minimum of 75), and if you do not, your character will be removed from the game. If you do, then all's good!

Secondly, I want to encourage everyone in game to respond to what's going on around them. Tell us what your character is doing, where they're working. I want this game to be open enough that people can create lives for their characters without the mod telling them what to do. Every couple of weeks there will be a plot update of sorts, but this is your game, and you guys are the ones keeping it going. :) If you have any questions about what you can or can't do, feel free to ask!

Keep on being awesome, everyone. :)

Helena Wayne | DC Comics | huntresslegend | Mylia
Maria DeLuca | Roswell | candycrushlove | Mylia

Sherlock Holmes | Sherlock | curiouscase | Sarah
Greg Lestrade | Sherlock | greglestrade | Rebecca

Ichihara Yuuko | xxxHolic | nomore_noless | Caitlin

Clary Fray | The Mortal Instruments | imnotamundane | Ashley

Rumplestiltskin | Once Upon a Time | rumpelstilzchen | Lyana

Jane Foster | MCU | dontbedead | Ashley
Charle Xavier | MCU | theprofessor | Rebecca

Bucky Barnes | MCU | winter | Anna
Cassie Blake | The Secret Circle | darkwitchrising | Mylia
Lizzy Carrera | Madison Valley OC | lizzycarrera | Aika
Sharon Carter | Marvel | sharoncarter | Rebecca
Diana Meade | The Secret Circle | purewitch | Amber