Well, Metem, congratulations, we've done it! Today marks our two-year anniversary! Way to go! That is a milestone to be proud of!

In honor of the festivities, we have some great stuff for you!

First off, we're announcing a slight change to the rules! Most of you probably won't even notice this, but we're actually lifting the cap on character slots. Although everyone still gets ten free slots, you now have the option to petition for additional PCs. The process is exactly the same as always: write up an app and submit it, just make sure you put "Petition for Additional Slot" in the subject header when you comment. Then, in addition to reviewing the application itself, Mod Paul will take into consideration your current activity levels and characterizations to determine if the extra slot is warranted and will approve or deny on a case-by-case basis. It's that easy!

Secondly, Event 11 is coming up on June 23rd, and we're giving you the introductory information so you can begin making your plans!

( Event 11! )

Lastly, we've been playing together now for a long time, with some folks newer to the group than others, but we've become good friends, yes? But, really, how well do we actually know each other? Well, over the next few months, you'll get the opportunity to get to know your mods a little better than before! And, if you guys like, we may expand this to have a featured player of the month do the questionnaire as well! To start with, here're some tidbits about the gal who started all this, your fearless leader!

( Get to Know Your Lead Mod! )

Hello, Metem!

First off, happy pre-Thanksgiving. I hope you all have a lovely holiday. This also means that we are exactly one month from the Winter Solstice! You guys excited? I know I am, because two very special things will be happening then!

Obviously, the 21st will herald the births of the Next Gens. So, if you haven't decided on names, PBs, powers and custody, now is the time to be doing so. Everyone should be fully prepared to make birth announcements next month. Oh, and just in case you're wanting to know such things, here are some labor-and-delivery things you might want to know about.

Secondly, and probably even MORE exciting... On December 21st, Metempsychosis will be expanding and opening up the Mayan pantheon. Just the one for now, but we will now have seven pantheons instead of six. So, if you've been holding out for some Mayan figures, now's your big chance! ^_^ I tell you this now so that you can have them ready to app if you want to on Opening Day.

Plot-wise, we are just about finished on the strategy thread--Dite has the floor open for any questions or concerns. Otherwise, the discussion is over and the godlings will be returning to their normal lives in the real world on whatever day we get that wrapped up. Assume there was a "honeymoon" period at the Maison between that discussion and the day they return where you can have encounters or whatever you like. Yes, as always, you are all welcome to backdate logs and whatnot.

But, that's not all. This may not be something you like hearing, but it does need to be done for the good of the game. Admittedly, I've been pretty lax on things like activity and whatnot, but that's going to change come January. Sorry, guys, but I am going to start enforcing the rules on that here very soon. With it being the holidays and people being busy and all, I'm willing to let things slide through the end of the year, but now is the time to get into good habits before I have to bring the hammer down.

Just to refresh everyone's memory: every character is required to contribute to the game FIVE times every month, be it through posts, logs, comments, or a combination of the above. You are also required to TAG every entry you post on with your characters' names. Characters who fail to meet the minimum activity requirements will be moved to Standby status during the next month. If they make the activity requirements while on Standby, they will be moved back to active status. If not, they will be removed from the game after two consecutive months of insufficient activity. If you know you will not be able to make requirements, you MUST request a formal hiatus and/or speak with me about the situation, or else you will still be held to the requirements. If a character is removed from the game due to lack of activity and you still wish to play him/her, you will be required to wait 14 days and then formally resubmit the application. If you feel there were extenuating circumstances preventing you from posting or from contacting me about it, you may appeal, and things will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Also, we're going to be changing how the activity checks are done starting with the check for January activity (which will begin on February 1). Previously, I would just go through the tags for the month and count them up for you guys. Not anymore--now YOU will be responsible for reporting your activity each month. Beginning on the first, I will put up an activity check post on the OOC and you will have until the 3rd to post links proving at least five contributions for the month. Failure to respond to the Activity Check post within that timeframe will result in AUTOMATICALLY being moved to Standby/removed from the game even if you had sufficient activity for the month, unless you notify me in advance that you'll be unable to respond during that time.

Also, guys, I know I try to let you know when announcements go up, just because I don't make all that many of them, but, really. It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you're checking the OOC board--just because I'm a mom doesn't mean I'm your mom. As a rule of thumb, you can expect things typically on the 1st and 13th of any given month. You should also be able to set up alerts to let you know when new posts go up. Please use these resources and/or stay vigilant. I don't want to hear any excuses about not knowing something because you failed to check the boards.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not asking a lot from you. I'm really not. And in the event you still can't make it, I am very easy to reach--all you have to do is let me know about it as soon as you can. So please, we're all grown-ups here--we can take responsibility for our own activity, and this makes it a lot easier on me, so I really appreciate your cooperation.

As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, let me know.

Well, Metem, there has been some discussion among the mods on the subject of our Greek moratorium.

It was intended to be a short-term block to help balance out the pantheons, but seeing as it has been in place for seven months now without significant progress in a while, clearly it's not working the way we had hoped, and something needs to be done so that it doesn't hurt our growth and discourage new players from joining us.

Originally, we had specified that each pantheon needed to have a minimum number of members before the moratorium could be lifted. However, instead of forcing an arbitrary headcount, we would like to change it to a matter of percentages. This should allow a little more flexibility for which pantheons people would like to play, since obviously some are more popular than others. Of course, we are still encouraging players to app for lesser-represented pantheons! Hindus and JCs need love!

So, from this point on, the rule of thumb will be that no single pantheon can comprise more than 60% of the the total cast (not counting NPCs). Does that sound reasonable to everyone?

For the record, as it stands currently (rounded to the nearest percentile), the Celtic pantheon makes up 12% of the cast, the Egyptian pantheon makes up 12%, the Greek pantheon makes up 50%, the Hindu pantheon makes up 3%, the Judeo-Christian pantheon makes up 8% of the cast, and the Norse pantheon makes up 15% of the cast.

For those of you who have inquired about expanding the number of pantheons beyond the six we currently have, we have not forgotten your interest. However, we would still like to see a more even population spread before offering more choices on that front to keep the number of "micro-pantheons" to a minimum. At this point in time, we will revisit the possibility of opening up additional pantheons once the least-represented pantheon makes up at least 10% of the total cast.

Any questions? Comment below!

Congratulations, everyone! Metempsychosis has reached its three-month anniversary today! We especially want to thank each and every one of you for making it an awesome game and helping us get this far. ♥

And, of course, we do have some announcements to make!

Our first new change is that we are expanding the character slot cap from 5 to 10. That said, however, we would still prefer to have a few well-played characters than a bunch of mediocre ones, so there is ABSOLUTELY NO PRESSURE to fill your slots up right away.

With this in mind, however, in an attempt to better balance the pantheons, we are imposing a temporary cap on the Greek pantheon at 13 characters. This is only TEMPORARY, though, so those of you who are wanting additional Greeks needn't panic! We will remove the cap after we get 2 more characters each in the other five pantheons. So, that means we'll need a total of 4 Celts, 3 Egyptians, 2 Hindus, 2 Judeo-Christians, and 5 Norse. Not so bad, right?

Also, the anniversary is going to kick off some new developments plot-wise, so be watching for updates from our Plotbunny Mod!

Again, thank you everyone for making Metem the greatest game out there! We love you guys. ♥

First off, everyone, I think we've done a fabulous job with getting the game started!

Just a reminder: everyone needs to make sure they're tagging their IC posts. I know we all forget sometimes, but it's really important so we can make sure everyone gets credited for activity.

And a new change! Starting next game day (that is, TOMORROW), standard game-day length is going to change to a 1:1 ratio. So, it'll start playing out in real-time. For certain events, though, game days will be extended. We'll let you know if such is the case.

Building off that, we WILL have an upcoming "gloss" here soon to repaginate the game calendar with the real-time calendar after in-game Father's Day, so be prepared for that.

If you have any questions, comments or other feedback, comment below. ^_^