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synodiporia_ooc2018-03-28 05:25 pm
powersthatbe) wrote in synodiporia_ooc2018-03-28 05:25 pm
Entry tags:
March/April State of the Game
I. Next TWO Jaunt Votes
We’re doing something slightly unusual with this jaunt vote, though older players may recognise the move from this time a couple years back: tossing you two lots of jaunt votes at once. Not only is it time to choose the Travelers’ destination following Majesty’s, but our July-August plans are going to need some tinkering time, and with Matt’s full-time job, it seemed prudent to put the choices in front of you all as soon as possible. (Yes, we know this isn’t usually an ideal way to set up a jaunt vote, but circumstances dictate the need for it on this occasion.)
The May-June jaunt selection is as follows:
Enterrado: In a frontier town in 1880s Nevada, a dead prospector is found with a large, rough nugget of pure silver in his bag. Who killed him is less important than where the site of his find is, in the mine-riddled hills around the city, and whether miners, bandidos, gunslingers, or outsiders will find it first - and what will befall anyone who’s suspected of having a lead on the stake.
Digital Frontier: Legacy Mode: When an old, archived system is uncovered, the Network calls on its most experienced and capable data recovery experts to transfer over to its port and start work. But those experts - Miners, Defenders, Cryptos, and Revolutionaries - have been sequestered for fear of data corruption. Enterprising Programs new and old quickly figure out that someone on the expedition must know something about the ancient data that makes its recovery worth the risk - but who, and what they know, are mysteries that pale in comparison to the System itself.
Treasure Hunt Island: On an island estate off Nova Scotia in the 1960s, treasure hunters, legitimate and otherwise, camp and explore in the hopes of finding an infamous missing fortune. This Jaunt will include some of the same search and exploration mechanics that were used on the Grid & the Belljar walkabout, only much gentler, because nobody is trying to kill anybody.
And the July-August jaunt selection is as follows:
Paramo Riconquista: The Festa Di Riconquista is when Paramo celebrates its history of naval victories - battles are re-enacted on old, mothballed ships, which are sunk in glorious fireworks displays, and jingoistic military pomp and patriotism rule the day. This Riconquista, however, two other groups have co-opted the agenda: foreign agitators are smuggling in gunpowder explosives in the guise of fireworks, and an alliance of pirates and mermaids is using the sinking wrecks as a cover to smuggle materials to undersea rebels (for a profit in mer-magic given to the pirates). But mistaken identities in the floating city’s black markets lead to the smuggled shipments being delivered to the wrong groups…
Red Dirt: Mars, 2148. The greedy corporate barons that run Mars ration technology as a way to keep their industrial workers and colonists in line. The black-market smuggling this leads to has created a thriving underworld, and one of the premier pieces of contraband is… well, cattle, due to their ability to feed on the tough, inhospitable grasses that hold down the Martian topsoil, and, er… create new, better topsoil of their own. When a coalition of colorful outlaws manages to rustle a giant herd, they’ll have to use the rough Martian weather as cover to safely transport the cows to the giant, radar-proof caverns of the Mariner’s Valley. But the ability to steal, shoot, and flee the law does not easily prepare one for the challenges of handling livestock…
Telepresence: Earth, The Independent Republic Of California, 2070. Cheap cold fusion has made hunger and poverty things of the past - there’s more than enough energy for every practical need of humankind to be met. But humans, predictably, have not wisely and harmoniously adapted to their new capabilities, and the ethics of boundless energy are still sticky and unresolved. Powerful computing, quantum-entangled internet, and cheap, quick cloning technology mean that competing biofirms have struck up a business where people can commission remote-controlled duplicates of themselves for all sorts of purposes: cheap labor, criminal alibis, simultaneous vacations, identity theft, medical miracles, creative bigamy, and more. When the largest firms have their servers raided and client information is compromised, there’s no telling who might be behind that familiar face or what manner of scam you might be dealing with - the Internet of Things has become the Internet of People. And rumors of free-willed clones or renegade AI bodyjackers are just the beginning of the weird possibilities this brave new world will face...
Votes are as usual weighted, with your first-choice vote counting as two points, and second-choice votes counting as one. Voting will close Wednesday, April 4th, so we have time to organise a walkabout vote if one is necessary for either or both jaunts. (We learned from the last time we held a jaunt vote this far in advance that if the walkabout isn’t chosen right away, there’s little interest in setting one up closer to the time.)
II. Upcoming App Windows
Due to the above jaunt scheduling shenanigans, as well as the fact that we’d really like to have another fourth wall, our upcoming app windows are going to vary a bit from standard practice.
After the current jaunt, apps will be open as usual, if the game cap allows. However, after the May-June jaunt, apps will NOT be opening. The May-June jaunt will close out the first full bracket round of the Arcana’s tournament play, and we have something special planned for the July-August jaunt that would likely be difficult for new players to settle into.
On top of that, we as mods would love to run another fourth-wall event. However, we shot close to the game cap after Dodgeball, and haven’t really dipped below it enough to justify such an event since; it wouldn’t be fair on fourth-wall taggers to welcome them in for a short event and then only have the space to accept a bare handful of apps. If the usual character attrition that occurs over one jaunt is enough for us to open apps regularly, we’re hopeful that going two jaunts with no new characters will bring us to a decent threshold to hold a fourth wall.
So to recap: Apps will open after the current jaunt (near the end of April), will not open after the May-June jaunt, and we will tentatively have a fourth-wall event after the July-August jaunt.
III. Profile Navigation: The Bannering
Option two was the clear winner of the vote for our new profile navigation code. We’d like to have a banner to go with it, and so we turn to you, graphics-types of Synodiporia.
Themes particularly suited to a Syn banner are chess, Tarot, and portals (for that last one, see the galactic-swirl detail on our Plurk emote). The maximum width for this code is 600 pixels. Please leave a link to your creations in the comments, or email it to us (synodiporans at gmail)!
IV. New Skills
We have a small handful of new skills (one, in fact, for every tree except Favor skills), all of which have been brought to you by either IC innovation or OOC player suggestion. These new skills are as follows:
Psychic Opt-Out: Create a filter on a psychic broadcast that allows other Travelers to fully ignore it if they so desire, effectively applying Psychic Protection without first specifying the message’s recipients. Requires Sensory Livestreaming OR Filter Intrusion, AND Psychic Protection I.
Liminal Opt-Out: Selectively ‘lock’ a door to or within your created space. Requires Room Creation I and Liminal Filter.
Memorial Bridge: Once per jaunt, you may go to a past Jaunt world. The bridge lasts until the next time the Arcana change Travelers’ location from Liminal to Jaunt space or vice versa, or until a Traveler bridges everyone back to their starting point. The maximum number of Travelers that can join a bridge to a past jaunt setting is the same as the user’s Liminal Bridge II capacity. These bridges create a separate Liminal Space during a jaunt, but not while all of the Travelers would otherwise be in Liminal Space proper. Requires Psychic Bridge II and Liminal Bridge II.
Combined Contingency: Select another Traveler. Upon activation of a pre-established condition (such as unconsciousness, death, infiltration, or any other sensibly definable criteria), the selected Traveler is summoned to the immediate vicinity of the person using this skill. If the user has Summon Traveler II, this skill can activate across the Jaunt-Walkabout divide. Requires Linked Senses and Summon Traveler I.
V. Psychic Upload Archives
Much like Liminal Permanence brought on the need to index what characters’ created spaces look like, so too has Psychic Upload created a need for an index - namely, one of various uploaded materials, so that players whose characters have Psychic Download know what’s there to be accessed. The need may be small now, but it’s bound to grow as more characters pick up the necessary skills.
To that end, we’ve set up a comment form on the psychic network info post. If one of your characters uploads something to the network in bulk, please comment there with a link to their uploaded content!
VI. Plotting Problems Redux
As promised, we’re looking to follow up on the last SotG’s discussion of plotting difficulties. One thing that came up last time that we hadn’t realised wasn’t common knowledge: We have been making an effort to lead off weekly summaries with all the plot roles in the first paragraph, to better draw attention to their activities and help others figure out who to poke if they want to get in on the action.
At this point, you’ve had a couple weeks to test out the reinstated Additions toplevel, and to establish the What We Learned This Week toplevel. How are those working out? Are there other wrinkles we haven’t thought of/that weren’t apparent last time we discussed the issue? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
VII. Old or New Business
Did we overlook something that still needs tending to? Do you have a new point for us to consider? Let us know!
We’re doing something slightly unusual with this jaunt vote, though older players may recognise the move from this time a couple years back: tossing you two lots of jaunt votes at once. Not only is it time to choose the Travelers’ destination following Majesty’s, but our July-August plans are going to need some tinkering time, and with Matt’s full-time job, it seemed prudent to put the choices in front of you all as soon as possible. (Yes, we know this isn’t usually an ideal way to set up a jaunt vote, but circumstances dictate the need for it on this occasion.)
The May-June jaunt selection is as follows:
Enterrado: In a frontier town in 1880s Nevada, a dead prospector is found with a large, rough nugget of pure silver in his bag. Who killed him is less important than where the site of his find is, in the mine-riddled hills around the city, and whether miners, bandidos, gunslingers, or outsiders will find it first - and what will befall anyone who’s suspected of having a lead on the stake.
Digital Frontier: Legacy Mode: When an old, archived system is uncovered, the Network calls on its most experienced and capable data recovery experts to transfer over to its port and start work. But those experts - Miners, Defenders, Cryptos, and Revolutionaries - have been sequestered for fear of data corruption. Enterprising Programs new and old quickly figure out that someone on the expedition must know something about the ancient data that makes its recovery worth the risk - but who, and what they know, are mysteries that pale in comparison to the System itself.
Treasure Hunt Island: On an island estate off Nova Scotia in the 1960s, treasure hunters, legitimate and otherwise, camp and explore in the hopes of finding an infamous missing fortune. This Jaunt will include some of the same search and exploration mechanics that were used on the Grid & the Belljar walkabout, only much gentler, because nobody is trying to kill anybody.
And the July-August jaunt selection is as follows:
Paramo Riconquista: The Festa Di Riconquista is when Paramo celebrates its history of naval victories - battles are re-enacted on old, mothballed ships, which are sunk in glorious fireworks displays, and jingoistic military pomp and patriotism rule the day. This Riconquista, however, two other groups have co-opted the agenda: foreign agitators are smuggling in gunpowder explosives in the guise of fireworks, and an alliance of pirates and mermaids is using the sinking wrecks as a cover to smuggle materials to undersea rebels (for a profit in mer-magic given to the pirates). But mistaken identities in the floating city’s black markets lead to the smuggled shipments being delivered to the wrong groups…
Red Dirt: Mars, 2148. The greedy corporate barons that run Mars ration technology as a way to keep their industrial workers and colonists in line. The black-market smuggling this leads to has created a thriving underworld, and one of the premier pieces of contraband is… well, cattle, due to their ability to feed on the tough, inhospitable grasses that hold down the Martian topsoil, and, er… create new, better topsoil of their own. When a coalition of colorful outlaws manages to rustle a giant herd, they’ll have to use the rough Martian weather as cover to safely transport the cows to the giant, radar-proof caverns of the Mariner’s Valley. But the ability to steal, shoot, and flee the law does not easily prepare one for the challenges of handling livestock…
Telepresence: Earth, The Independent Republic Of California, 2070. Cheap cold fusion has made hunger and poverty things of the past - there’s more than enough energy for every practical need of humankind to be met. But humans, predictably, have not wisely and harmoniously adapted to their new capabilities, and the ethics of boundless energy are still sticky and unresolved. Powerful computing, quantum-entangled internet, and cheap, quick cloning technology mean that competing biofirms have struck up a business where people can commission remote-controlled duplicates of themselves for all sorts of purposes: cheap labor, criminal alibis, simultaneous vacations, identity theft, medical miracles, creative bigamy, and more. When the largest firms have their servers raided and client information is compromised, there’s no telling who might be behind that familiar face or what manner of scam you might be dealing with - the Internet of Things has become the Internet of People. And rumors of free-willed clones or renegade AI bodyjackers are just the beginning of the weird possibilities this brave new world will face...
Poll #19719 May/June + July/August Jaunts
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 44
What is your first choice Jaunt for May/June?
View Answers
Enterrado
11 (25.6%)
Digital Frontier: Legacy Mode
22 (51.2%)
Treasure Hunt Island
10 (23.3%)
What is your second choice Jaunt for May/June?
View Answers
Enterrado
10 (26.3%)
Digital Frontier: Legacy Mode
10 (26.3%)
Treasure Hunt Island
18 (47.4%)
Would any of these Jaunts winning require a Walkabout for some or all of your characters?
What is your first choice Jaunt for July/August?
What is your second choice Jaunt for July/August?
Would any of these Jaunts winning require a Walkabout for some or all of your characters?
Votes are as usual weighted, with your first-choice vote counting as two points, and second-choice votes counting as one. Voting will close Wednesday, April 4th, so we have time to organise a walkabout vote if one is necessary for either or both jaunts. (We learned from the last time we held a jaunt vote this far in advance that if the walkabout isn’t chosen right away, there’s little interest in setting one up closer to the time.)
II. Upcoming App Windows
Due to the above jaunt scheduling shenanigans, as well as the fact that we’d really like to have another fourth wall, our upcoming app windows are going to vary a bit from standard practice.
After the current jaunt, apps will be open as usual, if the game cap allows. However, after the May-June jaunt, apps will NOT be opening. The May-June jaunt will close out the first full bracket round of the Arcana’s tournament play, and we have something special planned for the July-August jaunt that would likely be difficult for new players to settle into.
On top of that, we as mods would love to run another fourth-wall event. However, we shot close to the game cap after Dodgeball, and haven’t really dipped below it enough to justify such an event since; it wouldn’t be fair on fourth-wall taggers to welcome them in for a short event and then only have the space to accept a bare handful of apps. If the usual character attrition that occurs over one jaunt is enough for us to open apps regularly, we’re hopeful that going two jaunts with no new characters will bring us to a decent threshold to hold a fourth wall.
So to recap: Apps will open after the current jaunt (near the end of April), will not open after the May-June jaunt, and we will tentatively have a fourth-wall event after the July-August jaunt.
III. Profile Navigation: The Bannering
Option two was the clear winner of the vote for our new profile navigation code. We’d like to have a banner to go with it, and so we turn to you, graphics-types of Synodiporia.
Themes particularly suited to a Syn banner are chess, Tarot, and portals (for that last one, see the galactic-swirl detail on our Plurk emote). The maximum width for this code is 600 pixels. Please leave a link to your creations in the comments, or email it to us (synodiporans at gmail)!
IV. New Skills
We have a small handful of new skills (one, in fact, for every tree except Favor skills), all of which have been brought to you by either IC innovation or OOC player suggestion. These new skills are as follows:
Psychic Opt-Out: Create a filter on a psychic broadcast that allows other Travelers to fully ignore it if they so desire, effectively applying Psychic Protection without first specifying the message’s recipients. Requires Sensory Livestreaming OR Filter Intrusion, AND Psychic Protection I.
Liminal Opt-Out: Selectively ‘lock’ a door to or within your created space. Requires Room Creation I and Liminal Filter.
Memorial Bridge: Once per jaunt, you may go to a past Jaunt world. The bridge lasts until the next time the Arcana change Travelers’ location from Liminal to Jaunt space or vice versa, or until a Traveler bridges everyone back to their starting point. The maximum number of Travelers that can join a bridge to a past jaunt setting is the same as the user’s Liminal Bridge II capacity. These bridges create a separate Liminal Space during a jaunt, but not while all of the Travelers would otherwise be in Liminal Space proper. Requires Psychic Bridge II and Liminal Bridge II.
Combined Contingency: Select another Traveler. Upon activation of a pre-established condition (such as unconsciousness, death, infiltration, or any other sensibly definable criteria), the selected Traveler is summoned to the immediate vicinity of the person using this skill. If the user has Summon Traveler II, this skill can activate across the Jaunt-Walkabout divide. Requires Linked Senses and Summon Traveler I.
V. Psychic Upload Archives
Much like Liminal Permanence brought on the need to index what characters’ created spaces look like, so too has Psychic Upload created a need for an index - namely, one of various uploaded materials, so that players whose characters have Psychic Download know what’s there to be accessed. The need may be small now, but it’s bound to grow as more characters pick up the necessary skills.
To that end, we’ve set up a comment form on the psychic network info post. If one of your characters uploads something to the network in bulk, please comment there with a link to their uploaded content!
VI. Plotting Problems Redux
As promised, we’re looking to follow up on the last SotG’s discussion of plotting difficulties. One thing that came up last time that we hadn’t realised wasn’t common knowledge: We have been making an effort to lead off weekly summaries with all the plot roles in the first paragraph, to better draw attention to their activities and help others figure out who to poke if they want to get in on the action.
At this point, you’ve had a couple weeks to test out the reinstated Additions toplevel, and to establish the What We Learned This Week toplevel. How are those working out? Are there other wrinkles we haven’t thought of/that weren’t apparent last time we discussed the issue? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
VII. Old or New Business
Did we overlook something that still needs tending to? Do you have a new point for us to consider? Let us know!
I. Next TWO Jaunt Votes
Re: I. Next TWO Jaunt Votes
Re: I. Next TWO Jaunt Votes
Re: I. Next TWO Jaunt Votes
no subject
Man I clearly picked the wrong treasure hunt canon to play from.
Sorry, just wanted to get that joke out of the way.
II. Upcoming App Windows
III. Profile Navigation: The Bannering
IV. New Skills
V. Psychic Upload Archives
VI. Plotting Problems Redux
VII. Old or New Business
no subject
+1
+1?