Mod Post + Polls

[straightupzorra]

Hi guys, so as game we got some crit, and we want your input on how to make Rakuen better as a whole. So I have three polls for you today, all the options are based on player suggestions so feel free to offer alternatives, we look forward to hearing your opinions and making Rakuen a more accessible game.

The first poll is about the OOC-IC tiem ratio, currently we operate under 2 weeks out of character equals 1 week in character. To explain the second option a bit more, we would still mostly be a 2:1 game, but the rest day would be a day IC and seven days OOC

Poll #9792

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 23

View Respondents

Time Frame

View Answers

3-1 ratio. Which means rounds last 3 weeks with neulings coming in every 3 weeks and days being 3ooc-1ic
2 (8.7%)

-stick with the 2:1 ratio BUT have the rest day last an extra ooc week, neulings can enter all week and posts can be from the previous round or the rest day to give neulings time to adjust and people time to back tag and plot
17 (73.9%)

keep it as it is
3 (13.0%)

other, will tell you in comments
1 (4.3%)

Concerns have been raised about Weapons being vowed to too quickly leaving some Players out of luck, so we're trying to find a way to remedy that.

Poll #9793

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 23

View Respondents

Weapons and Players

View Answers

a Player can only vow 2 weapons in 24 hours
12 (52.2%)

neulings have priority in finding partners
7 (30.4%)

release the Player list early to give more time for plotting
20 (87.0%)

keep it as it is
0 (0.0%)

other, will explain in comments
1 (4.3%)

This last poll is mostly about game accessibility. We understand that Rakuen can be a lot of information to take in at one time, so this opt-in Buddy system would assign new players another, more experienced player who you are legally obliged to pester at every opportunity.

Poll #9794

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 17

View Respondents

Buddy System

View Answers

Yes
16 (94.1%)

No
0 (0.0%)

Other, will explain in comments
1 (5.9%)

A few house keeping things. Regardless of if the Buddy System is deemed a good idea, we added a Welcome/Q&A Post where you can ask general questions or just jump all over each other!

Also in our plotting post we added a still searching category for those who have not found Players or Weapons yet.

Both the welcome post and the plotting post have been added to the navigation side bars on all of the communities.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT ACTIVITY CHECK!!!

Lastly, there have been some questions about why the staff characters are fandom characters and not OCs/NPCs. The staff characters are very involved in the game, they aren't just there to make the plot move along every once in awhile, they are a constant part of the setting. That being said, we reasoned that we as players would be more involved with fandom characters and other players would be more interested with characters they are also familiar with. In Rakuen you actually get to see the 'npcs' operating and thinking and that makes them more involved and less estranged from the general flow of the game. The six staff characters participated in Rakuen beforehand, albeit off screen before the game started, and when the time comes, six current characters will become staff themselves.

Comments

[pennypincher]

This is a good post! Here's my thoughts:

- I think the best option is to keep the 2:1 ratio and make rest days last an OOC week, if that would help people with their catching up and taking a breather. I think it would also be good for newbies neulings, since they can only arrive on the rest day and if they miss it they have to wait two weeks; having an OOC week for them to arrive during would be good, I think.

- I like all of the suggestions for solving the Weapons problem! I also like that there's fewer Players this round, meaning there's a bigger pool of Weapons. Maybe it could stay like that?

- I'd love a buddy system and I would gladly participate to help get newbie-chans accommodated to the game.

- And finally, I think the explanation about the staff characters makes total sense. It's pretty clear from an IC standpoint, but I can see where people would get confused from just a casual glance since it hasn't (yet) been put on any info posts. Thanks for writing it up so clearly!

[straightupzorra]

Thank you for your input! I'm going to have Katy and Elle look over what I wrote up before we put it on the FAQ, but it will be there tomorrow!

I APPARENTLY TALK TOO MUCH.

[mrdickery]

re: Time Frame
I'd rather have the calendar operate as 1-1 and keep the two week app cycle. BUT that's probably not a viable option and I'm pretty much cool with whatever the mods decide. I just think it'd be easier to keep track of the date that way.

re: Weapons and Players
I'm refraining from saying anything until I see how this round of vowing goes. I'll let you know when I've formed an opinion that isn't a garbled jar of incoherent thoughts~!

re: Buddy System
I'm not really for or against this system because I think it's reasonable to expect that if a potential-apper is having questions about the game, they should IM a mod or jump into the game chat. Usually there's always someone on hand in there to answer questions with a rare exception or two.

That being said, I can also see the advantages of such a working and how it could help someone who's interested in joining to settle in more comfortably.



hi my name is Aki and I'm apparently never happy.

[greenspaces]

Also part of the Weapons problem is that people who are Weapons tend to look for other people who are either OOCly or ICly involved with their existing character development. Maybe we should say that people should try and find Weapons that aren't their biffles, before they partner up with their friends? That way we'd get more out of cast CR, and CR from people that we don't usually interact with.

Another problem is that it seems like everyone wants the same type of Weapon, but don't necessarily want the Weapons that "can't do anything." So if you have a character who has a sword fetish, great! There are lots of swords. But if you have a character who likes guns, and there's only one or two of those but there's five players in the round who like them...then it's time to race to the plotting post, I guess.

NEVER

[straightupzorra]

We don't operate on a 1:1 schedule because then rounds would go by really quickly, and personally we'd be on Round like 10 and I'd still be tagging Round 2 stuff. But date wise we can have an IC calender on the navigation post or in the side bar if you think that would make it easier?

We actually changed up the system a bit this round by having less Players and we're seeing how that works, but we want to implement a system (be it less Players and/or any of the above options) to make everyone feel welcomed.

That's true! Sometimes it's nice to have a person that is "yours" or that you know is there to answer your questions, especially if the mods are all away at the same time.

Thanks for your input!

[cullscuttlefish]

dsjk.kadjka I just realized I voted with the wrong journal. Everything from 'timeliness' should have been from this account! Sorry, mods.

[straightupzorra]

Hmm, that's true. I'm not sure at the moment how we would regulate that, we can't really be all don't try and protect your friends. But it's a really good point, I'll keep thinking about it. Do you have any suggestions?

Just an idea but what if we had a type of weapon's training class that would showcase the use of all weapons, classical ones like swords and more unique ones like eggs, and show all their uses, so people get used to the diversity? Do you think that would help any?

[knightime]

Time Frame:

Keep the ration 2:1. I feel like it might feel too long to make it 3:1. Seeing as we all backdate/forward date a lot of things as is, the change in ratio isn't going to make a huge difference, but just make the round feel like its dragging on. I feel like the 2:1 Ratio moves a little slow near the end. I can only assume the only reason the beginning feels so rushed is because that's when people need to be active to plot together. So the 2:1 Ratio I think worked fine. However, I believe the OOC week for the off day would greatly help for the players to plot and to just relax and work things out.

Weapons and Players:
I think that the list should be released sooner? If we go with the extra week for off day, this will work fine. We have the off week to plot who gets together with who. The problem with waiting 24 hours is that people can just wait before vowing with who they want to, so the same people will vow regardless, they just will wait the extra 24 hours. Unfortunately, that just delays the inevitable and it wouldn't really work as a solution! I think lowering the number of Players really helped, so maybe keep the Player numbers as the current round and release the Players early so people can plot together. Did that even make sense? harhar

Buddy system:
I think this sounds nifty and it'll probably help new players. I would say the people with Prefect characters would be perfect for this in game wise, but we don't really have enough prefects to do this I think fff. And we wouldn't want to force responsibilities on the Players who do have them. But I'm assuming people can volunteer to help, which would be really helpful in getting players situated in and already have a welcoming stay if people reach out to them instead of them struggling to reach out to players already here.

BLABLAKIMTALKSALOT2012

[straightupzorra]

ALL GOOD :|b

KIM IS STILL TALKING 2012

[knightime]

The other viable option I can guess is Players can't vow with the same Weapons they did last round. The problem with that is that if you vow a lot, that limits your choices, but this might help even the playing board then. Players have to choose more wisely who to vow with instead of going on A HAREM ADVENTURE to collect them all.

It could be an ingame rule, so if Players try to vow with the same Weapon they did last round (with the exception of Linked characters because they're Linked DURRHURR) they receive a penalty before they can finish the vow.

Just a way to circulate more CR?

[straightupzorra]

Yeah, my worry about the 3:1 would be that rounds would drag on (but then again every time it's round change and Katy tells me to prepare my assembly post I'm like again? we just did one! but that's me spacing out.) Just to clarify, you agree with the 2:1 ratio plus the ooc off week, right?

The list being released sooner will definitely help with plotting things out, especially if we do the ooc off week. You bring up a good point with the 24 hour delay idea that I hadn't thought of previously. But I'm glad to see that you think lowering the Player count helped!

Buddy system would be more of an ooc character thing, the train arrival post is kind of like the HERE YOU ARE, HERE ARE PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON post. And yes, we're working on making the game seem more welcoming!

TALK FOREVER KIM

[straightupzorra]

That's actually a really good idea and we'll definitely take it into consideration! We'll poll about it later, I like polls.

[knightime]

I think the 2:1 ratio + OOC off week would fix most of the time constraints. It also puts in time for Players to consider starting plots. I know that with a Round always underway, i don't even consider doing too much big Player plots and only smaller ones because I can't think of fitting it in.

I actually was thinking about it just now. I was like "Naw I can just wait to vow-that isn't fixing anything SOB." It would just be released OOCly, so it shouldn't be a problem and I didn't feel as rushed trying to get Weapons this time around! So yeah, I think the lowered number was really helpful. I actually considered it last round because I felt like there wasn't enough Weapons last round, but I didn't know what next round would look like so I didn't say anything about it.

I think the problem is that a lot of people don't reply to the train arrival post as much because they're waiting for the Assembly post. So maybe each round, have players volunteer to tag people at the arrival post to act as guides? I think that might fix that unwelcomed feeling because its a huge turn off if characters aren't tag when they arrive so they don't really know what to do.

Also, just personally mentioning that, I haven't felt unwelcomed here, so it's I think a mix between just personal experiences and it depends on the character you're apping I think. I'm glad you guys are willing to try and fix this for future players though!

I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS OKAY?!

[knightime]

I HAVE IDEAS ALL UP IN THESE SLEEVES. I can't be stopped.

But yes! I think this might help circulate new CR better and get Players to vow with new people. So new people aren't struggling to get out there, old players aren't sticking to their CR as closely. It forces characters who are more introverted to get CR better (since I know some characters struggle to make AC, because they just don't really want to talk outside of their comfort zone). So it might help level the playing field too. Also, this makes Rounds a little more interesting since it seems like the same Players fight with the same Weapons. So they'd be force to learn new Weapons and work with new people.
TALKTALKTALK

WE ALL WIN BECAUSE YAY MORE CR.

I like replying to polls. I TL;DR and I don't even get in trouble for it |D

[bloodbrother]

My most coherent thoughts have to do with the timeframe. I'm concerned that that extended day into a week would be kind of awkward for new people, if they're introduced at the beginning of it. To me, that lag time following the train arrival into the school assemblies are too far apart. It just feels awkward to me. I suppose once we're in there we'll fall into a groove, but right now I'm just .

[straightupzorra]

I like 2:1 ratio + off week too, hopefully it removes some of the end end of round lull to beginning of round rush, but we'll see what happens if we implement it and adjust accordingly.


I don't want to make people feel obligated to tag something, but we could have some kind of ic/ooc sign up to be at the train post, do you think that would help?

glad you've felt welcomed ♥

FEELINGS ARE GOOD

[straightupzorra]

Your ideas are legit and I like them, this is totally something we'll discuss when I'm not the only mod awake ahah

[straightupzorra]

Yeah, that is a concern that I personally didn't think of, so thanks for bringing it up. We'd have to talk about timing and when things will be posted. If we do implement the 2:1 + 1ooc then we would have to adjust things accordingly and see how it works out and if it helps or hurt and all that fun stuff. Do you have any suggestions for that?

I am slowly losing my verbosity so excuse me if I made no sense

[knightime]

I think it would be nice just to get a breather in. I MEAN I USUALLY WORK FINE WITHOUT THE OFF WEEK BECAUSE I AM ALWAYS TAGGIN but I think it might help for mods to also get some breathing time in too 0u0)

Oh! That's why I said have people volunteer. That way, people aren't obligated to tag unless they signed up. but if you're signing up, then you're agreeing to being around to tag the arrival post! I think it might help with new people. I think the first round had it best, since Recette's shop had a thread and the headmistresses were out and about most of the time, so it wouldn't be like that, but we'd have characters who's been here for a few weeks now helping newcomers out. But it should work on a volunteer system so people don't feel like they're being forced into tagging something they don't want to. BLAHHHHH

[greenspaces]

That would probably help! Both of those things, actually. I should probably specify that when Jade says "friends" in her new post she actually means "most everyone".

[knightime]

Also for IC/OOC sign up. OOCly, muns can sign up at their own leisure. ICly, headmistresses/prefects can assign it to characters.

So it wouldn't just be suddenly other students/teachers helping these newcomers, but characters having it ordered onto them. It might be funny just to see characters disgruntled but helping other people out.

So ICly, there's a reason and you aren't suddenly making a more closed/introverted character grab CR that doesn't make a lot of sense?

AM I MAKING SENSE?

[straightupzorra]

Mods aren't allowed to breathe, what are you talking about.

Sorry, I'm like pretending to be a good student while I actually be a mod so I must have missed he volunteer thing BUT YES. ANOTHER GOOD IDEA FROM KIM. It's kind of like when you sign up to be a Player you're agreeing to pretty much be around. I try to post with Dolorosa on the train thing but sometimes I'm like I NEED TO WRITE THE ASSEMBLY POST that I forget, but that will be something I work on.

ALL THE FEELINGS

[knightime]

Aww yiss. Polls are the best. All up in dis poll, being obnoxious. woohoo.

[straightupzorra]

To some people "friends" and "everyone I meet" are synonymous.

[pennypincher]

Not Lance, but: I always thought it was kind of odd that the assembly is at noon on Day 1, but people become Players and Links activate at 8AM on Day 1. So maybe the assembly and Player announcements can be on the rest day? It'd give people more to do, too! I'm not sure how that would affect the vowing dynamic though, since people would have extra time IC to plan who to vow with...