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Where To Go Next With Fandom High, Poll The Second
Tuesday, November 15th, 2022 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
not_of_the_noraHello, Fandom!
During the summer, we polled you on how to proceed with the game, as the amount of students steadily dwindles every year. This semester, we’ve measured about 2 to 5 students per class - much less than the 20 or more that led us to impose caps on classes, once upon a time.
We’ve spent the past few months thinking about options, taking your feedback into account, and as promised, we’re now coming to you with clearer plans. We have currently narrowed down options to two, which we would like to put up to a vote (as well as a trusty 'no, please keep things the way they are' option, in case opinions have shifted).
The way we see it, the shift to a community college model seems most obvious for the game. It allows us great flexibility: adults can choose to enroll for full years or just for a class, younger characters can take classes for extra credit as we work on a transition, and while we do plan to feature actual 2- to 4-year programs where characters can get handwavey credit for taking classes, adults who want to bum around university for the entirety of their 10+ year time at Fandom Island are able to do so, provided they have a job.
However, we also understand that the game has featured teenage students for its entire run, and people are still attached to playing them. As such, we would like to implement either a full community college for characters aged 16-and-up, or community college for 18-and-up with an attached 2-year high school program. The high school calendar would be slightly less packed than we’re used to for regular FH in the second scenario, but it would mean we still maintain a separate student dorms and some (but fewer) high school classes.
We may poll you guys a few more times during the shift if it happens, just to make sure everyone agrees on the details. This is a big change, and the last thing we want to do is implement something you haven’t had any say in.
Obviously we wouldn’t be springing major changes on you overnight. If either college option gets the highest vote margin - no run-off shenanigans here - we’ll start by closing applications to freshman students in the summer of 2023 as we begin a transition to a two-year high school program (and possibly no high school at all, depending on this poll). We will accept sophomore applications until fall semester. If the decision is made to end the high school all together, we'll propose a path to slowly phase out juniors and seniors at this point, probably at a clip of one change a year.
Fandom University would then open in the fall of 2023, and be open to all characters over the decided-upon age cutoff. We would also open applications for college teachers and for characters who are specifically there to attend a 2- or 4-year program at the college: First-years, Second-years, Third-years and Fourth-years.
These characters will be held to the same activity requirements as current FH students, namely sign-ins in two classes per week. There will be handwavy daycare available; we will poll at a later point whether it makes sense to make this PC-run or not.
We’ll then evaluate the transition through another poll/brainstorm in Summer of 2024, and make adjustments where needed. We would also be looking at some details about how the game operates, such as whether there’s a necessity to implement NPC students, at that time.
The comments are open for any questions or commentary you might have. We also remain open to any suggested tweaks you might have for the format.
(Sorry, folks, I mucked up the poll the first time around.)
During the summer, we polled you on how to proceed with the game, as the amount of students steadily dwindles every year. This semester, we’ve measured about 2 to 5 students per class - much less than the 20 or more that led us to impose caps on classes, once upon a time.
We’ve spent the past few months thinking about options, taking your feedback into account, and as promised, we’re now coming to you with clearer plans. We have currently narrowed down options to two, which we would like to put up to a vote (as well as a trusty 'no, please keep things the way they are' option, in case opinions have shifted).
Fandom University (Which Is Really Fandom Community College But Who Wants To Attend The FCC?)
The way we see it, the shift to a community college model seems most obvious for the game. It allows us great flexibility: adults can choose to enroll for full years or just for a class, younger characters can take classes for extra credit as we work on a transition, and while we do plan to feature actual 2- to 4-year programs where characters can get handwavey credit for taking classes, adults who want to bum around university for the entirety of their 10+ year time at Fandom Island are able to do so, provided they have a job.
However, we also understand that the game has featured teenage students for its entire run, and people are still attached to playing them. As such, we would like to implement either a full community college for characters aged 16-and-up, or community college for 18-and-up with an attached 2-year high school program. The high school calendar would be slightly less packed than we’re used to for regular FH in the second scenario, but it would mean we still maintain a separate student dorms and some (but fewer) high school classes.
We may poll you guys a few more times during the shift if it happens, just to make sure everyone agrees on the details. This is a big change, and the last thing we want to do is implement something you haven’t had any say in.
What would a vote for either of the two college options mean?
Obviously we wouldn’t be springing major changes on you overnight. If either college option gets the highest vote margin - no run-off shenanigans here - we’ll start by closing applications to freshman students in the summer of 2023 as we begin a transition to a two-year high school program (and possibly no high school at all, depending on this poll). We will accept sophomore applications until fall semester. If the decision is made to end the high school all together, we'll propose a path to slowly phase out juniors and seniors at this point, probably at a clip of one change a year.
Fandom University would then open in the fall of 2023, and be open to all characters over the decided-upon age cutoff. We would also open applications for college teachers and for characters who are specifically there to attend a 2- or 4-year program at the college: First-years, Second-years, Third-years and Fourth-years.
These characters will be held to the same activity requirements as current FH students, namely sign-ins in two classes per week. There will be handwavy daycare available; we will poll at a later point whether it makes sense to make this PC-run or not.
We’ll then evaluate the transition through another poll/brainstorm in Summer of 2024, and make adjustments where needed. We would also be looking at some details about how the game operates, such as whether there’s a necessity to implement NPC students, at that time.
Poll!
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 18
Fandom High should become...
a community college for all characters 16-and-up
12 (66.7%)
a community college for 18-and-up with a 2-year high school program attached
6 (33.3%)
... nothing, it should stay itself.
0 (0.0%)
The comments are open for any questions or commentary you might have. We also remain open to any suggested tweaks you might have for the format.
(Sorry, folks, I mucked up the poll the first time around.)