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fandomhigh_ooc2011-04-12 01:50 pm
thatsamilkshake) wrote in fandomhigh_ooc2011-04-12 01:50 pm
Entry tags:
Open Forum Round-Up!
BDE having come and gone and the poll about HMD Memes having received a good selection of answers, as promised, we've got the March 2011 Open Forum round-up ready for you!
Bringing Back Dropped Characters For Plots and Events
The policy on this definitely needed to be firmed up and made clear, so after much discussion, here's what we've got:
Dropped characters will be eligible for a temporary return in any plot/event that is open to applying brand new guest characters (such as a convention or career fair), if the character fits the specific requirements of the event, and if there is not a current PC version of the character in the game.
Characters who've been established as a Parents Weekend/Graduation guest or plot NPC for a current character, then were apped as a full on-island character themselves, may return to that NPC status when dropped. (For example, Valentine Wiggin, former PW guest, then full-time student, is now an NPC for Ender.) Like other NPCs, these characters remain off-island except for PW/Graduation, etc.
This also applies to characters that were apped as a PC from the beginning; when dropped, they may continue to exist as an NPC for any canonmates who came from the same timeline. (For example, former student Sky Tate remains an NPC for the Power Rangers: SPD alumni.) Like other NPCs, these characters remain off-island except for PW/Graduation, etc.
Any other appearance of a dropped character will need to a) be necessary for a specific plot and b) pre-approved as part of the plot proposal.
An entry for this will be added to the policies section on the FH user-info.
Changes to the Plot Calendar
...Or, really, changes to how we'll be keeping the plot calendar updated. You guys had some great suggestions, and we agreed with them and have started putting them in place since the day of the Open Forum.
From now on, annual events like Weetiny Weekend and AU Kids will be listed by name as soon as they're scheduled, and special events that happen every once in a while, like wacky phone days, will be revealed once they're announced in the OOC comm. Items like BDEs will get marked as specifically as possible on the calendar as soon as we've got firm dates for them, even if some details have yet to be settled before the major announcements come.
We're also going to be making sure to post personal plots to the calendar as soon as the plots are accepted and the dates are settled, and we apologize for falling behind on that recently.
Spring Parents Weekend, and Spring Events In General
Opinions were mixed on whether the second Parents Weekend was necessary, and on how it may have affected the scheduling for the rest of the spring, which is certainly pretty packed. We're going to try it at least once more, since it did work well for some players, but we agree with the suggestion to set it earlier in the semester.
We also concur that it would be a good idea to shift some of the Spring events to Fall, which is traditionally not as bursting with activity, and we'll be taking a look at which types of events that would work best for (since some are obviously linked to specific dates, and some less so).
AU Weekend
AU Weekend, set for June 4/5, is going to be wide open for all characters, including expats and alumni. The calendar shift there was necessary this year, but we don't want anyone to miss out because of that. The island itself will be open for alum/expat visitation on that weekend (including a summer town event on the 3rd to get everyone back who might not otherwise have an excuse), and the AU effects will also reach out to home universes if that's your preference.
In addition to the date changes, we're also adding a new option for AU-ing this time, which we think you'll like. If you choose, instead of your regular character being replaced, you may have them snatched off to the AU world of your choice for the weekend, along the usual connecting lines of same actor/same name/canon AU. We're also adding the option there of going to the world/time of your AU kids, as long as the parent-players are in agreement on it. The only FH canon AU that will be off-limits to travel to is the Wishverse, because if that world is ever fully revisited, it deserves to have a plot of its own. (Wishverse characters taking over their Fandom selves is still fine, though.)
Those snatched away to other universes may also get taken in groups by the twitchy magic of Fandom, so you don't have to hang out by yourselves there, as long as the additional characters have some sort of emotional or physical connection to the person whose AU it is. So have no fear if your character's going to be physically on the other side of the galaxy that weekend; they could still end up seeing their friends. Lots more details on this as AU weekend approaches, but we wanted to get the general idea out there now, so you can plot your hearts out.
The How's My Driving Meme
There's been a lot of concern over unpleasant experiences in past memes, and several good suggestions for changing up how they're run to make people feel more comfortable participating, while not leaving the admins in a position where our line for what's problematic isn't the same as the players in the conversation. There have also been several suggestions to discontinue the meme entirely, or at least remove admin involvement from it. There's quite a range of player opinion on the subject, and we thank you for giving us your feedback.
While discontinuing the official admin-posted HMD is a possibility for the future, we believe it has value for enough players that it's worth giving at least one more try. With that in mind, the next HMD is scheduled for Saturday, June 11th, and we've put together some player suggestions and some of our own thoughts to create a set of rules that we hope will work out for everyone, players and admins alike:
* Anon commenting will remain an option, but only one option. As it's been from the beginning, players who ping in may request anon and/or face-on only, or "Please e-mail me or go to my HMD post."
* Taking players to task on the meme for their choices on that front (or for not pinging in at all) will be out of bounds, and something we'll freeze/screen and ask you to repost without that bit, if we see it.
* Taking players to task on the meme for not replying to comments (or not replying quickly enough) will likewise be off-limits. No player is required to be around all the time or be comfortable enough to engage in a dialogue about critique they receive, unless they wish to.
* Discussing the characters of players who haven't pinged into the meme will also be out of bounds; again, we'll freeze/screen comments like that when we spot them, and ask you to repost without that content.
* Bringing up personal information found on the non-game journal of a player is off-limits on the meme as well, and will be frozen/screened, etc. If there's something about someone's personal life that concerns you for game reasons, the HMD meme is not the place to say it; either contact the player privately about it, or if you feel it's appropriate, contact the admin team, but it doesn't belong on the meme.
* While anon commenting will be on, so will IP logging. The admins, who are the only ones who'll be able to see IP addresses, won't be using it frivolously to check up on who is saying what about who, or passing that info on to players. You can still give constructive criticism without worrying that it might be dismissed due to the source or cause personal friction, but we'll have a better ability to help keep things under control.
* Because we know that might make offering the admins crit about their own characters uncomfortable, we'll be staying out of the meme itself, or just linking to our personal HMD posts if we're interested in feedback at meme-time.
* Aside from the situations outlined above, the admins are only going to step in to ask that a thread be toned down if someone asks us to, or if we see blatant game-rules / LJ TOS breaking.
* However, if we see a situation where we suspect there might be a problem developing, what we will do is contact the original poster of the thread or sub-thread and ask if they'd like us to step in, or if they're doing OK on their own.
* We understand that in the past, people weren't sure if coming to us would be overstepping, or didn't realize it was an option. It's not overstepping; it is an option. It's the best option. Please grab an admin if something being said is making you uncomfortable. Even if you're not directly involved in the thread, we can contact the OP to see if they'd like our help or not.
Finally, for those participating, please remember that no matter how fast comments start flying when there's a disagreement, you're not obligated to reply. If you're uncomfortable with a question or a statement made in a comment, you can stop right there and ask the admins to intervene, or you can stop right there and not address the comment at all.
You can also reply telling the poster that you're uncomfortable with something they said, and would rather not pursue it, would like to take it to e-mail, or any other variation you prefer. All of those options are open, and we added the rule about not taking people to task for timing or lack of replies because we're serious about wanting players not to feel pressured on that score.
We'll try it this way for the next HMD, hoping that it makes things run more smoothly and comfortably for everyone; after that, we'll take stock again and see where things stand.
Spacetime Island Hijinks!
We all really like the idea of the island moving around in space/time again for vacations and possibly BDEs. We'll be keeping it as an option and hopefully will find a good way to use the suggestion!
Adult Activities and Classes
Adult activity is frequently an area of the game where we all have concerns, and we're going to all have to keep at it if we want things to pick up! Really, it boils down to getting involved and staying involved. Players and characters lose interest in activities and everyone (admins included) needs to work to keep things entertaining.
We are hoping that some activity down at the Community Center will help this along! We've already started accepting Townie characters to teach adult courses at the community center and have added some OCD to the Session 1 Summer Workshop Request Post for existing Teacher and Townie characters who would like to teach an adult course during the first summer session. Six weeks is a good introductory time period, after all!
Vacations
Vacations are a tricky part of the game to manage. We attempt to balance giving student and teacher characters enough options of things to do while also allowing for plenty of social time. Hearing your concerns that they're becoming a bit repetitive, we'll be looking into setting up some brainstorming and possibly more polls to find out what players would most enjoy seeing on the next break trip. Who knows, maybe the whole island will take a trip!
Suggestions In General
These are great, and we love hearing them -- not just at Open Forum time. Plot kernels, ideas, etc. can all be tossed in the monthly brainstorming posts or emailed to us at any time!
___
You may now shower us with pictures of pretty people. Or questions. Or pretty people asking questions. Or pretty people taking showers. Or questionable people taking showers, because we know someone will anyway.
Questions Round-Up
Bringing Back Dropped Characters For Plots and Events
The policy on this definitely needed to be firmed up and made clear, so after much discussion, here's what we've got:
Dropped characters will be eligible for a temporary return in any plot/event that is open to applying brand new guest characters (such as a convention or career fair), if the character fits the specific requirements of the event, and if there is not a current PC version of the character in the game.
Characters who've been established as a Parents Weekend/Graduation guest or plot NPC for a current character, then were apped as a full on-island character themselves, may return to that NPC status when dropped. (For example, Valentine Wiggin, former PW guest, then full-time student, is now an NPC for Ender.) Like other NPCs, these characters remain off-island except for PW/Graduation, etc.
This also applies to characters that were apped as a PC from the beginning; when dropped, they may continue to exist as an NPC for any canonmates who came from the same timeline. (For example, former student Sky Tate remains an NPC for the Power Rangers: SPD alumni.) Like other NPCs, these characters remain off-island except for PW/Graduation, etc.
Any other appearance of a dropped character will need to a) be necessary for a specific plot and b) pre-approved as part of the plot proposal.
An entry for this will be added to the policies section on the FH user-info.
Concerns Round-Up
Changes to the Plot Calendar
...Or, really, changes to how we'll be keeping the plot calendar updated. You guys had some great suggestions, and we agreed with them and have started putting them in place since the day of the Open Forum.
From now on, annual events like Weetiny Weekend and AU Kids will be listed by name as soon as they're scheduled, and special events that happen every once in a while, like wacky phone days, will be revealed once they're announced in the OOC comm. Items like BDEs will get marked as specifically as possible on the calendar as soon as we've got firm dates for them, even if some details have yet to be settled before the major announcements come.
We're also going to be making sure to post personal plots to the calendar as soon as the plots are accepted and the dates are settled, and we apologize for falling behind on that recently.
Spring Parents Weekend, and Spring Events In General
Opinions were mixed on whether the second Parents Weekend was necessary, and on how it may have affected the scheduling for the rest of the spring, which is certainly pretty packed. We're going to try it at least once more, since it did work well for some players, but we agree with the suggestion to set it earlier in the semester.
We also concur that it would be a good idea to shift some of the Spring events to Fall, which is traditionally not as bursting with activity, and we'll be taking a look at which types of events that would work best for (since some are obviously linked to specific dates, and some less so).
AU Weekend
AU Weekend, set for June 4/5, is going to be wide open for all characters, including expats and alumni. The calendar shift there was necessary this year, but we don't want anyone to miss out because of that. The island itself will be open for alum/expat visitation on that weekend (including a summer town event on the 3rd to get everyone back who might not otherwise have an excuse), and the AU effects will also reach out to home universes if that's your preference.
In addition to the date changes, we're also adding a new option for AU-ing this time, which we think you'll like. If you choose, instead of your regular character being replaced, you may have them snatched off to the AU world of your choice for the weekend, along the usual connecting lines of same actor/same name/canon AU. We're also adding the option there of going to the world/time of your AU kids, as long as the parent-players are in agreement on it. The only FH canon AU that will be off-limits to travel to is the Wishverse, because if that world is ever fully revisited, it deserves to have a plot of its own. (Wishverse characters taking over their Fandom selves is still fine, though.)
Those snatched away to other universes may also get taken in groups by the twitchy magic of Fandom, so you don't have to hang out by yourselves there, as long as the additional characters have some sort of emotional or physical connection to the person whose AU it is. So have no fear if your character's going to be physically on the other side of the galaxy that weekend; they could still end up seeing their friends. Lots more details on this as AU weekend approaches, but we wanted to get the general idea out there now, so you can plot your hearts out.
The How's My Driving Meme
There's been a lot of concern over unpleasant experiences in past memes, and several good suggestions for changing up how they're run to make people feel more comfortable participating, while not leaving the admins in a position where our line for what's problematic isn't the same as the players in the conversation. There have also been several suggestions to discontinue the meme entirely, or at least remove admin involvement from it. There's quite a range of player opinion on the subject, and we thank you for giving us your feedback.
While discontinuing the official admin-posted HMD is a possibility for the future, we believe it has value for enough players that it's worth giving at least one more try. With that in mind, the next HMD is scheduled for Saturday, June 11th, and we've put together some player suggestions and some of our own thoughts to create a set of rules that we hope will work out for everyone, players and admins alike:
* Anon commenting will remain an option, but only one option. As it's been from the beginning, players who ping in may request anon and/or face-on only, or "Please e-mail me or go to my HMD post."
* Taking players to task on the meme for their choices on that front (or for not pinging in at all) will be out of bounds, and something we'll freeze/screen and ask you to repost without that bit, if we see it.
* Taking players to task on the meme for not replying to comments (or not replying quickly enough) will likewise be off-limits. No player is required to be around all the time or be comfortable enough to engage in a dialogue about critique they receive, unless they wish to.
* Discussing the characters of players who haven't pinged into the meme will also be out of bounds; again, we'll freeze/screen comments like that when we spot them, and ask you to repost without that content.
* Bringing up personal information found on the non-game journal of a player is off-limits on the meme as well, and will be frozen/screened, etc. If there's something about someone's personal life that concerns you for game reasons, the HMD meme is not the place to say it; either contact the player privately about it, or if you feel it's appropriate, contact the admin team, but it doesn't belong on the meme.
* While anon commenting will be on, so will IP logging. The admins, who are the only ones who'll be able to see IP addresses, won't be using it frivolously to check up on who is saying what about who, or passing that info on to players. You can still give constructive criticism without worrying that it might be dismissed due to the source or cause personal friction, but we'll have a better ability to help keep things under control.
* Because we know that might make offering the admins crit about their own characters uncomfortable, we'll be staying out of the meme itself, or just linking to our personal HMD posts if we're interested in feedback at meme-time.
* Aside from the situations outlined above, the admins are only going to step in to ask that a thread be toned down if someone asks us to, or if we see blatant game-rules / LJ TOS breaking.
* However, if we see a situation where we suspect there might be a problem developing, what we will do is contact the original poster of the thread or sub-thread and ask if they'd like us to step in, or if they're doing OK on their own.
* We understand that in the past, people weren't sure if coming to us would be overstepping, or didn't realize it was an option. It's not overstepping; it is an option. It's the best option. Please grab an admin if something being said is making you uncomfortable. Even if you're not directly involved in the thread, we can contact the OP to see if they'd like our help or not.
Finally, for those participating, please remember that no matter how fast comments start flying when there's a disagreement, you're not obligated to reply. If you're uncomfortable with a question or a statement made in a comment, you can stop right there and ask the admins to intervene, or you can stop right there and not address the comment at all.
You can also reply telling the poster that you're uncomfortable with something they said, and would rather not pursue it, would like to take it to e-mail, or any other variation you prefer. All of those options are open, and we added the rule about not taking people to task for timing or lack of replies because we're serious about wanting players not to feel pressured on that score.
We'll try it this way for the next HMD, hoping that it makes things run more smoothly and comfortably for everyone; after that, we'll take stock again and see where things stand.
Suggestions Round-Up
Spacetime Island Hijinks!
We all really like the idea of the island moving around in space/time again for vacations and possibly BDEs. We'll be keeping it as an option and hopefully will find a good way to use the suggestion!
Adult Activities and Classes
Adult activity is frequently an area of the game where we all have concerns, and we're going to all have to keep at it if we want things to pick up! Really, it boils down to getting involved and staying involved. Players and characters lose interest in activities and everyone (admins included) needs to work to keep things entertaining.
We are hoping that some activity down at the Community Center will help this along! We've already started accepting Townie characters to teach adult courses at the community center and have added some OCD to the Session 1 Summer Workshop Request Post for existing Teacher and Townie characters who would like to teach an adult course during the first summer session. Six weeks is a good introductory time period, after all!
Vacations
Vacations are a tricky part of the game to manage. We attempt to balance giving student and teacher characters enough options of things to do while also allowing for plenty of social time. Hearing your concerns that they're becoming a bit repetitive, we'll be looking into setting up some brainstorming and possibly more polls to find out what players would most enjoy seeing on the next break trip. Who knows, maybe the whole island will take a trip!
Suggestions In General
These are great, and we love hearing them -- not just at Open Forum time. Plot kernels, ideas, etc. can all be tossed in the monthly brainstorming posts or emailed to us at any time!
___
You may now shower us with pictures of pretty people. Or questions. Or pretty people asking questions. Or pretty people taking showers. Or questionable people taking showers, because we know someone will anyway.
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Also, thank you, guys. I'm all excited about the new AU stuff. :D :D :D
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TORSO.
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Here, have my new fave icon in gratitude. Because clearly my brain going kaboom is a good thing.
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Here's the thing. I jumped on this suggestion; I thought, hey, maybe that will get people diving into class and playing. So I tried that for the next few classes: I made a point of posting them before I went to bed, instead of early afternoon-ish.
(Right now I'm teaching two and co-teaching a third, which is why I can say there were a few even if it's only been a couple of weeks.)
And ... absolutely nothing changed. People still ignored classes. Which is completely and totally their right -- it's only required that people sign in to classes -- but it also made me a bit ... cynical? I don't know. I write class every week, three of them at this point, and now I should try to get them up earlier, so that ... people can ignore them earlier? So, uh, I stopped bothering about when I posted class, because fuck it, if nobody's pinging in anyway, they can (not) ping in whenever I post it, that is when.
How can we encourage students to participate in class more? Because I think one of the things that burns teachers out is posting a class that nobody even responds to -- which I'm guilty of just as much (if not more so) as anybody else -- and posting it earlier didn't help.
Um. if this is the wrong place for this, smack me and I'll zap it, bbs.
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I have no idea how to improve it, though posting the night before does help me out, at least, since middle of the day stuff is likely to get shuffled to "I'll get to that later" stuff, whereas night-before means it's right there when I open up my flist.
I think a healthy mix of SUPER-ACTIVITIES/DISCUSSIONS and movie days/light days is really beneficial? But otherwise I have no idea on how to fix it, and to be completely honest it's part of the reason I've not taught fake classes for like two years. I write enough lesson plans that kids ignore IRL. :)
(And I don't mean that bitchily, because see above re: I totally get not participating/not pinging in, but I absolutely get the frustration that teachers face, too.)
I also wonder if the adult classes are going to suffer from non-mandatory participation -- is there a way we could enforce things within IC rules, or something? Like, actual grades, maybe? I'm spitballing but I have no idea.
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So if I gave myself permission to just throw in some movie classes in a healthy ratio, and not as a last-ditch effort on days when I have nothing left, I would be less insane, presumably. Somewhat, anyway.
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IN CONCLUSION: cookies.
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When you mentioned posting early I got all OOOH MAYBE THAT IS WHAT IS WRONG. MAYBE THAT WILL FIX IT. And it didn't, which means the issue is bigger than just that, which is why I wanted to bring it up. And also because I'm a crankypants who was all DAMMIT THAT DID NOT WORK :(
Um this was not intended to be mean. I am underslept and weird?
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Bubbles herself might or might not also be around along with all the other NPCs from that world; we'll leave that up to the individual players and the handwavy magic of Fandom, as long as it's consistent for everybody who travels to that world and has a possible counterpart.
Может будет интересно
(Anonymous) 2013-02-24 11:15 am (UTC)(link)