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tabularasa_ooc2020-11-08 07:01 pm
tabularasa_mods) wrote in tabularasa_ooc2020-11-08 07:01 pm
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State of the Game
State of the GameHello, everyone!
It’s been four months since Tabula Rasa opened, and we’re thrilled to see that all of you have been having fun so far. The three of us try to keep our fingers on the pulse regarding what you all think of the game as fellow players, but we wanted to address you all in a mod capacity to give you a peek into what’s coming next and get some feedback in an open forum while also answering some frequently asked questions.
Upcoming Events
For November, we will not be holding any events like we did for September and October and will instead be focusing on catching up on imprints. In the meantime, we'd love to hear any feedback anyone has for our past two events! If there is anything in particular you enjoyed (or did not enjoy) about the memory share and nightmare events, or if there are any types of events you'd like to see in the future, please let us know your thoughts.
We will also not be posting a mod-run mingle post for this month since we are not running any events to center it on. Though we've posted mingle logs without events in the past, without a central event or location to "mingle" around we've had difficulty coming up with prompts that don't feel disjointed. The secondary purpose of these logs, which was to act as an intro log for new players after each app cycle, has also become unnecessary with the changes to our app system. We feel it would be better to leave these non-event months open for players to host their own logs, mingle or otherwise, as most activity seems to go into the mingle logs as soon as they go up.
We will still be posting an imprint update on the 15th as we always do, and this certainly won't be the end of event mingles! We just wanted to give everyone a heads-up in case anyone was expecting a mingle this month.
For December, we will be running a more relaxed, lighthearted event where players will be able to receive an event bonus for their characters. There will be a sign up post for this event within the first week of December. This is all we will say about it for now, but we hope you will all look forward to it!
For January and onward, we have some ideas but nothing is currently set in stone. We will likely be introducing the imprinted concept of either mana or evolution after the holidays, so we are open to suggestions on what sort of chaos could be caused by either (or both!) of these options.
Metaplot & Lore Compliancy (Or Lack Thereof)
Tabula Rasa does not have an existing metaplot, and our intent from the game's conception has been to shape its "plot" purely around character choice and actions. This is something we feel some players may have overlooked, as Tabula Rasa works a bit differently from most typical jamjar games on Dreamwidth. We want to reiterate here that we have no long term plans for the game's direction and no overarching mystery that players must solve.
This isn't to say that there will be no long term plots or mysteries in Tabula for players to explore, however, but that any plots or mysteries that develop will be based entirely on what the characters in the game decide to focus on. We'd like to remind everyone as well to please use the Organic Imprints post whenever possible to keep us updated on what characters are up to. We can't be in every thread at once, so it's a huge help to us if we could see more of that! It also means you can be sure we've seen something if there's a particular goal or concept your character has been working towards.
We'd also like to touch on the idea of lore compliancy, or characters sticking to the rules of the setting such as on the State of the World page. A few times now we've seen players make posts or comments that contradict or misunderstand the rules outlined for the game's setting... and that's great! We want to make it clear to everyone that we care far more about the spirit of the rule being followed rather than the word of the rule - honest mistakes are fine, as is fudging the mechanics a bit for the sake of a fun idea. The nature of the setting means that any discrepancies between characters can be easily explained, so we'd really like to see this embraced as a more active method to pursue organic imprints and expand on the setting. You can see any of our TDM prompts for examples of this: everything used for these prompts is something that is not strictly outlined anywhere in the game's setting, but we would absolutely not mind it if players took similar ideas and ran with them.
You're always welcome to ask us directly if something is okay or not, and we love to see creative questions! We really want to stress that we're interested in working with everyone to build the kind of setting you'd all enjoy, so please don't ever hesitate to bug us about an idea you have or want to work towards. As this is a game driven by character actions, we want to give as much freedom to players as we can in order to achieve that.
Imprints & Influence Points
The way that the imprint system functions in regards to game mechanics is to achieve a means to an end. Tabula Rasa’s setting is a blank slate that requires groundwork to be built before more complex concepts can be introduced in the way that they are intended to work.
We’ve taken note of some OOC concerns about “wasting” influence points, with the fear that what is outlined in a submitted imprint will be misconstrued or not applied in the way that is intended. Although we understand the hesitation, we want to reassure you that there’s no such thing as wasting points! As long as your goal for the imprint is communicated to us in the submission, it will eventually be implemented as such. The road that it takes to get there, however, may not be as direct or immediate as Point A → Point B; what happens in between is where you can let your creativity shine! The world of Tabula Rasa grows with and around the influence of the characters inhabiting it, and will build itself based on previously established concepts and ideas. Reiterating what was stated in the metaplot heading, there’s no harm in asking us whether or not something can be done, and we can tell you right now that the answer will probably be “yes” - the lack of IC structure in the setting is what makes this possible.
We also want to reiterate that if something is submitted to us that we already have in the works, we won't accept the submission and "waste" those points either. New and unexpected changes to the setting may spring up through character actions, but we don't want anyone to worry about wasting influence because they submitted something that would've happened anyway! If something is already being planned for the near future that's overly similar to a player submitted imprint, we'll tell you this before we decline your submission. Once the change has occurred in the game, you're welcome to resubmit the imprint again if you feel your goals were different enough to build off it.
As a quick side note, we always select one imprint from an accepted application; any unused imprint suggestions (if applicable) are discarded and can be re-submitted with influence points.
Open Discussion
That’s about all we wanted to address, so we will leave the discussion floor to you with a few questions! There’s no need to answer all of them; feel free to elaborate on as few or as many as you like if you have feedback. You’re also welcome to bring up topics we may not have mentioned.
- How are you enjoying the game so far?
- Are you comfortable with the daily life/event ratio?
- Are there any sorts of events that you’d like to see in the future?
- What are your thoughts on the imprint/influence system?
- Are there any game mechanics that you think need more clarification?
- What parts of the game setting would you like to see expanded on the most? (ie. building on existing locations vs. creating new ones, concepts, species, etc.)
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Are you comfortable with the daily life/event ratio? I'd like heavier events to be spaced out so as to give more time to play with the setting. I'm glad you chose not to run another one this month. That breathing room will allow for more opportunities to explore things I have been wanting Legion to explore. Smaller, more lighthearted stuff would be nice though.
Are there any sorts of events that you’d like to see in the future? Not sure.
What are your thoughts on the imprint/influence system? I think there should be more ways to earn influence. The prices are fine, and I think that most influence should be an activity award... maybe more activity bonuses? I don't know. Or a monthly activity challenge that gets a bigger point bonus?
Are there any game mechanics that you think need more clarification? Not sure.
What parts of the game setting would you like to see expanded on the most? Fleshing out out the details might be nice. Perhaps something can be put inside those empty hammerlocke ruins, or the city of tears, for instance?
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Love it. You've offered something unusual that has already been a very interesting experiment and I'm looking forward to the possible directions it goes.
2) Are you comfortable with the daily life/event ratio?
Yes, for the most part. That said, I'm also a very easy player to please, and if I like a concept and setting, keep in mind that I'll probably find a way to have fun regardless.
3) Are there any sorts of events that you’d like to see in the future?
I suspect we're getting one, but a holiday event would be nice. I know, it's hokey, but so many characters come from worlds with an idea of winter holidays, so maybe a mish-mashy thing that's light hearted and fun is good.
I think I'd also say that I like how the events/plots are sort of bleeding out of how our characters imprint and interact, so that we never 'quite' know what's coming next (ex: The Persona Cast's imprints leading to the dream sequence). So "Surpise me" applies here, though I enjoyed the memory share part. Things like that are nice once in a while.
4) What are your thoughts on the imprint/influence system?
As I've commented in private as we suss out plans for my own imprints, I have no issues with the imprint system as it currently stands, and I do not feel my points are wasted. Given that these are plot elements that build over time, gradually shifting the world, no matter what they're doing what I want.
Which is to say we're making the game together. I don't actually care that I have no idea what kind of game this will become in the end. I've found out that that's part of what I most like here. I don't know, and it's kind of fascinating.
5)Are there any game mechanics that you think need more clarification?
At present, I think I understand them ok, so I'm good.
What parts of the game setting would you like to see expanded on the most? Building upon the existing is valuable the longer that characters are here, giving them greater and greater life. A few new ones now and then are good, but I definitely like seeing updates to existing locales.
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A lot!! i love all my CR here too come into my arms u rascals
Are you comfortable with the daily life/event ratio?
Hard to say with only 4 months and 2 events, but I think the balance is good so far! Glad to hear we're getting more light stuff in the near future tho.
Are there any sorts of events that you’d like to see in the future?
I like events with lots of tension, or events that let characters talk about stuff they would normally be cagey about! Psychological horror is my jam so I'll be the one to say more of that lmao... I think something that poses a more active threat/conflict to the characters besides just monsters existing would also be good just in general. Like maybe the machine creatures could get more organized, or some part of the environment could start messing with people more (meatmentos kinda did that already but maybe it could slowly start becoming spooky again?). Something like that!
What are your thoughts on the imprint/influence system?
Agreeing that more ways to gain points would be nice! It does feel really slow to get anything at first, tho I guess that's to keep the queue in check. If event bonuses become more of a regular thing I think that'd be good!
Are there any game mechanics that you think need more clarification?
None that come to mind at the moment.
What parts of the game setting would you like to see expanded on the most? (ie. building on existing locations vs. creating new ones, concepts, species, etc.)
I think we have a pretty nice selection of locations so far, also a +1 to putting more stuff into existing places over making new ones. I do wanna see more species tho! We only have machines and dragons so more options to mess around with would be cool.
I MIGHT ADD MORE LATER but that's my feedback for now, thank you for running such a cool game!
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Yes! I've been enjoying the game a great deal. You never quite know what to expect and there's a lot of flexibility with the imprints and character contributions. The playerbase certainly helps, and I feel as if the mods are always open to plotting and providing clarification when needed. It's very organized and easy to adapt to.
‣ Are you comfortable with the daily life/event ratio?
For the most part. I will say that initially I was surprised when the nightmare event directly proceeded another major event in the form of the memory-share but despite uncertainty I thoroughly enjoyed both. There is a regularity to new items being introduced to the game so even in less event-centered months there is plenty to do and get into, plus the down time allows for player-run shenanigans.
‣ Are there any sorts of events that you’d like to see in the future?
This one is difficult to pin down since I also like when they are linked to what's being imprinted and I never know what's coming up next in the queue!
Duel Monsters invasion like in the 4th season of Yu-gi-oh.. COUGH.I need to write up things.. to submit... Thirding that a holiday event of some form would be nice, but I'm flexible on that. Definitely looking forward to a light-hearted deal after all the emotional ones!Maybe a short-term deal involving species manipulation for some generally 'what the heck is going on'-ery. Another event that requires unlikely characters to team up would be amusing. Sheesh, the possibilities are endless really.
‣ What are your thoughts on the imprint/influence system?
I think it's well thought out and moves fluidly. It's one of the better point systems I've encountered in games (possibly the best actually), and I like that there is a set amount you can earn each month with occasional bonuses. That way it doesn't become too stressful trying to manage an overabundance of threads just to rack up influence
which my muse would try to make me do o_o. Trust me, he is relentless like that. The time it takes to accumulate points also helps to trickle in the changes, which is nice, and if gives ample opportunity for those ideas to come from the playbase as a whole.‣ Are there any game mechanics that you think need more clarification?
I can't really think of anything that needs further clarification.
‣ What parts of the game setting would you like to see expanded on the most? (ie. building on existing locations vs. creating new ones, concepts, species, etc.)
I would like to see some of the locations fleshed out more on the interiors, but I also want to see new locations too.
I'm greedy like that. The reason being that some places need something to draw them there... like the lemon cello church has CAKE. Boom, it's got a draw. The Underground academy has a lot going for it, plenty of reasons to go there. I think most the current locations have a lure with only a few exceptions. Then again, those places might appeal to some characters more than others. So mostly I just think a balance in between is the way to go.I love that the void interprets some concepts in peculiar ways, like night being a localized and personal experience. That adds so much flavor in a subtle way.
Eh- for the most part I would say don't change a thing.
But I wouldn't be opposed to adding a map.. updating a map could be a pain though so I won't press it.no subject
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A lot! I'm in two games and it's admittedly my "B-Game" because it's smaller and less plot focused. That isn't a bad thing though, as I wouldn't want to be in two heavy plot games at the same time. I think it's especially great to see a small game on the site have very strong activity levels, as small games (less than 50 characters) don't often stick around for very long. I think it's a great testament that the game hasn't had a heavy drop rate either, as most of us have been around since the game opened.
Are you comfortable with the daily life/event ratio
Hmm yes and no. In my opinion, the game doesn't need huge setting shattering events to work. I think encouraging players to create their own events that involve anyone interested would be a good idea. Using the OOC comm for this I think would be in the best interest of everyone, as not all players are on plurk and/or discord.
That said, as a personal opinion, I think having two back-to-back big events that dealt with a lot of heavier themes for characters may not have been the best for pacing. Even spacing out memswap and dreamscape by a month would have worked better, especially because the former only really kicked off in the second-half of September. I was on hiatus in October, but even then I probably wouldn't have participated a lot in the dreamscape because it felt like a lot was happening in a short span of time. Again just a personal opinion, if any other players want to chime in with thoughts they can!
Any sort of events you'd like to see in the future
I think maybe a mod event every 2-3 months would work out well. A setting shakeup, a larger scale evolution of the world, mysteries that bring up questions about what's going on in the setting. A lot of characters have their own theories and speculations as to why they are here, and I think even the fact that's happening can feed into an event.
Thoughts on the influence system
So I agree that while the points needed to regain/add to the setting are fine in amount, the means of getting those points could be improved. For instance, the TDM bonus is a great incentive to get people to tag that... but the most recent TDM didn't see a lot of traffic. I think a good fix to that is to have a permanent TDM post, or have one that gets used for 2-3 months at a time.
I also think there could be a benefit to encourage people to bring more concepts in. Getting enough points for a concept regain takes at least three months, two of which you have to max out your bonus points in order to hit 40. You also can't really use any points if you're saving up for a concept. Looking at the regains/imprint page, only three concepts have been submitted and two of them are from the same canon.
Any mechanics that need clarification
I don't think so, at least I haven't had any difficulty grasping at things. I think because the game is so different from the typical dwrp game, in that you have to create things as simple as sleeping, it can take some time to get comfortable with. But I think if more people took issue with it, then the game wouldn't be keeping at a steady activity level/player base retention.
What parts you would like to see expansion on
I think building on parts of the setting that feel like it's harder to set threads in due to lack of hooks for prompt making would be good. I noticed the parts of the setting that would be a more natural draw for interaction (the cafe, the food market, the apartment complex) tend to get used more for prompt making for example.
And to repeat myself re: concepts, I think more concept introduction would be good both on the player end and mod end. Species and location creation seems pretty popular with the imprints, but I'd like to see more concepts introduced (and plan for my next imprint to be a concept once I have the points for it!)
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tl;dr I'm so sorry
Love it! I like that the game's cast is small enough to be really tight-knit and feel like the game all kinda knows each other, but not so small that it's slow or boring. And everyone is really funny and friendly!
Are you comfortable with the daily life/event ratio?
For the most part! I'm gonna echo the sentiments that major events would be better spaced out to every other month or so, especially if they involve heavier themes. I've noticed the majority of the game goes hard on backtagging due to the slower pace and so I think holding events back to back doesn't work well for that. As for me, I spent most of the Mementos event basically just having Blue shitpost like an idiot because I had already had him spilling his guts during a lot of the memory event, and I didn't want to drag him down to such a depressing level two months in a row (on top of dealing with an important CR drop). I totally understand why you guys timed it the way that you did, with the Mementos regain being lined up in the queue, and I also have noticed that it appears you guys have started arranging the order of queued regains by what 'works' best in pacing and I think that's definitely the best way to tackle the potential pacing issue.
I will say that I definitely (with this particular character) prefer more slice of life events and that horror themes are something I would typically avoid with him, especially if they involve gore or violence. Due to the nature of the game premise you sort of attract every flavor of character so of course you're naturally going to have some characters who gel better with serious subjects and some who flow better with SoL. I think having some kind of opt out option, even if it's just one tossaway prompt for stuff that may get too heavy for some characters/players would be nice for events like that (as would having some sort of deeper subject matter for characters to ponder/investigate- say a revelation about the universe of the void- during months where there are big SoL premises!).
Are there any sorts of events that you’d like to see in the future?
Honestly, nothing in particular! As above I like light-hearted stuff and I think there's plenty of wacky hijinx events that are fixtures of jamjar games that could be fun to have eventually for sure- I was just discussing somewhere that it would be funny if we had an age up/down event if, for example, any characters ever regained the concept of timetravel powers or time-control powers, only for them to go awry and the void to erm, misinterpret the idea of 'a person traveling through time'. Or something along those lines! I love deep character exploration like the memshare, but I also like just dumb, tropey events like that.
What are your thoughts on the imprint/influence system?
I'll also echo some of what's been said that the points amounts are fine but maybe additional ways (maybe even a different bonus goal each month, as was suggested) would be great. Personally I felt a little guilty because it does feel like bigger casts like the Pokémon cast have a bit of an advantage, even though we can't pool our points together, to regain stuff from our worlds; for example there's already a couple Pokémon species, locations and concepts but other canons have maybe just one or two of those. So I think making it easier for everyone to regain things faster might be a good idea, with bonuses. (That'll also make it easier for you to space our regains out with other people's :P)
As far as the concern for 'wasting' points, it's great to know that you'll just give us the heads up on if something is going to be implemented anyway! That said I do think that it would be helpful to have a better idea- maybe a loose roadmap of sorts- for what you, the modteam's plans are for the natural progression of concepts a couple months out, since the points for major regains do take several months to gather up. We know it's based on what you see characters focusing on or discussing, but I think it's still hard to predict how quickly we may see certain things appear in the world, which in turn makes it a bit tough to decide what sorts of regains may actually be usable or useful in the world of the game.
Alongside that- I also really like the spirit of the organic regain system (I love feeling like mods are stalking our juicy threads), but I have a couple comments on that-
Are there any game mechanics that you think need more clarification?
It's less that I'm confused by the organic regains and more that I rarely feel like the ideas that I think would be quickest to be naturally regained actually come up in on-screen conversation; for example I feel like it goes without saying that most characters have strongly noted the lack of a day-night cycle, or a monthly calendar, or even a sun or moon in the sky, but it may not actually come up in the threaded conversations (either because smalltalk like that is sort of boring to thread and threads usually end up centering on subjects about characters themselves, or because everyone has sort of taken it for granted at this point).
On the flipside, for anything I do have, I feel like none of my mentions of any possible concepts was particularly 'strong' enough to submit it (like just a tossaway in the brackets of an unrelated tag)- which is on me I guess, in the end, but I was pondering if perhaps there isn't some way, like a monthly/bimonthly player poll, that we can all collectively vote on concepts like that. Something like 'my character has most strongly been noticing 'x' or 'y' thing'.
What parts of the game setting would you like to see expanded on the most? (ie. building on existing locations vs. creating new ones, concepts, species, etc.)
I think I would like to see a steady path towards at least the basic physics and logic of the world becoming a little more established, so that things don't need to be confusing or misaligned so often? As an aside- I am totally the type of player to worry about lore compliance and double triple check the SotW page a hundred times, but I don't think I've seen much worry about lore compliance between other players myself! But if there is then I do wonder if it's less that anyone is worried about establishing the 'wrong' things and more that it can make it difficult for characters to talk about certain subjects when the misunderstanding is on an OOC level and not just a matter of 'the universe is inconsistent' on an IC level? if this makes sense...! I know it's been said that we can just take these discrepancies as 'hiccups of the void' but it does cause tangles here and there when (for an old TDM example) one player is under the impression that fire *never* burns things and another is assuming their character will get burnt, and suddenly your tags are kinda talking past each other. (I haven't actually seen this happen but that's the scenario I'm imagining you guys are talking about?)
AND to echo what a couple of other people said- giving some of the less used locations more reason to be used in threads would be awesome!
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Are there any sorts of events that you’d like to see in the future?
I prefer more serious events, but at a slower pace, maybe every 3-4 months? Memswap and dreamscape are always fun, but I'd more like to see events that are unique to the game setting. Maybe some kind of exploration event? Characters set out on a journey to discover a newly imprinted location, or we could go the other way in which a disaster event decimates a location... but yeah, I'm leaning towards more task-based events! Characters working together towards discovering or surviving an event, if that makes sense.
What parts of the game setting would you like to see expanded on the most?
I'm not sure if this is completely off the table in this setting but the game would really benefit from an NPC population in my opinion. I know the game doesn't have any natives, but maybe we could pull some nameless NPCs from everyone's worlds just to populate the ever growing world? I think characters would have a lot more things to do if they could influence the population, whether it's through business or otherwise!
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