Oh, no no no! That is indeed not what we were trying to say at all. We should clarify from the very start that by "death plots" what we are really addressing are murder plots—plots where characters are killing other characters or NPCs. Other types of deaths, such as environmental, event-based, or self-inflicted, are not a problem. But for murder plots, there is a criminal nature to it that needs to be addressed, especially since these can affect the mindset of the game as a whole.
In addition, there is no rigid narrative that we are following or one that we are trying to dictate; it has and always will be dynamic and involves player input and action. Most recent example would actually be the birth of the Grim Reaper. Spoilers on origin story, but both ICly and OOCly, it came about due to Pride's Gate of Truth plot. By "narrative" we actually mean not only the story developed by the players, but also the environment that the players are working with. Think of it like a river. The water will run its course, winding this way and that, and we let it flow freely. But as mods we do need to make sure that it doesn't suddenly overflood into unwanted areas. Other players may try to put up obstacles of their own, but we can still come in with sandbags at the banks so that the water can continue flowing, just not in ways that would do unwanted harm. Keeping with the analogy, right now that water is threatening to spill over and players do not have anything adequate to deter it. So we're trying to take preemptive measures so that if there is a huge flood, it's one that everyone wants.
We do not mind negative consequences and yes, we would still encourage them. We want there to be conflicts. That includes plots involving death and murder. At the heart of it was how to deal with the consequences and what the current trend was leading to. In addition, there is no scripted narrative, otherwise we wouldn't have allowed any of this to happen to begin with. In fact in every event we have has a "well the island could crash" scenario, such as the last one. We like chaos, it adds to the narrative. We wouldn't have let Junko drive Peromei to despair otherwise and we get excited when the Emotion Tracker tanks because something could happen!
But in that instance, players and characters had an opportunity and adequate means to counter against the extreme negative outcome (which is Peromei outright attacking the island and leaving greater devastation). With the murder plots, there is no such means. A criminal can be caught, but what is the adequate punishment? What is the actual consequence of their actions? Currently, there is only increase in hostility because aside from making a character unplayable, there is no adequate consequence. Whatever happens, they're still going to live, walk, and in some people's minds, "get away" with the murder. It's like having repeat offenders getting sent to jail but then allowed back out on the streets after their sentence. That is the part of the narrative that needs to be addressed, in particular to how the natives would feel about what has been happening lately in regards to murder plots.
To put it in the perspective of the natives, they have criminals who can be on par or worse than what the PCs can do. But they have a system to deal adequate punishment, the highest being the death penalty. The problem is the PCs do not die permanently—instead they come back to life after death. Thus, what is to stop them from committing the crime again? This is also a sentiment that characters might also share, so it's not strictly based on NPC action. Now, OOCly this probably won't be a problem, but ICly they don't know that. The characters, both NPC and PC, do not know how to properly handle these kinds of criminals, and OOCly we don't want to chain players from ever doing these plots because we do think they can be very interesting! But this inadequacy was made clear with Pride's plot and we recognized that our very own premise was hindering proper consequences.
That is why we are deploying the "Grim Reaper." This is our in-game mechanism that should help appease any in-game tension and hostility because it is something that the characters can (or rather will) see and know of its existence. While local law enforcement can't do much, at least something born from the world itself will exact some kind of justice and punishment. But we also announced this OOCly and expressed our own concerns and requests ahead of time to help give a concrete assurance to the players who have also expressed wariness and concern about the recent trend in murder plots. They are not meant to be perceived as harsh as you are interpreting them, just us asking and reminding players that there will be consequences via the Reaper. The warning we were making is just a heads up of what could happen because we believe that players should be fully aware of what they're getting into. If after knowing all of that they still want to go for it—that's fine! But we don't want it to be some kind of unwanted surprise and we want to allow opportunity for those who may not want that kind of path.
Death is a big deal, and we just want to ensure that that is being made clear from here on out.
So, rather than threatening our own narrative, all those plots were affecting the narrative in a way that could threaten what players may feel comfortable playing out in terms of environment without a proper means to go against it if they so desire. We have no issue in having the NPCs take on a more hostile environment, but for those who may not want that, they currently do not have a way to change that attitude. There is only one path because there is currently nothing in game to help reassure the natives that criminals who come back to life are still adequately punished. That is the point we are trying to make and that is what we really mean by "preserving the game environment." The narrative and game environment can remain as dynamic as it has been, but as mods we still need to ensure that it's one that the majority feel not only comfortable with, but one they can work with. When something disruptive like a murder plot occurs, there is a reassurance that it was thought out and that adequate consequences will occur.
We also would like to point out that since the year started, we have had at least one or two murder or death plot proposals per month. These should not be constantly recurring events or on a schedule because not only should those plots hold some significance, there should have been something to try and deter future ones from happening. At the very least, there should be some pause before it's developed. That is the "uptick" we were addressing and why we felt the need to go ahead and give players the heads up before more proposals came in. It's quite possible that there might not have been anymore, but we also didn't think there would be this many already. So this was a preemptive measure before things hit a point that would make it more difficult to address.
Which leads us to what you perceived as a threat with our mention of permadeath. It was not our intention to have it come off as a threat and more of merely stating that this is a possibility and not really one we want to go to. We were giving everyone full disclosure so that no one is caught unawares. Additionally, it is just an action we would have to take if deaths were abused, and to clarify, that is to mean if players were killing their characters and others just for the fun of it and not considering the consequences. But that is why we have the Reaper instead, and we believe it should be all that we need to act as a stop gap for the future. However, looking it over we can see how it could be interpreted that way especially since the concept of being abused was not made clear and it is admittedly strongly worded. At the time of writing, we all knew what it meant, especially in context with the rest of the information, and therefore were completely "knowledge blind" to how it could be read to others. For that we apologize for the misunderstanding there. We would also like to note that we did not think any of the past murder and death plots that have already occurred fall under this category. They all had some kind of interesting purpose and that is why we approved them.
So once again, to be clear it was not a threat to try and quell murder plots completely. The real purpose of all of this is to have both the players and characters realize that there are consequences to these kinds of plots and actions. They are still very much allowed, everyone just needs to know what's going on and what they will be getting into. It is also to help assure those who have been a bit wary about the recent murder plots that more consideration and consequences are in place.
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In addition, there is no rigid narrative that we are following or one that we are trying to dictate; it has and always will be dynamic and involves player input and action. Most recent example would actually be the birth of the Grim Reaper. Spoilers on origin story, but both ICly and OOCly, it came about due to Pride's Gate of Truth plot. By "narrative" we actually mean not only the story developed by the players, but also the environment that the players are working with. Think of it like a river. The water will run its course, winding this way and that, and we let it flow freely. But as mods we do need to make sure that it doesn't suddenly overflood into unwanted areas. Other players may try to put up obstacles of their own, but we can still come in with sandbags at the banks so that the water can continue flowing, just not in ways that would do unwanted harm. Keeping with the analogy, right now that water is threatening to spill over and players do not have anything adequate to deter it. So we're trying to take preemptive measures so that if there is a huge flood, it's one that everyone wants.
We do not mind negative consequences and yes, we would still encourage them. We want there to be conflicts. That includes plots involving death and murder. At the heart of it was how to deal with the consequences and what the current trend was leading to. In addition, there is no scripted narrative, otherwise we wouldn't have allowed any of this to happen to begin with. In fact in every event we have has a "well the island could crash" scenario, such as the last one. We like chaos, it adds to the narrative. We wouldn't have let Junko drive Peromei to despair otherwise and we get excited when the Emotion Tracker tanks because something could happen!
But in that instance, players and characters had an opportunity and adequate means to counter against the extreme negative outcome (which is Peromei outright attacking the island and leaving greater devastation). With the murder plots, there is no such means. A criminal can be caught, but what is the adequate punishment? What is the actual consequence of their actions? Currently, there is only increase in hostility because aside from making a character unplayable, there is no adequate consequence. Whatever happens, they're still going to live, walk, and in some people's minds, "get away" with the murder. It's like having repeat offenders getting sent to jail but then allowed back out on the streets after their sentence. That is the part of the narrative that needs to be addressed, in particular to how the natives would feel about what has been happening lately in regards to murder plots.
To put it in the perspective of the natives, they have criminals who can be on par or worse than what the PCs can do. But they have a system to deal adequate punishment, the highest being the death penalty. The problem is the PCs do not die permanently—instead they come back to life after death. Thus, what is to stop them from committing the crime again? This is also a sentiment that characters might also share, so it's not strictly based on NPC action. Now, OOCly this probably won't be a problem, but ICly they don't know that. The characters, both NPC and PC, do not know how to properly handle these kinds of criminals, and OOCly we don't want to chain players from ever doing these plots because we do think they can be very interesting! But this inadequacy was made clear with Pride's plot and we recognized that our very own premise was hindering proper consequences.
That is why we are deploying the "Grim Reaper." This is our in-game mechanism that should help appease any in-game tension and hostility because it is something that the characters can (or rather will) see and know of its existence. While local law enforcement can't do much, at least something born from the world itself will exact some kind of justice and punishment. But we also announced this OOCly and expressed our own concerns and requests ahead of time to help give a concrete assurance to the players who have also expressed wariness and concern about the recent trend in murder plots. They are not meant to be perceived as harsh as you are interpreting them, just us asking and reminding players that there will be consequences via the Reaper. The warning we were making is just a heads up of what could happen because we believe that players should be fully aware of what they're getting into. If after knowing all of that they still want to go for it—that's fine! But we don't want it to be some kind of unwanted surprise and we want to allow opportunity for those who may not want that kind of path.
Death is a big deal, and we just want to ensure that that is being made clear from here on out.
So, rather than threatening our own narrative, all those plots were affecting the narrative in a way that could threaten what players may feel comfortable playing out in terms of environment without a proper means to go against it if they so desire. We have no issue in having the NPCs take on a more hostile environment, but for those who may not want that, they currently do not have a way to change that attitude. There is only one path because there is currently nothing in game to help reassure the natives that criminals who come back to life are still adequately punished. That is the point we are trying to make and that is what we really mean by "preserving the game environment." The narrative and game environment can remain as dynamic as it has been, but as mods we still need to ensure that it's one that the majority feel not only comfortable with, but one they can work with. When something disruptive like a murder plot occurs, there is a reassurance that it was thought out and that adequate consequences will occur.
We also would like to point out that since the year started, we have had at least one or two murder or death plot proposals per month. These should not be constantly recurring events or on a schedule because not only should those plots hold some significance, there should have been something to try and deter future ones from happening. At the very least, there should be some pause before it's developed. That is the "uptick" we were addressing and why we felt the need to go ahead and give players the heads up before more proposals came in. It's quite possible that there might not have been anymore, but we also didn't think there would be this many already. So this was a preemptive measure before things hit a point that would make it more difficult to address.
Which leads us to what you perceived as a threat with our mention of permadeath. It was not our intention to have it come off as a threat and more of merely stating that this is a possibility and not really one we want to go to. We were giving everyone full disclosure so that no one is caught unawares. Additionally, it is just an action we would have to take if deaths were abused, and to clarify, that is to mean if players were killing their characters and others just for the fun of it and not considering the consequences. But that is why we have the Reaper instead, and we believe it should be all that we need to act as a stop gap for the future. However, looking it over we can see how it could be interpreted that way especially since the concept of being abused was not made clear and it is admittedly strongly worded. At the time of writing, we all knew what it meant, especially in context with the rest of the information, and therefore were completely "knowledge blind" to how it could be read to others. For that we apologize for the misunderstanding there. We would also like to note that we did not think any of the past murder and death plots that have already occurred fall under this category. They all had some kind of interesting purpose and that is why we approved them.
So once again, to be clear it was not a threat to try and quell murder plots completely. The real purpose of all of this is to have both the players and characters realize that there are consequences to these kinds of plots and actions. They are still very much allowed, everyone just needs to know what's going on and what they will be getting into. It is also to help assure those who have been a bit wary about the recent murder plots that more consideration and consequences are in place.