empatheias_ooc | Mid-Month Announcement: October (Reply)

— MID-MONTHLY MOD ANNOUNCEMENT: OCTOBER —

» CALENDAR

Here are the dates you should know for the rest of the month. The main calendar spreadsheet can be found here.

10/18: Test Drive.
10/25: Activity Check starts; Reservations open.
10/31: Activity Check ends.
11/01: Applications open.

Things are looking better compared to how they were before. With concerted efforts, the gloomy atmosphere is lessening and things are starting to return to normal.

» EMOTION TRACKER UPDATE

As always, it's kind of early to tell where the Emotion Tracker is going.

As a reminder, this is just a "mid-month" check to give everyone an idea of where the Emotion Tracker stands. If you haven't had a chance to submit your threads, don't worry! You can still submit and have it count for the final tally at the end of the month.

Here is a screenshot of the stats:

We have improvement! When will be the next time we see this thing dip in the red, who knows, but wasn't it a bit exciting? We'll see how the rest of the month pans out.

» THEASTHAI

Did everyone have fun in Theasthai? Well, maybe not the sudden kidnapping for the fetch quest, but new place! The finale log can be found here.

We will be updating the various game info (and very definitely reorganize and create some cliff notes for everything because man have we grown in depth and size!), but for now we just wanted to let everyone know that like Shaarnath, Theasthai is open for free travel. Restrictions to go into Theasthai from its side are a little lax, but those of Verens are still going to impose their own to ensure diplomatic relations. We're going to detail that below.

Otherwise, the normal general travel process of purchasing a ticket and everyone at the teleporters keeping record of who comes and goes is still there. And for those who missed it the first time, the details on Theasthai are here.

» TRAVELING CRIMINALS

We know we have a few characters who at some point or another was arrested for various reasons. Some crimes were minor, some way more than minor. Initially, the locals didn't want anyone with a criminal record to travel. This included their own, not just Otherworlders. Now, however, with relations with Shaarnath going well and with Theasthai seemingly more relaxed, there may be ways to get even those with records to travel.

And of course, from an OOC standpoint, we don't want to lock anyone behind a wall and limit their ability to participate in various activities. So while this system isn't yet placed in-game, this is the OOC info that if sought and followed will help that process along. (This is for both traveling to towns and participating on adventures/excursions.)

Request to travel. First of all, no one is going to offer them if they want to travel. So it will be up to the character to actually make a request to travel.
Requirements. This will vary depending on the character's record, but this is how it will work:
- Level 1. This is basically if there is a record, but they are no longer doing time and have been out for at least a month with out any further trouble. If the only thing on record is like petty theft, then so long as they're cleared and not in jail, then they can go without much hassle. It will be known that they are traveling but no one is going to keep a hard eye on them.
- Level 2. Minor crimes like petty theft, assault, etc. but still doing service will need to provide their community service record and emotion record. They will also have Enforcer security and monitored. The trip is also limited to general visiting and will have to wait until they do their time to be able to more freely travel. But at least this way they can see the new places as well as use it as a chance to add onto their service, such as helping with whatever objective is occurring.
- Level 3. This is for pretty much everything else. It does not matter if the character is no longer doing time, these ex-convicts are only able to go out if they provide the community service and emotion records, have at least 2-3 Enforcer accompanying, and may have additional Arehtei monitoring depending on how well they've behaved. The worse off, the more likely to have an Arehtei place some kind of monitoring mechanism.
- Level 4. Worst offense, caused massive death and destruction. These will have a much harder time getting approval, but they will need all of the requirements from Level 3 and will have their aligned Arehtei accompanying them as well as have either Daimonia or Thras also be on alert in their respective cities.
Keep in mind that while we are trying to keep things still open, this is still not a guarantee as it's still IC-based. Timing and actual actions of the character will depend on whether they can still go. It should not be expected that they will be able to freely travel one week after getting their sentence, especially if they fall under Level 4. They will definitely have the hardest going outside legally, just like it would be in the real world. But, if it's proven that the character has been on good behavior and won't be as much of a threat, then that all can ease off a bit.

For Enforcer involvement, ideally it would have another character who is in the force. Not all accompanying Enforcers have to be characters—the rest can be NPCs. But we would like for at least one character Enforcer so that the restricted character can at least have one person to thread with (and maybe make some weird CR).

In terms of Arehtei involvement, this will vary depending on the character. Some may just need a simple item or charm that can act as an on command taser used by the accompanying character Enforcer. The "taser" is going to correspond with the Enforcer character's alignment and will send a jolt of the corresponding positive emotion. So jolt of love, joy, appreciation. Others may need the Arehtei itself to come along and be a nosy busybody. We pity anyone who has Piphron or Sosyne. Additionally, Arehtei can be threaded with, but by default we'll have it handwaved.

When the character is out, while good behavior would be nice, this is actually us giving anyone who has a truly devious character to try and make a break for it or, you know, cause chaos or whatever conflict. Of course, there will be consequences for that, but when you have way more places to run, it's at least a little more exciting and less limited in what you can do. This will need to be talked over with us first, as well as worked out with those who may be involved and the rest of the community. But the option is out there.

Finally, for all of this to happen on an OOC, affected players just have to come to us first so we can work out the details and know what's going to happen. Especially if you plan on doing something that would require action. Everything else can be handwaved.

Hopefully this will work! If not, we will continue to tweak and work with it, which will just reflect in how the system changes in-game. Of course if nefarious things happen things may be affected on an IC level, but we'll work it out if that time comes. But feel free to go ahead and give feedback and suggestions!

» RESTORING LAND ATTEMPT

As requested, we are giving a plug to the adventure involving restoring a piece of the surface. Specifically, a revisit to a place in Elios's territory. For those who weren't around, last year he had taken the Otherworlders down to try and see how much affect they had. Not much, but some. So, a group is forming to try for round #2!

This is player driven and the details are in the link provided. It's set to go up around the October 22nd, possibly earlier. Anyone is welcome to join in.

-------------------------

And that's about it. If you have any questions, concerns, or want things clarified, just comment to this post.

Mid-Month Announcement: October

Post a comment in response: