empatheias_ooc | Monthly Mod Announcement: October (Reply)

— MONTHLY MOD ANNOUNCEMENT: OCTOBER —

Hello, everyone! We hope you enjoyed September. The latest crystal theft event was just an introduction to a new location: Briarlan. We will be posting the details to the new city towards the latter half of the month so intrepid explorers can check it out!

We would also like to thank everyone for their participation in the IC voting, as well as the feedback given to the new changes we've introduced last month. This month, we'll be introducing Techmotion, as it's part of the Briarlan Trade Deal.

There are also some important things discussed in this post, such as helper mod applications, and taken list maintenance. Please make sure to read this post and spare some time in helping us keep the taken list updated. Thank you so much!

» CALENDAR

The main calendar spreadsheet is here as reference.

Here are the basic dates to keep up with:

10/01: Canon and Original Character Applications open; Plot and CR with Me meme posted; Task Board updated; Helper Mods applications open.
10/05: Applications close; Reservations close; Intro log posted.
10/05-06: All applications should be processed by the end of this period.
10/07: Helper Mods applications close.
10/16: Event.
10/17: Test Drive.
10/25: Activity Check starts; Reservations open.
10/31: Activity check ends.

» ACTIVITY CHECK RESULTS

Below are the following who were either removed from the Activity Check or dropped out of the game. The list includes all characters who left the game throughout the month. The following names will also be posted in a visible place within the residential area where most of the characters are residing. This list reflects the names that are also on the wall.

Juzo Sakakura |

rockyxiii
Aoba Seragaki |

vocalizer
Azuma |

sharpstring
Jun Kanzaki |

sweetjoker
Mikaela Hyakuya |

sanguisdolore
Kairi |

notgoingtowait
Gladio Amicitia |

noodledream
Prompto Argentum |

quickpic
Gladion |

type_edge
Vincent Nightray |

weencent
Cindy Aurum |

likepawpaw
Hanabusa Aidou |

frenchlavender
Azura |

lazuline
Xander |

blackparagon
Ahsoka Tano |

neveraknight
Korra |

alphatar
Winnifred Prismall |

soulsrob
Oona |

mermaiding
Sha Gojyo |

inthecenterfold
Axel |

eventuallea
Aqua |

prismbloom
Tinker Bell |

raretalentindeed
Lune Oddo |

ajourneybegins
Riza Hawkeye |

intohell
Zephyr Taiyoh |

butlaserstho
Solas |

carefulapostate
Marian Hawke |

questionablewit
Lance |

the_tailor

The following received strikes and must pass this month's Activity Check to remain in the game.

battlefieldbrat

callyourname

cilantro

green_cyborg_ninja_dude

la_sombra

shepherds_pie

untiltheend

If there are any mistakes, please let us know ASAP!

» JOBS & TASK BOARD

The Task Board has been updated so characters can start taking on odd jobs if they are so inclined. Details as to how the Task Board works and sign-up can be found on the said post, as well.

In addition, there is a Job List sheet that lists out more permanent jobs available for characters. The link to the job list can be found here. These are different from the Task Board jobs as they can be used as part-time or full-time jobs and do not have any specific time period. If you want your character to have a job, that's it. This is also where we will list character run businesses. So if you have one or are thinking about one, there will be a place where it can be referenced and looked at. You can even make tasks relating to your business.

The location of each task is determined by the colors they're labeled with. So, White = Verens; Yellow = Shaarnath; Pink = Theastai; Purple = Excursions; Red = Plot.

» EMOTION TRACKER UPDATE

The Emotion Tracker has been updated with new sheets. If you forgot, you can still submit to the tracker and just have it count toward this month. This includes any events that occurred.

This month's survey link is here.

Here is the screenshot for the end of last month:

Anyone who is interested in the fancy breakdown of points can find it here—but don't worry too much about it if numbers aren't your thing.

Whoa, what did you guys do to the tracker? Well, about half of the negatives are from the rituals, but there's still about a hundred points worth from people filing in their own entries.

Thras and Elios are the most positive and most negative respectively, but that's only due to the rituals. Otherwise, Aiada and Sosyne would be taking those crowns respectively. As it stands, Thras and Sosyne were saved from being negative by the rituals. Poor Peromei and Daimonia are having a bad time of it, while Piphron's still enjoying some positive points.

On the overall side of things, most are trending positive, with Aiada and Elios still high up on positive points, Daimonia, Peromei, and Piphron enjoying a good amount of positive points and Sosyne barely hanging on to a net positive. Poor Thras is the only one at a net negative...

» AREHTEI COMMITTEE SIGN-UPS AND UPDATES

Arehtei committee sign-ups are open again this month over here! For more details as to what this committee does, please check the related post on the Arehtei journal.

As a reminder, the Arehtei committee logs are posted bimonthly on the tenth, or on an as-needed basis. We've also modified the AC requirement to allow five comments across a maximum of two threads for those that choose to thread in the committee log. We have also included a "Questions" and "Proposed Projects" header under the committee journal entry for ease of plotting and raising any relevant inquiries. Please do not hesitate to use them! Likewise, we welcome any feedback regarding the committee!

» HELPER MODERATORS

We are currently looking for four helper moderator applications. As of current, we are in need of 2 Prompt mods and 2 Application mods. Both types of moderators will be brought onto the team immediately after applications close. The remainder of the mod team will be the same, so don't panic! We are just in need of some more hands to assist us with specific types of work, as sometimes our availability can hinder us from performing to our best capacity.

For more information regarding the positions and the responsibilities, as well as the application for the slots, please see here.

»TECHMOTION

Thus far as everyone knows, Verens tech uses elemental cores to power just about everything in the city and around the island and lends itself to a heavily steampunk feel. In addition to this we introduced Dunamis a while back which is the practice of focusing your emotions into other forms almost like magic. With the introduction of Briarlan and their technology, a hybrid of the two is introduced: Techmotion

Techmotion will be used ICly through the Briarlan Trade Deal for the projects named there, but with technicians coming from Briarlan to teach, it’s possible for PC characters to pick up and use this technology in their own ways. Techmotion is applicable to things that just can’t be done with element cores or with the use of Dunamis. We’ve had a lot of questions throughout the years that asked us about phones, computers and other tech that just doesn’t work with what’s available. That’s not to say working cellphones are going to start being possible, but we’re one step closer!

As stated before: Techmotion combines the use of emotion charged crystals and a special conductive ore mined from the mountains that surround Briarlan. Using the ore and turning it into wiring helps amplify the crystal’s emotions, which is then channeled into all sorts of things. Unlike the amulet-powered technology in Verens, it does eventually consume the crystal, which is where the trouble for Briarlan came from. Briarlan relied on it for just about everything from electricity, cooling and heating, weaponry, low tech motor vehicles, radio, and just about anything under the sun, and the use eventually became unsustainable with their own very small crystal supply. Because of this, the use of Techmotion is going to be very regulated within Verens and Empatheias in order to prevent the same issues that Briarlan faced.

New Possible Uses:
⦁ New Capabilities Think of this as a step toward a possible electronic equivalent. Radios, better motors, better internal wiring for things that could possibly function as early computers are all good examples. It’s the efficiency of Techmotion and how it's applied that will make day to day things like this a lot easier to accomplish and a lot less cumbersome to build.

⦁ Defensive Uses Verens is already moving toward using techmotion to create a powered protective emotion fueled grid around the city in dangerous situations. This should prevent a lot of the extreme damage the city has seen in the past in events like Sosyne’s wrath, or for a more recent example, protecting from the monsters and encroaching growth during the recent Crystal event.

⦁ Weaponry of any kind will be restricted by the Verens government, as emotion weapons are considered extremely dangerous. While otherworlders could possibly look into applying their new Techmotion knowledge in this direction, if they are caught they will have to deal with repercussions.

⦁ Larger Projects such as the ones described in the BTD (Briarlan Trade Deal) will be limited to important IC developments and events in order to keep from overextending the use of crystals. However should a character want to undertake a larger project involving techmotion down the line, we actively encourage you to come to us so we can work something out!

⦁ New Job Opportunities Along with the new technology comes a set of new potential careers and tasks! There will be openings for engineers adapt and improve various Verens technology using Techmotion, instructors to help the Briarlan natives teach the new techniques to locals, and airship pilots to haul the technology and required materials back and forth.

Finally, we want to emphasize that the spread of Techmotion will take time. We do not expect to see widespread use of this technology for a while, since they need to be learned from the Briarlan natives, and tinkered with by otherworlders in order to apply it in a way that works to their projects. So please keep this in mind when you consider using Techmotion. If you have a question about whether an idea can be used or not, you can always contact us and we’ll help you figure it out.

» LISTS MAINTENANCE

Please check out the Taken Characters List (A-M | N-Z) and make sure your information is correct! For those who have characters whose icons are not showing, please correct these so that we can fix them accordingly. Character names should link to their respective info pages, as well. If you don't your character's info page is not linked yet, please comment there with a link so we can update your entry!

We’d also like to remind everyone of the Player Contact list. If you haven’t updated your contact information there or if you haven’t commented to the post yet, we encourage you to do so. It will help your fellow players get in touch with you. Alternatively, if you don’t want your information posted there, please make sure there is an easy way to contact you in your character journals.

Additionally, if you have changed your username, please let us know so we can update our lists! This will help us not only keep the taken and player contact lists up to date, but also keep track of characters in our spreadsheets.

If you guys have any questions or concerns regarding any of the above, please don’t hesitate to comment to this post!

Monthly Mod Announcement: October

Post a comment in response: