empatheias_ooc | Monthly Mod Announcement: May

— MOD ANNOUNCEMENT: MAY —

Hello everyone! We’ve made it to May, and the Zephyras season is in full swing in-game as we venture on into the year 819. Along with the usual monthly announcement content, this month we have a few additional updates, so please take a few minutes to read through this post thoroughly!

OOC/IC CALENDAR

The main calendar spreadsheet is here as reference.

OOC CALENDAR:

5/01: Canon and Original Character Applications open; Plot and CR with Me Meme posted; Task Board updated.
5/05: Applications close; Reservations close.
5/05-06: Application processing.
5/06: Intro Log and Player Intros posted.
5/18: Test Drive.
5/20: Mini-Event.
5/25: Activity Check starts; Reservations open.
5/31: Activity Check end.

IC CALENDAR:

5/02: Diateris. Clean Up. With the Flower Festival over, everyone is invited to help clean up Diateris. There isn't a payment, but everyone who participates in cleaning up will be allowed to take home whatever flower petals they collect. They're good for tea, fried foods, aphrodisiacs...
5/08: Theasthai. Classical Dance Showcase. Theasthai is ever and always the place to be for those who enjoy the fine arts. The city’s finest dancers will be performing, but there will also be room for others to join the lineup. Come and enjoy a full day of classical dance, or if you’re so inclined, enter yourself into the showcase and show Theasthai what you’ve got!
5/13: Verens. Pet Adoption Fair. Verens’ very own humane society will be holding a small adoption fair in Merchant’s Square, where there will be all sorts of animals present in need of good homes. Cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, and even a few more unusual offerings that have been brought in from the wild will be available for you to meet. Drop by and make a new friend!

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.

Ace |

wildcardace
Ban |

takewhatsmine
Billy Kaplan |

actualwizard
Chibiusa Tsukino |

smallxlady
Elliot Nightray |

haveyounoshame
Genji Shimada |

green_cyborg_ninja_dude
Kazunari Takao |

pedal
Keaton |

onemanstrash
Kunzite |

swornmyvow
LLENN |

pinkdevilmunchkin
Martel Yggdrasill |

untwisted
Mikhail Jirov |

twicefanged
Nine |

linearcrash
Roxanne Monroe |

juvel
Ryo Asuka |

reillumination
Soldier: 76 |

tacticalvisor
Son Goten |

sonofson
Thrawn |

art_of_war

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

bonafidebrother

exponere

fighting4afuture

holyswordwielder

lionroll

redsoles

secondlotus

whiteknightmare

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 (if applicable) 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 = Theasthai; Blue/Grey = Briarlan; Purple = Excursions; Red = Plot.

Note: We always welcome and encourage players to submit various tasks for the Task Board! However, in the interest of fairness and making sure that player-submitted tasks can be integrated into the Board in a timely manner, we ask that if you would like your task to be included that it be submitted no later than five days prior to the start of the coming month. Otherwise, it will be included the following month. Thank you!

EMOTION TRACKER UPDATE

The Emotion Tracker has been updated with a new sheet for the coming month. If you forgot any threads from last month, 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:

Holy moly! The festival certainly did wonders for everyone, despite a few attempts to balance things out. Nearly every Arehtei has turned out positive this month, aside from Sosyne, who was more or less even, and surprising no one, Elios came out on top in positivity. The crystal on top of Verens' Observatory is shining as bright a gold as it ever has, though other colors may occasionally flash through as well, and the weather on the island will be appropriately cheery as a result, with a few light sunshowers at most this month.

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

MYSTERY GIFTS FOR APRIL

Players who submitted to the Emotion Tracker last month are invited to choose an IC Mystery Gift from the list below for each contributing character! Below is a top-level where you can let the mods know what item you've chosen. These Mystery Gifts will appear at the foot of the character's bed once they wake on the day of your choice. If the character doesn't sleep, it will be at their doorstep.

Here are the Mystery Gifts for April:

A “bottomless” flask. It may not be truly bottomless, but some kind of magic allows it to hold five times as much of your beverage of choice than it would appear.
A harmonica that shows notes as streams of color when played.
A notebook with pages that change the color of the ink depending on the user’s emotions when it’s written in.
A calendar for the year 819, with each month featuring a picture of a different Arehtei wearing seasonally-appropriate accessories.
A birdhouse, complete with a tiny welcome mat.

STATE OF THE AREHTEI

Appointments can still be made with individual Arehtei here, complete with updated player list. Here’s a glimpse of where each of the Arehtei are at right now:

Aiada - The feeling of love during the festival have raised Aiada's spirits considerably! She will be available to talk with during the entire month but beware; she may try to play with your character's hair a lot more than usual. Talking to her sprites may leave you with a new hairstyle.
Daimonia - The amorous emotions from the Flower Festival and their ensuing joy have put Daimonia into something of a dreamy, distracted haze. Though she will be open to visitors and “present” in interactions per se, it may be more difficult to get a substantial conversation from her than usual.
Elios - A little imbalanced, but it shouldn't be a cause for concern! Elios is filled with a lot of love that he wants to be friends with everyone. He even admitted to Usagi that he wishes no one went home so he could get to know every single person. He would like to keep everyone's bonds aflame……………………… but don't worry! The love he feels hasn't gone off the scales yet that he's going to start freezing everybody again. :)
Peromei - Peromei may not have gotten as much of a boost as most of the other Arehtei, but that's not stopping her energy from coming back. She'll be popping up around Verens to encourage people with sharp headbutts and a few harmless jolts of lightning, and she'll even be doing a bit of sightseeing in the other cities. Just watch out for the horn...
Piphron - As the Flower Festival draws to a close, Piphron retreats back to his mountain sanctuary, tired from his interactions with the humans. Though he continues to receive an influx of positive emotion, he requires some time alone before he is willing to entertain visitors again. This month, though he will respond to inquiries, he will do so with a manner that makes it quite clear that he is being imposed upon.
Sosyne - Zephyras has come and gone and it really didn't do much for Sosyne, sorry. She's not as grumpy as she was last month, having seemingly settled back down again, but there's not much worth noting going on with her. But a weird mix of tranquil and surliness is probably preferable to any other alternatives, so feel free to approach her for discussions and regains this month!
Thras - Thras is leaning positive as of the start of this month, and the young dragon is full of energy! He’s grown restless in Shaarnath and, as such, quite enjoyed his visit to Diateris during Zephyras, but he’s itching for more. He’ll be taking visitors, but don’t be surprised if you show up at his temple and he happens to be out— he will often be spotted stretching his wings and flying over the city itself at various times of day throughout the month.

MOD TEAM UPDATE

Our helper mod team has gained another member this month: Auste, player of Nora Valkyrie and Charles-Henri Sanson! Auste will be joining our team of prompt mods, who are dedicated to writing unique intro logs, test drive memes and task boards each month. Welcome aboard, Auste!

UPCOMING PLOT

You may have noticed that the OOC Calendar lists a mini-event rather than a full event for this month! We’re doing things just a little bit differently for May and June, where we will be laying the groundwork for next month’s event throughout the month of May. There will be more information on this to come during the mid-month announcement, as well as an idea of what to expect for the plot going forward, but for now, we ask you to please take note of Task ST0501 over on the task board! Many thanks to Mich and Sheila, who not only proposed this plot, but have been working closely with the mod team to execute it.

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The bottomless flask can fit 5 times as much liquid, but does it weigh the same no matter how much you fill?

Indeed, it weighs the same! Thanks, magic!

Hello mods! I only declared a hiatus for this month of May and haven't dropped the game.

Unfortunately, we did not receive activity from you for last month. If you did submit to AC and we somehow missed it, please let us know and we will mark it appropriately.

I see. I missed commenting on the activity check during the duration and that's completely on me. I had my months mixed up and thought I already did. I know it's closed but I left a comment there nonetheless just to show that I made the activity, but I'll re-app or take a strike for it. Whatever the mod team deem fitting. I really apologize for the inconvenience.

In accordance with our rules, and in order to be fair to our playerbase, we will have to remove you from the game for the time being. However, you are free to reapply during the June application cycle. We hope to see you then!

Hello, mods!

Quick question re: the pet adoption fair. Will more details be released/will there be a game-wide log? Or is it cool to start doing individual threads a bit early? Thank you!

Hello there! Apologies for only responding to you now!

There won't be a game-wide log for this. Feel free to have threads set during the IC event whenever you'd like!