empatheias_ooc | Mid-Month Announcement: January

— MID-MONTHLY MOD ANNOUNCEMENT: JANUARY —

All right guys, that secret room has revealed a lot, yet also opened many questions at the same time. But with that reveal, we can now discuss what is going to happen to the game from here on out.

We know we said the first mod announcement was important, but really this is the big one that introduces a new game mechanic called "Alignment". It won't see a practical use until February, but we need to give you guys the heads up about it. This mechanic will also affect the following: Applications, Emotional Flow Tracker, and Drop. Applications are affected immediately, but the other two will change at the turn of February.

For those applying for the next cycle, you will want to read this.

So like before, don't skim! If you have any questions, do ask them.

Calendar.
The calendar hasn't changed much since the last post, but here is the link as reference: Game Calendar. These are the dates you should know for the rest of the month.

1/15: PLAYER EVENT: Camping Trip
1/16: EVENT: Temple Revisited
1/18: Test Drive
1/22: PLAYER EVENT: Extreme Cook Off
1/24: EVENT: Night of Selenium + ???
1/25: Activity Check starts; Reservations open
1/31: Activity Check ends
2/01: Applications open

Verens Crystal Status.
According to the Emotional Flow Tracker, everything is still trending positive, so the crystal continues to get clearer. If this keeps up, it should be completely cleared and start rising by the time February rolls around.

Seeking Representatives and Members for a Special Defense Unit.
The meeting between the Empatheian council and characters has wrapped up. The current consensus is that the character group will need to choose representatives to become part of the Empatheian council and also choose leaders for the new defense unit which will work alongside the local Enforcers.

The first step is figuring out who OOCly is interested. That entry can be found here. Once players have a chance to think it over and figure out if their character would run or not, the actual IC campaigns will begin.

But for right now, this is just an interest post. Voting won't happen until the end of the campaigns.

Night of Selenium.
As mentioned in our earlier mod post, there is an event occurring on the night of Saturday, January 24. And thanks to Roy's group, this event will go off without a hitch as they dispatched the angry monster. Who knows what could have happened if it was still there...

About the Night. The "Night of Selenium" coincides with the Empatheian version of the "Winter Solstice," the time where night is longest, the moon is fullest, and the temperatures coldest. On this night, everyone pays respects to those who have died, especially within the past year. All businesses are closed, including government work. Although people will be somber and grieve, most take this day to celebrate the lives of those gone. Small parties are held and some will publicly speak about the departed. Visitations to the graves and cemeteries are often conducted to leave behind small gifts. It is a time where families gather to relearn their family history and revere and respect their ancestors.
The actual event. At around eight o'clock, everyone gathers to the shores of Lake Niras or go out on boat or small airships hovering near the shores. Each person is given a light, paper lantern with a flower candle attached to the bottom. Both the lantern and the flower represent the soul of the deceased. In addition, the names of past loved ones are written on small slips of paper set right above the candle. The names indicate for whom the lanterns represent. Some name specific individuals, others keep it generic to represent an entire family or line of ancestors. Some use multiple lanterns, and some use one to represent them all. On cue, everyone lights the candle. The names are burned and fuel the lantern. Everyone then releases these lanterns into the sky. This act represents the idea of souls rising to the heavens. At a certain point, the cord holding the flower candle will burn through and release it from the lantern. The candles are designed so that they float down to usually land in the lake. This symbolizes the belief that a part of the soul will still remain on the earth and in people's hearts.
What characters can do. Characters will be welcomed to participate, whether to observe or to send off a lantern of their own. Perhaps for one who has died or for those who might have returned home. In terms of logging, only the lantern release will be posted.
Emotional sways. Throughout the day, one can expect there to be a mixture emotions, ranging from somber to grief to fond remembrance to celebratory. During this period, emotions will have a stronger influence on the surroundings and on other people. If you are by someone who is feeling particularly sad and grieving over their lost one, then you will start feeling it as well. You might start thinking about someone who has passed or is gone and start feeling the same way—even if you normally wouldn't or had different feelings for that person. The opposite is true as well. Your own feelings can affect others.
Ghostly images. As another effect of these emotions, there is a high chance that a vague, ghostly image will appear of the deceased, missing, or whoever is being attributed to this event. It is not solid and takes on a more misty form. There are only few discernible features. It cannot talk and it does not move, instead just appearing and disappearing at various times. It is possible to have more than one, but the images will take on the form of the person(s) most thought strongly about. The kind of feeling you have will also affect its form.
- Soothing soul. If you have fond memories of this person, then the image will have a lighter appearance. It will also give off a soothing aura, as if to try and calm and placate the living. It can also influence others, and the stronger the feelings you have, the stronger its influence will be.
- Malevolent grudge. If you have hated, bitter, extremely grievous, harsh memories of this person, then the exact opposite happens. The image is completely black and twisted in the sense that at times it doesn't even look human. It hangs around you and the emotional influence is much stronger, spreading the negative sentiments outward. The stronger it is, the stronger the effect.
As mentioned, these images appear only every so often, so don't expect to see people walking around with strange ghostly images following them. They usually only appear when they are thought about or during emotional times.
Bonus event. But something else will happen on this night—something that will further change everyone's lives—specially the characters. On the following day, Sunday, January 25 a new log will be posted. ICly this will still occur on the night of the 24th, but we want to give everyone at least a day to participate in the event before hitting this one.

In addition, there is now a document detailing certain local events. Most have already happened with a couple down the line. These are just a few large scale annual events that are always celebrated, though we may come up with a few more as the game progresses. This is really just a "fluff info" world detail document, but for those curious, it can be found here.

The Sealed Room.
For those who missed it, the log is here.

Bet no one expected the sealed room to not only contain shrines for all eight Arehtei, but also the crystals and names of every person that has been through this world so far. Now there is a sure fire place for people to go to check if someone is just missing or actually left the island and returned home. Because of this, there will always be a few NPCs around, both to guard it and to keep track. The characters will also be allowed access. From here on out, the list we provide of dropped characters in our modly month posts is also a list that the is ICly handed out/posted, so every month the names are also ICly known.

For reference, here is the spreadsheet with all the dropped names. The spreadsheet is more organized than the wall, as ICly the names are just written in random order.

Aside from the names, here is a quick review of notable things found and discovered in the room:

Here is a map diagram.
There are eight shrines with Simpathis in the center of the room.
The shrines themselves are disfigured and corrupted. Sosyne, Elios, and Peromei in particular are in the worst conditions. Simpathis seems to be the least affected with Daimonia and Thras also in somewhat better shape.
Each shrine has a large crystal shard of the same color of the Arehtei.
Texts indicate that people of past "aligned" their crystal amulets to focus on a set of emotions represented by a particular Arehtei.
When "aligned," the crystal amulet changes color to match that of the Arehtei.
There are indications that the larger shards may either be a conduit or an actual piece of the Arehtei. It is currently unclear.
The texts indicate that all crystals (both the shards and the amulets) behave similarly to the one in Verens. Negative feelings make it darker and blackened while positive make them brighter.
There are magitech like devices but their purpose is unclear.

The Arehtei are still mysterious, and there is no other clue to indicate how or why the shrines are as they are or what the crystals are for. There are also no indications as to how the crystals supposedly from the departed characters got in there since the door has been sealed all this time.

Now that the concept of "alignment" has been introduced, we are going to go ahead and tell about this new mechanic.

Character Involvement: Emotional Alignments.
Now, before you get the wrong idea, we're not turning the game into some kind of "faction game" where everyone is suddenly put into different emotional categories. However, there are a few elements from such premises that are being used here.

Super short summary: characters will now be able to "align" their crystals to a certain set of emotions which in turn will eventually affect the Arehtei and other things such as the environment. This might be related to a means back home and will have further plot purposes.

Now for the details:

Crystals focus on certain emotions. As will be made known next week and hinted by the findings of the sealed room, crystals can have a "focus" for the emotions. All emotions are still absorbed, but only a certain set dynamic provides the larger and significant drops. All other unrelated emotions only produce very small drops.
Emotion dynamics. When we say "emotion dynamics" we mean the negative-positive range set of emotions. For example, hate and love. All emotions involving hate, love, and everything in-between or related to that range are what counts. So feelings of admiration, despise, annoyance, fondness—those intermediary levels also count.
Related to the Arehtei. As Lindsy explains, it appears that the inhabitants of Inoman and those of people past would focus their crystals to become aligned to a particular set of emotions that were related to the Arehtei. It was believed that the Arehtei could somehow take in those emotions, though for what purpose it is unclear. It all circles back to the notion of "balance" and "harmony."
NOT a direct connection to the Arehtei. This does not mean that anyone is directly connected to the Arehtei or have to follow, worship, or do anything in particular toward that Arehtei. All aligning does is allow their emotions to more naturally flow toward that particular Arehtei as opposed to another. This "alignment" is also important for when a characters completes their crystal, as that crystal will be used toward that Arehtei.
Only one alignment. At the moment, a character can only have one alignment, but things can always change in the future. Characters are not one-dimensional and will experience a variety of emotions, but there is usually one in particular that stands out for them. It does not matter whether it's skewed toward the negative or positive end, so don't feel deterred if your character is mostly "angry" or "hateful." Both are important! Alignments can also either be natural or forced—that is a character might actually try to be more of one type of emotion or another even if they normally would not.
Neutral characters. If a character is basically "neutral" and doesn't really fall more than one way or another, then you're pretty much free to pick whichever Arehtei. To help balance things out, emotion drops formed for the alignment are even larger compare to an average individual's, so these characters can still be on the same track and not be at a disadvantage.
Switching alignments. It is possible to switch alignments if you discover that your character may be better suited for another set of emotions. OOCly you just have to comment on the appropriate entry, but ICly the character will have to produce the same amount of emotions to "override" the previous set. Depending on how much has been accumulated, that can be easy or difficult.
Why characters should care. Given what was found in the room, there is strong evidence that having a crystal aligned a certain way may help send them back. But there is a more important game plot reason that will be revealed next week and will continue to be expanded upon. Basically, there are a lot of reasons and reasons filled with plot twists. So just hang in there a little longer!
Is there a limit on alignments for each Arehtei? Actually, no. We are not going to put a hard cap on the number of alignments so if there is a completely skewed number, that's okay gamewise. Plotwise that might not be so much, but regardless things will react accordingly. Thus players should be able to choose without worrying if one has more or not. Just choose which best fits the character. In addition, certain individuals may provide more emotions compared to others, so having five aligned to an Arehtei may be the same as if there were fifteen.
Any special powers granted? Maybe. It's not off the table but taking things one step at a time and will also depend on game progression.
No record keeping necessary. You do not have to keep track of your character's emotional progress and basically just assume/handwave it. The Emotional Flower Tracker will be amended so you will still have to comment there for any notable (out of the ordinary) emotional occurrences, but that's it. If you want to keep a record you are more than free to do so, but it's definitely not mandatory. Just be reasonable about it.
Event possibilities. We are actually quite excited about this mechanic as it will allow for a greater variety of emotion based events, especially ones catered toward specific types. The events can range from some lighthearted fun (traditional jamjar events) to more serious, plot relevant events (used as actual triggers for things like expansions, areas, or plot points). It will even be possible for there to be more "emotional clashes" once this gets under way, allowing for more interesting situations and events to occur, especially involving the Arehtei. There is one that represents jealousy. Who knows how it might feel.

And that's the gist of it. As said before, while the idea is being introduced now and you can go ahead and have characters talk about it, it really might not mean much until next week. However, because that's so close to the February application cycle, we're going ahead and giving this info out so you're at least introduced to the concept.

There is an IC reference document that is given to the characters. It can be read here. For the official OOC entry regarding alignments, refer to this entry.

Choose Your Alignment.
We need all current players to go to the Alignment entry, fill out the form at the top, and comment to the entry so that we can start slotting in people into the appropriate alignment. You will need to select one alignment for your character. If you do change your mind, there will be another form for you to fill and submit.

For future reference, a spreadsheet for all current alignments can be found here. It is very likely that an IC census made either by the NPCs or the characters themselves will be made, likely during the crystal collection at the end of the month. If so, this can also be used as an IC reference sheet. Until then, however, it is only OOC.

Note: Simpathis cannot be chosen.

Crystals and Emotion Drops.
Crystals will also be affected. For the most part, the characters' crystals are formed upon arrival and can look however you want them to be. Some make them symbolic to the character, others might have it just a simple default design. The physical appearance in that regard won't change.

But going forward, the crystals will actually shimmer a different color when the aligned emotion drop is formed. The drop will be the color of the respective Arehtei. So for example, feelings of anger or calm would produce periwinkle blue drops, joy or grief would bring coral pink, courage and fear would be a golden hue. It will not do this for other emotion drops. As more of these specific drops accumulate, the crystal itself will change color to match.

Difference between dark and bright. In addition to the color change, the crystal will either have a dark or bright sheen to it. It functions similar to the large crystal that floats above Verens. The negative emotions will make the crystal look duller and darker whereas positive ones will make it seem brighter. If there is an even mix, the crystal will just look like a standard, normal crystal. This is something that the characters can and will eventually notice as time goes on.
Completing crystals. Completing crystals wasn't really considered much of a deal for the game, but soon these alignments and the future knowledge of the Arehtei will make it more important. As a side note, it still takes several months for a crystal to fill up, even when aligned.

So tl;dr, crystals will start changing colors to match the alignment and behave similar to the large floating crystal of Verens.

Application, Emotional Tracker, and Drop Changes.
With the introduction of the "alignment" and its actual plot relevance, we will need players to help us OOCly as well. Starting February, the following changes will be made:

Applications. There is now one additional field to the application called Alignment Choice. All applications will ask applicants which emotional dynamic their character will most likely fall under. Applicants can only choose one, but this can of course be changed later. This is mostly for our reference to use for when a character is dropped or idled out. Any applications missing the field won't get a revision, but we will ask on the Acceptance notice. This will affect the February cycle! The applications have already been changed to include the additional field.

One other change made to the application is that we no longer require a traditional log prose sample. In fact, we're only going to ask for one sample. Threads are still allowed, but any handwritten samples will need to show both enough dialogue voice and introspection. So more than the traditional first person sample but less than the traditional third person. Format will not matter. We will accept either tl;dr bracket format or actual prose format.
Emotion Tracker. Because the type of emotion is important and will affect the Arehtei, city, and events, the Emotional Flow Tracker has been changed just slightly. While it will still track the "flow" of emotions on whether it's positive or negative, it will also start tracking specific emotions. Thus it will be renamed to "Emotion Tracker" (which will also flow a lot better as a name). In addition of indicating whether the emotion is positive (+) or negative (-), you will need to indicate which type of emotion it is, such as hope, despair, envy, etc. As usual, we won't be asking players to do this for every instance it occurs, but at the very least it should be for notable or out of the ordinary occasions. As this will now be more integral to the game's progression, we will be pushing for players to be more mindful and remember to comment to it, especially during the Activity Check period.
Drop Page. On the Drop page, there will be an additional field asking all players who are dropping their characters to indicate which Arehtei/emotional dynamic their character will have fallen under at the time. Again, this is to help us for reference and make sure everything is the same.

Once again, except for the Applications, these changes won't happen until February so you do not have to worry about it right now. We're just giving you a heads up as to what to expect.

IC/OOC Reference Folder
With the influx of information coming in and more definitely to follow, a GDocs folder has been created for players to use. A few of the information entries that were on the mod journal have also been moved here, for example, the Arehtei entry.

A few things have also been updated to include the new information as well as reflect changes.

You can view the folder here. Small warning: in this view you will initially see the document in the drive viewer mode. It's fine for the most part, but a few documents and spreadsheets have footnotes or notes that are not viewable in this mode. You can view the original source document by clicking the Pop-Out button. It's on the black topbar and is the square with the arrow pointing out.

Game Going Forward.
As indicated in the beginning of this post, these changes are going to allow the characters to do a lot more and be more involved with the world as it continues to reveal itself. They will, in fact, be integral to that revelation.

While there will still be many opportunities for events to be held within the city, there will also be much more to send the characters out of Verens.

Exploration campaign events will occur and will be a lot more organized and action intensive for those involved. They will also be rather lengthy, with some likely lasting weeks but (hopefully) no more than a month. While some will be on the island itself, many will actually be off the island. This does mean that the character base may split up at times and prohibit physical interaction, but there will be mechanisms to allow at least telepathic communication and interaction between those who go and those who stay. It would be nice if we could have the entire character base involved, but it would be practically impossible.
The Arehtei will not just be background noise and they will make their presence known. Perhaps not every month, but frequent enough to not be forgotten and even if not seen, their existence will always be prevalent in one way or another. There will be large battles outside of the island and the island itself can be threatened.
As to the slice-of-life element of the game, that will still persist. Because hey, we can't handle action and plot heavy things all the time, right? So we'll be sure to have some down time in-between the intensive events. In addition, while the intent is to move the main focus away from slice-of-life, it's not to remove it entirely. Rather, such domestic times may become important to the characters, especially those who may be more active and involved in the exploration campaigns. So although we're ramping up the "adventure/exploration" part of the game, slice-of-life will and should still be doable. Just not as prominent as it has been. Plus the introduction of emotional alignments actually allows us to come up with more "silly" and fun events, so we'll have that in our back pocket as well.
Island expansions will also still occur, but there will also be other things that will appear near or on the island. Some will be emotionally based, but there are other plans for things to happen in the future. Let's just say that it's a big world out there. Surely Empatheias isn't really the only island full of people out there. Right?
And lastly, these changes should bring more opportunities for conflict and a sense of actual danger. That includes actions performed by antagonists. Negative feelings play a very important role to the game's lore, and that can be capitalized to create more conflict within the game. So yes, this is a message advocating for conflict to be created, either on a small or grand level. Anything in this game can be manipulated or conquered. By anything, I mean anything ~~coughArehteicough~~. This is especially so because there are no clear antagonists in the game itself (at least not presently known). While plenty of conflict and threat can be created by the game's setting, the "plot" of the game is mostly that of exploration and discovery. Thus it's also very flexible and can be derailed at any point.

We hope current and future players will have fun with these changes.

Player Plots & Events.
We'll close this announcement with a few plots and mingling opportunities created by players.

Camping time! Elize and Roxas are having a practice camping run. Join in and have fun!
Surfing through the streets with a giant snow boulder. Wherever Kamina goes, chaos is soon to follow. Just be careful to not get Kaminaried.
Crystal Empire Grand Opening. Princess Celestia has opened her store, the Crystal Empire! Go ahead and take a look.
Sweet and Spicy Cook-off. Fractured Milla and Sanae are holding a cook-off on January 22nd. Who wants free food?

We might have missed some and only went back about a week, so be sure to take a look back yourself! We try to keep up, but if you'd like to be listed let us know. If you'd like to throw your own event or plot, comment here.

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And that's about it. It's a lot of stuff so if you have any questions, concerns, or want things clarified, please comment here.

Mid-Month Announcement: January

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