Fade Rift Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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faderiftooc2016-04-03 12:29 am
faderifting) wrote in faderiftooc2016-04-03 12:29 am
Entry tags:
MOD POST ↠ April Updates
APRIL (CLOUDREACH)
ORGANIZATIONAL/OOC UPDATES
OOC Calendar
As previously noted, we're shifting our schedule two weeks so major OOC dates fall at the beginning and end of the month. That mostly means no applications in April and an extra two weeks to do your AC. You can check the calendar for additional dates, but here are the upcoming important ones:
Application Updates
All of the character/app caps from March will remain in place for the next application round in May. This means three characters total per player, including no more than one mage, one rifter, one canon Dragon Age companion or advisor, and two elves. We are only accepting applications for Dalish and Tevinter characters if they are Dragon Age canon characters (no AUs or OCs). We also will not be accepting any additional applications for Grey Warden characters until that plotline progresses further, except for canon companions (meaning, at this point, Sigrun, Oghren, Loghain, and potentially Carver Hawke).
All of our caps and limits are intended to promote balance in PC perspectives and prevent characteristics that should be uncommon from becoming so prevalent that the social dynamics and rarity that make those characteristics enjoyable to play aren't lost. We'll continue to revisit them each app round and revise them based on the game's demographics.
PLOT/IC UPDATES
Upcoming IC Events
We've pushed the next major plot point—dealing with the Wardens—until mid-May. A lot has happened with player plots and related fallout in the last few months, so we hope this gives everyone time to deal with the repercussions and play with the consequences. So there's something new to react to, we will have an "event" at Skyhold in mid-April, specifically a weather event and (relatively minor) contagious illness. We'll save the details so there's at least a small element of surprise, but everyone should count on travel to/from Skyhold being difficult for a short while in the middle of the month and plan their characters' locations accordingly.
We will resume providing War Table operations beginning April 15, with some adjustments to how they're posted and claimed, including announcing in advance when new batches are available, having sign-up deadlines with a potential for RNG selection, etc.
Regarding Emprise du Lion
The combination of mod/player plots and some unforeseen OOC tasks threw us off track last month, and we still owe Emprise plots to those who signed up—we haven't forgotten you, and we're sorry for the delay! We'll be posting those quests over the next few days and will ICly shift their timing to happen during the second week of April/Cloudreach so no one is stuck backdating those developments. If you're no longer interested in participating, contact us to let us know. We also have room for a couple more people, so new players who were not around to sign up last month can sign up now if interested.
Notes on the Environment & IC Consequences
Following with the IC theme of FREEDOM VS. ORDER: balancing everyone's right to have fun and play what they want to play against everyone else's right to play what they want to play, not be blindsided by major events, etc., can be a little tricky, especially in a game where things aren't happening in a jamjarry vacuum, so here are some tips/reminders/etc.
1. If you want to do something that will affect the Inquisition as a whole, potentially affect other players' plans, or require attention from large swaths of people, put it on the OOC comm rather than solely on Plurk.
2. Keep in mind that even relatively minor incidents may have broader impact depending on the circumstances. While a tavern scuffle might usually be harmless and its effects easily contained to close CR of those involved, if there have been a rash of tavern fights lately, or this one occurs while nobles are visiting, or the fight is between a mage and a templar (even if it's just about the bill), its consequences could be further-reaching. We don't want to suck all of the spontaneity out of RP, but make sure you think about who else might be affected by your characters' actions and potentially pulled into your plots.
3. If you want to do something that requires other characters to be negligent or foolish—either to allow it to happen in the first place or to not put your character in the dungeon for all eternity afterwards—check in with those players to either get their permission to make their characters look negligent/foolish or to find a way around it.
4. Remember that Skyhold and the surrounding area are also populated by a large number of NPCs. These NPCs are mostly human, mostly Andrastians, and mostly supportive of the Inquisition. They can be used by anyone as background characters as long as they don't do anything especially out of the ordinary. If you want to know how NPCs on the whole will react to something, ask us!
5. Generally, creating realistic consequences for your character is your responsibility. If your character is an Inquisition soldier who gets drunk and pees on a noble, she's probably in trouble—but the advisors probably aren't going to be the ones dealing with her personally. Use lower-ranking PCs or NPCs when realistic. (This is a matter of both IC realism and OOC courtesy to our advisor players, who have their own plots and CR and limited time.) If you're unsure about what level of consequences are reasonable, ask us!
6. Put things on the calendar.
7. Keep in mind that everyone is occasionally bending characterization or believability for the sake of playability. Be charitable about not excessively nitpicking decisions or consequences that were made based on OOC constraints rather than solely IC ones. E.g.: Anders! Your character is allowed to be angry and to express that anger, and everyone involved is on board with those debates, but there is a point when the answers to specific questions about how and why he's free will become "because we don't want his player to have to drop the game." So try not to ICly press arguments to that breaking point.
Miscellaneous
We have a page for IC news and gossip! We highly recommend tracking this page (or only the sub-topics you need to know about) and even more highly recommend posting to it if your character is involved in something that the grapevine would be aware of.
We added a couple of fields to the info page template—in particular a field for titles and ranks. We encourage either updating your info page or adding title/rank to the name field of your current page to help out players whose characters go for formal addresses.
You're all great and we love you.
no subject
Not sure where else to put this tiny request, but for me it's a bit hard to find. Could you put a link to the Advisers group inbox somewhere in the navigation/other clearly visible spot?
no subject