Doctor's Orders - Interest Check

[faithshield]

Hi everyone! I'm Ri, aka North's player, and I have a proposal to make!

Since I've noticed that there's a lot of people affiliated with or working in the healing tents, I was thinking it would be a good idea if they (and we, the people who play them) set up an external place to chat oocly/an IC inbox to organize the healing staff into a proper army hospital Healing Committee.


People who would be included:

Healers (Spirit and otherwise, so long as they work predominantly in/with the tents)

Volunteers (anyone, mage or nonmage, who volunteers - or gets put to work for loitering - in and around the healing tents)

Anyone else who's affiliated with or oversees the healers


Things this would entail

Shift sign-ups: not a strict schedule, just more of a general idea about who's usually in the tents around what time.

Staff list: going along with the above, just a list of Spirit Healers, Healers, Surgeons, and Volunteers

Inbox: if anyone has any address to all the healers, a professional question for certain healers, or even a general prompt for an injury or malady that they want to ICly thread out but don't particularly care which healer responds.

Patient Reports (optional): ICly done for all patients by bed number, but OOCly mainly for fellow PCs, notable NPCs, or other high-profile patients who may have to be seen by multiple healers, Patient Reports are an idea that came up ICly in this thread and will also probably be brought up by North this weekend (after Magecon). The idea is that each person who treats or checks up on a long-term patient details any changes that they observed or treatment they administered and signs off on it, so that the next person can look at the report and not have to waste time guessing what was done or by whom. Obviously filling this out for every soldier with a broken leg or sick recruit kept overnight would be a complete waste of OOC time, but if there's any interest in keeping OOC reports for some of the more interesting, important, or plot-relevant patients (using a fake name for patients treated outside the healing tents), there can be a page for this.


I'm open to other ideas about things we could use this comm for, as well! If enough people are interested, I can start moving forward with comm setup and such. But ultimately, I think getting OOCly organized could be really useful.

Comments

QUESTIONS/IDEAS

[faithshield]

Any questions for me or ideas of what else we could do with our own comm?

EDIT: Feel free to hit me up on Plurk as well ResplendentRi

[amygdalae]

Hmmmm this is a pretty interesting idea! Personally I think there's no real big need since I think a lot of things are pretty handwavey for the most part (and its not like such organization is as important as say, the wardens and the mage council etc.), but I can definitely see the benefits of some organization since there's a good number of healer types around and info will obviously be more consolidated like this. Also Bruce being on a fancy list somewhere tickles me.

But with that said, I'm totally open to this if other people are! I just apologize in advance because Bruce is pretty much that guy who more or less lives at the tents since he's a goddamn workaholic who survives on catnaps.

[faithshield]

whenever I'm planning or pitching something, I tend to lean more toward the micromanaging side because it's always easy to decide that there are some unnecessary details than it is to try to remember a detail you wanted to add. But that said, my main idea was exactly that: consolidating information, and giving people an easy place to check to find out who they can ICly go to for the heals. I'm still all for keeping plenty of things handwavey, of course, and no one has to use it! But if enough people would use one, I don't see why it could hurt, either.

[amygdalae]

Yeah, that's totally understandable! God knows I keep forgetting things after I list them down and its easier to trim stuff down for things I these, so I can totally agree.

But yes, information consolidation sounds great for me! /o/ It's a pretty rad idea, A+ for thinking it up.

[faithshield]

Thanks! Accessibility's the main goal.

[kallian_endris]

Ooh, this is an interesting idea, especially with the injury notes a lot of quests have. Not sure if truly necessary, but could be fun.

Having the healers working cohesively could also give them some collective power for their own requests, e.g. materials requisitions, getting a proper infirmary wing instead of just a collection of tents, what-have-you.

[faithshield]

At the very least I think making a list of healers could give people coming back from quests with injuries a chance to maybe hit up some new CR like "hey would you be up for X being at the tents when Y gets brought in?" This could also give newer characters the opportunity to feel more involved, as well.

But I agree that getting some kind of organization could help with those things as well! In fact, right after I posted this I remembered the in-game quest where you gather materials and choose either an Infirmary or a...Training ground, I think, and I definitely think we could try to get something going in that direction as well.

[kallian_endris]

That always seemed like a weird either/or to me, since they don't occupy the same space. But we should totally have a real infirmary!

But it could also be a good way for the assorted healers to get to know each other better too. :)

[faithshield]

Yeah, it's a very weird choice to have to make. Do you want your soldiers to get hurt less or get better treatment when they do? ...both???? I want both?

ALSO of course that too. Give me Night Shift bonding and frazzled teatime in between patients. :)

[ancarrow]

I'm definitely open to this! I've been compiling a guide of herbs that Eirlys is using here, which I'm happy to change to fit in with other herbalists, and it would be a good idea to organise ourselves generally too.

[faithshield]

Ooh, that could be really useful!

Healers and healer-types can stick together and share knowledge and learn from each other.

[fightorfright]

I am definitely down for this, especially as I think it would be a good idea to have some sort of list of the tents' regulars, so to speak (goodness knows I sometimes have difficulty keeping track myself)

[faithshield]

That's the main goal here, and even if it doesn't get a full comm I might see about compiling that much at least.

[circleprodigy]

None of mine are regulars at the healing tents, but that said, Inessa can be considered on-call for emergencies regarding battle wounds. She has a basic healing spell and knowledge of potion-making, so she'd gladly offer that if the other healers are swamped.

[faithshield]

I'm sure having people who can do more first aid healing on call just in case could be a great idea! Someone who can triage patients and treat more minor wounds or help stabilize more critical ones is always useful.

[thecookery]

(I don't play a healer, so my opinion matters little, but I will say I kinda like the idea of having a place to go "hey, from this date to this date, my character was in the healing tents with a bad case of being cut in half :( anyone who was around there during that period would have at least seen part of her hanging around" and other players can find that info easily if they need to

and IC reactions there might be to the healers keeping lists with all their medical info on them around TO HELP OF COURSE but also to possibly be stolen or spied on and used against them could be interesting)

[faithshield]

I don't know how useful the notes would be to spy on since it would ICly look something like
Bed 5
Wound showed sign of festering. Provided pain relief and reapplied elfroot balm before rebandaging.
-NB

But then again, I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be suspicious of a bunch of mages taking notes, even if it technically makes them more accountable for their actions! :D

[thecookery]

Haha true. Though I was thinking there might also be stuff like "Patient ______: back for second checkup on leg wound. Condition improving but _____ allergy slowing progress.

REMINDER TO ALL HEALERS: DO NOT GIVE HIM THIS HERB. HIS FACE WILL MELT OFF.

Also: Provided ointment for super embarrassing STI that would ruin his family's name if anyone found out lol"

[aceso]

I think that listing the healers is a good idea, just in case anyone wants to hit up a personal inbox and isn't sure who the healers are. I agree with KB that handwaving tends to work, especially since plenty of people make open posts with a healing tents prompt and they can get CR from multiple healer characters that way. Organizing it a bit so that we know who sees who might feels a little restrictive, CR-wise? Like we might not tag in or a patient character might not tag us because it's like "Oh, that patient was already seen to by that healer." If that makes sense.

[faithshield]

Like I told KB, I was mostly erring toward micromanagement, but a list of healers (and possibly their inboxes) is definitely on the list. As far as the other part goes, I'm not looking to make a strict schedule for everyone to adhere to, mainly just a list of when certain characters are on duty. That way if there's a healer they want CR with (or one their character wants to avoid) somebody who's planning... Idk, to slip off the tavern roof and break their leg, would be able to know "okay I should talk to X or Y because their characters would be in the infirmary around the time I'm planning.
For the Patient reports, I got the idea for the ooc format from the mission reports and rumors pages: more a way to organize IC links and summarize important (but maybe a step down from Actual Mission Important) than an actual report. But it was just an idea, I'm absolutely fine if no one wants to use that, too.

[aceso]

I can definitely see that helping people who want to take advantage of that, and if it's just there for those who want to use it, then that's good. I personally don't want to adhere Christine to a schedule, but that's just me and it being optional to add them on works for me. :D

[anacardiaceae]

Here for it, with nothing better to add lol.

[faithshield]

It looks like SOME kind of organization will happen, anyway! C:

[fleurdesel]

A healing committee and comm to list PCs and NPCs would be great for compiling information for players.

Honestly, I am a little wary of strict shift signups and detailed OOC patient reports as I had an experience years ago in Luceti where the surgeons/doctors/healers had a similar community. It included detailed forms to be filled out per injury and aside from a list of who was available as a healer, it never really got used. It was a shame, as a lot of effort went into arranging the comm and setting up the coding, tables, and forms in the first place. Finding a happy medium between what would be useful and what would be busywork on top of RP (ultimately that's what that community ended up being) is difficult but worth trying to strike.

I'd also like to note that any healing committee would report to Adelaide as she's the Direct Report for Cullen for the healers. Inventory, research, and requisition requests, reports, etc go to her for the Inquisition.

[faithshield]

I wasn't thinking anything strict for shift sign ups, more just a general "A, B, and D work from the morning until midday, C and H come in around midday, and T, R, and Q work overnight" than any kind of strictly regimented thing. Even more simply, a place for players to go "Q is a night owl, so they're fine working the overnight shift!" and then compiling that from comments into a list.

Also, I was fully expecting to not only report to Adelaide but (depending on how much of a committee it becomes) to get her advice and approval before much happens with regard to organization.

[fleurdesel]

I think they included that in the chart- this was years ago I'll have to dig but it was the one thing that was kept updated for the most part. Name, inbox, wheneabouts they were at the clinic, whether they were a magic healer or a surgeon. That was pretty well streamlined and- sadly- the only thing that really got used.

She'd find an actual committee useful if it streamlined her day, really. Less people coming to her with requests. More of them from fewer people, sure, but she'd know who was coming in with what.

EDIT HA I found it! The main chart wasn't ever updated all that often and more often than not no one ever filled out patient records for how many injuries there were during drafts and stuff.

[amygdalae]

tbh I think name, inbox etc. are all that we really need. We honestly don't need anything super detailed, just a good idea of who could be where and more importantly, knowing who are the healer types and who are the surgeons or who can somehow do both, like Bruce the fireflake.

As for a possible committee... I can't exactly see that happening ICly since the healers all generally are kind of independent and do their own thing unless they're in a mission or deployed in a bigger capacity. But its also 3AM so my brain is most probably not really thinking of every possibility or being able to see how the committee would function.

[bookish_lioness]

Hermione doesn't necessarily heal, per se, since her magic still isn't what it can be, but she's in the tents a lot and helps a lot of the healers or just in general takes care of her friends who happen to be banged up.

So for what that's worth, I think it would be nice for people to know who the healers and co. are so they can go, "Well my character is gonna get destroyed on this mission, let's see who I can prod for CR afterwards" and maybe drop a note either to that specific person or in a healer inbox in general. But I'm not sure how I feel about anything being more formal than that, since handwaving has definitely been an easy and effective way of taking care of things so far. I'm open to anything, though!

[faithshield]

Organizing and consolidating lists and information is the main goal here, but no one would have to use any part they didn't want to (except the staff list). Any more detailed uses would be purely for the people who want to use them; I don't want to take away the option to handwave, and I definitely don't want to force anybody to use anything they don't want to.

[justice_is_blond]

A listing of names and inboxes and what they do could be really handy!

Schedules get weird fast, especially with people running off on missions, and the amount of overworkers the tents have is pretty high, LOL, but I like the whole idea of being able to keep in better communication and stuff.

[levered]

Clarke just volunteers when she has time, so that's where I'm coming from characterwise, BUT

While I'm definitely not opposed to a comm or list of healers or whatever else, I think the way the game works—with so many people out in the field or on missions at any given time, and tons of logs just happening "whenever" or "sometime between this event and that event" rather than anyone caring about dates or times—that any kind of schedule would have to be so flexible that there really wouldn't be a point in maintaining it. If you want to help people find out who they can go to for CR purposes, I think a list of characters and what they specialize in (if anything) or what their limitations are would be more helpful, so someone who has a character who has a leg nearly torn off will know who's capable of that vs. who would just slap some elfroot on it and say sorry.

If people want to do reports then that's cool but if they're required or even too strongly encouraged, that could turn into a lot of nitpicky drudge work for people who don't really care that their character gave so and so a poultice. Maybe a research and patient notes depository would work better, so people can focus on the things they think are interesting enough to warrant writing about and/or ongoing care patients?

Otherwise it sounds cool and dandy to have an IC organizational attempt and a comm to deposit important info. /thumbs up

[el_tybs]

A lot of what I was going to say was already said was already said, so-

I definitely agree that a list of healers, people volunteering at the tents, and a contact list would be good to have.

[eolasemah]

I like this! Sina is more of a nurse, dealing with processing and minor wounds, though she does some magical healing herself when the shard isn't acting up.
I'm on board that's all