As a general observation we have noticed a trend over the last two years of increased player involvement, which has increased yet again with our recent changes such as the wiki and the recess or supersync, jumping us from Samheen to Chyril. This willingness of our community to participate and be proactive, both IC and OOC, making the burden of running the game lighter, while more fun for everybody, is something we seek to foster. We would like to enrich our community in every way possible
1. Recess as a permanent tool: declaring seasons
Yes, we are very pleased with the results of the Recess. It not only got rid of dead content, but also gave players impetus to be proactive in a more meaningful, independent way. In most cases, it's been beneficial...such as placing high-ranking pcs or establishing more "history" and "depth" to the average PC. It fits Event Orientated Modding and encourages more PC action/reaction. The only problem that came more into focus with the Recess was the need for established goals for players (we deal with that under no 2).
This freshness, that also allows for such long term events as healing of injuries, pregnancy, political developments, harvests etc. to become a natural part of our backdrop and thus improves the coherence of Tazlure, is something we would like to apply to Tazlure on a regular basis.
We have decided to do an annual Recess, ending our season at Chyril by May 2008. For this we will be providing a time schedule which will run three months. The beginning of March will see the opening of the new season and the start of accepting Recess write ups, end of April will close the acceptance of Recess write ups and in May we close all previous season threads, record history and move on.
This concept means new player tactics: You now have a finite time in which to explore the month of Chryil. Time your moves. Perhaps you will build up to a climax by the end of the season, while there may be some major events deliberately put mid season. Some events and their effects can span several seasons. Some high adventure threads will run ahead in time, but due to the Recess will be caught up again with the community so that they are no longer isolated.
It will also mean that each year both PC's and Mods evaluate their position and their location, which makes shifts more easy, allowing ourselves to keep our own focus fresh.
We have formulated some standardization of the rules.
1. Standard Sync Events will apply at a Recess (Yes, we will still have Sync Events during the season), but only after a PC's Recess has been approved. This means that when the new "Season" is available for posts, players might still be allowed to start a few minor scenes in the last Season if they have not "jumped" yet. We need to give this flexibility to allow "loose ends" to be cleaned up. These loose ends will be closed in May.
2. Players are asked to submit a public Season Summary (with or without links) to help people gain oversight at what has been happening.
3. Players will be limited in their Recess write up to a fudge of what has been previously established IC, or is a wrap up of events helping them and everybody else jump, without introducing new content that gives an unfair advantage. Think of what we would allow as background on your charactersheet as an acceptable amount of assumption, corrected for your characters level.
At this time we are still reviewing how we will deal with skills in the future both in season and in the Recess. Since the passage of time has been heavily influenced by declaring seasons we need to determine what would be a realistic skill gain while keeping players motivated.
2. Event Orientated Modding requires Goal Orientated Playing
There is only one real problem of a serious nature that came to the fore with the Recess, and we think it is caused not by the Recess (though that brought it into focus again), but by our introduction of Event Orientated Modding:
Modding Seminar wrote:Plotting is little more than preparing the structure of a story in which players can interact, though in Tazlure, you should consider plotting to be more of an exercise in preparing events, interpreting scenes that impact that event, and evolving your locations based on the outcome of those scenes.
As the moderator, you cannot afford to know or expect where a plotline will go. You might hope for a certain outcome, and you might not enjoy the outcome that results...but you must allow the location to evolve as it was meant to evolve. Expect from your players active involvement in your area...and demand this from them. Remember that we're not here to entertain them: we're all here to entertain each other, and the players are just as responsible for their contributions as anyone else. But even the best player can't help out if there are no opportunities or possibilities...so as a mod, that is what we must provide.
It's called "situation in crisis", and it's considered the cornerstone of any literary planning. A "situation in crisis" is exactly what it seems: a conflicting situation that requires resolution in whatever way possible. The situation in crisis makes for a fine cornerstone to any plot event, and once you've determined that situation, the potential for plotlines increases dramatically, giving your location life, depth, and most importantly, player opportunity.
An item to note above is how little we plan for the future. We might be able to predict the most likely actions taken by the people involved...but we don't know where, how, and in what way this situation will develop. This is critical to Event Planning! Let the event unfold in whatever way it does: don't force a result or guide the Event too much as the moderator, and don't ever try to plan the future. Just establish the situation in crisis, the background material that brought about the situation, and leave the rest to history.
The core problem is that a few players are sometimes unable to see a way forward. They do not see how they can move forward with their character and make use of opportunities of events to feel more successful. The players that struggle often have not defined concrete goals for their characters or a path of how to accomplish their goals. We have coined the phrase Goal Orientated Playing in an article in the wiki. Coordinators will be alert on players needing help in setting goals and the small steps to reach them.
Players might also lack the overview of an area or indeed Tazlure which makes it difficult for them to formulate goals. For this we have considered our Tazlurian wiki further, see below.
Because we want to stimulate proactive behavior by players we are reviewing material in the wiki and the rules. Any rules or FAQ's that are deemed no longer necessary, constricting or focused only on potential abuse that we do not see on a day to day basis shall be been removed or rewritten. We want to allow the players full creativity and not fear being thwapped for breaking rules. Having said that of course moderators are still qualified to call the shots about and beyond the rules, using realism and fairness as their guidelines.
3. Wealth, Status and Player Freedom
While we have an inventory since our start, for years already we have not been particularly diligent with taxing or checking for items you do or do not have. Wealth is a curious anomaly in our stories. Sure, it does matter how much money a character has...but this is more of an environment concern than any real story impact. After all, we don't charge for tavern drinks or food...lodging...or the occasional carriage ride. Depending on the level of the character, his social standing, his access to wealth, we allow more and more assumptions of resources (servants, troops to command etc.)
So, we would like to simplify this part of our game mechanics, while promoting creativity and set a standard for the assumptions players can make so that it is easier for them to apply their creativity (instead of it being limited to gutsy veteran players).
We therefor proudly introduce a new invention: the skill Wealth. This skill will be part of the normal skill list and can be chosen at the start.
Unskilled: The player has no income, and must live hand-to-mouth. No employment, student, serf, or slave fall into this category.
Basic: The player has basic income similar to employment as unskilled labor, thug, indentured servant, or basic pick pocket.
Apprentice: The player has some income, similar to basic, skilled labor, guard or man-at-arms, lower bureaucrat, or a specialized criminal. Landless knights might fall into this category, or landed aristocracy with very poor fiefs.
Journeyman: The player has a comfortable income that can include a home, some land, a carriage and coachhouse, etc. Most landed aristocracy might fall into this category, if not Apprentice.
Master: The player has considerable financial resources, allowing for ships, caravans, real estate development, small mercenary armies, or major financial trades.
A more concise write up will follow, as well as an items list per area that gives it an access level and a plan for implementation. The inventory list will remain, but only detailing the special, personal items of each person.
4. A new look at Multiple PCs
Right now, we limit players to two PCs, who also need to be in different areas. There has been however, an alternative developing that already is allowed under our strict rules but never much employed. That of having a stable of PC's, with only two active. As one PC gets killed, or breaks his leg, or gets on a very boring but necessary trade journey, he gets pushed into the background as passive, and you start another PC, already waiting in the wings. Several veteran players have operated this way.
Therefor we will be formalizing this use of the rules. If for whatever reason (dead content, character pregnancy, injuries that need healing, broken PC concepts that need to be reworked) a PC needs to be de-activated temporarily (worked into the background without much fuss) players can pick up one of the other approved character. This means allowing PC's in the same areas, but only one of them active (and none of them allowed to interact with each other). Only active PC's get a recess post (but if a de-activated PC becomes active again there will be some mention of what happened in the interim without recess benefits such as skill or wealth/status raising).
As this is an experimental phase players will be allowed four PC's, of which 2 can be active (and never 2 active in the same area).
5. Tazlure Wiki: How can we enrich our community further?
The wiki has engendered a more community feel of ownership among the contributors/supporters/etc. It's drawing people in both as a lure to the site as well as bringing existing players closer to the community. Just like the recess, it's empowered players to push forward Tazlure...and evolving it through their references and PCs...instead of just playing one post after the next. We have already added the ability to add pictures. Through debate with the moderators we have also found a new organization for the wiki that allows it to be used by new players to the game more effectively. You will notice the new main page as well as the wiki search bar. We are looking forward to ways to make it even more integrated with the site.
Among the information to be added in the wiki is a lot of background information that was previously limited to moderators only. This includes extensive notes on magick and other game mechanical articles such as modding seminar treatises. We hope this will help you understand how Tazlure works better from a behind the screens view.
We also hope to add up to date information on current events and more pictures and above all maps.
We invite your feedback on all the topics above