triple_d_ooc | NEW + OPEN DISCUSSION

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mod announcement

NEW + OPEN DISCUSSION

Hey everyone! First of all, I've got some great news! We finally have a PREMISE PAGE! This will help all members, new and current, to describe what the game is about. Enabling will be easier and figuring out just what we do here will as well. (I know that was something a lot of people asked when first thinking about joining the game-- I get asked it all the time, so hopefully this will help everyone out!)

SECONDLY and very important, the moderators would like to launch an open discussion about methods to help make the game more accessible, bring in new players, and improve the game overall. Anon comments will be enabled so long as there is no harassment of other players. Please use this post to give suggestions, things you would like to see in the game, current problems with the game itself that you would like to bring up, or anything else you can think of related to these purposes. Bear in mind that this is for constructive purposes! If you have a comment, make sure to provide a possible solution or improvement that you would like to see.

THIS DISCUSSION IS OPEN TO ANY WHO WISH TO PARTICIPATE: MEMBERS AND POTENTIAL MEMBERS ALIKE.

( A Note: This is not a complaint, love, or HMD post for specific players, as usual please use the suggestions/complaints page or wait until the next HMD if you have a situation that you need to bring up with another player. )

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't exactly have an answer to all things, but there's at least one point I wanted to bring up. And that's the presence of the mod team, to put it simply. I don't know if I can bring it into words very well (maybe someone else can do that better than I could), but I feel like even though we have a fairly big mod team, it doesn't seem to show very often. I usually only see it through Tay's Virus and event related posts and the fa/fr posts Orly makes. I think this was discussed too the last time there was a post similar to this one, but it might be a little better if the mod team was a little more.. transparent, maybe? Like sometimes pop up and inform us as a group of what you're working on at the moment or something similar to that, it might get some blood flowing in the game again. Just as something I've noticed as a player!

I agree with the mod team statement, I've only really seen Tay's virus and info posts even though there's a fairly big mod team. I know stuff does get done but it can be a turn off to some people when there's a working the shadows vibe when there's no communication.

Only other thing I can think about would be that everyone I've tried to enable seems to think the game is fast paced and extremely comment-spammy (which I don't think is true at all.) I think the premise page is going to help a lot with that. Also maybe offer more CR and friending memes on the ooc / crack comms? I feel like it's the one thing that's been lacking since I joined mainly because I'm used to a CR/friend meme going up every month near ATP or after apps close for most games.

Otherwise maybe offer a monthly test drive meme as well. I know a few people who I've talked to that have wanted to app didn't know what would be the best way to voice test with people in-game because there wasn't a test drive post up.

I'm going to second a friending/CR meme every month near ATP or so, or at least around the first of each month give or take. It's great we know quite a few people depending on what our characters are or who they tag, but having the opportunity to get to know the older players from a newer player perspective is a good idea. Especially since some of us don't have plurk, it'd be a good way to know a good, concrete way to get in touch with someone for plotting.

Also, monthly test drive helps a LOT to keep interest in a game. Those are really useful.

I think One thing that could help out a lot is something more than just "canon rehash". While I'm not saying to turn the game into a jamjar and I'm not saying to do away with canon bumps, I think having something more than just touching on various points of their series. Perhaps bigger events than just the usual 3-4 day virus events that involve a character's canon or an attempt to allow more derails.

I don't feel welcome in the game anymore. I don't feel like I'm having fun anymore. And I don't feel like the mods are approachable anymore either. I'm hesitant to even say this because I don't know how to fix it. And the viruses aren't helping. None of them grab my attention like they used to. Maybe it's all me and I'm probably just whining but... I don't know, maybe saying it can get things worked out and I can feel welcome here again. I'm sorry.

You don't have to do canon updates a lot. You can interact with other characters the whole time, and you don't even have to be going through canon if you don't want. The viruses and events can be fun, but, they're not the only thing you can do. Think of what you would do when talking to people from an online site. Engage other characters in conversations, and get non-canon based discussion going. Even when you do canon updates, maybe find indirect ways to mention things that happened in canon, and ask questions about behaviors or opinons to encourage getting to know other characters on a level beyond 'this is what happened to me today' 'that's cool.'

I don't know maybe you already do that. I'm pretty busy sometimes, but, I think that can usually be a good way to do it.

Though, I do agree we should have more events like spontaneous worldhops, or fun in -person events. For canon-based events it can be difficult to get into if you don't know the canon very well and it's very detailed though. Would it be possible to have more open events in general?

I for one would love to get people into a big fandom discussion just for the hell of it. Probably do that with my next post with someone genre savvy enough. So that we can go buckwild with being nerds. Provided we're not actively canon puncturing people, we should be able to get creative.

That's one idea, for example at least. Maybe actually write fanfiction of your IC friends and share your horribleness. Filk movies and get people together for the latest showing of the summer blockbuster. I also once streamed a movie for an IC DDD thing.

Its okay to feel like this honestly, from my opinion. People get burnt out, tired, and just don't have enough time on their hands to do things. This game has been running for a very long time from what I know of, and it should be okay to step back, take a break and refresh yourself. Maybe rewatch/re-read your canons from start to finish, and then tackle things directly with the force of a non-too subtle sledgehammer.

There's no shame in admitting defeat, but you should definitely find out what you want to do with any direction you have. And suggestions to help facilitate including you and your characters will also help as well if you speak to people you know.

I agree with the person above me, and don't be afraid to suggest your own events or viruses that you think would be fun or let us know how you feel like we could be more open with communication. It's our job as mods to help you feel comfortable and happy in the game, so if there's something you can think of that you would like to see more, let us know. I try to be as approachable as possible (and you can always reach me on plurk, AIM, email, or private message-- and you can always just talk to me if you want too)!

I'm really sorry that you feel this way, anon! I really hope there's something we can do to help it, but if you don't know what you need, there's not much anyone else can do..

Edited (DON'T FORGET KEY WORDS, ME.) 2013-09-26 03:23 (UTC)

The mod team has been working to make the game more open, and to make our roles clearer and continue to involve the playerbase. The elimination of the modpole role and the institution of lists of mod duties to accompany our contact information was a part of that. Just looking at the first page of the OOC community right now, we have not only this post and the October virus poll, but Andy's post to get us ready for ATP, and the runoff poll regarding the ic newsletter. And, of course, that game newsletter is a project we're enacting with lots of input from the playerbase, though it was delayed by the departure of the mod who was originally going to run it.

It is a good idea to put some information about the pace and general style on the premise page. It sounds like the people you're talking to have an impression of the game that's rather outdated at this point, so the more channels to give them an accurate idea the better.

Regarding the CR meme, the virus/event plot posts are usually more fruitful. More friending memes and open conversations to involve players more with each other are definitely ideas we like. You can also post ic and ooc memes whenever you want! The system in DDD is open to allow a lot of player participation like that.

A regularly scheduled test drive would be great, thank you for suggesting that!

Just the opposite of Tsubomi's player above, I find too many posts are only canon updates. I think that the mods have enough general events going on (good job on that by the way, events mod), but canon move events can be hard to get into if you're not in that canon.

Players are free to post whatever they want and right now canon moves are the popular choice, but I've had a lot of CR burn out once they got through canon as if there's nothing left of interest to do with them outside of canon . I'd like to see more general posts and taking advantage of DDD as a general chat/journaling site, lives outside of canon. Those posts are easier to tag into for new CR, and once you have CR it's easier to tag into their canon moves. It's difficult to tag a canon move when yours is the 5th or so character going "Oh my god, is everything okay?" or "I'm glad that turned out okay." If you have a little more of a history with them, even over trifling things, it comes more naturally even if you are just another person saying a character-voiced variant of the same thing as everyone else.

I'd definitely like to see the adddictions community used more for both IC/OOC memes. I don't know too many people OOCly anymore due to timezones but when I first joined and that comm was active, that's where I really felt welcomed and got into the swing of the game. I'd do it myself if not for the mailbox spam that comes with it.

I'm still not clear on whether stuff on the crack comm can go canon or not though. Mods? If so how does that work with some of them putting characters who don't have world hops in the same place?

I appreciate the push from the mods to be more active and visible but there's one area I wonder if it wouldn't be better if there was a modpole: apps. This isn't criticism of Ichi so much as acknowledgement that apps are (hopefully) frequent. While there are times we're able to get to them quickly, other times they wait more than a week. While that's common in other games, DDD isn't quiet so large. I suppose a schedule would be an alternative but again, I don't think the size warrants it. Having another mod help out is another solution, if you have the time for it, if you didn't want to bring in another player to the mod team.

Another suggestion would be a more detailed reason for rejection. I've had players tell me they weren't quiet sure what to change and looking at the rejection notes from some other games, ours are a bit short.

I'm glad there's going to be a bigger push for ATP and that there's a premise page. I'm raising the concerns about apps because if successful, it will lead to more of them.

I'd also like to second, or third, a more frequent test drive.

Things on the meme community can become game canon, yes! Both players have to agree that the thread will be considered canon, and it's usually good to throw up a post on a character journal linking the thread so that people know it's been added to the game. Additionally, if the meme/thread contains something that might require mod approval, it's best to run it through us first just to be safe. As for the issue with world hops, it's fine to just handwave that, the same way that you would for a party or other IC event.

Hey there, anon! Thanks for the suggestions. Firstly, I'm very sorry for my recent slowness on getting to applications; to make up for my hiatus, the other mods have offered to help me out with apps until I'm back, so hopefully judgements shouldn't become too slow or fall behind too much! When I return in November, I should be back to handling applications every couple of days, and honestly, no matter how frequent they are, they aren't particularly hard to keep up with! But the other mods are still always around to give me a hand when I need it, so there shouldn't be a problem there.

I'd be happy to try giving more detailed reasons for rejections, too! It's a good idea, so thank you for that! Sometimes, it really is something as simple as the application not showing a grasp for the character voice or personality, but in future rejections, I can take some time to see if I can't more thoroughly explain my reasoning or how I think things could be improved.

EDIT because I shouldn't respond to things when I'm in a hurry omfg I missed a whole thing.

While I'm all for the extra details in app rejections, for the purposes of privacy, it seems better to make sure that players know that they can request a detailed explanation for app rejection, with the option to receive it in private; some people may be apprehensive of asking for further details if it's going to be in public, and I want to make sure that they feel comfortable requesting that explanation! So, we'll add a note to the applications page that a more detailed (and private) explanation of rejection can be requested, and I'll also make the offer for that directly to the player when I reject apps.

Edited 2013-09-27 01:28 (UTC)

I know DDD's always been pretty lacking in overall plot, but maybe there's something we could do as like a long-term event that could inspire more activity and interest in the game. If everyone has a similar goal, it'll be easier to open up new CR and have things to talk about even beyond slice of life and canon-related things.

If I'm completely honest, I agree with this comment. I've been with this game for a long time and I've adored my time here.

What I miss most, though, is the times when characters could do internet things not related to fandom at all. (Finding cute cat pictures, playing flash games, searching for YouTube videos...silly things like that.) I won't say I haven't done just canon updates lately. I have, though I've been trying to do various things to change it up a bit. Whether that's successful or not, I don't know.

It's a complicated feeling. I feel that while being able to go through canon and doing forth wall stuff is part of DDD, its not all what it can be. The mingling events are good and if I'm honest, I'm more active during them than not these days.

Edited 2013-09-27 06:20 (UTC)

I really like the idea of a more frequent test drive, too. I know they wouldn't be as big but timing can affect a lot of things and having fun threads with characters already in the game may be the final push someone needs to finally join. It could also help people get those 20 comments they need to finish an app sometimes, as more obscure characters are harder to get tags with on D_M.

Also, this may have been asked before on one of the other things, I don't really remember, but what happened to the NPCs DDD use to have? I remember hearing about the Weeping Angels when I first joined and really liked the idea of characters that could just pop up like that. ^_^ I know time constraints can make those hard, though.

I NPC'd the Weeping Angels after our first player left in 2008 or so! I gradually stopped playing them because no one really seemed interested, but if that's changed I'd be happy to pull them out again.

^_^ I can't speak for everybody but I'm interested in it. I really like the virus but the NPCs are chances for personalized, unpredictable encounters.

I've noticed that a lot lately, not that it's a bad thing because people do need to canon update from time to time, I think the problem is when everyone in a cast does it at once. Which can't be helped sometimes but it also causes the problem of floods of canon update posts on the comm.

I don't really know if there's anything people can do to stop that since it's just part of the game, but I do agree with the posts outside of canon material happening more.

We've never had an overall plot because in the past players generated ones that everyone could react to or get in on if they wanted. There was Edgeworth and Phoenix's community justice effort that actually had a trial go down. When a bunch of villains were living together on Creeper Island, they plotted evil stuff and blew up the White House which you can imagine caused other characters to react against them.

I'd like to see that, players working across canons to pull off crazy stuff. It's not hard, people just have to be willing to actually take advantage of the game instead of passively doing everything according to canon or only teaming up with castmates.

There seems to be a real focus in the game on characters from crazy canons or characters with superpowers. And, honestly, there are a LOT of characters from kids' shows. It makes me worried about players who might want to app in characters from a prime-time drama, or serious characters from a pretty dark canon. I don't think they'd be able to get a character like that off the ground here, and that's really limiting.

I think it's more of a sliding scale? I'm pretty sure everyone would agree that there's a lot of magical girls and stuff here, but there's also some canons that might not exactly be live action dramas without superpowers or whatever but that are still more serious or darker - like Umineko for example, and I've played here just fine from that for a long time already.

EDIT: .. Oh this is Jelle on.. the wrong account LMFAO. Sorry for that.

Edited 2013-09-27 16:55 (UTC)

Umineko does have a really...anime style to it, though. The characters fall really easily into those character types. If they didn't, I bet it would be hard for the cast to get cr. A lot of the characters in the game are easily categorized, and it seems like the muns choose their cr based on recognizing other characters' categories. If they can't just recognize the character's type off the bat, they ignore them.

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