Patch Notes Update
Based on Your FeedbackHey everyone!
Okay so this is a cool little update that we've got going on here on Aeipathy! Those who have been a part of our VC Broadcasts these last few weeks will know that the Staff Team had some serious pow-wows in recent times over the direction of Aeipathy, how to keep it going strong through times when our community are all often struggling with their own thing. We've talked a lot about the fluctuating activity on the site, how we're going to help our members write more without them feeling pushed to do so and how we can continue to make Aeipathy the awesome escapist haven that it has been for so many for the last two and a half years!
After identifying some of the issues we've noticed, both through our own observations and through the feedback we've gotten from our member base in our broadcasts, we have then spent a lot of time throwing out a whole bunch of ideas and new features and seeing what sticks and rings true. You'll notice a few changes about the place as we put some of those changes into place in order to help you guys feel more secure and involved with your writing. So, this is basically a full recap of what the issues we discovered were and then the features we have introduced in the last few weeks and will be introducing over the next to try and help clear up any confusion.
Excuse the patch notes style and numbering system - it seemed the easiest way to direct you all to the new updates and why they've been implemented/the issues they should help.
01.01 Growing PainsEvery site has periods of growing pains in which their community alters. It might be that the member base suddenly grows, or suddenly shrinks. It might be that it's the start of a new academic year, or its Christmas time and activity naturally drops off a little. It might be that the world plunges into a global pandemic and everyone is a little more high-strung with time restrictions that they didn't have before. It could be a million different things. But they happen. And it is our theory, here on Aeipathy, that it is the sites that do not adapt to those changes that implode or die or trail off into nothing.
Aeipathy has already gone through several changes, adapting to new realms, to member roster increases that we weren't quite ready for - a million different things. And this is another one of those times. Covid is all around, members have their own worries and are less patient and it's the start of a new school year. Even if you don't have kids or aren't a student yourself, the change in demographics across nations at this time of year have knock on effects to other industries and even the germ level in your area, meaning that more people get sick, grow tired, become annoyed or simply don't have the same time they had before, at this time of year. So, what does this mean for our roleplaying world?
01.02 The Potential Issues--
01.02.01 Not enough plot movement.With stresses high and Aeipathy being a place where members can come and escape the tensions of difficult every day life, some issues that have been raised to staffers is a stunted activity level in some characters. Most specifically, this issue comes in for canon characters that are integral to Event plots and can slow down the progression of an Event thread that needs completion before others can be released. This is, understandably, frustrating to those that are up to date and looking for a sense of movement in the global plot.
Recent Changes to Help With This:02.01.01 New Activity Rules
02.01.02 Change to Events Schedule
02.01.03 Event Requests Channel
02.01.04 'Next Event' Teaser
02.01.05 'Objectives' in Event Starters
02.01.13 Kingdom 'Prompts'
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01.02.02 Too much content.In order to attempt to address the above issue, where some of our more active members are left waiting, more Events and Provincial Story content has been being published. Whilst this works in one sense of giving those members more to write, it has created Events that some in the community feel are superfluous or 'writing for the sake of writing'.
Recent Changes to Help With This:02.01.02 Change to Events Schedule
02.01.06 'Way Outs' in Event Starters
02.01.09 Gossip Corner
02.01.10 Bedoa Events Suspended
02.01.12 Event Discussions Frequency
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01.02.03 The global plots are confusing.With our IC world now so big, with a plot that could potentially effect every character around it, you guys have told our staff team that more clarity is needed - more direction. We are always saying that our member base chooses where our global plots go but once that has been decided, you've expressed a need to know what is happening.
Recent Changes to Help With This:02.01.02 Change to Events Schedule
02.01.04 'Next Event' Teaser
02.01.07 Previous Links in Event Starters
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01.02.04 More direction and transparency required.One of the observations made by you guys in the VC Broadcasts is that leaving Events and Provincial Stories open to member direction is great but that clear boundaries or objectives would be helpful in making members feel more confident in stepping forward. The idea that: once you know the lines, you can choose to colour in or outside of them. But you need the lines first. In connection with this, if there are directions that would be helpful for a thread, members need to know the why and how of it.
Recent Changes to Help With This:02.01.03 Event Requests Channel
02.01.04 'Next Event' Teaser
02.01.05 'Objectives' in Event Starters
02.01.06 'Way Outs' in Event Starters
02.01.07 Previous Links in Event Starters
02.01.08 Bi-Weekly Event Updates
02.01.09 Gossip Corner
02.01.13 Kingdom 'Prompts'
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01.02.05 Bedoa needs different handling.Not only is Bedoa one of our least populated kingdoms, but members who roleplay in this kingdom have identified a strong difference in type of roleplaying. Instead of large plots and big events (even if they are carried out by only a few) the roleplaying in this region has become more 'slice of life' style and large Events or the pushing of global plot is risking hindering that style of writing.
Recent Changes to Help With This:02.01.10 Bedoa Events Suspended
02.01.11 Bedoa Event Discussions Changed
02.01.13 Kingdom 'Prompts'
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01.02.06 JD does too much.I considered not openly advertising this one but the effects will be clearly seen by the community, so I see no reason why not. Our staff team hosted a loving mutiny in recent weeks that basically determined that my new mantra needs to be the concept of Delegation. >.>
Recent Changes to Help With This:02.01.14 Delegation
02.01 The SolutionsTaking all of the above into consideration, your staff team has been working like the clappers to try and instigate some new features that will help to eleviate the problems above. Some of them are a little restrictive/stick and some of them are carrots. As any good manager of people knows, you need both to create a symbiotic community that helps everyone to feel heard and have fun. We hope that the combination of the two will do this for Aeipathy.
The staff team requests that you read the following very carefully before broaching questions. Some of this may appear odd or it may seem excessive until it has clearly been read through and understood. If you are still unsure after reading everything through more than once, we are more than happy to address any confusions or worries. Just DM one of our staff team or jump into our VC Broadcast.--
02.01.01 New Activity RulesWe have a brand new activity system in place on Aeipathy. It is completely and utterly unique to us and more than a tad complex, but here's the great thing - you don't even need to worry about checking it. A week before the end of each month when we do our activity sweeps, if any of your characters do not meet with requirements, you'll be sent a DM - simple as that! If a DM is not sent, you will not have your activity addressed at the end of the month. It's on our staff team to keep track of things, not you. Check out our complete Activity System
here.
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02.01.02 Change to Events ScheduleEvents are going to be decreased in number and restricted to global plot advancements. Instead of creating new Events to keep active members busier, we're doing to encourage other plotting in other ways with these members and keep Events to a lower number. Provincial Story creation may increase, if necessary, to compromise for this.
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02.01.03 Events Request ChannelIn order to avoid Event creation dwindling to nothing and players feeling like they have no new content, we have created an #event-requests channel on Discord so that gaps can be filled for those who are struggling rather than the staff team attempting to guess what the community most need.
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02.01.04 'Next Event' TeaserIn the #quick-reference channel on the Discord server, there is now a 'New Event' Teaser that specifies where the global plot may be going next and which Events need to be completed and closed in order to release this new event. This way, members can adjust their game play and how they focus on their posts.
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02.01.05 'Objectives' in Event StartersFrom the date of this announcement onwards, Event Starter Posts will be given 'Objectives' to be completed. These are NOT compulsory but are the general idea of the direction the Event might want to go. Your character does not specifically have to take one of these objectives on board but can use them as a means of something to do. Members can also have their character specifically upset these objectives and make them harder for others if they want to cause drama.
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02.01.06 'Way Outs' in Event StartersFrom the date of this announcement onwards, Event Starter Posts will include means of getting 'Out' of an Event if a character so wishes. These will include short/quick outs that can happen half way through a thread and outs that could be useful if the Event follows the Objectives course expected and characters are looking for a way out
then.
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02.01.07 Previous Links in Event StartersFrom the date of this announcement onwards, Event Starter Posts will include a list of previous events or threads that may be useful reading if you wish to partake in that one. This will hopefully help to give members more confidence when diving into a new event.
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02.01.08 Bi-Weekly Event UpdatesAlongside the physically written Weekly Broadcasts, we'll be releasing Event updates every two weeks. These will be posted in the #roleplay-tags channel as they used to be. Popular demand is bringing them back into use.
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02.01.09 Gossip CornerThere is now a #gossip-corner in our Discord server! This is a lovely new feature that allows members to give a shout out when they do something note-worthy in any thread - Events or personal threads alike. Give a shout out about something you have written or read in any thread on Aeipathy, making sure to keep it clear what others might have seen or known about this gossip. This way, gossip and chastisement can happen at Courtly meets and Festival events!
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02.01.10 Bedoa Events SuspendedBedoa is a kingdom that has developed and is being written in a different manner to our other kingdoms. Rather than large global plots, the tribes are working on a Slice of Life style of story-telling which Events are starting to interrupt. Adjusting to this preference by our members, Bedoa Events are going to be suspended from now onwards until more Gesin are in play. Bedoan Events will likely continue to be few and far between and reserved for interactions between Gesins.
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02.01.11 Bedoa Event Discussions ChangedEvent discussions in the #bedoa channel on our Discord server (in order to fit with the above update) will be being altered to Tribe Discussions. These will be moments in which particular Gesins can discuss their internal plots for all to see and comment on, keeping everyone informed and participating in the sweet Slice of Life roleplaying that Bedoa has encouraged.
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02.01.12 Event Discussions FrequencyNow that our lovely Event Discussions are underway, the staff team are adjusting to member feedback and cutting them down a tad. An event discussion will be occurring once per week which means every kingdom will have a Discussion every six weeks. These discussions will be focused on the least active event or provincial story in that particular kingdom in order to keep threads moving forward.
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02.01.13 Kingdom 'Prompts'In order to keep things moving without the additional Events, the staff team will occasionally be throwing out little 'Prompts' into the plotting channels. These are going to be small, background details of current events in the kingdom that will help writers create new threads with fresh ideas but they are not required to be followed. The will be things like 'a valuable has gone missing from X estate' or 'heavy rain is wiping out the fields in X province'. These do not require full Events to be explored but can (if members wish) be used to create new content.
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02.01.14 DelegationThose who know me well will be aware that I (JD) am rubbish at delegating. I love Aeipathy and I spend a great deal of each day keeping it running (even when you might not see me around so much on the server). However, as described above, my lovely and caring staff team have held a compassionate mutiny and insisted that I cannot do it all alone. They have dived in with eager aplomb, ready to aid in tasks and new features! It is therefore important to mention that you will likely be seeing more updates in the #announcements channel and other channels from our staff team rather than from me directionally. I would like to make it very clear that these updates should be taken with the same authority as if they were made by myself. The staff team have my complete backing and are working to put out all of this content at my direction.