May Game Announcements

[magicademymods]

May Game Announcements A Word From Your Mod Team Diatu is no longer a new game (by EMP rules, anyway)! We've made it this far and we hope to make it much farther. We would, however, like to increase our playerbase! We advertise on rpanons and EMP already, but we would like further suggestions on ways to attract players. Most importantly, we are considering an advertisement rewrite, and would like your input on what aspects of the game you like best, and thus might be the best sells. What Changes Are Coming? Several! First, Research on the Sundered threads links are now part of AC, rather than a response to an event top-level. This will save us some time in processing them. Second, we have changed the mechanics for adventures so that a failed roll no longer ends the adventure for the month. Instead, failure will simply cause consequences within the adventure. We think this is an improvement to the mechanic, as we've concluded the original fail/retake mechanic was offputting and offered fewer benefits than drawbacks. Third, we have updated the Game Guide and FAQ to address common questions we've received about continuing adventures, canon updates, and deaths. Fourth, we have created the Diatu Master Spreadsheet. This spreadsheet tracks student houses, Colormarch contributions, Regard, Familiar Bond, and Fame. We will also add any other numeric trackings to this sheet as well. Our goal is to remove the burden from players and transfer keeping track of these things entirely to us, making the mechanics easier to use and interact with and less likely to see a burden to track. As of now we believe it's up to date, but if you see anything in review that needs our attention, please let us know. We also appreciate familiar names, if you are improving your bond! This Month In Diatu Late Spring Weather is ramping towards summer, as warmer winds catch Ascelion as they roll gently across the land. The most notable weather event in this month is hail; freak storms can drop hail on the city from pebble sized all the way up to fist, on rare occasions. Buildings are prepared for this assault, so duck in one quick if hail starts to fall! Also, feel free to end up awkwardly trapped under a bridge or awning with someone your type, because... Live and Love is the theme both on-campus and off. As spring's growth settles solidly in and the birds and bees are about in number, Ascelion traditionally takes the chance for romance! Summer is hard hot work made better by a new love or a new spouse, after all. Many weddings occur at this time, including some on campus as students decide to tie the knot. Many deals are aimed at couples, whether it be a discount at a restaurant or a special line of earrings to catch the eye of that special someone. Sundering Around Campus shows the dangers of that formerly-forbidden Curriculum. As students gain enough knowledge to work some minor spells, and laziness born of increasing familiarity, troubles from miscast magic keep popping up. Little gremlins skitter around, causing mayhem and havoc. A small cherub has taken up residence in the fountain and won't stop proselytizing. Small portals occasionally pop open, disgorge a disgruntled familiar, then shut. The faculty is moving quickly to crack down on this misbehavior, but till they weed out all the students responsible, who knows what you'll face? This Month In Anastara Pop-Up Opportunities appear around the city, as it finally becomes pleasant enough to perform or sell outside of a store, but before the focused commerce of summer really settles in. Merchants unfurl blankets right on the street, hawking their wares both mundane and mysterious. Dancing troupes burst into performance without warning, then pass the hat with a smile. Fantastic Foil duels occur outside of shops to lure in the impressionable. Maybe you'll find a deal from a shifty smuggler, or enjoy a sudden burst of acrobatic flair -- or maybe you're responsible for one or the other. Or both. Adventures As detailed on our Adventures page, you may sign up for an adventure by responding to the appropriate comment on this post. We will respond with your adventure setups in a few days. There are new adventures, so check them out! We were asked a question which we want to answer generally: you may undertake a new adventure this month even if you are still in an adventure from previous months. We also want to encourage everyone to involve others in your adventures! Though it is possible to do many adventures solo, we intend them as opportunities for characters to mix and mingle. Actions To represent characters working long-term towards a goal, you can submit up to two actions on the appropriate comment below that your character will be focusing their time towards (or one action twice). This can range from studying, to exploration, to trying to gain points for the Colormarch, to buttering up NPCs, to others. At the end of the month, once you submit AC, you will be given your results. The Colormarch! We've calculated the Colormarch stats for the past two months and victory goes to Aer et Calculum! The Gates and the Walk are now in silver and black, and as a reward, you have all been granted Robes of Immaculate Style. These fine, fancy robes are enchanted to repel dirt and grime, resist wrinkles, protect against rain and snow, and generally make you stylish as all get out. (Gekronus Maius students are particularly jealous!) A Note On This Month's Event Thanks to player actions in adventures, this month's event will be a little special: it will occur in two parts, separated by time. We invite you to consider making two different top-levels for it, as the themes and tone for these days will be very, very different indeed. We considered making this a mid-monthly event instead, but wanted to try this experiment and see how it works. Please let us know your opinions on it. CRAUs? When initially designing the game, we decided against including CRAUs for the usual reasons: the idea that the characters are no longer the canon ones we expect, the concerns of players who might have other characters assume or insist on past interactions with theirs, and so forth. However, Diatu has turned into a small, close-knit game and we do not think those concerns would be especially burdensome. We'd like your opinions on the matter. Should we change the rule, or keep it as is? Monthly Mod Plans Our focus was actually taken up designing the Master Spreadsheet this month, meaning we once again dropped the ball on Religion -- but we think making the game easier to track and manage is more important. With that said, we actually have few new areas for improvement to consider this month. In response to a suggestion, we hope to have a CR meme out soon!: Update Locations to include all new discovered areas (monthly) Update Adventures with new options (monthly) Create a Religion page to explain the religion of the Tenscore Kingdoms (past due) Create and post a CR Meme

Comments

Feedback/Suggestions

[magicademymods]

We are in particular interested in feedback on the Master Spreadsheet, the event format, and where we can keep improving our game mechanics to make them more interesting and less burdensome on players.

Re: Feedback/Suggestions

[nobodys_puppet]

General feedback:

I love this game. I love the adventures, how understanding the mods are, and the community we are building here. I love the actions, and that AC isn't just pass/fail but that the actions taken MATTER. I like having monthly prompts for everyone also. I can't wait to see how the failure doesn't end the adventure modification works.

You guys have a ton on your plate. I admire all the work you guys clearly put in and do not envy it.

As to the spreadsheet... I am not fully sure I understand it, lol. Which makes it hard to comment on. But it looks impressive, and if the data makes sense to you guys and makes it easier to keep track of what you need to track as mods, I am all for it!

[magicademymods]

Is there some way we can make the spreadsheet more comprehensible? We intend it as a resource for players as well, so they can reference various statistics about their characters' status here.

[nobodys_puppet]

Some of this could just be my way of processing information, so grain of salt with all of this. But what I see:

The colormarch seems to be missing some characters? Not sure if that means they just didn't earn in those months or I am just not seeing them?

With regard to regard, the list of NPCs is just so long that even with the alternating colours, I have trouble following as I scroll all the way across, and I am on a 15 inch monitor. But that could be my dyslexia being a pain, and might not be an issue for others. Not sure.

I am not sure I understand the familiar bond sheet at all, or why it seems to lack some people. (My guess would be it only lists people that bonded with their familiar as actions?)

Fame also confuses me as to who is listed and why, and what the B category is for? Given it has only one entry? (I think that was from someone's adventure, but I am not sure?)

Me personally, I don't always work well with spreadsheets, something in my mind just has trouble with them sometimes. (Despite how often I make them myself.) So This could all just be my brain being weird and wonky and broken. I am not sure. So like I said, take all my feedback on the sheet with a grain of salt. Because I am not sure how much of my feedback is valid for anyone else.

Sorry I could not have been of more help. And again, omg, thank you. I love this game, and I have characters in my head queuing up, wanting to join, lol.

[magicademymods]

You are correct in many of your assumptions -- for each category, we only include characters who have earned any points in that category. It makes for easier tracking and less clutter that way.

The B list in Fame is because Fluttershy is not famous but Ballet the Land Whale is, and we wanted a way to indicate that the one was tied to the other.

[nobodys_puppet]

Ah okay. Thank you for the clarification.

[perfectenn]

I do like spreadsheets (even if I fell asleep in Excel class), so I'll chime in if that's okay?

Some information is missing:
- Takane is listed under Gekronus Maius, but she was in Valhudor.
- Were Sakura's Valhudor points added to the February round?
- Tenn, Hel, Kamala, Hendrik, Webby, and Yotsuyu still need their April Colormarch points added to the chart.

Regards is going to be long and sidescrolly either way, but locking the left column with names definitely helped!

I don't think characters need to be listed on the Familiar Bond or Fame sheets if they aren't leveling up in that area. (And this will save time when maintaining the sheets.) But I agree with Chicklet that Column B on the Fame listing should be labeled for Familiars.

Overall, I like having everything in one place for reference. This way, players don't need to keep their own records. (And the ones that do can double check here.) It's a great idea and much-needed as our options in the game grow!

But... I swear, we don't JUST party over here in Valhudor. We do study. Honest!

[magicademymods]

Thank you for double-checking us! We've noticed that for some reason, entries sometimes don't enter properly, so feedback where we miss these things is wonderful and much appreciated.

We've labeled the second column of the Fame sheet, though we may need to relabel it if something associated with someone else achieves Fame.