• Out of Character • Rynmere OOC Social Thread

[Celeste Andaris]

An Invitation

To the nobility of Rynmere*, an invitation to a party celebrating the engagement of Xander Krome to Celeste Andaris.


This will be held in Krome on the 28th Ashan and any member of nobility is welcome to attend. If anyone not from the noble families wants to come, just drop either Xander or myself a pm, please?

We'd love to thread with you* - it's going to be a very informal thread, but we're going to post to it regularly (once every four or five days) to keep it moving. But it's an open thread, so pop in! It also is an announcement of the engagement, kinda thing.

*Yes, even Rafael.

[Rafael Warrick]

An Invitation

*Yes, even Rafael.
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Wouldn't be much of a party without me!

[Whisper]

Hey folks.

Just an update about me: I am going to be taking some time for compassionate reasons. I will still be around, especially storytelling in moments when I have the energy/time. But please don't expect the levels of activity that I have been offering over the past 4 months. If you have any questions about Rynmere, please get in touch with Pegasus and/or Bee in the mean time; they will be more than happy to help.

Thank you for your understanding.

Whisper

[Arwel Kyric]

An Invitation

To the nobility of Rynmere*, an invitation to a party celebrating the engagement of Xander Krome to Celeste Andaris.


This will be held in Krome on the 28th Ashan and any member of nobility is welcome to attend. If anyone not from the noble families wants to come, just drop either Xander or myself a pm, please?

We'd love to thread with you* - it's going to be a very informal thread, but we're going to post to it regularly (once every four or five days) to keep it moving. But it's an open thread, so pop in! It also is an announcement of the engagement, kinda thing.

*Yes, even Rafael.

Darn, I wish I'd worked on Ahrin more to have him finished, I'd love for him to pop in for the announcement

[Bumblebee]

• Update:

  
  

  I hope everyone is having a wonderful and Happy Easter, assuming you celebrate it. And if not, then I hope it was a good Sunday. It rained where I live, but if I'm being honest, I find it a bit soothing.
  
  Anyway, I have been working on getting the developmental forum caught up for the city today, and we are currently on the last page. I am also excited to announce that we have started a new thread for Rituals, Traditions & Folktales, located in The Power Behind the Throne forum. So any and all of those future write ups or "encounters" in game, can later be referenced.

[Bumblebee]

• Streamlining

  
  

  Hello, worker bees!
  
  I have some big ambitions on changing up the city - to make it more accessible and straightforward for players, but I would like some feedback and advice on what I could do to help. I have a few questions and if you're interesting in answering them, PM me. I want this to be a healthy discussion and avoid any unnecessary conflict, however if you are upset, I want to hear your frustrations. As you all know, I am the newest ST to Rynmere, so I am unaware of these types of things and I don't want them lost in this thread.
  
  As for what I need to know:
  

  1. 1. Nobles get a lot of attention, but they only make up a small portion. I want the love(?) to go around. What ways would you like to see non-nobility affected? What kind of plots would you want to see happen?
     
     2. As someone who used to be scared to ask for any moderation, if this is the case for you, what would be the best way to get involved with you?
     
     3. What is your biggest concern with the city/plots as of now?
     
     4. What do you think of the city's organization?
     
     5. General questions/concerns? NPCS, factions, etc that you'd like to see more of.

  Thanks so much guys. Your feedback means a lot to me.

[Malcolm]

• Streamlining

  
  

  Hello, worker bees!
  
  I have some big ambitions on changing up the city - to make it more accessible and straightforward for players, but I would like some feedback and advice on what I could do to help. I have a few questions and if you're interesting in answering them, PM me. I want this to be a healthy discussion and avoid any unnecessary conflict, however if you are upset, I want to hear your frustrations. As you all know, I am the newest ST to Rynmere, so I am unaware of these types of things and I don't want them lost in this thread.
  
  As for what I need to know:
  

  1. 1. Nobles get a lot of attention, but they only make up a small portion. I want the love(?) to go around. What ways would you like to see non-nobility affected? What kind of plots would you want to see happen?
     
     2. As someone who used to be scared to ask for any moderation, if this is the case for you, what would be the best way to get involved with you?
     
     3. What is your biggest concern with the city/plots as of now?
     
     4. What do you think of the city's organization?
     
     5. General questions/concerns? NPCS, factions, etc that you'd like to see more of.

  Thanks so much guys. Your feedback means a lot to me.

When you say streamline and big changed, what do you mean? I don't find the city or lore confusing at all, and I know that in part is because I wrote it, so I am conflicted about that being changed, especially considering the success and popularity of Rynmere.

What I would like to see is some care taken. I believe Rynmere could easily be over complicated, especially with people breaking down regions into mini regions and towns and suburbs, and what have you. Venora being a key example.

I would love to see the news paper utilised as it was intended (esp all the deaths there have been lately, Teddy for example, and crimes committed) and the rumour system continued.

Thread wise I would like to see storytellers opening doors rather than closing them. ST has an awesomely intelligent playerbase who don't need anything forced on them, but enjoy being indulged by the individuals who volunteer their time here. I think the best thing you can do is read and listen, and bridge the gap between what players are allowed to write themselves and what they need you for (immortals, high ranking NPCs, Modded Events).

Rynmere doesn't need new and exciting, it doesn't need drastic change, it just needs continued support and that brilliant enthusiasm you've armed yourself with.

I'm not going to beg you, but I'm going to ask very nicely. Please respect my work, and the work of many others who poured their hearts into bringing Rynmere to life. I know I'm not staff anymore, but I will support you with anything you need for this city, I mean that.

[Rafael Warrick]

@Bumblebee @Malcolm

I'd like to chip in a few thoughts as well but I'd prefer to do this in an open thread rather than sending PMs. Would it be a good idea to open a thread somewhere to discuss these things in greater detail? I can of course put up a thread myself but I'd like to leave the choice up to the Rynmere mods. Personally, I think it'd be a good idea to have an open discussion to avoid any grief, as long as everyone stays polite, respectful, and is willing to concede in areas that they may disagree with (I think we're all mature enough to do that).

So far there have been some changes that I think were good (import/export system being replaced by noble standing tracker for example) but some other changes are perhaps a little too sweeping or just not necessary (happy to go into specifics if an open thread is made available).

[Uiyaejn]

A food for thought, it's good to keep in mind that commoners are a faction of their own. If you looked at the resistance and the uprising of the commoners against the aristocracy in France this is a really good example of that.

I mean I guess the thing is, what separates nobles from the common people? Money. There's a lot of politics in Rynmere going on between those, so maybe just steer more stuff in the common direction. An event that surrounds the love of an old man looking to save his wife from something but nobody will listen, then develop that small little "Oh shit its a simple little plot thing" into something that effects the world a lot more, so maybe it turns out that his wife is an ancient shaman that sends them on a vision quest to find an old secret of Rynmere that is hidden from even some of the most prestige members of the city.

Remember the cliché's are there for a reason, people like reading them and being in them but don't over use them or they get dull. So elaborate, change it. You probably know all that though. Good luck my darling! =D

[Elyna]

I agree with Rafael, this probably needs it’s own thread otherwise all the feedback might run the risk of getting lost.
We also should be able to maintain our maturity, however this is quite an emotive topic and my blood has literally just run cold.

I feel very frustrated that the moderators are working behind the scene on a big ‘nobility’ shake up – so far I don’t believe this hasn’t hadn’t any input from players of noble characters (unless they’re moderators themselves – in which case it runs the risk of being extremely self-serving.) I’ve made concerns on this topic very clear and the idea of ‘big changes’ being developed that are going to impact my character, and myself as a writer, is making my physically anxious. I would like to be included in these discussions, rather than to be a victim of their implementation. Perhaps all character currently invested in the Rynmere, should be consulted regarding these changes?

You’ve mentioned your big ambitions to change up the city which is also concerning and deeply disrespectful for the year of effort put into the creation of Rynmere by Kingdom. Why does Rynmere require big changes, when it remains the most popular place in Idalos? It has significantly more PC’s registered and hundreds of threads. People are signing up to write and play in Rynmere, because they like it as it is. To quote an old maxim – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

1. Nobles get a lot of attention, because they’re fun to play. There’s an ability to scheme and plot to gain power which is beyond the realm of what your standard commoner can expect – it doesn’t mean that a commoner can’t still plan to kill the king and take the throne, but their story arc is very different. Court politics are fun. Rebelling against your characters arranged marriage is fun to write (well I think it is - it's what bought me here in the first place) and seeing as the majority of young nobles have also faced, and rebelled against this...there's a definite pattern!
i. However, for non-noble and noble PC’s there is an entire city to explore! We write our own plots. Yes, there are a lot of complex plots surrounding the nobility, but these have been constructed over a year of posting. Nearly every single plot has been a culmination of two players simply going – how can we make this thread exciting, where is the tension? Where is the conflict and occasionally throwing an antagonist in their own way.
ii. It’s great fun to have moderators to write with, but moderator plots should not be the lead of character development. We shouldn’t have to agree plots with moderators in order to explore the city. It’s an open world and there is so much exciting stuff to write about.
iii. I’m happy to help non-noble or noble PC’s develop character arcs for themselves if people are struggling for inspiration – but I don’t think anyone is. As Malcolm has said, I think we have an incredible base of writers with their PC’s in the city. Currently, I feel that moderators are putting up barriers, instead of helping take them down. This would be the change I like to see.
2. I’m trying to avoid moderation. Yet, again with the new Noble system, I’m very concerned that I’m being forced towards accepting moderated threads in order to progress my character through basic storylines.

As Malcolm has said, I think we have an incredible base of writers with their PC’s in the city. Currently, I feel that moderators are putting up barriers, instead of helping take them down. This would be the change I like to see.

3. City organisation is just fine. There are enough locations developed for it to feel grounded as a city, but still open for players to create their own flavour.
4. I also agree that the separate villages/regions run the risk of being overdeveloped and turned into their own mini kingdoms. The more that is set down and defined in the regions, the harder it is for new players to make their mark on these places.
5. I’d love to see the rumour mill up and running and the newspaper. This would be helpful for all players to feel rewarded for their amazing plots. IE. Did you know that Duncan had been seen with these twins, on separate occasions? Isn’t one of the twins seeing Melody? All of the scandal! It should definitely be made public knowledge. And the deaths, oh my goodness! Zvez, Teddy – all those people who meet their unfortunate ends? What about the stories of the familys left behind. All of this adds to the rich tapestry.
6. I’d love to see new factions being created. Not moderated led. A faction of five people that meet on a Tuesday night – shouldn’t need moderator approval to move forward. If over the course of a season this faction gains followers – pc’s and npcs then it should start influencing the tapestry of the region. That would be a lot of fun. Elyna is going to start a school to train young women to defend themselves. Lei’Lira seems to be collecting an army of children! Too much fun to be had.