MOD CONTACT

[rysligmods]

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MODERATOR CONTACT & GAME ISSUES

Plurk: ryslig
PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT US BY PLURK UNLESS IT IS AN EMERGENCY. USE THIS POST FOR ANY PM SINCE IT IS SCREENED AND WILL NOTIFY US.

BENNU
Plurk: himewako

CARBON
Plurk: carbonate

MEOWZY
Plurk: Meowzy

KRYSTAL
Plurk: athensbrat

Personal plurks are listed for reference, but please don't PM them with mod-related questions, as it's best if all of us can see everything.

If you have a question about game mechanics, please comment to the FAQ. If you want to submit a plot proposal, use the Plot Suggestions post. Otherwise, questions or concerns regarding either the game as a whole or a specific player can be posted here. Anonymous comments are enabled on this post, and IPs are not logged unless you are posting anonymously. Let us know in your comment if you'd like the thread to be unscreened at any point.

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Comments

[daddytexas]

Hey there, so this isn't so much a game-wide plot suggestion or anything but at some point I want Texas to plan an escape from the peninsula with a group of other determined characters. If possible there may be several groups for different geographical locations (land vs sea) or several different escape attempts by one large group.

Of course, these will fail but I'm curious about what roadblocks the characters might run into on their way. Presumably, the group trying to cross the sea will get turned around either by storms or heavy ocean fog but could they also run into things like sea-monsters or ghost ships?

And those looking to escape via land will eventually reach the mountain range. Would they be chased back by some kind of monsters or would they get turned around in the fog before even reaching the mountains? Another possibility is venturing into a mysterious mountain cave that reroutes them straight back into the heartlands.

I know you're waiting to reveal some of these locations in events and stuff so I want to know how far my character is allowed to go and what he's allowed to encounter.

[rysligmods]

Sorry this response is so late! We lost some emails in the app flood.

Sea monsters are fine to run into, ghost ships would have to be part of an event (or player plot if you want to propose one).

They're allowed to reach the mountains but will be turned around on paths or tunnels and end up back in Ryslig.

Anywhere named on the location map is allowed to be explored, even if it hasn't been "officially" intro'd yet!

[anti_nonsense]

Hi! I've got some questions about one of the major NPCs.

Rita here's working as a lab volunteer for Dr. Liewen, and I was wondering how much she'd be able to learn about Liewen or his work (especially the research towards a monster cure). Is all of that kept behind locked doors, or is she able to see or otherwise learn about what's being done?

I'm guessing the thing about the new arrivals' blood sharing some particular abnormality (as mentioned in the latest event post) would be accessible information, but is there anything else?

[rysligmods]

His personal life is kept behind closed doors, but his research is publicly available. He's largely focused on the monster issue right now, but has contributed a great deal to technology here (along with the network, he's working on televisions and has worked with cars and various medicines before).

He seems to have been researching inter-dimensional travel and time travel, but has never succeeded in finding anything.

Newbie here

[godofyoukaimountain]

Hello! I'm really interested in your RP group, and I made a Dreamwidth account so that I could participate! If I can pull together the courage to take the plunge into such a 'serious' group (most of my RP experience comes from indie RPs on Tumblr and chatlog stuff), I'll be playing Kanako Yasaka from Touhou Project.

However, there's a big problem... I don't know how to RP on this site! Not in the slightest! I don't even know how to app! So, could I trouble you guys for a brief rundown of the process?

Re: Newbie here

[godofyoukaimountain]

I realize that my original comment is really vague, sorry. What I'd like to know is the following:

- What should I have on my character journal? (I've already put an HMD there, is this proper protocol?)
- Where do I send the app?
- Do I RP by commenting on the logs in the ryslig group/making logs of my own, or by commenting on the character journals of other RPers?
- Is there a minimum requirement of words/characters for each post?
- Which plurks should I follow? Which communities should I join? Are the plurks necessary?

Thank you in advance!

[conceivedeceit]

Hello! Rita's player and I are thinking of having Rita and Loki explore Dyster and/or Hemlig -- one in the next few days (prior to The Oncoming Storm event) and the other at a yet unspecified date -- because they're both interested in Ryslig's magic. I'm aware that characters are able to explore any location on the map, but I have a couple of initial questions!

- Do you have a preference on which location they visit now? (For whatever reason, plot, OOC, etc.)
- Besides the blurbs, would there be anything else to keep in mind? (For example, it sounds like there might be consequences for staying in Dyster after nightfall or that might just be superstition.)

Thank you!

[rysligmods]

No mod preference - however, Dyster will be involved in the late October event, if that affects your choice (whether you want Dyster to be a surprise for them or not).

It's just superstition (for now), although both have quite a heavy magical presence that monsters may be able to sense. In Hemlig the presence is just sort of there, in Dyster it's a bit more ominous, of the definite dark magic variety.

[sorprese]

I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this, but what would a character find in Dyster post-October's event? Would it still be entirely deserted? Would there be any traces of activity, anything?

[rysligmods]

It would still be completely deserted, although some people may now be seen there when the fog rolls in. However, they won't speak to anyone.

[(Anonymous)]

Hey, mods Cass and Hannah, just wanted to thank you two for all of the time and effort you're putting into the game. It must be hectic with the end of the semester crunch and the holiday rush, but you're doing a bang up job. Don't forget to treat yourselves once in a while!

[rysligmods]

Thank you! I will lie down on my tiger couch now.

---Hannah

[philosphers_snark]

Hello, mods! I had a question about gargoyle stuff.

All this time I've mistakenly been writing my character as if he'll be stone during the day no matter if the sunlight's on him directly. Would there be any chance I can make it happen? I'd understand if not, but I figure since this would make it harder on him rather than bypassing conflicts/struggles as laid out in the Bestiary, I thought I might have a chance. :o

[rysligmods]

You can play it like that if you want - however, be aware that it may make participation in future plots a bit difficult if those plots involve things like multi-day underground travel.

[daddytexas]

I have a question about the tunnel from the Heart of the World event. I know it's sealed shut but if characters were to revisit the site today, would they find or sense anything unusual? Thanks!

[rysligmods]

Nope, nothing unusual! The fog god has left it alone.

[third_wheel]

Howdy! While I don't expect him to find anything, just letting ya'll know that Daichi here is going to be exploring the coast of Vandere, from the town down towards the lighthouse. As well as taking a boat a little ways out- but going back before the next fog rolls in. Basically trying to figure out how they all keep poofing there.

This is just a note in-case there's anything out there he would notice

[rysligmods]

He would find a lot of water and soil >B] but no nothing special.

[nobleminded]

I've got a question about arachnes as I try to figure out full transformation details. I know they get the body of an arachnid from the waist down, but how detailed is the resemblance? Would it also include any traits that would be part of that animal? For example, some scorpions have venomous stingers or can produce acid from their abdomens.

[rysligmods]

While I ask this question to the other mods for you for tomorrow, I highly suggest you go to the Monster and Plot QA (http://rysligmods.dreamwidth.org/13362.html) so that anyone with the same question can see it later there :)

[(Anonymous)]

Can I make a suggestion for the next app cycle or one after that?

Restrict it to new players only, for just one app cycle. While having alts is great, when there's an application cap, new players that want in have to fight with current players going for their second or even third character slot.

Although I am posting anon, I have been here since the game opened, and I want to app alts, but I still think new blood needs to be given at least one free and clear crack at getting in without fighting all of us for space.

[rysligmods]

Talking with the other mods, we may be doing apps differently next round in March that would eliminate this problem. However, this will depend how well and fast we do with our app mods this round and how comfortable everyone is.

If we don't switch to this method, we will be reserving at least 75% of our app cap exclusively for new players next round.

[(Anonymous)]

Just a comment/suggestion after the new app round; there seems to be a lot of revision requests with "how will this character react to this specific setting" as a point requested which isn't mentioned as a thing required on the application page? It might make it easier for working on apps to either be consistent about whether or not it's required, or to have it listed on the app page as a pointer on what you're looking for, since I haven't seen a lot of setting-specific "What will the character do/react to here" as a requirement in other games - it's not something most people would be realizing they needed.

[rysligmods]

It wasn't something we had planned for, but it did/does make it easier for us to ask revisions in this manner. It's more of a personality enhancer, if we feel the personality needs a bit more information for us to be sold on the character.

It was never meant to be a requirement, rather a good way for us to ask for more without making it into a chore for the players (since you'll be in those situations in Ryslig as well). We aren't planning on making it part of the application process either.

[(Anonymous)]

It seems unfair that if someone reserves a character, that they can just change who they reserved later on when it looks like their reserved character might get rejected. Is it possible to make a rule that one must app who they reserved, or let go of their reserve slot and take their chances with everyone else?

[rysligmods]

The Homestuck reserves were a special situation in which we knew some Homestuck, but we are also not completely canon savy. After accepting the reserves, we were explained that Psiioniic would have required examples of their way of speaking and mannerisms from the other two trolls of their 'lineage', which did not sit well with us. The Condesce could have had a good chance too, but, again, it was a situation of US making the call when we let them reserve.

We didn't want to tell them that they couldn't app anymore outright either, as the initial mistake was on us. Therefore, WE are the ones who offered to change their reserves.

This isn't a situation which will happen again, although if there are other circumstantial issues we will deal with them accordingly. But this is the exception, not the rule.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello mods! Some of us have been talking, and we're a little bit concerned about how Rota was handled! Nothing too big, just a little bit of concrit we hope you'll take into consideration.

Mostly, we were a little iffy about the consequences that were presented for eating someone from Rota. We understand that it's caused by the night shade they eat, and that's perfectly reasonable! However, given the tone of the game, we felt like the consequences were just jokes, rather than serious like the game has been so far. If anything was going to happen, it seems more appropriate that they would've caused seriously bad hallucinations and possible death if consumed too much, rather than silly things like laughing, blurting out whatever, etc. The single poisoning option seemed like the most accurate for the situation, and it could've easily just been up to player discretion how seriously affected their character was by eating someone, rather than requiring mods to roll for their results and whatnot. Letting people handle it themselves would've been easier on you guys, too!

Also, we're kind of surprised that there weren't more serious IC consequences in general from eating someone, and even eating their livestock? Reading the description of Rota, their livestock is very precious and they don't have a lot left for themselves because they've been selling it to the other towns (which was also mentioned as a source of internal strife among the villagers). Having people coming in and eating them and ruining their livelihood seems like something they'd probably be very angry about, and potentially turn them against the monsters and attempt to run them out. The other thing was just how close everyone in Rota appeared to be, from what was described. Since they're a small community, it seems like everyone would know each other and all that small town stuff, so it would be more obvious if people were getting eaten, and at least families would surely be angry for the lack of justice for their losses? All in all, the whole situation just came across very joke-y rather than the serious nature it ought to have been.

Hopefully you can take this into consideration for future events and understand where we're coming from with these concerns, and thank you for reading! Have a good night!

[rysligmods]

Hey! Thank you for the critique, this is actually really appreciated and great because I always want to know what went right and wrong in the event.

Regarding the consequences, that was entirely my fault. I felt it might have been too much mood whiplash making this right after the monster parasite event, and didn't want to make the players feel emotionally drained and overwhelmed. So I went with a few 'softer' things, but I failed to mention how horrific those things should be - for example loosing your voice and being unable to speak can be really traumatic for certain characters, and having hallucinations of your home, intermixed with that they see in Ryslig could be the stuff nightmares are made of when you can't tell what's real and what's fake. Having no control of what you say is also a scary thought especially if you're the type to keep secrets. The randomization was meant to add a Russian roulette element to it - you could get something a little less worse, but you ran the risk of dying in the process.

Next time, I'll make sure to just give out a few options, list the possibilities, and let the players decide how horrible they want to be on their own. Rota is an area of setting we'll be revising in the future.

The livestock issue is simply that I completely forget to mention it, but you were correct in assuming that they are very important. While not having the same effects, they would definitely be as angry to outsiders eating their animals than they are eating their neighbor. With a lot to think about during the events, some things do pass under the radar, and this was one of them. If you notice such a mistake again during an event, please let us know, and we'll change/edit it accordingly!

You would also be correct in regards to how close everyone in Rota is. It would be a lot more obvious for habitats getting eaten, which is why they wanted everyone out as soon as possible when the monsters showed up - they knew it was bad news. Imagine being in a place that strangers arrive, you cloth and help them, then these gigantic beasts come from them, taking a few of their own in the process.

They can't do much right now considering the monsters' powers, but I'd like for all of you to stay tuned...they aren't going to take this lack of justice for their loses laying down either, the situation was one of being powerless to do anything at that moment. >B] It certainly wasn't meant to be a joke, and I'm sorry if it seemed like it was presented this way.

This all being said, this does give me hope that the next event won't be considered too terrible. I had been wondering if what we had planned was a little too dark or not, but thank you for reminding me that you're all horrible, lovely people.

[gravement]

hey, as you might have been informed about all ready, something happened with the link player. there was, in MY opinion, a little bit of rule breaking with the second rule, IC does not equal OOC. before i go into this, i assure you that i'm not trying to rule over what happened here and declare they broke a rule and you should ban / warn them, and i'm just giving my side of the story, with details in case the plurk becomes locked. you handle this however you please!

to describe what happened, link-mun made a plurk that was basically 'I FINALLY UNDERSTAND WHY THE NETWORK POST IS BOTHERING ME'. then, link-mun decided to state that the arguments the characters were providing were similar to arguments racist people use in issues such as 'all lives matter'.

now, it kinda blew up. people who weren't added on their friends list got involved, and this is solely my fault. i was trying to check on the plurk as it updated, but instead replurked it. i panicked for about a second and unreplurked it, but after a couple of refreshes on my timeline, it keeps going from being replurked to... not. explaining why some people see it and others aren't. this was how natasha-mun got involved, as they weren't on their friends' list, and they didn't check their timeline before this happened.

the deal with natasha is that link-mun openly crit her behavior in the network post, instead of (what i'm assuming, and nobody has corrected me on this yet) bringing it to her first. i let this slide, deciding i would instead bring it up to her privately and not openly criticizing link-mun's behavior.

instead, natasha-mun suddenly appeared in the plurk, surprising me. i let this slide and let them deal with it, and natasha-mun offered to drop the thread, as i continued discussing what might happen with leo and link. then, kimbely-mun showed up, and like natasha-mun, stated their feelings did not match the character's and they didn't mean to offend link-mun.

after that came weiss-mun, who apologized in case they bleed over IC/OOC. i still hadn't yet realized my replurk is what caused these people to see the plurk in the first place. then there was kain-mun, and finally people began to address the problem when sora-mun asked if the player was angry over IC behavior due to OOC problems.

rin-mun then said they were not going to get involved and deleted their comment in the network thread. after both kain-mun and kimbley-mun stated they'd rather not thread with them again if it was that big of a problem, i stepped up and told link-mun it's not all right to crit natasha-mun on their character before bringing it to them first and to accuse those who used the argument as racist.

i think, do not quote me on this, was when i realized my replurk is what brought most of those players there. i certainly realized it when sora-mun said they only saw this due to my replurk, which was a short while after i clarified that link-mun didn't outright state anyone as racist, but implied it.

i suggested they try to clear the line between OOC and IC a bit more, and think a bit more before they speak when addressing RL issues such as racism. before this, i did apologize for replurking it and bringing so much attention to it. we went back and forth for awhile, with me mostly saying that IC doesn't equal OOC, until i finally got tired enough to drop it and hand this issue over to you, the mods, or anyone who got offended.

i did not reply again after this, unedited, comment: 'i really hope i'm not coming off as an asshole or trying to take the place as PUNISHER or whatever, but again: i'm stopping here, and i hope everything works out in the end.'

now i bring this to you to say sorry for how much attention i brought to this. i understand any and all punishments you give me, and if you do not believe me on this being an accident after the reserves issue previously. and whatever you do with link-mun is not my business, and i support whatever you decision may be.

thank you for reading this comment, though! and if you need any more sources or clear responses, let me know, as i still have the plurk open just in case.

[rysligmods]

Please be more careful from now on. And if there are issues with players, contact us instead of trying to take on the issue next time. We are here for situations like this.

[(Anonymous)]

Just wanted to say something on the thing that happened that kind of blew up off of a plurk; I'm one of the ones that was threading on the post in question with a character that is a "Hero" character who was uncomfortable IC'ly with the announcement and trying to talk down; the IC reasoning mostly had to do with said character being someone who's done some things in the past that were horrible, wants to make amends, and was not comfortable with the idea of it being "This is Good and Moral" for what my character was seeing as "You have arbitrary amnesty for your past misdeeds because you're being a Good Person now, but should be okay with killing other people in similar situations of duress for being Bad People", as well as some other things where I have OOC moments of "Dude your perspective's a little borked" for other reasons from their world/background + being a character that is prone to pragmatism in their interpretation of morality.

So basically while I am not the Natasha player who was namedropped, I'm one of the ones that would be in the same category with the complaint about "All these people that are supposed to be Good characters trying to talk him down", and considering that Natasha is a character who Did Horrible Things and would've been killed long ago if someone were doing Black and White Judge, Jury, Executioner morality with regards to her, if the player's characterization is wrong for "Natasha is not comfortable with someone saying that any Good Person should kill people like her for being Bad People", then I'm also OOC and horrible because my character was IC'ly uncomfortable with it for some overlapping reasons. I enjoy IC morality/worldview debates and watching characters with wildly different standards of normal or ideas of how things work trip over each other, but it's very uncomfortable when it's being OOC'ly judged and may include the assumption that I'll be OOC'ly judged for it.



Knowing that the player is taking it as an OOC "I should be violently angry for days at a time because I don't agree with the IC morality decisions of other people's characters" is uncomfortable enough. I am even less comfortable with the idea of threading with someone where I'd have to look at my tags and weigh if something that is normal for my character is going to be something I'M being judged for, or where my characterization is going to be judged by if someone else things my character is being "heroic and good" enough, particularly with a character where I already KNOW that their standards of morality and normalcy are NOT mine. I've also been through other drama in other games with other people related to issues with "Because my character is Good they're supposed to be out to get all the Evil characters and I'll be OOC'ly frustrated and consider it OOC if other Good characters aren't necessarily on board with this/don't have the same IC definition of morality as what I consider Good"; I had some wonderful accidental long-term CR and hilarious character development come of it afterwards, but it was pretty damn miserable while it was happening, and it's not something I'm in a big hurry to repeat.

[rysligmods]

We apologize for any discomfort this may have caused you. Rest assured that we have taken proper disciplinary measures to address this.

[noelleno]

Hi mods!

I just wanted to drop a suggestion/request to enlarge/adjust the font formats of information/plot posts. The font is extremely small/difficult to read without having to manually manipulate browsers/copypaste into other programs...especially in text-heavy areas. I understand the choices on an aesthetic level, but it does start to become really troublesome to read so much in such a format.

Like I said, there are countermeasures, so this isn't a super dire complaint, but it does cause some discomfort for some (though I would never claim to speak for a majority). If this issue doesn't appear to be a problem for the majority of the playerbase, I honestly have no beef.

Thank you for listening!

[rysligmods]

Would boosting it by a few pixel sizes be good for you?

Just like this:

TILL DEATH US DO PART

BABY, YOU'RE A FIREWORK

The spirits have arrived, ready to wreak havoc all across the countryside. Let the fiery bonds bring monsters together and assure a glorious harvest. Hide your sons, hide your daughters, hide your spinsters. A dark fate awaits any virgin who wanders out into the pandemonium. Chastity now counts against you, making you the prey of choice of all the beasts wandering about as they converge in circles to dine on virgin hearts and spill virgin blood. FULL EVENT DETAILS ARE IN THE OOC POST. RESULTS FOR CIRCLE RANDOMIZATION ARE IN THIS POST.

Compared to the old one:

TILL DEATH US DO PART

BABY, YOU'RE A FIREWORK

The spirits have arrived, ready to wreak havoc all across the countryside. Let the fiery bonds bring monsters together and assure a glorious harvest. Hide your sons, hide your daughters, hide your spinsters. A dark fate awaits any virgin who wanders out into the pandemonium. Chastity now counts against you, making you the prey of choice of all the beasts wandering about as they converge in circles to dine on virgin hearts and spill virgin blood. FULL EVENT DETAILS ARE IN THE OOC POST. RESULTS FOR CIRCLE RANDOMIZATION ARE IN THIS POST.

[(Anonymous)]

what mod do you contact if you've been assigned a monster you've opted out of?

[rysligmods]

PM us asap with a link to your app please!

[(Anonymous)]

Not a concern or a question, really, more of a suggestion - for a plot like the one we just had, might it be more beneficial to allow a little more time in between the happenings next time? perhaps a week or two? I know for me, it was a little difficult to get one log going and keep up with it, only to see the next one pop up within what felt like a couple of days. Please feel free to ignore this entirely if you so choose, it's just a small suggestion for next time! I loved everything other than that. ♥

[rysligmods]

Actually the 3 days notice for events was do to a post like this, so what if I meet you halfway and have information posts for events 5 days in advance for the really big ones, and keep the 3 notices for the smaller ones? Would that be okay?

Edit: And after April we do plan on lowering a bit the events to give everyone more breathing room.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello mods!

I just want to warn you of a possible apper in the future. Het, gothicgunslinger on plurk, recently got banned from another dreamwidth game due to creating an original character based off the Boston Bomber but in a heavily positive light. I do not feel comfortable with this character coming to join us if she chooses to app him in. Especially since I was there that day and there is nothing to romanticize about this individual.

Any other character I do not care about and leave it up to you but I please beg of you to not let this one character in. Thank you.

[rysligmods]

Hello,

We have also been warned of this OC by way of private PMs today as well, and we wanted to assure you that we take this VERY seriously. Despite the fact that Ryslig is is themed around body horror and horror in general, we want our players to enjoy playing in it. This Original Character is preemptively banned from the game, and after the mods talked with each other, we also agreed that we would feel uncomfortable having the player in the game as well.

In such situations, we would rather prioritize the players we already have and their comfort in playing with us than someone who may have interest in Ryslig. Our decision was based on your opinions on this individual which were very clear by those who did bring it up, and, most importantly, the evidence that was presented to us that proves without a shadow of a doubt of these claims.

[(Anonymous)]

Has there been some kind of unannounced change in the app rules or standard for what constitutes a flat rejection? All the previous app cycles there was usually something where it wasn't that hard to tell why an app was rejected instead of just getting a revision request, this time around it seems like there's a lot more flat-out rejections that don't seem to be breaking any of the standards for an app, missing sections, or doing something visibly wrong.

I've known some app mods at other games who were known for being harsh that weren't that fast with outright rejection.

It's like things went kind of hostile and unwelcoming feeling with the apps this cycle - if you want to limit the game getting much bigger too fast it'd be better to just start limiting the number of revisions.

[rysligmods]

First off thank you for bringing your concerns directly to us: we haven't had a significant change in the team that works on applications (though it's been a busy month and a few have been unable to participate in the process this time around) so the standards have not been inherently altered or changed on any official level.

We've never listed specific standards for what qualifies as a rejection, but as a general rule of thumb if every section needs to be rewritten or specifically addressed, that usually results in us rejecting the application with an offer of private consultation so that they can rewrite the problem areas with a little more guidance. As for revisions, if the team feels they fall short, we will have to default to a rejection. There were a lot of tough calls this time around, and we can admit we're definitely not foolproof.

There are no plans to limit the game, and we're trying to work closely with anyone that needs help; if you applied, or know someone that did, tell them to PM us and we'll do what we can to make things better next time around.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello, hello!

I didn't app this round, but it seems there were a lot more revisions and rejections this round than usual. While you're, of course, completely within rights to tighten up standards as you see fit as mods, it would be helpful to have an updated set of guidelines on apps and possibly some examples. Just so players know what standard we'll be held to for the future!

Thank you for your consideration!

[rysligmods]

First off thank you for bringing your concerns directly to us: we haven't had a significant change in the team that works on applications (though it's been a busy month and a few have been unable to participate in the process this time around) so the standards have not been inherently altered or changed on any official level.

We've never listed specific standards for what qualifies as a rejection, but as a general rule of thumb if every section needs to be rewritten or specifically addressed, that usually results in us rejecting the application with an offer of private consultation so that they can rewrite the problem areas with a little more guidance. As for revisions, if the team feels they fall short, we will have to default to a rejection. There were a lot of tough calls this time around, and we can admit we're definitely not foolproof.

We'll definitely be adding what we can to the next state of the game to address any issues of confusion and looking into potentially offering up alternative solutions like application review volunteers that can proofread for anyone needing assistance! So thank you again for your suggestion, we're pinning it to the fridge, we promise.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear mods,

You guys got REALLY rejection and revision-happy this round and it seems like an app from the same player that was literally the same length for one character as opposed to another was accepted a half-year ago, but revision requested this time around. What gives? I was never given any indication of the requirements stated in the revision request until I was given the revision request. The sort of standards that are getting suddenly sprung on people in their revision requests are irrational and seem rather unnecessary.

I had joined this game because of the sense that I would get no nasty surprises, and now I'm slightly regretting that decision and the trust I placed in you guys. There are apps comparable to mine that just got rejected outright. Some consistency between how the previous "complete set" of mods handled things and the current ones would be appreciated. Even internal consistency would be nice, as it seems the requirements vary from app to app.

If you are revising your standards, put them in the application prior to an app round before people apply in. I have heard rumblings of discontent and new players being scared off of the game by this, and I think that's a damned shame.

[rysligmods]

We haven't had a significant change in the team that works on applications (though it's been a busy month and a few have been unable to participate in the process this time around) so the standards have not been inherently altered or changed on any official level, and first and foremost we feel it important to apologize for any frustration you might have felt during the application process.

Without knowing the specifics we can't address the issue on a personal level, but our app team was following the guidelines specified on our application page and that's a consistency we do support, however we know that there's more we can do to make this easier on both players and potential applicants, and that's something we'll be addressing in the next state of the game as well as looking for ideas and feedback (like a group willing to proofread apps for new or current players). Lastly, thank you for contacting us directly, we know this isn't easy and we appreciate the fact that you've taken the time to speak to us one on one, if there's anything more we can do, let us know.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi there mods! Couple of suggestions for you when you have the time to look at them.

First, I think it would be neat if we had an ic-weather calendar. Unless we already have one and I've just missed it somehow. But with as many monsters we have that can in some way be affected by certain weather conditions, I think this is something that we really should have. Plus it would give people more things to work with when coming up with posts. Route_29 has a nice one (http://these-balls.dreamwidth.org/12435.html) that they use as a one stop events and weather calendar, but it's admittedly not as simple as a google calendar so I'm not sure if that's a route you'd want to go, instead of maybe just adding a general monthly text forecast at the bottom of our calendar page.

Secondly (but more importantly), I'd like to address the new change you've added to the weres' bestiaries. While the emotionally-triggered transformations are a neat premise, you've essentially given us an ability that we can't take full advantage of thanks to our post-transformation fatigue. Sure, we could use it to temporarily hulk out our weres if they're the variety that doesn't transform into a full-on beastperson, but that's not as much fun as trying to carry on a Perfectly Normal Human Conversation during the day with an NPC boss or customer and suddenly having to deal with wolf ears. Honestly, even ignoring the emotional transformations for a second, forcing weres to be nocturnal takes away from the "big thing" about them: their transformations. I assume that the nocturnal thing is in place to keep a character from just sleeping through their transformed state, but if they're sleeping most of the day away, how are we supposed to have them take full advantage of their human forms?

My suggestion to fix this would be to take away the part about them being nocturnal and instead make it so that the fatigue is something that either a) only lasts for a few hours after sunrise but is a really EXTREME exhaustion that basically makes them go comatose for a few hours to recover, or b) is interspersed throughout the day/night at the player's discretion. I don't know about bears since I've fortunately never met one, but nearly every dog I've ever met fluctuates between moments of high and low energy. One minute they're running all over the place, an hour later they're passed out on the couch, that sort of thing. Maybe the five/ten of you can come up with an alternative that's even better. But, either way, I really think something needs to be done to make the fatigue drawback less restrictive, especially now that you've given us an ability that specifically effects the weres' human forms. (which is a great addition, thank you for that)

I don't know if this was done on purpose, but the way things stand now, bears have a little more going for them then wolves as far as mandatory changes go. That said, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to give werewolves mandatory increased agility. Not only is this something that pops up in werewolf lore a lot, but it matches the bears' mandatory increased strength. Better night vision might be something to consider too, since it would help with playing out hunting. Sure they have their sharp noses, but being able to see well in dim light is part of what makes a wolf a good hunter.

And finally, I have a suggestion for an optional werewolf ability: an influential howl. Howling at the moon is arguably the most iconic thing about a werewolf, yet there's nothing based off that particular bit of lore available to us other than just doing it for the heck of it. But what if howls had a "call of the wolf" affect to them and could influence normal canines, essentially giving the were their own player-controlled NPC pack? Because while we already have an optional pack mentality, it's heavily dependent on other werewolf players. Which has a couple of drawbacks. Namely that there aren't many of us and, on top of that, there seem to be a lot of "alpha" personality werewolves. Which is great if you want to play out dominance struggles, but that's not everybody's cup of tea, and it's hard to even HAVE a dominance struggle if there's no pack to begin with. So having some other options to explore pack tendencies would be cool! The biggest problem with this suggestion is that I'm not sure what you could give bears to match it. Unless this could count as an equal-but-different match to the mandatory size increase (which wolves currently don't have an analogue to from what I can tell). Like a numbers vs. size type deal.

I'M SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG and ended up being mostly about weres. I don't mean to complain, and I hope it doesn't come off that way. But thank you for your time and if you could take some of these suggestions into consideration, that would be fantastic!

[rysligmods]

Hello, and thank you for your suggestions! We've finished discussing them and will address these in the order you've given them to us.

CALENDAR:
We have always done our best to encourage player creativity and freedom, and we believe the weather is just an extension of this. Ryslig follows the general weather of the seasons unless otherwise specified in events, and we encourage players to take liberties with this! Extreme weather will always be mentioned, but the players can decide if it's raining, storming, sunny, hot, etc. We believe it would be too restricting to lay out the weather each month, and very difficult to keep up with long term, however, if players have ideas for weather-related instances or events (such as full moons, heavy storms, blizzards, etc) then they are welcome to bring them to the plot suggestions page so that we can see about putting them into action! Additionally, weather might not be completely the same in certain areas of Ryslig. The islands are a lot warmer than the main coast during winter, for example.

WERES LIMITS:
We've recently clarified this on the state of the game post, but the limitations of monsters have always been up to player interpretation! While it is always required for a werewolf to feel exhaustion from the transformation, for example, it does not mean that it must take up a certain amount of time, be crippling in nature, or even that they can't push through it for those first few hours post-transformation.

This also applies to how nocturnal they may be. As stated on the bestiary page, they "tend to be nocturnal" because of this fatigue, but that is largely meant to be stated as a preference of ease. Werewolves are not required to be nocturnal, it's simply a suggestion that they tend to be more active at night due to their transformations (just as there are suggestedly nocturnal wendigo that function during the day).

The emotional transformation addition is also meant to represent each emotion, as well as indicate any number of partial transformations on the way to full werewolf or full wolf. For example, perhaps your character grows so embarrassed at what their boss is saying that their ears make a surprise appearance! It's certainly possible, and we invite this player creativity. We hope that these clarifications help!

HOWL:
While the howl is an interesting idea, we do not want to deviate too far from the initial guidelines set by the creators of the game. Most of the bestiary additions were optional and related to transformation/appearance, and we feel that with the minor modifications made for a few monsters that they are all evenly balanced. If anything, you could request that power from Tikbalang with the right amount of coins and create your own NPC werewolf (or dog) army of your dreams!

As for the pack tendencies, you can play that out with other weres if you like! The pack tendency is optional which means it's very open to interpretation and how YOU want to play with it. We're certain if you put out a call, other players would be willing to participate and group together - a few already have!

[rysligmods]

Thank you for bringing this thread to our attention. We've notified the players involved to relocate it and properly label warnings.

We do notice that both players have HMDs on their journals (one has also posted to the game HMD) and would like to encourage you to make use of these areas to voice your worry. If you've already done this or notice issues despite doing this in the future, then we welcome you to bring it to our attention again.