WD Braindump 2015

[Eosi]

WD Braindump 2015

I've given this a lot of thought. There is something my boss says often that. It's "never let you don't have stop you from using what you do." We're all leaders here. Leadership is something you do, not a place you sit. The reality is, we're all in the best position to give back to this website because the more responsibility you have, let's say as a storyteller, the more limited you become. That may seem counter-intuitive to some people, but the reality is they've signed up for certain obligations that we as consumers simply don't have. Yet we're all still free to write and develop here. So that's precisely what I'm going to do. If you want to weigh in, awesome. If you're eager to jump in and help, double-awesome. I am responsible for no one but myself, but I hope to inspire people to come out and get their hands dirty. I say, let's give back to this place.

So let's talk about some things both concrete and abstract that we'd like to see on the site. Gossamer and some of the other storytellers can and will come in and tell us what's feasible and what's not, let's not get too married to our ideas. But I know for a fact that each and every one of them would appreciate the help.

My ideas:
Disclaimer: Some of these may have already been done, once upon a time. There is no such thing as original thought. Please be gentle!

• The Reputation System

One passing thought is to have a game-wide reputation system built into character profiles. There are cities that already have such a thing like Syliras, but if we make it a standard across the board then in my own opinion, the idea has some potential. Player characters would have some measurement of their own prestige in certain areas. The more places a character visits and the player-driven initiatives they finish, the more reputation they get. Plots, businesses and gnosis marks could all be contributing factors.

If there is interest in this at all, I have plenty ideas on how to flesh it out.

• Holiday Develop-a-thon/Develop-a-Domain

This isn't a super concrete notion, but Mizahar could always benefit from more self-regulating systems. Again, we're all in position to really make an impact here. No one has ever successfully written five lore articles on this site. No one. So I'm going to throw down the gauntlet. If anyone is interested, fight me for that medal. We could even turn this into an official contest! We could make a list of the active domains and each pick one to develop for, as much as we can. Find whatever wiki stubs that remain and flesh them out. Work with the storytellers in those areas and ask them what they'd most like to see. Get that medal before me and I'll give you my first born child. I double dog dare you.

• Themed Guest Storytelling Contests!

Sometimes I think we forget that we can all be guest storytellers. One idea is for the next year to have a themed guest storytelling contest for each season. Medals, prizes, hugs and handshakes... We can dream up a suitable reward, but this takes the heat off storytellers in a huge way because moderated threads have a way of piling up. We can outline the limitations of guest storytellers very clearly in each contest. It'd be neat to see what we all come up with. It'd generate a whole lot of plotting and it'd be a way for the meeker individual to get acquainted with the feel of what it'd be like to be on staff.

I had more but I wrote all my ideas all down on a tiny scrap of paper and lost it. Naturally. So please weigh in, especially if you've got something better going on in that marvelous head of yours.

And thank you for writing on this site.

[Nivel]

this sounds cool.
I like the idea of a Mizahar wide renown system.
Would it work like another currency (in a similar fashion to shield points) or could it work like a skill and the higher level you are at the more you might have access to different parts of miz (like the back room of a shop that only the cool kids know about), maybe have more leeway with Npc's or receive better rewards from modded threads or something.
Edit: It almost might be easier just to have it as sort of a skill that dictates how known you are in a particular city. That way Story tellers wouldn't have to deal with something annoying to keep track of.

I really need to do some lore articles, I have a monster I've been working on but I think skill articles would be more useful.
It would also be fun to think of holidays for different regions that players could participate in.

I've kind of started a GST club thing to stir up some interest in it but rewards would be pretty darn cool.

[Eosi]

ANOTHER DISCLAIMER: Some of these ideas may be problematic but this is just to get the ball rolling. Likewise, all mentions of development on my end refer to wiki development. If you want to develop locations, there are other places to do that.

Nivel, I'll reply tonight! I'm trapped at work.

[Nivel]

okie dokie

[Azmere]

I really like the reputation system. I think it's something that can be easily utilized much as a skill but separate. It actually puts me in mind of WoW.

Each thread done in a city gains you a point. Something done for the city might gain more, etc, etc. There will certainly be benefits to this within the city where you have standing. The other end of this is a diplomacy aspect.

I was reading lore on Kenash yesterday and found it interesting how some races were treated. Every city has some kind of system or set of rules that explain how each race is viewed and recieved.

An example of how the reputation system would be intertwined with this would be:

John has +25 rep with Kenash because he owns a business. He travels to Syliras where they view Kenashians with a hushed disdain because of their use and abuse of slaves. This would garner some sideways looks and whispers and perhaps even outright confrontation.

It's very basic but I believe it serves my point.

The reputation system would be awesome. I love the idea but, in my opinion, it will need both a way to track reputation and a diplomatic flowchart or something similar.

It's you and me against the world.

[Eosi]

Azmere, I'm really happy to hear you're interested in it! The caveat is that we'd have to simplify some of what you've suggested.

The way I viewed it was as a set of four levels; unknown, local, regional and worldly. You'd have to meet certain criteria to qualify for any of the four levels or have a level outright granted by a storyteller. When those standards were met, the player would submit their proof to a designated thread where the mods would sort them out when possible, similar to grading. My concern is that if we do it point by point, then it will just become another storyteller responsibility and not really add anything to the game. But honestly, it still might do that. I love it because I'm an intuitive type. To me, it introduces a crazy amount of IC possibilities, but we need to keep any kind of new anything as simple as possible. I have a love for the needlessly complex.

Holidays are domain-exclusive and most places do have them, though more are always welcome, Nivel. That sort of domain stuff needs to stay in the cities themselves though. I'm thinking about strictly wiki development. Good on you for the guest storytelling thing. If it's successful, then maybe it ought to be a sitewide thing.

The wiki develop-a-thon is definitely a green light. If anyone posts articles they'd like to see here, they'd be my hero. Likewise Goss mentioned something to me about a global perk points system with new prizes and wiki development stuff. That is something I can definitely handle.

[Azmere]

The way I viewed it was as a set of four levels; unknown, local, regional and worldly. You'd have to meet certain criteria to qualify for any of the four levels or have a level outright granted by a storyteller. When those standards were met, the player would submit their proof to a designated thread where the mods would sort them out when possible, similar to grading. My concern is that if we do it point by point, then it will just become another storyteller responsibility and not really add anything to the game.

I like the levels. 4 seems to be the magic number around this place so it is not only logical but intuitive.

~ Unknown: You are not special.

~ Local: They know you at the city gates and you'll occasionally get a free drink. Unfortunately, the local bum always asks you for money.

~ Regional: Lots of people in the area go out of their way to smile at you or say 'hi'. There could also be a decent following of folk who want to punch you in the face depending on how you gained your reknown.

~ World: Your face may not be known but your name and a series of events in your life are told across Mizahar. This is awesome because there are places where you're a celebrity. This also puts you on a 'No-Fly' zone for certain cities/regions.

I think the simplification needs to be at a more basic level. This should be treated as a skill or a ledger. It is the player's responsibility to track and play accordingly. Just as a PC cannot[should not] play a skill above their current level, they should not pretend to be famous when they are not. Initially, some of the older characters will have to be grandfathered in, of course. After that the graders and STs simply will have another thing to award which shouldn't change much given my impression of the process though I would certainly want the input of some STs and graders on this concept. The hardest part will be to generate and maintain the Global Diplomacy Aspect though this most likely will not come into play for most people.

It will add a whole new level to character concept. If you want to travel about unknown, you will have to move regularly otherwise you will start to be recognizable. This will make the disguise skill so much more important for spies/assassins/etc. Bribes or intimidation will become more prevalent as well.

It's you and me against the world.

[Eosi]

Azmere, that's all good stuff and worth considering. Before we go any further with the idea, let's have some more people and a mod or two weigh in on the matter.

Anyone have any other cool ideas while we're at it?

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

The reputation system sounds really interesting. I'm not sure if this would make it too complicated, or not, but would having the option to gain a reputation for something be possible? Beyond simply having people in your city recognize you, I mean.

For example, my character Seirei is a wood carver. Currently, she is at expert level. It might be interesting if once you reach expert or master in a job/craft type skill (ex. hunting, weapon skills, etc.) you could start to build a reputation for your character as whatever skill you are building. In Seirei's example, she would start to be known for her carving abilities. People in her city could start to seek her out when they want to buy a wooden bowl, have something carved as a gift, etc. If she earned higher levels of reputation, more people might want to buy her work. And if she mastered her carving skill, and started creating masterpieces, people in other cities (near by ones at least) might recognize them as her work if a trader was selling them in their city. Things like that.

[Amunet]

I would think that as the character builds their talent in their craft going from competent to master they would grow a reputation and following. at first in their own city/people then as traders catch on then that reputation would expand outwards.

For instance, using Seirei's example, the traders from Riverfall, Sylira, Kenash (is closed but for rp purposes for this discussion) etc would start talking about the various crafters. Traders and bards carry stories all over the place. As Seirei's skill grows and the quality of her products gain more reputation good or bad, this would add to her overall reputation.

That being said, do we need to separate out the different kinds of reputations that would factor into someones' over all reputation score. I dont mean to complicate this but there are differences in types of reputation. This would give someone a chance that is more of a crafter or gatherer or something passive gain a reputation in as much as a warrior or battle mage or a temptress or prostitute or a thief.