Astraea says, "To start off, Aether's 3rd birthday is coming up on the 23rd. I think we've done pretty well, for an original-themed game with such a complex theme. ;) One of the things I wanted to talk about tonight is the idea of expanding that theme a bit. Many of you know about the Fimbulwinter plot we had fairly recently, featuring new races/cultures from areas beyond the 'known world' (more)"

Kelis grins. "I think this is the best mux on the web, star. It's the best RP I can EVER get. ;) "

Herne grins. "It's not the large amount of caffeine she's consumed recently. Honest."

Astraea says, "Thanks, Kelis. :) Anyway, (shush, Herne), one of the ideas the staff and I have been tossing around is to introduce a few more of these distant races/cultures. Not all at once, of course. It would be a gradual thing, and we would try to keep the main focus on the 'known world' area. But there are plenty of cool mythologies and cultures to draw from that we haven't touched on yet. (more)"

Astraea says, "Anyway, if we did do this, it wouldn't just be the staff who get to develop the races. I'd like to give you, the players, a chance to stretch your creative muscles. If you're particularly interested in a culture/mythology and want to introduce it to the game, just let the staff know. There are some guidelines to stick to -- the 'races' are all roughly the same, only they might have a different name. Example: Aesir/Empyrean. But in terms of cultural/mythological roots, y'all could pretty much go hog wild. ;) The question is... is this something the rest of you want to see? Do you like the idea, or would you rather concentrate on what we have now?"

Astraea says, "If you want to speak up, just indicate that, and Eos and I will try to keep track of the queue and let everyone get a chance to speak up."

Astraea says, "Andromache, it seems you're first."

Andromache says "My problem with the Fimbulwinter thing is that, while it was really neat to see the different races and interact and all that funky stuff - well, it was there one day and gone the next. I haven't seen any Aesir or Najada around since the plot ended, and it's kind of disappointing."

Andromache would like to see the 'new' races stick around, at least a few of them. (done)

Astraea nods. I know. That wasn't the intended outcome -- there were some other problems that precluded them staying on the game. That doesn't mean they can't reappear, though, in the future. Personally, I'd like to see that happen.

Astraea would work with the rest of the staff and the players of such characters to try to come up with ways to have them stick around on the game. The Fimbulwinter plot was sort of an experiment. Hopefully, we'd have a better idea of how to handle things next time. ;)

Astraea says, "Anyway, I believe Versus was next?"

Versus types.

Astraea notes (and this isn't a dig at you, Versus), that it'd be a good idea to type out what you want to say ahead of time, and maybe save it in a notepad file so you can grab it when your time comes.

Versus says "In my boastful opinion, the additional races are a great addition only if they contribute something and are beneficial to the already existing races. We have four races here, and the Mongrels, and at any given time, some of them are in search for plots and players. I believe they should be our priority in plot-creation. If the additional races do come in with strong influences in those races, promoting RP and instigating plots in them, they are definitely a great tool. If they are just a visiting group and quite detached, then I think we could concentrate on other areas of the game."

Versus wonders if that made sense. He is sick and has trouble thinking :)

Astraea nods to Versus. Good point. I don't want us to get spread too thin, either, and that's something to watch out for. Anyone else want to comment?

Kelis mutters, "That's why intel went down the tube.."

Astraea doesn't see folks flailing around with their hands in the air, so I'll assume not. ;) One possibility for introducing other cultures, though, is to come up with ideas for the various Atlantean Decemvirates. Many of them are still not very fleshed out. So if any of you have ideas, feel free to talk to Asherah or Nuada about them. :)

Astraea will move on to the next topic if there's nothing more on this one.

Julia raises her hand?

Astraea says, "Shoot, Julia."

Julia says "What if the new races were initially just ambassadors from the other lands? So maybe one or two characters each. That seems to address both the sticking-around issue but also wouldn't require heaps of staff time to support."

Astraea nods. That's a possibility, certainly. The idea is, though, that such races/cultures are virtually unknown to the races here. The Fimbulwinter characters were a surprise. Now that they arrived, though, the Havenites might start to wonder what else is out there. But in general, people from 'beyond the known world' don't show up here too frequently.

Astraea notes that the exception to this are the Atlanteans, who have greater knowledge of the rest of the globe -- they just don't share it much with outsiders.

Julia says "Yes but the other lands might know about us, even if we don't know about them? :)"

Astraea nods. That's true. And that's one possibility for bringing 'em in. :)

Julia is done :)

Astraea nods. Okeedoke. I'll move on, then. :)

Astraea says, "Okay, next topic: a related idea to the new races/groups is to expand our existing grid. As some of you are probably aware, there are portions of Civitas Dei, Masada, and Atlantis available in the Building Nexus. They're there for those plots/events that call for some big gathering in one of those areas. I've been toying with the idea of building onto 'em a bit more. Haven would still be the main area of RP, but perhaps scenes could happen outside the city with more frequency. Do y'all think this is a good idea, or would you rather concentrate more on just Haven and its surrounding lands?"

Astraea says, "And the first comment prize goes to Eleggua of the lovely Legs."

Kelis grins.

Eleggua says "I'm wary about expanding the IC geographic area too much. The more fragmented the centers of RP become, the less interaction for the playerbase. The two Sylvan areas push those limits, IMHO, and there are problems that can stem from characters designed only to exist in the forests. In moderation, expansion could be good, but I'm concerned."

Astraea nods to Legs. Right. I wouldn't want to splinter the RP areas too much, either. The general idea at Aether's conception, though, was to eventually expand the grid when we seemed to have a playerbase to support it. There are smaller games with bigger grids. But bigger grids lead to more remote 'pockets' of RP. So... that's why I'm sorta opening it up for discussion. If y'all are happy with the grid as it is now, we can leave it like that. :)

Astraea says, "Anyway, if you're done, Legs, I believe batty-eared Bat Kol is next, following by Tris."

Eleggua says "I'm done. :)"

Astraea says, "You're up, Bat. :)"

Bat Kol pretty much dittos Legs. "I think we have plenty of wonderful 'rooms' here in Haven, most of which aren't being used already because of those 'pockets' you mentioned. I think adding even more is going to just splinter the RP base further. If we find that the areas we have in Haven and slightly beyond end up to be too small in the future, then by all means, expand. But right now, I'm concerned that the areas we have here aren't being used enough as it is."

Astraea nods. Okay. Sounds reasonable. More to add, or should I move on to Tris?

Bat Kol says "No, I'm done :-)"

Tris says "Well, I pretty much agree Bat and Legs. I think creating areas that are the four races homelands will end up diving the player interaction on race lines. If you have homelands that means characters will be created who live and thrive there and won't enter Haven. On the flip side, it could create a very interesting effect. Haven is the city of the outcast as well as the merging hub of the four races. If there are actual grid options other than Haven, it might prove interesting to see what characters remain and what characters move or are created for other areas. But, all in all, yes I agree that broadening the grid that much will mean spreading the player base out more and less interaction and RP."

Astraea nods to Tris. Good point. More to add? I believe our trusty ex-Hound friend Altair, is next.

Tris says "Nope. Add away, trusty hound."

Kelis chuckles. ;)

Altair is basically concurring with Eleggua and Bat Kol. "One of the things I've noticed, and it's not the fault of anyone, is the fact that people tend to 'group'. The Empyrean Nobles mostly stay in the Palladium, the Varati hierarchy stay mostly in the Atesh-Gah... Cloistered RP situations develop. Mainly because, in the case of the Varati and the Empyreans, neither like Haven. (Mainly talking about the upper classes here.) If you create a Masada, or a Civitas that is unrestricted OOC, the characters will move away IC to get away from Haven. It's their nature. I think that we could certainly do with both areas being opened up for smaller, need-to-be-there RP, but you don't want people staying there for long periods. I hope I'm making sense...? Because I think I lost myself." ;)

Astraea says, "Nah, that makes sense. :) Okay. I think there's a general consensus *against* expanding the grid -- at least extensively. So we'll probably just leave well enough alone, then, and build only a need-to-have basis. However, Sharvari has a comment. Go ahead, Sharvari. :)"

Sharvari was just going to offer briefly, that even Haven, to a new player can seem pretty big. For some of the reasons Altair just offered. There is definitely the sense of "people hiding out in isolated areas" that makes random social RP and interaction difficult to happen. The Rialto seems to be the equivilant of the "central bar" where people can just go and loiter, and other people can wander through. . but even then, it's hard to track down some of the Isolationists (whichi s perfectly acceptable depending on character purpose/concept/etc. ;) I agree in that making the grid larger, will just isolate people further. At least at this point.

Sharvari is finished.

Astraea nods to Sharvari. Right. Okay. Again, I think we'll just leave things alone, then. We've got the portions of CD, Masada, Atlantis, etc. in the building nexus, and they're fine for any events that we need to have there. I'd like to move on now to something that sort of ties into some of the issues Sharvari, Altair, and others brought up (more)

Astraea says, "One of the topics I wanted to discuss tonight were future TPs. More specifically, TPs that might help bring players together more, instead of isolating them. I'm not saying that the TPs have to result in the races being all happy/fuzzy/friendly with each other. Conflict still makes for great RP, if it gets folks interacting. Now, we don't have to brainstorm specifics, since that would take quite a while. ;) But are there certain plots that y'all felt were more successful than others, or do you have general ideas that you'd like to see? I'm basically asking for what *types* of plots y'all prefer."

Astraea says, "Again, Legs gets the first comment gold star."

Eleggua says "I think something has been lost over the years on Aether. I think it's critical for players who are in leadership positions to go out of their way to interact with outsiders in a way that involves factions of people. There was a time when this was fairly common on the game, but I've noticed it happening with less and less frequency as time goes on. There aren't *involving* conflicts between factions, in general these days -- at least not as much as there used to be. I think faction leaders and other IC leaders should step up their efforts to start broad plots and not just wait for broad plots to happen to them."

Astraea nods to Legs. Good idea, and it's definitely something I'd like to encourage, too. Was there more you wanted to add?

Eleggua says "No, that's about all, though I could probably talk about it for hours on end. ;)"

Astraea grins. Well, as a general goal, it's a good one. We, as staff, will probably have to be more liberal with the Big Stick to poke vip-types into being more active. ;) Anyway, I beleive Bat Kol was next.

Bat Kol says "I agree with Legs and I think one of the problems that I've seen personally is a fear about creating conflict. We have five races on here...each with their own views on the others. Oftentimes these views are not...concilatory or, in some cases politically correct. But that's how the game was created and like it was said earlier, Conflict can lead to fun RP. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this hesitance to be unfriendly to someone else doesn't need to be there. IC and OOC worlds are very different and I for one know I wouldn't be upset if a character came against mine ICly and wasn't nice. Did that make any sense? I guess to sum all that up, don't be afraid to create conflict...it's fun! :-)"

Bat Kol is done :-)

Kelis chuckles and has been pondering up ways to create conflict... but has found no one who played enough to do so with me. ;)

Bat Kol is a great advocate of finding someone on the streets or in a public room and just starting it :-) If we wait for RP to come to us, it sometimes doesn't :-)

Astraea grins at Bat Kol. Good point. Yeah, in other words, it's *okay* to play a racist, bigoted, sexist bastard. ;) They're fun. Aether is not a politically correct, liberated world, and it's okay to act on that.

Eleggua nods. We need more racist bigots on the game. ICly speaking. ;)

Herne grins. "Racist, bigoted, sexist and elitist bastards and bitches are great fun to RP, too."
Versus sighs and will work harder, then.

Kelis grins.

Bat Kol says "And it's not just a matter of playing the characters too...it's bringing them out to interact with the others that's the important part :-)"

Astraea says, "Exactly. Just a point along those same lines... remember that a character acting that way is just the *character*. Please don't get offended by someone being mean to your character. It's not personal. It's just part of the game."

Mairi mentions that her character is nearly always in the Rialto, and I always appreciate it when a character who lives in the Atesh-Gah/Palladium etc. comes out to RP with us denizens-of-marketplace. :)

Astraea says, "Eos has something similar along these lines to add."

Eos smiles, "Something I've also noticed, along the lines of conflict is that we all know it can be great fun, but to also remember it goes both ways. If you come charging into a scene ready to knock off the first other race head you see, also allow for others to do the same. If you have intentions for making a ruckus, there are likely others that do too, so don't be surprised if someone turns the tables on you. I guess what I'm saying is if you have intentions of hurting or name-call someone else, don't suddenly back out OOCly if someone does the same in retaliation.

WolfRunner had that happen with Alexandria.

Eleggua says "Suggests that people who want to do that familiarize themselves with the concept of reciprocal consent. If you plan to do it, you're automatically consenting to have it done to you if IC demands it."

Astraea nods. Right. The whole IC consequences thing. And that shouldn't completely *discourage* you from starting up conflict or raising a ruckus. But just keep in mind that you can't act with impunity and expect to abuse others without them retaliating. However, I believe most of our players are pretty mature and can handle the OOC negotiations to figure out what will happen, without it turning into some really ugly situation.

Kelis says "When's the last time we've seen political conflict between races?"

Astraea says, "You can always page the person ahead of time and say something like, 'hey, my character wants to act like a bastard to yours. Could we maybe work out a general outcome beforehand?'"

Astraea says, "I think it happens on a small scale all the time, Kelis. On a grand scale... well, the last racial war we had was the Varati/Empyrean one at the end of '98/beginning of '99."

Julia sneers at mongrels almost daily ;)

Kelis bleahs... I missed that. :(

Astraea says, "Anyway, certainly, interracial conflict makes for cool RP, and we can all try to encourage that. On the other hand, pitching the races together so they have to work with one another grudgingly toward some goal also can make for a fun situation."

Kelis nods. "Like the prophecy plot... That I missed also. :P"

Astraea says, "One of the common complaints I'm hearing though, is that there isn't enough going on, publicly, for your 'average Joe.' Do any of you have ideas as to how we could change that? That is, do you feel that plots/events like, say, religious holidays, or gladiator games, or festivals make for fun RP? Would you like to see more things like that?"

Astraea says, "Go ahead, Tris."

Tris says "I wouldn't mind seeing a festival of some sort. Maybe a kind of city-wide competition? We have a whole bunch of artists and dancers and bards and playwrites...maybe some sort of shindig that lets them compete against one another?"

Astraea likes that idea. :) If you want to develop it further (or if anyone else has an idea along the same lines), feel free to @mail it to the staff. It'd be even better if we could get some volunteers to help coordinate/run the thing.

Asusena pipes up, and /loves/ that idea. :) My two cents.

RagingSpirit raises her hand.

Kelis grins. "I'd love to have a manly tug of war or something like that. ;)"

Tris says "Also, this is very vague, but possibly a TP about a discovery of some sort? Something that could provide potential welth or power or something...only in a situation that provides the opportunity for any of the races to stake a claim. That might offer a lot of political and social vying and backstabbing...again, I'm being vague. vague vague vague. Also, I'm done now."

Astraea says, "Okay, Geridan was after Tris, and then Altair. Then you can go, RagingSpirit."

Astraea nods to Tris. Both very good ideas. :) Feel free to develop it further, or maybe some other players can brainstorm with you and suggest the results to the staff.

Geridan says "I definately agree that many TP's have been excluding the average jo... no on purpose of course. But I've spoken to many people who say that they are much too hard to get involved in. They feel like it is but a select few... and vip players who are able to ve involved while they just sit around, watch, and react. There are some that could make an icnredible contribution... but are unable to integrate themselves. I even know people who have actually gone so far to ask if they could somehow get involved in an RP to find themselves left out... While I don't neccessarily have a solution, though I believe the gladiator games and other events like it to be very good ideas and am quite for the idea of holidays, Star, I do think it is quite a large problem."

Astraea nods. Right. Well, I agree, and I'd love to find more ways to integrate 'regular' characters -- to give them something to do other than stand around and react to what the bigwigs are doing.

Geridan also asks his typing be forgiven...

Astraea says, "I don't want to do this now, but maybe at the end of the meeting we can have a general brainstorming session for plot ideas. Right now, though, I want to keep things more general, so we don't get too bogged down in details."

Astraea says, "And I want to stop using the word 'general.' You done, Geridan?"

Geridan says "Yes, thats all I believe."

Astraea says, "Bat Kol wanted to respond to what you said. Then we'll pick up the queue with Altair and RagingSpirit."

Bat Kol says "While I completely understand and agree with Geridan's concern, I would also like to point out that is isn't just the 'bigwigs' and VIPs that can make the plots happen. Heck, there are less of them than there are the more everyday folk and they shouldn't feel like they can't get in on the action and create TPs on their own. They may have some TPs that the 'bigwigs' have to react to instead of vice versa :-)"

Bat Kol says "The 'everyday' folk, that is. And that's all :-)"

Geridan says "May I respond as well?"

Astraea nods. Good point. Don't let being an 'average Joe' stop you from coming up with plots. ;) We're always happy to hear ideas. So feel free to send 'em in any time. Oh, and sure, Geridan. But after that, I really gotta let Altair and RagingSpirit go.

RagingSpirit renigs on her intention to speak. :)

Geridan says "While it isn't only the VIPs etc... it is, unfortunately, much more common. I think some of the average jo has a fear of attempting to create a TP because of their lower stature on the games OOC heirarchy. Many of them are scared, or think themselves unable of writing apps. Forming a TP is not an easy thing to do. I also know a few who have attempted to do so. And the VIPs/Bigwigs often have the support and helping hands of staff at their easier disposal? Do they not? As many staff memebers help to come up with and design them? (A bit of assumption, feel free to ruler my wrist if I'm wrong. :) But its my understanding.)"

Geridan says "And many of these people who are firghtened are aboslutely astonishing RPers and people both."

Geridan concludes and goes to learn how to type... sheesh.

Astraea says, "Well, we encourage the plots -- if they're a good idea, of course. But, honestly, we're a lot happier if the players take a greater hand in coming up with the plots and/or directing them. It's less work for us. And while our job is to keep the game running, it tends to cover more OOC areas than IC, a lot of times. Basically, I don't think that being a 'regular' player should stop you from suggesting ideas, and I don't think we give preferential treatment solely to VIPs. We give preferential treatment to players who are active and enthusiastic and come up with good ideas. It doesn't matter what they play. Hope all that makes sense. Anyway, *now* Altair can go. ;)"

Altair smiles. "Sometime ago, Altair and Ranjeet were ICly talking about the possibility of either a group of Empyrean children or a group of children in general from Haven running a kite race with the Varati at the next festival. Unfortunately, things went rather awry, and there hasn't been a kite race recently. Also, we've lost Ranjeet to the fates. If there's some way that I or someone else could get this TP or something similar to it off the ground, I really think that there would be a lot of RP opportunity. Having another race step in and compete in what was originally a one-race-only competition, I would think a natural thing for Haven. Also, it provides for racial tension in a non-violent, competitive atmosphere. It doesn't have to be with kites, that's just the mini-TP Ranjeet and I /were/ working on. Any of a number of activities could fit the bill. My apologies to Astraea for using the word 'general'." ;)

Astraea grins. No prob. And that's a good idea. :) If anyone wants to help Altair develop it further, go ahead and bug him. ;) Anyway, is there more that anyone wants to say on what's been discussed so far?

RagingSpirit raises her hand quick?

Astraea says, "Shoot."

RagingSpirit says "I was thinking, that it is my guess, that the everyday joe, would like to be involved in something not every day-ish. Perhaps a wide spread disease, or the loss of magic for some weird reason, thus tipping the scales to where average joe has no longer a disadvantage. People like conflict and turmoil.. average joes' get left out a lot."

RagingSpirit had something else typed, but then renigged, had to retype quick.. Done.

Kelis says "Magic loss? That would be pure chaos for atlanteans. ;)"

Geridan says "Yenywho..."

Andromache raises her hand a little.

Astraea nods. Okay. Something to consider, certainly. :) Again, I'd like to reserve the end of the meeting for some brainstorming about specific ideas. Right now, I just wanted to get a broader view of what y'all wanted to see. Anyway, go ahead, Andromache.

Andromache says "First of all, I don't see a big one-shot thing like a game, or a play, or a party, as being a real solution to a lack of RP - it's just RP for a couple of hours and then it's over and back to life. Second of all, I'm a great believer in the theory of 'if you don't have lots of time for your feature don't play it, there are always active players who would like to take over.' I see leadership positions either idle or empty, when they could be creating RP for people in their sphere, and I see that as a problem. Not trying to tell staff how to run the game or anything, promise, but if a leader isn't leading, shouldn't someone else be given a chance?"

Astraea says, "Well, the short answer is 'yes.' Certainly. But there are a lot of factors that make it more difficult than it seems, to put active people in place. Sometimes there *aren't* many alternatives. Or sometimes the inactive player is one who has RL problems, or some other thing come up that prevents him/her from being around *at the time*, but who promises to return later. Sometimes the situation isn't so easily solved in an IC manner, and there are other avenues to go through before you can oust one person and appoint another. So while, yes, I do agree that the active, capable, responsible players should get the feature-type roles, I just wanted to mention that it isn't always so cut-and-dried as to toss out one guy and install another. ;)"
Astraea says, "But yeah, to sum up, that's something we all would prefer, and that we're doing our best to achieve."

Astraea says, "If you had nothing more, Andi, I believe Olivia was next."

Andromache shrugs. I'm done.

Olivia says "First of all, I commend and applaud the so-called 'common Joe' because he/she has the unique ability to interact with all races. Sure, the reception may vary, but creative people find creative ways to get involved. Grace is a prime example: a halfbreed who has an in with the Empyre, with the Atlanteans and the Sylvans, with the Varati. I am, for example, limited as Olivia in RP. The Rialto allows me some semblance of interaction with mongrels and half-breeds, but that's about it. The 'commoners' are free to interact, intermingle. A good reason to go to each place, each embassy, wins you entree. :) <more>"

Amarista enters the grand hall from the branches of the World Ash beyond.

<OOC> Amarista says, "may I ask why are we all here?"

<OOC> Kelis says, "Player/staff meeting."

Olivia says "And as far as leadership goes, I do not, do not, do not wish to have the implication rest that a lack of guidance from the VIPs is what inspires people's inability to RP. That may be true of far-reaching TPs, but daily RP is the responsibility of each of us. :) And we are a populous enough place to find it if we'll get ourselves out of our little niches and rooms to do so. So mongrel tradesmen, mongrel crafters, contact Magnus because he's Jove's merchant prince. Sell him stuff. Get a hold of Amipal and try to sell him new goods for the Agni-Haidar. Put together a Tupperware-like party for the ladies of the Palladium. We should all take responsibility for creating our own RP outside of plots and I recommend, highly, that we realize it's not easy running a faction: what may seem to be inactivity to some may be a lot of OOC action behind the scenes. I just...get tired of the continued implication people in charge aren't doing their stuff. Some may not be, but most are moderately active. From volunteers with RLs to lead, that's a lot. :)"

Olivia is done.

Astraea nods to Olivia. All excellent points, definitely. I have the general philosophy that, if you sit in a public place long enough, *someone* is going to walk by. So there's some RP right there. But beyond that, yeah, there are always ways to generate RP, and she came up with some great suggestions. Perhaps at the end in our brainstorming session, y'all can come up with some additional ideas on the subject. :)

Astraea says, "Anyway, is there any more to say on this topic? Otherwise, I'll move on."

Astraea sees no flailing body parts, so I'm going to move on.

Astraea says, "I wanted to talk about some purely OOC stuff now, and since we're getting close to 10:00, I'll just spew 'em out all at once. They are:

1) What possible changes would y'all like to see to the web-page? I don't mean a major overhaul, here (please, God, no), but what are some additional features that might be helpful?

2) Is there any new code and/or commands you would like to see implemented here? Anything from another game you've played on, that might work well on Aether?

3) I'd like to set up and OOC mailing list for updates, especially during times when mux.net is unreachable. But one player brought up the idea of an IC mailing list, to post stories/journal entries/etc. about their characters. Thoughts on that?

Go ahead and raise your hand or page Eos if you have opinions on any of the above."

RagingSpirit raises hand!!

Astraea says, "Go ahead, RS."

Altair raises his hand!

Tris raises her hand.

Astraea says, "After RS, it's Bat Kol, then Altair, then Tris."

RagingSpirit grins. "No bashing on this, when I say 'Well on my MUD'. But, they all have commands that let you recall the last tells you were sent. I think that command rocks! I.E. command would be +page/last and it would toss up the last 10 pages you received. *drools in hope*"

RagingSpirit says "The same for channels as well."

Astraea nods. Okay. Puck isn't here, so I can't tell you how feasible that is, but I'll make a list of all the commands mentioned to send to him, and he can let us know how do-able they are. Right now, this is just a 'wish list.'

Kelis grins.. "Yes... That would rule."

Jorianne says "That's a hardcode-level thing; either that, or replace page with a softcode page."

Eleggua snickers at RS and then interjects seriously. From a code standpoint, the page recall will never happen here.

Eleggua says "Channels are possible, though."

RagingSpirit cries softly. I miss so many pages.

Astraea defers to Legs on this one. ;) Anyway, Bat Kol was next.

Bat Kol comments mostly on #2 and #3. "I would love to see, and we saw a little of this with the Fimbulwinter plot, a +language command for the other racial languages such as Sylvan, Varati...etc. For #3, I think a list for emergencies is great, but I'm not too keen on a mailinglist for the other stuff. That's what web pages are for, in my opinion :-)"

Eleggua says "But actually... I might post something a little bit later that you can code on yourself to recall your own pages that you've received... Hmm... That's doable."

Astraea nods to BK. More to add?

Astraea says, "And thanks, Legs. That'd be nifty. :)"

Bat Kol says "No, that's all."

Astraea says, "Okay. Altair, your turn."

Altair says "Can I comment and suggest...?"

Astraea says, "Of course."

Altair says "Ok. :) On the recall command, please don't make it for the rooms! Some RPs are not meant to be recalled. ;)
For the +language, tie it into education. If you don't have a certain rating, limit them to common language only. I've always assumed that Empyrean's original language was Latin, as I think do most everyone else. All Altair knows are a couple greetings, farewells and 'Kyklos' ;) His real education was in the common language.
My tidbit of code suggestion would be for a command that allows you to read someone's idle message without paging them. The last thing a person wants to do is disturb someone with a page just to find out why they're idle. (some idle messages allude to being back quickly, in an hour, tomorrow...)"

Eleggua raises his hand to answer Altair.

Astraea nods to Altair. Don't worry, we'd never implement a command that would let you recall poses in a room (and I don't think that's even possible, anyway). Um... and I'll let Legs field the rest. ;)

Eleggua says "Tying +language to education is probably a decent idea, but in a sense, it's already tied. Anyone can be authorized to speak and understand any language currently by any Staff member. Racial languages exist, but they're ancient, and they're not currently used, much like Latin today. If a player thinks that their character should be able to speak one of these 'dead' languages, they are free to contact staff about it. // As for the idle, +who will note idle characters in the Race field. I'm not sure that there's a way to display the idle message without a page, though."

Astraea says, "Thanks, Legs. :) Your turn, Tris."

Tris says "Ok. Well this is just a personal little fantasy of mine for the webpage. I love the gallery section. I cannot draw worth diddly. I wondered if there might be a couple saintly souls out there who would volunteer to draw characters for those who asked via @mail or some such. But, that might be asking too much of the poor artistic folk who play here. :)"

Astraea chuckles. Well, you're always welcome to page/mail one of 'em and ask.

Eleggua says "My mistake. :) It is possible to retrieve the text of someone's idle message without paging them. We can ask Puck to look into coding something for it."

Altair yays! He hugs Eleggua. :)

Astraea says, "And now it's Eos' turn."

Kelis ahhs and nods at tris.. "Like a Commision campaign..That would would be nice."

Astraea says, "Unless you had more, Tris?"

Eos says "Regarding the mailing lists, I think an OOC one for staff to contact players in an emergency, like the last one where mux.net was down would be great. However, I agree with Bat on the 3rd point, I think a list that allows people to post diaries, dreams, what they're thinking would either get really spammy (and I get enough mail as it is) or it would trickle down to only a few people contributing, creating another possible clique or those 'in the know' As Bat said, a lot of characters have web pages that they keep logs on, as well as diaries, history and so forth. And if you're not HTML savvy to create your own page, there are other players here that you could ask for help, or check out a multitude of help sites out there to get you started."
Astraea nods. True. And then, of course, you can always submit stories and whatnot to me, to post on the website.

Eos nods, "There haven't been a lot of logs and stories submitted lately.

Astraea hangs her head. Well, there have been a few logs, but I've been really slow about getting to 'em. *cough*

Astraea will try to rectify that.

Nuada tsks at Star.

Astraea pokes Nu. Anyway, anyone have anything more to add on any of the subjects I mentioned?

Mairi would be happy to edit logs if that's needed/possible by the way.

Kelis would also be happy to website related tasks... but I don't know how dependable I am these day... seeing I missed half of the best scenes. :P

Astraea says, "Well, it would be helpful if logs could be spellchecked and/or converted to HTML format before they're sent to me. You can always go grab the source code from one of logs there, and just plug in the text. Then all I'd have to do is upload it. :)"

Kelis nods.

Herne will happily HTMLise logs sent to him :)

Astraea says, "Anyway, I think we covered a pretty good range of subjects. I'd like to start closing things off. I have one brief announcement, and then folks could stick around to brainstorm about plot/event ideas if they like. But first, if anyone is desperate to bring up another topic beforehand, now is the time."

Kelis is waiting for the brainstorming. ;) No other topics to add on my end.

Astraea will start typing the announcement, then. Raise your hand if anything pops to mind in the meantime. ;)

Kelis nods...

Astraea says, "The announcement has to do with a group calling itself the "MUSH Players Union." I received a log of their appearance on another game, where they basically harrassed both staff and players, demanding to know such facts as what the female to male ratio was on the game, how many objects were in the DB, how many admin had been fired recently, and so on. I had heard that their 'representatives' were going around to different MUSHes and logging in as guests, then asking these 'survey' type questions of both staff and players. (more)"

Astraea says, "A later clarification was posted on Online Gaming Resource about them, stating that they were having problems with one of their 'representatives,' and that that log was, hopefully, just an isolated incident. The post stated that they're really just a group of players who are all members of a mailing list, and they basically just want to help players address problems with staff on various games in a non-threatening manner. The post would probably explain it better, and I can tell you how to read it if anyone is curious. But I just wanted to give y'all a heads-up. I already told the staff about 'em, in case they made an appearance here. I'm not against players getting together on a mailing list -- I mean, that's your right. But having strangers come in and demand certain things from the staff and/or players here is rather irritating. If a guest logs in and starts paging you about this group, feel free to ask one of the admin here for help, and we'll try to handle it."

Kelis snickers, "Can we have a little fun with 'em?"

Herne asked the same question earlier, Kelis. ;)

Altair shivers.

Kelis laughs. ;)

RagingSpirit thinks that is.. well. A union? My goodness, it's a game to escape the woes of RL, why bring RL politics to it.

Astraea chuckles. Well, you're welcome to do what you like. I asked the staff to be courteous but firm. We try to be pretty approachable to players here if they have any problems with us, and I don't think we need a 'union' to come to us with demands. Aether is a private game, after all -- it's not something that would really fall under a 'union' header. Anyway, deal with them as you like, but if you do want our help, feel free to page.

RagingSpirit thanks for the back up. :)

Astraea says, "Aaaanyway. I think that's about it. Those of you who want to stay and brainstorm about plot/event ideas, feel free to stick around. I'm going to open up the floor for discussion, now. So spam away. :)"

Kelis grins. "I couldn't imagine us united with a bunch of hack and slashers. I can't stand those muds. =P"

RagingSpirit keels Kelis!

Asusena belatedly notes that she's heard about 'em (MPU) on several places. They're a really /big/ pain.

Astraea will keep logging so she can get some of the brainstorm ideas. But I'll be a bit idlish, myself.

Herne waves to everyone. "Have a good night, all. It's long past my bedtime, so I'm going to go and make amends..."

Kelis waves. "Nite Herne. ;)"

Kelis wonders if there is some sort of recent timeline or summary of political events that occured within the racial government? I want to get involved with a decemvirate and the other races... but I need to be informed. ;)

Astraea says, "Well, there's a timeline that Elyaena's player was maintaining, but I don't know how up to date it is. I think the best thing is to check the IC bulletin board posts, which are arranged by month on the web-page. They're in the Library section, under 'Heard in Haven.' Also, the TinyPlot pages give you an idea of what's happened in terms of major plots."

Astraea says, "And the TinyPlots are all listed on the Logs page."

Kelis smiles and scurries off to the site... "I've got a few things up my sleeve. ;)"

Astraea says, "Well, folks, since I think most of you are pooped, I'm going to shut off my log before it gets too spammed with non-meeting stuff. Thank you, everyone, for participating. :)"

FIN