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STATE OF THE GAME - MARCH
Welcome to our sixth State of the Game. For reference, our last State of the Game was in December; you can check out our SotGs in the tag.
This SotG was supposed to take place in February. Burnout hit us both hard. It's still hitting us. Who could have foreseen this coming.
But as this is the anniversary of our TDM, this would be a good month to talk about what's to come up soon, some ideas for the future, and to change the way we do some things so as to reassess how we can preserve ourselves and maintain the fun of the game!
With this burnout having been creeping up on us since the beginning of the year, there's much we have to catch up on. We've tweaked various pages over the past months, such as Housing and Locations, but there's much to do.
Siren and Prince are both going to be taking a hiatus in April. We are going on vacation together! (We are very, very excited.) We will absolutely convene to take care of questions and whatnot, but we won't be very available. That being said, please expect that next month's event will be a chill one.
What you can expect: A short event log that touches upon the current state of Kelesis and wraps up the Kelesis section of Karteria's plot; a current-state for Patho-Gen after the year's ordeals, particularly with the rub of the arisen faction "ANABASIS,"; a current-state of Karteria as a city and its citizens, of whom harbor awe and fear of the Augmented, a quarter of them blind, but otherwise imbued with a tentative sort of hope for their world. Given that we will be largely unavailable, this won't be a heavy event.
This said, we are aware plenty of players wish to stage logs or posts of their own. We heartily invite for you to do this at any time but this may be an opportune month! If you would like some world details, please try to touch base with us before April if possible.
Where is the game going next? As seen in this TDM, some of those space-time elements we've toyed with are making themselves more blatantly known in the shape of Georges's most recent appearance in the TDM. All of those uncannily accurate tales or familiar movies in the setting? That time characters could've found familiar objects at the Twelfth Star Knickknacks back in October? It's got to mean something... and it does.
In the next months, we will be focusing on a few things.
The evolution of Katalyth in the setting. It's been a year, and the Augmented are making a difference... but is it going to be enough to save the world of Tamariah? And better yet, is the 'difference' they're making a 'good' kind of difference??
The shifting dynamic of Patho-Gen. Patho-Gen as it is cannot be sustained; there is too much fear, too much disagreement, and the citizens of Karteria are increasingly at unease with them and their work. Something must give... but can even a splintered Patho-Gen ever truly excise its rotten parts?
The city of Karteria's welfare. With the work on the farms, the added protection and care to some of the lower classes, the additional gathering of resources or the general help offered by the Augmented, the quality of life for some citizens is improving. As their lives improve, even if they've faced hardship along the way, characters are increasingly granted more access to society!
Having failed to secure what they wanted in Kelesis, higher-ups in Patho-Gen (and Karteria itself) must turn their attention to other allies to fulfill their heretofore unknown goal. Aside from Kelesis, did Karteria ever have allies? Not really... but they did have a tense, if peaceful relationship with another major city, and that city is full of secrets that nobody in Karteria can fathom. Perhaps that is the most dangerous, and enticing part: what could a powerful, well-secured city like Enochlesis be hiding... and is there some reason Patho-Gen might be interested in making contact with them?
Kelesis! The dream eaters are saved thanks to the many pacts formed by the Augmented, and their wards are (mostly) safe as well... even if some of them have been ferried off to a mini-Underworld belonging to Ereshkigal, it's some form of safety. Their major struggle has come to an end, but their city will remain accessible for those who wish to have a fun, liberating time in their vibrant city. (UNLESS YOU WERE AIDING TO TAKE AWAY THEIR PEOPLE...! Then you can still have an OK time, but you might get messed with.) Next month the state of their city will be touched upon, and the Baku will have a greater chance to explain the city of Kelesis as it currently stands, to shed light on the truth of its nature and its history.
The objective of Patho-Gen, of Karteria, and of their deeper intentions with the Augmented Ones may become increasingly clear over the months. The Augmented may begin to realize that their 'task' here is more than meets the eye...
We would also like to ask our playerbase for their thoughts about a few other ideas, tweaks, and other miscellany. Pertaining to these following bullet points, please feel free to voice your thoughts; we haven't decided whether or not to implement these changes as of yet, or in what direction to go in.
STANDARDIZED TDM: When we first created Karteria, we did not want TDMs to interfere with the progression of the plot's unrolling. Thus, the every-other-month TDM was created to be part of the game's events! Now that we've completed an 'arc' of the game, we definitely see how this has posed some difficulties, for both new players, old players, and ourselves.
It gives very little breathing room between "heavier" events, presenting an onslaught of "the horrors" and other such important events to respond to. Many of us have busy schedules or periods of unavailability; it can be difficult to respond to all of what's happening as quickly as it unrolls, leaving all of us in backdate land and giving very little opportunity to tidy up threads that occurred during the heavy "monthly event" log.
Hybrid TDM-event posts have contained prompts that involve a bit more understanding of the game's current politics and happenings, which may not be readily available to new players. This can be isolating an unapproachable.
Karteria is a game that was designed to respond to the characters inside of it. There is a loose progression of immutable events that are designed to happen in the game, but a lot of what we've done has been designed to respond to... well, the characters and players! It's been wonderful. This does mean that we spend the end of every month reflecting on Reputation, looking at how it impacts the mood of the world, etc etc... and doing that every month is a lot.
With these points in mind, we have considered having a bit more of a standardized TDM each month that involves key elements of the game's setting (monster transformation/testing the sense of self; Patho-Gen and their science/medicine; Katalyth; the city and its dingy splendor). A great example of how this might look is the evolution of our Initiation prompts over the months. It changes, but it remains much the same, presenting the same introduction. A prompt surrounding the city may address new living quarters, the state of the city, the citizens... and perhaps a quirk of the month, while a prompt involving Patho-Gen may address its current state/something that can help characters understand a bit more about their Natural Soul. Things like that!
We're pretty settled on trying this out, but if you have any thoughts about this, please do let us know. It will create a predictable off-month and may not be as breakneck of a pace, but I think it's worth trying to see how we like it.
What this proposal means, in summary: Events every other month; a more predictable TDM that focuses more on the core elements of what playing in Karteria is like with some monthly tweaks, giving new players a less overwhelming experience while granting existing players either a chance to catch up with the event month, or to do something more laid back during these TDM months.
Finally, we want to ask: How are we doing? Let us know if you have any thoughts, feedback, or ideas. You are always free to shoot us a PM, or otherwise visit the mod contact post if you'd prefer more privacy.
We read everything posted here, even if we don't respond to anything directly in favor of simply digesting your thoughts and turning that into action. Thanks a bunch for being part of the game!
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