How's The Game

[wearethecrystalmods]

HOW'S THE GAME?

Welcome to Cosmographia's first "How's the Game"! This is essentially an open forum for discussion about where to take the game from here and anything that might need changing. A lot has happened in the past week and going forward we feel it's more important than ever to have a discussion like this.

This is not a place for criticism of specific players or characters. This is purely about the game itself. Please save player specific criticisms for the upcoming How's My Driving. Any disregard for this or out of hand conduct will be frozen or deleted.

We are inviting not just all current players (old and new) to participate in this discussion but also past players that have left and new potential players considering the game; we encourage everyone to pitch in their two cents. That being said, since this is the game's first HTG we are currently going to do it without anon or sock journals (for future HTG this may change).

Like said this is a completely open forum. We have a list of topics we want to discuss (listed below), but after all those have gone up players are completely free to start their own threads with anything not covered by the other sections.

Current sections (please wait until all these are up and linked to post your own they're all up now!):

The Staff
Applications
Setting Suggestions
The World Outside Waverly Bay/Potential World Plot
Event Schedule/Power Distribution
Player Plot Approval
Power Limitations/Guidelines
Fate of Cosmonet
Network Comm?
Day Cycle Comments
The Temp. Drop System
Future Event/Plot Suggestions

Comments

The Staff

[wearethecrystalmods]

Your current staff consists of Elaine, Claire, Lynsey and Luc.

All of us save for Elaine have only been on staff for a week, but please feel free to tell us how we're doing! We will still address any concerns you may have about our modding here.

Applications

[wearethecrystalmods]

Is there any changes you'd like to see to the current app format? What do you like/dislike about the current format?

We've heard a few gripes about the app in the past and we're currently discussing a few possibilities (such as deleting either key points or history, upping the max word limit, etc). We'd like to hear what sort of changes you would prefer to see, if any.

Regardless of any other possible changes, one change we will most likely be making is the addition of a separate section for CRAU History, since we've noticed people have had difficulties putting their CRAU history AND their canon history all within the same word limit.

An apology first

[foolreversed]

Before we get into discussing this stuff I'd just like to apologize to people who submitted apps/re-apps before we announced the closure of apps. We do indeed want to honor them, but between all the other stuff we've been having to do it's been hard to find the time.

I apologize for the wait but I will be trying to process those apps this week. Thank you for your patience.

[therealrisette]

As someone who had pretty much double the word limit in my application because of CRAU history, I definitely approve of this idea. But also, I noticed that the app word limit was never... really strictly enforced in the first place? Keeping it so strict only seemed to frustrate players trying to app in, while people who broke it still got in on a regular basis.

The intent was obviously to keep apps from becoming too long or detailed, which I think could be really helpful to timely acceptance. But if there is going to still be a word limit, I'd personally suggest loosening it while still keeping it relatively short. Or loosening it even more if you end up getting rid of key points, which I've seen many people use to cover things that might pad out their history sections too much.

I actually kind of agree with the word limit being more of a guideline than a strict rule too, with emphasis put on summarizing as much as possible rather than the implication that people will get rejected if they don't fit their app into so many words. If effort has obviously been put into keeping it short, that's the important thing IMO. That's not how the apps were described when I wrote mine, but it's how they were treated in practice, and that made it a lot easier for me not to agonize over how long mine turned out even when trying to summarize as much as possible.

[foolish_seal]

This is just personal preference, but especially when apping into a new game, I would rather applications be public to being screened. I like looking through others' apps to get a sense of what exactly is being looked for, and where mods are frequently asking for revisions. If you think privacy is more important, I totally understand, but that's just my two cents.

As for the app itself, I agree on the CRAU section, with how complex it can get combining all that history. Further, I would maybe turn the key points / history section into an either/or thing: either 5-15 points or 300-500 words, whichever is better suited for the player and canon. (eg, apping someone like Mario might only really need five points, but a JRPG protag is probably gonna need the full 500 words) As it is, the sections are a little bit redundant, and neither are as important as the personality section. If anything, the history can serve as a bibliography for the personality section.

Re: Applications

[antabaka]

Potential apper here. (the drama sprung up right around when I was considering apping, and now apps are closed... so, here's hoping for the future!)

As for apps, I'm personally confused on what exact key points and history are supposed to accomplish by both being there. Or like, what the difference is? The way the app page explained it made it seem as though key points involved elements of personality and history both, so to me it feels redundant.

Generally, when a personality element needs explanation of where it comes from, I make a brief reference to history within the personality section itself. (Asuka is attention-seeking and so on because of blah blah past event - that type of thing.) And when there's both bullet points and a separate history section, it kind of comes out to rewriting a bunch of the same stuff in longer format.

Also, while I'm not apping a CRAU, I would nonetheless support the idea of a separate section for it to make it easier on people.

Setting Suggestions

[wearethecrystalmods]

What sort of things would you like to see added to Waverly Bay? Any particular stores or forests landmarks?

[foolreversed]

Throwing in one myself since it's been kicking around in my head for a little while:

There's a lot of Japanese characters in this game, so I had the idea a few months back about an international import grocery store. It'd have all the type of foods that a bunch of these characters may want like miso... because right now the only way to get that sort of stuff is to order it online.

Re: Setting Suggestions

[hasmovedon]

GIVE ME THE FOREST OR GIVE ME DEATH

But no, in all seriousness, the setting section needs some work. The fact that half the game was convinced there was a forest when none was mentioned anywhere on the setting page or shown in the setting art speaks to more clarity and/or detail needed. I've been assuming that if it exists, it's out past the farmland, on the other side of Waverly Bay from the Temple (as the forest in the canon Beach City is around there as well). I personally am especially keen to see the player-added locations page given an overhaul, especially the part of it that I think are still in a google doc? It's unintuitive to navigate and I right out missed it at first, leading to me not knowing there's apparently some kind of giant magical tree up on the temple cliff until about two months into playing here. Even the 'Touch This' sign on the Heart, which is impossible for new characters to miss, is something I heard about through word of mouth on plurk weeks after I intro'd.

I'd recommend some kind of list -- either people can comment with player-added locations and the mods can add them to a list on the page, or the comments can double as the list. That way all the information is easily-accessible and in a legible format (the googledoc also has the problem of being very hard to navigate/read).

I have full faith in the new mods that this will all be prettied up as soon as you're able to get to it!

OH and while I'm at it -- some kind of electronics store or addition to an existing store, so that characters who wouldn't have a device that could access the network would be able to purchase one. The selection could be as limited/outdated as you like for extra hilarity.

The World Outside Waverly Bay/Potential World Plot

[wearethecrystalmods]

So right now, as the game is, there isn't really much to the setting besides Waverly Bay itself. Steven Universe itself meanwhile is full of mysterious and gorgeous locations.

We see an opportunity for world building, as well as an opportunity to expand the game's plot.

The ideas we've been kicking around are missions or exploration plots that would be intended to help characters learn and uncover more about the world they currently reside in and try to figure out Cosmographia's mysteries. Do not worry! The game will not lose its slice of life aspects; we know that is one of the draws of the game and part of its charm. But for those players who who want a little more out of the game/a way to flex their powers more often this is intended to hopefully provide that extra bit more for them.

We'd like to hear your thoughts on this idea.

[scarlet_devil]

Maybe warp pads can be a thing. And maybe various places around the world can offer bounties for dangerous monsters?

Re: The World Outside Waverly Bay/Potential World Plot

[connie_maheswaran]

See, I was thinking a lot about this. The whole reason that the gem supposedly brought them was to fight the monsters that attack, right? Sometimes people NPC monsters coming and going, but overall, everyone's stuck in Waverly Bay, and no one really knows why.

We have the rough draft that there was a gem war, but there's no clear indication of what happened to cause it to begin with. So what if, outside of Waverly Bay, the rest of the world is the aftereffects of the war? The world is three fourths hollowed out because of gem productions, so a lot of it is just one big kindergarten. The discovery is that the war DID happen, and the fighting gems one, but unlike Earth that Steven knows, this world felt the full brunt of what happens when a gem war goes on for years, and as a result, there are way more gem monsters and mutants that swarm the planet.

Waverly Bay could be one of the few places that houses humans that survived. They lived there for years, and because they have the crystal heart, anytime gem monsters tried to invade, a person with a gem would come and defend the world. Until recently, it hasn't been many, but more monsters are now starting to show face, maybe even gearing for one final attack to swarm the whole planet this time. It would explain why so many people are now drafted into the fight, and that eventually, there will be warp pads that will take them outside of the bay, for the REAL fight.

[revolutionfalcon]

Something like this would definitely be welcome. While not all players and characters would want to do it (so having it optional is already a great idea), it gives more serious characters/those who want to take a more active role a chance to get out, explore or defeat monsters. And also hey, the bounty thing would give an income source to some gems too young to find work, or unable to for other reasons.

Event Schedule/Power Distribution

[wearethecrystalmods]

The game was originally created with the intent of there being an event every month, with powers received for participating in them.

We are not certain if this format will continue to work for the game. A lot of players want to do their own plots and it can cause the schedule to become crowded, with little room to breathe.

How would the player base feel about events being more spaced apart, say... every two months instead, with small mini events and player plots to fill the interim? This would also allow us to spend more time coming up with and planning these events. If events do continue monthly they will likely be much smaller affairs than in the past to account for these things.

In addition, what are people's thoughts on the current distribution of powers? Originally they were given just for participating in an event, at some point they became a thing for everyone even if they didn't participate. We know this makes things easier for people who don't have time for events, but then it raises the question of what the point of an event even is in that case. Would you like that to change? Is a new power every month too much too often? And would you be interested in alternative means of gaining powers?

[cyan_maid]

Elaine the Mod here, but don't think about the mod bit - I'm speaking as a player. I personally began to find the "new power every month" a bit too much, considering that there are only so many powers a person can have or think up. I'm certainly not a fan of getting a power if my characters didn't participate in an event. After all, what did they do to earn it? Perhaps I kept them out of the event for a reason?

I am personally in favor of spreading out the events that give powers, and I'd like to propose we put some kind of cap on it, just to make it easier to keep track.

Player Plot Approval

[wearethecrystalmods]

In the past there has been an issue of too many dark plots happening all at once and exhausting the game.

Previously it was up to players to make sure to space out their plots and be mindful of other plots. It was a very hands off approach from the previous mod team. We'd like to propose a system of plots first having to be approved by mods before they can go through. This would make sure that plots are well spaced apart with room for the playerbase to breathe, without risk of being bombarded with too many dark plots.

We'd like to know what you think of this idea first though.

[therealrisette]

ALL MY YES TO THIS. Pretty much everyone who knows me knows I jumped ship on my previous game partially because the mods did not seem to understand how to balance darker mod plots, among other various interconnected reasons. And shortly after, the game died due to rapidly declining interest, so. Yeah. Last thing I want is for that to happen to this game!

Players also tend to get excited about ideas we really want to do, without always thinking it through to the consequences to the game as a whole, so mod approvals and managing of the timing of said events sounds like a fabulous idea. (Also a system that was in practice in my previous game, to give those guys some credit for at least trying to balance it out. I just think some damage was already done there and there wasn't much that could have been done to fix it. I still have tons of hope for this game, though!)

Power Limitations/Guidelines

[wearethecrystalmods]

One of the great things about Cosmographia is the freedom players have to come up with their own powers for their characters. However very little restriction has been implemented on powers. At best it causes confusion for players unsure of what powers are acceptable, and at worst it's easy to abuse.

What kind of guidelines/limitations would you like to see when it comes to powers?

[dirteater]

Maybe post-event the players can submit power requests to be subsequently approved by the mods?

Fate of Cosmonet

[wearethecrystalmods]

Many people have wondered what purpose cosmonet served. From what we can tell it was meant to be a tool to see all of the game at once (by using the reading page) but was not maintained very well for the most part (for instance, there's a lot of journals on there no longer in the game whose journal entries still appear).

We will ultimately be getting rid of the account as part of the changing of hands but we'd like to know if anyone was making use of it and if they would appreciate a new account to take its place.

[foolreversed]

...so confession, I was actually using cosmonet until it was apparent that it didn't include the meme comm and thus was not worth continuing to use, so I ditched it ages ago.

I have yet to hear of anyone else using it but me though.

Network Comm?

[wearethecrystalmods]

Speaking of cosmonet, in the beginning it was mistaken for an actual network. Cosmographia does have internet and currently network posts are made on the main comm. The question is would anyone like to see a proper, separate comm for network posts? Or is that unnecessary?

[stopdestroyingmythings]

Eh... I'm not usually one to give my thoughts on things this big as I might mess things up, but... Seeing as the IC game world is tightly packed together as it is makes the need for network posts minimal. At this point, it seems like an IC luxury and not a necessity. Most people would just go up and talk to people face to face, so I suggest no network comm.

EDIT: Just read the exploration thingy toplevel and... actually, that might require the use of network as people might be too far away for many others to interact with them. If you go through with exploration plots, then there might be a need for more network and thus a network comm.

Day Cycle Comments

[wearethecrystalmods]

It's been a while now since the game switched to a 1:1 ratio for the days. Any comments on how the transition has gone so far? Would you like to continue using the "Day ###" tags?

[dirteater]

Everyone seems to be using the actual date when it comes to timestamping their posts so the day## tags seem purposeless and confusing at this point

The Temp. Drop System

[wearethecrystalmods]

This was brought about by the previous mod team and public reaction to it, for the most part, seems to be negative.

We are currently inclined to get rid of it but before we do we'd like to hear more people's thoughts on it first.

[goalriff]

I was a potential apper, but here are my thoughts on this:

Having this system in might encourage squatting. Most games have players go to the mods and work things out (extended hiatus) if real life things are getting bad, instead of a system like this. It isn't fair to potential appers to see character x on hold if the player isn't in the game. It just seems off putting, imo.

Future Event/Plot Suggestions

[wearethecrystalmods]

What kind of events would you like to see in the future? Tell us here!

In addition, please feel free to use this section to propose your own plot ideas to your fellow players and gauge interest/plan things out.

Mini Player Plot Idea: Let It... Rain?

[foolreversed]

So! Since the game is set in the southern hemisphere, we'll be going into summer now instead of winter! So in lieu of your usual snowed in plots I have this idea that I have kicking around on plurk and the CR meme.

Since I joined I had intended to eventually give Adachi weather related powers, specifically involving fog, thunder (both of which he already gained ages ago) and rain. The rain one is what I decided to give him after the last event, but I haven't had a chance for him to discover it yet.

My thought was for him to accidentally discover it by complaining about how hot it is... and then not know how to turn it off. And then try to run off because he's a goddamn child afraid of getting in trouble. Basically just go full Elsa* but with rain instead of snow lmao.

This plot would mostly be just be a silly thing for shenanigans and nothing actually too serious or dark. At worst it would just be an annoying inconvenience and would only last a few days.

Would this be too annoying though? If it's too OP I can also nix it. I'd just like to do something fun and (relatively) harmless with powers going wrong because so far we haven't actually seen much of that yet (I think most of "powers going wrong" plots have been angsty).



*Magical shapeshifting dress and musical number may or may not be included

Navigation Link?

[cuteandquarky]

This might already be a work in progress and is kind of a minor thing, but the current "Navigation" link still seems to be outdated, since it still goes to the old cosmods account pages. I know that you guys have been making and updating new pages on the wearethecrystalmods account, but it's not super easy to track those down as of now. I understand the new mod team is busy, but I just wanted to check on the status of that being fixed!

[foolreversed]

...oh my god I'M SORRY I THINK WE COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT PAGE.

We'll try to fix that up shortly omg I'm so sorry, thank you so much for bringing it to our attention.

Canon Updates

[nailed_it]

I think players have been sort of confused about how canon updates are supposed to work in this game in the past, and I know I definitely still am. XD;

I know you all have a ton on your plates already but could the team possibly take a look at the current process of Canon Updating and see if there's not only a way it can be clarified but perhaps streamlined or improved? As I currently understand it, you have to actually Drop from the game, revise your App, and then re-App. This seems extremely over-complicated and confusing for a number of reasons. XD;

Most games that I've been in had a simple "Canon Update" page in which you'd put the mun's name, the name of the character being updated, their current canon point, their new canon point, and sometimes any notes of importance (physical changes made to the character with the update, regains etc). Would something like that work for Cosmos, with optional Mod Approval for canon updates if they are indeed needed?

Also clarification on/new ideas for what happens to a character IC-ly when they're being updated would be nice? I think at present characters either end up gem'd or drop into a hole to go back home temporarily but perhaps there could be additional options (Gem visions or something, idk)?

[torya]

Definitely agreed! The old system seemed a bit... roundabout to me (I was never really sure why a drop notice was needed??) and a simple Canon Update page seems like it'd be easier for everyone. This is definitely something we'll sit down and discuss!

As for more options for a canon updating character, that's definitely something that could be looked at, if you guys think it's something we need!

Post Code!

[soft_focus]

In the old format for the game, there used to be a text box where the code for the log format was... ...it was rather useful, so if it hasn't been suggested yet, I might suggest bringing it back in somehow.

+1

[cyan_maid]

Oh gosh yes, I'm going to second that. I miss that code. I miss that theme, too, that was nice.

Fusion stuff

[madeoflove]

First off, is there a clearly stated list of the current "freebie" powers, like fusion? I remember missing that in the FAQ when I apped, and being surprised to find that it was already unlocked, which I only learned because it was one of my three choices. ... and the mods simply picked out of my remaining two, which kinda sucked, since I could've thrown a more interesting third option in for consideration. Anyway, having this list upfront and obvious would be a good thing.

Second, since it's something that's become such a major part of the game, I think there should be an info post explaining more about the fusion system, especially for canon outsiders who might not know how relationships will translate into fusions -- stable versus unstable versus out-of-control like Sugilite. It would also be a good idea to include the consequences of staying fused too long (unless you're Garnet) or forcing an unstable fusion past its splitting point.

One of the reasons it came to mind, though, is because in my one foray into fusion... I found myself totally lost about how power cap applies to fusions. I've seen some fusions where the cap was completely busted off and anything goes, and others where it was kept to the original abilities, and it seemed to come down to personal preferences rather than an actual ruling. Having a guideline would help. Actually, having a mod-reviewed fusion-registration page would be even better, though that might be too much extra work for the mod team while they're still cleaning up after the recent storm.

[cuteandquarky]

Seconding both of these things! I definitely remember needing to ask somebody if fusions were automatically unlocked for new characters, so having that on a page somewhere obvious would be great. Having a bit more official guidance on fusions would be great too, though I'm not sure if a fusion-registration page is totally necessary as long as there's a concrete ruling on power caps.