State of the Game / Cap Discussion

[thenine]

Hello, Joyers!

As we approach our next reserve and app cycle, we find ourselves needing to discuss something we never thought would come up in the first place: a cap, be it player or character. How awesome is it that an AU-type game is even having this discussion? Thank you so much for taking this game further than we ever anticipated.

But with that being said, we're adamant about maintaining our level of quality and expedient responses to you and worry that we won't be able to do so if the game expands too much by way of players. We're also concerned about inclusivity and manageability, respectively.

Many of you were kind enough to lend us your thoughts on plurk, which can be viewed here (it's public, so anyone should be able to see it).

For reference, we're sitting around 37 players and 43 characters at present. Thus, we are considering the following options:

50 players with a total of 150 characters (3 character cap per player).
60 players with a total of 120 characters (2 character cap per player).
65 players with a total of 130 characters (2 character cap per player).

Your feedback and thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post them here or on plurk, we will be managing and going over both as we decide which option is best suited for the game and the mods respectively. We have temporarily enabled non-member commenting here so prospective players are also encouraged to comment.

Additionally, our decision will be made prior to reserves opening (a little bit under a week here) so that no one feels blindsided by it or is caught off-guard by the changes.

Of course, if we should find that our work is less or more than anticipated, we can always change the cap again to reflect this--by no means is a decision set in stone, everything we do is experimental in nature.

Thank you for your time!
- Mods.

Comments

[ofobedience]

I think I would be inclined to go for 60 players with a total of 120 characters (option B!) personally because it maintains inclusivity whilst also keeping things manageable!!

It seems to me that the number of characters in game should also be taken into account, because even if several characters belong to the same player, they'll all have different plots and storylines going on, and to keep things well-tailored to the characters you have, a smaller number would be more ideal.

However! Ultimately I think that you, as mods, will have the best idea of what you can handle. If you think 50 players is the most you can manage whilst maintaining the level of involvement and quality you've provided so far, then go with that! I'll support your decision whatever the case at the end of the day.

I will say I'm fully in favour of a cap of some kind, just because, as you pointed out on plurk, you need to think about how much work you can conceivably manage whilst also still having fun as players and enjoying the game you created!

Also thanks you guys, this game has been a real pleasure so far, and your friendliness and dedication plus quick response time are some of the things that really convinced me to app in the first place, so do what you need to do! <3

[refactor]

Thank you for the discussion, first of all! Considering game caps of any kind can tend to change the character of a game, I'm glad that y'all are open to feedback and discussion on the matter.

I'm going to personally go with either the 60/65 player option, and I'd go with the crowd on either one. I like both! However, there is something I'd like to bring up and ask about regardless of which option is picked.

For players considering additional characters, would it be possible to also have some heightened AC requirements? What these look like I'd leave up to mod discretion or a further discussion, but I think that a second character should be something more "earned" in the sense that a player scraping by on AC shouldn't be allowed to app a second one. In my experience, squatting tends to be a problem that causes a lot of friction in capped games. It's not a solution to it by any means, but personally I just tend to prefer the idea that apping additional characters is something that's taken with consideration of past activity.

[r3f4c70r3d]

Seconding higher AC requirements for taking on more characters to avoid unfairness!

[ofobedience]

Higher AC requirements for those looking to pick up multiple characters seems like a sound idea to me!

[songlines]

As someone who'd like to app in the near future, I'm with this!

[fledges]

Definitely agree on the higher AC requirements!

[cauterised]

agreeing with higher ac reqs for additional characters!

[tousei]

+1

[r3f4c70r3d]

I think option B is the best compromise as well. That's a fair number of players, and having only 2 characters per person will leave less room for impulse applications and squatting.
Thanks for all your hard work, you guys are doing a great job so far at being on top of things.

[slingshots]

I think that above all else, your decision should be something you're comfortable with. Player input is important, but you guys are the ones running things AND trying to play here, so you will best know your own limits. Players will adjust to whatever you say the game is!

That said, though, I would lean for the 60 player cap / 120 character cap, because you can always raise (or lower) it from there if you feel able to. Don't worry about a decision being final, because, again, this is based on your comfort, and you won't know what you can handle until you're handling it.

I'm also in favor of increased activity from people apping seconds — one of the games I'm in now requests 2 months of double AC from someone trying to app a second, as if they had been playing and making full AC with 2 characters for the last two months. Another option is requiring 1.5x as much AC from the player come AC time (so 6 threads rather than 4, as an example). I'm not particular about the hows, but the reasoning being that the player should be certain they want to be playing that second character.

However you come to your decision, I wish you luck! And thank you for your hard work so far <3 You've got a really awesome game here, and I really appreciate your attentiveness to detail and general visibility and involvement!

[heartsteals]

i'm not in the game, but you said you wanted prospective players' opinions as well, so!! obviously, you guys know your own limits best, and i haven't yet seen/experienced this game's pace myself... as someone who's modded in the past, i don't want you guys to bend over backwards trying to accomodate everybody and stretch yourselves too thin, because that's just not fun for anyone.

i personally think the 60 or 65-player cap is the best, though, just because it gives the game room to grow and thus won't ward away anyone looking at the game. like i mentioned in christy's plurk, i've been locket out of games i was otherwise interested in joining because of strict player caps, and i know other people that have been likewise put off of games because of that. blocking new blood from flowing into your game never feels like a good option to me. that said, taking on so many people you can no longer manage the game or provide opportunities for any player is obviously no good either... so i think a moderate-to-high cap would be best, since it accomodates the needs of both mods and players.

thanks for being such cool and attentive mods so far, though. you guys seem really great from the outside where i'm standing!

[slotted]

I'm leaning towards the 60/65 player option. 50 players is okay too but I feel like 3 characters per player with that kind of cap is a bit too much. At the same time, I feel like people might scramble just to app before the cap is met in the next coming months.

As mentioned already, increased activity for players looking to app a second would be ideal given the cap! I'd go with something along the lines of achieving at least two months of AC and then some extra activity, but of course, how you decide to go about the suggestion is entirely up to you guys.

[brickinthewall]

I'm a fan of the 60/65 options myself since I always think new blood is good for creativity and new approaches. I'm pretty used to bigger games so I'm not opposed to rolling with higher counts

since it's been pretty stable i think in apps i think the 60 cap is the best? and as for multiple characters, I think an option would be not necessarily just have more AC, but essentially gather points/extra activity to redeem another app? idk just options to consider or some sort

that being said, with 120 characters, i think there should be a bit of a balance in factions/jobs? because suddenly half the game is a killjoy and everything else is smaller so I think this is something to watch out for that it favors heavily in one direction and then plots aren't as varied because of the same types of jobs taken up and whatnot

+1

[tropism]

@ all this, especially the jobs part

[equerry]

+1

[eggplanting]

i'd lean more towards the 60/65 with two characters per player - i think keeping the character pool smaller while the player base is larger will make things more fun while still being manageable for you guys

one thing you might wanna consider is a cast cap, just to avoid one cast outnumbering others

[fledges]

I'd agree with considering a cast cap, too.

[cauterised]

I don't have much to say that hasn't already been said, but I personally lean towards 60/65 players with a 2 character cap. There's something about a lower player cap but higher character cap per player that seems more exclusive than the other two options, though obviously how inclusive/exclusive you want the game to feel is entirely up to you guys as mods. (Also 150 just seems like it would be a loooot of listwork but obviously if you guys don't mind, then it's nbd.)

But ultimately it's up to you guys! Whatever is least stressful is what I'll support.

[tousei]

I'd prefer option B most of all. I play in two other capped games, Futurology and Subnautica, and that seems to be generally the size. Subnautica has a cap of 50 players but no limit on characters, and Futuro has 80 characters and 2 per player.

I prefer smaller games to maintain cohesive plot. It'd also let obscure characters gain CR more easily.