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Wellstone Post 2.2
The Wellstone Post
Welcome to the Wellstone Post! We'll be sending one of these toward the end of each month with OOC updates and hints for the next month.
If you’re interested, join the game discord! It’s a good chill time.
Calendar
We are entering the third and final month of our timeloop. Here's what we're looking at:
2.3: July
1st: Event plotting, AC opens
5th: AC closes
20th: TDM, Wellstone Post
26th: Apps open
1st: Event plotting, AC opens
5th: AC closes
20th: TDM, Wellstone Post
26th: Apps open
AC
As a reminder, we have shifted AC! Doing AC at the end of the cycle was a little much for us when we also had to process apps and set up the new cycle. Also, we're all adults and we wanted to make AC a little easier to meet.
You can read over the activity check mechanics in detail here, but the tl;dr is that AC is now going to happen at the beginning of the third month in a cycle, in this case, July.
To account for the fact that everyone has a month less, we're lowering the overall requirements, and waiving it entirely for folks who apped the month before (so June folks will have a free pass and will just need to check in). We'll accept proofs from the prior three months, so feel free to submit things from April, May, and June!
Hopefully that all makes sense, but if anyone has questions, let us know below! We're just trying to make things easier for everybody, pretty much.
FEEDBACK
It's that time again! Thank you to everyone in this game for making it such a wonderful, chaotic, heartfelt cozy space. We appreciate you and it so, so much!
We’re trying stuff, throwing things at the wall, and making things up as we go along, and this kind of feedback really helps us in terms of knowing what is fun for y’all and what you’d like this game to look like. It was deeply helpful to hear from y'all last time, so please don't be shy! Your former art-school mod craves feedback.
Thank you everyone! Please post your answers below under the comment header.
We’re trying stuff, throwing things at the wall, and making things up as we go along, and this kind of feedback really helps us in terms of knowing what is fun for y’all and what you’d like this game to look like. It was deeply helpful to hear from y'all last time, so please don't be shy! Your former art-school mod craves feedback.
Thank you everyone! Please post your answers below under the comment header.
And now, the weather
Well, you all knew it was coming. Near the end of this very hot month, clouds gather darkly on the horizon out in the desert. The hot winds blowing through town begin to pick up, blasting fiercely against the sides of the buildings. Sand whirls itself into small, ominous dust devils.
Strangely enough, flashes of light can also be seen out in the desert, both in the clouds and not. Distant buzzing, shrieking, and rumbling also roll across the town in moments of stillness.
Questions
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Feedback Responses
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How is the pace of the game feeling? How does the structure of event + mini-event mid-month impact your play?
Pace works great for me, since faster games give me too much fomo nowadays. The monthly event settings + minis are fun - lets me have a trajectory without being super beholden to it by midpoint in case something new crops up that might be fun.
Horror & Comedy
How has the balance of horror & silliness felt? Do you find yourself wishing it leaned more one way or more the other?
Also works well for me, since full pedal on horror would be exhausting, and the silliness isn't too invasive as to make my character full on break down from the whiplash.
Metaplot
Have you had enough opportunity to engage in the metaplot? Do you find yourself wishing for more or less information?
Yessirrrrr I like the crumbs, and I like that no one char will be the one to carry the plot ball as deigned by NPCs (that's something I find problematic from other games) - instead the onus is on players to invest the time and investigation and communication.
Anything else?
What are we doing right? What could we do to make the game work better for everyone? Don't hold back! We covet your thoughts!
I'm content, no tweaks needed for me that I can think of off the dome. Looking fwd to seeing what new things the storm brings ✌
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The pace of the game seems totally fine to me. I know I don't have the time I used to so being able to backtag and having AC span multiple months has been a life saver. There's more than enough content to keep the pace moving at a steady clip and I don't feel overwhelmed if I lose a week to real life.
Horror & Comedy
Perfect balance imo. I personally get tired if things are too serious but I also often want more meat than just slapstick comedy and hijinks and the setting has allowed me to go back and forth at my leisure.
Metaplot
You know I've been like a raptor testing the fences of this plot since I've been here so I am all for the slow burn and being able to actually influence things. I don't feel like I'm a bit player but I also don't feel like I'm carrying the game either. There's a lot of working parts that really make this game easy to follow but intriguing enough for me to want to keep digging.
Anything else?
I really appreciate all the time and care you guys have put into this game. I honestly think my only suggestion is putting up either a page of "here's what my character has learned/discovered" or maybe make it part of a CR meme? It could be a place where people can post what their characters have tried or learned and discovered about the town and the loop so that people can OOCly engage and swap ideas without having to be in the discord or on plurk or having to read a bunch of threads that might have the information buried. I think it would help new players catch up on what's been learned and it could even serve as a place for people to pitch thread or log ideas to get more CR.
(in the right spot this time!)
How is the pace of the game feeling? How does the structure of event + mini-event mid-month impact your play?
In general, I think it’s perfect! I appreciate that I’m confident that my threads will keep moving and people will stay active, but also things aren’t moving so fast that I feel like I’m left behind or slowing anyone down. I also think the monthly events and mini-events are great.
The one thought I’ve had recently (and I realize it might be a silly thought) is that it might be nice to periodically have a sort of…catch-up month where there is no monthly plot? Because people tag at a slower pace (which I love!) I sometimes feel like I’m starting to get a little over my skis, so to speak—trying to guess how an older thread is going to shake out while still keeping Pal on top of whatever new horror a month brings. It might be nice to have a month once in a while where there aren’t new metaplot things happening for both catching up on older threads and giving characters space to explore in a more freeform way.
Horror & Comedy
It’s perfect! I’m not super into grimdark, but I’m also not into slapstick. In particular, I think you do a good job of creating a tone and setting where there are stakes *for the characters* even if something is hilarious *for the players*
Metaplot
Have you had enough opportunity to engage in the metaplot? Do you find yourself wishing for more or less information?
Again, A++. In particular, I have really appreciated my interactions with the mods where I’ve asked metaplot-related questions. It may sound basic, but it’s really helpful that you ask follow-up questions or say “if Pal wants to do x, he might get more info, so let us know.” I feel like my character has to do the work of discovery, but I, as a player, don’t have to sit here guessing the secret password.
Anything else?
What are we doing right? What could we do to make the game work better for everyone? Don't hold back! We covet your thoughts!
I love the suggestion of having a “here’s what characters have discovered”! Especially as the game goes on and lore adds up (and new people join who haven’t been here from the beginning) having some kind of ooc mechanic for saving this info would be super useful. fwiw, I think I’d prefer it be separate from the cr meme, maybe a different sort of regularly-occurring post altogether. That way, if someone (ie me) wants to look something up six months from now because I’ve forgotten when Pal discovered x thing and want to reference it, I know right where to look.