The Althanas Suggestion Thread

[Max Dirks]

Every few years we do one of these, but I'd honestly prefer to keep this one ongoing. I'd like you to post general gripes, suggestions or ideas on how to improve Althanas here in a direct dialogue with the moderators. Everyone is welcome to post their two cents, and I'll make sure that you get a response. You'd be surprised at how much of an impact player input has on moderater activity!

Just a reminder. It's perfectly fine to defend/deflect/criticize, but please do so civilly.

[Tobias Stalt]

We should do some sort of writing mixer. That is, randomly pair off people who have never written together before and have them write something. Maybe put a list of names (people who have volunteered, of course; participation wouldn't be mandatory) and randomly generated prompts or general plot ideas and have them work together to make a story of it.

[Max Dirks]

Like as a special vignette? I can dig it. It might also be adventageous to do mixer type events with other RP sites. Maybe we'll get some beneficial membership boosts!

[Tobias Stalt]

...that right there. That's why you're the supreme overlord.

[Otto]

Less comps plz.

[Ashla]

I'll take now to say that after visiting a gazilion other RP sites and looking at their rules section, Althanas is still the best. It's not too strict (the strictness alone on some sites drove me away from joining) but still provokes so much order and there are still direct guidelines to follow. Well done! ^_^

Can we have "slicing" as an option in the BBC format? Like, so we can cross out stuff?

And how do the fonts work? By any chance can we download more? (I'm a crazy fonts person...)

[Max Dirks]

BGOS, it's:
<strike>TEXT</strike> where <> = []
No one Everyone likes Dirks!

I'll see if there's a font hack for you. I don't feel like adding each one to the post editor individually!

[Luned]

I like the mixer idea, and I do think we've been a bit overzealous with competitions/tournaments lately.

I have a connection with another site (http://chroniclesofthedas.com/forum/) who've expressed interest in doing a crossover event at some point, if that's something more people are interested in.

[Ashla]

that's a lie
Nah, you're awesome!

Coool, thank you!




Another idea: weaknesses could be made a mandatory part of character sheets. And no, The weaknesses can't just be personality traits! This would provoke less godmodding and more fairness in battle threads to where even level one characters have a better chance against level twenties and it would add onto early level characters not being invincible.

[Max Dirks]

Eh, I don't think that's necessary, BGOS. All we really care about is the affect one player has on another. Weaknesses can offset that affect (and are currently worked into the system to do so), but I don't really think they should be mandatory.

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

I love a good competition, but I'm going to second Otto's suggestion. Running competitions and events one right after the other kind of kills the fun of doing them.

[Fox Owen Xavier]

Would like a vignette that doesn't have the word Doge in it... Seriously, the current vignette really should be replaced with something that more people are willing to write something for.

Also, might be nice to work out "The Peaceful Promenade" so it actually does a better job of being newbie friendly or at least has more opportunities for new people to jump in. (Or something... Right now I feel like it's completely useless)

Also, any way to improve the silver pub chat to allow for something more than a flat 35? Maybe allow the judge to give a bonus if she or he thinks it is worthy of more?

[Enigmatic Immortal]

A few extra ability points for level 0's. 3 has been felt to be a little too limiting. I get the point, but can we increase said points?

Also, random question: I have previously broken the curve on Jensen with more than 10x the agility and speed. I have had that established in previous levels before the cap at ten, and paid the carefully considered ability point cost to have such things. But now that I am capped, did that mean I had even more ability points to spend on increasing other abilities or adding? Or was that a kind of....S.O.L. situation. Not griping, but curious.


Can weapons and enchantments also not be worth so many ability points? Maybe like...half what you currently estimate for now? Obviously, certain items need way more consideration, but some weapons people have are for flavor and to have that flavor they are diminishing the other things they could do with their characters.

[Astrid Whitepeak]

I was wondering if maybe we could do something like have a random "event" every month for each region of the world that would generate bonus XP for threads that dealt with it. It could be really generic or very specific as the mods have time for, but I think that might be a good way to give the world a bit of chance and provide a good way for people who don’t want to do competitions to get some extra XP, almost like a vignette. Not a ton, of course, because we don’t want to force people to write about something that doesn’t interest them, but enough to catch their attention. Also, if a given region isn’t terribly active, perhaps we could give it a bit of a boost by offering a bigger event / more rewards?

For example, say one of the prompts for Salvar is "Potato Blight hits the countryside." Writers could take it or leave it, but those who found a way to work it into their threads (maybe character tries to help a starving village, or another is chasing down a necromancer spreading the disease) could really feel like they’re developing the lore of a given place. Additionally, the prompts could build off one another; Potato Blight is followed by Hunger Riots is followed by Mass Exodus / Migration.

I think it offers a way for people to interact with the world in an interesting and open-ended way without needing a ton of oversight. However, I’ll admit I’m a bit foggy about how judgments would work on the issue. Would the thread need to be finished before the end of the month so we aren’t swamped by “OK, this was started in April but ended in May…” etc. It seems like it would be easy enough to slip into the rubric as part of the last category, “Wildcard.”

Anyway, just a thought.

[Max Dirks]

Well, I discussed this briefly with Otto and Luned in the chat BaBE, but I disagree. Whether or not there is a competitive element, events are going to initally draw a massive amount of attention that will fade as the event musters on. In fact, I assure you this planned Dragon War will not finish nearly as strong as it started.

What I see is a problem of scope. Today, Althanas events are massive. They are designed with vague or limited backstories to allow all types of characters to participate and are actively promoted to capture the interest of all active players. Moreover, as Otto noted, whether or not someone is truly interested in the event, they will participate because they feel obligated to do so. Well, this wasn't always the case. In the past, events were tailored to specific interests. There were multiple small events going on at one time as to not pull too much attention from one event to another. Even with a smaller memberbase and correspondingly smaller staff, I see no reason why we can't narrow the scope once more. We can run tournaments continuously, but limit registration to 8 or 16 players on a first registration, no alt basis. Other events can be limited as well. Instead of a war on Eiskalt, a Misery Business v. Ixian Knight clan war can involve a 4 player tournament with the best members represent.

Basically, the mindset for years has been do stuff that everyone can join in. But why? Why not do tailored RP with limited availability to increase demand? You want to affect canon, fine, secure a quest with a CM. You want to participate in a tournament, sweet, but you better register before someone else does otherwise you're waiting. Instead of big super events, lets just do continuous small events, each with their own unique rewards and perks for participation.

[Max Dirks]

Would like a vignette that doesn't have the word Doge in it... Seriously, the current vignette really should be replaced with something that more people are willing to write something for. I understand your frustration, but it's just a month. A new vignette will be posted for May.
Also, might be nice to work out "The Peaceful Promenade" so it actually does a better job of being newbie friendly or at least has more opportunities for new people to jump in. (Or something... Right now I feel like it's completely useless)A training forum is always something I've been interested in, but frankly it is one feature that requires a steady supply of new members to maintain, which we don't have at the moment. The best way to build the Peace Promenade itself back up is to RP there, even if it's only simple paragraph interactions.
Also, any way to improve the silver pub chat to allow for something more than a flat 35? Maybe allow the judge to give a bonus if she or he thinks it is worthy of more? Not at the moment. RP there is designed to be posts between posts.
Also, random question: I have previously broken the curve on Jensen with more than 10x the agility and speed. I have had that established in previous levels before the cap at ten, and paid the carefully considered ability point cost to have such things. But now that I am capped, did that mean I had even more ability points to spend on increasing other abilities or adding? Or was that a kind of....S.O.L. situation. Not griping, but curious. Althanas no longer recognizes 1x, 2x, 3x, 10x, etc. That shit is meaningless. If your agility and speed have been capped based on your tangible description, it means its reverse bunnying. Reverse bunnying occurs when the only way for an opposing character to dodge something is to bunny themselves.
Can weapons and enchantments also not be worth so many ability points? Maybe like...half what you currently estimate for now? Obviously, certain items need way more consideration, but some weapons people have are for flavor and to have that flavor they are diminishing the other things they could do with their characters. It sounds to me from reading this that you're unclear on how enchantments affect power levels. Enchantments only mean anything if they boost abilities, which is written clear as day in Hysteria's ROG FAQ.
I was wondering if maybe we could do something like have a random "event" every month for each region of the world that would generate bonus XP for threads that dealt with it. Sei does something called the featured region where RPing in that region during a month will net you bonus EXP. Each region should have a mission board that you can complete, which is essentially a random event (particularly if it's noted as reoccuring). I'll have Zook point out the mission boards when he announces featured regions in the future!

[Enigmatic Immortal]

I was told my character could not have higher than 10x a stat. If what you say is true then I don't have to asign any numbers and just describe the action in my profile?
I mean...seriously, if it means diddly shit and is no longer recognized, then how can one gauge a power level for it? I'm just not as smart as people think I am. Spell it out in crayon, like im a retard, in big letters. Cause what I'm interpreting seems exploitable and way to up to interpretation.

You say that in regards to weapons and enchantments, but I do not feel like that's what Is currently happening. Maybe it is just me. If you say its all good, I have no reason to doubt you.

Also, can we not have level caps? It seems more than ever people are getting up there. Just a suggestion.

EDIT: Apologies dirks, I think I get the first part now. But reverse bun ying is still weirded out for me. Not 100% sure what you mean.

[Max Dirks]

Okay, that's easy. It's because you were the first.

When you posted your profile update, we did not yet have a written description for APL 10 agility and speed, but knew we did not want it to exceed 10x under the old system. So we told you to limit your character to 10x speed and describe what that meant because we were going to make it equal APL 10. Frankly, you could have written anything you wanted to become APL 10, even if it really equalled 30x under the old system, because we just needed a base description. Then, after reviewing what you wrote, Hysteria determined YOUR DESCRIPTION seemed reasonable to act as the upper echelon for allowed speed and agility. Now, in the future, we won't have to tell anyone else 10x is the maximum because we now have YOUR DESCRIPTION to compare their attributes to ;)

So basically you (and other higher levelled characters like Abomination and Hysteria) were used as guinea pigs to set APL10 attributes. I hope you feel dirty.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Nope. I feel like a pretty princess. Thank you! Sometimes I just need it spelt out. :D

[Max Dirks]

So just as an FYI to other higher levelled characters, if you see us referring to numbered attributes in your profile, it's probably because we're trying to set a base for something. Eventually, we'll have the base for every level. When it's all said and done, all we really care about is your description.

[Mordelain]

Not to be snide, but I dare say running events and running them on time, with a quicker turnover needs to be priority over churning out more and more ideas.

[Ashla]

So if I give my broad sword a power completely different from Ashla's bloodline abilities, I wouldn't have to count it as an ability?

[Max Dirks]

Read the guide, please.

If the sword has independent powers or abilities, it doesn't count towards ability level or number of abilities allowed per level.

If the sword boosts or otherwise creates an ability, it counts towards ability level and number of abilities allowed per level.

Also, if you cannot provide a link to the thread the sword was purchased or earned as a spoil, it also counts towards ability level and number of abilities allowed per level.

For example, if you enchant a sword that enables your character to cast twice as many fireballs without tiring, it's an ability. If you enchant a sword to shoot fireballs itself, it's not an ability. It may seem trivial to you, but systematically there is a HUGE difference between the usage of the word "cast" and the usage of the word "shoot" in this example.

I don't know how to be any more clear. It's not that hard of a concept. Keep in mind, if it's clear you're using the bazaar to circumvent the ROG, you will be nerfed and possibly have your character banned.

[Luned]

Well, I discussed this briefly with Otto and Luned in the chat BaBE, but I disagree.


Not to be snide, but I dare say running events and running them on time, with a quicker turnover needs to be priority over churning out more and more ideas.

A point you may have missed that I made in chat is that we just don't have the manpower to run so many events in such quick succession well. The past few have been notably wonky in various ways, we've had trouble with keeping up with judgments, and it's all led to burnout both on staff side and for members.

(I think it's important to add that I don't say any of that to dis anyone who ran those events –– it's nearly impossible to get something like that perfect. But more time for planning, judging catchup/recharge, etc could make a positive difference. They should be enjoyable for everyone involved, but right now I know many feel like they're more obligations/chores.)

[Lye]

Let's revive this thread since we've had some old members return and new ones entirely. This is a thread where players tell us admins what they think would be good changes to the site and its policies. Feel like something is unfair? Maybe something is too easy? Perhaps you just want to give kudos to an idea on a site? Maybe you want a specific quest or tournament?

Any suggestion is a good suggestion and feel free to converse about each other's ideas. Just remember to keep it civil.

So, what suggestions do you have?

[Cards of Fate]

I think we need to work on expanding our community and working our damnedest on retaining new members to increase our player-base, while at the same time increasing the amount of judges, ROG mods, and people working behind the scenes to make things work in order to get the community huge as fuck and super swole.

[grim137]

You should make the link to the mod application easier to find. So that newer members looking to help out can apply.

[Max Dirks]

No offense, Grim, but it's three clicks: Rules ---> Chapter 10: Joining Staff ---> Click here.

Not too bad. Here's the link though if anyone is interested: http://www.althanas.com/world/misc.php?do=form&fid=3

[Alydia Ettermire]

It's not hard to someone who could navigate the site in his sleep, sure. But not everyone has been around for the last dozen years. Maybe there should be a link at the bottom of the page that says "join staff."

[Ashla]

Something that has always gotten on my nerves here was the rewards in Citadel scores. Several times I would lose to opponents by only five points or so (once I lost by 1.5 points) and even though it was a close score I got so much less EXP/ GP than the person who won. I understand that the victor deserves more rewards, but one person could get 1,500 EXP while their opponent only got 300. It's pretty unfair if you ask me, especially if the scores were extremely close.

Maybe you guys could make the dividing of rewards a bit more fair? Maybe if the losing player(s) lose by 5 points or less they earn an additional 400 EXP or something for their efforts? Or since the judgments for battles are already different than the judgments for quests, the rewards could be handed out differently too?

[grim137]

The problem with that is that battles are supposed to be about risk and reward. The loser gets almost nothing where as the winner gets a lot. There's nothing stopping you from having a citadel thread judged as a quest.

[grim137]

I don't think work shoped threads should be completely disqualified from potentially being a judges choice. If a lot of the feed back is overwhelmingly positive one of the mods should give it a read through to determine if it's worth a nomination.

[Max Dirks]

Are they though? A moderator can nominate any thread they want for a JC then have it voted on by the staff. Only threads that receive over an 80 receive an automatic nomination.

[Karuka]

But I thought JCs had to have full rubric judgments?

[Gum]

totes simple suggestion, idk if it's been made before and lord knows i haven't searched it, buuuut i feel like PG affiliation should be more visible. by that i mean it would be cool if it showed in the side part of a person's post. where it shows name, age, race, gender, etc, etc,etc. i know it's one click away, on a player's profile, but when you're in a crew you wear the colours. amirite??

[Fez_The_Kid]

I second Gum's suggestion. Also, I'd like us to have more forum games, like the 'Show, Don't Tell' thread. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?30126-Show-don-t-tell-Game)

[Breaker]

How about having a "Featured Region" each month where all completed threads would receive an EXP modifier? It seemed as though this kind of incentive worked well for the Althanas Festival, although with this I think even a smaller modifier could get results.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

How about having a "Featured Region" each month where all completed threads would receive an EXP modifier? It seemed as though this kind of incentive worked well for the Althanas Festival, although with this I think even a smaller modifier could get results.

A similar idea is in the works at the moment Breaker. We're working out the details but when we have something concrete we'll let you know, you little psychic you :)

[Breaker]

Just noticed that the "Character Registration Guide" link under Character Registration on the main page goes to a restricted area, or at least it seems to for me. Maybe we could change it so it goes to the official newbie guide here (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?26564-The-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Althanas-New-Members-Start-Here!)?

edit: maybe I was just imagining things, it seems fine now.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Just noticed that the "Character Registration Guide" link under Character Registration on the main page goes to a restricted area, or at least it seems to for me. Maybe we could change it so it goes to the official newbie guide here (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?26564-The-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Althanas-New-Members-Start-Here!)?

edit: maybe I was just imagining things, it seems fine now.

Odd one, that. I'll keep an eye on it. Thanks!

[Max Dirks]

It was mislinked. I changed it. Thanks for the tip.

[Lye]

Just a reminder that this exists. New members are especially encouraged to throw out their ideas and suggestions.