Route 29: ｍｏｄｓ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
these_balls) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
route_292013-06-15 09:49 pm
these_balls) wrote in route_292013-06-15 09:49 pm
Entry tags:
BRING US YOUR FEEDBACK!
Hey, Routers! Things have been pretty eventful for the game over the past few months, and we've seen a fair number of changes along the way — the introduction of EV News, the extra-detailed badge acceptances, the experiment with making the Gym Leaders more interactive for the playerbase, and a handful of big plots, including our recent Glitch Plot, Fourth Wall, and of course, the game's big three-year anniversary! But with all of that excitement finally reaching something of a lull for the moment, we on the modteam would really like to check in with you, the players, and get your feedback on how the game experience has been for you so far, and what you'd like to see out of us in the future.
Beneath the cut, we've got a fairly detailed survey we'd like to ask you to fill out, to let us know how we've been doing on a handful of topics, and to get your input on what new things we might attempt, modify, or outright change in the future! When filling it out, please feel free to be as specific or general as you like; we'd prefer specifics, as those tend to be more helpful to us as a team, but please don't feel bound to strictly answer every question if a more general answer will do. Likewise, if there's something you'd like to tell us that isn't covered with the survey, please feel free! This post is here for your thoughts and feedback on Route, and to open up channels of communication with us to answer questions and discuss what might be in store for the game from here on out.
Once you've filled out the survey, please also feel free to make subsequent comments to this post with other topics you might like to discuss with us or with your fellow members of the playerbase! However, please keep in mind that this is NOT an HMD post, nor will we be tolerating any bickering in the comments. It's fine to disagree, but please keep any disagreements civil and discussion-focused; we reserve the right to step in and halt discussion if we feel the conversation is no longer productive, or dissolving into an argument as opposed to a healthy debate.
Also, please keep in mind that while we value your opinions and want to take them into consideration as we move the game forward, we must also as moderators exercise our own personal judgment in determining what will be best for the game. Some suggestions, however popular among the playerbase, simply may not be feasible from a moderator standpoint — and if we do feel that way, we'll try to explain why, but ultimately this discussion comes with the caveat that not everyone is going to get what they want. So please be patient and understanding with us as we try to do our best for the game and for you!
Note: ANONYMOUS COMMENTING IS ENABLED! (For real this time!) We want to encourage honesty here, so please feel free to go anon if it makes you more comfortable. Just please don't abuse the privilege!
PLOTS:• How many plots have you been in Route for (approximately)? None? One? Several?
• How have you generally felt about our plots so far?
• Of the two listed, which type of plot do you tend to prefer?
-- An effect/condition plot, where participants are given a setting change, scenario, or other character condition and generally left to their own devices with what to do about it
For previous Route examples, our Spring Cleaning plot from last year was an "objective-based" plot, while this year's Prom and Glitch events were "effect/condition" ones.
• What would your ideal plot do? For example, "bring all the characters together in one place" the way that Prom did; "give my character Pokemon powers" the way that Outbreak did; "let me move my character freely around the map" the way that the Glitch plot did, etc.
GENERAL UPKEEP:• Do our infopages generally do their job of providing you with all the information you need on a daily basis? Is anything confusing? Is anything missing?
• Is there anything you think we're in need of updating?
• Is there anything you think we need to change?
MODS:• How have your experiences been with us as mods? Are you generally happy with us as a modteam? What do we do well? What can we improve upon?
• Please also feel free to address feedback to any of us individually!
FUTURE:• If you could change any one aspect of Route, what would it be and why?
• Is there anything within the setting of the game itself you would like to see implemented, changed or removed? (I.E. open up a new region, GIVE US THE ELITE FOUR ALREADY, etc.)
• Is there any plot in particular you would like to see us do in the future? Be as general or specific as you like!
ANYTHING ELSE:• Please use this section to let us know anything else you feel is important!
We'll be doing our best to keep up with the discussion as it unfolds, but if you have a question or the need to get hold of us (or one of us specifically), feel free to use the PING-A-MOD thread included in the comments to flag us down!
Thanks again for all your input and cooperation, Route, and we're really looking forward to hearing from you!
☆ PING A MOD ☆
In the SUBJECT LINE of your comment, please put the NAME OF THE MOD you want to get hold of, or "GENERAL" if any member of the team will do!
ALEX
(Anonymous) 2013-06-16 06:15 am (UTC)(link)alejandro
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I've only noticed a handful of plots, namely Prom, 4th Wall, and the Glitches. I have a feeling there were more, but these are the only ones I really noticed. Then again, this kind of plot is the sort that I can really get into, because I've never been the type to enjoy having breadcrumbs laid out as my goal so to speak. Having the option of free form tackling with a theme is honestly pretty much perfect, and you guys seem to have that in hand.
GENERAL UPKEEP:
As far as I've been able to tell you guys are the most on top of things in terms of updating. I can say though that I had a horrible time trying to make heads or tails of the way the routes connected between Kanto and Johto. it's not terribly clear on the map pages how one can get back and forth or how long it will take, and I had to rely on other players to help me figure it out.
MODS:
Every mod I've spoken to since joining has been extremely helpful and patient. This is especially good given that I have the terrible tendency to talk in circles when I'm trying to explain something that confuses me.
FUTURE:
I'm still fairly new to the pokeworld, so anything scenery related I'll admit I have no idea what to do. I would like to see more events like these recent ones, with the possibility of playing around with the video game aspect of the world.
ANYTHING ELSE:
NOPE, THIS GAME IS AWESOME REALLY.
lucy's feedback
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1) I also would like to see more Rocket things, and -
2) I SUPER WOULD LIKE A FOSSIL EVENT OF SOME KIND, now that Redd mentioned it.
3) I'm pretty sure lots of people would be willing to help out with NPCs, if need be. I've been in games where there were mods specifically for that, or who focused on that.
4) Coordinators would actually be REALLY FUN, I think. If classes were added, I think Coordinators and Rangers would be my main wishes! Coordinators definitely have a clearer story arc to do, but Rangers would also have something decidedly different to play out. I think just trying out new classes would liven things up a lot!
5) I actually personally missed the Tournament by a bit, but I'd love to see that in action sometime. Tournaments are sort of important to the series, so it'd be fun to play it out, I think, and it sounds like everyone had a blast last time!
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I've been involved in two plots since I joined, the Prom and the Glitch/4th wall event, and I loved them both in their own ways. Having never experienced an objective-based plot, I have to say that I can't judge for sure which kind I like more. I'll have to wait and see!
GENERAL UPKEEP:
Overall, I do think everything is VERY well-organized. One thing that would be nice to see is a sort of overarching timeline, for newer players. Not running down every single event or anything, but something with important details like how long the Elite Four/Champion has been out of commission, how long the routes that are closed have been closed, things like that that maybe players could find out by asking NPCs around those areas.
MODS:
I love all of you let me hug your faces
FUTURE:
Not that the game isn't big enough as it is, but being relatively new I'm curious why OCs aren't accepted.
Also maybe not a whole new region (people are spread out enough as it is!), but maybe a new area - like the Sevii Islands in FRLG, or anime-only locations like the Orange Archipelago. Other than that, I have to say I haven't been here long enough to contribute too much.
I dunno, the one thing I would change would maybe be upping the Levels/week cap to 7 levels/week up to level 22, because as it is I feel like there's this huge traffic jam in Violet (Shaun has been stuck there since February, and only got his badge in May) because everyone is maybe level 15-18 by the time they get there, so they have to stay there and grind, and if the grinding of the baby levels could get over with faster (which also makes more sense because there's less XP required to get those early levels) then that might help a little.
ANYTHING ELSE:
Nope! Keep on keepin on!
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sorry for the tl;dr
Fourth wall. I've been a part of Route long enough to experience several fourth walls and I must admit, the fourth wall plots were getting very stale prior to the change that allowed characters to retain some of their memories of fourth wall. With this in place, fourth wall is much more interesting and I feel like participating is worthwhile. I would like to see more to do with the machine - perhaps it would be possible for a future plot? Plottier fourth wall posts would be ideal, but the way things are set up now works fine if that's impossible. I like how frequent fourth wall posts are and I wouldn't want that to change.
General. I've seen several plots run by both mods and players alike in Route and I must say I've always had a lot of fun with them. I would prefer to see more mod-run plots, however. I understand that this is a slice-of-life game and having mods run plots every month or something like that would be draining if not downright impossible. However, I do believe adding an additional "plot mod" would be beneficial to the game. It seems as though there isn't much to do in Route if you don't have a lot of strong CR to bounce off of. This makes getting into the game very difficult, in my opinion. Having more plots that focus on bringing people together (such as the prom plot) would be beneficial for newcomers who otherwise are stuck in the beginning towns for weeks on end while other characters congregate around Goldenrod and other larger cities. Bringing the characters together provides opportunities for CR that might not otherwise exist. I would like to see more objective-based plots as well; the Spring Cleaning plot was one of my favorites and I've been disappointed at the lack of objective-based plots since then. I also believe that Team Rocket isn't being used to its full potential. I don't believe that the characters in Team Rocket should be used as plot devices or should constantly be busy doing dastardly things, but I do think that the Executives could pull off more raids and do a bit more with the team than they already do. I enjoy reading about the Gym Leaders and how they interact with people, but what about the Executives? Out of all the characters, I imagine they would have more of a reason to interact with the foreigners than anyone else.
GENERAL UPKEEP:
General. I think you all do a great job of keeping lists and things up to date. There was a time when the reserves weren't being updated frequently, but that seems to have passed. I can't think of anything that I would add or change here.
MODS:
Plot mod. I seriously believe Route could be improved with the addition of a plot mod, someone who is in charge of coming up with plot ideas and running said plots. As it stands, Route doesn't have very many game-wide plots that aren't run by players. This has recently been changed with the glitch event and the prom, but prior to that there really weren't very many mod-run plots that players could participate in. Personally, this left my characters with very little to do and I found the game to be a bit boring. I believe having someone to assist with running plots would make it easier to run plots and would bring some fresh blood into Route. I do enjoy the slice-of-life aspect of Route, but I believe there's a great deal of potential being wasted with the Team Rocket members. A plot mod could easily help create plots for both the Rocket members and the general public and could initiate more of a confrontation between Team Rocket and the PGC.
General. The mods have all been incredibly helpful and kind. I rarely have to wait on a response to a question and the majority of the questions I have are already answered in the FAQ or other places. I think you all are doing a great job, but I do believe hiring on an extra mod or two to help with the workload could be beneficial.
FUTURE:
Plots. As I stated above, I'd really like to see more plots in Route. The ones we've had have all been incredibly fun and well thought-out, but the frequency is a little lacking in my opinion. I imagine this is draining on the mods, so I can understand why there aren't very many plots, but hiring additional help to specifically help with plots would combat that pretty well, I think. In particular, I would like to see more Team Rocket plots - whether they're attacks like the Spring Cleaning plot or sneakier things like the train raid. As it stands, Team Rocket seems to be forgotten about and very rarely used when there are plenty of people running player plots from within the organization. Getting the Executives more involved as NPCs may help some, but I believe more mod-run plots would be very helpful.
Pokemon. The EV news is a cute idea and it's well done, but I would like to see more rare Pokemon being revealed in the swarm locations. There isn't any way to get some of the fossil Pokemon at all outside of starting with them, which I think is a terrible shame. Several of the characters already in the game can't get those Pokemon and outside of rare egg drops, it's nearly impossible for them to be obtainable. In the case of fossil Pokemon it does make sense that they wouldn't be found commonly in the wild, but perhaps there could be some kind of mini-event where players can find a fossil of their choice if they go excavating in a specific mountain or something? Alternatively, more egg drops would be nice since there are quite a few rare Pokemon that can't be obtained through normal means.
NPCs. I would love to see more of the NPCs! The Gym Leaders are all cute and quirky and you all do a great job with them. Seeing them interact with player characters is always incredibly fun and I think having them become a more permanent part of Route would be excellent. If it's too much work for the mods to maintain all of the NPCs, perhaps additional helper mods could be added on to assist? Personally, I would love to play some of the NPCs to help Route out and I'm sure there are others who would be willing to help as well! I'm particularly interested in seeing more of the Rocket NPCs, specifically the Executives. They're very important to the Team Rocket members but we only see them during plots. Perhaps there can be other reasons for them to show up and check on the foreigners.
Other regions. This is a big one that probably won't be filled any time soon, but I would love to see the addition of other regions, like Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova! There have been mentions of these places here and there in Route, but having them as places people can visit (even temporarily, in say an event or fourth wall or something) would be a lot of fun. I understand if this isn't doable due to the sheer size of the game as it is already, but it is something that might be interesting to think about.
Coordinators. Like the above, this might not be doable, but I would love to see the coordinating class get some love. As a starting class, they could arrive in Goldenrod (or wherever contests would be held) and could earn badges like Team Rocket members or Breeders, but ultimately their goal is to win ribbons through competitions. Perhaps there can be a rumor that earning all the ribbons will send people home? I would just love to see coordinators as a class in general and I'm really not sure why this isn't a thing in Route.
Rangers. As Lucy mentioned, rangers would be a very interesting class to have available as well. Rangers could be a mixture of the ranger class in Pokemon Rangers and the Pokemon explorers from the Mystery Dungeon line of games (even though those are Pokemon, you know what I mean). They could spend their time exploring areas and finding new Pokemon as well as rescuing those that are in danger. This class would be more physical than most of the others and would involve more trainer interaction than just typical battling, but I think it would be an excellent opportunity and would be incredibly fun! As it stands, most trainers don't do much outside of command their Pokemon, which seems pretty boring. This brings me to my next point:
Pokeathlon. I'm not sure if this has been brought up before or if there was ever an event concerning this, but the Pokeathlon is a big deal in HeartGold/SoulSilver and yet I haven't seen any mention of it in Route. Perhaps it would be too difficult to pull off, but I would really like to see the Pokeathlon become a permanent stay in Route, like the Bug Catching Contest. It could be held bi-monthly or something like that, where the winner in each category is randomized and then people can choose whether to thread it out or not. The prize could be a Pokemon or a reusable TM or something along those lines. I think having competitions that get the training involved with the Pokemon would be ideal, and the Pokeathlon seems like it would fit the bill perfectly.
Tournament. The fighting tournament that was held was a lot of fun! Making this a permanent fixture (whether that's every six months or every year or something like that) would be great! The way it was set up was perfect and it was a lot of fun to participate in. I would really like to see it run again!
ANYTHING ELSE:
Uh, I'll probably edit this about a billion more times before I'm happy with it, but it's a start! I love Route dearly and I think with a few changes it would easily become more accessible to people who have been hesitant to join. Personally, I would like to see more to do in Route, so adding trainer classes or having more plots would be ideal! Thank you for reading all this and considering it, and boy am I sorry this is so long.
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- Fun trivia time! Two things convinced me to app to Route: the Dissidia cast we had back then and the awesomeness that was the Unown plot. It still saddens me that I missed that. (Even if that dates me pretty precisely.)
- In fact, getting more plots based on the Pokémon canon beyond the games would be really nice! Not necessarily big things, just little nods at all those episodes/movies/manga/side games/whatever else they've been making.
- Some of the types are terribly under-represented in our Pokémon-centered plots. Like Fighting-types. Please give some love to the Fighting-types.
- I like both types of plot! ...But if we ever get stuff like aging down and genderbending as effects I'll be disappointed. Our plots are unique, let's keep them that way.
GENERAL UPKEEP:
- It's a small thing, but the Badges page says not to panic/poke you guys unless it's been a week. However, these days the approval time is often closer to two weeks. Maybe you could add a note reflecting that, so people don't worry too much about the state of their request?
-I can still see a few dropped characters in the Taken list, like Vyse. You might want to recheck it.
MODS:
- You guys are wonderful and friendly and I love you♥
FUTURE:
- That Big Upcoming Thing, Part One: It might be a little too early to ask, but how do you plan to deal with all the changes coming with Gen VI? Is it going to be like Gen V, where it took about a year after the North American release before we could catch new Pokémon and new movesets, or will the wait be shorter because of the simultaneous release?
- That Big Upcoming Thing, Part Two: We should do something to celebrate its release! Even if it's something that would just completely confuse the characters, like mysterious confetti raining down from the skies for a week.
- We've got plenty of areas that are marked as closed even to the characters who have the necessary levels/badges. It would be nice if those were opened up at some point (before we get any sort of new region, at least).
- Opportunities to interact with legendaries are always great! Or a plot where characters would have to choose a reward. Something that could be a difficult decision, like getting a Pokémon with a Dream World ability or getting an item that's not normally available in the game.
ANYTHING ELSE:
- HMs! Route is greatly lacking in Rock Climb, Dive, and I guess also Defog HMs. (Not that anyone cares about Defog.) Will they ever become available? I know that Dive is technically a Move Tutor move through Gen IV, but I haven't dared make use of that because I don't know if you have plans for it.
- Stores and prizes! We have two Department Stores and two Game Corners, yet they both give the same items/prizes. Maybe having certain products only available in Johto or Kanto would give characters even more reasons to travel a little.
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I've been here since the game opened, so I've been through all of them haha. I think the plots have always been really fun to watch and participate in. I'd say out of all of them, my favorites were the ones that got characters interacting with each other, like the prom or something like the Shedinja plot where they had to work together to keep each other calm while they dealt with their friends temporarily losing their souls. The outbreak plot was particularly fun too, since there were aftereffects for getting cool powers and even though I chose for one of my characters to not get powers, there was still plenty to do and react to.
I'm a fan of both types of plots listed really, but I do think that effect/conditions work out better a lot of the time. That way less time is spent planning every detail out, and things seem more spontaneous since you don't know what other players are going to do with the plot. I really do like when the characters are brought together in one area too. Since this game has such a large setting, many characters wouldn't get many chances to meet in person otherwise! The prom was very enjoyable for that reason.
GENERAL UPKEEP:
For the most part I think things are neat, tidy and up to date! I've never had any trouble finding information I need. The only thing I've had some trouble with is waiting to hear on a possible player plot I submitted a while ago. And that's just a personal experience, not a general thing.
MODS:
Of all the times I've spoken to mods for actual game business and not just as fellow friends on plurk, I've had no problems. Everyone is very polite and helpful. You all are wonderful mods. c:
FUTURE:
As a Rocket player, I think more Rocket business would be appreciated. It would be cool if the Rockets could interact with the admins again. It just seems like right now the admins don't have much of a presence at all and it's been hinted at several times during general Rocket interactions that the Rockets wonder if they're even around. Aside from the 4th wall events, we haven't had a Rocket plot in about a year. I think it would be a nice change of pace for the Rockets to have something to do within the organization other than their missions and general traveling/badge-collecting.
Elite Four would be pretty awesome too, though. Maybe some kind of appearance from them at least? Interacting with the NPCs has been really fun so far, so maybe more of that?
Do you guys intend to open some of the closed locations at some point as well? Like Cerulean Cave or Mt. Silver. I think it would be fun for characters to check 'em out and run into all the high-leveled Pokemon.
ANYTHING ELSE:
I've covered everything that I can think of above, so nothing to add here.
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I've been here for... christ, how many plots? I was in game with a character before this one, but I'll just be using Kayneth for reference because I've been playing him more consistently. The first one I was around for with Kayneth that I remember actively participating in was the mutation plot, which was a lot of fun. Overall I've been very satisfied with Route's plots so far!
As far as whether I prefer objective based plots or effect based plots... I actually really like both, though I feel like a lot of the plots lately have shifted towards being more effect-based when they were more of a mix when I started playing Kayneth. I really like objective-based plots and would like to see more of them-maybe something Team Rocket-y?
As far as my ideal plot goes... I'd like something that brings everyone together but also fleshes out the world a bit and has some objective to it. Kind of like a mix between prom and the tournament, maybe.
GENERAL UPKEEP:
No problems here! I noticed that the calendar was inconsistently updated for a while, but that seems to have been fixed.
I do like the idea of an overarching timeline, though-also maybe a general space for worldbuilding info characters have access to? I play a character who's very inquisitive about the setting, and I feel kind of guilty bothering a mod every time I want to know something.
MODS:
...though when I do bother a mod I get good answers quick! You all are very friendly and good at the whole mod thing, and I feel like I can come to you guys with any issues/questions/etc. I have. The features that have been added to the game over the past year (like more detailed maps, the increased NPC presence, EV News) have been great, and I'm always interested in seeing what you guys will come up with next.
FUTURE:
ALRIGHT SO:
-People have brought up Coordinators and Rangers as new class options they're interested in, but I think it'd be pretty cool to have a Researcher option as well. That might be a little more difficult to work in, though.
-The game is really spread out as is so I'm not really sure how I feel about another region being added to the game permanently, but it'd be pretty cool if everyone got to take trips to Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and/or Kalos (after October rolls around) for some kind of event in the vein of Pokeprom. I think before adding a whole new region it'd be better to open up places like the Sevii Islands, the Sinjoh Ruins, and Mount Silver and see how they work out.
-In that vein, I think that bringing one of the other Teams (Aqua, Magma, Galactic, Plasma, etc.) in for a plot or two could be pretty fun, but that would probably require a lot of NPC work. I'd also kind of like to see some kind of Battle Frontier-related thing, either as an event or a permanent game feature. If you do consider those, I think taking on an NPC mod or two would be a pretty good idea.
-I think it would be pretty cool to have some events based on the anime, various manga, and non-mainline games, whether closely or loosely-ike maybe a gamewide photography contest as a nod to Pokemon Snap?
-And finally, I am also pretty excited for Gen VI's release and am curious to see if you have any Route plans for it, but I have faith that you guys will cook up something pretty good for it.
ANYTHING ELSE:
Nothing! You guys are awesome and Route is awesome.
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I haven't been here long, since the beginning of March, but I loved Prom and Fourth Wall a lot! Glitch was fun, but I was a bit distracted that week so I didn't get to participate as much as I'd originally would have liked.
I love the plots I've been a part of, I can't say what type I like more, I don't think I've been here for an objective based one. I am very curious about that though, so I would love for that type to be the next event so I can try it out.
Ideal plot? I like it when people are all together, like Prom, I found I finally had a chance to open CR with people you wouldn't normally interact with. I think an event where everyone gets stuck on one of the other regions for time would be fun.
GENERAL UPKEEP:
I like the timeline idea above a lot, I think it'd help because I've wondered some of those things.
For the most part, you guys are on top of it! I think adding something to the FAQ or somewhere about what people can do on the routes would be useful. It took a while for me to realize you can find items on the routes, and I knew about battling NPCs on the routes, but I noticed some other people were unaware.
Otherwise it's very organized.
MODS:
My few interactions with the mods (in a player/mod ssense) have been pleasant, you guys are super friendly and put up with my silly questions.
In an above comment, they mentioned an event mod, that seems a very good idea to me as well, more events would be fun, since sometimes I feel aimless.
FUTURE:
Definitely more Rocket action would be fun. Since I've been here I've heard of some things they did before, but I have yet to see any of it first hand other than some journal conversations.
I like a lot of the above ideas, like a fossil event, a little more NPC interaction, the Ranger and Coordinator classes, and the tournament.
ANYTHING ELSE:
Nope! I don't have a lot to say, but I love some of the ideas other people are bringing up.
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Well, I'll only talk about while I've been back. I returned in time for PokeProm and onwards - oh, and the end of the world. Though I have heard of events like Spring Cleaning and the such.
I think I like the ones which are effect-based - mostly because I enjoy being able to mix them with my own general plot ideas. But at the same time, a few objective-based ones should be mixed it!
I'm going to agree with Cecil-mun and ask to steer away from the generic events. Myself, you don't want to hear my rant on genderswap events. You just... don't. It's about as long as my TACAC rant.
My dream event? It would be one which really exploited the nature of Route, and I also enjoy having new areas opened, so. Though I must mention - I'd rather more warning for events then the end of the world one, since bringing that on characters when they just arrive is a little rough. With the Missingno. plot, I think that was better. Especially since you could make the effects more mild or more terrible depending on what sort of person you were.
I am a terrible person. :)
GENERAL UPKEEP:
In a few places, there are missing map graphics - off the top of my head, Diglett Cave. Though, I do think the info pages are rather... informative. If I need some simple information, I can easily get to it there. And if not, well, wait for the next section.
I do agree, however, that a warning about the badge thing needs to be updated.
It would be nice, however, if you did update the FAQ more. I see questions there unanswered from a month ago!!
MODS:
Ah, the mods. Even though I normally deal with Sunny, I have spoken to Din a bit too - and though mods scare me, they're both so kind and easy to deal with! And I do feel confident that they'll answer my silly questions, and help me with whatever I'm having an issue with.
In other words, c'mere, let me hug you.
FUTURE:
RE: The Sevii Isles - well, on the map, it mentions a tour of them. I would love my characters to go and visit them, though - and perhaps the mysteries of Altering Cave could be used as a method to get some of those super rare Pokemon out and about a bit more?
And yes Gen VI stuff - I am curious about how it will be mixed in, especially the new type! Haha I wonder if it'll be like a Gen II thing where suddenly Pokemon are re-typed.
More types of trainer - Coordinator and Ranger would be interesting, yes! Though it may get confusing if we add too many, at the same time. More events which focus on the Pokemon and the odd things they can do - maybe even a fossil event where lots of long-gone Pokemon suddenly burst from the ground--
Actually, another thing I would enjoy is a way for Dream World abilities to be gotten, even if it's just from special eggs and another rare-ish thing, like shinies.
ANYTHING ELSE:
I have to agree that having different Game Corner and Department Store things would make it more appealing to travel for people - and perhaps some sort of in-character thing in Violet which tells people they don't need to wait there to train on up? (Though, that may be a thing us players put together - a worldbuilding page would be interesting too, so I wouldn't need to bother the mods as much.)
Kururu out!
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However, like the post says, you are definitely welcome to poke me if it's been more than a week. My contact info is listed on the community, and I will not be offended being poked because I'm a slowpoke. It's certainly not my intention to forget about the badges but sometimes I just space out or burn myself out doing tags/etc. I'm also trying to find a way to make it more dynamic and giving gym leaders their own quirks - like how Falkner loves flying pokémon and will offer to train them, which is great! But Misty/Blaine/etc. have none and that's kinda sad.
Also, I apologize this is C+P'd but I feel like everyone deserves a response that brings up badges so it doesn't feel like it's being ignored, haha. Thank you so much for the criticism, it's definitely something I needed!
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Having been here since the beginning, I've been around for all the plots, even if I haven't done much for every single one. And I have to say, while Spring Cleaning was an interesting experiment, it was harder for characters who were in, say, Azalea to help out. Effect/condition is more suited to such a wide open land where not everyone is in one place, because even if most clump up in the big cities, a bunch of them are outliers. Things that effect the whole land are the ones I like best, things that everyone can just take and run with without having to worry about where they are.
GENERAL UPKEEP:
Like a few people have said already, the badge page could be updated more frequently. In general, correspondence can be a little slow at times, like how it took nearly a month to hear back from you guys about the possibility of Ryner and Sion finding a silver wing. I know it's a big job and you guys have busy lives. I totally get it. But hearing back a little sooner would be nice, you know?
MODS:
Personally, outside of the slowness I've mentioned above, I've never had a negative experience with you guys. :)
FUTURE:
Could we do another soul-exploration thing someday, like with the Shedinjas? I know you don't like repeating things, but it's been quite some time, and I have a lot of ideas... (Also in general I'm still curious about the hanging plot threads that are still dangling from that one, but that's just me.)
Aside from that, I like the idea other people have about opportunities for fossils. Seriously, there are no Omanyte or Lileep in Route. At all. I looked a few months back. It's kind of sad, really...
Generally, more ability to info gather would be greatly appreciated. While it makes sense that there wouldn't be much information available on further regions, when I have a character who is digging his butt off into research as he only does when he's actually fascinated by something and he's looking everywhere and coming up with nothing or only the same thing over and over... that's really frustrating, you know? Both ICly and OOCly, because I can't let his knowledge grow.
(...Oh, and an idea to run with: Manaphy's Heart Swap.)
ANYTHING ELSE:
...Okay I know that the Rocket Comm hasn't been used in a year, but I might as well state my case right now: as someone who doesn't play a Rocket and doesn't play the type of characters who ever would be good for Team Rocket, I don't really like the idea of plotting going on that's Team Rocket only? I mean, if it's setup stuff that's unscreened when the plot goes public, that's one thing maybe, but if it doesn't go public, it feels like I need to play a Rocket in order to get everything out of the game, and I don't like that. Maybe it's just me? And maybe I don't understand the point of the comm, I'm not sure. But Route 29 is not Sabra La Tau. I don't really see any necessity to keep large-scale plotting secret from half the game, at least not forever.
Aside from that, though, Route has been my RP home game for a good three years now, and I'm still having a blast here. Thanks for everything so far, and I'm looking forward to what moves forward from here!
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However, like the post says, you are definitely welcome to poke me if it's been more than a week. My contact info is listed on the community, and I will not be offended being poked because I'm a slowpoke. It's certainly not my intention to forget about the badges but sometimes I just space out or burn myself out doing tags/etc. I'm also trying to find a way to make it more dynamic and giving gym leaders their own quirks - like how Falkner loves flying pokémon and will offer to train them, which is great! But Misty/Blaine/etc. have none and that's kinda sad.
Also, I apologize this is C+P'd but I feel like everyone deserves a response that brings up badges so it doesn't feel like it's being ignored, haha. I am in gratitude for your honesty and I will definitely do better to make sure your complaints haven't been ignored.
Also re: Rockets
Re: Also re: Rockets
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I've been in Route for several plots, specifically starting from the one with the legendary dogs running around last year. Unfortunately I play a character who usually isn't interested in getting involved with them, so my ability to participate is limited. Generally, however, I like "objective-based" plots where the characters can influence the outcome, and where the outcome has a noticeable and long-term effect on the game world. More specific to Route, plots that allow characters to meet new people and meet up in person would be good, since the size of the game world can make that challenging normally.
GENERAL UPKEEP:
The infopages in general are fine and communicate the basics, but they could be improved. The Price List page could do with the addition of Kanto info and a few other notes: stating that the Goldenrod Department Store items can be found in Celadon, inn prices for Kanto (and the Lake of Rage resort), the price of a train pass, getting rid of the two-year old "new items have arrived" notes, and general prettying up - it's kind of bland-looking compared to some of the other infopages.
The FAQ and Inquires page should probably, in my opinion, be merged, or at the very least have all the answered questions added to the FAQ somewhere if you want to keep the screened comments. They seem to do the same thing to some extent, and the answers given in both should be displayed more prominently to make the info easier to find, like the aforementioned train pass price.
The Berries & Apricorns page should probably include mentions of the additional berries available at the berry orchard in Pallet Town, and if their in-game effects still work here.
MODS:
You have a tendency to be slow responding to FAQ questions in particular - there's an unanswered one from last month right now, which isn't as rare as it probably should be. Generally though, from what I've seen you guys do a good job running the game.
FUTURE:
Some way to shrink the world so that randomly running into people outside of Goldenrod is easier. I don't think that the game can handle another region right now, or probably ever. Keeping it as a Johto/Kanto game forever would be fine by me. Since altering the world that much is probably not possible at this point, my biggest request would be just more info on the world - little details that could be the seed for a character making a post to comment on them. I am of course probably one of the few people who cares about what the plant life is like, what constellations there are, and common sayings and metaphors the inhabitants use, but that kind of stuff interests me when I'm looking at a world. I would like to see a loosening of Johto's no-weapons policy, but that's a game design decision and it's as unreasonable of me to ask for it changed as it is for me to ask that characters be able to catch the legendaries.
Smaller things I'd like to see would be more TMs available, more chances to get reusable TMS, a way to get Kurt's pokéballs (since the mini-events mentioned have never materialized), non-battling Pokémon competitions, and a way to get Pokémon with Dream World-only moves and abilities (such as Hidden Grottoes).
ANYTHING ELSE:
Would you be able to tell people when you accept their app how to use the "don't show on reading list" option and require its use? Because the flood of inventory, HMD, IC Contact, and roster posts every app cycle is messy and makes me worry that I'll miss a game post that gets mixed in.
Despite my nitpicking, I love this game and want to see it continue. You guys have been doing a good job overall and this feedback post shows that you care, so keep up the good work!
DISCUSS - WORLDBUILDING COOKBOOK?
One of the things I occasionally worry about with Route is that we have a lot of specialized communities to follow, it seems like (the breeders comm, the Rocket comm, etc), but I've wondered before if it wouldn't be feasible for Route as a community to set up a sort of...complement to the Maps Page, I guess, with more individualized and/or personalized stuff about the setting in general?
Like, for example, I know we encourage people to take reasonable liberties and be creative with the setting when making posts, so I've made up things like small businesses in the bigger cities, or the Smoochin' Stantler in the Ruins of Alph, or other random general everyday NPCs, and there are things like the cosplay cafe in Violet and so on and so forth...and so I was thinking, what if we had a community that acted as sort of a travel guide or wiki of locations in the game, where people could drop off comments with things they'd headcanoned as existing a given area, and then if people were in an area and were looking for post hooks, they'd have the travel guide as a resource to check for ideas? Plus that'd give people the heads-up about other setting quirks and things, like the massive rune Carmen carved into the side of Mt. Mortar a couple months back and shit like that.
Part of why I haven't really talked about it much or suggested anything about it is because I haven't worked out all the logistics and details yet — but since this is a discussion post, what do people think of this idea, and does anyone have a thought about how we might be able to make something like this work?
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Re: DISCUSS - WORLDBUILDING COOKBOOK?
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Pokéstar Maps, anyone?
The current idea is a community with posts for all the different cities and routes in Johto and Kanto, as well as a sticky linking to all of them, and people can comment on a post with an addition and the comments would be linked in the post itself.
As that could get big and bulky and people are naturally going to make more details about the towns than about, say, Nugget Bridge, another idea would be one post for Kanto, one post for Johto, and comments for each location, under which people would add their own comments. Links would still go up in the main post. It could be slightly less bulky, and new locations could be added pretty easily.
But I don't know. What are your preferences? Any suggestions?
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-I honestly don't know how many plots I've been in. A lot of them? I think I've missed a few here and there, but I've been around for most of them.
-I've enjoyed most of the plots I've seen in the game. I really like how varied they are for the most part. In my time here I've seen all sorts of events from horrific storms to proms to horrible glitchfests to that one time with all the garbage, and I really think that wide variety is something really neat to see.
-Both. That being said, I would definitely like to see more objective based plots in the future!
-Drawing a blank on an ideal plot idea. Sorry about that.
GENERAL UPKEEP:
-I think the infopages are pretty good for the most part. They could probably use a little cleaning up, but I haven't had any trouble searching them for info.
-Regarding things that need to be updated, and I'm not sure if this counts as an infopage or not, but the Rocket missions post is incredibly out of date.
-Don't have any specific ideas on changes.
MODS:
-Definitely generally happy for the most part. One thing I think that could be improved on though is response times, specifically to the FAQ post. But other than that, I can't think of any other improvements as far as modding goes.
FUTURE:
-I'd definitely like to see additional classes added someday.
-Maybe some sort of event involving the other teams at some point? Like Aqua/Magma show up and make a mess of things or Team Plasma tries to spread their propaganda for a while or something.
ANYTHING ELSE:
Putting this here because it's really a combination of things, but I'd like to offer some feedback on Team Rocket.
Executives
At the game's beginning, the Execs were really hands on with things from what I remember. Go here, do this, do that, don't complain, etc. They still do that during missions, which is fine, but I've noticed we occasionally get long periods of time where they're completely absent. I'm not exactly sure what the best way to do this would be, but I think some way of making the Executives more prominent, especially to the newer recruits would be something that would definitely improve the experience of playing a Rocket.
Missions
While I'd like to see more large scale Rocket plots in the future, I'd like to suggest having smaller mod run ones as well. I don't mind running player plots, and I know that other Rocket players have also done things on their own, but I think that maybe running a smaller plot every couple of months, like the Execs having some Rockets knock over a bank or take an NPC hostage for a few days or something, would provide more opportunites for players to do stuff in an official capacity and would help reduce the absentee Executive feeling mentioned above.
Evaluations/Status/Etc.
Given how Team Rocket is set up and since there's opportunities for advancement/demotion etc., I'd like to suggest maybe making it clearer where characters stand with Team Rocket. I know we've done evaluations twice and with people being spread out, gathering all the Rockets together in one place might not be the most feasible idea, but maybe there could be something like a Rocket newsletter every couple of months? Listing promotions, demotions, rising stars, people that are more or less on the Exec's shitlist, etc.. Not necesarily something as in depth as EV News, but just something occasionally to let people know what's going on and what kind of job the Execs think they're doing.
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the Team Rocket monthly performance review
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Hooboy, I've been around a month shy of a year with this incarnation of Hope, and was around about 2010 with a younger version. Collectively, that'd make my stay here about two years, so I know some of the plots and have participated in them, but not all.
... This is probably why I haven't been as excited about 4th wall as I should be, because I feel like it's lost its glamor for me, and when the latest 4th wall event rolled around, I actually said "wait, already??" It felt like the last one hadn't been so long ago. I have no idea why I'm all 'meh' over 4th wall all of a sudden, but it's probably because I feel it's been happening too much or too frequently. I'm honestly used to having very few 4th wall events, or none at all in other games I've been to, past and present, and the frequency of such events in this game actually made it shiny, but only for a little while. It started losing luster for me.
Anyway, I'd like more overarching plots or events that tie in to the story of the game. We are indeed in a slice-of-life game, but don't think I don't see what you're doing there :U Or even some events wherein the actions of the characters are influencing the outcome of what's going on in the game. You guys let us loose with what we want to do in every event, so why not slam us with totally unexpected consequences or rewards? Because I love those kinds of things and am so ready.
But aside from this, I really loved the plots and events and they're some of the reasons why I keep coming back to Route <3
GENERAL UPKEEP:
Well, in the past things have been pretty slow on the admin side of things, but I can understand RL and whatnot getting in the way of such things. At least now with more people on board there are more helpers around.
MODS:
Man, I'm a hermit and I hardly talk to anyone OOCly outside of close friends and plurk friends so I cant tell you anything about you guys on a personal note BUT HI HELLO.
FUTURE:
Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova please! I saw an NPC post talking about Hoenn and I got so excited because Hoenn is my personal favorite, but the excitement went away because Hoenn is still not open. I'd like all of the regions to be opened at some point, probably not just the main ones but also Orre and the islands. New places to explore would keep characters from being bored or stagnating because they only have two regions to go through.
Like the others, I'd also like more classes, not just Trainer, Breeder and Rocket. And since people are calling for Coordinator, Pokémon Contests! Or PokéStar Studios.
ANYTHING ELSE:
uhhh not sure? I'm very scatterbrained right now, I am so so sorry.
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I was only here for the 4th Wall/Glitch event. Though I was around for the game's opening and a few months afterwards as well, I don't actually recall any game-wide plots/events!
GENERAL UPKEEP:
It's all very organized, though sometimes things are fairly out-of-date.
MODS:
Sometimes a bit slow, but very easy to contact via AIM/other methods which I find makes up for it when I have urgent questions.
FUTURE:
I know people are interested in having more regions opened up, but at the moment characters are so very spread out and it's hard to meet up with characters in person because of it. With characters spread across three or more regions it would be even worse!
You know how the Team Rocket HQs oftentimes have those teleport pads? I was thinking that having some variation of that worked on for a while and eventually opened up in a few of the cities of each region (Pallet, Celadon, Fuschia/New Bark, Goldenrod, Blackthorn?) for people to use to quickly teleport to each region, within limitations maybe? Like maybe it botches up every so often and a person ends up someplace truly random... idk.
But a way to get to the distant cities and regions more quickly if only for more in-person interaction would be so so great. Maybe even bullet train routes???
/brainstorming
I also love the idea of coordinators, researchers, and rangers. Maybe under the researcher branch they could work as teachers? Ooh and if a doctor class was opened up it would also be kind of neat. Have people open their own little clinics on routes between cities, kind of like those random NPCs that heal your butt during long journeys.
ANYTHING ELSE:
Nope!
But if anyone wants to comment to this feel free idc about editing and whatnot.
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(Anonymous) 2013-06-16 07:23 pm (UTC)(link)- A very minor thing but why don't you guys set aside a time once per week to answer FAQ questions? You can a little slow with answering them so if you have a set date to answer weekly it might be more efficient.
- More classes to choose from than just fight, breed or steal. Coordinators are something I really want to see especially.
class ideas
They could open clinics on the major Routes between cities, and maybe be subsidized by the PokéCentres so that they get a weekly allowance.
Researchers/Scientists could be able to mix together items to create a more potent item, possibly - somewhat like an alchemist. Researcher/scientist class! And then they could possibly learn how to make TMs and evolutionary stones, though it would be a costly endeavour and there wouldn't be much profit.
The researchers/scientists could work together to create more convenience services, such as possibly accessing one's Pokémon Box via an (expenstive) attachment to their PokéGear, among other things, or find a way home.
Rangers can be an explorer class, as well as act as mercenaries of sorts for the police force in order to track down characters and NPCs with warrants on their heads. They can get something that maybe cuts their travel speed by 1/8 or something to that effect, and be able to use HMs outside of battle in order to help track perps! They would basically be the antithesis to the Rocket class.
Coordinators' bonus could be discounts on evolutionary items and non-battle merchandise, such as clothes, accessories, etc. and increase the speed of maxing out friendship bonds with their pokemon by a little bit, but decrease their travel speed by 1/8 due to their larger inventories for beauty/etc. competitions.
(if the PokéAthlon is ever introduced)
Athletes would focus on training Pokémon specifically for the PokéAthlon, so their training would be more agility training than battle. They would get a similar discount as Trainers, and be able to eventually learn how to Tutor certain moves to Pokémon.
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Coordinator would be a good starter class though.
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I believe my first big plot was the Shedinja one. I joined in January 2011, I can't remember if there was a major one before that but I don't think there was. So, that one, the magnet train heist, spring cleaning/outbreak, prom, glitch, fourth walls uh...god I'm probably missing some other minor ones in there too Halloween ghost plots, Valentine's day 2012 gen v...thing. But you get the idea. I have generally liked all of them, though spring cleaning didn't do much for me personally so I didn't really participate much in that one. I am okay with either kind of event, it really just depends on the event itself. But so far I have enjoyed Route's effect/condition plots more than I've enjoyed the objective ones. Though that could just be the objectives of the events themselves that didn't interest me much. I would like to see more plots involving pokemon legends/creepypasta. Some kind of TYL event especially would be cool and maybe some kind of like...mystery dungeon type event? Like, you know, turn the characters into pokemon for a few days or something. I do have something of a preference for events that bring people together though, since most of the time characters are so spread out and getting face interaction can be hard.
GENERAL UPKEEP:
Only two things of note here. Just glancing through the responses already, I think the delay on badges was already brought up but I have to second that. It's completely understandable that you guys have lives beyond the game and stuff but when it says they should be responded to within the week and it sometimes takes upward of two weeks it can be a little frustrating. Especially when that's usually the thing that traveling is hinged on.
The second thing is canon updates. I think it might be worth considering putting up a page and a standard form for people to fill out if they want to update their characters instead of having to track down a mod privately. Just my two cents, but having gone through the update process in another game which uses a form and finally having gone through it here, I have to say it's much smoother when there's a general page for it.
MODS:
Echoing that a plot mod might not be a bad thing to consider. I really think you guys were at the top of your game when you had a three-man full mod team going with Ara. (There were three then, right? Or am I misremembering...) Perhaps another TM to help with keeping lists/badge requests up to speed especially since we recently lost one.
Other than that, you guys do a great job and there's really only one small request that I have. Admittedly, I'm a bit hesitant to bring this up but it's something that's really been bothering me for a while and you've given me an opportunity to talk about it so here goes. Please don't take this the wrong way, but next time you're going to make a decision that impacts an entire cast (be it about who can/can't be apped or anything else), could you please talk to the cast in question for input before making a decision? Maybe with a private plurk or something? Yes, I'm saying this from a Homestuck perspective but it really could apply to any ongoing canon. Back when Ara was on the mod team, she maintained an open line of contact with the Homestuck cast whenever she had a question about something. For example, when act 6 started she wanted to know what we thought about the appability of the Alpha kids, to which we all unanimously said "it's too early, no." When you guys made your most recent decision, it kind of felt like it came out of nowhere and the general attitude surrounding it was kind of... I don't want to say hostile because that seems extreme but it wasn't very good. In fact, it left some of us felt kind of alienated (which I highly doubt was your intent, but there you have it). I understand that it was something that needed to be addressed, given how often people asked about the appability of certain characters in the FAQ; but it would have been nice if the cast had at least been given a chance to add our two cents. I'm not saying we deserve special treatment or that you have to cater to all our whims or anything like that. Just that when it comes to a decision that impacts an ENTIRE CAST, it's much-appreciated courtesy and it doesn't leave one party feeling awkward/alienated/generally bad. So whenever you end up re-evaluating Homestuck appability (or if anything like this ever arises for another canon), it would be nice if you kept this in mind and let us have some input before you come to your final conclusion.
FUTURE:
Pokethalon............... that would be awesome, just saying. Coordinators too. And more like...expanded paths with the jobs that already exist? Like John's been working as a Pokecenter aide for two years now, but it would be cool if there were some way for him to kind of like move up the ranks so to speak perhaps? That's really not the best way to put it but like...I'M NOT REALLY SURE HOW TO WORD THIS, I'M SORRY... someone else probably covered it better than me. But if I figure out exactly what it is I'm trying to get at here, I will totally get back to you here. And I think I already covered the plots I'd like to see in the first section because I'm dumb and read the example thingy as I filled this out instead of reading then filling out. Go me.
ANYTHING ELSE:
Can't really think of anything at the moment but who knows.
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However, like the post says, you are definitely welcome to poke me if it's been more than a week. My contact info is listed on the community, and I will not be offended being poked because I'm a slowpoke. It's certainly not my intention to forget about the badges but sometimes I just space out or burn myself out doing tags/etc.
However, I am off of school now (and will be until september!) so badges should be frequently updated! Thank you for your (wholeheartedly agreeable) criticism! And my apologies that this is C+P'd but I do want to at least respond to everyone that brings up to the badge so they don't think it's falling on deaf ears or something if they aren't seeing my responses.
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but then again I'm an idiotDISREGARD ME, I SUCK COCKS. I REALLY AM AN IDIOT AND DIDN'T THINK TO CHECK THE CALENDAR.