Route 29: ｍｏｄｓ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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route_292014-03-14 06:53 pm
these_balls) wrote in route_292014-03-14 06:53 pm
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A Swarm of Wild Updates Appeared!
Happy Pi Day, White Day, Ides of March Eve, or just plain old Friday, Route! We've got a fair number of announcements for you today, so we've decided to consolidate them into one (well, technically two) big infodump posts for your perusal!
Event Spotted: Prom is Back Again!
First things first, as promised, Pokemon Prom will officially be returning this year! You can find the informational and plotting post for it right over here. We hope you'll head over and read that entire post for the full details of the event, but if you weren't here for prom last year, the very short version is that it's a big party event we ran last year, designed to bring everyone in the game together in one location for a couple of days so people can interact, action each other up, and generally have a good time.
Again, you can find that informational post at the link above, so please go check it out!
Update: Our Stance on Original Characters
At this time, we've decided against opening up applications to original characters in Route. This decision was founded on a number of factors, but predominant among them is the fact that we as moderators feel that it's our responsibility to the game and to the playerbase to balance our ambitions for the game with our capability as a team to fulfill those ambitions. As it stands, there are several existing aspects of Route that we're dissatisfied with and feel we have a responsibility to address before we begin taking on new ones. We've already begun working on some of those changes behind the scenes; we hope you'll continue to see more of them coming to light in the months to come, particularly as we move toward having Gen VI ready for release on the schedule we've promised.
Our decision on the topic of OCs today should not be taken as an intention to ban OCs from Route forever. However, if we do revisit the issue in the future, it will be after we've focused our time and attention on the things we've identified as existing problems within the game, that we feel ought to be addressed and handled before we start taking on new challenges.
A New Page: Rocket Promotions!
As part of our efforts to fix some of the existing problems with the game, we've decided to streamline our Rocket promotions process and start using a method similar to our Badge Requests page. This is an aspect of gameplay that's gone by the wayside for a long time, and we hope this change will bring things a little more up to speed with the rest of the workings of the game.
In the past, Rocket promotions have typically followed a major Rocket plot, which has made them few and far between. In order to make things a bit more consistent, we've created a new post to make getting evaluated more accessible. Simply fill out the form, comment, and we'll evaluate your Rocket to see if they qualify for a promotion! As mentioned, it's largely like earning a badge, but with more evil deeds and less Gym leaders.
In addition to that, the Rocket promotions post also serves as a handy reference for seeing who's in Team Rocket, what rank they are, what their assignment is (if they have one), and the various benefits that come with each rank! And if you need to change your Rocket's job or mission, there's a form for that on the page as well!
The Road from Here: Infopage Cleanup
The Rocket promotions post was just one of the behind-the-scenes projects Steve's been working on lately (thanks, Steve!); another longstanding problem that we've identified with the game is the fact that our infopages have gotten a little out of hand. Some of those pages have been around since Route launched almost four years ago; at this point, we feel that it's time to take a second look at whether or not we can trim off some of the things that seem largely extraneous at this point, and consolidate the important information into a more efficient, user-friendly system of infopages for current players and for interested applicants alike.
That process is currently in motion behind the scenes; we hope to begin seeing results over the next few months. However, rest assured that we have no intention of outright deleting any of the information we're currently using; it'll all be archived in case it turns out that we've unknowingly eliminated a page that a lot of people were referencing, or that some relevant information didn't make it from one of the old pages onto one of the new ones. With any luck, though, we'll be able to pare things down to make a cleaner, less bulky system of infopages that better reflects the information that people most want (and need) to know.
Thanks again for your time, Route; we hope to see you over on the PokeProm Informational Post!
Event Spotted: Prom is Back Again!
First things first, as promised, Pokemon Prom will officially be returning this year! You can find the informational and plotting post for it right over here. We hope you'll head over and read that entire post for the full details of the event, but if you weren't here for prom last year, the very short version is that it's a big party event we ran last year, designed to bring everyone in the game together in one location for a couple of days so people can interact, action each other up, and generally have a good time.
Again, you can find that informational post at the link above, so please go check it out!
Update: Our Stance on Original Characters
At this time, we've decided against opening up applications to original characters in Route. This decision was founded on a number of factors, but predominant among them is the fact that we as moderators feel that it's our responsibility to the game and to the playerbase to balance our ambitions for the game with our capability as a team to fulfill those ambitions. As it stands, there are several existing aspects of Route that we're dissatisfied with and feel we have a responsibility to address before we begin taking on new ones. We've already begun working on some of those changes behind the scenes; we hope you'll continue to see more of them coming to light in the months to come, particularly as we move toward having Gen VI ready for release on the schedule we've promised.
Our decision on the topic of OCs today should not be taken as an intention to ban OCs from Route forever. However, if we do revisit the issue in the future, it will be after we've focused our time and attention on the things we've identified as existing problems within the game, that we feel ought to be addressed and handled before we start taking on new challenges.
A New Page: Rocket Promotions!
As part of our efforts to fix some of the existing problems with the game, we've decided to streamline our Rocket promotions process and start using a method similar to our Badge Requests page. This is an aspect of gameplay that's gone by the wayside for a long time, and we hope this change will bring things a little more up to speed with the rest of the workings of the game.
In the past, Rocket promotions have typically followed a major Rocket plot, which has made them few and far between. In order to make things a bit more consistent, we've created a new post to make getting evaluated more accessible. Simply fill out the form, comment, and we'll evaluate your Rocket to see if they qualify for a promotion! As mentioned, it's largely like earning a badge, but with more evil deeds and less Gym leaders.
In addition to that, the Rocket promotions post also serves as a handy reference for seeing who's in Team Rocket, what rank they are, what their assignment is (if they have one), and the various benefits that come with each rank! And if you need to change your Rocket's job or mission, there's a form for that on the page as well!
The Road from Here: Infopage Cleanup
The Rocket promotions post was just one of the behind-the-scenes projects Steve's been working on lately (thanks, Steve!); another longstanding problem that we've identified with the game is the fact that our infopages have gotten a little out of hand. Some of those pages have been around since Route launched almost four years ago; at this point, we feel that it's time to take a second look at whether or not we can trim off some of the things that seem largely extraneous at this point, and consolidate the important information into a more efficient, user-friendly system of infopages for current players and for interested applicants alike.
That process is currently in motion behind the scenes; we hope to begin seeing results over the next few months. However, rest assured that we have no intention of outright deleting any of the information we're currently using; it'll all be archived in case it turns out that we've unknowingly eliminated a page that a lot of people were referencing, or that some relevant information didn't make it from one of the old pages onto one of the new ones. With any luck, though, we'll be able to pare things down to make a cleaner, less bulky system of infopages that better reflects the information that people most want (and need) to know.