BRING US YOUR FEEDBACK!

[these_balls]

FEEDBACK POST: YEAR THREE EDITION


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!


FILL OUT THIS FORM FOR US, PLEASE
<b>PLOTS:</b></b> Please give us feedback here! <b>GENERAL UPKEEP:</b> Please give us feedback here! <b>MODS:</b> Please give us feedback here! <b>FUTURE:</b> Please give us feedback here! <b>ANYTHING ELSE:</b> Please give us feedback here!


A BRIEF GUIDE TO WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
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 objective-based plot, where participants are given a specific action to react to and/or a goal to achieve, possibly with the outcome of the plot dependent on the players' actions
-- 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!

Comments

[these_balls]

I WILL NOT MAKE A POST TO THE ROCKET COMM FEATURING NOTHING BUT LINKED USERPICS OF IN-GAME ROCKETS WITH AN "EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH" HEADER

I WILL NOT

[these_balls]

Memo to self: I will not gratuitously link gifs of The Lonely Island's "Like A Boss" on the discussion post, either.

Tempted though I may be.

[these_balls]

Sorry, a clarification here — as of this moment, the Rocket community has never been used for IC gameplay or threading, so as of right now, the only plotting that has ever taken place there has been in an OOC capacity. One of the things we're hoping to do in the future is to look at the Rocket community and see how we can utilize it to create an engaging playing experience for our Rockets, but as of right now, you haven't missed anything ICly.

That said, while we'll absolutely take your concerns into consideration, we also have to keep in mind that the Rockets deserve to have some perks to playing a character of that class, and strike the best balance we can between those two interests. But we appreciate the input, and as we approach the question of the Rocket comm in the future, we'll definitely try to come up with something that works for as big a percentage of our playerbase as possible.

[tearsofademon]

All right, that makes me feel better about it. Thanks.

I totally agree. The Rockets deserve to have some reason to play a Rocket. The other classes get perks, they should get some too. And it's way better than it was at the start. There have just been times when I've wondered if maybe you took it a little too far in the other direction, but as long as you're looking out to try and keep the balance right, that's all I ask for. :)

[these_balls]

Of course! We'd never try to slant it to a point where it'd be one party holding an advantage over another.

My apologies for my conduct in this thread. I was not very clear or well communicative of these things and I will do better (and hopefully work with you) for outside input on our rocket community. If you ever do feel it's too exclusive, please do let one of us know and we will definitely take it into account and try to find a way to return to a balance that's desirable by the community.

[eagletalons]

PLOTS:
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.

[newberktown]

In HG/SS, Misty is forever looking for a good date, and sometimes takes off from the gym in hopes of actually finishing one. If I remember correctly, they are always being interrupted or scared off which frustrates her.

Maybe she could try to share tips on popular dating spots/get or give other random dating advice?

She's also always looking to be stronger, and obviously she loves swimming/water/DON'T POLLUTE MY LAKES GUYS. From looking at the wiki page, it also says she wants to travel to meet strong trainers one day and worships Lorelei of the Elite Four, so poking around those topics would be good, too?

Also, especially around this time of year, you could have Falkner focus on his dad/fathers, too?

If I'm remembering right, Blaine has a penchant for disguising himself, but I don't know if that's helpful for this type of thing.

[pianosongs]

......Oh my god

[whateveryoueatliveitspart]

I'd say that the first version makes more sense. Yes it would take longer to set up, but having two giant posts seems very messy. Maybe group the Routes? #1 to #14, #15 to #28, and so on. Posts for "other Kanto locations" and "other Johto locations" to catch caves and such if you don't want to add each of them individually. And a "general" post, for stuff that crosses the regions: plants and constellations and stuff like that.

[akito]

Having two sticky posts might be a better idea in terms of organization though, since there could be one or two players managing each region's post rather than trying to manage both.


actually wait i think i brained everything wrong.

NEVERMIND. AS YOU WERE.

[akito]

PLOTS:
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.

[(Anonymous)]

- While I know most people here want another region, I'm afraid it making everything a bit too spread out and make it even harder to meet up with people face to face. If there was a way to alleviate this somehow then I'm all for it. But for now I would like to see a small addition like the Sevii Islands, and they can be reachable by a daily ferry.

- 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.

[cakelover]

a pokemon nurse class would actually be pretty darn nifty, for the doctor thing.

Re: DISCUSS - WORLDBUILDING COOKBOOK?

[cakelover]

I think this sounds good! And it would work well if it were done like the BC - have a "comm/mod" journal, and anyone who wants to help out can have access to that and...help out.

[akito]

Yeah! Maybe they can't heal their own Pokémon past 1/5 of their max HP, as a power cap, or lower the max amount of levels per week their Pokémon can gain (since hey, you should be healing! not battling!)

And get a discount on any medicinal supplies, but not anything else... :|a

[akito]

YEAH, I WOULD SAY maybe just have more Magnet Trains available region-wise to the cities and maybe a shuttle service from the cities to towns to cut travel time down...

Since I totally forgot that there's like that Magnet Train from Saffron or w/e to Goldenrod. fff

[cakelover]

I really like all these different class ideas (it'd be nice to have more variety!) esp coordinator/ranger, but now I am also saying YES, NURSE SOUNDS FUN. And researcher, although I'm less sure how that one would work in context than the others re: perks/whatever. :|a

I think I'd definitely swap someone over to some of those in a heartbeat because wow.

[akito]

Researchers 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, though it would be a costly endeavour. :|a

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 PCs 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!

Coordinator bonus could be discounts on non-battle merchandise, such as clothes, accessories, etc. and increase the speed of maxing out friendship bonds with their pokemon by a little bit? :|a

class ideas

[akito]

Doctors/Nurses could heal the Pokémon of someone by 50% HP in 12 hours. But can only heal their own Pokémon by 10% over 12 hours as a power cap, and/or lower the max amount of levels per week their Pokémon can gain (since hey, you should be healing! not battling!)

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.

[akito]

And there could be pre-requisites to be able to change to these classes, such as needing to work at a PokéCentre for x amount of weeks before you can become a Doctor/Nurse. Work at a restaurant or radio tower for x weeks before you can qualify to be a researcher/scientist. Work on a farm or with the police (guard for the lighthouse?) for x weeks before you can become a ranger.

Coordinator would be a good starter class though.

[cakelover]

evolutionary stones i assume you were going to say? and actually the item one sounds cool.

THE EXPLORER/sort of having people opposite rockets in-game mechanic wise would be interesting (I like the ranger games themselves, so was thinking along those lines, but tracking down warrants could be fun to play out for both sides?) and the travel cut perk would actually make sense/BE NICE. Plus the HM thing just for exploration reasons!

AND GOOD GOSH THE FRIENDSHIP BONDS THING, I would adore that. And it'd make sense to get discounts on the non-battle merchandise likes clothes/accessories/whatever given the nature of contests.

basically i like the way you think

[akito]

yes! I noticed afterwards and was like 'oops forgot a word derp' :'D


thanks!!

[ghostytrainer]

PLOTS:
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.

[these_balls]

Hello! I have taken a look at the badges and, for the most part, the usual wait is about 5-12 days. Now, that is a bit excessive but may/april was an extraordinarily busy month for me because I was graduating. I apologize for the delay and I'm definitely planning on being more timely in the future [ and I think I'm doing a good job on it recently ] (or perhaps, doing them all on certain days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, etc.)

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.

[ghostytrainer]

It's okay Muffin! I had a feeling you were doing them on your own and, I myself haven't put one in since March or April, I believe, so it was kind of hard for me to gauge how long they were taking beyond "longer than usual" just going off of how long it was taking me to hear back from John's travelmates for plotting things. Admittedly what I was most wondering if maybe there needed to be another mod helping process them or if maybe the detailed evaluations needed to be cut since you were clearly kind of busy. (please don't cut the detailed stuff though, I enjoy reading those. they're great) I probably should have made that more clear, sorry.

I definitely appreciate the response though, even if it's just a copypasta. ♥ I think doing them on certain days might not be a half bad idea though. Because schedules are never a bad thing.