Glorified musebox fantasy jamjar with Tolkiens

[goldenplaits]

There are threads for each point at the bottom, for voting (voting is not binding. This is more a gauging of interest, so you're welcome to comment on your votes!) and your thoughts, but you can of course also comment directly to the post if it's larger/doesn't fit anywhere. So far, there's four people who might be working on this (narwa, ardruna, manxome, marcuswolf828), but more are always splendid, especially to get it off the ground, so step forward if you'd like to help with it :3

1. Which one?

• Panfandom
• Tolkien only (I lean heavily towards panfandom, because if people are okay with being outnumbered (because that'll probably be a thing) it should be a ton of fun to have some elements in the game that can mix things up some. But it's a thing that is totally up for discussion!)

2. Which of these should be permitted?

• Canon characters (not up for discussion ;D )
• Characters of limited canon (like Lalwen, Elrohir, Belladonna, Galion, Lalaith, Elros, Thror, Dís, Hetalia!Scotland, etc)
• Original characters (if panfandom)
• Canon AUs (I'd almost say this is also not up for discussion considering the nature of Tolkienite "canon"?)
• Original fandom characters (they'd come with the caveat that they may not occupy roles that would have been significant in canon, and all characters who would be connected with them, so they are in game, would have to have given their permission prior to them being brought in. There'd also be the option to demand that they should not be related/married to any canon characters, but on the other hand it'd be a way to allow for nameless wives/mothers...).
• Non-canon AUs (I'm personally iffy on this but wanted to put it up for discussion)
• edit: CR-AUs (characters that have been to one or more games and come in with the memory/changes from those games)

3. Which setting should it be?

• Ruined Arda/Middle-earth (The second music failed, or a similar explanation - maybe the apocalyptic fight against Morgoth did not turn out as planned? All parts of Middle-earth that ever existed are on the map, but they lie in ruin and have been changed. The only inhabitable area at game start is X, where all characters will wake up. Eru has recreated them, both their body and soul, as they were the most prominent in his memory, so they can have any pull-point that the player wishes. (if panfandom/to explain different timelines/variants of canon used: Eru is the creator of all universes and got a few things mixed up, so he's waking people from different universes and alternate timelines...) After game start, people can start to explore and rebuild, but there are dark creatures roaming the earth and depending on the character's abilities they can combat their hostile surroundings in different ways to fight the enemy. [There would be the option to say that while Morgoth fucked it up, what now lies on the land is even greater than him and different, so Morgoth & co would be appable]
• Fantasy World (Some other fantasy world, so everyone would have to start over completely. This would serve to level power differences even more. Either a generic fantasy setting, or something based vaguely on a different canon like Twelve Kingdoms. This scenario would involve 1-3 existing kings/queens with courts and more or less functioning kingdoms while around them everything is open map, so while the world would be chaotic it wouldn't be as chaotic as ruined Arda. It'd also allow for mixing up the monsters/evil creatures a bit.)
• Something else?

Whatever setting it is - should it have a place where technology functions? Should technology just function, period, or function nowhere at all? (this would obvsly more be a panfandom consideration to make)

4. Gameplay - which ones would you like to see? Pick/discuss one or two or three or all! State a preference or things you'd strongly like to see/not see, etc.

• Open map/explore yourself/write-your-own-story
• D&D-type quests which can be run by mods and players alike
• Monthly or biweekly status effect opt-out/opt-in events
• Mod-dictated weather/npc behaviour/map changes.

5. Technicalities

• A person may have up to 5 characters, none of which may be significantly connected to the other (you can play Arwen and Fëanor despite them being distantly related, but not Arwen and Galadriel because they've actually met and stuff). If it's not panfandom I'd say lets reduce the number to 3?
• (thoughts needed!) No actual apps, but everyone would have to have info on their journal, depending on the type of character more or less, and the character claim would only be accepted after that info is live (and if something is off/troublesome about that info, a character claim can be refused). Info should include name, appearance, and a brief explanation of their history&personality/the "route" for the character that the player has chosen, and a link to wikis if available. Is there anything else that's important and should be on there?
• Check-in AC: There'd be a check-in post every month, and all that aren't on hiatus and don't check in would be swept. But no actual activity check.
• No cast cap ever if it's panfandom, even if suddenly like, Gundam takes over or whatever.

6. How do you get in on this

• Invite-only or open?
• I don't even know what other options than word of mouth would be there to advertise it, so that's a thing, but...

Comments

1.

[goldenplaits]

Pan-fandom

[goldenplaits]

Re: Pan-fandom

[theywhowait]

I vote panfandom because yes good cross canon =D

Tolkien only

[goldenplaits]

2.

[goldenplaits]

Please just leave your thoughts on whether or not some of these things should be allowed or not here.

[arrowpoint]

Because of the nature of the musebox fantasy thingy, I would accept all of these, with conditions for some of them.
Original fandom characters - I'm okay with "no close relations" however, as I'm sure that would dampen some people's fun, maybe we can work around this with some rules, like express permission from current close cast to be their wife/husband/father/mother/child what have you. I wouldn't want somebody to come in and say "i'm your wife" when the other person didn't want that.

Personally I'd extend this to not allowing those types of characters without a close cast character present, but again I don't want to be too restrictive either. Tough call.

[bythewaves]

oh another thought - I've seen games where you can bring in someone with existing CR, I don't even know if this would be something people want but???

3.

[goldenplaits]

Arda Ruined

[goldenplaits]

Some neutral fantasy world

[goldenplaits]

Something else

[goldenplaits]

Please specify

4.

[goldenplaits]

Thoughts?

[arrowpoint]

I lean towards "mod-dictated weather/npc behavior" if I had to pick just one, but second to that I would say "monthly or biweekly status effects opt in/out"

I might like a combo of both, like instead of monthly or biweekly, maybe bimonthly? Or occasionally? idk.

Re: 4.

[youngestone]

I am so very against things that change the behavior of NPCs unless it also affects the PCs, like curses or a Vala fucking shit up. Otherwise a semi-regular combo of things would be fun

5.

[goldenplaits]

Thoughts?

Especially looking for thoughts on the app/claim/whatever thing.

[arrowpoint]

✦ I agree with the character limit on both these points. 5 or 3 depending upon panfandom or not.

✦ I think some kind of info on the journal would be good, particularly for characters that aren't well known / OCs. etc.

✦ Check in AC = yes.

✦ Hell no cast cap. Bring in the Gundams!

✦ I think claiming could work with some structured info - maybe even a mini-app, but not really because you don't get approved/rejected in the traditional sense. This would be particularly useful for those of limited canon or canon AUs, etc. Idk if there should be a format or not, but if there's a format it shouldn't be too extensive or restrictive. Just something to organize information in a way everybody understands. (like, i wouldn't want to read a massive essay just to find out hair color or something)

Re: 5.

[silvanking]

re: character slot limits, you don't know how many times I have heard players say, "Ohhhhh, I'd love to bring [X] in, but all my slots are full!" (Hint: it's a lot). Some people can handle large stables well, some prefer to focus on a small number of muses. So, while I support a starting slot limit (5 sounds reasonable), I also think there should be a way for players who have proven themselves active, IC, and been around for a while to earn additional slots if they want them. This can be done a number of ways. By petition, to be reviewed by the mods. One game I'm in allows players to earn "points" for being active and engaged, which can be redeemed for an additional slot once a certain number have been earned. Or maybe another option, but a clear path to additional characters, if desired, should be present.

6.

[goldenplaits]

Invite-only

[goldenplaits]

Some middle position

[goldenplaits]

Please specify

Open

[goldenplaits]

Things that I forgot on the post which are also important

[goldenplaits]

- Claims monthly, biweekly, weekly, or always?
- Network or action only?
- pace of the days - 1:1 or something else?

[silvanking]

Generally, I prefer "you can join any time!" to "you can only apply during these times." It makes it much less stressful, I think.

[arrowpoint]

I think rolling claims would be good. If you need a middle road, claiming anytime vs. processing might be different. I think it should be clear that you're not allowed to start posting before your claim is processed.

Network - I will say it's very hard to branch out in CR with a huge world without a network. It's easier to just pick up a network thread and make some CR without planning out how you met them and what you're doing. If you're in (in Arda's case) Aman on monday, it's not possible to be in Mirkwood on tuesday. It hinders you from interacting outside of a set group of people.

I am very against any other pace besides 1:1. Backdating and forward dating should take care of not being around for a particular day. It's very difficult to keep track of any other pace, particularly for something like a sandboxy thing where it's generally casual.

More things that need to be taken care of

[goldenplaits]

> Layouts (comm, profile, info pages) ->Mark(?)
> Where does this even start? Some neutral but safe settlement would be the best, but... ???? Bree?
> what is the ic explanation for drops/hiatus?
> tba