07-26-2020, 04:21 AM
An application/hidden spell acquisition overhaul has been in the works and discussed somewhat. This is not finalized nor perfect by any means, but it's something of what was mentioned above with the 'Influence Points'. Feel free to leave thoughts about it.
Quote:Introduction:: Hidden spells have routinely been a symbol of characters who exemplify good writing, development, and longevity. However, what these spells heavily rely on and correlate to is the direct influence a single character has on the overall plot of the game. A character with lower tier hiddens likely affects a handful of players everyday, while a character with high tier hiddens shapes and shakes the entire playerbase on a nearly daily basis. Other character roleplay about characters like this when they aren’t present, new PCs spawn in with their backstory shaped by them, and more. These characters are often the characters directly in the spotlight, whether they take on a hero or a villain’s role, they are the ones that hold a presence that cannot be ignored. They are the proactive members of the ongoing story, and from intermediates to exalted spells, they are rewarded as they should be, generally speaking.
Influence Points: These ‘points’ are used as a sort of currency to ‘purchase’ hiddens spells directly from the wiki with administration input if needed. Each available hidden has a set price, one that is most notably marked by their tier (Intermediate - Master - Exalted).
How to Gain IP: Influence Points are acquired via affecting the plot of the game directly. Larger shows of ‘influence’ are granted a greater amount of these points and value. These scenes are usually public and draw attention to themselves, though something that might be more private can gain the attention of a Judgement moderator via an ahelp before it has ended.
Some ways to gain IP and their hypothetical values:
-For the ‘average’ character-
Normal raid fight - 1 IP
Raid fight + A captured opponent - 2 IP
Public Address - 1 IP
Significant Fight - 1-3 IP
Community Teaching - 1 IP
-For Leader characters-
Acquiring Leadership - 1 IP
Lead a raid/battle - 1 IP
Leader’s Speech - 1 IP
Conduct a Faction Meeting - 1 IP
Gaining IP can also happen outside of the game itself and instead for appropriate influence on the forums themselves:
State of Esshar Posts - 1 IP
Significant IC Post - 1-3 IP
Impressive Biography Post - 1 IP
Many of these examples have ‘significant’ or ‘impressive’ additives to them, meaning these will still be up to Judgement Team discretion to be discussed and voted on in terms of not only whether or not the scene/post deserves something, but also the ‘value’ of it.
The values can also exceed what is suggested here, especially for impactful moments that garner a lot of roleply and attention. In rare cases, it might not be unheard of for a prominent character to earn enough points from a single scene to spend on a hidden spell.
Pros:
- This system reduces the need for a full examination of dozens of applications every month.
- This system relieves the player of the task of saving, re-writing, summarizing, and organizing their application for a hidden spell. Instead, there is a far more immediate gratification granted where the points accumulate toward a specified goal.
- This system incentivises active and influential/public roleplay where it urges a character to act outside of their solo story or immediate circle for greater reward.
Cons/Fixes
- Personal or not as publicized yet still well written scenes might go unnoticed:
- Fix - Any player can ahelp before they make a post or begin what they might believe to be an influential scene for administration supervision. They can also send it directly to an admin for review if needed once it has ended.
- Any character can stockpile points.
- Fix - With each hidden, the individual cost for each subsequent spell rises exponentially. This can be adjusted as administration sees fit, even going as far as to make it virtually impossible to acquire x amount of hiddens without taking the proverbial carrot away.
- This system incentivises spamming the forums with IC posts or characters doing routine roleplays such as weekly meetings or daily ‘speeches’
- Fix - Given administration discretion, if someone is churning out unnecessary amounts of IC threads/in-game posts, a player trying to take advantage of the system like this can be told via feedback to slow down and put more care into their writing.
Notable Examples for sources of IP:
Nebula’s Reveal - https://pastebin.com/NWLy1nc1
The Royal Wedding - https://pastebin.com/F9k5JS5K
Confrontation in Alabastre - https://pastebin.com/rjnGjn3N
Framing Nysea (A Family Warning) - https://chronicles-of-esshar.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3182