SOTG JULY 2024

[expiationmods]

AC RESULTS

The following characters have been removed from the game:
beautifulleopard
geass
driving_from_the_backseat

WHAT'S NEW?

UPDATED CALENDAR IS HERE.

ACTIVITY CHECK

As a general reminder, new characters must submit AC for July. Since we’re so close to our upper player cap, we’re also clarifying some of our activity rules going forward:

- Part of the purpose of activity check is to make sure people aren’t threading with just the same two characters each month. So, going forward, players should not submit threads with the same characters for more than 1 AC round at a time. For example: Vi used a thread with Caitlyn in the month of May. Therefore, she can’t use Caitlyn as a proof for the next month. Of course, we don’t want anyone to overextend themselves in their tags, but Expi has become a larger game with a lot going on, so we don’t foresee it being difficult for anyone to get threads with more than two characters at any given time.

- We don’t accept smut threads for base AC.

- Going forward, we'll be keeping a closer eye on activity, including patterns of activity, from players. If we notice that a player consistently only tags at the end of the month, or continually drops threads after AC is met, we'll pull that player aside and may ask them to submit additional activity, either in that month or in the upcoming month.

- Hiatuses must be submitted before the 15th of each month in order to exempt a player from AC. If you need to retroactively submit a hiatus after that time, you must contact the mods first or that hiatus will not be accepted in place of activity submission. We would like to remind everyone that Expiation is a capped game, and so, we do not issue strikes for missing activity check. If the mod team grants a pass for emergencies or extenuating circumstances, then you may be asked to provide additional activity for the next month.

- Activity must be submitted before midnight EST on the last day of the month. We will not accept late AC comments.

- You must submit AC for at least the next two months after using a hiatus where you do not submit activity. For example, if a player submits a hiatus in June and does not end up submitting AC, that player will not be allowed to submit another hiatus in either July or August. Please note: we encourage precautionary hiatuses if you’re concerned about making AC. If you submit a precautionary hiatus, you can still submit activity if you’re able to do so. However, we will be keeping an eye on this system and policy, and if we make note of persistent abuse, we’ll have to rethink it. In general, if you’re hiatusing every other month and not submitting activity, we urge you to reconsider being part of a game where participation is so heavily needed and encouraged.

- All info in this paragraph and the ones above have already been changed on their respective pages.

PLAYER CAP

Between the acceptances and revisions of the current app cycle, we have hit player cap. For future app rounds, we will only be opening apps for new players if we have fewer than 60 players by the time it’s time for the cycle to come around. We will continue to skip app cycles for new players until we fall below that number again, if necessary. For those who are already in the game, we will have an app round for those that might want to app an additional character. We will be keeping the player base posted on this comm when apps will be open to the public again.

APPLICATION UPDATE

We will be readjusting the way we look at samples from here on out. Starting with our next app cycle, at least one of your samples must be from the TDM from this game. You may link other samples, but one link must be from Expiation.
As a reminder, all samples submitted for apps must be from within one calendar year of the application round. Meaning that if we’re looking at apps in June 2024, samples can be no older than June 2023.

For this round and future app rounds, we would like to stress the importance of samples in the application process. We will be putting heavy emphasis on those samples going forward. We will be looking not just for quality (of writing, characterization, etc), but for consistency and engagement. This means we’re looking at whether players continually drop threads after a few comments or play them through to completion. This also means we’re weighing whether potential players are tagging out and engaging with others in their sample threads.

All info in this paragraph and the ones above have already been changed on their respective pages.

REWARDS PAGE

We have adjusted some of the wording on the rewards page to make things more clear for everyone. Go ahead and check it out!

THIS MONTH IN ALDRIP

EYES......

If anyone damaged or destroyed the welcome bots during the tdm (or after), please let us know in the comments! For no reason in particular.

WEATHER

It's blazing hot out here. Like, someone turn the AC on outside... we're all dying in here.

OTHER STRANGE THINGS ARE AFOOT IN ALDRIP...

Check out the pwm post to see everything that y'all have wrought on our lovely, chill game.

SO MUCH LOVE

Sorry for the long post of not-as-fun info, guys... that's what the pwm post is for this month LMAO. We aren't targeting anybody specifically, but we want to keep this game healthy and going as long as possible! We are constantly excited to see the ideas you guys have for this game and love the effort and care that you guys have for us. The player plots we get are amazing, and you are all so creative, I'm so excited for what comes next!! Happy July everyone!



code credit.

Comments

[ashaya]

Adding a plus one to this as well! I think additional credit should be applied to people who prefer logs over text threads as it will most probably encourage text only for some and detract or decrease log style tagging in order to reach quota.

In previous games I have been in, breakdowns have looked like this:

10 log style tags or 15 text tags.
1 open post plus 5 text tags.
1 open post plus idk 3 log tags because if you split the difference it would round to 3.

In cases where it was a mix of the two, generally it weighed in favor of the log tags. The math can get a little weird, but generally speaking it didn't just encourage fast and loose tagging styles for people who didn't prefer it, which isn't a detraction from the style itself, it just isn't everyone's cup of tea.

[fieldtrip]

My two cents is not to necessarily differentiate log or text because I don't think they're correlated to word count / length that closely anymore, compared to how it used to be in the past. We probably need something different to demonstrate relative effort and engagement.

I'd be perfectly okay with there being some element of subjective judgment to the AC processing, for whatever that's worth, though I know that can become a nightmare for other reasons (: (:

[ashaya]

Yeah! I am personally fine with however they see fit, subjective or no. You know how I am as a Human Creature (tangible measurements, because that's my whole life), but I appreciate the additional specificity.

[expiationmods]

Minor changes and clarifications here!

[expiationmods]

Minor changes and clarifications here!