Idea Post!

[livebait]

Hello Aather! In the interests of making Aather the best game it can be, we'd like to toss around some potential ideas for what you'd really like to see in the near future!

Since the game has been running incredibly strong for over 3.5 years now (///), we want to make sure we're keeping things bright and engaging, while still staying true to the game as it is and what's made it what it is.

We've had more open slots recently largely due to a lot of characters moving to Happy End or Legacy after being played for several years, and game turnout is a little lower lately (probably also because some of us have been doing this game thing for longer than we've lived in any one place in real life, I don't know about you); and we've also dropped down to a bit of a quieter pace that's a better fit for the playerbase at the moment—but some of these are fairly big changes functionally! so we want to make sure we can continue adjusting and growing the game to fit that.

The mods have some ideas for things we want to do in the future (and I'll make note of some of them in this post!), but we'd also like to hear:

❥ Game or event ideas you'd like to see! Games that we ran two years ago you really liked, or just "a secrets game" or "a costume game" or anything like that. Things we haven't done in a while you wanna see again, or things we've never done that you have a good idea for.
❥ Plot hooks or directions you'd like to go in. "I want to find out more about why there's always a tree in the Ring" or "I want more helping Personae break roles" etc.
❥ Elements that would help you or your characters be more engaged!
❥ Other things that would be cool—quests? Abilities? Themes? Laser beams for Burupya?

At least for this post, we would really just like to hear ideas and suggestions—nothing will be definitely going to happen and someone might have an idea that you don't think would work for you, but that's okay! We are also not looking at making any changes to activity/game structure & functions at the moment—just gameplay, please!

For now—please help us with suggestions about what you'd like to see and we will do our best to make some things happen! If you have multiple ideas, please feel free to leave them as separate comments if they're about fully different things.

Thank you as always for being such a stellar playerbase, and please do always feel free to come to the mods in private if you have questions or concerns or suggestions or pictures of kitten paws.

Comments

[idkmybffnirvash]

i see what you did there . . . . . .

[livebait]

which part

[sobstory]

I for one fully support our resident baby dragon mascot obtaining extremely lethal laser powers.

[idkmybffnirvash]

the tree

[glorious]

I will support this notion only if my eyebrows get the same power

[livebait]

Veto'd!!!

[badnewsboy]

HI THIS IS RONI

/o/

can i call for more darkness plots? i love darkness plots, and i love that it gives the heroes something that's not the personae to feel bitter toward. so i'd love love love anything that's darkness related! either a big attack, or something where there's an infection in the heroes/knights, anything like that.

it's late and i'm coherent.

[takeabow]

Since I tend to play reticent/contrary characters, games where they're forced to share, or forced to act counter to their instincts would be fun! I know they're difficult to balance (consent vs ooc fun is hard sometimes) but! i find they tend to help spur interaction and keep things from getting too comfortable. I don't think Aather is particularly supposed to be comfortable!

[livebait]

MY MAJOR IDEA CHILD that I am making happen in the next couple weeks is allowing knights to run some mini events and revitalize fancy questing a little, and be able to win memories by doing this, so they don't have to be so reliant on games, and then also knight players can make more interesting mingles and small events and everybody wins. I hope.

[aristocritical]

I've been working on some Darkness miniplots! Real life and such slowed me down for a bit, but I'll be looking into implementing them after heartgames.

[aristocritical]

In preparation for some Darkness-fighting miniplots I plan to run in the future, I'd like to know what sort of balance the players would like between straight-up combat events and less conventional methods of "fighting" that function more like quests and exploradoras. I'm hoping to use both for fighting the Darkness, but I'm considering how to balance the two!

[glorious]

BUT...!!

[appleofhiseye]

PLAGUE EVENT I'm gonna do it, I'll make it happen

when I get people to help

[heteronormative]

Feelings share game!

[swordhandled]

i already apologize for any and all mini events that owain runs

[glorious]

I actually would be genuinely interested in why there's also a tree in the Ring. We've already established there's some sort of connection between plants and...anti-Darkness with hope flowers and I've been assuming the tree is along similar lines BUT ACTUALLY KNOWING WHAT THE TREE IS ABOUT! WOULD BE EXCITING!! So I'm making this comment to be a +1 to that mystery being solved somedaaay~

[livebait]

I TAKE IT BACK I TAKE IT BACK

[swordhandled]

BUT ALL MY PLANS

[idkmybffnirvash]

Okay, I am ready to multiple comments of spam . . .

I WOULD SUPER SUPPORT HAVING ACTION RESULT IN TANGIBLE RESPONSE. I am not saying that we have not had that before or recently, but I will slam that down and say that it would be good to always have that. Sometimes, it's hard for me to connect actions by characters to results in the game, or I get confused on how to act appropriately with a character in a situation, or I don't like the feeling of jumping through a hoop given to me rather than being able to do something creatively with a character. There are two sides where I should learn how to ask for something, and be proactive which should be encouraged in player-base. You know, also, having investment in the action and successes of other characters, too. But there is the flip side in letting some open-end leak onto the other side where the structures are left open . . . Maybe, something eventful happens completely outside of a game . . . ? It's a thought, brain storming, run with it . . .

[livebait]

says the most vindictive-looking pharmacist

[appleofhiseye]

I'm showing enthusiasm!!!!!!!

[hunting]

I am a big fan of having more games based off actual games as opposed to conversation things. Conversation things tend to have a lot of trouble holding me lately because there's so much distraction. But games with a clear win structure stoke my competitive fires and make me more committed to staying through the long haul. Also, I genuinely enjoy them.

I'm not saying get rid of discussion games since I know they are good for team-building/CR, but purely from a playing standpoint, I'd like more normal games.

Also, maybe more chances for normals to gain non-normal powers like magic quests with Firebird and Unicorn and whoever?

ALSO, more effects events/things that are not games so people can play with them for longer and not have objectives to meet with them. I prefer effects not be games because they are also less restrictive that way.

[idkmybffnirvash]

Um, game ideas that I have, but I am not married to running . . .

+ I would like a game much like Sea Witch's where people are forced in close circumstances with each other to decide something very difficult. However, I would like the twist to be with unfamiliar or distant characters rather than with close CR. I think it would work best if you do a survey before hand to find people at opposite ends of thought to put together. They don't even necessarily have to be two on two (though that would be best for timezone purposes ... ), if you can balance out the views represented, like Good-Neutral-Evil. Ideally, there would be a Big Moral Discussion or a Big Moral Task, but it does not necessarily have to be maim or murder each other. It could be for something like deciding what to do with a Personae or about a situation in Aather, or about hypothetical situation that may not be completely hypothetical . . .

+ I would like to see a game that plays with the lack of team members and knights. In my mind, it would blank everyone's keys, so that they have protection but they can't access their cabins. People can wander off and sleep solo, or stay in the provided big area with the group as a whole. The idea would be to question why to stay with your team. Are you indoctrinated to wanting to be with these people? Would you like to be on another team? Do you want to be a knight? Why? Obviously, doing a huge shuffle may be unreasonable, but it could be interesting in allowing characters to, perhaps, be given access to another team like knights, or have the ability to give out quests but only for other teams, or let teams connect with Personae . . . Knights could forge stronger bonds with teams that could be represented to. Maybe, they win with a particular team? Or they can serve as a Personae-team-patron medium? Mainly, I came up with the idea in order to explain team shrink, but it could be put to any number of ends.

[glorious]

For a suggestion on my end, I would actually be interested in more ways to just boost Personae/Hero and Knight CR in general, outside of having big plotty shake-downs. Mad Hatter's tea party game where Personae participated in the game was one way to do it. Nimue's Q&A game also allowed heroes and knights to directly offer questions to individual Personae to be answered as well. There are probably more examples as well, but more games like those may help.

I also planned on having Van attempt to run a Personae meet-and-greet with the intent of encouraging heroes and knights to form bonds with different Personae sometime next week, to have a more mingle-y option to try as well, though really just more posts to encourage that sort of CR-building in general (sort of like Lloyd and Mithos' Personae call) would be aces to me! o7

[glorious]

I am reminded of Darkness'd Apple for some strange reason...