// GAME POLL_

[eluviomods]

// GAME POLL_ Because the age cap proved to be a contentious issue, we pulled together the entire mod team to discuss it and the future of the game. We heard your concerns about the cap. Some of you have communicated worry that as players of underage characters, you're not welcome in the game. Others are concerned about the possibility of not having castmates. Others have pointed out that experience in the characters' canon can offset a younger age for participation in events. We discussed these concerns and our own expectations for the game, what we want to accomplish through metaplot modules and events, and where we can compromise. We developed three scenarios and as a player suggested, we are offering you the opportunity to cast your vote. Before we get to that, we do want to address some feedback that was given on the original announcement. We should have had the caps in place before we opened the game. Players who have said this are right. Unfortunately, we don't have the ability to go back and correct our mistakes before they impacted the game. All we can do now is address the issue moving forward. For that we do apologize. We never intended players of characters under 18 to feel unwelcome. We understand why they do at this time, however that was not our intention. Had we not wanted to allow younger characters at all, we would have set the age limit of the game at 18 from the beginning. Our concern is only with the number of underage characters in the game, not that they are there in the first place. We are not trying to single specific groups out and treat them unfairly. Because we cannot foresee everything that might happen with the game, we cannot address all issues prior to their occurrence. We can only try to respond quickly as they arise. We implemented a cast cap when we noticed that one cast was beginning to dominate the game cast. We adjusted the age limit to 13+ when we realized young children might be apped and we were uncomfortable OOCly with that. We implemented a game cap when it became clear that the game was continuing to grow and we were concerned about our ability to keep up with it properly. We implemented the age cap because we had a rise in applications for the age bracket and were concerned about the number of under 18 characters overtaking the number of 18+ characters. We aren't unwilling to discuss problems with the playerbase. We make mod decisions in a sincere attempt to keep the game running smoothly and in line with the vision we have for it. We aren't going to poll the game or open the floor for debate every time we have to make a decision. Nothing would ever get done that way and issues would not be addressed timely. However, when a decision upsets the majority of the playerbase, we absolutely will address it, just as we did with AC. We understand that our delivery in the original announcement was poor and needlessly alarming. Characters under 18 are not barred from all events and plots. They may be barred from certain aspects of events and plots and due to age, may not be chosen for specific missions or for leadership positions. Because this precludes them from participating in all aspects of the game, we felt this constituted a large portion of it. That wording led to misunderstandings and we apologize for that. This is an aspect of that game that has been in place since the beginning and has been dealt with ICly. We have not explicitly stated OOCly that this was the case before now and that was our error. We have been stating it when we have declined applications for characters that we felt would be too limited in what they might be able to do in game, as we don't want players apping in and then not being able to enjoy significant parts of the game. The characters under 18 that we have accepted are those that we felt would be able to get a lot out of the setting even with the limitations. The following are the three scenarios that we have developed for the game: SCENARIO 1: We raise the age cap to 30 characters under 18. That would allow for more castmates, less pressure in filling a space, and provide a larger pool of characters under 18. We would also be reminding the playerbase as a whole that teenage characters are welcome in the game. We cannot and will not force anyone to play with anyone else, but we do ask that if there are players who do not want to have CR with a character under the age of 18, those players communicate politely with the other player should they be tagged by a character they don't want to play with. Tagging out should not be an anxiety-producing guessing game. By joining a panfandom game, you are acknowledging that you may have a variety of CR and we expect all players to coexist civilly with one another. SCENARIO 2: We leave the age cap at 20 characters under 18 and we lower the game cap to 80 characters overall. While this would still allow for more characters 18+ than under 18, it would lower the overall pool of characters and hopefully encourage characters to work together more closely and build CR across all age brackets. SCENARIO 3: If the playerbase finds an age cap unacceptable in any capacity, then we will close applications, move the game into endgame with an appropriate scenario for the current metaplot, and close it by April 30th. We will be making three comments with headers labelled Scenario 1, Scenario 2, and Scenario 3. Players are to vote one time by responding under the header with a blank comment. All comments will be screened during voting to encourage players to vote for what they most want. When voting is closed, we will be tallying the votes and unscreening the responses for transparency. Voting will close on Friday, March 24th at 8:00PM EST or after all players have cast their vote, whichever comes first.