E L U V I O

• 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.

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.

Two proofs in any combination of the following:

• 10 comments from your character in a single thread on eluvio or an IC contact/inbox post.
  
• 5 comments from your character in a single thread in a log on starlogs.

Further clarification of Activity rules:

• All threads must take place on posts made within the Activity Period: the 1st of the month through the last of the month.
  
  
• The Activity Check will occur on the 1st of the following month through the 5th.
  
  
• Players will be able to use one strike per character every six months. This means that if you use a strike, you have to make AC with that character for six consecutive months before using another one. If you fail AC with that character prior to those six months, you will need to reapply the following month.
  
  
• We will not be accepting posts themselves, only threads.
  
  
• New applicants will only be required to check-in at AC during their first month.

PACING: Because this was the game's first plot event and we acknowledge the slower pace of DWRP these days, we thought allowing the playerbase a month to work through the mission would allow plenty of time to thread, explore the setting, and complete logs without a significant amount of backtagging that might slow things down. However, we noticed that approach didn't seem to turn out to be as helpful as we thought it would. So we would like to hear your thoughts on how to achieve a good balance of time to thread versus not slowing the game down to a crawl.

Currently, we're considering providing less OOC time to complete events and missions in the hope of encouraging things to move along more quickly.

PARTICIPATION: When slots are limited, it's important that the players who sign up to take part in missions or events participate. This means actively playing with the group you sign up for and participating in logs, posts, or OOC communication. To encourage players not to squat on slots, we have a penalty system in place. Currently, if a player signs up for something that's plot important or has limited slots and then doesn't participate, that player will be ineligible to sign up their character(s) for the next two missions.

If there are other ways you believe might encourage participation or discourage signing up for a spot and then not participating, please let us know.

MOD GUIDANCE: We've been made aware that some players are struggling with the level of freedom provided to build the game environment along with us. Player contribution to the setting and the environment as a whole is a vital part of the collaborative game experience we want Eluvio to be. We want you to feel comfortable creating the details inside the framework we provide.

How can we help you achieve that level of comfort? We can't restrict player freedom too drastically or we run the risk of micromanaging everything you do and that's something we expressly want to avoid. We do intend to provide a little more structure to the next plot than what was provided for the Oros Mission and we're always available to answer questions about what characters can do in a particular setting or during a plot. But if there are other things you think would help, we want to know.

The first sign-up is a piece of plot-relevant information! This information will be overheard by one character, who can then ICly disseminate it as appropriate, whether that's at the party itself or in posts and logs after the fact.

We'll be picking the character who'll overhear the information through RNG. You have until 8:00PM EST on Saturday, December 17th to sign up. After sign ups close, we'll be PMing the player of the character chosen with the scenario and the information.

Because this information is only going to initially be available to one character, we ask that you only sign up if you're going to have the time to ICly spread it around to other characters in the game. Once characters start to hear about the information, they're welcome to talk about it to others too.

The second sign-up is for the ice maze! Characters will be required to enter in groups of two. Before they enter, a helpful member of the party staff will supply them with visors. These are to be worn at all times within the maze. Taking them off prior to crossing the threshold of the exit will terminate the experience.

When signing up, please list the names of the characters who will be entering the maze together. We will respond to your comment with the various things your characters will experience within the maze. Note that we will provide loose ideas and you are free to expand upon them any way you wish! You can then thread out the experience however you'd like!

Each scenario will be different!