STATE OF THE GAME DISCUSSION.

[nextnightmods]

and tomorrow i beg for one more tomorrow with you.

Hello, dearly beloved Bacon Bits. It has been about five months since the closure of In The Night and the transition to Next Night. As a mod team, we want to open a dialogue with you, our players, about what the GPSL will look like in the future.

As a team we understand that this is a hard time almost universally for our players. The state of the world makes RP harder than we want it to be. Changing hands and changing gears, losing players and losing character connections, makes things harder too. It is hard not to note that things have been a struggle for many of us, mod team included.

With this in mind, we want to talk with you all about our next step. A large intention of The Next Night was to provide closure, to help us to hold onto the character connections that meant so much to us and to continue towards finding a solution in a world we had grown to love. As we see players struggle to continue and struggle with interest, we want to discuss solutions.

An option to consider is starting AC again. Without AC, it can be hard to work up engagement. If we started running AC again in October, there's a chance we could refresh interest and speed things up again. Another idea discussed by the mod team is jumping up End Game to a sooner date than originally intended, potentially as early as this winter. This would allow us a few more months to build toward an ending together, and for those struggling it would provide an end in sight as well as the closure that was always the intention in the first place.

There might be other options worth considering as well. This post is intended to open that discussion, and the ideas presented are simply suggestions to get the dialogue rolling. Please touch base with us with how you are feeling, what your hopes are, what you think might help. And of course, thank you to all of you still with us and still interested in finishing this story. Please know that we on the mod team want that as well and hope to help create a plan that will be satisfying to everyone.

Thank you for your time, and we're excited to hear what you have to suggest.

Comments

[immortalaccursed]

Speaking personally I think that the lack of engagement is largely due to stressors in the real world right now, just like you said. Basically every game has slowed down.

IDK if opening AC up in October would change that, especially since the holiday season is right around the corner from there.

I've been wondering if we should do a world event that involves something like dream or memory sharing among the Beaconites? It wouldn't magically solve any engagement issues but it'd be a way to drum up CR with new character or old characters who maybe haven't had the chance to speak to each other much yet.

[p0isonpink]

Memory share events always seem to be good drivers of CR imo, and tend to drum up a lot of general interest as well since they're terrifically fun events to play. I'm not even a little embarrassed to admit that I've already got a half-dozen contenders for fun memories of Reiju to share about with others if that event ever were to come up.

[callada]

We could certainly do another memshare! That's the sort of thing I have been afraid to overdo as an event because we've had a couple already before the flood and I don't want it to get redundant for players who've had that experience already - but if people who've been through one or two are game for another, I agree it could be a fun way to drive some CR!

[pure_havoc]

I'm absolutely having trouble thanks to outside influence, so it's definitely not the game's fault at all. If anything, sticking to plans and schedules at least feels like normalcy and routine, even if I can't muster up the brainpower to write a meager toplevel prompt.

Back at the last state of the game the idea of very minimal AC was floated and I didn't hate it. Though, I also very much see the concern that turning on the AC (heh) wouldn't necessarily stir up more activity either, it might just force people who can't get a single tag up to admit it and drop which...is usually the point but it wouldn't take too many people dropping before the game is doomed on the spot. So, I see it both ways and I don't know that there's an easy answer.

I've been trying to wait things out but I can't allow myself to wait another 3 months before something good happens and I magically get my mojo back, but I also don't want to drop. Nor do I want to start a new character over from square one. It's a dilemma and I don't think anything game-wise can help that, it's a me thing.

That said, I feel like part of the doom and gloom is that there's not a lot of fresh blood and I feel like the game could really benefit from some more active advertising - enablemeplz at the very least, also making sure there's mentions on the various game directories as the game being open, and maybe rpanons' Game Ads thread. I think a lot of people hunting for a horror game with every bonus TNN has don't even know it exists, and getting more new players can refresh things heavily. Replurking the open app period or tdm link isn't enough. I know, that takes time and work and even the mods are having a hard time with that, so it's not a perfect solution, but it's workable.

[flangirl]

Seconding this! Gem said all the things I couldn't really figure out how to articulate, and I guess didn't really want to be the first one to post since I've been so out of it all summer.

But that's really the thing, I think, is that everyone's been out of it all year. I don't want to see the game end early and close because of a bad IRL year. That just seems to me like a goodbye that a lot of the playerbase maybe wouldn't be able to participate in. I'd like to see the game and our CR get to continue.

I definitely agree on getting in more fresh blood. I know I've been a non-entity on game upkeep; I think the truth is I'm better for one-off things than I am for ongoing maintenance. That said, I'd be more than happy to help with the one-time write up of game ads!

[pure_havoc]

Oh I bet you could code a sweet ad, and then the rest is copy-paste galore!

[immortalaccursed]

I also agree that more advertising would be good. TNN/ITN definitely offers a world and experience that other games out there don't and I think people would be interested in playing with it.

[pure_havoc]

and horror-based is a HUGE thing right now, I've noticed on past enablemeplz memes (which I am always late to anyway) that a lot of people are looking for horror and the only real alternative is Deerington which also doesn't meet a lot of their needs.

but I'm lame and I don't post because I always feel like someone official should put up an ad instead of some dumb nerd who can't even tag right now so...around and around that circle goes.

[callada]

Man I didn't even think about advertising because I'm just... the worst at remembering places like EMP even exist. This is me wholly unofficially saying people should feel free to spam them game around to everyone they know and everyone they don't, because I agree, more people and more activity are all good things.

[pure_havoc]

O U

I have no problem responding even two days later to EMP posts because people are genuinely still looking for something that hits their buttons, but the first place anyone checks is game ads and that's only for official mods to post official ads. So, as long as someone behind the scenes is on top of official ads, I'm more than happy to roll around answering recs for people wanting a horror game.

[countershocks]

thirding/fourthing/whatevering the fresh blood part! i really think the game would benefit from advertising, since i think the game's premise is one that would suit a lot of people, but maybe it's just not on their radar. actively trying to get more people to join would be great, and actually getting new people in would be a huge refresher, i feel.

[worthallthis]

I know some of my problem has been "oh shit what if I have COVID" but now that I'm past THAT freakout I'm tryin' to get back in.

I will say that I wouldn't be opposed to speeding up the timeline. We had a lot more engagement with the big event in Helix than we'd seen in a while, and having concrete goals that feel engage-able would definitely help me. Soldat's good at coasting through his routine, but it gets repetitive to write sometimes :P

I agree that starting up AC again prooooobably won't help and would just encourage drops. I know some people who might not be up to a lot of tagging would stay for group-events where we hash things out on plurk or something and just advance the plot, but that won't get anyone AC, ya know?

[policier]

same! i really loved the event on the helix station, and having a more concrete, immediate goal would help out so much

[p0isonpink]

I came on after the switch from ITN to TNN, so a straight drive to closure definitely hasn't been the goal for me! I really enjoy this world and this setting, and I'd hope to see it continue for longer than just a few more months. Bringing back AC, maybe with a low bar, would get my vote for driving some more engagement. The events are good, but an AC-less game has a way of sinking down people's priority ladders.

[immortalaccursed]

What if the bar for AC was just "literally anything"? Just proof that you responded to or did something, no hard number of comments.

It's like the system we have now except that "no activity at all" wouldn't count.

[rereremembered]

+1 re: wanting to extend things, as a new-ish player. Like I totally get wanting to see the culmination of all the work folks have done to get where we are, satisfying endings are great, but if there's an option to continue past resolution that'd be great.

[policier]

i'd be in favor of going into end game early. or, at the very least, moving the plot along so that there's a deeper sense of urgency. i know it's been difficult with the state of the world as it is, but much of what i've been struggling with (other than losing cr, which isn't anyone's fault) is the slow progression of the plot. my character is not well-suited for many of the party events and mingles, but he thrives in the action-oriented and investigative bits, which the explorations are good for, but they don't replace pc to pc interaction. i'd really like more events that would force characters to work together, since the co-op nature of the game is one of the things i've enjoyed most about itn/tnn, and it may have foster cr between more characters in the game.

i'm fine with ac staying as a check-in for now, too, for the reasons mentioned above.

[pure_havoc]

Oh same. Yeah, you're right, I mean the sandbox is good but...yeah. Us and our goal-oriented jerks.

[policier]

also, is tnn still going to follow a (roughly) two year timeline like itn? because it feels like the game has lost its sense of urgency, and maybe that's partly because of the drop off in activity this summer. having an end point in place, though, would help me out tremendously since it would force my character, and others, not to become too complacent. itn was never meant to be a game/premise that went on indefinitely and that's what i really liked about it.

[clarius]

Can you tell I'm so scattered at the moment that I nearly replied to this post under a different account two times? I really hope that none of those comments went through. ( /w\ )

Though I've been very quiet this month for a number of reasons - I do want to say that I am interested in the game and will try to return, full-swing, once everything has been settled. I agree with what's been said so far in the post: Another CR-cultivating event to facilitate ties with new and old players/characters, and maybe see the pace go at a faster pace for those who are more goal-oriented or prefer to be in the thick of it. Definitely advertise the game some more like on EMP or the Game Ads or something like that.

I, personally, definitely would like AC to be back in the game in the near future. Having AC helps encourage me to reach out to people, tag around, and see what happens. Perhaps we can start off easy? Like the AC minimum is something we can all do (ten comments over-all, can be mixed from log and network) and, when we get new players in the game, vote to raise the AC minimum by X comments

[countershocks]

can i just +1 this entire comment, you basically already wrote everything i would have written for myself, including the part about almost commenting with a wrong account... oops.

anyway, seconding everything here, from cr-building to advertising to maybe trying a very light ac!

(...says the one who would have had to hiatus for the month if there was an ac. great.)

[ultraviolents]

i'm really glad to see that people are eager to try and keep the game going, and thank you especially to those who have offered suggestions on how to make the game more engaging and entice new players! i love this place and the people in it a lot and was ready to head towards an earlier endgame if necessary (still am if that's the decision that ends up being chosen), but would have been very sad about it.

[catholicisms]

hi its me im not dead hello

i feel a lot of the issues people have mentioned in this post, so it's really unique feeling like i'm on both sides of the issue. writing and tagging is just HARD lately. work and life combine to the fact i am just so tired it isn't fun, and when i try i don't feel like i write anything good. i understand that issue and want to make sure that whatever choice we make moving forward is cognizant of the world we live in right now.

i also understand the struggle of people who feel like things have slowed down plot wise, and i think that is hopefully something we can stand to change. we have ideas and we've had events that worked really well — i hope we can push for more active horror events and things for characters to do rather and work towards.

i really like a lot of the ideas suggested here. we're talking about them a bit behind the scenes and will be using this to make a goal plan going forward! thank you so much for sharing and being willing to roll with the punches with us. :)

[flangirl]

rises from the depths to kiss your cheek. thank you for this ♡

[donttalktome]

A thousand years later, I'm gonna give my take even if most of the discussion is past. (Whoops.)

I won't speak to the closing of the original game since that wasn't my decision, really, as I wasn't on the mod team any longer. But I will say that I was floored by the idea that people wanted to continue the game as a psl, to the point where they were willing to take the reins and basically create a new mod team. Since I'd put a lot of myself into this setting and my cr, I really liked the idea that it'd get to live on, whether or not I was part of it. But I mean, of course I stayed, at least with Will, because I love playing him and he had a story I wanted to keep writing. I still do. I guess the tl;dr here is that when I saw people wanted to keep this going as a kind of sandbox player-owned adventure co-op, I had no thoughts in mind of doing it strictly for closure. I just wanted it to keep going in some way, and I thought it was super cool that other people wanted that too.

Of course, we always had an eventual end in mind for In The Night. It opened with an endgame planned, and even if we didn't quite know the shape that might take, we had an idea of the path we'd be taking to get there. With the official game closed, that path has been effectively erased, and with it, the nature of its ending.

This all probably reads like rambling by now, so let's just hurry up and put the two thoughts together. I love the idea of the game's setting/premise and characters continuing on, but I also know that a big chunk of the story that went along with those things is gone now. So I get how it could/would be hard to keep it going when it's been completely thrown off its track, since that track (or tracks, as the case may be) was all the players ever knew before. The game can't just keep going as it was before with new management, because 1. I doubt you guys would want to just copy the old ideas and 2. I think it was part of the agreement that you wouldn't. So you've got an established setting/premise but no concrete story to continue it with.

And this is— don't mistake me here, this isn't meant to be a criticism of the mod team. This is just an observation that I totally understand. But I think one of the issues beyond the real-world stuff going on (which is, let's face it, a big BIG factor) is that the psl is sort of caught in limbo. Stuck between the original ideas that created the game and taking the new freedom of having this sandbox and running with it. And there's a reason I keep using the word "sandbox". It's generally used to mean that you've got this vast plane of Things and you can do whatever you want in it, at your leisure.

Okay I'm totally actually rambling now, I apologize, my head's a little fuzzy atm and I literally just remembered to take my meds while writing this. ANYWAY, here's the concise version.

I've definitely seen you guys make strides to grab hold of this game/psl and take it your own direction, but I still worry it might be too tied down to the previous incarnation. I'm sure you all had an idea of where the story was going before, but it's not going there now, at least not the same way. So my suggestion? Sit down if you haven't already and decide where it is going. Maybe don't timeline an endgame just yet (the consensus on this post seems to lean away from that) but plot out at least a vague outline. Speaking as a former head mod, we always had one, even if we altered it greatly as things changed and player decisions were made. In short: chart your new course. Or do you even want a course? Or do you just want to plan out massive options and see where it goes? The possibilities are pretty endless tbh.

On that same note, consider each of the game's mechanics in the same way. Are there some that are bogging you down as a mod team? Streamline them, or, hell, get rid of em if you don't think they're needed. Don't feel obligated to keep them around just because they were there before. This is your thing now. Do whatever you want with it.

And that's kind of the takeaway from this whole giant ranting mess I just typed. Next Night is your thing, mods and players alike. It's changed hands, and those hands are free to seize it and mold it into whatever they want. I agree with the statements above that it would help to bring back more of the "plotty" stuff, or the more action-y elements, even if they don't "advance" a plot. Downtime events are great and I don't dislike them, but they do work best as a brief respite from the heavier elements.

Take the setting, the original ideas for the story, the original intentions, and recast them to suit your needs. Do the characters even need to defeat the world eaters? Is there more to do after that? Is there a way to restore the light that wasn't known (ie, planned as a thing) before? I don't know, I'm clearly super out of it, but I guess outside of the trashfire that is 2020, I worry that Next Night might fall into the trap of trying to live up to In The Night, when it's not that anymore. It's a whole new thing that rose up out of the old. Embrace that!

(Maybe you're already doing all of this already. If so, disregard me. This is just the result of a couple weeks of mulling over everything and trying to figure it out. Like I said, it's all yours (and mine, since I'm a player too) now, so grab it and run.)