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Story of Us: December 2024
Story of Us: December 2024
Announcements and Feedback
🦊 If you're looking for a winter wonderland in your December, look no further than Wintermute: it's being kind right around now and giving the people what they ask. Snow that isn't murderous or dangerous, that's the right packing for a snowball fight, sled dog race, or building an igloo.
🦊 It is also cold in Willow this time of year, though there is only ever a faint dusting of snow. More frequently is the unusual Folkmore prismatic rain–it's like freezing rain, except that small crystalline prisms (which are nonetheless still apparently made of water and melt when they hit any kind of animal including Star Children) are falling from the sky instead and catching light to project tiny rainbows everywhere instead.
🦊 Talaria's weather continues to support the rebuilding effort, and is nicely mild. The clouds are a little unusual, though: Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds are being generated by the various extremes found around Folkmore.
🦊 Enchantments are now available to be purchased with spoons!
Read more about enchantments here.
Enchantments are magical enhancements to items Star Children already own, and are available at simple (75 spoons), intermediate (150 spoons), and advanced (300 spoons) levels. In general, enchantments will improve items in a way that would match the abilities of items of the same spoon cost. If you'd like to purchase an enchantment, post a description of the enchantment along with the item it's intended for. Mods will get back to you with its spoon cost. A list of approved enchantments and their cost tier will be made available/is available here. Enchantments cannot grant new powers to Star Children.🦊 The application has been changed slightly moving forward, starting with December's application cycle! We now include content warnings and sensitive subjects in a permissions section of the application itself, and we’ve revamped those questions for clarity. These questions are still on the permissions page (and the permissions template has also been updated to match). We want new players to consider these topics in the depth Folkmore has grown to place on understanding and communicating about them. If you're like some of the mod team and struggle to think of what CWs might apply or what content might require a warning, EC Editorial, Literary Lifestyle offer good resources. You can also try looking up your canon on Does the Dog Die.
🦊 The test drive is new today! That doesn't mean you can't still play in the old one, but we now have this nice shiny new one to enjoy.
If you have any questions about anything going on in the game, feedback or suggestions for the mods, or need an update on a question that might have gotten lost between the cracks please use this space to ask down below! If you want to do any of that privately, feel free to use mod contact instead!
Feedback
I do have some feedback because I feel like lately the game is in a decline and I really want to see it grow and thrive, I want it to flourish and to stay here because the setting is so good and my CR is wonderful.
When it comes to FM I'm not looking for an intense game, this game is very laid back and chill and I love that, but the events have been especially lacking for a while now. There was a pattern before of fun laid back events one month then hard more intense events the next, but they aren't like that anymore. The Events are... all feeling samey and not hard or challenging at all. They don't give me any character growth opportunities anymore. Honestly, it's been about a year since the last event that actually felt... challenging to me.
It sucks, because I mostly play introverts, so I often feel like there's nothing to do with Layla or Fenris lately because the events don't push or engage them, so their CR pool is small and dwindling. Which makes the game more difficult for me to feel... involved in.
FM took a really strong slice of life turn and its never come back from it. Which is fine, but that's not the game I was promised originally. And as a player I'm... uninspired and thinking about dropping.
I do worry the head mods are burning out. And if that is the case then so many of us are happy to help, it's okay to reach out for help and inspiration. Or even take a step back if you need a break. There's no shame in taking care of yourselves! You're wellbeing is important and everything I'm saying is with the genuine hope to help.
More than anything though, I LOVE Folkmore. This game has let me meet amazing people, develop amazing CR, play out fun scenarios, and just chill. I just want the game to thrive and blossom.
I do think the like dream share pin event was fun, I did like the ghost down TDM, I thought the September event had a lot of potential but just didn't lean into it like it could have and had no real consequences, it was played too safe. You guys have an amazing game and great ideas, you just need to push them more instead of staying safe.
+1
For me, the only thing that draws out that development these days is player interaction (which is why I love this game so much, the players here are amazing!). But outside of the occasional gift from home you can receive, it feels like there is no direct reason to participate in events because the stakes never feel significant.
My favorite event since I've been here was the fae invasion. It had some of the best creative energy I'd seen from this game, with people taking a dozen different routes on how to approach a truly dangerous situation that everyone was stuck in. Of course I'm not saying all events should be that intense, but I just wanted to give an example of something I felt really worked.
I love this game, I love the player base so much, and I'm really grateful for the mods for running our silly Taylor Swift game, but I have been feeling a lot of the same things that Phen has about FM as a whole.
Re: Feedback
We had taken somewhat of a step back on the intensity given that was the overwhelming feedback the last time we had major feedback from the community. If most people want a return to greater intensity in the mix, we're happy to.
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Thank you very much for the response!
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Re: Feedback
+1
Re: Feedback
In the meantime, we'd love for everyone in the game to ponder what makes a trial intense for you/your character(s), what kinds of stakes/consequences interest you, and what lore about Folkmore you're most interested in.
Re: Feedback
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Thirteen narratively is present to challenge player characters and make them grow into something more. The events of the last year or more haven't reflected that narrative push.
When we did have an event with apparent consequences, everything was fixed very quickly, giving players no chance to actually take on the challenge of rebuilding the realm. Everything was a bit too comfortable and safe for characters in what was supposed to be an intense event.
The lack of communication is also a longstanding issue. I understand the mod team is genuinely juggling a BUNCH of stuff, so things slip between the cracks on occasion. I would personally like to see improvement regarding communication between players and mods/helpers behind the scenes.
As an example, I'd like to point to the lack of information about how player plots function/expectation from the mods. It was never communicated clearly to me that I was meant to post the player plot whenever I wanted. I was given the layout code for the player plot and a range of dates to work from, nothing more. I had been working under the assumption it would be posted by the mod team during the designated dates. If I did not personally know someone assisting the mod team, I wouldn't have known what was expected of me at all.
Following that same train of thought, I'm glad you're changing the application process regarding CWs, because I also struggled with this when my Kiriko app got revisions. It was very unclear to me what the mod team expected in terms of warnings, which dampened my excitement for the character, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who had that problem. So thank you very much for the update!
I genuinely appreciate the mods for cultivating a game intended to have as much freedom as possible and the ability for everyone to make their own experience. Every player has their own different CR pool and storylines going on all at the same time. I always find that genuinely awesome. Folkmore persists because of its themes, its setting, and the ability to do anything. I want to personally see the game flourish and become even better. I'm still here because I enjoy my CR pool and the setting.
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We were excited to have your player plot (and for the other one in the works). We hope more people will be inspired to do the same!
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I hope people are inspired too! Folkmore has so many possibilities, and player plots would just add to that beautifully! We're all here to play and encourage some shenanigans.
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I've had Steven research Folkmore and Thirteen for his entire time in the game, and it feels like that research is kind of pointless at times because we aren't given the opportunity to learn more about this world/Thirteen ICly, beyond vague information already available. I just think it would be really awesome if we could learn something new about Thirteen, her iterations, the creation of Folkmore... some cool lore!
I can't even imagine the pressure and hard work it takes to mod a game this big, so thanks for all that you do. I've never done it myself but I know it can be a lot of stress. I appreciate you taking the time to ask for and accept feedback!
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So, setting that aside, I wanted to express that I wish these Story of Us posts were monthly instead of every 2-3 months like they have been since this summer. Not only do these posts provide folks with the opportunity to provide their feedback, but I find the blurbs about the weather and setting information about certain regions to be helpful in orienting myself to what's happening in the game. It usually would spark ideas for me in writing prompts outside of trials to generate CR (or interact with existing!) based upon the lingering effects or consequences of trials, or just with the simple changing of the seasons. Since it's been moved to a bigger delay between posts though, I find myself a little more uncertain about outcomes, lingering effects, etc.
For example, I was under the impression that after September's trial, everything was back to normal generally by late October, early November because I haven't see any indicators in subsequent trials, mingles, TDMs, etc. that would suggest Folkmore is still recovering in a significant way. Which I did find a little odd because of the scale of destruction that was happening outside Amrita, but given the reduction of intensity in events, I figured that was likely part of an effort to maintain that lower intensity. But explicit mention of a rebuilding effort in this post leads me to believe that I was mistaken in that impression, and makes me feel I may have missed out on opportunities for other things beyond the trials as a result.
Basically tl;dr I find these posts to be really helpful OOC communication of important setting information that wouldn't make sense to put together/include in trial posting, and I would humbly request these returning to a monthly schedule if at all possible!