I've stayed out of this up until now because I've been processing a lot of thoughts on the issue, and because I don't want to get into a back-and-forth on it... I kind of just want to leave this here.
One thing that is important to me: I hope that Damned remains a disability-friendly game. The slow pace, lax AC, and low number of simultaneous threads to juggle per character have made it uniquely friendly among LJ games to people who have disabilities, especially those that might actually and unpredictably interfere with someone's functional ability to post. I would not like to see AC requirement changes that take Damned from being a game where you can work around things like that with the understanding of your threadmates to being a game that requires so much activity that it's impossible for people with those issues to stick around. (I feel like this would be a factor for me sometimes, but honestly probably not enough that I would consistently fail AC or anything; I'm just thinking from the perspective of these problems.)
It's one thing if a game has always been that way--but it's another when it's a paradigm shift that makes a game unwelcoming or unworkable for a chunk of its playerbase. Also, some elements of this discussion have gone in the direction of redefining "doing the best you can," which makes me kind of uncomfortable in and of itself: a lot of people have been told for a long time, regardless of the nature of their issue (family, work, health, etc), that they best they can do is good enough, and that RL>RP always, and now they're being told (not necessarily by the same people) that that wasn't actually true after all. NGL, that is disheartening, especially when it seems to me like two-way communication is still the biggest problem with lagged or dropped threads.
That said, it's important to acknowledge that even when everyone else is being as empathetic as they can, sometimes the best someone can do still isn't good enough, and that is what it is: When does an individual player, regardless of their personal hardships, need to call it a day? When you redefine that line in a way that can make gameplay more demanding for some people, you risk alienating the players who are used to the line's former location, even if they can meet the new demands. It's something I would like to see being handled with extreme sensitivity.
Some other stuff!:
- If you are waiting on the other player in a lagged thread, approach them. It's possible to say, "Hey, were we going to continue with this?" or "Can we make a plan for the rest of the thread?" without being a jerk. Most slower players everywhere are sheepish about their lag, and would appreciate it if they weren't always expected to take the initiative.. I'm not denying that they should also be communicating. However, it's better to reach out to them than to fester about them not reaching out to you.
- It helps to get into a new shift as soon as possible. I've been working to improve my own activity lately, and this has been the single most vital factor. A lot of us have gotten in the habit of considering a shift during DS to be a window in which to start the inevitable backthread, rather than treating a shift as the period of time in which we're going to try to accomplish the majority of the thread. With NS, the delay seems to be about breathing room after a hectic DS.
- Following on that, if you find yourself oblivious to the schedule and events, pinning the game's main community for notifs--or just pinning the "intercom" and "radio" tags on the main comm and then the "mod" tag on the lounge--can help a lot. I understand that there may be a general impression that LJ notifs are completely unreliable, but that's not usually the case for most people who use them; they're at least worth a try.
- Don't worry about your post length, just do what's appropriate for your character and give the other player something to work with. I write long posts because I have to analyze a lot of info for my character to be IC. I promise, as a tl;dr poster, that I love getting a short post back; it makes my life easier.
no subject
One thing that is important to me: I hope that Damned remains a disability-friendly game. The slow pace, lax AC, and low number of simultaneous threads to juggle per character have made it uniquely friendly among LJ games to people who have disabilities, especially those that might actually and unpredictably interfere with someone's functional ability to post. I would not like to see AC requirement changes that take Damned from being a game where you can work around things like that with the understanding of your threadmates to being a game that requires so much activity that it's impossible for people with those issues to stick around. (I feel like this would be a factor for me sometimes, but honestly probably not enough that I would consistently fail AC or anything; I'm just thinking from the perspective of these problems.)
It's one thing if a game has always been that way--but it's another when it's a paradigm shift that makes a game unwelcoming or unworkable for a chunk of its playerbase. Also, some elements of this discussion have gone in the direction of redefining "doing the best you can," which makes me kind of uncomfortable in and of itself: a lot of people have been told for a long time, regardless of the nature of their issue (family, work, health, etc), that they best they can do is good enough, and that RL>RP always, and now they're being told (not necessarily by the same people) that that wasn't actually true after all. NGL, that is disheartening, especially when it seems to me like two-way communication is still the biggest problem with lagged or dropped threads.
That said, it's important to acknowledge that even when everyone else is being as empathetic as they can, sometimes the best someone can do still isn't good enough, and that is what it is: When does an individual player, regardless of their personal hardships, need to call it a day? When you redefine that line in a way that can make gameplay more demanding for some people, you risk alienating the players who are used to the line's former location, even if they can meet the new demands. It's something I would like to see being handled with extreme sensitivity.
Some other stuff!:
- If you are waiting on the other player in a lagged thread, approach them. It's possible to say, "Hey, were we going to continue with this?" or "Can we make a plan for the rest of the thread?" without being a jerk. Most slower players everywhere are sheepish about their lag, and would appreciate it if they weren't always expected to take the initiative.. I'm not denying that they should also be communicating. However, it's better to reach out to them than to fester about them not reaching out to you.
- It helps to get into a new shift as soon as possible. I've been working to improve my own activity lately, and this has been the single most vital factor. A lot of us have gotten in the habit of considering a shift during DS to be a window in which to start the inevitable backthread, rather than treating a shift as the period of time in which we're going to try to accomplish the majority of the thread. With NS, the delay seems to be about breathing room after a hectic DS.
- Following on that, if you find yourself oblivious to the schedule and events, pinning the game's main community for notifs--or just pinning the "intercom" and "radio" tags on the main comm and then the "mod" tag on the lounge--can help a lot. I understand that there may be a general impression that LJ notifs are completely unreliable, but that's not usually the case for most people who use them; they're at least worth a try.
- Don't worry about your post length, just do what's appropriate for your character and give the other player something to work with. I write long posts because I have to analyze a lot of info for my character to be IC. I promise, as a tl;dr poster, that I love getting a short post back; it makes my life easier.