In the end, as has been pointed out in many varying forms, what things come down to is communication. The calendar I think is a fantastic idea, if we want to move forward.
One problem I've noticed in the past is that we never quite know WHEN something is going to happen. There is an element of surprise to be considered sometimes, sure - I definitely get that. However, plot posts appear without warning, and it can make it very difficult to plan player plots accordingly.
As well, the spread of information rarely feels even among players. This is not something I feel is intentional or even malicious to any degree. I have seen comments just today to the effect of it seeming like your involvement in the game can depend on who's on your Plurk timeline, and there have been incidents - both major and minor - in my time here where it felt as if information that SHOULD have been available to all players at hand simply wasn't.
I don't expect all plot details to be revealed, certainly not - I don't want them to be. So that's not what I'm saying. But what's known to be going on should be something that is more evenly distributed among players, and focused. Such things are not just contained to the plotting posts, which makes discovering them not the easiest thing in the world sometimes, depending on who you have on your timeline.
Some players have expressed they just don't know where to even put forth any involvement in things, and I can't blame them. That can feel daunting at times, even if you're active and making a conscious effort towards things. It is extremely easy to feel out of the loop sometimes, even if you read every single comment to a Plot Post, because things seem to spread out in so many different directions beyond that, and even then digging through the Question & Answer portion of the Plot Posts can be just as daunting.
A good for instance to that is the fact that, in one of the Plot Posts in the past month it was asked if a Vegas Vermini would trigger an echo. They could, and that was awesome - yet the next, subsequent Vegas-focused plot post made no mention of this in "potential echoes." So someone who just apped in might not even be aware that there was a potential echo right at their fingertips if they were in Vegas. It wasn't until the last Plot Post this was added in there, but it would probably have been helpful to people to have that clearly stated and up front already, since it was still a factor.
It's a small example, but it's what comes to mind off the top of my head.
This distribution of information applies not just to Player Plots, but things which reflect upon the world plot as well.
I think focusing the spread of information, knowing when we CAN focus in on our own plots or when we need to be ready to focus on the Game Plot would be helpful, in the end.
+1
One problem I've noticed in the past is that we never quite know WHEN something is going to happen. There is an element of surprise to be considered sometimes, sure - I definitely get that. However, plot posts appear without warning, and it can make it very difficult to plan player plots accordingly.
As well, the spread of information rarely feels even among players. This is not something I feel is intentional or even malicious to any degree. I have seen comments just today to the effect of it seeming like your involvement in the game can depend on who's on your Plurk timeline, and there have been incidents - both major and minor - in my time here where it felt as if information that SHOULD have been available to all players at hand simply wasn't.
I don't expect all plot details to be revealed, certainly not - I don't want them to be. So that's not what I'm saying. But what's known to be going on should be something that is more evenly distributed among players, and focused. Such things are not just contained to the plotting posts, which makes discovering them not the easiest thing in the world sometimes, depending on who you have on your timeline.
Some players have expressed they just don't know where to even put forth any involvement in things, and I can't blame them. That can feel daunting at times, even if you're active and making a conscious effort towards things. It is extremely easy to feel out of the loop sometimes, even if you read every single comment to a Plot Post, because things seem to spread out in so many different directions beyond that, and even then digging through the Question & Answer portion of the Plot Posts can be just as daunting.
A good for instance to that is the fact that, in one of the Plot Posts in the past month it was asked if a Vegas Vermini would trigger an echo. They could, and that was awesome - yet the next, subsequent Vegas-focused plot post made no mention of this in "potential echoes." So someone who just apped in might not even be aware that there was a potential echo right at their fingertips if they were in Vegas. It wasn't until the last Plot Post this was added in there, but it would probably have been helpful to people to have that clearly stated and up front already, since it was still a factor.
It's a small example, but it's what comes to mind off the top of my head.
This distribution of information applies not just to Player Plots, but things which reflect upon the world plot as well.
I think focusing the spread of information, knowing when we CAN focus in on our own plots or when we need to be ready to focus on the Game Plot would be helpful, in the end.