march newsletter

[officialnotice]

Hey, Pinecones! Hope you enjoyed your first month here in The Pines - and for those of you just joining us, we hope you enjoy March and the start of our metaplot!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

an important notice from gwiggs

Hey everyone, Gwiggs here.

As some of you may be aware, I haven't had a functional computer for some time now. My laptop had the misfortune to die at the start of February, literally hours before the game began.

I've been trying to stay active in the game and be an asset to the rest of the mod team for the last month or so on my phone alone, in the hopes that I'd soon be able to afford a new computer and I could pick up where I'd left off. Unfortunately, various aspects of my life (multiple car repairs, rent, and other life expenses) have made it clear that I won't have the money to get one anytime soon.

In addition to that, I really haven't been able to carry my weight on the mod team with the way things are. Trace, Lins and Mel have put a lot of hard work into this game, and they deserve better than to have me hanging around being dead weight.

And so, after this application round, I will be stepping down as a moderator of The Pines.

My time as a mod was brief, but I enjoyed the opportunity to set up this game for you all and I learned a lot as I did so. I wish you all the best as the game moves forward.

mod applications are now open

As a team, we've been struggling with the unforeseeable loss of manpower in our ability to keep up an acceptable standard of modding essentially since before game opened, as our playerbase has undoubtedly seen. We anticipated it being temporary, but it unfortunately turned into more of a long-term issue, and whether or not Gwiggs felt able to continue to mod, we were sorely considering bringing on an additional mod to help us out.

In light of that, Mod Applications have been reopened! While the page is the same as the pre-game mod applications, we've edited the information in handful of places (most notably the 'what should you expect' section and the (NEW!) point under 'what are we looking for?'). If you submitted an application before and are still interested, leave a note on the page to let us know.

( ! ) Mod applications will be open for one week, closing at 12:01 AM EST on March 10th.

activity rewards page

Our Activity Rewards page is now up and running! Take some time to tally up the threads you've done and the points you've earned in February, if you'd like. Your first chance to confirm and redeem them falls in this month's Activity Check, taking place from the 7th to the 14th.

This is essentially a highly-simplified Version 1.0 of our Activity Rewards system, and will likely be updated in the future as we figure out what works, what doesn't, and what could possibly improve it. We are absolutely open to suggestions on possible ways for people to earn points, as well as rewards you might like to see.

implementing catch-all event logs

We've noticed that in our experience in this game and in others, events which have designated event logs that people can post their own top-levels within typically spark more participation in the event's activities. On top of that, it's a tidy and convenient way to corral all of the threads for that event into a single catch-all rather than a series of relevant posts on the comm.

That being said, we'll henceforth be providing catch-all logs for each event for our players to utilize and enjoy, complete with scene-setting details that the OOC event posts might not have covered. These will generally go up on the day of the event (at 12:01 AM EST). This brings our catch-all log count up to 3 per month: intro log, event 1 log, and event 2 log.

other new things in march

This month will have our first Activity Check, as mentioned above! It will span from the 7th to the 14th, and will include the entire month of February (not the beginning of March). We selected the second week of the month to give new players a little time to settle in before we hit them with an Activity Check, even just a check-in one.

Also on the 7th, we'll be having our first How's My Driving & Love Meme. These will always occur on the 7th of each odd-numbered month, while the CR Meme occurs on the 7th of each even-numbered month. These memes are not mandatory, though we do encourage our players to be open to constructive criticism to foster a positive environment for all.

feedback!

While we do have a Mod Contact post to receive feedback at any time, we'd like to open the floor to our players here in a more discussion-based medium, in case anyone has any early-game feedback they'd like to run by us and your fellow players. We know of a few issues we're running into and we're taking steps to fix them (largely detailed in the segments above + one segment below), but that doesn't mean we can see or know everything that's going on from the player side of things.

There will be a top-level dedicated to feedback and discussion on this post, though you're under no pressure whatsoever to use it if nothing is coming to mind.

MARCH IN WAYWARD PINES

an overview

In general, all is relatively calm in the quaint little mountain suburb of Wayward Pines. This month in particular brings some difficult weather, a little bit of noise pollution, a festival with a penchant for the color green, and the disappearance of a not-quite-familiar face.

the weather

In a cold flash that seems to only mildly bemuse most of Wayward Pines's residents, the weather is nippy at best for much of this month. It doesn't snow again after the lesser blizzard last month, but this weather may very well be worse.

• 1st - 7th: Cloudy during the day, frigid once night falls. Definitely coat-and-gloves weather. A sprinkle of rain picks up on the 5th, seems to disappear on the 6th, and comes back on the 7th with reinforcements in the form of a full-fledged hailstorm.


• 8th - 14th: A tiny bit warmer, but not by much. We've earned a couple of hours of warm sunshine at midday, and even the occasional rain seems slightly less biting. (Note: The skies are clear on the 10th and 11th for the Skills Fair! See the 'events' section below.)


• 15th - 22nd: That sunshine? It came at a cost. The 16th brings an even bigger storm than before, with high winds, thunder, lightning, sleet and hail. Wherever you are at the time (*), you might want to stay there. Looking on the bright side (ba-dum tshhh), the weather seems to warm up quite a bit after the storm rolls through. Not yet enough to get rid of the snow, but enough to go outside without seeing your breath during nearly any of the daylight hours.


• 23rd - 31st: Now, now we're getting the real sunny weather. Granted, the hours of direct sunlight are vastly limited throughout the morning in the current residential area by the steep cliffs to the east, but it's still enough to hopefully make up for the terrible weather earlier in the month. The occasional brief rainshowers have warmed up too, enough to melt away at the top of the snow.

Speaking of the snow: While it has long since stopped falling from the sky and much of it has been delegated to drifts on the side of the road or in the center of someone's yard, temperatures haven't risen quite enough yet to melt the snow build-up altogether. The remaining 3 feet melt at a painstaking rate over the course of the month, down to 32 inches by the 7th, 25 inches by the 14th, and 20 inches by the 21st. By the end of the month, only three inches remain.

the town

On the 17th, Main Street will be closed off to all vehicle traffic for a St. Patrick's Day street fair. This will include local produce or treats (including the obligatory chocolate-fudge vendor and the guy selling homemade hot sauce) and crafts of various kinds, as well as live music and interactive activities. Players are welcome to be creative on what exact activities they'll find, as long as the activities could reasonably be seen in a small-town St. Patty's Day celebration. Though the streets are still more than a little bit damp in the wake of the previous day's thunderstorm, that doesn't seem to deter any of the festivities. In fact, a few people are liberally dispersing what looks a lot like Mardi Gras beads, and the innocent-seeming street fair cranks up to a much more hectic celebration come sundown, with loud music and dancing all through Main Street.

The local TV station is putting out a casting call for anyone who might be interested in starring in a local broadcast show of some kind. If you or your character might be interested, reply to the relevant top-level on this post!

Additionally, many restaurants are selling fish-based meals for cheap on Fridays throughout the month, in honor of Lent.

a reward for good behavior

As we've not heard of anyone causing too much trouble so far, it's safe to say that everyone whose weapons were confiscated on the 1st of February will receive them one morning early this week, wrapped neatly in a box and accompanied by a note expressing appreciation for their good citizenship despite the stress and confusion their unfortunate case of amnesia must have caused.

Keep up the good work, folks!

update: the packrat

Due to the feedback we received on the Packrat mechanic and the fact that the mod who played him is leaving the team, we'll be retiring this mechanic and NPC for now. He may return on a later date with a different purpose, but for now, we'll be saying goodbye to his questionable antics and his shady old pick-up truck.

Everyone attempting to barter for their items in the log can assume that the items were received, and everyone who didn't will receive a package on their doorstep (alongside the one containing their weapons, if any weapons were returned) containing the item he stole. Those who bartered items to the packrat and who would, on an OOC level, like those items back can assume that they too are in a box (or multiple boxes) on the doorstep.

To the sorry fuck who traded multiple pieces of tacky furniture: Enjoy your newfound inability to step out your front door. :')

Any items returned this way are accompanied by a note stating that a sizeable stash of goods has been apprehended and that as far as they can tell, these items belong to you, and apologizing for the hassle a guy in a run-down pick-up truck may or may not have put you through.

other things of note

The full moon this month is on March 12th.

Observant individuals riding out the storm on the 16th in the Main Street area will hear three separate instances of the mysterious screaming from the woods - an occurrence typically only documented once per week, and absent altogether during the heaviest snow.

The City of Wayward Pines is also undertaking a minor construction project to stabilize a large section of riverbank in anticipation of a spike in water level due to the melting snow, and various loud sounds can be heard just north of the hospital from the 15th - 20th.

MARCH EVENT OVERVIEW

(Note that these are very brief summaries of the events to come this month. The full write-up for each event will be released in its own individual post 5 - 7 days prior to the start of the event!)

CR EVENT                       skills fair                       MARCH 11TH

On the 11th, the town of Wayward Pines is holding a skills fair in the park. What better way to form friendships and lasting bonds than to teach others a skill that you hold near and dear to your heart? Everyone is encouraged to get together, pick a couple of skills you're really good at, and teach others how to do those skills. This can be anything from knitting to painting to self-defense to bad jokes. Even weapons training, though the town of Wayward Pines would like it to be known that if anyone gets hurt at the skills fair, even 'by accident', the culprit's weapons will once again be confiscated.

Don't forget: The bylines laid out by the Official Notice are still in effect, so asking one another 'where they learned to do that' might not be the wisest idea.

ENVIRONMENT EVENT        foreign contaminant        MARCH 22ND - ???

Something's wrong. Townsfolk and player-characters alike are coming down with some rather alarming physical symptoms... But what's causing them, and how can it be fixed?

(This is the first of our monthly metaplot-relevant events, most of which will take player participation and characters' actions into account in figuring out the event's overall outcome.)

That about should cover it, but if it doesn't, feel free to ask questions! Questions specific to this month's happenings can go in the 'QUESTIONS' top-level, and the FAQ is always open for questions too.

Comments

[overfivethousand]

Can characters join the construction crews working to stabilize the riverbank for some cash? I figure 10K's been doing odd jobs, and it just sounds like it'd be a good way to explore more of the town/folk without looking suspicious AF :D

[officialnotice]

Yes. In fact, remind us of this a little closer to time (like the 13th or 14th) and we've got a little extra surprise for you that you just happen to have tripped over.

[overfivethousand]

YAY! Wait...that sounds kinda...ominous?? I retract 10% of that yay.

[officialnotice]

It's just a bit ominous, yes. :') We'll be sure to let you know far enough in advance to opt out if it turns out to be a surprise you'd rather not participate in.

[overfivethousand]

Chances are I'm down, what is RP without a little suffering and horrifying consequences. I'll drop you a line this weekend to get the heads up! :D