april newsletter

[officialnotice]

NEWSLETTER

Hello, Pinecones! It's time to kick off our third month with our second monthly newsletter. We have some reminders, some adjustments, and some brand new stuff for you today, not to mention this month's events - so take your time and read through this newsletter to get an idea of what we're in for throughout the rest of this month.

ANNOUNCEMENTS & MINUTIAE

a note about our mod team

As you may have read in the last Newsletter, we started the game a couple months ago short a mod and therefore opted to open mod applications again last month. Since then, we've brought Jeeps (jeeps) onto the team, and she has integrated fully into the game's upkeep and plotting. Those who follow the mod plurk (thepines) are probably aware of this change, but for those who aren't, we'd like to give a warm welcome to Jeeps and thank her for all of the contributions she's made so far!

Additionally, March gave us a whopping 30+ reserves, and the following app round was our biggest to date. In light of that fact, we've brought Jae (welzes) on as a tech mod specifically to help with the rush of our reserves and applications period. This will split up the massive tech workload that has so far been shouldered almost entirely by Lins.

You've likely also noticed that the last few weeks have shown a marked improvement in response time and general organization on the part of the mod team. Now that we're fully staffed, you can expect this to continue to improve over the month to come. However, if you see something that we seem to have missed, don't hesitate to bring it to our attention!

scheduling changes + important dates to remember

After a bit of discussion regarding our three rotating memes - the CR Meme on even-numbered months and the HMD/Love Meme combo on odd-numbered months - we've decided on a few changes that, to us, make a lot of sense. Firstly, the CR Meme will now be monthly and go up on the 3rd rather than the 7th. It was initially placed at the start of the second week in order to give new folks time to settle in before their first big meme, but given our false memory mechanic, we've decided that it might be more beneficial to give them this big plotting opportunity a little earlier on. This coincides with our decision to change the monthly Newsletter to the 3rd of each month as well, to spread out a few of the high-intensity modwork tasks associated with the turnover of the month.

Additionally, we've decided we'll no longer be doing the official HMD or Love Memes. The mod team strives to establish a relaxed, chill roleplay experience here in The Pines. This is why we've made our AC check-in only and have answered many of the questions we've gotten from players with some rendition of, 'Do whatever is most fun for you.' The presence of a gamewide HMD doesn't sit quite well with us in light of that. Going forward, we welcome any feedback otherwise meant for our mod HMD to be brought to the Mod Contact page instead, and any concrit for your fellow players may be taken to their personal HMD, if they happen to have one. The Love Meme was previously the flip-side of the HMD coin, and while it may still be posted occasionally (by mods or players alike), it too will be removed from our regular schedule of memes.

The scheduling of our Activity Check, however, remains unchanged. It will span from the 7th to the 14th, and points for rewards can include proofs from the entire month of March (not the beginning of April!). 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. Speaking of new players, they do need to check in and are more than welcome to claim their 50 Activity Points for completing the steps on their acceptance copypasta, though unfortunately they are unable to claim any threads they will have begun in the month of April (those will go toward next month's AC!).

new: deaths page

In light of the progression of metaplot and interest in the fete mechanic, we almost have our Deaths page up and running! It's in the final stages of processing and should be ready by the end of the 9th. With it includes a brief FAQ specifically pertaining to death and the fete mechanic, plus an overview of the disciplinary process and the items which qualify for disciplinary action.

Additionally, there's a field for individuals to 'tattle' on their characters. If your character is doing something that you feel might sketch out the people in charge, drop a line on this page and we'll let you know if anything disciplinary comes of it.

Hopefully this will soon clear up a few of the questions or uncertainties you might have!

update: housing page

As of this application round, the Housing page has been updated with a map which directly reflects the location of each house in relation to the others. Now you can see exactly who lives across the street and isn't mowing their lawn!

Additionally, we've opened up a whopping 54 new houses for player-characters to claim as their own. That has multiplied the available housing by about 2.4x, though many of these houses are single-bedroom mobile units. Still, it should be more than enough to last us through the end of the Arc. If it doesn't? We'll just have to improvise.

update: application process

Those who brought in new characters this round may have noticed that rather than linking to a 'tag request' page, we now simply assign individuals their comm tags in their acceptance notices. This is intended to streamline the list of chores each new applicant has to complete before they can play in the game.

Additionally, we've noticed a few trends in the revisions we're requesting in each app round, and that tells us we're likely not being entirely clear on what it is we're looking for in a couple of key sections. We'd like to take a moment to clear up a few points of interest for those intending to apply for a new character in the future:

• In WHAT ARE YOUR CHARACTER'S STRENGTHS? and WHAT ARE YOUR CHARACTER'S WEAKNESSES?, we're hoping for more than simply a bulleted list of traits. While we love bullet-point organization and by no means want to ask you to write us a novel for each question, a couple of sentences of elaboration on each listed trait will go a long way.


• In WHAT EVENTS OR CIRCUMSTANCES IN YOUR CHARACTER'S PAST HAVE IMPACTED THEM THE MOST?, we're hoping for more than simply a highly-condensed Cliff's Notes rendition of your character's history. Rather than listing a handful of events, consider cutting down to 1 - 3 and explaining why each one impacted the character as it did.


• In the future, we'd like to request that if you choose to link a sample, link just one per section. It often feels like you're covering your bases by linking two or three options to choose from, but it's actually a bit more difficult for us as mods to read through each of them properly.


• We also would like for it to be known that while we allow original characters to use the same application form as canon characters, we do hold them to a higher standard in judging their applications. If you're thinking of submitting an application for an OC in the future, consider expounding more on each answer than our examples may show.
We'll be updating the application copypasta to include these bits of advice in the appropriate sections to see if that helps during the next application round. Additionally, we'll be approaching a few of our playerbase for permission to use their applications as examples of what it is that we're looking for. It's entirely okay to decline - we would simply like to give applicants a better range of what we consider an acceptable app.

new: text-based network

From this month onward, pinesnet now allows for text-based posts in addition to audio ones. However, these are technically separate networks - the phone-based network is still exclusively audio, and a text post can't abruptly switch to audio, nor can an audio post abruptly switch to text. This new feature is detailed in full a few sections down. Our FAQ will be edited to reflect this change sometime in the next few days.

results: outbreak event

We've never been so proud of our playerbase as we were at the unfolding of our Outbreak event. As our first real metaplot-heavy event thus far in The Pines, we weren't entirely sure what to expect, nor how successful this puzzle-esque event format would be. Our playerbase really stepped it up, and the plot unfolded beautifully.

A brief reiteration of the status update delivered on the 1st:
• Due to the presence of 7 volunteers, which met our hidden criteria of 'more than 10% of the characters currently in The Pines,' the blood samples did in fact allow an antidote to be synthesized.


• The antidote was distributed to all patients currently in the hospital by the 29th of March, as well as all patients who visited the hospital but chose to suffer through their illness at home by the 30th.


• By now, the last vestiges of the symptoms will be disappearing, even for those who didn't go to the hospital. By mid-day tomorrow at the latest, everyone will be entirely free of their symptoms.
Additionally, the source of the symptoms was tracked down and studied (found in this top-level on the OOC post, particularly Jack's thread and below), with a brief summary of the event as follows:
Jack, Ibaraki, and Nyx find a body buried in the riverbank, debatably human. The cops are tipped off, but with help from a few others, they manage to smuggle it into Bucky Barnes's bathtub, where it's experimented on until it disappears.
For details, see the full timeline of events, listed on a separate page due to sheer length. This will be added to our Plot So Far page when we have a free minute, so if you were involved in this plot and threaded any of this out ICly, drop us a link and we can add it to the relevant spot once we get that page updated!

discussion of outbreak plot format

As we mentioned above, this event was largely a test-run for the mystery- or problem-solving event format, meant to help us assess whether or not we'd like to do more events like this in the future. We were sincerely hoping for it to go well, since it allows players to take part in the unfolding of the plot in a way that simply laying out all details upfront does not.

As we also mentioned above, this was a huge success as far as we're concerned. We base this conclusion on (1) the enthusiasm we witnessed on Plurk and on the Outbreak post itself, (2) the fact that the mystery we presented was 'solved' without details being spoonfed to the playerbase, and (3) the fact that 11 different individuals managed to get directly involved in the metaplot portion of this event, or put differently, just over 30% of our playerbase at the time.

As such, you can expect this plot format to make a frequent reappearance in the future, both during this immediate metaplot arc and in the more open-world story to follow.

When we implement it in gamewide events, the format will be pretty consistent:
• We will present an event at large, with circumstances for all characters and players to deal with as a whole. In this case, it was the set of symptoms cropping up in the population.


• Within that event will be one or more metaplot threads which can be pursued in one form or another. Sometimes, they will require thought or concrete expertise, such as in the Outbreak event, where the odds of discovering crucial clues skyrocketed if your character was educated in the fields of science or medicine. It wasn't impossible to work everything out otherwise, but it was more difficult. Other times, they will require physical capabilities, such as the ability to defend yourself in a hostile situation in order to achieve the available metaplot details. Sometimes, they will have to fill specific personal criteria, such as age, occupation, or frequented locations - this will be seen a couple of times in our non-event metaplot below. Still other times, the character will simply have to be willing to participate, maybe even do something gutsy. The criteria will vary each time, in order to encourage participation from people who might not have had the opportunity just yet.


• In instances where volunteers are requested and only one is needed, we will give priority to individuals who have yet to be able to participate in metaplot, provided that preference makes sense ICly (for example, if no prior metaplot knowledge is needed). If multiple volunteers fit equally well, we'll RNG.


• For instances in which a mystery must be solved, we will answer questions normally until an individual has 'picked up the trail' (see: Jack's above-linked Q&A thread).


• Once volunteers are selected and/or someone has discovered the first real clues, we will essentially 'DM' the situation as we did with Outbreak. This is a much more in-depth segment in which the plot-relevant segment is worked out OOCly in a rapid-fire manner. The player says, "My character would X." The mod responds with, "Your character, after doing X, will find Y and Z." Multiple players can get involved in one such thread, chiming in when applicable and receiving responses accordingly.


• Characters are, of course, then welcome to thread what they've discovered. We choose to establish the series of events on an OOC level first so that all participants are on the same page and so that the metaplot discovery is not held up by the speed at which a thread unfolds. This hopefully takes the pressure off of the involved players as well, removing the element of time-sensitivity and allowing them to tag at their own speed.
The Outbreak event had just one metaplot thread to pursue. Going forth, each main event will have at least three to allow more individuals to participate, though non-event metaplot happenings may still be limited to one.

( ! ) Thanks for bearing with us through this semi-lengthy explanation. One of our top priorities as a team is to be as transparent as possible with our playerbase, and that includes making sure everyone understands what to expect from our game going forward!

APRIL IN WAYWARD PINES

an overview

Things have gotten a little... tense, since a body turned up at the riverside. Almost as if, despite the prevailing not-quite-rightness of the town at large, this crossed something of an unspoken line and left many citizens unsure how to cope. Two new policemen have been hired, and police presence as a whole has increased throughout the town, with the declared intent of preventing the fate of the poor soul found by the river from befalling any more residents of Wayward Pines.

Fortunately, the first truly sunny weather of the year helps elate the town a bit - and by mid-month, the riverbank crime scene is the least of anyone's worries.

the weather

Finally, finally the cold seems to have passed for good. April in Wayward Pines is largely sunny, with the occasional scattered showers. Overall, the skies are peaceful and clear... Whatever storm front rocked our sweet suburb in March seems to be nothing but a distant memory.

More specifically, the days are split 60/40 between sunny and cloudy skies, with brief showers (two hours or less) twice a week and a genuine rainfall (lasting through an entire morning, afternoon, or evening) bi-weekly.

the town

All in all, there are no particularly large celebrations this month. Easter takes place on the 16th, and many of the shops have discounts on candy or Easter-themed specials. Passover spans from the 10th through the 18th. The 22nd is Earth Day, and the school sends each child home with a tiny little tree to plant in their yard... Though not all of them make it that far, and you'll find clumsily-planted knee-high trees in a number of questionably chosen locations - maybe even your own front yard!

Now that the snow has melted, a couple of different fundraising organizations are running car washes in local parking lots, so consider getting your car washed to support a good cause.

For individuals looking for a job, Wayward Pines Academy seems to be hiring a new janitor or two. Snap that up while you can! The work's a little gross, but it pays alright.

the 'town hall is listening' project

In light of the recent blow to our town's morale, Wayward Pines officials are rolling out the Town Hall Is Listening project. The goal? To show the citizens of Wayward Pines that the folks down at Town Hall are ready and willing to hear their wants and needs! In order to do this, they're allowing citizens to vote each month on a project to better the town of Wayward Pines, and the winner is implemented to the very best of your local government's ability. They will provide a small handful of options, but options proposed by other individuals will also be available to be voted on. If the winning suggestions are lewd or farfetched, the runner-up will be implemented instead. So please, don't Dub the Dew this opportunity to have an actual say in the town y'all live in.

To implement this project, every citizen will receive a laptop computer in a tidy little box on their doorstep. It has all of the expected functionality of a Windows 98 laptop of late 90's build, but for the fact that in place of a browser with the internet at your fingertips, this laptop provides two basic connective functions:

FUNCTION 1: Let Town Hall Hear You!
Denoted by a building-shaped icon on the desktop simply labeled Town Hall!, this option allows an individual to directly access Town Hall's monthly poll and vote therein.

On an OOC level, this will come in the form of a single network entry posted near the start of the month, complete with a poll. The poll will be edited to reflect any new ideas presented within the post, putting those ideas up for vote as well.

FUNCTION 2: Message Boards! The town of Wayward Pines has achieved an unprecedented level of technology: The ability to communicate with your peers in a text-based medium.

On an OOC level, it was mentioned above but it's important to reiterate that text posts and audio posts cannot intermix. They come from different sources (phones vs. message boards), so it is unfortunately impossible to switch a thread from text to audio or vice versa. In general, just assume that a post on the message board is structured like a DWRP entry (or Reddit, in fact) with threads in response to top-level replies. This is not how traditional message boards work, but the alternative here is one single ongoing thread with every individual who participates, and no one wants that.
Along with these laptops is a typefaced note explaining the project and thanking individuals in advance for their help in the betterment of our little town.

a reward for good behavior

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

Keep up the good work, folks!

other things of note

The full moon this month occurs on April 11th.

Flyers have been posted in most public locations, asking "Have you seen this man?" and sporting an employee photo of the former janitor of Wayward Pines Academy. According to the sheet, Dennis Kildorf has been presumed missing since at least the 27th of March, when he failed to show up for work. If your character attends or works at Wayward Pines Academy, they'll likely remember "Mr. D" in a positive light, as a hard worker with a good sense of humor. I wonder where he's gone?

In other news, the sheriff seems to have set a couple of his men to combing the woods through most of the daylight hours. What are they looking for? We have a metaplot volunteer opportunity for those who would like to find out. If you'd like to take part and your character has any reason to be in the woods, whether they frequent the area or just want to take a stroll through the trees, drop a line in the relevant top-level below!

APRIL EVENT OVERVIEW

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!)

ENVIRONMENT EVENT

the flood

APRIL 12TH - 26TH(?)

On the 12th, a resounding crack echoes from above the cliffs surrounding the little town of Wayward Pines, and inside of an hour, the snowmelt from the mountains above begins to pour over the northern cliffs like a busted dam. The flooding permeates the forest, overflows the river, even creeps down the town's northern streets. It's bad enough already... And then comes the falling debris.

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

QUESTIONS

[officialnotice]

Ask all questions you might have right here in this post!

Remember, more details on the month's event will be available with the official write-up shortly before the event begins.

Network Question

[royalpassport]

Just to clarify: can characters send PMs to each other/have private or filtered threads? (which is to say, private/filtered from other citizens; I assume any network communication is still being monitored, the same way the phones are)

[officialnotice]

Yes, they can! Let's just say it's a built-in function of the message boards. :)

the missing janitor.

[quivers]

Kate here has an impulsive detective's streak about her, so once she'd hear about missing people, she'd instantly find the need to help out with that. Though she tends to act on her own for the most part, she sometimes also volunteers her assistance to local law enforcement officers (she can be annoying about it too). Would it be alright for her to do so?

Also - if she were to pursue trying to find the missing man, is there any contact information on the sheet of relatives or loved ones that may have posted the flyer? Anyone she might be able to contact directly to get further information? Or would it simply give the Academy as the best hint for this?

[officialnotice]

Yes, she is welcome to do so, as far as the mods are concerned. The Sheriff will likely try to dissuade her from going out in the woods, saying they're dangerous, but would be receptive enough to her attempts to investigate around town.

It seemed that Dennis was a bachelor and lived alone (with a cat, who was found lurking pitifully outside despite being an inside cat and has since been taken into custody pending a new home). His coworkers at the Academy are your best bet, honestly.

Just a heads-up that this subplot is a sliver of the metaplot itself, and as such, Kate's actions may have long-term ramifications depending on how she chooses to proceed! We just wanted to make sure you're aware. o/

general snooping question

[fidelis]

If Sam were to go hunting for census records at the library and/or city hall, would he find anything what would he find? Any records at all?

[officialnotice]

Sorry for the delay, we've been a bit scattered over the holiday weekend! We're working on a response to both of your questions, and we'll get back to you within the next day or so.

[officialnotice]

Funnily enough, there isn't really a census or records of that sort of any kind. Any attempt to ask the people working at the library or town hall will be met with the run around about how to find them, and any snooping on his own will turn up nothing. They're probably just kept somewhere the public can't access. For some reason.

[fidelis]

Another question(ish): Sam is increasingly likely to go to the sheriff's office and request the records of the accident(s). Do they exist and would he be able to see them?

[officialnotice]

If they exist, he wouldn't be allowed to see them, and multiple attempts to badger the office about being able to see them will get the Sheriff's eye on him.

METAPLOT VOLUNTEERS!

[officialnotice]

If your character has any reason to be in the woods in the first half of this month and you would like to take part in a potential metaplot thread, volunteer here!

Volunteering closes on the 8th, at which point we'll be selecting 3 volunteers from the available pool and getting in touch on how to proceed.

To volunteer, please state the name of your character, how often they're in the woods, and what they tend to do while they're out there (e.g. hiking? Camping? Going for a walk to clear their head?).

Re: METAPLOT VOLUNTEERS!

[singly]

Name: Malia Tate

When/how often: She visits the woods most days (usually alone, but she's thrown out offers of going there to other people, too), generally during daylight hours but occasionally at night

What she does there: Walks, wanders about and investigates anything out of the ordinary. Hikes if the terrain calls for it. I've notably had her not venture out too far because of sounds she heard from afar, too. I suppose her reasoning for going there could be summed up as clearing her head, but it goes deeper than that what with her natural connection to forests in general. It's the one place she can simply be herself without all the extra WTF-ery of Pines memories. It's PEACEFUL even in its creepiness. :') At least to a werecoyote.

Re: METAPLOT VOLUNTEERS!

[royalpassport]

Name: Jefferson
When: Now that he has more memories back and is starting to actually believe them more, Jefferson's started going into the woods several days a week, likely in the mornings or evenings, though he makes sure not to be out there once the sun's down.
What: EXPLORING. MAPPING. Like he used to do in Storybrooke... If/when he runs into anyone else, he says he's just going for a walk/enjoying nature.

[banshe]

name: Lydia Martin
how often: Most days after school, Lydia will go often into the woods on her own. If she can't sleep, sometimes she'll wander in there late in the night on impulse.
what: Ever since the screams and the hearing of the voices, Lydia finds herself wanting to figure out whether she's crazy or not. Now knowing about the body that was found, she goes into the woods in hopes of hearing more voices or anything that can possibly tell her something more.

[comic_relief]

Name: Jack

Jack's also growing more and more interested in snooping around the areas outside town, woods included, and he might make appearances a couple times a week to investigate the weird shit that's been going on. This includes sneaking out at night (provided the popo doesn't intercept him), which he passes off as innocently sightseeing.

Re: METAPLOT VOLUNTEERS!

[babyhunter]

Name: Clary Fray
When/What: Clary is an art student and she's constantly looking for things to draw. She'll go into the woods (though how far depends on the day and what she can find) and she'll spend a few hours drawing until it's how she wants it to look. The woods are a great inspiration, she likes drawing things that are there and then adding to them like adding wings to a person or drawing said person on horse back. It's nice and she does this about twice a week for a few hours, either after school or on the weekends.

Re: METAPLOT VOLUNTEERS!

[bechdelpls]

Name: Sam Seaborn
How Often: Fairly frequently, every other day if not every day now that the sun is coming out.
What do: He argues with himself, mostly. Wanders around debating the veracity of his feelings and memories, questions whether or not he has the right to mourn a sister he just remembered when her kid is in his care and how guilty he should feel for forgetting her, THAT SORT OF THING.

Name: Sarah Wenham
How Often: Once or twice a week.
What do: She's probably taking pictures, picnicking, drawing, hiking. Hiking in combination with photography.

[officialnotice]

Sarah was one of our RNG winners! Toss a reply up here and we'll go from there.

[coy]

caroline is in the woods a few times a week, hunting wrascally wabbits for their blood!

[toten_sie]

Randel Oland
Pretty often, mostly just walking around or enjoying a little time away from people. He also might be out there sleeping since his inclination is pretty much to sleep anywhere but in his house and with all the cops around, he'll more than likely hide there if he can.

[abnormalsadist]

Shiba Reiichirou. He'll be going for a walk, probably practicing his knife skills while vandalizing some trees with marks,

SELECTED VOLUNTEERS, CHECK IN HERE!

[officialnotice]

If you were selected above, drop in here with a list of days your character would possibly be found in the woods from the 9th to the 15th!

Once you do, we'll drop in and walk you through what happens. :)

[abnormalsadist]

10th, 11th, 13th because what is attending school.

[toten_sie]

10,11,12th!

Re: SELECTED VOLUNTEERS, CHECK IN HERE!

[bechdelpls]

9th, 10th, 14th,15th!