intothepines | june newsletter!

NEWSLETTER

Hello, Pinecones! It's time for our June 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

arc I endgame!
Since we opened in February, we've advertised this first ~6 month stretch as an introductory arc, for metaplot to unfold and for characters to uncover the truth behind the town of Wayward Pines. While we've largely advertised July as the month in which Arc I would come to a close, we've also shaped the game in a way that would organically allow that endgame events to come earlier (or even later), depending on the attitudes and actions of our player-characters.

This month will mark the end of the introductory arc — an event that many of your characters helped to catalyze. That means this month will be pretty eventful, both ICly and behind the scenes. We're doing the best we can to anticipate this and prepare in advance, but some things can only really be done once we know what comes of this month's events, and we appreciate your patience as we get ready to work this game through the most intense changes it's seen since before it opened.

new mod: welcome liz
Those who follow thepines might already be aware, but we wanted to officially welcome Liz (bloodfort) as the newest mod to join our core team! She's currently helping review applications, answering some FAQs, answering Activity Rewards requests, helping with the Crime & Punishment page, and a handful of other jobs that keep us running smoothly! In the future, she'll be helping us run plot for y'all, so look forward to that.

update: application process
On Thursday, we made a crucial announcement regarding the outcome of this latest application round. In it, we apologized for a pretty fundamental mistake we've been making regarding the line between revisions and outright rejection, and we detailed the various steps involved in the solution we'd reached.

As such, you might notice some adjustments to the wording in our Application Guidelines, as well as our selection of example applications available for perusal, over the next couple of weeks. These don't reflect a change in application standards so much as a step in hopefully the right direction to make our guidelines as informative and representative as possible.

Additionally, we've made the decision to cap applications at 30 for the application round at the end of June, in anticipation of the heightened workload of the Arc I → II transition. It's a pretty small number, we know. This is a temporary change, spanning June's application round and possibly July's if the transition still has us on the ropes. Following that, we will either increase the cap (most likely to 40 applications per round) or lift the cap altogether. The status of the application cap for the month will be announced in each Newsletter henceforth until it reaches the cap or lack thereof that we intend to use throughout the foreseeable future.

Finally, we've brought Laura (brisket) and Ros (weeyotch) onto the team as application mods, in order to cut down on the time it takes to review and process applications. We plan to continue to close applications 48 hours early as we did this round, and with the addition of these app mods, we hope to make sure that even those who receive revisions will make it through in time to introduce themselves both ICly and OOCly on or before the 1st.

poll: event catch-all logs
A few months ago, we introduced the catch-all log as a hub for all threads pertaining to a given event. However, we've noticed that these haven't quite gotten the traction that our outright mingle logs (intro logs, gatherings, etc) tend to have.

So we're opening the floor up to you, the players. Should we continue to post event catch-all logs? The alternative, as we see it, would be to exclusively post the intro log and other relatively location-specific 'mingle logs'. Example mingle logs include our St. Paddy's Day fest, or the End-Of-The-School-Year Trip log going up early this month.

Go ahead and let us know what you think in the relevant top-level on this post!

results: sudden recall event
While the Sudden Recall event offered no volunteer-based avenues of investigation, many players and characters found ways to get involved of their own accord.

A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE EVENT'S VARIOUS RELEVANT HAPPENINGS THUS FAR:

Laura posted a network post informing the town of the tracking device in everyone's leg. It was taken down almost immediately.

Steve Rogers & Poe Dameron posted their own network post, re: janitor Dennis Kildorf's crimes (or lack thereof), the wall and what might lay beyond, and the general communication embargo the town has thus far upheld. This too was quickly taken down, and before long, the Sheriff himself came knocking. But Steve & Poe were ready, with Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, and one of the Clint Bartons waiting in the wings (no pun intended). The conversation... could have gone worse. It also could've gone a lot better. Like if they hadn't spontaneously passed out and (in the cases of Sam and Clint) potentially fallen off the roof. Steve and Poe failed their first integration, while the others earned a week in jail.

Katniss Everdeen made yet another network post, claiming to have found a way out. Katniss was, in fact, full of shit. However, her efforts split police attention further still.

Pietro Maximoff made some... sort... of political statement? It ended about how you might expect.

Under cover of the distraction provided by Casa de Shitstir, Nyx Ulric, Cassian Andor, and Crowe Altius successfully cut power and broke into Town Hall, with intent to speak to Mayor Townsend. Quite a bit was revealed there, but unfortunately, he too seemed baffled by the mystery surrounding our humble little mountain town.

David Haller threw a fairly sizeable tantrum. He failed his first integration.

Two attempts were made to investigate the hospital. The investigations are still ongoing, but security is pretty tight...

Two attempts were also made to investigate the police station, both of which are also still ongoing.

Overall, this event may have had the best turnout so far! More than enough to kick in the Arc I endgame a little ahead of schedule. You've made your mods proud. :')

JUNE IN WAYWARD PINES

an overview
While on the surface, Wayward Pines is the same sunny mountain suburb it's been all along, you'd have to be willfully blind to miss the undercurrent of unrest, unease, even fear. The town seems to balance on a precipice, and the mist is too thick to see where it might land if it falls.

Coincidentally, it's about to do precisely that.

the weather
The months-long battle between sun and rain has finally come to a head. June is filled almost entirely with sunny days — in fact, it's the kind of heat you'll do well to avoid staying out in for long. The daily high spans from 64 - 98 degrees Fahrenheit, with an average of 88 degrees.

the town
At Wayward Pines Academy, the school year is getting out just in time to enjoy this gorgeous weather, and they're celebrating the close of another successful year with a good old-fashioned camping trip. This begins with a field day on the 8th, open for any citizen of Wayward Pines to come join the fun. Following that, any students, teachers, and staff who wish to join depart to the woods for some campfire fun, so to all the kids and teens out there: be sure to get your permission slip signed! A mingle log will be posted for the camping trip, which spans the evenings of the 8th, 9th, and 10th... At least in theory.

In other news, Father's Day is on the 18th, and fathers (or father figures) get discounts or even eat for free in many of the fine dining establishments found on Main Street. The Summer Solstice, meanwhile, comes on the 20th, in case you'd like to pencil bitching about the inevitable shortening of days into your busy schedule. I know Linda sure did.

the 'town hall is listening' project
This month's Town Hall Is Listening Project would be going live on the 10th... But this month, it is conspicuously and mysteriously absent.

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 in the beginning of May 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 June 9th.

All flyers mentioning missing and/or fugitive janitor Dennis Kildorf have disappeared without a trace. Why would there be flyers? He's not even missing! Mr. K can be found roaming (well, mopping) the halls of Wayward Pines Academy, with a smile or corny joke to spare for any student who gives him the time of day. None of the townsfolk, adult or student alike, seem to realize he was ever gone in the first place. In fact, any comments or questions on the matter earn a weak but genuine laugh, like a joke he doesn't quite get.

The police, meanwhile, are out in full force. The patrols run both day and night, and while they used to at least make an effort to keep their presence low-key, that no longer seems to be the case. 'Don't worry,' they seem to say. 'If trouble comes knocking, so will we.'

JUNE EVENT OVERVIEW

(The full write-up for each event will be released in its own individual post shortly prior to the start of the event!)

ENVIRONMENT EVENT precautionary measures JUNE 9TH - 19TH
At mid-day on the 9th, anyone more than 100 yards into the woods will feel suddenly and inexplicably fatigued. Some might even say 'powerless'. Anyone who has investigated a little too close to the fence surrounding Wayward Pines will recognize this feeling immediately, and anyone who hasn't? Well. You best start crawling for town.

This spans all the way through the 19th, at which point ░▒▓▒█░▒ will ▒▓▒▌░░▓░ and ▓▒█░.

SURVIVAL EVENT ░▒▓▒█░▒▓▒▌░░▓░ JUNE 19TH - 21ST

EVENT HORIZON ▓▒▌░░▓░░▒▓▒█░▒▓▒▌ JUNE 22ND - 27TH

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.

june newsletter!

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