apocalypsehowooc | State of the Game, July 2023

State of the Game

Welcome to State of the Game 7: No One's Going to Heaven! Once more, we have some updates to share with all of you that we hope will help the game run more smoothly in these final months, as well as some additions/updates to the FAQ based on recent changes and additions to the status of ADI. We also have a few reminders to offer, so please make sure you read over the information thoroughly and provide us with any comments, ideas, or concerns.

Update to Activity Check:

new AC changes

Activity Check requires any ONE of the following proofs each month:

10 comments from your character (log and/or network).
log/network post. The top-level proof may ONLY be used for top-levels posted in the AC month.
A tag or thread (of any length) showing a character has ICly shared the results of a Dogtown Search Request with at least one other character who was not involved in the search. The spirit of this option is that we would like characters to ICly share potential plot information with one another.
If a player is organizing and running a Player Plot in a particular month, they may provide evidence of this (OOC posts, mod communications, a log set up for others to use) as evidence of game activity.

Game Timeline Reminders:

We'd like to remind everyone that the finale of the game is slated for December of 2023. For the most part, events have been slated and planned for over these next five months, so if you have any Player Plots you’ve been considering, now is the time to submit them!
With our final event occurring in December and the lead up beginning in November, October will be our final app round for the game, so hopefully anyone coming in or coming back will have a chance to establish CR and get settled.

NPC Interaction Post:

here

not

Locations and Housing Updates:

Locations

Housing

Arrivals Page and FAQ Updates:

Updated information to reflect that the network is now being run off of Cole's application. It is private from ADI higher-ups and natives.
Updated NPC sentiments to reflect that ADI NPCs are no longer wholly hostile to the use of supernatural abilities. They are still wary and watching closely, though. They want to make sure no one is using their abilities to harm innocents, just the 'bad guys.' During arrival, characters will be told to use any powers sparingly and informed of the consequences of use.
Updated drop information to reflect that as of July 2023 a third option is available for Characters to leave Gloucester's ADI to join with a separate (strictly no powers allowed) section of ADI in Wolf Pen, West Virginia, or strike out on their own. This would fall under the Alive Elsewhere In the Setting drop reason. Should players have another character in the game at the time of the 'retirement,' they are welcome to continue playing the retired character as they like without the need to make AC for that character or keep them involved in the main plot.

If you haven’t already, take a peek at the most recent Headline News as it offers some insight into upcoming plotlines. Thank you again for seeing this ~~horrible~~ journey through with us! Please comment below with any additional questions or feedback.

Updated FAQ Entries: ➥ How do I drop a character and what ICly happens to characters that are dropped?

Please post HERE to drop a character. ICly, the character will simply vanish or you may choose to have them leave the influence of ADI/the game and make a life for themselves in the world they've entered into. As of July 2023 a third option is available for Characters to leave Gloucester's ADI to join with a separate (strictly no powers allowed) section of ADI in Wolf Pen or strike out on their own. ADI personnel will tell characters that they have found evidence that at least some previous visitors from other realities have been killed (or worse) by the monsters out in this world.

➥ Are there game-issued network devices? How do they work? How does my character get online, in general?

Characters are provided with a smartphone during basic orientation. Depending on the department they join, they may also be issued a company laptop. Additionally, computers are abundant at ADI HQ, and characters working with ADI would be free to log into them to access the internet and whatnot. All characters are required to take a mandatory cyber security course during their first week at ADI, whether they stick with the group or not. Those who try to avoid the course will be tracked down and brought in for it. Players can assume that their characters will be given an in-depth tutorial on how to use a smartphone, how to set up accounts and passwords, access the internet, and what they need to do to keep themselves safe online and with technology in the modern world.

As of June 2023, Character's smartphones no longer have access to a network run by ADI. For the first day or so, there will be no group network access, but very quickly after they will receive a text with an 'invitation' to join the network. Anyone who clicks the invitation will find their phone redirected to automatically download a new app from a shady-looking URL that ends in the phrase "its-ya-boy-pyre." Upon being opened, the app is clearly a private chat program for characters. For now, at least, this chat program is private to player characters only, with ADI higher-ups unaware of its existence.

➥ Can my character have more than one account on the private network? Can they post anonymously?

Yes! The app prompts characters to set up their usernames and credentials, but there's nothing in place to stop someone from changing any of it or making multiple accounts after that first instance. Characters are welcome to post under each other's usernames/credentials if the players OOCly agree to it and the characters ICly obtain the information to do that. It's also possible for a particularly skilled hacker to get in and cause some mischief. If your characters is going to cause problems on that front for more than just a one-off thread/interaction, we'd just ask that you reach out to us on the Player Plots page.

➥ Are messages on the network truly private?

Yes. Possibly. Cole probably isn't snooping...maybe.

➥ How does the network work?

On arrival, each character is issued a smartphone, though it will have no contacts or internal ADI-communication options, at least for the first day they're in game. After that, they will recieve an app download link from an NPC named Cole that will allow them on a private chat program. Multiple logins may be created and anonymous posting is possible. The smartphones can also be used for calling and texting; those threads can be played out in private character inboxes. The default format of communication on the message board is text with the option to add images and links, but the board also has voice and video features similar to Discord. There is a directory that characters can use to contact anyone on the network.

➥ How do NPCs feel about the PCs?

Feelings and opinions among the NPCs are mixed. ADI employees native to this world are often wary of anyone who displays what they consider supernatural abilities. Though, as of July 2023, that tension has lessened somewhat as long as those abilities are clearly being put to use towards ADI's goals. Other ADI employees are off-worlders more empathetic toward the PCs... and often more depressed if they came from a magic-filled world now lost to them. By and large, everyone who works at ADI is at least willing to work alongside off-worlders, whether or not those off-worlders have their full trust.

The wider NPC community of Gloucester is skeptical of the number of outsiders who have moved into their small town, and are increasingly on edge around any arrivals they suspect of having supernatural abilities. Reactions toward PCs will largely depend on how those PCs treat the people around them.

State of the Game, July 2023

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