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June 2016 Town Hall Topic Thread
Town Hall is coming, get your topics in!

It's that time again, folks. Time for the twice annual Sindome Town Hall Meeting! We will come together as a community to discuss all aspects of the game in a moderated open forum. Things discussed at the Town Hall will set the priorities for the next six months of game play and development. It is important. I hope each and every one of you fills our Amphitheater to brimming.

The date for the meeting with be forthcoming very soon. However, we need to get started now, picking and discussing topics. If you have not attended one of these meetings before, I implore you to review the links below (the logs may be somewhat long, be warned) to get up to speed on how we do things.

Town Hall October 2015 Topic Thread: https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/open-discussion/anything-really/town-hall-topics-771/

Town Hall October 2015 Soundtrack Thread: https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/open-discussion/anything-really/town-hall-soundtrack-thread-772/

Town Hall October 2015 Agenda: https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/open-discussion/anything-really/october-2015--town-hall-agenda-774/

Town Hall October 2015 Log: https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/open-discussion/anything-really/town-hall-log--october-2015--775/

Town Hall April 2015 Topic Thread: https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/open-discussion/anything-really/upcoming-town-hall-meeting-719/

Town Hall April 2015 Agenda: http://www.sindome.org/help/town-hall-agenda-2015/

Town Hall April 2015 Log: http://www.sindome.org/town-hall-04-04-15-log.html

Town Hall May 2014 Topic Thread: https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/open-discussion/theme/town-hall-meeting-121/

Town Hall May 2014 Log: [/b]. If you want to discuss a topic someone puts forward, create a new topic in the appropriate sub forum. Do not discuss it here. [b]You can support a topic in this forum.[/b]. It's good for me to know what you all want discussed so you can offer your support for a topic in a response, or make suggestions for combining or breaking topics up.

[b]Topics can be:[b]

* Changes to the way the game works

* Problems with the game

* Code changes

* Ideas for moving forward

* Player -> Player Interactions

* GM -> Player Interactions

* Suggestions

* Other things that I forgot (take cues from past agendas)

[b]Topics cannot be:[/b]

* Bitch fests

* Complaints about specific people

* So small that they effect only you or your immediate IC friends (keep it game-wide, or at least sector wide!)

We normally have about 1.5 hours to get through all of the topics. And there are a lot of people. So we are going to have to keep our list of topics concise. If your topic doesn't make the cut, we will have a section at the end for open discussion.

Any questions? GO!

-- S

">http://www.sindome.org/town-hall-05-10-14-raw-log.html[url]

We will be sticking to the same format this year as we have in the past: Welcomes, announcements, rules, speeches, open discussion.

So without further ado, lets discuss topics. The agenda that I create from these topics will group topics together. Feel free to post multiple topics in the same post, just make sure they are clearly separated.

[b]This is NOT the place to DISCUSS these topics[/b]. If you want to discuss a topic someone puts forward, create a new topic in the appropriate sub forum. Do not discuss it here. [b]You can support a topic in this forum.[/b]. It's good for me to know what you all want discussed so you can offer your support for a topic in a response, or make suggestions for combining or breaking topics up.

[b]Topics can be:[b]

* Changes to the way the game works

* Problems with the game

* Code changes

* Ideas for moving forward

* Player -> Player Interactions

* GM -> Player Interactions

* Suggestions

* Other things that I forgot (take cues from past agendas)

[b]Topics cannot be:[/b]

* Bitch fests

* Complaints about specific people

* So small that they effect only you or your immediate IC friends (keep it game-wide, or at least sector wide!)

We normally have about 1.5 hours to get through all of the topics. And there are a lot of people. So we are going to have to keep our list of topics concise. If your topic doesn't make the cut, we will have a section at the end for open discussion.

Any questions? GO!

-- S

Damn it. My carefully crafted post was ruined by a missing / again! Okay, here is it adjusted.

It's that time again, folks. Time for the twice annual Sindome Town Hall Meeting! We will come together as a community to discuss all aspects of the game in a moderated open forum. Things discussed at the Town Hall will set the priorities for the next six months of game play and development. It is important. I hope each and every one of you fills our Ampitheater to brimming.

The date for the meeting with be forthcoming very soon. However, we need to get started now, picking and discussing topics. If you have not attended one of these meetings before, I implore you to review the links below (the logs may be somewhat long, be warned) to get up to speed on how we do things.

Town Hall October 2015 Topic Thread: https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/open-discussion/anything-really/town-hall-topics-771/

Town Hall October 2015 Soundtrack Thread: https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/open-discussion/anything-really/town-hall-soundtrack-thread-772/

Town Hall October 2015 Agenda: https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/open-discussion/anything-really/october-2015--town-hall-agenda-774/

Town Hall October 2015 Log: https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/open-discussion/anything-really/town-hall-log--october-2015--775/

Town Hall April 2015 Topic Thread: https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/open-discussion/anything-really/upcoming-town-hall-meeting-719/

Town Hall April 2015 Agenda: http://www.sindome.org/help/town-hall-agenda-2015/

Town Hall April 2015 Log: http://www.sindome.org/town-hall-04-04-15-log.html

Town Hall May 2014 Topic Thread: https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/open-discussion/theme/town-hall-meeting-121/

Town Hall May 2014 Log: http://www.sindome.org/town-hall-05-10-14-raw-log.html

We will be sticking to the same format this year as we have in the past: Welcomes, announcements, rules, speeches, open discussion.

So without further ado, lets discuss topics. The agenda that I create from these topics will group topics together. Feel free to post multiple topics in the same post, just make sure they are clearly seperated.

This is NOT the place to DISCUSS these topics. If you want to discuss a topic someone puts forward, create a new topic in the appropriate sub forum. Do not discuss it here. You can support a topic in this forum.. It's good for me to know what you all want discussed so you can offer your support for a topic in a response, or make suggestions for combining or breaking topics up.

Topics can be:

* Changes to the way the game works

* Problems with the game

* Code changes

* Ideas for moving forward

* Player -> Player Interactions

* GM -> Player Interactions

* Suggestions

* Other things that I forgot (take cues from past agendas)

Topics cannot be:

* Bitch fests

* Complaints about specific people

* So small that they effect only you or your immediate IC friends (keep it game-wide, or at least sector wide!)

We normally have about 1.5 hours to get through all of the topics. And there are a lot of people. So we are going to have to keep our list of topics concise. If your topic doesn't make the cut, we will have a section at the end for open discussion.

Any questions? GO!

-- S

Well, I think I've voiced this already a bit, but a way for players to locally create variables for their SIC scripts, maybe?

In addition, like in the real world, when an elevator is closing and you put your hand in front of the door to stop it, the door pulls back, maybe that could be implemented IC? I know it might be complicated, but maybe a way for the elevator to detect when someone has typed 'in' and is already moving inside the elevator, it'll wait to close it's doors?

I'd like to discuss about new player retention (i.e. our "reputation" as being "newbie-unfriendly"), and more game-wide plots and interesting events that aren't so seldom and specific to only one sector.

Also, the lack of IC news.

I wouldn't mind seeing more reasons for people to head to Space or into the Badlands.

Right now, it seems like there isn't much of an incentive to head to those areas besides 'For the hell of it.' The Badlands doesn't offer cheaper goods than the city, and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot to do. Sure, you can explore the vast wilderness and rub your little toe on as many ruined structures with miraculously working electronic locks as you like, but it gets old pretty quick. And perhaps this is just me, but it seems like NPCs there take far longer to respond to your presence, IE multiple days of multiple hours of trying to speak with people and receiving no response. Maybe this is a different problem though.

The same seems true of space. You can go to a casino, blow a wad of cash, get some unique Space brand Space Merchandise... and then what?

The Dome should be where all the action is. Keeping the players inside means more RP inside and more interaction. But when the occasion comes for someone to go on a vacation outside the dome/to be trapped in this sandy hellhole/become a space oddity, I'd like to see more for them to actually do out there or up there.

I'd like to see ideas on how to generate emphasis on intelligence-based roles and RP related to these roles / Steering away from run & gun / fight or flight / combat skills required kinds of situations.

Also, plots which rely very little on coded skills so that any newbie or immie could end up heavily involved in some shit and do really interesting things if they RP and put effort into the RP with other PC's.

Also maybe some heavier emphasis on types of information trade, cyberpunk to me is all about the value of information (or disinformation). Data is everywhere. It should have more depth or access. Career path availability for those who demonstrate interest. Information should have a lot of power. People should fear the nerd who does nothing but read dossiers all day.

More active IC directives for such cyberpunk action heros as:

Intelligence Brokers / Private Investigators

Smugglers (get sent outside!)

Forgery / Document falsification agents

These are all great. Keep em coming guys! Any economy topics? What about things you guys want to hear the GMs, Builders, Balancers, Admin, etc. talk about?

Things you think should be addressed globally, etc.

I echo the sentiments about newbie friendliness and information broker style characters.

I'd also like to see a GM's take on the best way to go about creating interesting player run plots.

Newbie retention and new player experience. With the question of player base size versus what is managable.

1)More Paydata. More individuality and usefulness for brokers. Yes, Please.

2)More real work for PI's, Deckers, Hackers, etc. Those cowboys should be BA.

3)Artistry restructuring: I'd love to see it work like languages and be more widely

available. Every cyberpunk is an artist in her own right...right?At least more

specialized? Maybe this has been beat to death. w/e.

4)The Matrix? Please? What's in the works/continuation?

5)As far as the economy goes. How can we make professions like deckers, brokers,

PI's more profitable. People won't spend chy unless they -need- to. Most people

wont anyway.

6)Cyberlimbs.

7)Tattoos- short and long descriptions? Colors? I'd love to see both.

8)Time frame on B&E?

9)OMG there's so much cool shit in this game.

These are all great topics! Newbie retention has come up a few times. This is something we are definitely going to want to discuss. Let's take a deeper dive on this. What are some suggestions for areas we can be more newbie friendly, and how we might accomplish it?
It's tough because I think part of the appeal of this game is the cutthroat nature of the world.

Are there stats for how many first time connectors end up never connecting again?

With regards to PayData. This is not a GM issue but rather a player issue. I'm happy to have it on the docket for discussion, but the GMs have very little hand in distributing paydata that isn't specifically related to on-going plots.

Let me explain.

Joe the Street Sam commits a murder. He takes pains to hide his identity. He is careful. He succeeds.

Jeff the Detective is hired to figure out what's up.

GMs are not going to just magic up some PayData to help Jeff the Detective solve the case. Jeff is going to have to interact with other characters (some might be NPCs, sure) and try to gather info on the murder.

What happens ICly, is what happened. If it wasn't witnessed, if it wasn't on camera, if it was properly done-- there may be nothing leading back to Joe.

Except that he left a corpse, and a corpse can be investigated using forensics and a forensics toolkit to figure out what weapon was used, when it happened, if the body was moved, etc.

Now if it's done on a street, an NPC might have seen something and that info might make it into player hands, but generally speaking, the gathering, trading and selling of paydata is a purely PC endeavor. We want it like this and trust me, so do you.

So let's use the Town Hall as chance to discuss how you all as a players, can get better at it, and hopefully, profit off of it too ;)

-- S

Following your request, Slither, and speaking about newbie friendliness, there are a few focal points I would like to point out. Let me speak from my own perspective. When I first begun playing Sindome, I was overwhelmed. I literally didn’t know what to do next after popping out of the immigration control gates, so I wandered around, somehow managed to get some clothes and somehow had the luck of meeting a very influential character back then who hired me. A bit more interaction and I ended up having a corporate job, but I still didn’t know many things about the game. I lost interest and stopped playing because I felt like I was simply inadequate for it. It was only because an IRL friend continued to nag me about coming back to the game that I decided to give it another try, with my current character which made me fall in love with this game.

For the bigger portion of the immigrants, they don’t count with the same luck I did. Run around naked, confused about the layout of the streets, and most importantly, oblivious of what the hell is the Grid (or any communication method) about. Besides, add up our strict “find out ICly” policy, and how some players might not like getting mugged without even knowing where the hell they are standing. I am not implying that the “find out IC” policy is inherently wrong, but that it gives an impression that we have an odd way to approach OOC communication and while we’re just being frank and staying on-theme, some people read it along the lines of: “you can’t know that – figure it out by trying over and over until you find out… how to make a phone call.” And while we have “examine” to figure most of those things, I am speaking in a very broad sense, and generally speaking, people have the perception that you simply have to FIGURE OUT how to play Sindome instead of having an intuitive approach.

How do we improve this? I firmly believe there are two approaches. First, builders should add an IC tool to help immies get their way around Red. Fuck the “you will figure it out with the courier job” or the “find out through the grid”. Because those get you even more confused. Most immies pop up in the gates bare-assed, broke and weak. They want to improve that, not hop in a virtual internet, and unless they explicitly ask about where to get a map, they won’t know. Most people assume there’s no map, so simply move on, wandering around. A good solution would be to create a gigantic holographic projector near the immigration control gates with a map of the Red sector displayed on it. Simply “look” at the thingy and get a link of the Red map sector. It might seem mundane, but in my opinion, it will help the newbies immensely. And, there’s a reasonable IC means for that: it’s Withmore City, a place riddled by holograms and TV-ads every-fucking-where. What harm will it do for the WCS to plop in a hologram projector next to Immy the Hologram with a steady image of Red’s map?

As a community, we can also take on the newbies and involve them in the game. I believe this has been discussed through the boards several times but I would like to emphasize the importance of this. Even if my character is in a position where he can’t really deal with the immies, some players can, yet, they don’t. And here it’s a no-man’s land because as a GM or as a fellow player, you can’t tell someone else how to RP. You can’t tell them “you shall now take on newbies and give them jobs or introduce them to new people”. But I believe that simply interacting with them, will give them a feel of being part of the game and not just a spectator. I understand completely that you must have the initiative as well, board the game without expecting handouts; not everyone will have the same luck as me with my first character, but involving newbies in your roleplay is good for them, for you, and for the game. Even if you have to treat them like shit, or give them challenges, give them RP. It also happens that some players realize that they aren’t OOCly cut for Sindome and they can’t really handle the cutthroat, grim world where death is always a possibility and despair, pain and agony is imminent. It happens; sadly, we can’t really please everyone. But those who might be actually attracted by the THEME we offer, might be drifted away when they encounter this kind of hindrances and the broken promises (“become a gun-toting Street Judge!” – yet have to do unrelated jobs for half a year of IRL time to even get a chance).

Overall, I disbelieve the thought that our community is somehow toxic or close to newbies. In fact, quite the contrary. However, contrasting from this, if you go and read comments about us on boards and discussion forums, people complain about the odd approach we have on OOC communication (i.e. “find out IC”), how hard it is for a newbie to find meaningful RP/find a job. Perhaps allowing them to directly hopping in the game without much fuss will improve this situation. It’s a bit frustrating when you join a game, but you realize your goals are set very far away because the steep learning curve is maybe too steep.

I’m not entirely sure if I’ve boarded the issue correctly. Maybe I haven’t offered much solutions save for barely addressing the problem in itself. Here I am expressing my thoughts and my opinion, and hopefully we’ll be able to hear a word from it from our fellow players and staff at the town hall meeting :)

The tools we have/had for newbies to find their way ;

1. Youtube videos.

2. @newbie.

3. A dedicated channel for questions.

4. Tutorials.

5. IC WCS positions.

6. The wiki.

7. The wiki, integrated via IC means.

8. other IC stuff.

9. The help pages ingame.

10. Other projects , discontinued or not.

Hands up who didn't know that one of these tools excisted. You can all lower your hands now.

My point here is that we have a metric ton of initiatives for newbie retention. My biggest problem is that most of these initiatives are all great , and visibile until you get ingame. Once you get into the game , there is not as much reference to all the website resources.

I might be wrong , but maybe have someone look over the new player experience ? For most of us , tis been a while since we went through the generator. It might even be better to grab an unexperience person and see how well they get through it.

A)

When you make a new character , the experience can be very hands off. There is no "tutorial" section where you are learning the commands or are forced to learn how to play. This could be implemented on an optional basis (If you splatter yourself through 3 characters a month , the experience will get boring real fast).

B)

add a map to when you get through the gate. Even though theres a map on the grid , there is cmap and i think one on the website. Hang up a piece of paper that points to a crude hand drawn map on the website.

When you type sindome in google , the second auto suggestion is sindome map...

C)

Give players with a newbie tag full sic coverage all the time. Hear me out before you cry foul. Icly , we can explain it by saying its a fresh implant and it works better than the junk we have in our skull. And it will allow newbies to be connected to the sic all the time , thus giving greater chances that they actually get notice of something or get involved in stuff. Bonus points if people use newbies to get in touch with their friends while in a sic blackout.

D)

Expand the reaper mails with a questionairy. We already have a questionairy how you found sindome when players sign up. We could do an "exit interview" when people get reaped. We could probably learn quite a bit on why people dissapear.

E)

Look where the biggest concentration is of "drop-outs". I'm going to guess its the main room before character creation , followed by the gate infront of the drome followed by the coffins. Where people dropout could tell you a bit on why they dropped out. My biggest concern is people who drop-out after character creation. Is it because they didn't get the commands (before the gates) or because they didn't get drawn in.

F) Hire people for the old WCS position. (If that hasn't been done already). Players helping players with IC motivation. Giving the GM's more time to do what they do best. I understand the idea of not wanting to invest in people that may or may not know how to RP and may or may not be never logging in again.

But by making experience players a WCS greeter (or whatever the job was called), GM's can invest roleplay into that player and drag the immies on the RP rollercoaster while at it.

This is getting a little heavy and difficult to follow, so, let me reiterate what Slither said in the first post:

This is NOT the place to DISCUSS these topics.

If you want to discuss a topic someone puts forward, create a new topic in the appropriate sub forum.

Do not discuss it here.

You can support a topic in this forum.

Again: Everyone is free to take a topic and open a new BGBB forum thread on that subject in order to discuss the topic. Please keep this one focused on collecting topics for the Town Hall agenda.

Thank you.

Drawing close to the Town Hall. Get your topics in now before it's too late!
Corpse Cloning and what you do/do not remember. This is more something I just want to make 100% sure everyone is on the same page about.
Here's some stuff I would like to see touched on during the Townhall with Topics in bold.

=*= How to get an Admin/GM or Virtual World behind your plans =*=

- what staff think makes an interesting character & plot

- initial steps to a successfully staff supported plan/plot/idea

- developing new things ICly (cybers, cars, aeros, matrix)

- common mistakes players make in staff supported plots

- communication, the ‘do’s and ‘don't’s of it

=*= Jobs, activities, and how to improve them =*=

- what careers/jobs need attention the most/least (from info brokers to artists)

- ideas to make them more newbie friendly

- tips on how to be anything (anything cyberpunk, you can’t be a wizard Harry)

=*= How Players can help improve the gameworld =*=

- lore

- playing a 'good' antagonist?

- new player invitations, engagement, and retention

- scripting/codes node & website & webclient

Last call!
I won't be able to make it now. I guess i'll always have the logs, so I will second all of Holly's post as ALL of those topics are things I would LOVE to know more about. The first section, especially.
I wholeheartedly support Holly's ideas, particularly the last section. Tips on how to be a good antagonist and tips for players and how they can help the GMs to enforce/promote the lore are very important things.

I would like to request a word from GMs about the homogenization of topside-mix. More class division and less corpies mingling with mixers for NO reason. This is something that has particularly annoyed me lately, seeing high-rank corporate people having idle banter with people that obviously wouldn't get even close to their sphere of influence for no reason rather than just wanting to have idle banter. I want to see mixers get belittled by corpies, and corpies be resented by mixers. I feel like the line between them has been blurred a lot, but maybe that's just me...

Also, a word about the status of topside: in my opinion, there should be more violence, cutthroat corporate backstabbing, stuff like that.

I have an economy related one. Let corpies be corpies.

Right now, I feel like corpies can't even afford to be corpies and yeah, I know what someone will say, "Backstab your way to the top." Or something similar. But, what if that just isn't feasible? Instead you grind out a job where a one week paycheck doesn't even cover the cost of clothes. Forget a better phone, vehicle, lavish night out, or my drugs of choice. I can afford one that week besides the vehicle which will definitely take months, the rest of the week I'm going to have to sit in my apartment which took the rest of my flash and tell my friends we can't hang because I never have flash. And, if I chose drugs, then I'm going to spend the week hiding in my apartment anyways because of the withdrawals because I couldn't afford more.

Then the Mixers are running around in flash custom tailored stuff with their progia 11s and vehicles because they had the opportunity to make more.

Maybe this is just my observation when I played on the corporate level but, it was terrible and even the attempt to backstab or anything else just wasn't possible. I have a million times more fun as a Mixer.