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Big Changes!
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[Image: bigchanges_srkgoo.png]

Hi everybody! First, it is so nice to see people writing again and the staff are very excited to see how everyone's plots develop as the site continues to grow. Staff have been working very hard behind the scenes going over suggestions for rule and policy changes and after much discussion we have come up with the following changes which will be effective immediately.

Please give us some time to make adjustments to the library and other various parts of the site, as several of these are very big changes and will involve some changing to the code.

NOTE: And if you have any questions about these changes please post them here in this thread, rather than the discord. It will be much easier for us as a staff to respond to them, and helpful for members who might not otherwise catch a quick question in the chat.

Life Points

Going to start with this one since a lot of the changes flow from this. Over the years we have listened to many complaints that the Life Point system is too complicated, and it can be a huge hurdle for new members to get over. The system was always optional, but the pressure to stay on top of things and grow your character specifically with LP in mind caused an impact on the Fighting System and resulted in "god like characters" who in turn created their own challenges for the site.

Going forward, we are going to be removing the different categories, leaving only "Development." The system was designed to reflect how much your character had grown and the impact they had on the site, so this really feels like getting back to basics. It also removes a lot of the complicated items that were up to interpretation. We want to return the focus of LP to encourage people to complete threads, but in new areas, with new wolves, or with their pack.

You will choose from only 1 option when claiming LP for a finished thread from the list below:

Life Points
Point ValueEvent
50Create a Pack
50Discover a Subterritory
40Gain a Mate
20Have Pups
20Participate in a Pack Activity/Pack Random Event
15Complete a Random Event
15Gain a Role in a Pack
15Participate in a Rank Challenge
10Join a Pack
10Complete a thread with a New Wolf
10Character Ages a Year (Thread not required)
5Complete a thread.


What if I've already claimed some life points?

Please post in maintenance to have the numbers adjusted. We will also be wiping out Physique.

The Fighting System

I know what you're probably thinking now: well, if the life points are so different then how the heck does the fighting system work now? The answer is very differently. Since there is no longer Skill or Physique categories we obviously cannot calculate any stats from them. We will be moving to what we believe is a much simpler system that still allows for some on-site development to increase a player's chances of winning a fight while remaining relatively balanced.

What Will Happen to Us?

Each attack we will roll a 20-sided dice (d20), and compare it against another rolled d20 for defense. Both the attack and defense roll will be modified by character stats. An adult character will start out with 3 Health Points (HP) (modified by their stat), and every attack will subtract from the characters health one time (i.e. each hit is -1 health). When a character's HP hits 0 they will be considered Knocked Out unless they would like to "fight to the death" (imagine confetti bursting from nowhere at this moment).  If a character continues to fight past 0HP, -1 HP will be considered "severely injured" and they can stop there, and when hey hit -2HP they will be dead.

Meet The Stats

Going forward there will be just 3 stats: CONSTITUTION (CON) the ability to withstand fights, DEXTERITY (DEX) your characters ability to defend and dodge, and STRENGTH (STR) your characters ability to land a successful hit.

CON: This stat modifies your character's Health Points. Example: 3 base HP + 1CON = 4HP
DEX: This stat modifies the Defense Dice. Example: you roll a d20 and get 5 + 1DEX = 6
STR: This stat modifies the Attack Dice. Example: you roll a d20 and get 5 + 1STR = 6

Where do I start?

There are 6 possible starting points with some fun names.

Starting Builds
BuildCONDEXSTR
Power House+1-10
Tank+10-1
Ghost0+1-1
Rogue-1+10
Sharpshooter0-1+1
Glass Canon-10+1


What's the difference between ages?

Adults will get 3 HP to start, Yearlings will get 2 HP, and Puppies will get 1 HP. When a character ages from puppy to yearling and from yearling to adult they will get +1 hp. Wolves over 8 years of age will get -1 HP from their overall stat.

How else does my character grow?

A character will "level up" every 500LP, which will give them 1 point to add to any stat they want to. They will be able to add 5 points over the course of leveling up, meaning at 2,500LP your character's stats are "maxed out" and they cannot gain any more new points. However, every 500lp above 2,500LP you may move a point from one stat to another if you do not like how your stats are spread out. You cannot move points around before reaching 2,500LP.

Are there Limits?

Yes! They are based on the size of your character.

Limits
Wolf SizeCONDEXSTR
Small+4+5+4
Medium+5+4+4
Large+4+4+5


How do I pick a build for my already accepted character

Post in maintenance.

Is this going to be on my profile

It's already there! Sort of, it just needs to be filled with your stats.

Is the process going to stay the same?

Yes. We are still going to ask you to get consent to use the dice system. You are still going to make a post in the colosseum with your stats. We might have to change the code for the dice roller and how that works, which could take a little time but should not be too hard.

Are you going to update the library?

Yes! We will be making that a priority to get it up to date.

Creating a Pack

Since previous rule was mainly based on life points, the new system is aimed to be a little more balanced. The new requirements to create a pack are as follows:

The player must....

  1. show proof of 5 completed threads specific to creating a pack, this could be recruiting members, scouting out a good territory, digging a den, discussing pack names etc.
  2. The pack must have 5 members each played by a separate player.
  3. The leader must have passed 5 consecutive ACs without falling off or being absent when they apply for the pack.
  4. The leader must have a minimum of 50 IC posts.

We're calling this rule 5/5/5/50. We're hoping this will keep the process challenging but also very attainable as long as your character is active.

Note: For the time being we will be waiving the activity check requirement in the interest of breeding season. However, while the AC requirement is waived the leader's 50 IC posts must have been made since the re-opening. Once the activity check requirement is put in place the rule will revert back to 50 IC posts total, made at any time.

Activity Rule Changes

Grace Period

The previous rule was that, if a character was removed for missing the AC, a player had 5 days to bring their character back into the game  before they were truly considered gone. They could be automatically accepted back into the pack as long as they rejoined within this time. The new rule will be reducing this grace period to 3 days. We hope that this will still allow players time to bring their characters back in, while reducing the amount of time that other players spend waiting to see how their plots progress.

Pack Activity Levels

Going forward this will be the new requirement for pack activity: packs are required to maintain at least 4 members at any given time. If membership drops below 4 members they will receive a warning. They will be required to have another wolf start the joining process within a week. (The thread does not need to be completed, only started). If that number does not increase (join threads started, but not finished after a month) or dips back under 4 again in a 3 month period the pack will be automatically disbanded.

Wait Period Between Characters

This was already mentioned as an announcement in discord, but we wanted to reiterate it. We previously had a wait period of 2 weeks between new characters, and then no wait period at all. We are now reinstating a wait period of 1 week between bringing in new characters to encourage players to flesh out their plots before bringing anyone new in.

Characters Being Outside of Pack Territories

Previously a character could be out of their pack territory for 2 months before being removed from the pack roster, even if their leader had given them permission to go on an extended trip. This is being reduced to 1 month, the hope is this will prevent stalemates for other people's plots, particularly rank challenges. Again, leaders are free to grant permission for a character to leave for a month or more, but when they return to will be joining at the bottom of the ranks rather than their previous position.

Breeding Season

A common complaint that we got was surrounding breeding season; there was too many puppies and too many couples. So while staff are still discussing what is going to happen this breeding season as we may have no packs, these will be the new rules for a 'typical' breeding season:

How many pups are in a litter will now be based off of the female's rank only, not a combination of the male and female's rank. Litter numbers will be randomly generated by the following standards:

Lead females: Can have litters of 1-5 pups
Subordinate females: Can have litters of 1-3 pups
Lone females: Loners will no longer be guaranteed to be successful at breeding. Instead, loner litters will be awarded on a lottery system, couples 'apply' with their completed breeding threads, and the 'successful' pairs will be picked at random. How many successful litters being awarded will change year to year based on how many active packs/characters are in game. Lone litters will still be restricted to only 1 pup.

Miscellaneous

OTMs

These will still be continuing as normal, but as a new form of recognition whichever character wins WotM will be featured as our discord avatar for the month and will be given a special discord role! (MoTM will also get special discord role)

Random Events

Staff will be announcing an RE writing contest soon, so get your writing caps on everybody and get the creative juices flowing. It's time to spice up our random events!

Ribbons

Based off of feedback from both members and staff we will be doing away with ribbon rewards. They were not frequently used and frankly were a pain to add onto character profiles, so we're kicking them to the wayside.
These changes all look great! I'm super excited to go forward with RoW and see how everything plays out. All of these address any confusion I had previous to the lull!

To clarify: we should post in maintenance with our desired new stats for chars already in the game, correct? Would one post for both characters, obviously specifying which is which, be acceptable, or would you prefer a separate post for each char? Also, would it be okay to put the name of the build we would like for a char or should we specify each stat's modifier individually?

Thanks for all your hard work folks, I think these are perfect!

(Jan 17, 2021, 12:33 AM)Nash Wrote:  These changes all look great! I'm super excited to go forward with RoW and see how everything plays out. All of these address any confusion I had previous to the lull!

To clarify: we should post in maintenance with our desired new stats for chars already in the game, correct? Would one post for both characters, obviously specifying which is which, be acceptable, or would you prefer a separate post for each char? Also, would it be okay to put the name of the build we would like for a char or should we specify each stat's modifier individually?

Thanks for all your hard work folks, I think these are perfect!

Yes please just reply to maintenance with the build name. One post for all active characters will suffice!
So I'm actually really happy with these changes. As far as the fight system is concerned it takes some of the pressure off and adds to the realism, while simplifying stuff. I also really like the new LP system, and how it is an advantage, but isn't such a chore, or as confusing as it was, nor is it impossible to "catch up" with a character that has been on site for 8 years. I ESPECIALLY like the new breeding restrictions, and how it's just as plausible to have 1 as it is to have 5, as well as making it harder for loners to have cubs. I also like that the number will change depending what is going on with the site at the time.  

Things I'm still concerned about/looking for clarification on:
- We had a cap on packs before based on how many wolves were on site. I really hope we are keeping it, or maybe even making it so that there are fewer slots available for packs, because too many packs with very small numbers kind of hurts every other pack imo. x.x

- Say we were to roll and get 5 cubs, but we really would rather have less, could we have less? Obviously never more xD

I was also thinking it might be a good idea to have a little advertising contest soon. I don't want to put anything else on you guys since I know you're all busy, but it might help get the site bopping again. ;-; I know that a lot of the staff is super talented when it comes to skins and stuff, but in the interest of not adding more to your workload I wouldn't mind offering some of my artsy services as prizes for the winners for free if it's something you guys are interested in ;A;
[Image: SAGA.png]
Sága is currently travelling with Huddy, Aubine, Adelard, Rhaegara, Riven, Maugrim & Hrun
(Jan 17, 2021, 03:58 AM)Saga Wrote:  Things I'm still concerned about/looking for clarification on:
- We had a cap on packs before based on how many wolves were on site. I really hope we are keeping it, or maybe even making it so that there are fewer slots available for packs, because too many packs with very small numbers kind of hurts every other pack imo. x.x

- Say we were to roll and get 5 cubs, but we really would rather have less, could we have less? Obviously never more xD


There is still a cap on packs based on how many wolves are on site. It's the total of wolves / 9 right now and I think we're gunna bump that to 10 but I have to figure out... where to change that

Yes, you may absolutely choose to have less!
(Jan 17, 2021, 04:02 AM)Maugrim Wrote:  There is still a cap on packs based on how many wolves are on site. It's the total of wolves / 9 right now and I think we're gunna bump that to 10 but I have to figure out... where to change that

Yes, you may absolutely choose to have less!

Dope! I'm definitely for changing it to 10 >.> The less packs available the more wolves will hopefully join packs!
[Image: SAGA.png]
Sága is currently travelling with Huddy, Aubine, Adelard, Rhaegara, Riven, Maugrim & Hrun