The LT Initiative

[Tsuyose 3285]

To correlate with the thread I previously made, explaining Ben’s departure from the LM mantle alongside, myself obtaining the position of LM lead, and the recent LM purge, I will be writing a series of posts titled ‘LT Initiative’. This thread will become the main hub to which I will be posting threads linking to the newfound initiative, basically expressing to the community my plans and what I aspire for the LT as a whole.

LT Initiative I; the Correct Mindset

 

The LT has often been recognised as a group that disallows lore merely because we don’t like it, we’re bias, so on and so forth. Whilst that may be true, it is also worth noting that we also deny lore because there is a strong belief that the LT is unable to implement/execute/it simply isn’t right for this server, whilst I believe in this, I will be expressing the fact that our mindset should be to aid players all round when it comes to lore.

 

We shouldn’t be intruding upon culture that individual nations would like to see implemented, instead, we should work with them for its implementation; Aeldin, for example, instead of outright denial of this lore we would approach the submitter and aid in its reformation - the submitter may feel free to disagree with the proposed changes and we will take a look at that. - Another example would be the Seed lore for the Wood Elves. It was outright denied and we never sought to aid Leo in the reformation of his lore for it to suit.

 

Overall, we shouldn’t be intruding upon anyone’s lore submissions without viable cause to. We will be, from henceforth onward, aiding players to reform their lore to ensure it perfectly suits and that there is nary a cause for concern. With that being said it is also key to aid the ET and MT and ensure smooth communication and that we are appropriately aiding them with their own projects, especially if it consists around lore/the production of.

 

Tl;dr moving from the “we shouldn’t accept because I” and into the mindset of “we shouldn’t accept because it is unimplementable/executable/doesn’t fit with the server.”

 

That said, don’t expect every piece of submitted lore to be accepted onto LoTC. We will still be voting fairly and critically over certain areas; magic, realm, race, etcetera.

 

 

LT Initiative II; What It Means To Be an LM / What Is Expected

 

When you create your LM application it means that you personally aspire to work with the system - although that doesn’t mean you’re unable to provide criticism. I’m not going to restrict LMs from openly disagreeing. - Nevertheless, as an LM you will be tasked with the duty of moderating the server lore and ensuring players abide by it, whilst also aiding the community with the development of their submissions - unless you’re unable to, or outright against. - This can come in the form of offering advice, suggestions, ensuring it correlates to the fundamental server lore and so on.

 

Loremags: All LMs are expected to stay on top of voting on loremags as to ensure they go through smoothly and are appropriately voted on prior to its closure; loremags typically stay up for a maximum of one week. LMs will be individually assigned to the creation of these loremags and the oldest-to-newest lore will be submitted onto said loremag for reviewal.

 

Projects: LMs will be expected to be doing their duty, whether it’s working on a project or aiding in the development/execution of an event line; projects alone are not restricted to writing. You will be expected to be doing a project whether it’s overall aiding players in the development of their lore, so on and so forth. It can even proceed into working alongside another staff team to assist in their projects as an LM representative.

 

Authority/Posting Lore: These two correlate due to the extensive authority an LM has over lore, that said, that cannot solely approve/deny lore and it must be publicly submitted. Lore Moderators have the authority to settle disputes amidst players when lore has been brought into question and provide set in stone information albeit cannot reveal hidden lore/event lines without first conversing with the team as a whole. That said, LMs should also be aiding the ET; LMs do not have authority over ET created event lines unless it breaks lore, however, we do not herald over the ET and therefore it is their right to lead their own events without us intruding upon it; they are able to bend lore in order to execute their events successfully - nothing breaking or irreparable/damaging. -

 

Activity is key. Not much needs to be said about this sect.

 

LT Initiative III; Loremag System; Revamp

 

As it stands the community, from what I’ve seen, is mostly unaware as to how the Loremag system works overall, so here it is:

 

The creation of a Loremag is done through the LM subforum, the LM in question must create a thread, linking the individual pieces of lore on the main section of the thread, and a poll correlating with submissions being reviewed which is performed in the following format;

 

Y - Yes -

 

N - No -

 

!!! - There is a visible flaw with the piece of submitted lore

 

A - Abstain -

 

Opting for the N option means that the piece of submitted lore is completely, and utterly unable to be implemented and does not correlate/fit with the server whatsoever; this is not to be used as an option for 'I merely dislike this lore' you must have a viable reason accompanying it. ‘!!!’ preserves the fact that there is a viable opportunity for the LM to agree with the lore albeit must undergo some form of revision; removal of a particular sect of a sect or appropriately amending any qualm the LM has expressed.

 

Opting for the Y option is when the LM has personally declared his support for the submitted lore and therefore believes it is implementable, and executable - albeit ‘executable’ is entirely dependable on the lore in question - and ‘Abstain’ means that the LM is unable to appropriately vote on the lore for whatever reason;  if you believe you maybe bias against any particular piece of submitted lore then this option is a necessity.

 

LT Initiative IV; My Idealism

 

So it’s been a long time running for the LT and its current stance over lore and the belief that we should be voting for lore that we believe is necessary, us refusing to aid players in the development of their lore submissions, or even refusing to aid players lore who has been denied. This, however, will be changing, among many other things; what I strive to produce for the LT is a team that will aid lore submissions and the players themselves whilst they go about seeking to have their submissions accepted; that said, you can’t expect every little piece of lore to be accepted-- not every magic lore submitted will be accepted, Aengudaemonic, so on and so forth. There is a limit to specific things albeit doesn’t mean we will not aid you in the development of your lore.

 

To exemplify my explanation, the LT will no longer be outright denying lore. There will be an opportunity for the submitter of the lore to produce a rendition to their piece of submitted lore; refusal will result in denial, or if you merely wish to cease the production of your lore submission. A denial will now mean that this piece of lore has no place on this server and little opportunity for it to be implemented/correlates with server lore.

 

The LT is here to aid players in the development of their lore submissions and to help produce fantastic lore that the community, themselves, can enjoy. There will be more to come once the ‘LT Initiative; Community’s Word’ has a myriad of replies that I can read through.

 

LT Initiative V; Unhiding Lore

 

I understand that hidden lore has become an extremely big pet peeve for the community in which the players are unable to read certain bits of lore that may correlate to their own idealisms, creations, so on and so forth. I’ve always had it in my mind that concealing both lore explaining the map, and irrelevant, hidden submissions. Therefore I will be opening the floodgates and revealing a myriad of hidden lore that is completely, and utterly unrelated to event lines or will otherwise be used in the future; recap, event lines, lore that will distributed throughout the server via IG means (i.e. Primordial lore hidden albeit would slowly be released in game.) and whatever else is deemed necessary albeit won’t be much.

That said, I will henceforth be disallowing players to submit lore privately. All lore must be submitted publicly unless under the guise of the above.

[_Sug 2809]

Yes.

[WuHanXianShi14 0]

This is a step in the right direction. I'm especially glad you won't be outright denying lore anymore without giving the creator a chance to amend it. I personally still want map history lore to be made public, or at least have enough details of it shown to players writing culture/history lore so they can make their lore fit in with map history lore without flying blind.

[Salvo 1852]

I have faith.

[Weabootrash 412]

make the lt great again tsuyose 

[Wolf Druid Ouity 1461]

Make sure that there are guidelines in place to help new lore team members understand what is indicative of "healthy lore" and what is not. Development of a universe or game can take awhile to understand when you're just thrown in.

 

Important points of development:

-What playerbase will this appeal to?

 

-Will this idea detract from the server-- IE, will others suffer negative consequences because of the implementation of this idea?

 

-Does the lore give an unfair advantage to one group over another?

 

-Does the idea fit within the identity of the group pushing it/will the idea create a new, unique identity on the server?

 

-Does the idea have feasible application for events or event team members? IE, does a proposed creature or other ET idea fit within the architecture of how events should run?

 

-If similar to another idea or practice, does it have what it needs to stand out against the similarity, and have its own place on the server as its own? IE- two similar magics should be distinct from one another-- not necessarily in the end result they produce, but in the philosophy, practice, and execution of the magic.

 

-Has the writer considered how the writing will translate into the game? IE, a race proposal with eight massive cities is not feasible, just as xenophobic races will often find themselves struggling with activity.

 

 

etc... I would be more than happy to help you write something up.

 

I tend to believe that one of the biggest problems the LT has is expecting good writers to understand how to make these kinds of assessments and decisions-- especially with the level of strictness they've used in the past.

[Wendigo 786]

It's sad it took this long to do this, glad you're finally getting to it. +1

[Man of Respect 5471]

Tsuyose is one of the few people on LotC that does what he places on paper, as he listened very well to my feedback - all my points and suggestions have been adressed and accepted. I'm content with it so far

 

[monkeypoacher 8055]

oh this is very cool.

[The Fact Core 511]

That's adorable

[Hanrahan 2983]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denazification

 

+1 this is a hell of a step in the right direction.

[Ezo Karasuga 356]

I applaud this shift in the LT mindset.

 

Back in LOTC 2.5-3.0 so much VonSchlichtenCo 's whimsical engineering lore was denied.  It took a OOC battle tooth and nail just to allow a group of engineers to build a tiny steamship to sit on our island’s dock.

The LT gave all sorts of reasons from "It doesn't fit the lore" to "It will be overpowered". Ignoring how dwarves have been using the tech since aegis and we had RPly worked with dwarven engineers for IRL weeks to learn the technology.  Also how the ship was tiny, RPly didn’t sail faster than any other sail ship.  Still denied. 

Then one LM understood our plight and saw the common sense in allowing a group of advanced engineers to build a steamship on our docks. Our boat was approved, the server didn’t implode.  We love you Lago, where ever you are.

Now, we had been working on lore for hot air balloons.  But we CAN see how that can be overpowered or abused and not fit the lore. We accepted the denied lore.  We still RPed researching and testing flight, but with all failures.