{ state of the game: february 2023 }

[dreamkeepers]

It's been a whole year since the first SOTG, hard to believe… /stares into the distance. But there isn't too much going on in this one, just some insight as to what to expect for the rest of the year and some kind of "roadmap" that maybe we will actually keep up with this time lmao.

GENERAL THOUGHTS

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the size and pace of the game! I do realize that Songerein is a bit bigger and faster than I initially envisioned it. With constantly sticking mid-60s~70s players (ie, near cap), we've maintained the medium game size so I've changed the general information to better reflect this. Pacing wise, I also have to admit that we're a little faster than anticipated. On the other hand, we are very good at backtagging which helps balance things out. So while it's hard to pitch us as a "slow" game, I think we still maintain the lower side of medium pace with pockets of higher bursts here and there. Since we're not that plot heavy, we're also still relaxed despite the "monthly" events so we also stick with our casual atmosphere as well.

So yeah, I think we're somewhere right in the middle, which I think has been working well for most everyone here.

To touch back on the game size and particularly the cap, I've said this elsewhere, but I want to reiterate what will happen going forward. Because we've been brushing up against cap for the past several app cycles, as well as unusual circumstances that led to potential surges, I've been temporarily increasing the player cap to accommodate. Most of it has been out of courtesy because it's been unexpected and it feels wrong to close an app cycle without warning. Also no one wants to "fight" for 5 slots, and that's stressful for us, too.

However, with this upcoming app closure, I'm going to say again that going forward, if we have less than 10 app slots open by the time an app cycle comes around, then it will be closed. That means if a preceding app cycle brought us to the cap, it is very likely that unless we lose close to 10 players in the next two months, the next app cycle will be closed. Which is not impossible given our usual drop trends (~5 or so a month), but it can be dicey to tell if, say, only 3 drop on month 1 and can't tell if we'll get 5 or so more on month 2. So if it's like that kind of scenario, we'll likely just call the cycle closed and let the slots grow to accommodate more for the next cycle.

I have toyed with the idea of permanently bumping the cap since we never reach the temporary cap (which is my intent to begin with so it works out), but I'll have to see how things go in the next few months. If there continues to be a constant high interest in the game, then I can bump it up an extra 10-15 slots with the expectation that we don't ever actually hit the cap and just make app cycles easier and consistent. But if things mellow out and we just maintain how we are, then there might not be a need. We'll see! I'm not wholly against it, anyway, so players are free to provide their own input as well. I definitely would not go over 90, maybe even only 85. But we have plenty of time to see how things are after this big close.

In any case, thank you everyone who has been with us so far!

CONTENTS AND EVENTS

As usual, I like to ask for feedback on how game content and events have been for players. I know not everything will hit everyone's interest, but I'm happy to try and work in other things if it's possible!

The themes and mechanics of the events have shifted a bit in the last few months, with a lot more events occurring within the world setting instead of dreamscapes. Since this will likely be the case in the future, I had to change the description of how events will be in Songerein. That said, dreamscape events are not gone! We'd make for a very poor dream game if they were. There will be more dreamscape events in the future, especially once the Story Eater arc is over. We really want to dig into the game setting and all it can offer.

That said, the fairy tale themes that the game also incorporated won't go away, either. It's still fun to have events based off of stories, so we'll be incorporating those when we can. Whether it's another wholesale dump into the story or plucking elements and mashing things together, they will still be used. Of course if players would like to leave feedback on this, you are welcome to do so! We've had a bit of variety over the past year and a half so it may be easier for players to gauge what they liked, what they thought worked, and what didn't.

Speaking of stories and the Story Eater, once the Story Eater is sealed, it will probably be the end of that arc. …Probably. I actually have a few ideas where it could come back in the future, but only if it would fit and work with whatever is going on at the time. But for now, once it's sealed we can consider the chapter closed.

Finally, I am very excited to see all the player plots that have been cropping up! So much so I am considering coding a calendar for the game to make it easier to keep track of when things are happening (spoilers already working on it). I know quite a few are going to be coming down the pipeline, so my one request is those who do have plans to start "queing" up so I can go ahead and work on a schedule. Admittedly I was a bit frantic back in December as I had a few player plots in the wings and I needed to fit them all between January and March while respecting proper time for setup and such. So not wanting to be in that p a n i c mode again, even if you don't have a concrete time decided yet, just go ahead and pop a message either officially or casually so I can have it in mind when working out our own event timeline. If you do have a preferred month/timeframe, the sooner I know the better.

ROAD MAP

So with all that in mind, here is the general road map that we are aiming to follow. We had a road map before and…we did the veer off onto the exit ramp meme hard /cough. But it ended up working for the better, so not really complaining. Just laughing because it wouldn't be my game without me chucking my original plans to follow a different one.

• FEBRUARY: General event month with the masquerade and Valentine's shenanigans; subtly include some things that will be incorporated with the Story Eater stuff; Asura crystal shard player plot
  
  
• MARCH: APPS OPEN; Castle shenanigans; Trahearne noctaere plot; otherwise free
  
  
• APRIL: FLOWER FESTIVAL~~ This will be earlier in the month and I am still debating if I should be evil and have it disrupted like the Dream Faire or let it go peacefully; in any case, there may also be Story Eater prep work happening in the latter half—nothing too intensive, but just enough so we can smoothly transition into May
  
  
• MAY: APPS CLOSED; TIME TO TAKE DOWN THE STORY EATER
  
  
• JUNE: TDM; if needed we can continue whatever is happening in May into June as it is slated as our "just in case we need more time" month or have some extra part to cover. Otherwise, June will be the "break and celebrate" month, which would work better for the TDM.
  
  
• JULY: APPS OPEN; free month; most likely focus on any extra Story Eater aftermath and start introducing new setting stuff
  
  
• AUGUST: TDM; free month, same as above
  
  
• SEPTEMBER: SECOND YEAR ANNIVERSARY; App month; Official start of the new "arc" for Song fufu
  
  
• OCTOBER: TDM; HALLOWEEN
  
  
• NOVEMBER: App month
  
  
• DECEMBER: TDM; CHRISTMAS

Second half of the year is always fun with all the holidays… Also the second half is a bit more empty as it is a lot more flexible and will rely on whatever happens in the previous half. Also because the think tank is always wildin' with ideas so we'll likely cook up new things between now and then. But it should give you a general idea of how things will roll.

So for those who are looking at player plot stuff, if you're doing something that's on a smaller, personal scale, the latter half of April will be your best shot if you want to get it done sooner. After that, May would be a no go and June is likely. But after June will be more tenable for larger scale player plots, especially July and August. In fact I will welcome them because potentially less work for me—

Though thinking about it and from what I've heard so far, we may be able to incorporate player plots within May as part of the chaos. People going noctaere in particular will have a very good shot in May. If there are plots that want to introduce certain enemies or something, that may also be possible. So definitely tell me about your player plot ideas now, even if you're just starting to think about it. Let me help you make your visions come alive…!

FEEDBACK AND SUGGESTIONS

If you have any other feedback or suggestions that you'd like to share with me, please comment! Or send a private message if you don't want it out in the public. As far as I can tell, at least most everyone has been satisfied with the events and such so far, but if there's anything that you think we could change or improve or even include, please let me know! I am always open to suggestions and I'd rather not be doing something that is boring or disliked without knowing.

Otherwise, I'll have to assume that everything is fine and keep on keeping on—which also means no one can complain because I am giving you ample opportunities to say otherwise!!!

And as always, players are welcome to suggest settings, event ideas, and other things that could help engage players and help keep the setting fun for you guys.

Thanks for reading!