First, my apologies. I meant to post this shortly after our con call but life got hectic so I'm just getting around to this now. Since that time, we've had another concall, during which time we mostly discussed the business end of things. Not much was decided upon so I will omit the majority of that conversation. Of some relevance, though, is the possibility of having to increase prices next year. We're crunching numbers at this point and will let you know what the decision is. Although our new camps next year are somewhat higher in cost, the ability to pay smaller deposits up front helps mitigate some of the stress. We operate, as have we always, event to event and by the end of the year we recoup rental costs, though not always supplies costs, insurance costs, or advertisement costs. We're looking at some options and will choose one that will work best for everyone involved. We continue to be committed to producing as high a quality of a game as we possibly can.
One of the ways we are looking to offset expenses is that we have partnered with Waypoint and will be selling Kiel's merchandise at Final Haven events. Final Haven will obtain 50% of profits from this endeavor. This money will then be funneled back into the game to cover the above mentioned expenses and to help keep costs as low as possible. As I said, we will update you with any additional business decisions that are made.
Now onto the minutes from 12/2/14
We mostly discussed rules posted by players. For the first round of discussions, we took on the “easy” stuff. At the time of the con call, there were a number of rule suggestions that had unanimous support. Here are our brief thoughts on each. If there has been an update since the minutes, I posted those as well.
Strength of the Defender: Suggestion is to change it to an Advanced Level Potion?
Unanimous Yes
Transfusion/Healer: Suggestion is to reduce the time to 15 seconds, make it 1LP for 2LP's?
Unanimous Yes
Number and varied effects of Charms are...confusing:
So it is a bit confusing...
We're going to need a bit more time on this one
UPDATE: We’ve since wondered if it would just be easiest to say “Charm [insert command]” such as Charm Don’t Attack Me or Charm Swing only 1s.
Amnesia Potions: Suggestion is there needs to be a way to reverse the effect
But how?
Does it cost us more than it gives us...?
Unanimous decision that a way to reverse it does need to exist but no decision has been made as to what that should look like
Purify the Body: Suggestion is to change the potion from Advanced to Master & remove the negative side-effect of not being able to be healed
Or could change the negative to be something less severe
Unanimous Yes, change Purify the Body Potion to a Master Level Potion and remove the negative side-effect
Regrow Limb: Suggestion is to change the potion from Master to Advanced
Unanimous Yes, change the Regrow Limb Potion to an advanced Level Potion. It still requires a healer to be present
Magic Item Attunement: Suggestion is to change the Magic Item system to involve attunement to limit the number of usable magic items on an individual
Our Upkeep System for items is a limiting factor in and of itself. The more you have, well, the more you're paying.
Unanimous...going to be tabled until we have more time, and have determined the future of the Economic system. We do have universal agreement that a limiting factor needs to be in place. But what...well..that's dependent on the future of other systems at this time
Dervish: Suggestion is that it needs a boost to actually make it usable.
Reading it over...yeah...Dervish is currently Derpish....
Unanimous Yes, Derpish needs to change. How the change will be enacted, well, that requires more time.
Last Stand: Suggestion is to radically increase the damage of the ability or change the fact that it KILLS YOU WHEN USED
Unanimous Yes, Last Stand needs some work because it is garbage!
Containers: Suggestion is to add Structure Points to Containers so that they can be wrecked, crushed, HULK SMASHED, obliterated, etc.
Currently by the rules nothing says how to destroy them, or what happens to the contents.
Unanimous decision to create a rule to cover items in game that are currently not covered under breakability
Languages: Suggestion is that Languages need to do more in game...huh
It's a mechanic, so it needs to be more utilized?
Could remove it as a mechanic and make it straight roleplay.
They're amazing things and could bring so much...but implementation from an excellent appearance to continue immersion gets raw when it has to be written.
We want it to be perfect but the implementation is rough
Unanimous decision is...for the PC's to tell us what exactly they'd like to see, or is removal of the mechanic the way to go?
UPDATED: We’ve since discussed the possibility of changing read/write to more of a cultural lore type of skill. Cultural lore would include the ability to read and write the language of the culture chosen. In addition, when involved in plots involving your chosen culture, it would allow for a recall hint specific to that cultural plot.
We talked about the way we construct monster NPCs and the idea of having consistency so that when, as an experienced PC, you come across a similar monster type to something you have seen before, there would be predictability as to its life, damage, special abilities, boons, and banes.
-The Economy!
There has been lots of talks this offseason about the economy, from the entire removal of an out of game economic system to not changing anything. At this point, the system is likely to be tweaked instead of majorly overhauled.
There is a LOT tied into the Economic System. The removal of such might create a paradigm shift and change the PC's actions
Could be additions or modifications, such as the Investment system
What does it bring / What do we need?
A bit of hesitancy for removal of the system, as well as parts of it.
One issue brought up? Variability. The Multiplier system from Paths, Disciplines and Perks and the sheer amount of personal income.
Power Gap between High Level/High Income vs Low Level/Low Income
Is an original Finalhaven system for continued progression for High Level Characters
Major issue? System works so well at WH, but not at FH and it's one person running all of it. So why is it all so raw?
We will continue talking about the economic system and what if any changes we want to make. As I said, there is likely some tweaking that will occur.
Finally, mind effects.
Need better wording as to what a Mind Effect is
Re-organized rules to be more understandable
Our next con call is January 6th. Our plan of action for the month of January is to get a handle on all of the rules that need work. We are meeting as a group with Winterhaven GMs in early February for a weekend, at which point we expect to make more of a push for specific changes (as opposed to many of the above: we agree that needs to change). We are working through your list as well as some of our own desires for change. We will talk about every single post that you guys bring to us, but it will take some time. Keep the feedback coming. Feel free to respond to this post with any thoughts you might have. There are no restrictions to how you respond to us, but again, if you want to comment about another player’s thoughts, keep it to the prescribed Agree or Disagree format.