Garden Q&A!

Jiraishin

Antonius said:

@Jiraishin Hoisted*

Nope, I got this one.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HoistByHisOwnPetard

Antonius

Not going to derail too much, but that's clearly not how tenses work in English.

Jiraishin

Antonius said:

Not going to derail too much, but that's clearly not how tenses work in English.

Well, I have two responses to that.
1. It's Shakespearean English, therefore screwy.
2. English is a bastard language and is full of things that shouldn't work... but do, God help us all.

Khurgen

You list Celani, Volunteering, and the Garden. What would volunteering alone entail, and are volunteers restricted on playing their character(s)? I assume they could have a very broad range of tasks but I'm curious as to what is involved. 

Tahquil

What is the usual time frame from applications closing, interviews then to offer?

Nicola

@Khurgen

Volunteering is how 99% of us join the Garden (the Garden is the collective team who run Achaea, Gods, Producers, Coders.)

When someone volunteers with us they start out at Celani rank, which denotes that they are undergoing our most basic training processes. I've listed things that this covers in answer to various questions above.

Celani cannot play their characters, the separation from playing Achaea to being part of the team that develops and runs Achaea is mandatory and very important. If someone wants to help out and still play their character they could apply to be a Guide or a Mortal Builder.

Khurgen

@Nicola

Thanks for the clarification. I was assuming volunteer and Celani were separate roles entirely.

Nicola

Tahquil said:

What is the usual time frame from applications closing, interviews then to offer?

Usually within 2 weeks of the applications closing to hear about interview scheduling, but this can depend on big events in game, things setting on fire, and the like.

After interviews folks hear back within 7 days with a yay or nay. After that it depends on when our times line up to bring someone on board.

Zeris

Do Celani get locked into either an RP or coding role? Can people switch if they find coding more interesting or vice versa? Can people do both depending on what you need or however they are feeling that particular day?

Nicola

Zeris said:

Do Celani get locked into either an RP or coding role? Can people switch if they find coding more interesting or vice versa? Can people do both depending on what you need or however they are feeling that particular day?

We keep these distinct because both can be considerable time commitments and it's not great to keep players hanging on a godrole's involvement if the volunteer behind it got caught up in a coding project, or keep a dev schedule on hold because some fun RP came up with their godrole.

Whether a volunteer goes towards God or Coder or whatever in this instance is a decision made final at the end of Celani training.

If a volunteer was in one and wanted to switch, and were suitable for it, we would consider it, but it's not something we'd do lightly, nor allow a lot of back and forth.

Cooper

How long would I be able to hold down enter on the zap command before it was frowned upon?

Nicola

Cooper said:

How long would I be able to hold down enter on the zap command before it was frowned upon?

For less time than I can because I'm the one who does the frowning!

Tahquil

Is there an option of a delayed start for the right applicant? For example : if someone wants to apply but know that the first month of the usual intake they will have time restraints do you Invite them to apply anyway or recommend they wait until the next round?

Nicola

Tahquil said:

Is there an option of a delayed start for the right applicant? For example : if someone wants to apply but know that the first month of the usual intake they will have time restraints do you Invite them to apply anyway or recommend they wait until the next round?

If it's going to be a short term restraint, then they'd be welcome to apply.

Aegis

Nicola said:

Cooper said:

How long would I be able to hold down enter on the zap command before it was frowned upon?

For less time than I can because I'm the one who does the frowning!

For a little bit of amusement, am I allowed to hold down the zap command on Cooper instead?

Atalkez

Only if you prepend it with resurrection right?

Antonius

Aegis said:

Nicola said:

Cooper said:

How long would I be able to hold down enter on the zap command before it was frowned upon?

For less time than I can because I'm the one who does the frowning!

For a little bit of amusement, am I allowed to hold down the zap command on Cooper instead?

Being immediately behind Cooper in the XP ranking, and not really wanting to bash, I'm in favour of this idea.

Cooper

It would take a lot of zaps to drop behind you. 

Taryius

Cooper said:

It would take a lot of zaps to drop behind you. 

That sounded like a challenge.

Nicola

Move on, more questions!

Antonius

Sorry Nicola!

Penwize

Hmm, how about a question on the opposite side of things.  What sort of advice can you give for, or what sort of things would you like to see from, players in order to make things more interesting, engaging, and encouraging for the volunteers?  I think we all know that the key to a good city dynamic is engagement from both sides, so what can the average player do to help that along?

Archaeon

If you had woodchucks in the game, and they were actually able to chuck wood, what would the calculation be for how much wood was chucked per hour by 1 woodchuck?

Nicola

Penwize said:

Hmm, how about a question on the opposite side of things.  What sort of advice can you give for, or what sort of things would you like to see from, players in order to make things more interesting, engaging, and encouraging for the volunteers?  I think we all know that the key to a good city dynamic is engagement from both sides, so what can the average player do to help that along?

A good question, but a bit off the topic of this particular Q&A! I'd like to not derail this thread too much, but I will answer!

People playing Achaea in venues that aren't Achaea is a big problem we've found cropping up. We understand that Discord servers, Skype groups, Google docs and similar can be useful for organisation, but despite what these add in efficiency we find they detract far more from the game itself.

Being a part of Achaea, being fallible, and conducting/organising your roleplay in a medium where the admin and other players have access is so important to being a part of the grand narrative. I've equated the difference in the past as using Achaea as a backdrop for your story (and preventing as much intrusion on this as possible) vs playing a part in Achaea's story.

The former kind of treats other factions, Gods, and Achaea's vast lore, as if they're getting in the way of playing what is largely a single player, or small group game. The latter might result in some disappointments, and some plans not working out the way you had quite imagined, but it allows for a full engagement in the game and a much more organic and we think immersive experience in a living world.

In general, be open to change, be open to losing, take risks, it's a game afterall and we want everyone to be engaged. For leaders, look to create opportunities for the organisations you have control of, if it goes wrong it's not the end of the world, if you don't have ideas or are too afraid of making a misstep, then consider that someone else might be able to.

The team can't add any kind of interesting engagement to something you plan if you handle it entirely out of the game until you summon your org to come and bear witness to the emotes you've written out. This doesn't mean to email your patrons everytime you want to give a speech in the hopes of getting extra shiny additions, but if you play a ritualist and sit around in game being a ritualist who is working on his next big ritual plan, researching, discussing, etc, engaging with the game and those around you in all steps of playing this role, you'll have a much better chance of some added fun!

Mindshell

Do Celani get dorm rooms or are they out in the cold until Demi?

Nicola

Mindshell said:

Do Celani get dorm rooms or are they out in the cold until Demi?

They have to build their own rooms, so it's all on them! (Mine was an igloo, so I was cold and had a room.)

Ailea

I am channeling my inner Hermonie and have a couple of inquires. 

1. Is it possible for a player, aspiring to become a God/Goddess, to reach out the administrator and find out what they need to work on to improve their chances of becoming a Celani? 

2. How often are mortal builders called for?

3. What is the process of submitting an idea to the Garden? Such as an item or event for feasibility and even implementation? 

4. What would be your best advice to give to someone who feels they may have burnt too many bridges, yet still desires to become one of the Garden? 

Thanks!

Nicola

Ailea said:

I am channeling my inner Hermonie and have a couple of inquires. 

1. Is it possible for a player, aspiring to become a God/Goddess, to reach out the administrator and find out what they need to work on to improve their chances of becoming a Celani?

It is, but this doesn't guarantee success down the line and we simply don't have the time to dedicate to ongoing support of individuals trying to improve in order to join the team.

2. How often are mortal builders called for?

As and when they're needed, usually once or twice a year.

3. What is the process of submitting an idea to the Garden? Such as an item or event for feasibility and even implementation?

For an actual idea, submit an IDEA, for event suggestions, email roleplay@achaea.com

4. What would be your best advice to give to someone who feels they may have burnt too many bridges, yet still desires to become one of the Garden? 

Turn it around and do better. It's blunt but actions and attitudes in Achaea are primarily what we judge a candidate on.

Sobriquet

If someone outside of the mortal builder program has an idea and would like to design an area complete with mobs and story line, how much of this would you like to see in a proposal, if anything?

Ailea

Great! Thanks @Nicola