How's My Driving: Player (And Game) Edition!

[taxonmods]

Happy St. Patrick's Day to those who celebrate! Remember: don't drink and how's my drive.

This is a combined player and game HMD, which means your mods are going to be begging for feedback. We're feeling a little disconnect and want to make sure everyone is enjoying themselves as much as possible. Specifically we're looking for feedback on the Haunted Holo plot, and what we can do in the future to make such large-scale plots more accessible.

It's also an HMD for our characters! Please comment here with the names of the characters you play and others will reply with their feedback- and it's obviously a given that this feedback will be helpful, constructive and respectful. Also, as amazing as getting ILU comments is, it's nice to hear why and what we're doing right just as much as criticism needs to be constructive. Participation is also entirely optional, and if you have any issues just let a mod know and we'll help out as much as we can.

Anonymous commenting is enabled and IP logging is off for your convenience should you require it!

Comments

MODS

[taxonmods]

Dien | dien | Mayland Long, Paul Smecker
Keri | kseda | Glitch
Sofo | sofo | Bagoas, Mick St. John, Wyatt Cain

Feedback on technical stuff/how we're doing in general goes here!

The Game

[taxonmods]

This will serve as a mini-game HMD. Please give us feedback on how you're feeling about the game, positive and negative, and let us know what we need to work on to improve it.

As stated above, we'd also LOVE feedback on the Haunted Holo plot. We're a bit anxious about the response to it, and would very much appreciate your opinions and suggestions.

[aintnoconvict]

I said this on plurk but I'm moving it over here too because it's important:

We're really, really anxious about what we're feeling is a communication breakdown, guys. So please, if you've had any thoughts of what we could have done better with anything, or any little negative grumblings, tell us. This isn't us asking for asspats, this is us asking you where you want the game to go.

[allthatlife]

I love this game. I've been here from the very beginning and through many changes and I still love it. I think you have done and are continuing to do a great job.

I really enjoyed / am really enjoying the Haunted Holo plot. Things have progressed slowly, yes, but that's just the way that Taxon is. We're a laidback game and we thrive on backtags and backdating. I'm worried that you might be mistaking a slow response for a lack of interest?

To players: Haunted Holo: What went wrong?

[sofo]

I don't even know where to start, so I guess I'll just write things as they come to me, and worry about structure later.

I've been seriously bummed out over this plot since the first few days of it. I think more so than the other mods as this particular plot was my wacky brain child since six or so months back, and I've been eager to work it into the game on a few occasions, but we ended pushing it back for among other things the sake of pacing.

So, when we finally got planning, I of course got excited and wanted everyone else to get as excited as I was, and I'm still not sure I succeeded in anything I set out to do. We plotted in the plotting post, as we always do, and then the plot started and...it never seemed to me to get going until the day before The End of it. The plot was supposed to run between March 1-8, one week, keep it nice and tight, but I don't know where it went off the rails.

Half the posts the first four days were made by either the mod account or characters played by mods. Almost half of the total posts between March 1-8 came on March 6 or 7.

I love rping with Dien and Keri, as my gushing comment of wub down below no doubt illustrates, but I keep saying it again and again: I want CR with every player. Not necessarily with all characters, as that could get a bit difficult to keep up with, but I seriously want CR from everyone.

I had this idea in my head that people would be tagging each other left and right and inserting their characters into other characters' nightmares to their hearts' content, but both during the plot and after the extension and now that it's over, I feel like it ended in one big whopping anticlimax.

I don't know if it's hindsight that's fooling me, but I have this mental image of the fairytale plot being super busy and fun and like I described above, everyone tagging each other left and right. I wanted the same vibe for this plot, just with a nastier edge. I don't feel it. I love the tags I got for my posts, I really enjoy the CR I've had so far during it, but I'm just not feeling it right now.

So what I'm asking for specifically, since as I said, the Haunted Holo thing was my idea originally, is what didn't work for you.

[electro_girl]

My thoughts re: Haunted!Holo. Sorry for coming in late, I've been away this weekend!

I thought the idea was awesome. I loved it and I had a lot of fun, even though I'm still working on tags! I was excited for it to play out and all the stuff to go down and etc, etc.

The only thing I'd say is maybe it would have been better if it went on longer? I'm not gonna lie, I don't know anything about running a game or modding or how that works, so I'm sure there is an obvious counter-argument to this. I know there was the extension and that was much appreciated, especially cause there hadn't been that much action at that point. But I do feel like there needs to be enough time for things to play out, for people who may not be around a lot that week or two to jump in. Obviously slow tagging as usual helps! But I think having an alternate!Taxon, in this case, around a lot longer might make things in the game more complex and interesting. People trying to save others, people in real!Taxon trying to help/figure out WTF is going on, I don't know. So in conclusion, I think while in some cases it's good to keep certain glitches tight, that something like this might be a little longer, especially since Taxon tends to be slower than not.

ANYWAY, I do wish the glitch were more involved and epic, shall we say, because I thought the "anything goes" type of thing was totally cool and just so easy for characters to run into each other other than the usual "get-together" social type event, you know? Also FYI I should have done better with this as well, obviously, I'm not counting myself out!

[aintnoconvict]

Glitch ± aintnoconvict | private HMD

Individual mod stuff for me goes here.

[allthatlife]

You worry too much.

Also, I miss the name justaddmarbles sometimes. THERE, I SAID IT.

Doctor StrangeLife, or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Ride.

[ownlittleprison]

You really are our Modly Person #1, for being the sweetest, most expedient get-things-done kind of woman ever. We wouldn't be halfway there (metaphorical though it may be) if it weren't for you knowing what's what and what goes where.

I can't even begin to tell you how awesome your slice of bloody gore-y dramallama haunted holo-ness is. Seriously, I just had a vague inkling I wanted to see Glitch get to kick some ass, but you've brought so much more than that into the whole thing. Friendship and solidarity and loyalty and the gut-clenching, knee-jerk response Glitch has against hurting people. There's hurting, sure, for the greater good, but then there's the real gruesome end of the spectrum, and I'm loving that we get to see how very not well he's dealing with it. Totes excited about Cain and Glitch saving the day, equally wibbly over Glitch's Not Being Okay at the playhouse with Bagoas.

You rock. Now you just gotta start telling yourself that everyday and grow a bit of an ego. ;3

[imperial_long]

You. Oh, you.

You're definitely one of the best RPers I've ever had the pleasure to play with, top ten or maybe top five. Your tags are always meaty and delicious, I love Glitch to pieces regardless of wherever his brain is at currently. Not to copy your comment to me too much but damn it's fun playing with you and I had almost forgotten that.

As far as crit goes, you DO worry too much, bb. And I know that at times me and Sof must be the most frustrating co-mods ever lol cuz we're all 'la la la sure I guess!' sometimes (or at least I am) and you're all GUYS GUYS WHUT DO STUFF NEEDS DOING and then there is bottling and horrors of the not-fun kind.

You love Taxon so much and you want it to be so awesome. That part's a compliment. Just make sure you also breathe in there, okay hon?

And app Gooooooooooooold (if you want)

[sourcebloodaughter]

all three together because i'm lazy

Willow Rosenberg | Buffyverse | slayersidekick

Jenna Sommers | the Vampire Diaries | secretshame

Ashley Magnus | Sanctuary | sourcebloodaughter

[aintnoconvict]

I know things have been rough for you lately Stella, just know I'm an IM or PP away ♥ My one piece of advice (and it'a actually something Glitch suggested to Jenna, lol) would be to try and tag around more when you're feeling up to it.

[imperial_long]

I too have noticed a bit less of the Stella-girls around-- hope everything is okay in RL <3 And I know I need to be tagging your chars more, I've been wrestling with burnout issues on my end >__<

I know it's hard for chars like Jenna, especially, who have no castmates in the city now and are normal humans stuck in this big crazy mess, but I'd love to get an idea of what she's doing in the city-- I mean, I know she's running the Dodgy Jammer and I know she's missing Elena and the rest of her weird fangy sorta family a lot, and helping dull the pain sometimes with a good drink-- but sometimes it feels that that is all I see of Jenna, and that's a shame, cuz I love the normal humans stuck in Taxon.

Love to see a bit of Ashley outside of her canonmates too!

Emma

[allthatlife]

Anything for Martha Jones [allthatlife], DG [tothelightshown] or Drusilla (AU) [a_pretty_fire]?

[killtheparty]

I'd really like to see Martha out more. idk if it's a muse thing or not, but she's awful quiet!

[aintnoconvict]

Emma bb you're my touchstone, I always feel better when you're around and doing stuff and I cannot wait for plot of horrors :D

One really silly thing (given our mutual turtle-pacing) I'd like to try at some point is seeing if we can arrange for some boomerang tagging, both to wrap up some lingering plot stuff and to see what happens when we try just plowing through something. I know I write my best with instant feedback - hence Sof sitting on me constantly XD - so we could take it as a challenge. Between timezones and work and school it might get tricky, but it's on my wishlist ♥

Kat

[killtheparty]

Just Party Poison (killtheparty), which, I'm sad to say, I'm losing the drive to play lately. I just wanna note that yeah I realize I've dropped a BUNCH of stuff here, and it's not fair to everyone, so a huge apology there.

I WILL say though that regardless of if I decide to stay with Party or not (I probably will and just pause glitch him if this keeps up), I'm going to be bringing in an OC here once I get off my ass and write an app.

Re: Kat

[sofo]

Anything you need to get back in the swing of rping Party, just lemme know. <3 You know I wub him, no contest there.

/will get back to this entire thing tomorrow, it's been a long day

Kris

[buffy_slayer]

Anything for Buffy, here.

I've been dealing with a mix of being sick and just not wanting to do ANYTHING at all. Let's not speak of the condition of my room, pls.

as I mentioned before, I'm planning on putting up a Buffy at the Bar post, once the haunted holo stuff proceeds further. Anyone and everyone should come and hang out.

Re: Kris

[sofo]

Whoohoo more posts :D

Yes, that is the extent of my verbosity. It's getting a bit late for my brain. >_>

[loves_bitch]

Kat #2 - Katrina

loves_bitch - Spike!

genequeen - Madelyne Pryor!

[sofo]

Madelyne meeting Bagoas Y/N/cookies?


/will get back with an actual feedback-y thing tomorrow, promise <3 Loving your stuff so far!

Me as well as characters, feedback more than welcome

[sofo]

thepersianyouth Bagoas, son of Artembares, son of Araxis
hasaheart Wyatt Cain
ownlittleprison Mick St. John

Re: Me as well as characters, feedback more than welcome

[aintnoconvict]

THIS IS A PLACEHOLDER tl;dr: ♥

Okay less with the placeholder: I think I may be slightly addicted to the positive feedback loop that comes from chatting and tagging. It's this whole ping-zing thing that makes writiing easier and also makes me challenge myself. And yes, looking forward to tags and f5-ing the inbox like a derranged marmoset. I'm a junkie. I need another hit of Sofo.

That said - and this is utterly ridiculous coming from me - but try and ease off on fixating on the negative, or the could-have-been stuff that happens in a perfect world. I know I'm guilty as fuck about doing this too but it just gets SO EXHAUSTING. Figure out compromises with yourself, with a situation, with other people, and try to find that silver lining. And yes I'm talking to myself here too.

...cranky, falling-apart old ladies, us XD

[no_rose_tint]

Scott Summers | Marvel Comics

Would love some crit, because I haven't online rp'ed in years.

[genequeen]

Your Scott is a part of why I joined up, so I can only hope to play at the same level!

late! =(

[electro_girl]

Gwen Raiden | Angel | electro_girl

Illyria | Angel | blue_bird

It's never too late! :D

[thepersianyouth]

Oh hi. How about I tag Illyria with Bagoas back in the post of horrors?

[brokenoptimism]

Just Charles.

And you know, besides slow as molasses.

[tricia868]

The Charles and Kitten thread is making me positively gleeful. I get this big goofy grin on my face when I read your tags. ...And I am also slow as molasses. I will tag soon.

Dien

[smecker]

smecker

imperial_long

I am the slowest! I will start answering everyone tomorrow, promises my precious.

Re: Dien

[aintnoconvict]

SAME AS WITH SOF tl;dr ♥ and all

OKAY first off get back here and comment, you ninny :|

Anyway: I'd kinda forgotten what writing with you was like, and even though this recent...thing has been more writing AROUND you it's been a blast. So we should like. Do that regularly. (I need to get my head out of my ass.)

Mod stuff: still glad we had that one conversation, I think it helped a lot. Please feel free to lovingly knock me on the head if I ever need it (oh hi FAQ you're still sitting there mocking me). And I wish I could gush more about everything but being sick + medicated for same is turning my brain mushy. Picture an adoring interpretive dance here.

Tri

[tricia868]

thornandmoss (Briar Moss)

skysung (Kitten)

I'm aware that I've been having some activity issues. Honestly, I'm quite a slow tagger, and while I love the delicious responses to my posts and am always glad for interaction, I tend to accumulate backtags and then fall out of touch because I know if I post something new I will accumulate not one but a bunch of new threads. (for instance, the 4 I have yet to tag in Briar's haunted holo post. *facepalms*)

I've been thinking about the issue, and the possible solution I've come up with is this.

I was wondering if other players would be open to combining subthreads in my posts. In other words, I'd start a post, and say I'm cool with x number of subthreads, however many I think I can handle based on my RP/RL situation at the time. I would mark a comment subject line with closed/character names if I had plans for a subthread, but otherwise, I'm open to threading with multiple other characters in one of the threads.

I don't want to limit my characters' CR, and I want to play with all of you (because you are all lovely and your writing and characters make me so happy), but me being overwhelmed isn't conducive to managing that. I got a little too stressed out to tag. Most of that stress was for RL reasons, but RL anxiety just means that it's all the more important to find ways to minimize stress in RP when I can.

Re: Tri

[aintnoconvict]

I've got to tag you. Or maybe you've got to tag me. Something.

I think that's a viable system. Really, any way for you to cut down stress is okay with me since the entire idea's to be having fun here. And know if you're not up for a post but want to play, tagging in is always an option. That gives you a bit more control over what you're doing, and I know that sort of thing helps me deal with anxiety /cuddles