HOW'S MY DRIVING

[strangerpeople]

HMD




Hey there, everyone! It's time for an HMD! The last HMD of 15 Strangers...current overarching story arc. And man has it been a ride. And it's a ride we've been proud to go on alongside you guys as R6 ended with a Golden End!

We've said it before and we will keep saying it, but what makes this game as successful as it is, is you, the players. You guys are our lifeblood, our literal and metaphorical heart. You guys are what help to drive the story, the characters, and ultimately the future of the game. And, we always try and implement what you guys suggest when HMD comes up after every round, though it's not always fully successful or consistently implemented (Hey there, links to weekday menus! Where'd you go after Round 3? Did someone forget you? :/ ). But your critiques and suggestions are always welcome, and the end of this round is no different. Even if this is the end of Camazotz's reign of Tabooty terror, it's not the end of the game.

Looking back, we can say there's been good, there's been bad, and there's been Round 4. And one other thing we as the mods all agreed upon as Rounds 6 came to pass was our own little critique of ourselves. Namely, that the mod team definitely needs to take a break. 15 Strangers has been a labor of love for a little over three years, and it's been one that everyone has been working hard to try and make as excellent as possible, no matter if a mod joined the team in R1 or R5, no matter what's been thrown our way.

So does this mean this is the last round of 15 Strangers in the end? No. (In the end? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends.) In fact, we're planning on continuing the game, and R7's story was decided some time ago. In fact, this particular round has been in the works for...well, some time actually. And you're probably all going to scream once you see it, when it is finally announced.

The overarching plot will also still be present, with callbacks here and there-after all, as as a certain brain said, the Meme is ever-present and cannot be contained. But future rounds won't be as Extra-Strength Plot Concentrate as it has been and will be more self-contained. At least, that is the hope!

In the meantime, though, we're taking a murdergame mod vacation. We'll still be here, as will backtagging, the 15 Strangers Round AU meme that we will be putting up in the near future, and probably a tiny bit of incessant R7 teasing over the coming months. Possibly even a Mock Week 4, hmm? But this spring and summer at the very least, we're going to take a rest and come back recharged and ready to go.

And with that...thank you. Thank you so much, all of you, and we'll see you again some time in autumn, 2020!

Comments

[mermaidkin]

Gray and you have both spoken to my hint about the deadland visit now so I want to just address it really quickly. I agree completely with Gray that an announcement a couple hours earlier on the same day of the event should not qualify as following the guidelines of schedules and curfews that many players including myself have been requesting for the entirety of 15S's run (though many other players have wanted to prioritize spontaneity). I want to clarify that I did not mean the event was not important enough to warrant a placeholder. Rather, I myself am just an NPC player and did not plan this event and did not feel authorized to insist that there be a placeholder. Other events that I executive-produced did have a placeholder like the Week 2 Monday motive foreshadowing event. But I was even originally informed of the event in a manner that underscored Matt already knowing about the deadland visit because of playing Jun who was dead, leading me to feel that the mods considered confidentiality their tip-top priority. It was only when I realized that players coming in late could be faced with a choice between attending a meeting and attending the (deadland visit) event that I felt an obligation to do something. (Logic of events affecting the entire setting was a major concern from multiple players during MW3 because of everything occurring in a single house.) At that point we were only a couple hours away and I thought to myself "well, when the event's thrilling reveal only occurs at like 12:30 and we just get mere hints of Something Very Important at first at 12, is it that bad to have the hints at 10. No"

We can also see in hindsight that I just had genuinely incomplete (to the point of misleading or inaccurate) information about the event since I specifically thought the ghosts were going to go back to deadland relatively soon after the hosts' arrival comment at 3 PM EST, we repeatedly described this as "last minute part" and were subsequently shocked that there was enough time for characters to leave the premises and come back with other items.

Maybe I should have voiced a firmer opinion in favor of placeholders earlier... Anyway, I get it that you guys are probably talking more about the mods' role in that situation than my own, I just wanted to provide some more information. (Case in point: I had to post the Trial 2 announcement in discord, clearly not an inappropriate spoiler on my part but raises concerns about the mods.)

I would also say that Ni alone handling most/all, to the point of causing problems, of at least some task types was my impression of the duties pertaining to the Hosts this round. Going back to the deadland visit as an example, Ni was the only mod who was willing to express any guidance on how IT was going to react to the event and therefore how the Hosts under its command should react. It also seemed like IT's reaction to the visit was not planned out at all at first and only began to be worked on and considered when I requested this guidance. There are many other examples including much simpler tasks like posting me/Matt's stuff with the mod journal.