Lucaken

I’ll answer both questions with one reply, since the two are fairly interlinked. We need new people in the team because I am of the opinion that the things you’ve mentioned here are things we’ve already tried and (in my eyes) didn’t really succeed. We should come up with new plot hooks other than just trying to do the phoron scarcity but better this time. There are so many unresolved, unexplored questions in the lore and yet we seem to bounce around the same funny purple stone every time. As I said - fresh eyes, fresh ideas. As for scaling back, perhaps my choice of wording was poor. What I meant was more about your stance on the planet freeze and origins. I think blocking writers from developing new ideas is always a bad idea. It stifles their interest and is a fast route to burn out. Unless it’s a case like the human team a couple of months back, where there is a serious back log, it’s not worth it. Also, I would hate to be the person to tell said team we are re-instating the planet freeze after having them work for so long on getting all their old lore updated.

You already highlighted the main issues I have with your application, which is the fickleness of your attention. I won’t lie, it’s a pretty big mark against, and you are going to need to make a strong effort to continue contributing every day. That said, if you get the position and feel like you are losing interest, do not be afraid to move on as quick as you feel is right. No one really cares about a short tenure - but they absolutely care if you stagnate and sit on a position for a while. Also, try and write less. I know I made the same mistake at the start, and probably never grew out of it fully, but it will help keep reader retention.

I like how unique and new a lot of your thoughts are, as well as the frankness you have when describing things you don’t like. I also like fresh blood in the team. I just think you need to prepare yourself for being pushed back on your new ideas. You are one half of the highest authority on the team. Be assertive, otherwise your ideas will not go far.

I feel as though you can be a bit scatter-brained as a writer, based purely on my experience during my tenure. You have many good ideas and can keep the pace going within a team, but the Deputy Loremaster is mostly a curator. If you want to take this position, I think you need to be more assertive in picking positions and stances. There will be a lot of tough choices.

As driven as you are as a writer (useful, because you do more writing as Deputy LM than you’d expect), my main contention is that I don’t think you’re strict enough. This was also a failing of mine, consequently. When projects get left behind, reviews stagnate, and applications sit in the docket, someone needs to project a big voice. Even when it’s your boss who’s lagging behind. I’m not sure you have the chops for that. But if you do get the position, I hope you keep this piece of advice in mind and don’t hold back nearly as much as I did.

I am against this application on the basis that I think new blood is needed in the team. This was my focus during my tenure, and limited as my voice may be now, I still think that should be an important factor. I do not oppose most of the ideas here, or just you yourself, but I do think it’s mostly concepts we’ve already tried. Whether they worked or not, or how well, is a question for history. But I personally don’t think they did. We need fresh eyes and ideas more than ever, instead of scaling things back.

Hello. Thank you for taking the time to fill out this application. Most of the relevant questions have been asked, so I only have one topic that also relates to my own position in the team. Although by now I'm sure you are tired of reading the lore team rules and regulations, I want to highlight the sections regarding cross-team coordination. As a writer, you will be expected to coordinate and work together with others outside of your team and do this with full effort. How do you feel about potentially working with people you may dislike personally? Do you feel like it might hamper the quality of your writing, ideas, or workflow in any way? If personal issues arose with members, how quickly do you think you would be able to settle down and return to writing? Please don't take the questions above as a personal challenge - although I did write them knowing that, like me, you are not afraid to speak your mind during arguments. It's because of that (and because these issues never really stop happening) that I thought they would be useful questions. Good luck, and take your time with the answers.

This application is accepted. Welcome to the team.

After many days of thinking, I have decided to accept this application. I want you to know that I have high expectations, but even higher hopes for you. Congratulations.

After many days of thinking, I have decided to deny this application. It was definitely not an easy choice, and both candidates had their strengths and weaknesses. It ultimately came down to wanting fresher blood in lead writer positions, which is something I hope you can understand. Thank you for being forthright with me throughout this process.

This application is accepted on behalf of the Unathi team.

This application is accepted on behalf of the Unathi team.

It’s a strange position for me to be in, but nevertheless I must echo some of what Trio brought up as potential concerns. While you are incredibly driven, it can be hard to keep up with you sometimes as a deputy - a trait you ironically share with Trio. I think you will have to slow down at least a little bit for the sake of your team, and you should be aware of that when going in. Aside from that I really only have two concerns. The first is that I am not a big believer in article-led arcs, or at the very least I find the way we approach articles means they reach a lot fewer people than actual in-game arcs. Do you feel confident you can do the latter effectively, perhaps even on a whim if we suddenly have to take the Horizon towards Moghes? And second, are you considering applying for Deputy Loremaster should you get this position? I ask because I have significant concerns about shifting positions so quickly, with no new people added. My own rise to the post should be evidence that sometimes new blood is necessary. Please take your time answering these questions.

During your tenure as deputy writer, I’ve noticed your main strength lies in pushing projects forward with actually writing them, often with a manic pace, which is great! It’s a great trait for a deputy writer, but is not necessarily indicative of being able to lead a team. In fact, Heads who write a little bit too much can often push their deputies to the side without meaning to, as the sheer speed at which they come up with ideas can push away the rest of the team’s. With all that said, how do you feel about potentially having to step back if you become Head writer? Or perhaps more importantly, about having to ‘whip’ your deputies into sharing the load? On another note, your answers detail at least a few spots of cross-species lore that you are unhappy with. There were vague ideas of maybe even getting rid of them. How do you see yourself potentially replacing these if you become Head writer? With stand-alone Unathi lore, different cross-species interaction, etc.? Lastly, I must stress that in this new environment we find ourselves in, species arcs are everything. It’s my personal view that nothing else pushes the narrative like them, and so it’s important for me to know whether or not you have strong ideas/concepts for them - even if they are non-Unathi related. Please take your time answering these.

LORE DIARY ENTRY #23 This is a lore diary entry for December 2022 See below for changes to lore in this month! Major changes in the spoiler below! There's 1 Human and 1 General entry. Medium-sized changes in the spoiler below! There's 1 Tajara, 3 Human and 1 Skrell entry. Small additional fluff in the spoiler below! There's 4 Tajara, 2 Human, 1 Vaurca and 1 IPC entry.

LORE DIARY ENTRY #22 This is a lore diary entry for November 2022 See below for changes to lore in this month! Major changes in the spoiler below! There's 1 General and 1 Unathi entry. Medium-sized changes in the spoiler below! There's 2 Tajara, 1 Skrell and 1 General entry. Small additional fluff in the spoiler below! There's 2 Tajara, 2 Human, and 2 Skrell entries.

Thank you for being along the ride with us for our second ever Horizon arc. We have worked very hard to bring you the best possible experience we could, but as always, there are lessons to be learned. This thread will serve as a way for players to comment their opinions, thoughts and suggestions on the arc, and how we should move forward in the future. As discussed before, however, we will do things a bit differently this time around. This thread is strictly for the posting of feedback. It is not for active discussion, by players or staff. This will be heavily enforced by staff. You can obviously do so everywhere else you may want to (forums/discord/etc.), but this should be a space for anyone to say their piece without having to get bogged down in arguments, and for us writers to clearly see people's points. If you are uncomfortable with voicing your opinion here, you are welcome to direct message me here on the forums, or on Discord at Lucaken#8171. Thank you for understanding.

inshallah we will code him

To be entirely clear, no one has said that feedback is straight up not going to be recieved until the end of the arc. Not only have me, Cael and the rest of the lore team been responding on every front possible, my original post here very specifically said that you are welcome to share your opinions here and anywhere else, but that they would only be officially handled after the arc, as much of the complaints were regarding the possibilities of the last event. It's very difficult to talk about that topic when there are people who are still interested in playing it, and would rather not be spoiled. This includes announcements - when there is an 'emergency event' like this, you can generally rely on us to give updates as we get closer to it - but this involves at least a certain amount of trust and patiance from us. The first announcement was meant to be alarming from IC standpoint. It's sudden, it's unexpected, and it's meant to create in-character drama. And again, to go back to my post, I already explained that there will be a new way to approach official arc feedback after this arc, including possibly in-between events. This thread, as well as the various arguments in Discord channels, have shown that direct discussion is not helpful for players to easily convey their opinions, or for us writers to sort between feedback and arguments between players. Summaries are another thing we'll take a look at, as it's fair that players wish to be more well informed during arcs, rather than afterwards.

In the interest of maintaining a more receptive environment for feedback (for both players and writers), we are going to leave official feedback until the end of the arc. The conversation in the Relay, and the conversations it created elsewhere, have proven that the way we engage with feedback is generally not conducive to making our writing, or the experience of players, any better. We will be trying out new ways of reaching the playerbase that don't involve direct player-to-writer discussion. You are obviously free to express your opinions here and anywhere else, but do not expect official responses. Furthermore, keep in mind that until the arc is actually done, you cannot reliably presume what will and won't happen in an event. I understand that a lot of vitriol and emotion was created in the Relay, but we rely on your trust in us in order to keep going. As a note, the event will be preceeding next week no matter what, as we are not interested in losing months of buildup, time and effort on the part of every single branch of the staff team to abandon it now. Regardless of opinion, I hope to see all of you enjoying what we worked so hard for these past weeks.

LORE DIARY ENTRY #21 This is a lore diary entry for October 2022 See below for changes to lore in this month! Major changes in the spoiler below! There's 1 General and 1 Vaurca entry. Medium-sized changes in the spoiler below! There's 0 entries. Small additional fluff in the spoiler below! There's 4 Tajara, 1 Human 1 Skrell, 1 IPC and 1 Unathi entries.

Thank you for everyone participating in today's event. As always, this thread is here for everyone to voice their opinions. Besides the usual lore feedback, you are also welcome to post any mechanical changes to the Horizon's weapons mechanics, too. We are especially interested in the opinions of people actively participating in the round. Thank you.