FiresideChat

Fireside Chat Ideas

I am looking to improve some of the aspects of communicating things to the players. Several people have suggested the idea of a weekly fireside chat around when I run test passings. I have created a new Microphone Channel called Fireside for the this purpose. I will accept suggestions here for topics for each week. I would like to keep the discussion on topic as much as possible with as many questions submitted here before the event.

Q: Why do you want the questions up front and not during the event?
A: Because historically the ENN chats have started well but got worse the longer they go on. If I get the questions up front, I can think about the answers and not do quick off the cuff answers that tend to upset someone or another.

Q: Can I have a unicorn?
A: No, stop asking. It was funny the first 200 times, but now you are more likely to get a snarky answer that causes someone to point out that Pluribus is a meany and he shouldn't talk to the players that way.

Q: How do I submit idea for topics and or Questions that I would like answered.
A: Add them to the sections below. (+1 any question that you are interested in that was previously posted)

Q: How long will these chats last and is there any chance of taking questions during the event?
A: I am shooting to make them about 30 minutes long. Questions submitted during the event may be answered at my discretion. Posts that are off topic or meant to just be inflammatory will just be deleted rather than posted. (Yes it is censorship, deal with it)

Q: How do I see the discussion as it is happening?
A: During the event, just /join Fireside and the microphone channel will be added. If you can't be in game, it will be logged with the other microphone channels.

Questions Per Topic

State of the Game

• Would you consider adding vanity titles for passing >7 tests in a discipline ("Pharaoh's Idiot")? It would encourage some of us to keep playing. -Istwan
• If the barrier to doing a kickstarter is the time required on your end, why not source ideas from the community and get community involvement in running the campaign? I've started throwing together some ideas here -Dresdor
• How large of a team is currently working on ATITD? What sort of things are you needing help with that the community might be able to step in and assist? We all love this game and want to see it flourish. -Dresdor
• What is the biggest challenge you are seeing in attracting new players to the game? -Dresdor
• What percentage of active subscriptions are the full-telling subscription purchases? - Dresdor
• (Nerdy Questions)How are you tracking various work items/doing project management for this (and the other) games? What system (if any) are you using as a code repository? -Dresdor

Gameplay

• Why can't fertilizer be used to fertilize soil? - Lisanna

Existing Test Improvements and Changes

• Some test have rewards, while others do not. Is there any chance to add some reward to every test, even just a small one. - Balthazarr
  • Architecture - Since each passed test allows an addition 14 cells to a compound, this discipline is pretty much covered. Plus the various houses that you can build after passing tests, and Monuments Towers, too.
  • Art - Since each passed test gives an improved Artistic Touch for Blacksmithing, this discipline is pretty much covered.
  • Body - All but Banquet give a stat boost, maybe a Perception boost could be the reward for Banquet.
  • Harmony - Gives no rewards for anything, other than the Offering Vault becoming an oversized warehouse. This is probably do to Harmony being a late addition to the game.
  • Leadership - Gives rewards for 3 tests Hegemon, Demipharaoh & Mentorship. What about some reward for the others?
  • Thought - Gives no rewards for anything. I can think of no reason why this original discipline was left out in the cold.
    • Maybe something like Artistic Touch for Glassblowing or some sort of boost of that sort. - Balthazarr
  • Worship - Since each passed test increases the yield by 10 barley, this discipline is pretty much covered. Plus a few tests have an extra benefit given to the passers.
• Bedouin is the only test where the player is ignorant about how near is the goal when it was not reached. In all the others it is known. That could be fixed saying each day in system the 3 (or 4) top scores: the 2 that advanced and one or two more. - Sabuli

Test Rebalance For Solo Play Or Consistency

The goal for the game has never been for one player to complete all tests (though this has happened) but there seems to be no consistency in terms of difficulty for a test. The following rebalance ideas are offered for consideration:

Architecture

• Principles - Architecture principles is a little time consuming at newbie tech levels (takes a couple hours to grind out all the materials, especially if you don't get things like improved brick racks, hackling rakes, and carpentry shops built in your compound before expanding it). Improvements recommended here would be to make the expansion smaller, and maybe include building some of the simpler compound buildings.
• Test of The Obelisk- Instead of making this "tallest wins when held for x time" make it point based like other tests. If you have the tallest of this type of Obelisk, and are holding power, you earn x points per day. You earn proportionally less based on how much smaller your obelisk is (exact formula is left to the designer). In theory, even if you've never had the largest obelisk, you still earn points. Multiply points by a factor for the type of obelisk (e.g. 1 for desert, 2 for metallic, 3 for cut stone, etc). The goal is to improve the test for everyone and make things like queues redundant.
• Throne of the Pharoah- Making this more solo-friendly would be to allow anyone to attach a decoration to the throne. When done by someone not in that throne's group, the throne group gets a half the normal points, and the soloer gets half the normal points. Alternatively make it on a timer so that for the first X hours only group members can do this. Similar to the recommendation for obelisk, make passing based on points instead of best throne wins a pass (or add a secondary pass based on points for those not in a throne group).
• Test of Towers has a good balance and is soloable. No changes recommended at this time.
• Test of the People's Pyramid - Pyramids take a lot of manpower for one person to get a pass. Pyramids also provide some small bonuses to Egypt as a whole, so there's no real risk of them not getting built eventually without this test. My thought is this test should be removed, or its mechanic replaced by some kind of points system for helping build a pyramid (or like other tests, maybe earn points by blessing a pyramid in some way, and whoever has the most points on a given day gets a pass on the test).
• Test of the Megalopolis - I like the flavor of this test, but I envision this as an ever-growing site. Restict Megalopoli to one per region. A Megalopoli is completed when the central building is built, but can be added on to by any player. Megalopoli can expand indefinitely, and grant benefits to the region they are built in, but a player can only ever add one building to a Megalopolis. Region Megalopoli should compete with each other, and you earn 1 point per building in your megalopolis per day (from the time you add yours). The x people with the most points every week pass the test.
• Test of the Funerary Temple - This test is mostly ok. I'm not a fan of the overall demand of Raeli tiles in the game, so I'd recommend being able to add other "decorations" to the temple in a similar manner (fish scales might be fun, used in the same way as tiles, as would paint, but worth fewer points).
• Test of Life - This test works very well the way it is (once the grow attempts vs actual grown counting bug is fixed next telling). It is possible to "split off" an existing aquaduct and make your own branch (even for one tower and bulk grow your own veggies). While you can't strictly solo this, you can do a decent job of passing without being involved in the big groups.
• Test of Seven Phoenix - I don't have much of a comment on this test. Its ok as is. It requires group participation to reasonably pass.
• Test of Octec's Ghost - This is an ok test, but I really don't like it for Architecture. It doesn't have the right feel for it.

Art and Music

In general, these tests are voting based, and so we have large "galleries" of art near CS. Failure to put your art there tends to mean you will not pass as quickly as those that do.

• Principle: This really should be a test on its own, as sculptures are usually very well done.

Body

In general, I'm not a fan of permanent attribute changes being tied to tests. They should be gained by other means.

• Principle: This is almost too easy of a principle, and only demonstrates that Body tests involve running around everywhere.
• Test of the Acrobat: This is a decent test for Body. I'm not sure there should be any changes here, except maybe better communication that there's no chance you will learn anything from someone.
• Test of the Archaeologist: Arch. Sites seem to only spawn where people have been, and there's no way to "force" them to occur. This is really less about archaeology and just a treasure hunt. Maybe have some change to the test so you have to perform some action to find arch. sites?
• Test of the Bedouin: I like this test. You can run around all of egypt if you want to pass quickly or just make sure your nearest 3 altars are annointed by you every now and then for a slower pass.
• Test of the Singing Cicada: This test actively penalizes players who cannot play with sound enabled or have hearing issues. It is the only source of permanent speed, and is set up in such a way that ensures players will keep "playing" the test for a long time to get 14 speed. Add in things like placing cages where they are only accessible by airship, needing to find 4-7 cages to even set up you own, and it is difficult to get started. Perhaps add in an option to "buy" a cage from U. Body once a week/month for some non-inconsequential cost. This would allow players who don't have luck finding cages a chance to still earn points.
• Test of the Darkest Night: As someone who hates shrooming, I'm not a fan of this test in general. However, one change I would recommend is having the ability to "refresh" one of the mushroom requirements (changes to a new, random shroom, but you lose any progress you made on the previous one), or having any completed requirements get replaced by a new shroom, with the test passing once you complete 35 mushrooms (by eating 7 of each from the ground). Every 5 shrooms you complete you get 1 endurance.
• Test of the Safari: I'm not a fan of scavenger hunts, but this test is ok as it is. Only complaint is, like the other Body tests, this restricts strength which is a key stat (because its tied to default carry ability). There's a huge difference between being able to carry 500 weight and 1000 weight. I would personally make it so that you can get any combination of 28 animals (maybe with a limit of 7 each instead of 4) so that if you have a particular kind you hate hunting (Otters always laughing at me) you don't *have* to do it to pass.
• Test of the Oyster Catcher : Issue here is that there's programs to perfectly "solve" the oyster beds. This makes half the test trivial. The other part, figuring out how to build your necklace, is the fun part. Like every other body test, I'm not a fan of tying an attribute buff to completion of the test.
• Test of the Ritual Tattoo: This test is cool in concept. It can be very time consuming to find the right herb if it is rare.

Harmony

• Principle: This principle seems highly divorced from the reality of the tests in this discipline. Meeting people is not the same as predicting what other people will do (which is what most of the other tests are about)

Leadership

• Principle: This is an annoyance when server populations are low or mid-telling. Maybe have the number needed fluctuate based on number of online players or number of players active in the last X days.
• Test of the Demi-Pharoah: No....this should not be a test. DP is a big responsibility and has a lot of power with the potential to ban players. This should not be the goal of a test, and should only be pursued for altruistic reasons (wanting to help the community). Ideally, Egypt would keep people out of the DP position if they did not have Egypt's best intentions at heart, but people can be fooled.
• Test of the Kingmaker: This is more of a Harmony test than a leadership one. I'm not a huge fan of it in general.
• Test of Mentorship: Another one that really shouldn't be a test. There are rewards for mentoring new players that can be redeemed. That should be enough.
• Test of the Retired Pirates: This is more of a Thought test than a leadership one.
• Test of the Covered Cartouche: This is more of an Arch test than a leadership one.
• Test of the Beaurocrat: This is a real leadership test, but people being able to overthrow the whole structure is a little off to me. Maybe require votes or only be able to overthrow those directly above you instead of upsetting the whole beaurocracy.
• Test of the Hegemon: ????
• Test of the Plantation: I'm not sure how I feel about this test. It seems like a good test, but I'm not sure how leadershippy it is.

Thought

In general, Thought needs some UI improvements. The various puzzles need an option to pop up a menu or HUD to do the tasks, as well as a better way of finding "recently passed" items for principles than using the Wiki. Like Art and Music, there's the issue that unless your puzzle is near a CS, you probably won't get as many votes. Finally, the fact that only those that solve your puzzles get to vote implies that there's incentive to make the puzzles relatively easy, instead of the devilishly hard puzzles this discipline should represent.

• Principle: I hate this principle. Either make a Set's ladder not require a Pyramid of the People, or change the goal to another kind of puzzle.

Worship

• Principle: I am not a fan of this principle. It has the potential for a lot of flavor, but falls flat. This is always the last principle I complete, as its boring and only takes a few minutes if you work with the right guild.

Ideas for New Techs

The main issue here here is that we propose techs that do NOT require any new graphic resources. - Balthazarr

• Pollution Abatement and Fertilizer. If we could research techniques that would tie into Ecology. For example, after testing for Soil Acidity, if you had learned this tech, you would know how much Lime would need to be spread to mitigate the Soil Acidity. Thank you Lisanna for the suggestion above. - Balthazarr
• Forge & Casting Box Timers. A tech that would allow us to upgrade Forge & Casting Boxes with a timer showing how much time is left on a project, they would update like a chariot, when you clicked on the building. Maybe a new glaziers bench option Fine Glass Hourglass which along with a handful of other materials would enable the upgrade, once the tech was learned. - Balthazarr
• Greenhouse Technology - Allowing the growing of vegetables, instead of grass. Maybe at 25% of the output of grass. An alternative to offlining or macroing them. - Balthazarr (+1 Silden 10:36, 15 April 2016 (EST))
• Real McCoy Oil-Drip Cup - Allowing the installation of automatic oil dispensers to machines that can be lubricated. Could be Steam Mechanics Level 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_McCoy - Balthazarr
• Increased capacity Flax Hammocks and/or Drying Racks, either as an initial build (like Greenhouses) or as an upgrade (like Gins), which allow drying of larger amounts (Structure Reinforcement 3?) (Silden 10:36, 15 April 2016 (EST))
• A use for Cocoa, maybe a Chocolate Making Tech, allowing use to make the Chocolates we get from the Snowstorms, OR Better yet new Chocolates that use real world ingredients that we have access to in game; Camel Milk & Cocoa as the base; Royal Jelly, Honey & Indo Honey as a sweetener; Watermelon, Dates, Citrus Fruits & Coconut Meat as Fillers; Grilled Coconut Meat, Peppers, Grilled Peppers, Salt & Logical Herbs (Blueberry Tea Tree, Camelmint, Ginger Root, Ginseng Root, Honey Mint, Ice Mint, Lemondrop, Lemon Grass, Liquorice, Nubian Liquorice, Mountain Mint, Peppermint, Strawberry Tea, Vanilla Tea Tree) as flavorings. It could be set as a static table that gets randomized each tale. Each chocolate would have Cocoa as the base, one sweetener, one filler & one flavoring, with the option to add Camel Milk. - Balthazarr

Events

There seem to a number of question showing up about events, I will try and get with nikara (The events team lead) and be better prepared for those questions.

• For Events, instead of one 12-hour marathon, how about 3 or 4 copies of an event, each shorter, and spaced around the clock? This allows people from all different time zones as good of a chance to participate, without people feeling obligated to play for a full 12 hour stretch. Yes, one person could win multiple events. I think most of us are willing to take that chance, though. - Somebob +1 Asnath, +1 Kastou, +1 Balthazarr +1 Spicy
• Would it be possible to create an auto-exclude list that would allow a player to participate in 1 round but not in others? (if event = herbs with 3 rounds and they collect 1+ herb in round 1, they cannot get credit for round 2 or 3) Or to have the player select in which rounds they want to participate(ala Demi-Pharaoh) - Zhukuram
• Many players are frustrated with long events, be them 12 or 24 hours long. Similarly they are frustrated with a shorter event that is held at a time inconvenient to them. In some past tales, the same event was run 3 times, with the start time of the second event 8 hours after the first and the third being 16 hours after the first. Is there any chance that this could become the norm? (yes this is a rephrasing of the initial question, just with more details) - Balthazarr
• There has been lots of confusion during events as to what the rules and guildlines are. Would it be possible to have that information available before the events? Example, if warps are possible, time travel use, etc. - Brucette +1 Spicy, +1 LuluDivine
  • For some events it has even been difficult or impossible to determine what activities would gain points or 'win' the event - can events have a clear set of parameters for what makes a person gain points/advance/win? LuluDivine
• We have megalopolis for player event announcements (eg digs and acro) but how do you feel about player run events with player provided rewards? Do you think these are in conflict with official ATITD events (herbing, smoking etc)? Do you think there might be a way to help players run partially competitive events like T6 Bonfires for SETESH or Great Herb Dump? Running player invented events manually takes at least 3 players who dedicate weeks in preparation and then SETESH shows up and chaos happens. -Zhukuram
  • Increase membership of the events team? (Silden 10:38, 15 April 2016 (EST))
• There have been serial on-going events where the story line seems to just die out. Are there ways to help mitigate collapsed story lines or burned out event teams? -Zhukuram
• Some events have top prizes that are worth very little, even to a relatively casual player - is this an intentional choice? - LuluDivine
• Who is on the Events Team? Is that knowledge secret for some reason? - LuluDivine