Activity Policy

Presented to the game for vote on Mar 21, 2011 and accepted as policy April 6, 2011

Activity Requirements

X-Project's minimum activity requirements are one log or one post to any community within the game (x_communication, x_snowvalley, x_team, etc.) or one journal entry or one reply to another journal entry or comm post per character per month.

Activity Checks

Activity checks are done by the mods once every three months on the 15th of that month. As such the "month" runs from the 16th of one month through the 15th of the next. Even though activity is only checked once every three months players are responsible for being active every month per the minimum requirements of the game.

Missing Activity Checks

Step One

Missing One Month

Players whose characters miss the minimum activity for one month of the three will not be contacted by the mods for missing that month. If the mods notice a trend in the rise of numbers of missing one month within a check, an informal inquiry might be sent to make sure everything is going well with that player.

Missing Two or Three Months

Players whose characters miss two or three of the three months within the check will be contacted by the mods with our usual note that activity requirements have not been met and an inquiry as to whether or not there is anything we can do to help, as well as offering a hiatus should the player need it. Other offers of help, such as having a mod work with a player one-on-one, are also available if the player wishes it.

Step Two

Players whose characters miss two or three months of the activity check for two consecutive checks would be contacted by the mods again.

Players Active on the Most Recent Month

If they met the activity requirement on the last month of the most recent check the mods would inquire as to how they were doing, if there was anything the mods could do to help the player with their character and whether they anticipated being able to continue to meet the minimum requirements or not.

If the player was confident they could meet the minimum requirements the mods would leave them be with an offer of help should they need any. The mods would keep an eye on players who said they were confident they could meet activity requirements and turned down hiatus. Should the player seem to still have trouble meeting activity requirements in the next month the mods would contact them again, this time asking to arrange a way to write the character off screen and put the character on hiatus so the player could take their time without simply failing more months in order to negate the problem growing more by the next check. The mods would offer help for getting the character involved again and try to talk to the player regarding the reasons why they are struggling with activity.

If a player was not confident they could meet the minimum requirement in the next month(s) the mods would work with that player to put their character(s) on hiatus for the next three months and work out with them how to send them off screen to account for the absence. In addition, the mods will offer help to the player to find ways to get them more active in the game again, explore options for the character and discuss what has changed from when they were more able to be active in the game versus their current inactive time in terms of game structure, loss of character connections, etc.

Should a player who had decided to go on hiatus wish to return earlier than what was planned by the mods they are welcome to do so at any time.

Players Inactive on the Most Recent Month

Players whose characters miss two or three months of the activity check for two consecutive checks who did not meet the minimum requirements on the last month of the most recent check would be contacted by the mods who would go over what that character’s activity had been looking like over the past six months and inform the player that the mods would be putting the character on hiatus for the next three months. How to write the character offscreen would be arranged with the player and the mods would offer help to the player to find ways to get them more active in the game again, explore options for the character and discuss what has changed from when they were more able to be active in the game versus their current inactive time in terms of game structure, loss of character connections, etc.

Step Three

Players whose characters miss two or three months of the activity check for three activity checks (excluding any months when the character may be on hiatus) would be contacted by the mods regarding whether or not releasing the character, or releasing one character if the player has two, may be a practical decision to pursue given the player’s potential lack of time to participate in the game in light of whichever factors may be making participation difficult for them.

Should the player wish to retain their character(s) then a discussion would need to commence with the mods regarding how to get them more active in the game, including exploring why their activity has dropped off, what sorts of things they are interested in playing with IG and suggestions of characters theirs may connect with.

Should the player be unwilling to discuss activity options in light of not releasing the character the character would be placed on hiatus a second time.

Step Four

Players whose characters fail two or three months of a fourth activity check after having been placed on hiatus by the mods due to activity at step 3 (again, exluding any months they were actively on hiatus) would be required to release their characters with the understanding that they are welcome to come back and return to the game once they have the time and/or muse for it again. (At this point the character will have been inactive for 6-9 months plus have been put on hiatus for another 3-6 months, though not necessarily consecutively and it is only failing activity requirements for months when not on hiatus which would count against the character.)

As a note, the mods are more than willing to continue to work with a player who might be struggling in any of these scenarios. Personal work arounds, as long there is proper justification for them and open communication between the mods and player, are certainly do-able.

Mod Mandated Hiatus

• The character would be written offscreen, which would be arranged with the player unless the player is completely unresponsive to mod communications.
• Last for a period of up to 3 months (it would last until the end of the next activity check period) at the end of which the mods would check in to see if the player needed to sustain the hiatus or whether they were ready to come back. (Normal applies if the hiatus is extended.)
• Players would have the ability to come back at any point during the three months. If a character is in a plot, for example, the character will be taken off hiatus as of the running of that plot and be expected to keep up minimum requirements again. Failure to keep up minimum activity requirements will further that character along the progression of the four steps above.

Semi-Hiatus

For those struggling with various personal circumstances who cannot be active enough to meet the normal minimum activity requirements but who can be around less frequently they may discuss the possibility of a semi-hiatus with the mods.

A semi-hiatus:

• would not require the character be written off screen, though IC justification for the decreased presence of the character would need to get onscreen somehow (either through the character or through another character) which can be as simple as the character being very busy with work and school but they are understood to be around and IC reference from other PCs can occur with permission of the player who will be available via EMail, IM or other means for arranging such things.
• would involve a much more lax activity requirement to be worked out between the mods and the player.
• should not continue beyond six months and at such a time the mods would speak with the player about the possibility of a full hiatus, whether or not they would like to release the character and what could help to get them back to fully active status where they would meet the same minimum requirements as the rest of the game.
• could involve the player being weaned back toward regular active status by slowly increasing their personal activity requirements (i.e. one log/post/reply every three months to one log/post/reply every two and then back up to the regular requirements)
• will be available for all players, though proper justification for this will need to be disclosed to the modteam.

Plot/IC Related Absences

From time to time, a plot or other game driven circumstance will come through in which a character is taken off screen for a variety of reasons for some time - kidnappings, going undercover, etc. To avoid being labeled as on hiatus or make people feel pressured to meet activity requirements during this time the activity checks will be put on hold until the character is back on screen. The mods will check in with the player if the character has remained off-screen longer than the plot originally stipulated to make sure that everything is going well and to see if the player might need a hand bringing them back in.

Should something come up the player can decide to turn this into an actual hiatus at any time if they wish, at which point the mods will discuss what works best for the player with them and help make arrangements accordingly.

Using a plot as a means by which to achieve and explain an actual hiatus is also perfectly acceptable should that be the player's intention.

Questions should be directed to the Mods.