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January News; Lots of Important things here
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Topic Started: Jan 1 2016, 02:04 PM (58 Views)
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Raferties
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Jan 1 2016, 02:04 PM
Post #1
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- Posts:
- 1,469
- Group:
- Admin
- Member
- #1
- Joined:
- May 21, 2015
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Happy New Year to everyone here on Sundered Weyr!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and I look forward to the 2016 and all the fun to share on Sundered.
Before I get into the news, though, there is sadly a small matter that must be discussed. The Admin team and I have noticed a rather large number of Inactive Accounts. By 'Inactive Accounts' we are referring to accounts that have made only one or two posts, if any, and have otherwise been silent for a long period of time. Now, while we know and understand that life happens and sometimes pulls people away, inactive accounts reflect poorly on Sundered Weyr. A person looking to join might see that we have five active players, for example, but see multiple inactive accounts, or no-post accounts, and get the idea that there's something 'wrong' with us, and not join. Now, I think we all know that Sundered is worth far more than just that.
So, we have decided that, starting today (January 1st, 2016), all accounts will have a six month 'inactive period' allowed. This will be based off of 'last post' date, not 'last seen on' date, which means if you just log in, look around, then log out it won't count. If an account has not posted within that time frame, an email will be sent to the address associated to the account (always a good idea to keep that up to date!) warning that the account has gone inactive, and is in danger of deletion. If there is no reply within two weeks – and by that, I mean posting in a bonding, adventure, event, life around haven RP, something more than just a quick 'I'm still here' – the account will be deleted. This will NOT delete posts, just so that it clear. All posts, shiny lists, etc will be moved to the archive, and should the player return, any admin would be very happy to work with them to restore the posts. Any BP and Coin totals will be maintained for another six months after any deletion, before they are also wiped. All current accounts are under this new rule, but while some accounts are close to the six month mark, I do not believe any are actually there yet. So if you have a means to contact some long-absent players, please alert them to this new update.
We never thought we would have to do something like this, but it's just gotten a little excessive, to be honest.
Also, in a related note, we have seen at least one spam account. These accounts are ones that sign up for no reason other than to advertise something else. While we have no problem with people advertising other sites, be it Flight Rising, Felisfire, Kingdom Sky, Deviantart, what have you, we do have a problem when accounts are made for the sold reason of advertising, especially when it's to buy something with real money elsewhere. Sundered Weyr is not an ad hub. These accounts will be banned without warning, when they are found.
If there are questions, please feel free to post a reply here, or PM me and I'll be happy to answer.
Alright, now with that unpleasantness over with, shall we go on to some more happy things?
Bondings Firemanes and Starmanes are starting to wrap up, as to my understanding.
The next bonding – Gryphons! – will be starting up here within a week or so. I'm hosting it, and this will be an Adventure-based bonding. I warn in advance, I'm taking this one seriously as it's Gryphons, and if you join you will need to be able to post relatively frequently. The pace will be quick, and I won't be pausing much. But I promise it will be fun and hopefully exciting – I'm bringing my Dungeon Master skills to play for this one!
Adventures Well, it was only a matter of time before Raferties found himself a library in need of a keeper. But it seems that he has also found a mysterious Iron Door. What lay below, danger or treasure? Some brave souls have already stepped up to help the Lorekeeper explore the depths, but more are still welcomed!
Events With the Winter Carnival wrapped up, there are no current events up and running. I wish to extend a thank you to everyone who participated. I'll be honest, the Carnival was a 'make or break' test for me when it comes to Sundered. I wanted to see if people still were interested in the site, enough to participate. I wasn't disappointed in the slighest, and you can rest assured that the Design Contests, Coloring Contests, and Mystery Challenges WILL return for future fun!
As a somewhat related note to that, I have a small question to ask everyone. I've noticed that on occasion, Sundered goes a little quiet. Now, I know that work, school, family, and everything else in Real Life comes first, and I can appreciate that (as someone who works full-time, believe me there!). But while I enjoy hosting bondings and running Adventures and RPs, it is a little hard to keep up enough things to have everyone interested. So I wanted to know if there was any specific reason why the interest in starting Bondings, Adventures (which anyone can hold, regardless of Post Count), and random RP seemed a little low.
I understand that it's oftentimes more fun to participate than to host, and as I stated I do not mind hosting in the slighest. I was more wondering if there was something in the mechanics that was a problem.
Are the rules regarding Bondings and Adventures unclear or difficult to work with? Are there questions with the world setting that make things confusing? It the creature list too small or closed off, or conversely too big to choose from? Etc.
There are many reasons I can think of that might be the issue, if there is one, but I will admit I have found as an Admin that, because when rules and mechanics are decided I fully understand them, it can blind me to what others who aren't so behind-the-scenes as I am may see. That is where I need all of your help. You can see what I might have taken as already clear but is in reality closer to mud, and point it out so that it can be looked at and steps taken to fix it, or explain it better.
(As an aside, the admin team is currently looking at a slight tweak to how creature ranks are assigned in Bondings, so there will be an update, likely posted in this thread, when that is settled upon.)
So, to that, if there is anything that you can think of to ensure that Sundered Weyr is as fun as it can be for everyone, please feel free to post in the Suggestions forum, or drop any admin a PM or even email if you wish! (If you'd like to keep things anonymous, I'm also looking into a means to do that, though again, will update when I find out anything more). I promise that every suggestion will be thoroughly looked into and replied to when a conclusion is reached, either by clarifying questions, accepting changes, or explaining why certain changes can't be done at the present time. Who knows: an idea you have may be the next big thing!
On a final note, I would just like to share a New Year's Resolution with all of you. I have caught myself over the past few months growing distressed when I would think that interest in the site was wavering. I have on occasion spoke of such to a few of you, seeking advice and reassurance. I even got depressed a few times when only a couple people seemed interested in things I was starting. Well, I am done stressing! I realized that my thinking was utterly backwards – instead of delighting in who I did see, I fretted over the ones I didn't. That is over and done with, forever! My main News Year's Resolution is to treat every bonding, adventure, event, and RP I start as the best one ever, whether it's joined by one person or twenty! Each one shall get my very best work, full of my excitement and joy to share the experience, so that at the end I can honestly tell myself that I gave it my all, and hopefully it was enjoyed. In short, I am renewing my commitment to Sundered Weyr and it's players, both as Admin, and as a Bond Holder, Adventure Master, and Event Creator. I hope that in this coming year, I can give you all such delights that they will be remembered this time in 2017.
So, signing off for January News and wishing you all another Happy New Year,
Kay
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Note: Until further stated, Scarheart, Belial, and Cassandra have standing permission to powerplay Raferties or Anari. Raferties and his Shinies ~~Anari and her Shinies~~ Keldos and his Shinies~~Cobalt and her Shinies~~Taki and her Shinies~~Kemori and his Shinies
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Raferties
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Jan 7 2016, 02:15 AM
Post #2
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- Posts:
- 1,469
- Group:
- Admin
- Member
- #1
- Joined:
- May 21, 2015
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Alright, after some discussion between the members of the Admin Team, we have Updated the Guidelines regarding Bondings. These changes reflect the realization that our old way of handling what creatures were in a Bonding weren't quite working out. The new rules are in the 'Bonding Information' section of the Database (see links in the upper left-hand corner), though you may also PM an admin if you have any questions.
In summary:
There is a small format for the PM needed to be sent to an admin declaring that you wish to hold a bonding. This is just to streamline what information we may need.
Small bondings now only have 3 creatures, of no more than 1 or 2 Star rank. If you require for the Theme of your bonding to have a 3 star (or Lord) rank, you must first PM an admin with the reason behind wanting such, as well as include another 1 or 2 star creature into the bonding. Small bondings still last only two weeks max.
Long Bondings have their ranks assigned by the admin PM'd, though they will be all across the spectrum of the creature species, with a max of ten creatures. There are also 3 'Flex Slots' allotted for creatures of your choice, though if these are to be Queens or Lords then it needs to be cleared by an admin with solid reason given for wanting it.
We are always willing to discuss any special needs for a bonding. For example, if you want a totally blind bonding where not even the admins will know which creatures are up for the offering, as was suggested in Cassandra's thread, we would assign star values instead of ranks (so saying three 1 star, five 2 star, etc) for you to use. This can be done for Assorted as well as Species specific bondings. Or if, for a reason, you need to have only two queens and a lord we may permit it. But be aware that while we are willing to look at any purpose, we may not permit all or any adjustments if we feel they are unreasonable.
These terms are merely to act as guidelines so that all species have all ranks coming available, rather than certain ranks being passed over simply because they are 'common' or 'less favored' than higher ranks, and to keep the Queens and Lords balanced to them.
On a non-Bonding related update, we have activated a Banner Contest, linked under the Events section of the sidebar. This is open to anyone to enter, and will be a site-wide vote. More information can be found in the link, as well as by PMing an admin.
If there are any questions about any of this small mini-news update, please PM one of us, and we would be happy to help.
Kay
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Note: Until further stated, Scarheart, Belial, and Cassandra have standing permission to powerplay Raferties or Anari. Raferties and his Shinies ~~Anari and her Shinies~~ Keldos and his Shinies~~Cobalt and her Shinies~~Taki and her Shinies~~Kemori and his Shinies
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Raferties
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Jan 12 2016, 09:41 AM
Post #3
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- Posts:
- 1,469
- Group:
- Admin
- Member
- #1
- Joined:
- May 21, 2015
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Hah, meant to do this!
Just a quick list of who's cleared via IC posts to host what bondings. I'll have this list transferred to the bonding details on the database soon.
Short Only Absent Gwydion
Long and Short Belial Cassandra Foxie Miunari Raeneth Raferties Scarheart Telmaril Tidesweep
Granted, some of these have had the requirements for some time, so this is more a complete list than who got it recently. If you have a want to run a Bonding, then just click on the Database and go to Bonding Information, or PM me with any questions!
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Note: Until further stated, Scarheart, Belial, and Cassandra have standing permission to powerplay Raferties or Anari. Raferties and his Shinies ~~Anari and her Shinies~~ Keldos and his Shinies~~Cobalt and her Shinies~~Taki and her Shinies~~Kemori and his Shinies
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