Below is a short summary of the latest Community Meeting, followed by its chat logs – which have been gently edited for formatting, to put questions and answers in bold for easy skimming, and to omit greetings and farewells and other such asides. Meetings are hosted by Estate owner NeoBokrug Elytis at 2:00 pm on the first Saturday of every month at The Potato Farm in The Wastelands, and the discussion is typically divided into three main topics: Estate, Game, and Roleplay & Events. Everyone is welcome to attend!
ESTATE:
➳ Occupancy remained stable, and Malady Bog in particular got more landowners.
➳ Neo reminds everyone that, if you have concerns about another person’s build and whether it fits the theme or the covenant, or whether it otherwise causes problems, the appropriate action is to contact Management directly about it: only Management enforces the rules.
➳ Do not bully or publicly shame other residents.
➳ If you’re interested in helping others with their builds, feel free to gently reach out and offer a hand – but accept a “no” if that’s their response.
➳ “Land stalking” is also unwelcome. If you’re having a difficult time with a neighbor and move regions to get away from them, but they follow and buy land nearby there as well, let Neo know the situation. If he doesn’t think it’s a coincidence, he will reach out to the follower to ask them to move back, and may even reclaim their land.
➳ Neo is considering ways to redo the infrastructure of The Wastelands and The Junkyard without disrupting residents’ builds.
➳ Northgate is still in progress, but has gone down the priority list.
GAME:
➳ The new version of Miasma pathfinding logic has been implemented, so they relocate themselves when stuck instead of auto-returning.
➳ They currently pick a random eligible point on the same region, not something nearby.
➳ If Neo can make them flee to a random close point, not just dash across an entire sim, he’ll apply the same code to new critters.
➳ Neo may adapt Dok Aeg Quest components to Caledon to revive its old Caledon Quest. (And there’s some chance that reviewing this code could lead to new tweaks to Aeg’s quest, as well.)
➳ Aeg’s Potion Quest may return soon – and he still seeks new locations! If you’re a landowner and you’d like your location to be part of the task, see the relevant page of the Wiki for more details!
ROLEPLAY & EVENTS:
➳ The Red Revival approaches on Saturday, April 20! If anyone is thinking about taking the opportunity to try to turn Ghoul in-character, contact Apo ASAP.
➳ Nests and Revival Eggs are planned to return for the week around Easter (March 31.)
➳ Reminder: The roleplay character template has been added to the Wiki – add yours today! Or review it to see who’s who and get some ideas for interactions.
Weekly Event Summary:
(All Times SLT)
Sundays:
– Storytime with Wasteland Drifter – 2pm
– Gomi’s Garbo Cinematic Expulsion – 5pm
First Sunday: [RP] Readings by the Oracle – Noon
Mondays:
– Mutant Drum Circle – 6pm
Tuesdays:
– Film Night with Wasteland Drifter – 5pm
Wednesdays:
– HOSTILE BROADCAST – 7pm
Thursdays:
– Unstructured Playtime w/ Dia – 5pm
– Booze & Blather [RP Event] – 6pm
Saturdays:
– Sandling’s Evening Madness – 1pm
– Apo’s Audio Atrocities – 5pm
First Saturday: Community Meeting – 2pm; Fight Night – 3pm
Second Saturday: Barrelhead Bazaar [RP Event] – 11am
Third Saturday: Wasted Raiders’ Raid – Noon
Occasional Saturdays at Neo’s Discretion: Saturday Morning Cartoons / Saturday Morning Sci-Fi – 8am, Enjoying Other People’s Suffering – 3pm.
Want to host an event? Let Neo know the event details by Wednesday night and he’ll add it to the weekly group announcements, Discord announcement, and Plurk feed!
If you want to keep in touch with other Wastelanders when you can
I. THE ESTATE
NeoBokrug Elytis: IT’S… TIME.
Aposiopesis Fullstop: wooo!
Sandling Honey: haha
NeoBokrug Elytis: As per the usual, we’ll talk about the three main aspects of the estate; land, games, RP & Events — with time for questions and comments after each section.
NeoBokrug Elytis: I’ll do my best to keep up with chat, but if I don’t answer your question during each break, please repeat it. Sometimes I miss it.
NeoBokrug Elytis: Starting with estate stuff! Occupancy was remaining stable this past month, even with folks moving in, around, and out. Today was a big jump due to some Bog land being scooped up.
NeoBokrug Elytis: I suspect that March and April will see some growth as spring time starts, and folks get their tax returns.
NeoBokrug Elytis: And — Thanks for the music Sandling while we do this.
Sketchkat Blackflag: also ooh~ wonder who that could be~
Sandling Honey: haha most welcome :D
NeoBokrug Elytis: No HUGE shakeups with the estate this past month, but I do want to address a couple things, and muse on others. So here we go!
NeoBokrug Elytis: Every few years I have to address this as a reminder, and I am not saying anyone here has done it — but I want it to be in meeting logs for future reference, and maybe enable the community to help folks out if they see it happening…
NeoBokrug Elytis: Sometimes, someone doesn’t like another residents build, or they think it’s not “up to par” in their minds with what the post-apocalyptic theme here is. So they might go out of their way to say something. If they’re addressing another person politely about it, offering their help in building or rebuilding. I’m down for that. What I have a problem with is when someone starts asking back-handed questions to the rest of the community here, phrasing them as open-ended attacks on their efforts to build things. Or just blatantly telling the person they’re not doing a good enough job here…
NeoBokrug Elytis: I want to remind folks that the only people who have any say in the matter of what is, and is not thematic is the sole responsibility of the estate management. Some of us are not great builders, myself included. My policy has always been, if I can see that they’re making SOME sort of effort to be in theme, I am typically fine with it.
Beasil (beasil.roundfield): No more nazty gossip
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): agreed
NeoBokrug Elytis: Now, if you don’t like a build, think it could be improved, and genuinely want to help someone. By all means, please reach out to the person G E N T L Y, and offer your help to their personal builds. But if they say no, please respect that.
NeoBokrug Elytis: The Wastelands is a community, and it really shows, because we’re all helping each other constantly. We’re a cyclical feedback loop of inspiration.
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa) nods and smiles
NeoBokrug Elytis: I’d say the majority of the estate is a patchwork of folks working together to make little neighborhoods. That too also shows, especially among regions.
Sketchkat Blackflag: ^this
NeoBokrug Elytis: One thing to offer to someone you might perceive as struggling to build, is just see if they’ll let you build for them on their land. But again, be prepared for a hard NO.
NeoBokrug Elytis: And if folks don’t want your help, please respect that.
Aposiopesis Fullstop: And management doesn’t always see everything! If you think something’s unthematic, or too resource-intensive, or you find stuff abandoned on someone’s land, but you don’t want to get involved with the owner – let management know directly! We’ll look into it, and address whatever needs to be addressed.
NeoBokrug Elytis: What I really don’t want to see, is asking the community about another residents build, as a thinly veiled way of bullying them, or an attempt to make them feel unwelcome.
NeoBokrug Elytis: From a community leader standpoint, I would rather have the person with the 1st year SL building builds on their land, than a sim queen who thinks they know better. The latter is toxic behavior in my mind, and does NOT help the community.
NeoBokrug Elytis: And as Apo said, if you’re unsure about whether or not something is thematic, feel free to reach out to ANY of the estate management here. We can, and do inspect things when reported to us.
NeoBokrug Elytis: What I want to see more than anything, is folks working together to help each other, rather than tear down someone because they don’t think it’s “right”. If that person leaves because you said a whole bunch of shitty stuff to them, it is not good for the community.
NeoBokrug Elytis: Before I move on, any questions or comments? :)
Sketchkat Blackflag: sad to think people do that, but absolutely spot on <:3
NeoBokrug Elytis: It is very uncommon Sketchkat, but it does come up once in a blue moon.
Sketchkat Blackflag nods
Ϯ ɨʀօռɮʟօօɖ Ϯ (ironblood.mechanique): what should someone do if they silently move their build to another region to get away from someone and the stuff they don’t find appealing and they get followed and the closest adjacent parcel gets bought and by someone they were trying to escape from?
Sandling Honey: Thx Sketch! :D
Sketchkat Blackflag: ♥
NeoBokrug Elytis: I have actually acted on that in the past IB, and I’ve banned a person because of it. If the person is being followed shoots me an IM to explain the situation, though I am reluctant to act as a mediator, I can.
NeoBokrug Elytis: I keep logs of all parcel moving activities, so it is plain to see from my end.
Ϯ ɨʀօռɮʟօօɖ Ϯ (ironblood.mechanique) nods
NeoBokrug Elytis: And if there’s a convincing enough argument by the person being estate stalked; I’ll ask the stalker to move back home — or I’ll reclaim their land.
Storm Thunders: Neo is experienced in the arts of trollin. He’ll see it.
Aposiopesis Fullstop: But if you DIG someone’s build, by all means praise ’em openly! If it’s a complaint or criticism, though, the sort of thing you want action taken about… it’s really only Management who can take that action to enforce the Covenant. Name-and-shame is kinda only gonna shame yourself.
NeoBokrug Elytis: I know shit like this isn’t in the covenant, which is why I have the “Don’t be a douchebag” and “Spirit of the rule” clauses.
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): good to know :)
NeoBokrug Elytis: And yeah, everything Apo said.
Sketchkat Blackflag: looking to milk the L$s outta me? x,D haha ♥
NeoBokrug Elytis: For the record, those clauses in the covenant are purposefully broad; because I hope to seldom enforce them. I trust that people are generally cool to each other.
NeoBokrug Elytis: Sketchkat: Free move program?
Sketchkat Blackflag: no, sandling playing red axes again :P
NeoBokrug Elytis: Oh, haha!
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): hahaha
NeoBokrug Elytis: And, if you don’t get along with someone… muting them is always an option. Just be open to unmuting them again in the future.
NeoBokrug Elytis: As a large community I don’t expect everyone to get along 100% of the time. That is unrealistic. But I want to try to make sure everyone can at least
Sketchkat Blackflag: :P~~~~
NeoBokrug Elytis: Any other questions before I move on to other land things?
Sketchkat Blackflag: it’s true that it’s uncommon to see openly hostile folks here outside the game setting <:3 so must be doing something right, but yeah, can’t always please everyone
NeoBokrug Elytis: Haha, the game is different than land or policy stuff. :)
Sketchkat Blackflag: yes’m x3
NeoBokrug Elytis: But even then, folks are pretty civil.
Beasil (beasil.roundfield): I love the rule of chill
NeoBokrug Elytis: So I am just going to blabber about something I don’t even know how to address. Maybe you all can help me spitball ideas.
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): woo!
NeoBokrug Elytis: When working on regions these past years, I’ve always kind of really wanted to redo The Wastelands and The Junkyard. Not just the overall look, but the whole allocation. When doing the Bog, hitting that sweet spot of land vs infrastructure was the tipping point to my obsession. If I could replot the whole regions I would. There’s more problems than anything with that idea — just asking folks to rebuild is way too much, but man… If I could “open it up” like I did with the bog *chefkiss*
NeoBokrug Elytis: We could have like real… streets, better wrecks, and strange locales.
Tristan Kuramoto: When was the last time the jy was touched?
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): ahhhh
NeoBokrug Elytis: Forever ago. When Anne / Aki made the junk paths.
Tristan Kuramoto: dang
NeoBokrug Elytis: Caledon has the same problems with its older regions.
Tintosha (tayasha.tammas): Was fun seeing that, the birth of the bog
Storm Thunders: Maybe right after easter for the JY? there’s usually a bunch of buys right before and releases shortly after
Tristan Kuramoto: Ya the Bog did get me hyped ngl
Sketchkat Blackflag: embarrassingly I often get lost in JY x,D for the lack of “streets” or orientated landmarks, so that would help I think
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): oh yeah, i was so excited when it returned :)
Tristan Kuramoto: A lot of nostalgia
NeoBokrug Elytis: Anyway, it’s something I think about A LOT.
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): the fissure looks so much better now after the overhaul, could JY and Wastelands have something similar applied to them first?
NeoBokrug Elytis: If I ever find a way that has minimal distuption to folks, I’ll do one of those “region votes”
NeoBokrug Elytis: But at the moment, I don’t see a path to it.
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): if not on residential plots
NeoBokrug Elytis: But I would rebuild the region in a heartbeat if I could.
NeoBokrug Elytis: Movin’ on to Game stuff.
Sketchkat Blackflag nods
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): mmh ok *nods*
II. THE GAME
NeoBokrug Elytis: Miasmas, the logic if finally fixed so they don’t auto return to me. Which is amazing for my offline IMs.
Sketchkat Blackflag: \o/
NeoBokrug Elytis: I want to tweak the “we’re in danger” move function to have it pick someplace close rather than a random warp to someplace in the same region.
NeoBokrug Elytis: Once I do that, I am going to add more critters.
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa) gasps!
NeoBokrug Elytis: Part of the miasmas problem is that it moves so slow. So it is easy for it to panic about being in danger.
NeoBokrug Elytis: But the logic is there, and after a month of testing, it is working rather flawlessly.
NeoBokrug Elytis: That’s it for game stuff!
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): nice :D
Sketchkat Blackflag: looking forward to having rats in me kitchen for real xD haha
Aposiopesis Fullstop: Does a Miasma know its own coordinates?
NeoBokrug Elytis: Yes.
Sandling Honey: AWARENESS (gasps)
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): that’s scary
Sandling Honey: This is the start of Skynet
Beasil (beasil.roundfield): Sweet
NeoBokrug Elytis: Haha everything tha tmoves knows its coordinates.
Aposiopesis Fullstop: That should hopefully make it easier to move to a spot within a range of that, then!
Sketchkat Blackflag: yee
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): maybe we could catch them one day, for use in weapons or food
Ϯ ɨʀօռɮʟօօɖ Ϯ (ironblood.mechanique): just becasue i have to ask. when i had autoreturn at 0 in the cemetery plots it seemed to ALWAYS be there. set auto return to 15 and now its seemingly never there. will having few 0 autoruturn parcels in a mostly full sim guide the miasma to those 0 autoreturn plots? plots more often than not?
NeoBokrug Elytis: I just need to move the logic from “check random location until we find a safe spot”, to “check in a spiral pattern”
NeoBokrug Elytis: Zero auto-return is safer than 15 minutes. So that is a factor.
Ϯ ɨʀօռɮʟօօɖ Ϯ (ironblood.mechanique): aka should i turn auto return on my “spare” parcels to prevent it always being over in that area
NeoBokrug Elytis: It doesn’t look for zero auto return, but it does look for estate land as a landing spot. If there is zero auto-return and it can wander on to your land, it is less inclined to flee.
Ϯ ɨʀօռɮʟօօɖ Ϯ (ironblood.mechanique): haha alright
Storm Thunders: The advantage of some sort of autoreturn, even one several hours long, is it cleans up the abandoned bikes and cars visitors leave behind.
NeoBokrug Elytis: Any auto-return makes it less safe than other parcels. I had one going at “rat speed”, and it could traverse over land just fine, because most locations it did not hang around long. Miasma is just a slow moving cloud, so it could take longer than a minute to cross your land.
Aposiopesis Fullstop: RAT SPEED
NeoBokrug Elytis: Yes, and I prefer auto-return to be on at any number. 15 is the sweet spot.
NeoBokrug Elytis: There was a game in Caledon called Caledon Quest. I may be migrating Doktor Aeg quest components over there to bring that back to life. :)
Sandling Honey: They’re speeding up atm just to MOCK ME
Tintosha (tayasha.tammas): oo
Ϯ ɨʀօռɮʟօօɖ Ϯ (ironblood.mechanique): ooh
NeoBokrug Elytis: And speaking of, I am going to work on bringing the potion quest back this month.
NeoBokrug Elytis: In about 15 minutes we’re going to have Fight Night, so at about 5 to the hour, lets head east and out of the arena. Until then…
NeoBokrug Elytis: The next 15 minutes are dedicated to an open floor discussion about RP and Events!
III. THE ROLEPLAY & EVENTS
Tintosha (tayasha.tammas): eyo!
Tristan Kuramoto: Any word on NorthGate?
NeoBokrug Elytis: Still in the works, as always. I have some Caledon priorities at the moment with regard to region work unfortunately.
NeoBokrug Elytis: If I can get the broad brush strokes there done this week, that would make me happy.
Aposiopesis Fullstop: Early notice that The Red Revival will be on Saturday, 4/20 this year! (And The Red Parade will squonk and shamble its way around The Wastelands the night before, as well.) If anyone wants to DJ for the Revival – or is thinking about going Ghoul for good – let me know! :D
NeoBokrug Elytis: Oh, and.
NeoBokrug Elytis: Haha yay!
Tristan Kuramoto: Cant wait lol
Sketchkat Blackflag: gosh that time of year already xD
Tristan Kuramoto: Ghoul events are always good events.
Aposiopesis Fullstop: Facts.
NeoBokrug Elytis: (Cross-over-ish) I don’t know if anyone here is interested — Caledon is having a half off land-sale today only, like The Wastelands did at their birthday.
Aposiopesis Fullstop: (And, yes, that does mean Doktor Pileus will be returning very soon indeed…)
NeoBokrug Elytis: (Cross-over for sure) If anyone wants to volunteer their event for this months Caledon Crossover, please let me know ASAP.
Tristan Kuramoto: When will posters start going up?
NeoBokrug Elytis: How much longer does Doktor Pileus have in him?
NeoBokrug Elytis: I am sure mutant witches want to know.
Aposiopesis Fullstop: Usually a couple weeks ahead of time? Posters need to have, y’know, the schedule info, and that often doesn’t congeal for a bit.
NeoBokrug Elytis: Oh. I think there is a daylight savings time coming up — so everyone prep for that too.
Aposiopesis Fullstop: And it’s hard to say. He definitely asserts that purps help him live longer, buuuuut that sounds like something a purps-addled Ghoul might say.
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): oh heck
Verity Goodnight: when is it for the US?
Tristan Kuramoto: That ghoul defiantly should have some missing limbs by now lol
NeoBokrug Elytis: March 10th
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): UK usually has it the weekend earlier
Verity Goodnight: ours is 31st
Aposiopesis Fullstop: Oh, Easter is technically this month, isn’t it. Will there be nests and Revival Eggs, Neo?
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): that said, not this weekend
Sketchkat Blackflag: (°ڡ°)
Sketchkat Blackflag: eggsss
NeoBokrug Elytis: Unsure! We’ll see what pans out.
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): ah, it is 31st March
Verity Goodnight: oooh Easter Monday ist 1st April
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): you’re fooling me :O
Tristan Kuramoto: we need some WL: Colorful Bean Treats!
Tristan Kuramoto: Well I do anyways lol
Aposiopesis Fullstop: Eat the little round things left behind by swamp rabbits. :V
Ϯ ɨʀօռɮʟօօɖ Ϯ (ironblood.mechanique): hahaha
Tristan Kuramoto: haha
Sketchkat Blackflag: xD
Aposiopesis Fullstop: Checking my notes for the thing I totally meant to bring up last month and forgot then, as well…..
Ϯ ℳαץσ ⑬ Ϯ (myotis.draconia): am i still having this stupid ballon
Ϯ ℳαץσ ⑬ Ϯ (myotis.draconia): i cant detach it
Aposiopesis Fullstop: OH.
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): yeah
Sketchkat Blackflag: cursed balloon xD
Ϯ ℳαץσ ⑬ Ϯ (myotis.draconia): ballon of doom
Tristan Kuramoto: you can never lose the Red balloon, It always follows!
Ϯ ℳαץσ ⑬ Ϯ (myotis.draconia): badoom
Aposiopesis Fullstop: Neo – when are the Flickr photo contest winners announced?
NeoBokrug Elytis: On the 6ths
Aposiopesis Fullstop: Aha!
NeoBokrug Elytis: That gives last minute entries time to be approved by the official SL flickr account.
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): big bada boom
Ϯ ℳαץσ ⑬ Ϯ (myotis.draconia): is it gone
Ϯ ℳαץσ ⑬ Ϯ (myotis.draconia): finally
Aposiopesis Fullstop: Huzzah!
Mutsumi (mutsy.kaligawa): big bada go boom
Ϯ ℳαץσ ⑬ Ϯ (myotis.draconia): fuckboi balloon
Sketchkat Blackflag: lmaooo
Beasil (beasil.roundfield): This track is reminding me of how ravenous I am for a quesadilla
Ϯ ɨʀօռɮʟօօɖ Ϯ (ironblood.mechanique):
Aposiopesis Fullstop: Quesadillae are delicious.
Beasil (beasil.roundfield): Mnumm
NeoBokrug Elytis: Okay folks! We can keep the conversation going, but lets move east a bit and out of the arena!