Mae says, "Hi! Just a heads up, the log drops all (OOC) remarks from record, so we are using " and /say and : and /pose and @emit and whatever here, but not (OOC). :)"

Mae says, "Right! So, to start off, is there a system folks most want gone over? +investigate, +task, support?"

Mae says, "Praise/condemn, votes, @cal..."

Sylphie says, "I am planted here to grab information to pull into guide later. I'll be a little idle. So sorry!"

Mae says, "Messenger system..."

Mae says, "And no worries, Sylphie!"

Donella says, "Support and Tasks."

Acacia says, "If anyone has individual questions, but worry about interrupting, by the way, please feel free to page me. I will serve as a mini-page Mae."

Mae says, "Okay! Starting with tasks then with a caveat: it is very likely the task system will be tweaked eventually to make it a little more streamlined and user friendly, and less confusing. But we can absolutely go over it is now."

Mae says, "Tasks exist to provide a glimpse of off-screen efforts and interactions with NPCs that your character has influence over. You use them as a means for your character to request support of other characters in their ventures in ways that benefit your organization."

Mae says, "So to set one up, you start by typing +tasks and checking out the list that pops up for you."

Mae says, "Or +task. I forget if the s is crucial. They fall into various categories. Military tasks have a martial focus, economic is all about the monies and social is about social influence. Active shows you which tasks you've filled out, number lets you sort them, category shows the thing I just mentioned, organization shows which org gets the support (some people belong to more than one), task name is a snippet of what the task is about and rating shows you the support number you need to achieve in order to succeed at that task."

Mae says, "These earn you resources which can be put to things, some of which are not yet available in alpha. However! Social resources are handy if you want to play with the investigate system, economic resources let you build rooms or shops. So for tonight, look for a task that has a 15 rating in one of those two categories."

Mae says, "And type: +task #"

Mae says, "This is the longer explanation of the task and gives you an idea of what you'll be aiming to RP about to garner support from others."

Mae says, "The valid spheres of influence show what sort of support others can throw at you, among the various pools of NPC influence out there."

Mae says, "Any questions about any of that? Also if you have questions, feel free to throw them out!"

Kieran says, "I'm good."

Donella says, "Yep, fine with this part."

Cicero says, "so far so good"

Mae gets back to typing! "So, you've looked over your tasks and you want to fill one out. You type: +task/choose #=OrgName.

Mae says, "And the description pops up again."

Mae says, "Now you have to fill out the various fields."

Donella says, "All of them? Like, do I have to provide a rumor?"

Mae says, "Yes. Otherwise it lectures you about not having filled it all in."

Mae says, "+task/story #,organization=Whee! is the first. Your story is how your character intends to set about living up to the description of the task, it's your narrative. So this will vary depending on what the task entails. Some of them are very broad, some targeted. But your story can also be very simple because maybe your character might try different ways of living up to the description! If it's a Rite to Gloria, you could input something like "Name is going to get out there and find someone who wants to get their butt kicked in the most honorable and pious way.""

A messenger arrives, delivering a message to Donella before departing.

Mae says, "Or you could get fancy and say "Name means to remind people that Thrax once ruled the Compact and did a damned fine job (by their own standards). They intend to put feet to pavement and refresh their memories through various means which are as yet undecided because I haven't picked my victims yet.""

Mae says, "So after the story is done, you get to consider rumors. I know for me, this is the trickiest part since it's post-task gossip that you're determining now."

Mae says, "But the nice thing is, you can edit it later. Once you've earned the support total and the task completes, the rumor will show up on the website. If you go to the Events page and click on the Rumors/Stories clicky in the upper left hand corner above the calendar events, you get to see all the rumors from successfully completed tasks each week."

Mae says, "So to begin with you could absolutely type: +task/rumors #,organization=Will determine a more accurate rumor later in the week."

Mae says, "Just remember to change that later."

Mae says, "But usually what I do is consider what is the visible aspect of what my character is setting out to do. For Dawn, it has been things like "Grayson silver is the life blood of the city. The Lady Dawn has been on a whirlwind spending spree in the shops of the city's crafters." And then my RP that week was about commissioning all the crafters to make stuff for Dawn."

Mae says, "And for the +task, that's all you need to do until after you've RPed about it with someone! It will now remain active until you receive enough support to trigger completion. It also draws 1 from your pool of available tasks. The pool refreshes weekly."

Mae says, "When you do RP about it, and you want to solicit support after the RPs, you type in: +task/supportme #,organization=Name,Name,Name,etc."

Mae says, "A few words of caution about soliciting support: You cannot OOCly ask or inquire about support from other players. This means no paging other folks to say "hey did you see my support request?", or "quick, support that task so I can send you another one!", or "were you going to support me on this?" because that treads close to badgering and puts people off doing it at all."

Mae says, "You also cannot solicit support from org members whose highest level is in your same org, if they're ranked below you. So Dawn cannot hit up other Graysons for support on tasks because she's the big cheese."

Mae says, "But they can ask for her support."

Mae says, "I think. At least, I believe she's received support requests from lower ranked Graysons but it yells at me if I put in other Grayson names when I send out support requests."

Cicero says, "I thought they had to be other houses. Grayson vassals can support a Grayson, but not Grayson to Grayson"

Mae says, "Their highest rank cannot be in your same org, yeah."

Mae says, "I'm a little less certain of that, however. So staff clarification would be good."

Mae says, "If you don't want to run 6 or 7 tasks a week, you can also still earn resources by using +task/work."

Mae says, "You type in: +task/work organization,resource type (Military, Social or Economic, whichever you'd like) and you get 1 resource per trigger of that command."

Mae says, "So if at the end of the week, even if you do have some tasks running, you can use up the remainder of your task allotment for a few extra resources of whichever type."

Mae says, "Would you guys like to go over the customizable tasks?"

Mae says, "Oh, and I forgot."

Kieran says, "Sure."

Cicero says, "Please"

Kieran says, "Also investigation stuff."

Mae says, "You cannot have more than 1 active support request per character. So if say you asked Donrai to support you on this social task, and he hasn't filled it in yet or if he's ignoring you because he's a jerk, and you then send him a support request on a new task, it overwrites the previous request."

Mae says, "If, however, he was a good little tyrant and filled out the support request already, it's cleared and you can send a new one. But because you cannot ask if he did that, just keep it mind and try not to spam others with support requests."

Mae salutes!

Mae says, "Okay, so if you type +task, you look at the list, it has a bunch of Custom <Resource> Tasks. Just pick one at random."

Mae says, "Or one you want to do."

Mae says, "You've had a brilliant idea for how you're going to pimp your org to the general public but when you +task # and look at it, the description is a placeholder. You get to fill that in with alt echo."

Mae says, "So again, you type +task/choose #=organization"

Mae says, "Then: +task/altecho #,organization=Rumors have arisen of doubt that Graysons really are all about the badgers. So, Grayson is going to put the doubters to shame by proving that they are loved by badgers everywhere. It's time for an expedition into the Gray Forest, and the whole city is invited to watch the fabled Grayson badger charmers at work."

Mae says, "Or, you know, whatever your idea is."

Mae says, "Now, you also still need to input a story. So that would be +task/story #,organization=Dawn is sending out invitations to every single person in Arx, asking them to come watch the fabled Grayson badger charmers at work! Once they see what these badger whisperers can do, no one will doubt that Grayson and badgers go together like bees and honey."

Mae says, "And +task/rumor #,organization=Lady Dawn was tragically mauled by a badger at the badger charming event this past weekend."

Mae says, "The alt echo will show to the person you're soliciting support from when you send out the support request, so mind what you put in there."

Mae says, "And that is +tasks and how to set them up!"

Kieran says, "Wooo!"

Mae says, "We lost Donella, so I'll hang onto my support ramblings for the moment. Someone said +investigate?"

Mae says, "There she is!"

Mae says, "No worries. <3"

Mae says, "Let's roll into support then since it goes hand in hand with tasks."

Mae says, "When you toss out that +task/supportme command, the other player gets an @inform asking them to confirm (or deny) you did what you set out to do. If you type: support"

Mae says, "You will see if you have any pending requests, tasks you have supported for others, how many support points you get every week, and pool shares."

Mae says, "Starting from the bottom. Pool share per org is a measurement of your character's cachet with that NPC group. The numbers listed beside each NPC group shows how many support points in that category you can throw at your support jobs. For instance, Mae has 5 in Crownsworn and 5 in Sailors, but 8 total support points every week. She could spend 5 of those support points using Crownsworn to support tasks (by chatting with other Crownsword NPCs about this amazing sweet-talking noble she met who thinks Thrax was the best) but after those 5, she'd have to talk to another group's NPCs."

Mae says, "If that makes sense."

Mae says, "Since after 5 chats, the Crownsworn are kinda sick of her."

Mae says, "Support points is just a measure of your total pull in the city with various groups. The table is handy to remind yourself of who you've supported. Pending requests is good to check because if you're like me you don't answer a support request when it comes in, you forget you have them and then panic on Sunday because you forgot to support people like your character promised."

Mae says, "The pending list can be a little untiday. What it looks like is:

Pending requests: Name (valid categories: Merchants, Clergy, Crownsworn, Law, Entertainers, Prodigals, Oathlands, Northlands, Crownlands, Isles)
Name (valid categories: Merchants, Clergy, Crownsworn, Law, Entertainers, Prodigals, Oathlands, Northlands, Crownlands, Isles)
Name (valid categories: Merchants, Clergy, Crownsworn, Law, Entertainers, Prodigals, Oathlands, Northlands, Crownlands, Isles)"

Mae says, "And you have to go back to your @informs to match up names with the support descriptions to remind yourself of what to fill in."

Mae says, "So! You decide to support someone. You type: support Name"

Mae says, "Or maybe they annoyed you, and you type: support/decline Name"

Mae says, "If you decline, that's done and it clears it from your list. If you chose to support them, you now decide whether you're devious, and if you are, type support/fake. This will not use up your support points but they'll totally think you're backing them all the way."

Mae says, "This will come into play more later with @agents, I believe."

Mae says, "When people can call you out on faking it. But we're going to assume everyone here is nice and not devious, and proceed like you're offering genuine support. So you have to decide how much support from your support pool you're going to give them."

Mae says, "You do this with support/value YourOrg,NPCGroup=#ofsupportpoints. So Mae would be support/value Culler,Crownsworn=2 (out of her total of 8). She's kinda digging what this other person is doing and will toss out a little support, but they didn't wow her with their presentation."

Mae says, "And she's going to fluff their name among the nameless Crownsworn wandering the city."

Mae says, "Then, you use support/notes. This tells staff how you intend to support them. The other player doesn't see this. So it'd go like: support/notes Mae is going to chat about that sweet-tongue noble and their Thrax fixation the next time she visits the pub. She'll suggest that maybe the Thrax aren't all that bad!"

Mae says, "Then, support/rumors. This will be seen. When the task reaches completion, it goes up on the website. But before that, the player who solicited support can check +task # and up comes the rumors that have been inputted by those who've given support so far."

Mae says, "So: support/rumors That Mae has been seen in the pub chattering about her latest big crush on a silk. Those she's spoken with say she seems pretty smitted with the Thrax!"

Mae says, "Er. Smitten. Not smitted."

Donella says, "Smiting is good. ;)"

Mae says, "If, at this point, you change your mind, you can support/abandon. But if you're digging it, you +support/finish and you're done!"

Mae says, "And your 2 points of pledge support go towards the point total the other player is trying to reach on their task."

Mae neither confirms nor denies her love of smiting.

Mae says, "Any questions? :D"

Sylphie says, "how do you get your hair so shiny and bright."

Sylphie says, "I mean, no."

Mae grins.

Donella says, "Will these always run indefinitely, or do you suspect there will probably be a time limit on support?"

Mae says, "For now, they run indefinitely."

Donella says, "And do the support requests go away once the task is complete?"

Mae says, "And some of the required point totals pretty much ensures that some tasks will require many weeks in progress before hitting that amount."

Mae says, "Yeah, if you hit support/finish and then type support again, it should no longer show in your pending requests section."

Sylphie has to bop out! Will check out the rest on the page. <3

Donella says, "I mean, if the originator closes out that request, gets the bonus, whatever."

Mae says, "You can still support a completed task before the weekly rollover, it just offers up a reduced amount of resources."

Donella says, "Bueno."

Mae says, "They won't get the full value of the points you contribute. But it's a nice bonus. :)"

Mae says, "Oh, one thing I forgot."

Mae says, "Say, you used your support points up and then you get another support request."

Mae says, "You don't have to decline it, or wait for the rollover for your support pool to refresh."

Mae says, "You can type in support/value Org,NPCGroup=0"

Mae says, "And it contributes a free point to their task."

Mae says, "You can also type that command multiple times, using different NPC groups. So you can throw in a point from Crownsworn, and 3 points from Sailors, if you have enough points in your pool to cover it. But inputting a 0 always gives a single free point."

Mae says, "However, I'm not sure that you can input the 0 multiple times for every NPC group you hold sway over."

Mae didn't get confirmation on whether that works and it feels cheaty anyway.

Mae says, "And I think that's it!"

Donella says, "Yay!"

Mae says, "Which brings us to investigate!"

Mae says, "Now, to actually submit an investigation during this workshop, you're gonna need 25 social resources. You can type i to see if you have that many. If not, no biggy, you can still set up an investigation, you just can't submit it."

Mae says, "See you, Kieran!"

Mae says, "Investigations are super neat because there is a MASSIVE amount of lore written for the game and staff has kindly allowed us to plumb the depths of those mysteries. I love them so much."

Mae says, "You can have one investigation active per week but as many written out and submitted as you'd like. They cost 25 social resources to start, for characters who have no Investigate skill. I do believe that cost is going to be tweaked for actual Investigate skill people."

Mae says, "So it won't be as expensive."

Mae says, "But, to begin!"

Mae says, "Type: +investigate/new"

Mae says, "Then, you ponder what you want to investigate. That's your keyword. It is better to use a one or two word keyword because strings gum up the works of the matcher and staff then has to adjust it manually. Short is better since it goes for exact matches. So to input that, you type: +investigate/topic Donrai"

Mae says, "Or whatever"

Mae says, "And then, my favorite part. The story. Again, this is your narrative, how your character intends to set out revealing this mystery. It will also affect which stat and skill you (optionally) use later. You type: investigate/story Mae heard Donrai wears Spiderman underroos so she's going to try to bribe a Thraxian washerwoman to learn the truth."

Mae says, "It also gives staff a heads up as to the specific focus on your keyword."

Mae says, "The keyword is pretty general but the story lets you get specific."

Mae says, "The next part is optional. The code will automagically roll your perception and investigation. If you input a stat and a skill, these will also be rolled and averaged with the result of your perc+investigate roll."

Mae says, "So you don't need to toss that in but you can if you want to. if you do, type: investigate/stat Charm and investigate/skill steetwise. Assuming Mae will be putting on a big smile, and using her steet knowledge to track down the washerwoman's hovel."

Mae says, "Then investigate/finish submits it. At this point, you can view it by typing +investigate, and +investigate/view #"

Mae says, "There are a few things you can do from here."

Mae says, "If you like what you see, type +investigate/active # to mark this as this week's active investigation. This is what your character is doing in their off-camera downtime."

Mae says, "You will also see, if you /view, something called Modified Difficulty. This is how many successes you need to accrue on your rolls to receive @clues."

Mae says, "So it could well take multiple weeks of one investigation being set active to get anything juicy back from it. But you can also lower that difficulty by throwing silver and resources at it, to a maximum of 50k silver, and 50 resources of any type."

Mae says, "And you do that by typing investigate/silver #=$$$$ with the $$$ being just the number amount of silver you'd like to spend. It uses increments of 5k. For resources, it is investigate/resources #=ResourceType,#"

Mae says, "In increments of, I believe, 5."

Mae says, "And you should see, when you investigate/view # again that the diff has dropped."

Acacia says, "Sometimes the difficulty doesn't seem to happen right away. If so, don't fret, wait a couple hours or whatever and it usually drops."

Mae says, "Yes."

Mae says, "They also recently tweaked the oomphiness of how much it drops per what you spend. So your silver and resources go further."

Mae says, "But don't be afraid if the diff is huge and you don't want to spend anything to drop it. You'll get there eventually! And a lot of clues have multiple levels anyway, so it takes awhile to learn the truly juicy stuff."

Mae says, "The fun part is on Sunday, at the rollover. You get an @inform. Sometimes these are sad and they say "You didn't learn anything new but you feel you made progress!" or something like that, which means you got some successes but not the required amount. So you can just leave that investigation active for another week to see if you hit the target at the next rollover."

Mae says, "But if you were lucky and the gods were with you, it shows you a clue! Savor the clue. And later, you can type @clues to see it again, by using @clues # from your discovered clues list."

Mae says, "and then savor it some more."

Mae says, "And if you want to share the wealth, say in a scene RPing with someone you fill them in on the tastiness, you can confirm you shared it with them by using @clues/share #=name and now they have the clue too."

Mae says, "That way when later they say "Oh yeah I totally knew that", they have proof your character did ICly tell them."

Mae says, "Also, I feel like mentioning some of the other keywords for @clues are @jinkies and @zoinks. Because that's awesome."

Mae says, "Now, let's say you got a clue back that is kind of tasty but not truly /savory/. So you want to know more. You can adjust your story to tell staff how your character is going to take stage two of their investigation."

Donella says, "AHAHAHA!"

Mae says, "And this allows you to maintain that same keyword and stat and skill and etc, but tweak the narrative. You do that with @investigate/changestory #=The washerwoman refused to confirm or deny so Mae's going right to the source: Donrai's linen closet."

Mae says, "Or the clue hinted Donrai does not wear spiderman underoos but Edain sure does. You can change your keyword! Use investigate/changetopic #=Edain"

Mae thinks. "That might be it."

Mae says, "Any questions? :D"

Donella shakes her head. "Not from me, thank you."

Mae says, "I think we can close this up then! Thank you for coming. <3"