MOD ANNOUNCEMENT: HOLIDAY PLANNING

[goldmods]

GAME UPDATES

Happy skeleton month! We wanted to touch base with everyone about the game schedule as we head into the holiday season and the new year. We know we’ve stuffed everybirdie full these past events, and want to leave room for everyone to relax and spend time with their loved ones without having to worry about roleplay.

Before we get into the details, we also want to take the time to thank you for making this game a success. There would be no Golden Peacock without you! We appreciate your patience and excitement over the course of this 2024 and we look forward to take what we've learned into 2025.

Without further ado, please see our anticipated shifts for the next few months, as well as few miscellaneous updates!

MONTHLY DEETS

OCTOBER

▷ October will be the last application round of 2024.

▷ In order to give everyone time to adjust to this relatively sudden announcement, we are extending the deadlines for this application round.. We will accept invites/reserves until October 28th at 9:00PM EST, and applications until October 31st at 9:00PM EST.

▷ The next application round will be in January. More on that below!

NOVEMBER

▷ Activity runs as normal.

▷ Applications will still be processed in early November. With the extension of the application round, the welcome event will instead take place on November 9th.

▷ Please submit any rewards you would like processed before the holidays by November 15th. This includes November and December birthdays. Any rewards submitted after November 15th will be processed in January.

▷ OOC planning for November's event will go up November 20th and the event will go up on November 23rd.

▷ November's event will not be a "game" event; Spades was the last game-based, rewards-focused event for this year. Instead, there will be a "regular" event, which will be smaller than "game" event, with a focus on creating new CR or building on established relations. It's some silly low-stakes resort shenanigans, so we feel that three days of planning will be sufficient time between OOC and IC posts.

▷ As a reminder, there are no time deadlines for rewards from games! You can submit a Springtime 2024 reward all the way in January of 2027 if you want to, assuming the game is still open at that point.

DECEMBER

▷ As a team, we are taking the month of December off. There will be no new modwork done during this time, save for emergencies. Again, please submit anything you want us to look at prior to the holidays by November 15th.

▷ December AC will be CHECK IN for all. You must still post to your AC thread, but otherwise, we will not be checking or counting proofs.

▷ Following the above, here will be no TDM or applications in December. Seeing as they would land directly over the holidays, we feel everyone would be best served heading back to the nest and spending time with their loved ones and furry friends.

JANUARY (AND ONWARD)

▷ For 2025, we will be shifting the pattern of event and application months. January will be an application month instead of an event month; our next "game" event will be in February. We will update the Calendar page to reflect this after the close of the year.

▷ Dates will otherwise return to normal at this point. The TDM will go up on January 15th, reserves will open on January 18th, and applications will open on January 22nd.

OTHER UPDATES

OUR LOOSE ENDS

▷ As we approach 2025, we're taking a look at refining our process for character birthdays. We are now asking that all birthday submissions offer us an idea or two as to what kind of reward you would like. (Things you absolutely do not want under any circumstance also count.) This will help save the mods creative bandwidth as well as prevent disappointment. While we do reference kink lists for rewards, not all kink lists are comprehensive, so giving an idea or two really helps us!

▷ Bespoke birthday rewards are also limited to one per character, in order to keep our workload reasonable. Instead, second and onward birthdays may choose a selection of a +1 rank token, -1 rank token, 20 rewards points, or a small 'item from home' voucher, which can be redeemed under your character’s rewards header once their special day rolls back around. The resort will also continue to celebrate each birthday with the usual spa packages and extra fanfare.

▷ The above requirement on ideas also applies to item cash-outs. In both cases, we will update the forms on the Rewards page to reflect these changes after the close of the year.

▶ Any resort-wide player plot should be brought to the mods first. This includes network posts that use Mating Season or other NPC influence to broaden their scope. We would just like to keep an eagle eye on anything that is going out in the house’s name, as well as help balance any scheduling conflicts!

▶ Additionally, for these posts, we ask that you not automatically opt-in all characters in the game, as some players have raised concerns about boundaries. You can still include an OOC component that says that characters may find themselves opted in to things against their will to help get those Reluctant Rachels involved! However, as mods, we would like to keep mandatory resort-wide effects firmly within our wheelhouse.

▷ Now that we've gauged the game for a year, we have a much better understanding of how much effort players put into game events — a lot! — as well as general pacing. For 2025, we plan to sprinkle in "regular" events between "game" events every so often to offer some levity and opportunities to strike up spontaneous CR. We don't want to weigh you down with a rewards-based event every time, so we will be mindful about spacing out these events now that we have an idea of how to better run them.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions or comments! We’re happy to take feedback in any and all forms. We have left this post public as some of the information within pertains to those outside the game as well, so please stay respectful in any comments.

XOXO,
The GP Mods