[Sodium_noir] back in the saddle

[Spikey]

Ok so after a week of roll call we have 19 players, still in the game, 17 of which are still active. 

      Player email character 1 character 2 status 
      LizO  Alessandra Tess Active 
      Davros  Sue Lei  Active 
      Andrew Perry (Torak)  Louis Crosby  LOA 
      Piper  Ariñe  Active 
      Eugene  Titus Bane  Active 
      Pete, wyliepalmer  Wire  Active 
      David Rodemaker  Michael Gaunt   Active 
      Jacob, Flame Flash  Aurora  Active 
      Adam  Dr. Stephen J. Nekos  Active 
      Jennie  Christine  LOA 
      Beth Savage  Nez  Active 
      Antonia  Mara Ravenclaw Hope Zagorski Active 
      Bill  John Black/Carthephius  Active 
      Dave Molner  Doc Lazarus  Active 
      Hillary  Lady Aislin Kamble gaines Active 
      Daniel  Sir Magnus Ulvang  Active 
      Summer  Arkana  Active 
      Eric  Cash  Active 
      Emily Wolfson  Rachel Korben Dallas Active 


Not a bad mix. At some point I'll have to clean out all the junk email accounts from the mail list though as it shows around 50 members. 

And so time to get back in the saddle. But before I do I guess its time to explain a few things and get things straight. Over the last month I have wrestled heavily with the problem of Sodium Noir. I came very close to just closing the game completely because it had stopped being any fun for me. The reason for that wasn't because I was getting bored with it but because people had started to make it feel like a chore. However I came to the conclusion that Sodium was my baby, something I poured a lot into, and that I wasn't going to let others spoil it for me. So I am going to address the issues here and if people don't like what I have to say, then they are welcome to leave. 

Firstly, Sodium Noir is a game. Its supposed to be fun. I do this because I enjoy it, because I like to tell stories and to interact with all of you. I do it because I'm a little disabled guy with too much time on his hands who needs to keep active in order to keep sane. The hard work and dedication that I put into setting up Sodium Noir was something I loved, its my style. However Sodium Noir is not the be all and end all of my life. For each post you make for your character, I have to make one for every character. So that's currently me making 21 posts for each one you all make. Sometimes less for group scenes, but often rounded up again by NPC activities and such. Then there are all the OOC things like scheming with you all for character development, OKing XP spending and defining and declaring rules, approving new players and chasing up all those bastards who just disappear on me with no farewell.

Second, although for a very long time it was one of the busiest games on the internet, that was because I had less obligations than I have now. Right at this moment I am writing a fan-book for Changeling: the Dreaming, running several Table Top Games, Helping with a few PbEM games, trying to get back into actually playing in games myself (which I'm finding hard to make time for), moderating a Changeling Forum and actually having a life away from my computer. All of those things take up some of my time and mean that I can't make ten posts a day every day like I used to. They do not however mean that I can't stick to the established and published (on the web site) posting guidelines of twice a week. When I post even just twice a week that's an averige of between 20 and 30 posts a week. Most Play by Email games would give their proverbial tight arm to achieve that many posts in total, from all players, let alone just from their Storytellers. When I'm posting twice a week we are still a very healthy and active game. If I post more than twice a week, its an added bonus and not a right. 

In the light of that fact, the reason I got stressed and started posting less and less was because I was being badgered by players. It started to be on a daily basis, then as I felt less and less inclination to post (because of all the constant badgering) it got less and less. However, the more this happened, the more it killed my desire to be creative and made it feel like a chore. The less I posted and more I got badgered. It became a vicious circle. 

I resume my stated obligation to post at least twice a week, and require you all to do the same if possible. However, being as I don't hound you when you don't post, I would appreciate the same curtsey in return. See above, give me a break and you'll find I post more and more. However if I do get back into the habit of posting more often, that's not some unwritten oath on my part to continue doing so. Its just you getting lucky. I'll do the same for you. If you post more than twice a week, I won't hold you to it and pester you if you slip back to twice a week. That's the Deal I am remaking with each of you and if you can't live with it, then I respect your decision and won't hold a grudge when you leave.

I'm gonna post this on the forum as well and I really want to start using that for all Out of Character talk from now on. Hopefully we can also use it to rebuild a few bridges and foster our Sodium Noir community. Other parts of the website are also going to become much more important, and Dav has created  anifty database so I can update the character Bios and locations easier and so that you can search and locate information easier. This of course is also going to implemented on the same timescale as everything else. IE, when I have time. 


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Chaos.....Panic.....Disorder! My work here is finished!!!
Spikey
 
Mashkar le gadjende leski shib si le Romeski zor
 
Storyteller of Sodium Noir PbEM Game
http://www.sodiumnoir.com
 
Sodium Noir Forum
http://forum.sodiumnoir.com
 
Check out the worlds greatest WoD Forum.
http://www.shadownessence.com 
 
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