General Site Update November 11th, 2019

[RUNE]

Howdy, fellow Browncoats!

As you've likely noticed, there's been a lot of change and clean up around here lately. This is all part of our ongoing effort to streamline and clarify as much information as possible 'round these parts so as to offer a little more comfort and ease of navigation. If any of y'all find that a thread you used to have bookmarked has gone missin', or that a link from one thread/post doesn't quite direct you where it ought to, just give us a holler by PM or Discord and we'll straighten it out.

In regards to subjects that have been relocated... The Casting Call's been set up as it's own subforum in the Census along with all relevant and associated threads. It should be noted here that characters are allowed to change their Play Bys/Face Claims on a case-by-case basis. Such a change shouldn't be taken lightly, and multiple changes for the same character will not be granted. To alter your PB, simply post to the Answering the Call thread with your new PB for the existing character.

Along with this move we want to announce the creation of a new membergroup: Legacy NPCs. We're defining a Legacy NPC as a character whose name has become synonymous with FindingSerenity.net whether they are currently active or not. Characters whose associated Play Bys/Face Claims are so iconic they've been "retired" and will not be available for use except for that particular character from here on out. The characters themselves should not be considered retired, nor do the Site Staff consider them NPCs in the traditional sense, and are welcome to rejoin the ranks at any time they wish.

After some careful consideration and discussion, the Site Staff is happy to declare Ian Dugan as our first Legacy character! The Staff here at FS.net encourages everyone to read up on Ian's exploits over his very long tenure as a Captain of Glory and a player in many other tales. Similarly, Ian's player was pivotal as an Admin in the days following FS.net's initial relaunch back in 2011 and helped to pave a path in terms of methods and decision making that the current Admins follow today. Given the conditions set forth with the implementation of Legacy NPCs, actor Colin Farrell is hereby exclusively reserved for the purpose of representing Ian Dugan alone. Congratulations Ian!

One big change is a bit of a bittersweet announcement: The ongoing efforts to get the SubAccounts mod to work again have come to a halt. I want to thank Caliope big time for all the work she put in to her attempts to get it running again, but sometimes things don't work no matter how much you'd like 'em to. Silver linings being what they are, however, Cali was able to get us hooked up with some proper test forums and cleaned up our databases so we might make a more sure-footed effort should we decide its time to move away from the SimpleMachines Forum software. For now, I'm sure we've got plenty of sunsets ahead before that time comes. So rest easy, and enjoy the RP with limited technical interruption from here on out.

In an effort to attempt to regain some of the ease of informational access granted to us by the SubAccounts mod, we've implemented a simple new system for connecting players with their characters. While we can't do anything at this time about the need to log out and switch characters manually, action's been taken to have Player account signatures link to a Player's various character profiles and areas where they may be a Captain or Narrator. Likewise, a link to the Player's profile is being added to all character profiles beneath the character names.

Lookin' at more changes to character profiles, y'all may have noticed we've added the equipment list and character medical histories as additional posts within the character profile threads for approved characters. In order to allow players to update these lists as time goes on, we'll be changing the original poster to "Cortex Mainframe" upon application approval. This will prevent the application/profile from being altered in any way following approval while still allowing players to alter their equipment lists and medical histories as they wish. It should be noted both of these lists should only be updated to reflect pivotal developments: the loss of a trademark item or broken bone as opposed to the number of changes of socks or a stubbed toe. If anyone wishes for an alteration or addition to be made to their character profile, just post from your Player account letting us know what changes you'd like to see made and why.

Additionally, some players have kicked around the idea of keeping a running catalog of a character's participation in various threads. This can be helpful for each player in keeping track of their own threads, in addition to providing a one stop gateway to a character's history at FS.net for everyone to enjoy! For an example of these Thread Trackers, as well as an updated equipment list, medical history, and recently changed Play By/Face Claim, check out Amorru Reyes.

I'd like to give a big shout out to everyone who's joined the fun at the Deep Space Station Iscariot and helped turned it into the lively hub of activity we envisioned upon it's launch! Given the experimental nature of a space station as an active roleplaying area, we've seen a need to address some developments that have come about as a result of the threads there becoming more active than ever. Surely we could have worse problems, and this is one we're thankful for as we view Iscariot as a prototype for potential future "sandbox" style RP areas for FS down the line. Bear with us as changes are made, and stay tuned for some exciting new opportunities for RP around Iscariot soon.

Also be on the look out for some upcoming announcements regarding Player and Staff roles and how they apply to all of our members. Speaking of Player roles, we'll be looking for those interested in Captain and Narrator opportunities sometime after the new year. If you want to inquire about those opportunities a little early, just give me a holler.

Finally I want to give a hardy thanks to all y'all who've stuck by us over the course of the past few months. We've had some rocky roads and choppy waters, but I think I speak for all us here when I say I hope everyone has some easy ridin' and smooth sailin' ahead of them during this upcoming Holiday Season.

Keep Flyin',

RUNE