3. Staff Meeting Minutes

Staff Meeting Minutes

  • Dev

    Staff Meeting Minutes will be posted here for the community to see.

  • Dev

    Meeting Notes for 3-16-25 Staff Meeting

    Staff attending:

    • Darkpowder
    • Lence
    • Wolfe

    Agenda Items & notes:

    • Kudos

    • Newplayer postmortem

    • DM XP wrapup

    • Confirm PG duties for Wolfe & timeline for implementation

    • Server Direction deadlines on the top server direction proposals:

      • Improve Mechanisms for Party Play
      • Simplify/ease the ability to rest
      • Diversify/Facilitate group and player objectives
      • Adventurers Guild / Improve Quest System
      • Training / IC Education and emphasis on Lore & RP for Players
      • Automate / Improve Enchantment

    • Kudos to Lence & Kronan for working on all the stuff they are working on to move the serverforward

    • The staff discussed the new players joining and departing after a while. It was concluded that they were looking for a different RP experience. We hope they find what they need wherever they go, and are always welcome.

    • After running through the exercise of seeing how XP devalues as PCs level up, it was clear that DMs need to be mindful of upper level PCs, and how to reward them appropriately for their endeavors IG. Included is a spreadsheet that shows how much 1e XP needs to be awarded across levels so rewards can be equitable for PCs of all levels. How much XP is awarded will always be up to the DMs discretion, and the hope is that the spreadsheet helps with that.

    • Wolfe is transitioning out from DM to Player Guide (title to be confirmed). That is effective almost immediately, so he can focus on initiatives to drive awareness and recruiting for the server, and in helping players become part of the community. He'll still retain DM access to help folks who need help with getting unstuck and other procedural issues.

    We have brought up the primary issues we want to work on to address in terms of Server Direction: Here are the top items:

    • Improve Mechanisms for Party Play
    • Simplify/ease the ability to rest
    • Diversify/Facilitate group and player objectives
    • Adventurers Guild / Improve Quest System
    • Training / IC Education and emphasis on Lore & RP for Players
    • Automate / Improve Enchantment

    We picked two to talk about in the staff meeting:

    • Mechanics for Party Play & Diversify/Facilitate group and player objectives
      Part of the conversation involved extending the XP window for partied PCs - can we extend it so XP is given out to PCs with 5 levels of difference instead of 4?
    • Should we have ALL spawns give at least 1XP when you level out of getting XP for them?
    • Exploration XP should be laid out strategically also, based on how we want that XP fed to PCs.
    • Wolfe stated it best: "We have an idea as a team what we want to achieve - We are a roleplay heavy server, we are making leveling more lenient with a high focus on rewarding party play with a long term drive for DM story and interaction. Whatever server direction mechanics aren't part of the code, it's a mental state that needs to be addressed/changed. Our vision is already defined, some people wont like it, but it is what it is. We're now getting into the mechanics or rules we enforce. I think we need a list of our ideals, how we believe we want the players to experience the server, and also taking into account our "being relevant" in the server lists
    • so, start letting us makea list of selling points and direction
      ACTION ITEM: Staff should contribute selling points and ideas we want to promote
  • Dev

    Meeting Notes for 1-11-25 Staff Meeting

    Staff attending:

    • Araighn
    • Darkpowder
    • Lence
    • Jazz
    • Maythor
    • Wolfe

    Agenda Items & notes:

    • Kudos
    • Town Hall
    • Narfell Staff Continuance
    • DM onboarding
    • Github Access
    • Server Direction Workshop

    Kudos

    • Kudos to DP for continuing to spice things up as DM. Also kudos to the community for welcoming new and returning players. Narfell is for the community, and we are all working to make it as successful as possible.

    Town Hall

    • It was decided that we would run a town hall on 2/3 @ 8am PST. It will be voice channel so folks can talk things out. It was decided that the staff would give a quick summary of what we have been doing, and DP stated that it would be good if we offered up not only the option for people to ask questions via voice, but also for them to post them ahead of time via the #town_hall discord channel.
      ACTION ITEM: Lence would post the Town Hall event in discord for all to RSVP to with instructions to post questions if desired.

    Narfell Staff Continuance

    • The process for whether staff would continue on was clarified. DP had proposed earlier for three options - whether to remain in their current position, whether they wanted to stop that position, or whether they wanted to take a new role within the staff.
      ACTION ITEM: DP would set up a mechanism to collect this data via a Discord Thread that all current staff would be required to answer.

    DM Onboarding

    • The staff is invested in onboarding DMs as efficiently as possible. To this end, it was proposed that Maythor (as the DM with most experience) walk any staff interested in his best practices on how to set up a DM avatar for NWN.
      ACTION ITEM: Maythor will run IG workshops on how to set up and run a DM avatar for any staff interested. Lence will work on putting together a "cheat sheet" on those best practices.

    Github Access

    • The server lives on Github. The module is accessible via Github. If any staff want access to Github, they should reach out to Lence to get access.

    Server Direction Workshop

    • Threads to address single-voter issues are to be created for Staff to argue the merits of addressing items that did not meet the critical mass issues from the Server Direction poll.
      ACTION ITEM: Jazz would create threads for staff to discuss these issues internally.
  • Dev

    Meeting Notes for 12-8-24 Staff Meeting -

    Staff attending:

    • Darkpowder
    • Lence
    • Wolfe

    Agenda Items & notes:

    • Server Direction Workshop
    • Kudos
    • Old Business
    • Retention process for existing staff
    • New AT Voting

    **Before we cover off on the agenda items, the staff wanted to let the community know what we have been spending our time on.

    We are actively working on distilling the input that the community provided re: Server Direction. We hope to have some high-level data points to share soon after the new year, and some action items to work on so we can move forward on a multi-pronged plan to address the server direction moving forward! We appreciate your patience!**

    Kudos:

    • Kudos to the community members who are adventuring away in the server. Also to DM Durandal who is spicing things up for all players on the server with winter shenanigans! The staff is committed to continuing to create an immersive world that changes because of players choices, and those changes will continue to be reflected in the ever-changing world that is Narfell!

    Old Business:

    • Server costs were paid for the Test Server on 12/3 – We appreciate all of you who have donated to help cover server costs, and look forward to continue being transparent about what it takes to keep the server running for the community to enjoy!
      If you want to see who’s contributed or donate yourself, here is the link:
      https://narfell.us/forum/topic/32004/server-costs-donation-tracking

    • The process for staff members to cycle out or continue on staff was discussed. Staff agreed that we would poll current staff members to see if they want to continue on staff, since we do not have a pressing need to turn over staff unless they want to step down. The direct question of "Yes, No, Do something else for the staff will address people wanting a change or wanting to carry on or step back" to all staff members in the new year will address this point. We are always open to folks who want to contribute to the server in any way possible. If that’s you, reach out to anyone on staff so they can inform the rest of the team about your interest!

    New AT Voting:

    • Staff members Darkpowder, Wolfe, and Lence met with AT candidate Araighn on 12/15 to download him on server status and answer any questions he may have about the AT responsibilities should he get voted in. It was a productive meeting and we look forward to what the community’s decision is about adding him to the staff! One of the topics that came up from Araighn was that we should run more Town Halls, and everyone on staff agreed that was a great suggestion, so we can continue to be as transparent as possible.

    As always, if you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to ANY of the staff, as they will share your requests with the rest of staff so we can be as responsive as possible!

    Looking forward to seeing you all in Narfell in the New Year!

  • Dev

    Meeting Notes for 9-22-24 staff meeting:

    Staff attending:

    • Darkpowder
    • Jazz
    • Lence
    • Wolfe

    Agenda Items & notes:
    Kudos:

    • Kudos to Maythor for continuing to run great Fight Nights, and expanding them to include more than just fighting and trucidation!
    • Kudos to the community for sticking to making the server a more hospitable place to any players who should wander into our little corner of NWN. This welcoming attitude is going to go a long way toward incentivizing new players to stay.

    Server Hosting:

    • It was agreed upon that Lence should take over ownership of the server hosting account, and that a payment system will be set up for any folks who want to contribute to the costs of hosting the server for the community.
    • ACTION ITEM: Lence will set up an account to oversee the server hosting responsibilities & payment method for community members to contribute.

    AT:

    • A discussion was had about opening up voting for new ATs. This will allow for an odd number of staff so that there can be tie-breakers in terms of team opinions. We will open up applications for AT members with some stipulations: Server Interests need to supersede personal interests, teamwork is a requirement, and open communication is key. Whether the AT is expanded to 3 or 5 will be a decision made based on player applicant interest and voting results.

    • We will also reiterate the call for any community members who are interested in Devving.

    • ACTION ITEM: Open up applications for players interested in being part of the AT/Lence will put out call for Devs

    Server Direction:

    • Server Direction forum will be locked on 9-27-24. DP and Jazz were encouraged to add their thoughts on server direction on top of all the other community members who had submitted posts. Once the window is closed, work will begin on consolidating like-minded proposals, and creating a hierarchy/priority list for the staff to begin addressing
    • ACTION ITEM: Darkpowder will be putting together a worksheet to start distilling all the community suggestions.
  • Dev

    Staff Meeting Notes for 6-23-24:

    Staff attending:
    Dora
    Jazz
    Lence
    Maythor
    Wolfe
    Z

    Agenda Items & notes:

    Kudos

    • Thanks to CB for being a DM for the last 6 months. He's stepped down and we appreciate all the work and effort he's put in
    • Kudos to Maythor for being IG and spicing things up for players and PCs he runs across (he can see everyone on at any time, so dont assume he just accidentally ran into you!)
    • Kudos to the community for sticking with us - summers are slow all around, but we appreciate your involvement!

    Old Business

    • Updates on DM Votes (yes with 50% this one time - Supermajority moving forward), GPS updating (yes with toggle on/off switch), DM entry announcement IG (Dora turned that on - Team wants Discord notification also), RLG (addressed down below)

    New DM recruitment

    • It was agreed by the team that DM apps will be processed in an on-going basis, as the need for DMs is key
    • Darkpower and Kronan have turned in applications, and will answer the AMA questions on Discord before the community can vote on them
    • Whether DMs can be voted in with 50% going forward, and removed with 66% of votes was discussed - the majority agreed that 50% vote in for this one time with a Supermajority going forward

    Charter Updates

    • No updates on the Charter - this is a living document, so feedback is appreciated from the community at large

    Quests

    • Lence seeking input on a better process for Quests lead into a larger discussion about Town Criers, RLG, level-appropriate spawning, IG warnings when PCs enter dangerous areas, and level-specific areas.
    • Quests that ladder off of each other were discussed, and whether this would promote more solo play or not
    • Town Criers - what would their function be?

    RLG

    • It was discussed whether to lower the % rate at which mini-bosses spawn, and whether they drop RLG every time or just a % of the time. Mini bosses proposed spawn rate was either 25 or 50%, and RLG on them was either 25% or 50%
    • Z would like mini-bosses to spawn like 10% of the time... so this will most likely be a vote that is put to the community

    Spawning revamps (scaling outwards from easy to hard)

    • Discussion was had about whether there was some way to categorize what levels areas should be with Wolfe providing an example. This may be part of the info that is given out by town criers to educate players as to the challenges of various areas
    • IG messaging about difficult spawns/bosses were proposed, and is an easy add to maps for the devs

    Voter Registration

    • It was decided that voters who have been identified will not time out as voters - The registered voter requirement remains the same - 6 hours over 3 months
    • Dora proposed running a report to track time IG to check for registered voters

    Parking Lot (to cover off on at a later/next meeting)

    • Dev Best Practices
    • Town Hall
    • Rumor Mill

    Holdover Topics (from previous Staff Meetings):

    Things the charter can address:

    • AT size
    • DM recruitment
    • Donations link

    ACTION ITEMS:

    • Dora will code the GPS toggle on/off
    • Dora will add the DM login to Discord
    • Lence will start implementing IG messaging triggers as early warning system alerting PCs to challenging spawns/bosses ahead
  • Dev

    Staff Meeting Notes for 5-19-24:

    Staff attending:
    Dora
    Gonnar
    Jazz
    Lence
    Maythor
    Z

    Agenda Items & notes:
    AT Election

    • it was decided to keep the AT at 4 members for the time being, and that we would have the community be the tie-breaker vote.
    • There was discussion that the DMs be the tie-breaker, but the historical distrust of the DMs self-interests may cloud any vote they do in the eyes of the community

    DM Recruitment

    • Majority Vote only okay for DM elections? ACTION ITEM: Jazz to handle
    • Expectations for DMs (This may be parking lot after DMs are voted in)

    Linode costs

    • Lence to pay
    • General donation link will be forthcoming?
    • Accounting of monies will be transparent

    Charter

    • Things the charter can address:
    • AT size
    • DM recruitment
    • Donations link

    Server Direction

    • How to foster RP on the server?
    • What do we focus on as ways to foster RP
    • Informal poll on GPS - ACTION ITEM: Jazz
    • What is the most bang for your buck
    • Fairness for everyone
    • ACTION ITEM: Dora to toggle on DM entry annoucements to Discord

    DM guidelines

    • Parking lot for after we get DMs

    RLG

    • ACTION ITEM: Dora to explain in small words
    • Lower drop rate on Mini-bosses

    Exp XP

    • Quarter Exp. XP moving forward on all new maps

    Spawning revamps (scaling outwards from easy to hard) - Not discussed

    Dev Best Practices - Not discussed

    • Get more Devs (Lence to announce)