integrating | MOD NOTE: Rescue Write-ups and Application Clarifications

Hey guys! Thank you again for your patience with the growing pains of our new game. As we work through apps, there were just a few things we felt we owed it to everyone to address.

One of the things that became really clear really quickly as we reviewed apps is that we didn’t do a good job at all of explaining how characters get rescued by the Nest. We were too focused on making it sound cool and mysterious which is great and all, but in the end the playability of the game trumps the cool factor. So we’re going to be a little more candid. Some of this information is solely OOC info (and we’ll make those things clear for you), but most of this you’re free to use in your character’s transition into the world of Station 72.

So allow us to clarify this process. When we say that your characters are attacked by an alien force we mean that literally. This isn’t something commonly known, but the Nest will not come to rescue your character until after they are being obviously hunted by The Enemy (there’s a cool name in there, but don’t worry - it’s not relevant yet). The enemy itself can take many forms, from alien or demonic, to mundane and every day. The force that is hunting the Nest has fingers in many pots, irons in many fires. The only things that remains consistent are that, A) it is far more powerful than your character, and B) it is actively trying to kill them. Your character will be able to see and identify the threat and will know that they are going to die if they don’t go with their rescuer. The rescuer is a member of the Nest; it can be Cathaway or Prince or a random Host NPC (again, time will reveal all but until then you can be sure that if you character was rescued by an unknown NPC, that NPC is suspiciously not present anywhere on Station 72). A rescue from the Nest won’t arrive until your character is faced with death at the hands of The Enemy.

Out of character, we can tell you there are two reasons for this! The first is simply this: the Nest is aware that by bringing your character into the multiverse that they are basically dooming them to a life of conflict. It’s not fun, and it it is the Consensus’ genuine hope that a potential Host never be forced into this life. Granted, that doesn’t matter much because The Enemy has never NOT found a potential Host. That’s where the second reason comes into play: almost no potential Host would agree to go with a rescuer that arrived before the physical threat became apparent. The story is too unbelievable, the cost too high. Too few would willingly accept. In the end they offer a potential Host a simple choice: Die now, certainly, and watch anyone who would defend them die as well - or have some chance at a life.

We’re not going to ask for written revisions of anyone’s rescue write up. Because this is clearly due to a lack of clarity on our part, here’s what we think will work best: if you’re accepted into the game and your write-up doesn’t quite work within these parameters as is, just think of another scenario to use in play. You don’t ever need to write it down if you don’t want to, but be aware that at some point your character was faced with a powerful force that was going to kill them, and then they were rescued by an agent of the Nest.

The second thing we wanted to talk about as revisions roll out is this: In reviewing apps, we’ve realized some sections - specifically canon powers and symbiote abilities - require more detailed description because of the power share mechanic of the game. Unfortunately, while this is totally our bad, in order to make sure certain those mechanics work down the road, we found ourselves in the position to ask for more than we originally intended. We appreciate you all being our guinea pigs in this respect and apologize for both the lack of clarity and the request that you jump through an extra unexpected hoop for us.

All this said and done, we feel we’ve learned a lot from this initial application round and are eager to implement those lessons going forward. Thank you again to everyone for bearing with us as we learn the ropes. We are so excited to play together! As always, if you have any questions, concerns or notes please come to us! With your help, we’ll keep ironing out these wrinkles.

Thank you so much!
-Donna n’ Abby