08 May 2015 @ 07:01 pm
Hello, for one last time Havenites.

Firstly the final log is now up here. Feel free to continue tagging the previous log or go to this one, as both will be open to tagging for as long as anyone wishes to use it. As said before, no accounts will be removed from the communities by the moderators. We only ask no more new posts be made from this point on.

Haven opened roughly two and a half years ago, back in late September of 2012, and what we have heard since then is that the game stood out among other games of the horror genre for two reasons. A diligent and loving mod and a playerbase that always welcomed new people and respected one another. Having been in game since the first few months that it opened, the three of us know those two facts have not changed. Haven is blessed to have people who care for it as a game, who care for it as a creation of a single person's imagination, and who always stood behind it in hard times. We know that the months that passed since Blue's strange and unfortunate disappearance have been difficult, but we cannot say for a moment that we ever felt the playerbase did not appreciate our efforts and did not strive to keep this game going even in her absence. It is with deep regret that we close the doors on such a wonderful game, not just in the concept, the worldbuilding, the characters, but also wonderful in the effort that everyone who ever played in this game put into it.

It isn't easy saying goodbye and even harder to do because of the circumstances that caused it. However we hope that this game leaves everyone who was in it with fond memories, strong development in the characters played and the knowledge that a game is only as good as the players in it. And we have to say, we think Haven is one of the best games to ever come onto the dreamwidth scene because of the players who loved it, the helpers who dedicated themselves to keeping it up and our head mod Blue who cared and loved speaking with each and every person who approached her.

We sincerely hope this is not farewell forever and if Blue contacts us we will do our best to spread the word about it, because we know people have been worried and still worry as much as we do. As said before, everyone who has been in the game since the end of March AC will be welcomed back should the game be opened again. If such a time ever comes, we hope you join us again and feel back at home.

Until that hopeful day comes, we want to thank you for staying with us and hope to see you again.

-Marion, Christy and Sib.
 
 
22 January 2015 @ 08:25 pm
Hello Havenites,

Due to a family emergency, Blue will be unavailable for a period of time to answer plot questions/do NPC related duties. The app round tomorrow will be processed as usual and the intro log Saturday will still go up at 7pm EST without delay. Any questions may still be submitted by private message to the mod account, but please keep in mind that there will be a longer wait than usual for answers due to Blue's absence.

Thank you for your patience,
-Marion, Christy, Sib.
 
 
09 January 2015 @ 10:58 pm
Hello Havenites!

Firstly, before we get to the event information, there's a small announcement. The helpers will now be jointly taking on the maintenance of the Nitpicker's Guide. This has now moved to a new location over here and all the links to reach it have been changed. If you have changed something about the game (for example built a new building) and it needs to be added or amended, comment to the new Nitpicker's Guide post and it will be added by one of the wonderful helper team.

As you can see from this IC mingle, some familiar and not-so-familiar faces have come to pay a visit to Haven. People might recognise Caroline and Jonas among them, even though one should be dead and gone, as well as a couple of new allies of theirs. But while these rebels might have been helpful, albeit grudgingly, in the past... now they're definitely not.

As a matter of fact, smoke bombs and grenades have been set off around Haven West to create an atmosphere of panic and deal damage and injury all around. The rebels are attacking out of the blue, and they have a wide variety of methods at their disposal, including a plague virus in a bottle (which has, as of yet, been unreleased).

These rebels are not played by me, and are instead controlled by four players - Christy, January, Wind, and Crystal - using the shared journal [personal profile] justhaventhings. Although from an OOC standpoint, knowing who the four players are and what sort of characters they play, it will likely be easy to figure out that the rebels may not be all that they seem. However, from an IC standpoint, this is not immediately obvious and any reveals or discoveries should be plotted on both sides.

For this event, there will be no fixed schedule as the consequences and progression of the event will depend on player choices, as well as various other factors. For this reason, please keep an eye out for OOC or IC posts by [personal profile] justhaventhings. In addition, there is a permanent plotting post here where people are encouraged to make plans and discuss outcomes. Please be aware that, as always, death should be treated with caution as it still results in either a forced drop or a complete and permanent reset of all memories.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them on this post. Thank you!
 
 
22 December 2014 @ 06:28 pm
Hello Havenites!

As of today, I am leaving to spend Christmas with my family and won't be back until December 29th. There's nothing planned between now and then, and all mod work is up to date as of right now, so there shouldn't be any issues with an absence of a few days.

However, I will have limited internet time, and I can access my plurk on my phone. So if you do need mod input or have a question/concern that needs my attention, please private plurk me at [plurk.com profile] yoohoohoo and I will do my best to reply in a timely manner - please do not just ping me, as plurk often does not notify me about pings and so I may miss the question.

Otherwise, thank you for your patience and have a happy holiday, whatever you may be doing, and I'll see you all soon!

Merry Christmas from me (Blue) and all the Haven NPCs.
 
 
20 December 2014 @ 10:36 pm
Hello Havenites!

You may have noticed that the intro mingle is slightly different this month, this is because of what happened in the most recent event removing some of Yao Corp's influence from the housing spiral.

This will result in the following changes:

-> Characters who are accepted to the game from now onwards will not suffer from sickness if staying away from their apartments, however they will still suffer all the other ill effects (such as for staying too long in Haven North).
-> Characters who were accepted prior to this month will still suffer that sickness, unless the spirals on their apartment doors have been sanded away. This is because Yao Corp only has limited power in the housing spiral now, enough to maintain what was already underway, but not to enforce it for new people.
-> New characters' belongings will appear in their houses and rooms, which is how they will find their assigned house.
-> New characters from now on will wake up in an undignified heap in front of the convenience store.

This new information has been added to the Nitpicker's Guide so that it's up to date.

Thank you!
 
 
22 November 2014 @ 10:57 pm
Hello Havenites!

There are a few minor announcements that need to be made, so here goes.

Firstly, Secret Santa is going to be run again this year, and sign ups to take part have now opened. They can be found on this page and will remain open until 1st December. After that, I will go through and randomize the names, and go through to let you know who you will be preparing a present for. So come and take part, it's all in good fun!

Secondly, my work has finally taken on additional staff members, so my long period of extraordinarily slow NPC tagging has come to a close! I've done all the outstanding NPC tags that were owed. Anyone who receives one is free to ignore it, continue the thread, or PM the moderator for any conclusions that might be required. If any have slipped through the cracks and you are still waiting on a thread you wish to continue, please get in contact. Once again, thank you for your patience the last couple of months, thank goodness it's finally over!

Thirdly, the app team have unanimously decided on a minor change to the application guidelines. From the next round onwards, samples cannot be "where am I" intro posts. The reason for this is that we often find it hard to gauge characterization from those, as most people when immediately in a new surrounding are confused or frightened. The guidelines will otherwise remain the same.

Finally, I have received an email from a woman who is finishing a course in psychology at Södertörns Högskola in Stockholm, Sweden. For her bachelor thesis she has chosen to write about online friendships, specifically those that are created through journal based roleplaying. She requires volunteers to help her by answering some questions - I've already taken part, and it's not too lengthy or personal, so please help out if you can. The interviews take part over AIM or gchat, so you must have access to one of these for the study. If you want to take part, please email erica01.eriksson@student.sh.se as soon as possible, as these interviews must be conducted soon.

If you have any questions or comments about anything above, please feel free to leave them here. Thank you!
 
 
16 November 2014 @ 11:56 pm
Hello Havenites!

Thank you for voting in the poll about whether to bring in a new rule regarding wait times for applying for new canons, as well as waiting to apply canon updates.

The majority vote was for no change, so there will still be no wait time required for applying from new canons, or for canon updating to a new canon point.

Thanks again!
 
 
15 November 2014 @ 12:33 am
Hello Havenites!

First of all, I would like to thank all the people who applied to join the helper team. I can genuinely say that I, and the rest of the team, thought that every single person who put in an application would have made an excellent helper and will certainly be first in line if ever another slot opens up in the future.

However, we've decided to offer the position to Siberia, who plays Garry and Ada Vessalius. She will be taking over advertising, which includes the ATP advert, as well as assisting on app processing with the rest of the helper team.

The mod contact page has been updated to reflect this, and I hope you'll join me in welcoming her to the team. Thanks!
 
 
12 November 2014 @ 02:25 am
Hello Havenites!

I've received a few concerns about reserves from newly released canons, which we currently have no rule against, and requests for this to be changed to a month wait. As a brief explanation to why Haven has never had a rule on this before, as it's a common rule seen across other games - I had initial concerns that it may create unfair double standards due to different release dates in different parts of the world, as what is one month after the release date for one part of the world may still be before release in another part of the world.

However, as there have been several requests on this subject, and I'm always willing to change game policy, I'm going to put it to the vote of the playerbase and go with the majority decision either way.

Please note, if the decision does come back to enforce a one month wait, this will not be implemented until after the next app round in order to be fair to any potential reserves already on the list. In the event that a change is implemented, the one month wait time will count from the earliest release date regardless of where in the world that may be. Please vote with one character journal only, and reply to either the header YES to change to a one month wait for new canons, or NO to remain as it is.

The vote will remain open until Sunday 16th November, 7pm EST, as that is when current reserves expire. If the rule is to be changed, it will be implemented starting on Sunday 23rd November, which is when reserves next open.

Thank you!

UPDATE EDIT: As has been asked, if the rule is implemented then this would also apply to canon updates for ongoing canons (one month after new releases) in order to apply the rule fairly across the board.
 
 
07 November 2014 @ 10:14 pm
Hello Havenites!

Before I get into the event details, there's a small mod related announcement that needs to be made. Unfortunately, the helper team has lost Ruki due to her leaving the game. She has our thanks for everything she did to help the game run smoothly, and she'll be missed. However, that means there is now an opening in the helper team, and so I am opening helper applications. If you are interested in finding out more of what the role consists of, or you wish to apply, then please see this page. Applications will close on Friday 14th November, 7pm EST, and the successful applicant will be notified soon afterwards.

Now to the event!

As you can see from this IC post, a massive storm has broken out over Haven. For this first section of the event, very little in the way of major consequences to the characters as individuals is happening. However, the main body of the event will kick off on Monday 10th, when there will be game-wide and more personal effects, among other things.

For this first section, these are the important things you need to know:

-> The storm will rage continuously. There will be lulls in the lightning and thunder, but the rain will continue as a total downpour without any breaks.
-> The weather machine will register an incorrect reading, it will show the weather as being the current programmed weather the characters have chosen and will not register the rain. This means it cannot be used to stop or lessen the downpour.
-> The well will overflow within 6 hours.
-> The water pipes to the houses will overflow within 12 hours, flooding the housing spiral and surrounding area.
-> Any lower ground will quickly become flooded.
-> Any character with weather or water related powers will be unable to stop the rain or lessen it, but they may be able to help divert the course of any flooding.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them here, and the rest of this post is open to be used for plotting. Thank you!

Finally, the ejected list!

The following characters have been ejected from Haven due to lack of activity. Any players who wish to reapply for their character must wait for one month before doing so, in order to be fair to any other applicants.

Gabriel [personal profile] larker
Nicodemus Archleone [personal profile] nicodemus
Ozai [personal profile] phoenix_king
Satou Kuroneko [personal profile] priceofmagic
Sora [personal profile] fervents
Yamato Hotsuin [personal profile] drakenguard
 
 
22 October 2014 @ 11:24 pm
Hello Havenites!

The sign ups for the second mini event of the month are now closed. PM information regarding the event effects on the signed up characters will be sent out tomorrow (Thursday) evening, in time for the event to begin on Friday. So if you signed up a character, please be on the look out for a PM tomorrow. Otherwise, general event information will be given on the first day's OOC post, as usual.

And for a small mod note - life has been very hectic recently (lots of people quitting at work and overtime), so NPC tags in particular have been vastly slower than I would have liked. I am sorry for this delay, and thank you for your patience. All unanswered questions, NPC tags, and the event PM information will all be taken care of tomorrow.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them on this post.

Thank you!
 
 
13 October 2014 @ 10:19 pm
Hello, Havenites!

Firstly, the minor announcement. I will be attending a wedding on November 1st, which means there is no guarantee that I will be home by 7pm EST (midnight my time) in order to post AC. It will still be posted that night; however, this is just a prior warning that it may go up an hour or two late. Thank you for your understanding!

And now, the first of two mini events this month.

Due to the incredibly high energy anniversary event for players and mod team alike, this month consists of two very mini events. The first of the two mini events will consist of the NPC post, which you can find here, and a sign up post on Wednesday 15th October. The sign up post will be for the second mini event which, as you can see on the calendar, will be 24th-26th October. Further details will show up on the sign up post.

As of this post, Jessica will be living in Haven West along with the characters. She is not being assigned a specific apartment, and will live in a tent pitched near the outer edge of the housing spiral. While I will tag her into some posts, and make posts with her on occasion, I am unable to bring her to every post. So if I miss something that you feel she should be in, or you would specifically like to tag with her, please either send me a PM at [personal profile] havenmods or leave a comment in the 'small plot requests' section of the monthly mod post.

Haven's events will go back to normal in November, with events usually lasting between 7-10 days and having a high impact on the setting/characters alike. Thank you for your understanding in having a more relaxed month in regards to events this month.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to let me know here. Thank you!
 
 
02 August 2014 @ 11:04 pm

Hello Havenites, this is your monthly mod post!

August Monthly Mod Post )
 
 
27 July 2014 @ 02:04 am
Hello Havenites!

Due to the anniversary event spanning almost the whole of September, the decision has been made not to hold an app round in September. That means that after the next app round in August, there won't be one until October. This is because the logistics of having new characters arrive during the planned event doesn't quite work out.

So if you, or any friends you know who are interested in joining, want to be in the game in time for the anniversary spectacular then the August round is your last chance to do it. I will repeat this announcement in the monthly mod post for August so that it remains pinned for the month.

Thank you!
 
 
23 July 2014 @ 12:15 am
Hello Havenites.

Over the last 4-6 weeks, things have been hectic in my life and I have let the ball drop in some important areas. While I have kept up to date with lists, events, etc, some of the older threads that required my attention fell by the wayside. I deeply apologize for this, and for the wait time that elapsed between some threads - this apology especially goes to the participants of the most recent convenience store raids, and a couple of NPC logs.

As so much time has elapsed, I have written out a convenience store google document, which details the possible outcomes for different groups in order that everything can be resolved. If you are waiting on any NPC tags beyond the ones resolved above, please feel free to PM me and I will be more than happy to either work out a conclusion or continue the thread.

I will not excuse my tardiness, I will only apologize once more and assure you that things will be back to their usual prompt running time from now on. Thank you for your patience and understanding, and now back to your regularly scheduled gaming.
 
 
08 July 2014 @ 09:46 pm
Hello Havenites!

As you can see by this post, Dr. Kite has decided that the population needs pruning before his precious Uzumaki arrives. Because he's too full of his own importance to decide who to do away with himself, he's leaving it to the characters to judge one another while he watches and takes notes on the psychology of experiments like this.

This event will have two main stages and a finale post, as well as a small post-event mingle, which will happen on the following schedule:

-> Tuesday 8th July : OOC post and IC mingle post
-> Friday 11th July : Plot points and consequences sent in PMs, OOC post, and IC mingle post
-> Monday 14th July : OOC post and IC mingle post
-> Wednesday 16th July : After-event IC mingle post when the dead return to life

Characters are now trapped in an underground labyrinth. They may wake up in any position within the labyrinth, and either alone or with a group of others. You may notice that there are four potential exits/entrances to this maze, three at the top and one at the bottom.

The top left exit leads into a small closed off room containing a small amount of food and water. The top middle exit leads into a small room containing flashlights and weaponry (basic knives, swords, spears - no firearms). The top right exit leads into a small library - there is a notice on the door that says NO ENTRY; however, it is not locked, and characters may go inside if they wish. Characters who choose to go inside the library may receive a plot clue, but will also be subject to future psychological effects as a consequence.

The bottom exit is a seemingly open archway leading down a further tunnel. Anyone who kills another character - on purpose or by accident - will be able to pass through the archway and follow the tunnel out to the surface, where it emerges through the door of the convenience store in Haven North. Characters who have not killed another, will be repelled by an invisible barrier which prevents them from going onwards.

Important things to note:

-> All powers will not work within the labyrinth.
-> The phones will be able to power up and view contacts, but will be unable to make any kind of call within the labyrinth.
-> Characters who die within the labyrinth will remain dead until two days after the event finishes on Wednesday 16th July.
-> All characters who are killed will not vanish, their bodies will remain and decompose naturally.
-> Any character who is killed, their picture will vanish from the phone contacts.
-> Any character who kills another will regain any powers they have lost.

All characters who wish to gain a plot clue and suffer the future psychological effects of the library, should comment with their character name and journal under this heading, before Friday 11th, 5pm EST - this is so there are two hours to send out PMs before the next stage of the event.

All characters who kill another character should comment with their character name, and the character they killed, under this header. This header has no closing time, and is just to keep track of who has been killed and who has been killing.

A plotting post has been set up here, which can be used for the whole event. This can be used to plot who is waking up with who, any killings, etc. And finally, if you have any questions, please leave them here! Thank you.
 
 
02 July 2014 @ 10:41 pm

Hello Havenites, this is your monthly mod post!

July Monthly Mod Post )
 
 
02 June 2014 @ 11:05 pm

Hello Havenites, this is your monthly mod post!

June Monthly Mod Post )
 
 
14 May 2014 @ 07:57 pm
Hello everyone, this is a general PSA to inform that as of May 9 (OOC)/ August 12 (IC), Verdugo has been killed. Esdese made a call gathering characters a few weeks back, the log is currently in-progress and will result in Verdugo's defeat. No participating characters made/has yet to make any announcements ICly, but the tunnels are effectively cleared now for future trips.

Thank you!
 
 
14 May 2014 @ 11:08 pm

Hello Havenites, this is the first monthly mod post!

Because it's the first one, I'll just give a brief run down on a couple of points before I launch into it. These posts will be made from now on, on the second of each month, starting on June 2nd, due to AC being on the first and not wanting them to collide. They will be made sticky for the entire month they are relevant, and then replaced with the following month's post on sticky when that's made. The structure of each monthly mod post will be as follows:

-> Mod announcements: This section will be used for any small announcements that crop up during the month, such as minor changes to the information posts, scheduling changes, and so on.

-> Communal plot clues: This section will contain a small number of clues, and the location they can be found, which will be available for anyone (or multiple people) to come across.

-> Weather: This section will detail how last month's weather ended, so people know what the current weather is. There will also be a section to discuss coming weather (further explained in the relevant section below).

-> Small plot requests: This section is for requesting smaller player plots, not large enough for the official player plot page. For example: Convenience store raids, joining the Yao Corporation, killing Verdugo in the tunnels.

-> Letters: This section deals with the letters sent and received within the underground cave garden (further explained in the relevant section below).

-> Concerns and suggestions: This section will almost be like a mini How's The Game. If you have concerns or feedback, you can leave them in this section.

Next month, I'll just post the actual mod post without this explanation, which will make it less unwieldy to have as a sticky post. And now without further ado, the actual mod post! Thank you.

May Monthly Mod Post )