Countdown to Game Start in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

[supportadmin]

As we gear up for game opening tomorrow, I first want to wish everyone a Happy (post?) Valentines Day!

The game opens (and has opened in other parts of the world) February 15th. To kick us off, I'll be posting a group arrival log, covering options such as checking in, finding individual bunkers, the Shatterdome tour, and an end stop by the Shatterdome Exchange.

Characters may or may not be surprised to learn that all personal belongings, with the exception of undergarments of approved colors (whites), and various items concerning personal hygiene, will be stowed until completion of the initial three months of training -- or leaving the program.

Characters who arrive without personal hygiene products will receive them when they're given their uniforms. Showers will be communal for cadets, based on age ranges.

Issued clothing and gear will include the following: 1 pair grey coveralls, 1 pair Physical Training shorts, 1 Physical Training shirt (short sleeve), 1 all weather coat, 1 pair running shoes, 1 pair dress shoes, 1 pair leather boots, 1 pair shower shoes, 3pk black boot socks, 3pk white socks, 6 pair boxer/briefs (for men) or 6 pair underwear (for women, 4 regular white bras (for women), 4 white sport bras (for women), 1 PPDC combat uniform, 2 white crew-neck undershirts, 2 pair grey slacks, 1 grey cotton web belt, 1 chrome buckle, 2 ditty bags, and 1 PPDC issued ALICE pack.

From that day forward, they'll be referred to as Cadet Surname, and they will be expected to address all superior officers or Shatterdome staff civilians by sir and ma'am. (Everyone is higher ranked than they are.)

All of this is a lot of set-up for the tone of day-to-day life, so let's switch gears to focus on some plot related ideas.

First off: within the first month and a half of game opening, there will be a Kaiju attack requiring Valparaíso Shatterdome response. It will also shift the focus on how to handle continuing Kaiju attacks as it reveals a different direction being taken by the Kaiju from those seen previously.

In the meantime, I want to hear back from you on which sorts of group events you'd like to see. For example, there are "team-building" logs, like running ropes courses, tug-of-war, blind driving, first aid training with casualty evacuations by litter, obstacle course runs, etc. Certain classes lend themselves better to group logs - swimming, for example. We can also participate in out-of Shatterdome exercises, from hiking to learning sail boating.

Secondly, what kind of group logs would you like to see in Jaeger Academy? Please give me your input in the thread titled "GROUP LOG SUGGESTIONS" below. "Anything goes" is an acceptable answer, though I encourage specifics. Even if something isn't feasible right now, it may well be in the future!

Third, if you haven't already, please comment to the Player Contact and Character Cast pages.

Thank you, and see you all later on tomorrow!

Comments

QUESTIONS

[supportadmin]

Re: QUESTIONS

[protagerrant]

Will cadets be restricted to base for the first 3 months or will they be allowed to hit the town?

Re: QUESTIONS

[supportadmin]

They'll be allowed to hit town in uniform on their half-Saturdays or full Sundays, along with any additional leave time they might earn/players might purchase going forward. In other words, nope! Not restricted to the base alone.

Re: QUESTIONS

[heliokleptic]

Two questions! A) What's in an ALICE pack, and B) if they don't have personal belongings are they going to be issued some sort of cellphone? I guess it makes sense for them to not have phones but we specifically have spots in our journals for that kind of IC contact.

Re: QUESTIONS

[supportadmin]

a) ALICE packs are handed over empty - when they're heading out for maneuvers or are being pulled for a group run/hike, supplies will be distributed from the Shatterdome Exchange.

b) Characters can purchase calling cards from the Shatterdome Exchange, but as far as cell phones go, they won't be handed out during the first three months of training. Afterward, characters will have their phones given back to them, or have the option to purchase a phone through the Shatterdome Exchange.

[secondtry]

Maybe for the sake of the IC contact question, we can have whiteboards or corkboards at the barracks, or some sort of BBS on the shatterdome intranet. The cadets won't (and shouldn't) have enough time to sit around and email each other, but just to drop a 'hey, weekend plans?' note, as well as a notification system for grades on coursework that requires more written assignments than physical performance, that could work.

I'm not suggesting a network. That wouldn't fit in in this game or in this genre. But a game-acknowledged system that corresponds with the requirement for and presence of an IC contact post wouldn't go amiss.

[supportadmin]

This would be more than doable! Even with a singular post that acts as an umbrella Whiteboard/Cork-board for the Barracks, characters would then have the ability to leave messages for each other to coordinate without needing to worry about good timing.

[inurhead]

I've always been in games where IC contact posts were used to drop off notes or speak in person. Phone calls or texts were possible too but the basic idea was a place for ICly coordinating things that would happen off comms. Generally I used them most often for face to face interactions with other characters that didn't warrant a whole log. Is that type of use acceptable here?

[supportadmin]

This is one of the expectations and fully embraced uses of IC contact posts, yes! They're an all access means of communicating ICly, which includes face to face, post it notes, letters, origami offerings, and anything else of the kind.

[inurhead]

Cool. Thanks!

Re: QUESTIONS

[inferiorcomplexes]

So what's the food situation like?

Re: QUESTIONS

[supportadmin]

The mess hall has pretty standard cafeteria fare, with a basic salad bar, and whatever the offerings of the day are. It'll be hot! How good it is will depend on the day to day affairs, but the better food won't be readily available to Cadets.

To anyone with a refined palate, it will be difficult to swallow, and very simple with a lack of complex flavors and spicing.

Re: QUESTIONS

[europeanunion]

I'm wondering what the barracks look like exactly inside. I understand it's communal but is it just one big hall full of bunk beds, a 4 berth cabin, a 1+1 thing, etc? Do the Cadets also get their own lockers/closet?

Also, is there a chance that we could get a rough map or idea of the Shatterdome itself? Or at least, where the buildings and various structures are located.

Re: QUESTIONS

[supportadmin]

The basic set-up is a hall of bunkbeds, with stackable footlockers at the end. Each Cadet receives their own footlocker chest. Something along these lines, with built in air conditioning and a more industrialized/cement feel to the location.

I can definitely work on getting a rough map of the Shatterdome put together in the next week to two weeks, to give people an idea of a layout on base. A general assumption to go with now is that the Jaeger Bays are in a dome-like structure that opens up directly into the harbor, and the buildings and areas where the Cadets will spend most their time are located above and set just behind this dome-structure. Similar to what we see in the fly-by during the movie, as shown here.

Re: QUESTIONS

[europeanunion]

No rush on the map! Until we get it, as for the Shatterdome interior, is it okay to base it temporarily on the one in the website? This one, I mean.

Re: QUESTIONS

[supportadmin]

Ha! To start out, that should be fine, yes! It gives a good sense of location for some pretty important areas, which will be good to begin with.

Re: QUESTIONS

[europeanunion]

Haha, okay then! Thanks.

[karearea]

Does jewelry count under personal belongings, and is there an exception for culturally significant items?

[supportadmin]

Stud earrings, or small ball earrings, will be allowed! Also plain watches, but other forms of jewelry are counted as personal belongings. There is currently no exception for culturally significant items, but ICly, presenting a sound cultural reasoning for why it's important to be kept with a person may produce good results. (Since there are things that should be allowed due to cultural significance.)

Would Ngaio be making a case ICly to keep something, and if so, what item and of what significance?

[karearea]

Yeah, she'd want to keep a small jade pendant she wears under her shirt: It's a type of jade that's treasured in Maori culture and thought to increase in respect/prestige as it's passed down through the generations. In broader NZ culture it's often given to Kiwis moving abroad, which is how she ended up with this one passed down from her mum when she left for the Shatterdome. Her pendant's shaped like a stylized fishhook, which symbolizes (among things like good health) respect for the sea and the life in it - originally because the ocean was a main food source for the Maori people, but Ngaio would also be taking it as wellwishing against the kaiju and a warning to take them seriously.

She might not explain this very well IC, though, considering how bad she is at arguing and how flabbergasted she'd be to be questioned on something of Maori significance and to have to explain it.

[supportadmin]

I'll leave it up to you to decide if she could explain it well enough for it to be a compelling case, or if it'd still be stowed for safekeeping until after the three month mark. It's more likely they'd still give her a firm no, since the point of early training is stripping people down to basics and having them all stand on the same platform before building them back up to unify them all together than to allow exceptions (outside of religious practices with strict requirements for prayer and diet).

[karearea]

Gonna take the no for the IC butthurt sulking :D Thank you! (I am now enjoying mental images of the odd hijabi PPDC staff member wandering around the 'dome.)

[supportadmin]

You're welcome! (This is a good mental image, and I endorse it fully!)

GROUP LOG SUGGESTIONS

[supportadmin]

[secondtry]

Training sessions like have been suggested would be great. I'd like to see something like compass trials without GPS, maybe competitions - make groups, take them out blindfolded to the same distance from a base location and have them find their way back with a compass, a map, a sextant, and a beacon if they don't make it within a certain number of hours. Maybe combine it with survival training since patrols don't always go as planned.

If I come up with anything else, I'll toss it out here.

Re: GROUP LOG SUGGESTIONS

[paperbacks]

First aid/first response training sounds fun, and the toxicity of the Kaiju offers some interesting challenges. Sooner or later, the cadets are going to have to learn that they can't save everyone and that they're nowhere near as prepared as they think they are...

[inferiorcomplexes]

The most boring, technical class in the universe.

Oh, and any opportunity to talk to the locals, if possible.

[spareheir]

C&Ping this from the lovely europeanunion in case you don't see it/can't easily keep track of it under the ATP ad requests.

maybe sparring between the cadets in the kwoon combat room or group hikes/run in the middle of the night. otherwise the prompts in the first td are a-ok, perhaps with a different set of questions this time for the first prompt. i'll come back to this when my brain's working.