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I thought the meta went extremely well. I'd wanted a more personal update option, which is hard to do with so many players, but then you guys whipped that out in the end, so I was pleased.

My suggestions actually have more to do with the concurrent flatsale, since I consider that a part of the meta? It's a trend I've noticed over several events, so I figure I may as well speak up.

PD is an awesome place, and it deserves great players and tons of opportunity to be involved. That said, I think we'd do well to offer fewer putescos per flatsale. Maybe just two, or three. I would also make the event last for a shorter amount of time. Why? Because then people feel a sense of urgency and actually make it a priority to enter, rather than putting it off, and putting it off, and then saying they don't have time to enter. It's a common B/C trend that I think the shop can avoid, and do better for.

It also would've been cool if those items offered had actually been a part of the metaplot. Like, the bandages maybe used to wrap wounds in one of the battles, and that's where they got their taint from, or the bow used in an assassination attempt against one of our NPCs. Just a thought. Something to bring together the current players, and those trying to join.

EDIT// ~THANKS FOR REMINDING ME WITH YOUR POST, KOTA~

Metas, for me: July, October, November

I'm moving to Santa Cruz at the end of August, so I'll be busy with that during September.

ON A LESS PERSONAL NOTE: One thing to keep in mind is different schools have different schedules. East coast generally starts earlier than west coast, and for instance, UC schools run on the quarter system, rather than a semester, so their breaks and finals are at different times.

You guys might want to post a poll asking what month would be good for the next meta, to try and make it the most compatible for shop-goers, since there's no way it's gonna work for everyone.

A poll has been implemented, though it doesn't have all of the possible combinations between the months, but hopefully that will do for now! Thank you guys for that suggestion.

Putting the Meta with a flatsale was actually something of a risk and a gamble taken on the staff's part, since we wanted the Imperial Guard's release as well as the pertaining items to allude a bit to the Meta. Since the event was extended into such a long time frame, though, it caused a lot of problems with last-minute entries that really would have otherwise been avoided with a shorter time-frame (Speaking from evidence, since the other time we had a one-month event was during Spring of 2010 and that was a major flop). I'd like to have the Meta separate from a flatsale or any sale at all in that case, but the problem with that is the way our events are sprawled out, so I'd have to sacrifice some sale times for Meta time, which I'm down with.

Interaction with the flatsale items and the storyline that's being updated sounds like a fairly unique implement that I'd definitely like to use in the future! Same with the OOC Meta thread thing, since I noticed a lot of people still centralized their development with their close friends-- something I'm fine with, but it'd be nice to have everyone meet everyone at some point in time, and a big Meta seemed like a good tool for that.

I'm also really glad that the Meta was easy to keep up with! I thought the two updates within the week thing was a bit too quick for many people, but I was pleasantly surprised at the number of entries that were reserved anyway. On the other hand, a lot of those entries started to dwindle into untouched reserves near the end of the Meta, so I suppose I'd have to tweak how many updates I have within a week and how many responses are required to get more owners to remain as participants throughout the Meta, and have people who want to still be really involved still be able to do that. (Another thing I want to cut down is the number of things people have to go back and edit in AFTER the Meta, since having owners update their journals concurrently with the Meta's current events would be a really nice thing.)

Another thing I'll admit is that I did the entirety of these Meta updates the same day they were posted, which was irresponsible but let me work in better character prompts at the same time... it's treading a thin line but it mostly worked out to everyone's benefit, I think. 8Ua It's another thing that needs to be fiddled with.

A good time for metas does seem to be around the fall, and I think I'll have a decent grasp of it by asking around with owners since many of them are going to be attending college / are already attending college. I'll say that around Jul/Aug would be best for me, since colleges here start around early September and, again, lacks the crunch time. I realized March and April were fairly terrible times, mostly because it's just at that point in the school year BEFORE everything starts winding down, and a lot of people also had real life things to settle down with.

Just a suggestion, maybe at the start of the meta, the player could choose between a few prompts, then depending on the initiative prompt, the player would then have a specific line to follow?

I thought the Meta was a relatively fun experience that was also very profitable in the sense that it was a catalyst for character development. The only qualm I have with it is like everybody else: the date. It happens to be around the period of time where the students in the western region have their AP tests and tests that generally determine the rest of their lives (college things etc) and it'd be a better idea to have them near the summertime and christmastime. This also gives RPers something to look forwards to at the beginning of their break, which for me, would be a nice breather. Of course, finishing the Meta really ultimately depends on how the RPer is personally motivated in the end.

I don't really like the idea of the FS items being implemented into the meta plot (if that were to happen), however, because I like to see people come up with original, fresh ideas on how their Putesco came into the possession of their Grimm. I do, however, agree with Indu when she says that fewer items and a smaller planning time would make people take the metas more seriously.