Deer Country Epilogue: Interest Check

[terriblepurpose]

SCROLL DOWN FOR APRIL 18TH UPDATE

Hello, everyone!

Currently, Deer Country is planned to end in 3 months, at the end of July. After the game's final event, several players (Ree, Lunare, Beth, and Rona) are discussing a limited-run epilogue game to serve as a structured alternative or addition to the planned sandbox.

The sandbox is intended as an unmodded, relatively quiet community without ongoing events. An epilogue could differ from the sandbox in that it follows an overarching metaplot, provides monthly horror events, and encourages PC impact on the world with mod-controlled consequences (similar to the current Hali vote). It could maintain a list of active characters via check-in AC, allow new players to join through a lightweight app system, and maintain fresh infopages.

Effectively, an epilogue could provide a more structured space for character arcs and setting elements that might not fit into a 3-month endgame. The epilogue could span into early-to-mid 2024, up to one year past the game's planned closure.

While any potential epilogue will be heavily shaped by DC's finale, we want to discuss the idea as a playerbase. Are you most interested in leaving after July, playing in a relaxed sandbox space, or playing in a more structured "epilogue game" with continuing horror events and society-building themes?

Most importantly, what's the ideal relationship between the unstructured sandbox and the structured epilogue? Should epilogue events take place in the same space as the sandbox, with sandbox players free to opt in or out of each event? In this option, everyone could continue to use the existing IC communities. Or should epilogue events take place somewhere separate, so that sandbox characters can carry on untouched by the epilogue? In this option, we'd likely create new IC communities for epilogue content.

Regardless, the epilogue would progress directly from DC's finale in July, and would be created with the support of DC's modteam. This post is intended as an interest check and discussion space. Please feel free to answer the bolded questions, ask your own questions, and share your thoughts in the space below!

We all love this game deeply. It will be hard to see its current chapter come to an end, but it's been a truly wonderful ride, and we look forward to continuing to play with you all. Thank you!

UPDATE - APRIL 18th

Thank you for the feedback, everyone!

To recap: once endgame was announced, a few players approached Simcha to ask about post-game content. Simcha noted that endgame is likely to change elements of the setting and result in a new status quo. Players could continue personal plots within that status quo, or for anything beyond the scope of that sandbox, players could create a spinoff game set within the same world.

After gathering ideas here and continuing to discuss with Simcha, we agree that a spinoff game isn't the best option. Instead, several players have suggested that "epilogue" event prompts take place in a location separate from Trench, but which all Trench characters could access. This means that a group of players could roll out connected horror events, affecting characters in the optional space but not affecting Trench as a whole. Simcha has approved this idea.

After the game closes in July, players who enjoy event-led external horror will have access to a series of optional monthly prompts until early 2024. This is meant to keep up the spirit and momentum of Deerington or Deer Country for those who want that kind of structure! We agree that optional content shouldn't impact the setting or tone of the post-game sandbox as a whole, so players not interested in that optional content will not be affected, except insofar as their CR may choose to engage with it.

tl;dr: We're happy to see interest in optional planned post-finale events, effectively a plottier add-on to the sandbox. Thank you very much for the comments, questions, feedback, and discussions - we're excited to continue plotting and playing with everyone!

We look forward to playing out the finale and seeing what comes next together.

Comments

[unphase]

Personally, sign me up for the notion of a more structured epilogue game. Also, if any of you need assistance with brainstorming or whatnot, please please please don't hesitate to ask.

DC is easily the best experience I've had in RP in literal years and I'd be brokenhearted if there wasn't a way to carry things over a bit.

And I'm all in favor of a more chill app process, possibly in bringing in extra characters other than just three. I have more free time at work than I know what to do with! 😅

[terriblepurpose]

Thank you for the feedback and offer of help! We've added an update to the post above covering the plan we've come up with based on the feedback here. In short, we'll be going forward with an opt-in limited run series of prompt posts set in a location separate from Trench, so that players have to freedom to use as little or as much of it as they want.

As for applications, we'd like to refer you to the mod update here - it looks like that three person cap is getting lifted!

[unphase]

Sure, it's the least I can do! I love this game and I'm really looking forward to seeing how you all proceed with the mini-game, epilogue. You're all amazing players and I have every confidence that you'll be able to make a new and exciting set of circumstances, while still respecting the wishes of those who prefer a more sandbox environment!

/steeples their hands like Mr. Burns and grins

[terriblepurpose]

Thank you so much - we're also moving to the 'steepling our hands' phase of thinking about all the ways we can try to give back some of the enjoyment we've gotten from this game and our fellow players over the years!

[unphase]

Steepling one's hands is underrated as an emotion, as far as I'm concerned!

As for apps...I'm going to app Rey (Star Wars) in May, but will other characters be able to be apped in using the current app format (which I'm cool with!) or another format (also cool!)?

Because I will almost certainly bring Rose back and there's room for another whose story wasn't finished from another game.

[terriblepurpose]

We won't be creating any sort of organizational systems like that (applications, activity checks, etc) for the player plotting we'll be doing - for questions about applications and what things will look like after the game switches to sandbox in July, you can check with the mods on the end of game announcement post or via the mod contact page. We're sorry we don't have more information to offer than that!

[unphase]

No worries! I understand and will ask via one of the methods you mentioned!