Tuluki Shrinkinator / Tavern Restructuring (5-20-14)

[Nyr]

From Tiernan: Tuluki Shrinkinator

We've been planning some changes to the layout of Tuluk and they're about to come to fruition.   I thought you may be interested to see a little glimpse of the process behind the admin curtain, as it were.  Please take note that the proposal was first introduced in mid-March.  

TL;DR:  Tuluk is shrinking in size.  Pay attention when moving around Tuluk.

Now you may be thinking that the map doesn't look all that different from the way the city looks now.   You're right, that was the point.  We didn't want to completely reorganize the city's toplogy, just condense it for playability.  All in all, I think well over 100 rooms were surgically removed from the city, as well as the Old Quarter.   Transit from the North Road gate to Chaitya's Gate used to be around 32 rooms, it's now 18.  Some roads have been completely removed, such as Ysania's Way.   Both the North-South distance and the East-West distance have been reduced by about 1/3rd.

PROJECT TITLE

Tuluki Shrinkinator

PROJECT PURPOSES

Same Great Tuluk, Less Rooms.

WORLD FIT

This is meant as a playability improvement to Tuluk, bringing things closer together to reduce transit times for players to meet and interact

OBJECTIVES

• Unlink a lot of excess road rooms
• Unlink the Old Quarter
• Move NPCs and key objects (wagons, apts) from rooms being discarded to areas being kept
• (See map for high-level view)
• (Spreadsheet has room #s for linking)

OUTCOMES

Playability improvements for Tuluki players by collapsing long transit routes across the city

GROUP STRATEGY

Need approval from NL staff, any other clan staff with a Tuluki presence

BACKGROUND

Tuluk is big.  Really big.  You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-boggingly big it is.   I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that just peanuts to Tuluk.

RESOURCES

Staff to walk around the city, verify it links correctly, NPCs and objects of importance are available in the smaller version.

TIMETABLE AND COMPLETION DATE

Mid/Late April 2014.  April 30, latest.. 2Q14. - lots of lively discussion, so I'm going to reset and give myself 3 months or less to adjust to all the changes.

SPONSOR

Tiernan

PROJECT LEADER

Nyr  (Oh yeah, totally threw you in front there).  Tiernan, alternate.

TEAM MEMBERS

Open for volunteers to vet the new layout, making sure the links work, that no NPCs, objects or critical Tuluki components are left behind.

METHOD

• Communicate to players that Tuluk's map is being adjusted.
• Write linking script which pulls existing areas out and stitches them back togethter as per the model.
• Project team validates the script's execution and that all NPCs, wagons, and links work as designed.
• Update website with new map.

HIGH-LEVEL VIEW: (Updated May 9, 2014)

Special thanks to Cerys for tracking down NPCs and objects and coming up with a way to handle their move!



From Nyr:  Taverns

While we do not normally discuss things that touch on the in-character world, in this case, an exception is being made because it involves some IC stuff mixed with some OOC decisions, and we'd like to make sure the playerbase in the area isn't completely surprised by it!

The remapping of Tuluk is an OOC thing.  For the most part, things will remain where they are now.  The map will change as proposed by Tiernan, but not by too much.  The next changes apart from the remapping itself would be a restructuring of the taverns in Tuluk.  We have already removed two relatively unused and distant taverns (The Anakore's Burrow and Partisan's Punch).  In the new tavern lineup in Tuluk, we'll have three taverns, each catering more specifically to a socio-economic group in the city-state.

Low class tavern -- The Tembo's Tooth.  Situated on the outskirts of the Warrens and close to a tribal levy barracks, the Tooth is ideally situated to be this tavern.  While nobles and Templars might drop in, the area is seedier than what they would likely be used to.  The tavern is no stranger to brawls or gambling.  All the same, it is a Tuluki tavern, and bards from the Circle have been known to perform their more bawdy and tawdry pieces here.
OOC notes:

• brawl code enabled
• potential changes to echoes/décor if needed to reflect atmosphere
• non-citizens allowed

High class tavern -- The Sun King's Sanctuary.  Situated on the north side of the Red Sun Commons, the Sanctuary is about as far from the Warrens as it can be without being in Freil's, the higher-class section of the city.  Non-citizens are barred from entering, and unruly, uncouth, nonhuman, or just plain annoying-to-the-nobility might find themselves thrown out.  Bardic performances are common here as well, with an entertainment hall dedicated to larger events and performances.
OOC notes:

• update to environment and atmosphere and echoes to remove anything that otherwise should not be present
• outright removal of artisan's area (upper class tavern needs no place for people to RP crafting)
• potential review of pricing and items to reflect environment
• removal of dorms upstairs; tavern itself now made quit-safe
• no brawl code
• non-citizens not allowed

Middle class tavern -- (details pending, find out IC). Situated on the east side of the Red Sun Commons, this tavern is a common stop for travelers of any ilk.  Not nearly as nice as the Sun King's Sanctuary, it is also not as dingy as the Tooth, and remains a respectable distance from that end of the Commons.  A small stage allows for bardic performances and smaller events.
OOC notes:

• dorm attached upstairs
• this will be the new starting location for anyone in Tuluk, a point at the end of the North Road (likely to run into nobles/Templars either en route to this tavern or to the Sanctuary, and also likely to run into anyone else traversing the main drag)
• cooking area attached
• non-citizens allowed

This will hopefully solve a few issues we've seen that we feel are worth taking a look at.

Special thanks to Natious for the building effort for the new tavern and to all staff for vetting this!



Timetable:

The remapping is slated for Tuesday, May 20.  The tavern construction and associated tavern changes are slated around the same time, subject to building completion and walkthroughs and tweaks, but it may be implemented a few days later.  We will also have a brand new map to cover this for in-game use.

Discussion thread for these changes here.

[Tiernan]

We're going to shrink Tuluk tomorrow, Tuesday May 20.   We're tieing up a few loose ends which didn't get fully signed off over the weekend due to the HRPT taking precedence.  For those who were anxiously waiting on baited breath, psych!  

One more day folks, we want to be sure this goes off as smoothly as we can make it.  Thanks.

[Nyr]

This seems to have gone off without a hitch.  Map helpfiles will be updated soon.  For now:

• Firestorm unlinked (you can leave it if you quit out there, but you won't be able to return)
• Blue Vestric tavern linked (head straight down the North Road, east into RSC, east all the way til you hit the tavern)
• apartments that were previously in the old quarter now exist on dusk road east (south and east of the Blue Vestric)
• warehouses that were previously in the old quarter now exist west of the Warrens

If you notice any issues or face any problems, please wish up.  If you don't get a response, you can typo the room.  There are some live changes we will continue to tweak.