Christmas 2017 Brainstorming
Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 11:57 pm
Christmas in September. I guess it's a GSP tradition now. Funny how climate patterns used to make that weirder, huh? Makes me want to move to Borealis where the only weather to worry about is the occasional rain shower so negligible it can't even soak through a white negligee. Hmm. Anyway...
As usual, I'm going to be collecting ideas for both SWL and AO, even though AO doesn't have a development budget this year. That doesn't mean we should ignore AO, it just means the simpler the ideas are there, the more likely someone is to whip one up in a lunch break or something. Big ideas can still go in the list, of course. Maybe they'll work in SWL or be saved for later. Ideas are always better than none.
There is no contest involved, and I'm not even keeping track of which idea is whose, because the best ones tend to be collaborations anyway. That's why I prefer collecting ideas at shows. Batting them around a bit and adding details and inspiring each other for more ideas is what brainstorming is about. Of course, sometimes ideas come up at inconvenient times, and if you think of something between shows and just want to get it written down before you forget, you can post it here in this thread or send it to me in a PM, or Facebook, or Twitter or whatever. I'll bring it up at a show later for the interactive bit.
The rules:
1) Don't infringe anyone else's Intellectual Property. There are Fair Use exceptions for parody and such, and oblique references are fine, but a direct copy of someone else's IP isn't going to happen. Grey areas are not worth the trouble of getting lawyers involved.
2) Items should be social in nature rather than providing a gameplay advantage. Minor conveniences and average gear, on par with the items we've had in previous years, are fine because that still comes out to a cosmetic difference from what's normally available.
3) Keep it within the game's rating and rules. Clothing can be pretty skimpy, like the various bikinis we already have, but remember, only monsters go to "clothing optional" beaches. Ingesting drugs or alcohol, including tobacco, is similarly prohibited. I don't recall anyone suggesting anything patently offensive in the past, but if even suggesting it would be against he EULA, it's probably not very Christmassy anyway. Then again... Krampus. So, you know. "Christmassy" is relative. We can leave the grey areas in on this one and let FC make the call.
4) New ideas are preferred. If you want to go back to last year's thread and copy one or two favorites, because they're still your favorite ideas, go ahead. I'll probably be doing that myself toward the end. Don't just paste the whole thread here, though. Similarly, please look over this thread before you add to it, to make sure someone else hasn't already said the same thing. (Just write your idea down first so you don't get distracted by all the shinies and forget yours.) If there's already something similar, adding some details and/or options to it is always good.
5) Contributing ideas to this list is understood to be freely, anonymously, contributing unsolicited ideas for FunCom to use or not, in whole or in part, as they see fit. Even if they end up using your original creation verbatim, by submitting your idea here, you're suggesting they do so and giving them the requisite rights to use your idea. It's kind of the whole point here. If you would prefer to sign your name to your idea and send it in yourself, you can just go to FunCom's forums or feedback form and do that.
Here are the lists from previous years, in case you want to copy some old favorites or browse for some inspiration for new ideas:
Christmas 2016
Christmas 2015
Christmas 2014
Christmas 2013
Christmas 2012 (thread is M.I.A.?)
Christmas 2011
Christmas 2010
The schedule:
Sep. 14 - Sep. 27 - (two weeks) I'll be collecting Christmas ideas at all the GSP shows I can get to and posting them in this thread. I'll collect any ideas sent to me on forums, FaceBook, Twitter, or replies to this thread to also discuss at the shows.
Sep. 28 - Oct. 4 - (one week) GSP DJs, Staff, and Dancers vote on their favorite ideas, just to choose the order I'll list them in and decide which I'll spend a little more time detailing.
Oct. 5 - Oct. 15 - (week and a half) I'll write up the top 20 ideas in a big, detailed suggestion list with links to reference art, attach the remainder as additional brainstorming, and mail it to FunCom with a link back to this thread, in case they want to see any additional discussion we have about it here.
some time mid-October - FC normally starts planning the event roughly two months ahead to have time to plan, design, create, implement, test, and debug the new items and events. We should have the Christmas ideas to them before they're done making Halloween, so when they're ready to start planning Christmas they'll have just gotten our list.
some time around Dec 19 - the AO Christmas event starts "usually" the Tuesday before Christmas, especially if it requires a patch. It "probably" won't require a patch this year, but it should still be around then. SWL will surely add something new, but often starts their events about a week after AO, and both will run though New Year's. It's hard to guess what the exact schedule will be before they even decide what they're doing, so I just aim for early.
As usual, I'm going to be collecting ideas for both SWL and AO, even though AO doesn't have a development budget this year. That doesn't mean we should ignore AO, it just means the simpler the ideas are there, the more likely someone is to whip one up in a lunch break or something. Big ideas can still go in the list, of course. Maybe they'll work in SWL or be saved for later. Ideas are always better than none.
There is no contest involved, and I'm not even keeping track of which idea is whose, because the best ones tend to be collaborations anyway. That's why I prefer collecting ideas at shows. Batting them around a bit and adding details and inspiring each other for more ideas is what brainstorming is about. Of course, sometimes ideas come up at inconvenient times, and if you think of something between shows and just want to get it written down before you forget, you can post it here in this thread or send it to me in a PM, or Facebook, or Twitter or whatever. I'll bring it up at a show later for the interactive bit.
The rules:
1) Don't infringe anyone else's Intellectual Property. There are Fair Use exceptions for parody and such, and oblique references are fine, but a direct copy of someone else's IP isn't going to happen. Grey areas are not worth the trouble of getting lawyers involved.
2) Items should be social in nature rather than providing a gameplay advantage. Minor conveniences and average gear, on par with the items we've had in previous years, are fine because that still comes out to a cosmetic difference from what's normally available.
3) Keep it within the game's rating and rules. Clothing can be pretty skimpy, like the various bikinis we already have, but remember, only monsters go to "clothing optional" beaches. Ingesting drugs or alcohol, including tobacco, is similarly prohibited. I don't recall anyone suggesting anything patently offensive in the past, but if even suggesting it would be against he EULA, it's probably not very Christmassy anyway. Then again... Krampus. So, you know. "Christmassy" is relative. We can leave the grey areas in on this one and let FC make the call.
4) New ideas are preferred. If you want to go back to last year's thread and copy one or two favorites, because they're still your favorite ideas, go ahead. I'll probably be doing that myself toward the end. Don't just paste the whole thread here, though. Similarly, please look over this thread before you add to it, to make sure someone else hasn't already said the same thing. (Just write your idea down first so you don't get distracted by all the shinies and forget yours.) If there's already something similar, adding some details and/or options to it is always good.
5) Contributing ideas to this list is understood to be freely, anonymously, contributing unsolicited ideas for FunCom to use or not, in whole or in part, as they see fit. Even if they end up using your original creation verbatim, by submitting your idea here, you're suggesting they do so and giving them the requisite rights to use your idea. It's kind of the whole point here. If you would prefer to sign your name to your idea and send it in yourself, you can just go to FunCom's forums or feedback form and do that.
Here are the lists from previous years, in case you want to copy some old favorites or browse for some inspiration for new ideas:
Christmas 2016
Christmas 2015
Christmas 2014
Christmas 2013
Christmas 2012 (thread is M.I.A.?)
Christmas 2011
Christmas 2010
The schedule:
Sep. 14 - Sep. 27 - (two weeks) I'll be collecting Christmas ideas at all the GSP shows I can get to and posting them in this thread. I'll collect any ideas sent to me on forums, FaceBook, Twitter, or replies to this thread to also discuss at the shows.
Sep. 28 - Oct. 4 - (one week) GSP DJs, Staff, and Dancers vote on their favorite ideas, just to choose the order I'll list them in and decide which I'll spend a little more time detailing.
Oct. 5 - Oct. 15 - (week and a half) I'll write up the top 20 ideas in a big, detailed suggestion list with links to reference art, attach the remainder as additional brainstorming, and mail it to FunCom with a link back to this thread, in case they want to see any additional discussion we have about it here.
some time mid-October - FC normally starts planning the event roughly two months ahead to have time to plan, design, create, implement, test, and debug the new items and events. We should have the Christmas ideas to them before they're done making Halloween, so when they're ready to start planning Christmas they'll have just gotten our list.
some time around Dec 19 - the AO Christmas event starts "usually" the Tuesday before Christmas, especially if it requires a patch. It "probably" won't require a patch this year, but it should still be around then. SWL will surely add something new, but often starts their events about a week after AO, and both will run though New Year's. It's hard to guess what the exact schedule will be before they even decide what they're doing, so I just aim for early.