(Dawn, MST) - First, contrary to popular opinion as visible from the lists, everyone does not want a reset according to the membership survey a bit ago. You can find the results from that on the MST website. Overall, I've heard a lot of rumors that I've said this or that or the other thing, or that a reset is going to happen in this year or that. I've never said anything about a reset, so please don't believe these rumors. As for the various players saying there will be a reset in this year or that, it's purely speculation on their part, so take it as such. Kelley has asked me not to comment on a reset. She has quite a few very valid reasons, some of which I know, some I undoubtedly don't. Nevertheless, I understand her logic for not wanting an official statement at this time. When there's something decided and we can discuss it, however, it will be announced. It won't be leaked quietly to a few people to knowingly go around bragging that there will / won't be a reset in such and such a manner at such and such a time. So until you hear it officially from Kelley / me, don't believe anything else you hear.

Question: If a PC had endeavors that applied or took place in space/beyond the atmosphere; is there a specific person you want to handle that, or is it just Venue-specific?

Answer: (Jen S, AAMST DPotM Awakening) - Anything that's in Space is DpotM territory. With discussion with any ST's involved. (Like launching from Texas or something like that.)

Question: Do you have a general idea of when we might see the rules for Hedgespun items from "Rites of Spring" move to an approval level lower than Global?

Answer: (Lesley P, AMST Lost) - We don't have a solid timeline for that just yet. We are currently working on a token creation guide which will streamline it and hopefully lower most custom tokens to a level below Global. But at the moment it is not defined enough as written in the books for us in the Chronicle.

Question: I would like to know what the ST staff are doing to promote a coheasive World of darkness Story... Stuff that touches all venues and showcases the fact that we are indeed playing in the World of Darkness?

Answer: (Robin C, AMST CoS/Settings) - In order to facilitate a more global chronicle feel, we are currently gathering IC histories, factions, people of note, and other elements from our Affiliate nations and DPOM. This 'WoD Global Tour Guide' will be availableon the MST Website as it is complete. We are also integrating global IC news events into a single online source, something that can be reacted to ICly and this will also be available online when it is complete. I also think it's fair to say we're working hard on a much wider chronicle definition and making more concrete decisions on what is/isn't true within canon material. We're also being more proactive in defining the chronicle past and present. So I'd make a point of encouraging people to start ICly delving into these aspects and you will get stuff back.

Question: There have been those that would call the current settings "sterile" or "stagnant" due to lack of reasons to interact above the local level. While there will always be those who may disagree, quite a number of people are thirsting for more engaging settings and plot above the local level. Will there ever be or are there current plans for any overarching plot / metaplot in any / all venues?

Answer: (Dawn L, MST) - The membership survey made it clear people were interested in a metaplot, and we're taking that very seriously. However, we first want to work on defining the chronicle a bit more before instituting an overarching metaplot. We definitely do plan to do this, and to have something for all the venues, though. In the meantime, though, we are working on numerous single-venue plots at the global level, although keep in mind they don't have big "global plot" banners over them, so you may not see them. We also encourage lower level STs to coordinate to spread plots so they become larger than just single domains / regions / nations.

Question: Will these plots be things that PCs of all stripes and power levels can get involved in? Or are they going to cater more towards the high powered or highly travelled crowd?

Answer: (Robin C, AMST CoS/Settings) - To be honest I think we need to start looking at different ways to run plots all round. Because sometimes even when not intended, plots can tend to be dominated by the higher power level PCs. So I'm definitely working with venue AMSTs and looking at various ways - from seeding plot with low powered PCs, to developing antagonists that aren't power-dependent in how PCs can respond to them - that I hope will go a long way to making plots something that anyone can get genuinely involved with, regardless of PC power level. Another major part of that is trying to ensure that any global plot doesn't have a big neon sign saying "global plot".

Question: Will there be anything designed not necessarily for low-MC players, but rather those players whose characters are based on the more subtle aspects of the venues? I'm thinking more of the stuff like little-played bloodlines / legacies / etc like the Libitinarius and others who are more for style than substance? I've just noticed a significant lean towards plots on a Global or even national levels that culminate in huge combatscenes, which leave out some of the more story-focused lines that don't have the rules-edge as far as combat goes. I know it's tough to cater to smaller groups like that. It's just as a "just a player," it's often difficult to discern what's global-level and what isn't. And at times,it just feels that as a mid-MC player who plays characters who get squished in a hit, I haven't really been able to get involved in many big plots. And I realize it's not just the global staff. It's really an issue I've found with the global chronicle as a whole, both nWoD andoWoD.

Answer: (Robin C, AMST CoS/Settings) - Actually, most of the storylines coming out of Global haven't resulted in large combats. The massive combats you've seen often tend to be PC driven, come from lower level STs writing large storylines, or a result of PC actions that drove them to massive combat. I think that's fair comment. And I think it's probably true that Global could do more to run more "low key" plots in the sense that they're not world ending or chronicle changing, but they do have a wider availabilty and options to get involved. In Requiem the most popular long term "plot" interaction is through the Stockholm NPC group, which was initially about releasing the pure clan devotions but is ongoing and has extended to much more. It's also supposed to be reasonably available "in the public domain" so feel free to drop me an email at amst.settings@gmail.com about that in Requiem.

Answer: (Dawn L, MST) - I understand. And for the record, the ambiguity of what's global plot and what isn't is something we're happy with. But Global's policy is to try to avoid plots that result in mass-combats where possible, or at least have far more to them than that. I also understand your comments on it being hard for a lower-level characters to get involved in. We are working to have a more "bottom-up" approach to plot seeding, rather than giving it to the powerful characters to trickle down.

Question: There have been a lot of complaints about both the approvals Database, and the CRD, are there any plans on anyone's plates to make them more user friendly? and maybe even fix the bugs?

Answer: (Tammie P, AMST Special Projects) - We are very aware of how difficult it can be to use the CRD and the Database, as we've also ran into issues and have tried to work through some tecnical issues folks had. It's a very quirky system, but there's little we can do about it. Global tech staff is the entity that handles the coding and debugging of the CRD / Database. We work with them by giving them the requirements our STs and Players need for their characters, but the actual design is in their hands. The workarounds we know, we found on our own. Any bugs should be registered in the Mantis system. Any questions and comments on features, should be sent to ACD Global Tech.

Question: Followup -- 'defining the chronicle'? the chronicle is over 3 years old. How much more definition is needed?

Answer: (Dawn L, MST) - By "defining the chronicle", we're talking about answering the questions that WW has left open for STs to define in their books. So although we don't plan to be publishing new material on how the WOD should work or anything of that nature, we do want to answer some of the lingering questions such as "where do kindred come from?"... although these would require serious IC investigation, we don't plan on publishing them, only making them available to PCs who investigate them.

Question: What does the AMST Archivest do?

Answer: (Brian G, AMST Archivist) - I work at compiling as complete of an archive as possible of what has occured both in-character and with storytelling - making as good of a record of the chronicle as we can. All which helps provide "institutionial knowledge" to the MST office and the storytelling chain - i.e. what did we try before to solve this issue, sometimes many officers ago? How has (insert-media-of-choice) worked as an IC tool for us in helping the g(ame?) A good part of the challenge in what I try to do, is determining what we may want to ask questions about later, sometimes much much later.

Question: What is the Forsaken Staff doing to bring more IC global structure and plot into play, since the desire for such was made evident in the Settings Survey?

Answer: (Jim F, AMST Forsaken) - There is plot on the way that will work in things from Tribes of the Moon - not quite sure on specifics yet, as I've not received the book - but tribes really are, in my opinion, the way to go for more structure. Whether that will take the form of lodges or character/pack chains or something, that's not sure yet. Also, discussion has happened a bit amongst the ANST's on exactly what form this will take, so some back-and-forth is expected to get everyone as happy as possible with the decisions and have them make sense for the Chronicle. We can't just have a structure pop into place without a reason it's there - so plot is the way to go. But, again, this won't have a huge "Global Plot" sticker on it, so while it may not look, on the surface, as if it's happening, it is.

Question: Why can't there be the beginnings of metaplot while the time is taken to define the chronicle? As said, it has been three years after all. Can't some metaplot be, by definition making those definitions come into play?

Answer: (Dawn, MST) - Plots are definitely being used to define the chronicle currently, and we intend to continue to do this. For a larger plot, however, we want to wait until we are a bit ready with the chronicle.

Answer: (Robin C, AMST CoS/Settings) - Worth also noting that I also use player interaction to define the chronicle. So if something is completely uninvestigated ICly, and you go out there and investigate it, that motivates a definition if one doesn't already exist.

Question: With the apparent ever increasing amount of IRC based games, is there going to be stricter controls on the approval of VSS' for IRC use?

Answer: (Dawn, MST) - VSSes need to be approved the same as physical location VSSes. Because there are things only relevant to online play, an online VSS may have more restrictions listed than a VSS, but both should be being evaluated with the same critera. With that said, however, the Cam is a live game organization, and so we don't want to see IRC games edge out live games, and an overproliferation of IRC games threatens to do that. Therefore we are reluctant to have too many of them.

Question: In Regards to Plot... What is being done to help get them out to the VSTs so players can have access to them?

Answer: (Robin C, AMST CoS/Settings) - Global, National, Regional plotkits are kept on the CRD for Storytellers to access. If your ST is having problems accessing it, have them contact their direct ST to verify they're set up correctly in the CRD. If you feel your VST isn't running Global plots, ask them to pretty please if you can have Global plots included in local issues. Please do also keep in mind that they could be running plots which you don't realise are active (and indeed which it's possible they don't realise are Global plots!). That being said, Global does also need to acknowledge the need to work closely with national and regional level storytellers to help them in seeding plot down the chain.

Question: On lodges and tribes... will there be a tribal structure? Like head of tribes? Based on renown? And will renown be more regulated?

Answer: (Jim F, AMST Forsaken) - I'm hesitant to set things that way, unless it plays out ICly in that fashion. I'd really like to steer away from duplicating Apocalypse (good game though it was). I also want to see what Tribes of the Moon has in it, as it's due out shortly (otherwise I wouldn't wait), as I have an idea it might have a good direction in it. "Heads of tribes", though, I think I can safely say isn't what anyone wants right now, though. As for Renown - that's an oft-discussed topic on whether or not it should be regulated more, with excellent points on every side (approval, notification, let it be, etc.). I'd like to think there's a compromise in there somewhere - we've just, sadly, not found it quite yet. We're still working on that angle, though, and I hope to have *something* we all can accept as soon as possible.

Question: Recent word has gone around that the MST (specifically, Dawn) Office has placed a blanket cap on the Architect of the Monolith Bloodline, any truth?

Answer: (Dawn L, MST) - This is the first I've heard of any blanket denial of Architects, so it's safe to say that isn't from my office. However, I want to take a minute to address blanket denials in general. I don't like blanket denials, but recognize that at times they are necessary, particularly in cases of overpopulation of a particular approval. While we generally discourage blanket denials, we don't feel it's appropriate for us to set ST policy to that degree and so they aren't disallowed.

Question: Is there a theoretical, planned, or otherwise ballpark ETA till the chronicle is considered "ready"? What will define that readiness?

Answer: (Robin C, AMST CoS/Settings) - 'Ready' is a subjective term. We're not saying a y/n on any particular time or place for a metaplot, rather when we make a judgement call on when we think it's a good time. I think it's also fair to say that we're not going to say "metaplot is starting" and I'd personally like nobody to realise until the pieces start getting put together on an IC basis.

Question: How does the MST staff feel about the prescented being set by NSTs regarding the death of PCs in fashions that are clearly errorous both mechanically and by the abuse of power by an ST chain, in denying a player the right to keep their character while the STs are given at most a minor slap on the wrist?

Answer: (Dawn, MST) - Outright abuses of power I expect to be handled as per the affiliate's procedures. Short of actual abuses, all STs make mistakes. STs do a great service to this organization, and I don't want to start punishing them for making a mistake when they're doing their best. As for not allowing some characters to return to chronicle, although I am very sympathetic to players who lose characters in this manner, and will work to bring a character back where possible, sometimes bringing a character back becomes too problematic for the chronicle at large. In these situations, Global supports policies that compensate players in other ways, ranging from global approvals to allowing them to keep a portion of their earned XP.

Question: Regarding the new set of global approval questions... what is the purpose behind asking a player to list all of their approvals on each application they send up for approval? How is that better than, for instance, searching in the DB for all apps with that player's name attached? (For reference to approval questions, please see http://community.livejournal.com/settings_office/40988.html)

Answer: (Brian G, AMST Archivist) -Generally, it's for simplicity with our current technology and starting the discussion.

Question: How long does Dawn intend on remaining MST? Is there a retire date, or is she in for the duration?

Answer: (Dawn L, MST) - There was no term limit for my hire as MST, so for now, it is until I step down or Kelley removes me. For myself, I know from previous experience I tend to have a 3 yr burnout rate, so I don't expect to be in office longer than that. As for whether I'll be in that long, I don't know... that will be up to Kelley, fate, and any number of other factors that RL can throw at us.

Question: Is there education goals for ST's in works to create less chance of unknowing ST abuse and player character loss through them?

Answer: (Robin C, AMST CoS/Settings) - Definitely ST (and player) education is a big aspect of what we're doing at Global at the moment. We have Aine as Project Lead - Education and looking to develop a much more in-depth resource base on those lines.

Question: The Certificates that Aine is workign on I tend to view as player education. One wonders what ST education is in works to create a greater understanding of how things shoudl run?

Answer: (Robin C, AMST CoS/Settings) - the Certificates thing is simply the most public aspect (currently) of the work she's doing. In conjunction with the stuff that Tammie is doing in terms of the MST website, we're looking to have a comprehensive knowledge library for both player and ST.

Question: For those who wish to go investigate in-character...what sort of ways are there? Are there, for example, known NPC experts or libraries one can seek out?

Answer: (Robin C, AMST CoS/Settings) - Best thing to do is contact the relevant AMST, and cc your local ST. There may be relevant IC authorities, or Global and your local STs can work together to develop other methods which you can investigate by. For Requiem, for the moment, feel free to contact me directly (in the absence of an AMST Requiem while we appoint).

Question: Is there any way to speed up the amount of time between a book being released and being addendumed? Perhaps releasing addendums for individual books, rather than waiting for a new addendum iteration? There are books that have waited over 3 months to be addendumed. is there a way to fix this problem?

Answer: (Dawn, MST) - At times, we don't get books until the same time as the membership. The ANSTs+ then have to review and consider the book (amid their various other jobs). After this, a draft is written, posted for final review, edited, then sent to a group of beta readers who aren't national+ staff. Then it's finally coded and posted. This is a slow process, and although it's true that some books get finished earlier and wait on addendum publication, often the delay is simply to assure quality. We're reluctant to do mini-releases of single books or such, however, because it forces people to keep checking and adjusting to changes constantly rather than all at once.

Question: I am curious about the release of any of the various Mortals settings material reserved for MST Office use. (There's a good bit of it). It seems Mortals has been the ignored venue, is this likely to change?

Answer: (Pat M, AMST Mortals/Proms) - Yes. Once the Mortals venue setting has been a little more well defined, the release of those materials can be expected.

Question: It appears that Global is -extremely- reluctant to hire people with previous National or Global experience, instead insisting on fresh (untested?) faces in the job. is this an accurate summation?

Answer: (Dawn, MST) - For positions that don't particularly require high leve experience (such as some of the Project Lead positions in particular), we do try to get "new faces" rather than the old crowd who has been in office for a long time, that's true. That doesn't mean we rule out experienced officers, but all other points being equal, we often try to bring in new people with new ideas. However, there are certainly advantages to high level experience which helps the MST office greatly, so particularly in the case of the larger positions (such as venue AMSTs) I would not say we are particularly looking for new faces. We are simply looking for the best person for the job.

Question: the current MST Addendum states "Cannot replicate a ritual or other power in part or whole (e.g. a Theban Sorcery version of Deflection of Wooden Doom). Yet the general membership is being denied applications for the purpose of "streamlining" mechanics, in effect copying pre-existing mechanics and in essence the MST is suggesting that players go against the Addendum. Was this an oversight or is it being doen intentionally?

Answer: (Pants, AAMST Forsaken) - We would love to see people adapting their custom items, such as devotions, to have the same mechanics as similar items already approved. That way, we can have two different "custom" devotions that were developed entirely separately, without knowledge of one another ICly, but it doesn't grow the amount of custom mechanics in chronicle. Since it is unreasonable to expect players to necessarily know if there already is a similar power in play, if such an application reaches Global we will propose the similar mechanics to the player at that point. That way, you have two different flavors for the power, from different creators who get full credit for its invention, but without the addition of new mechanics for STs to learn.