[Ronin]

Howdy C3G fans!

The Heroes have been doing a little restructuring behind the scenes, and it's time we let the public in on the changes.

The first piece of news is, unfortunately, that something is going away. Allies will no longer be able to buy their way into the Danger Room. It hasn't been generating the participation we'd hoped for, and managing Allies coming in and out has proven to be a bit too much overhead. We will continue to use it as a development space for Sidekicks and the testing of new factions and special projects, but Allies will be granted access by invite only.

But fear not, true believers! We've got some good news to announce as well. A while ago, we made it possible for an Ally to bypass the public vote and buy a design thread directly, but we only ever got a couple buy-ins because the cost was so high. In order to open up Ally opportunities and make that purchase a little more attractive, we're lowering that cost from 50 points to a mere 15 points for figures, and just 7 points for glyphs, destructible objects, and spells.

Spoiler Alert!

And as an aside to the much-smaller Sidekick audience, we didn't forget about you! The cost for Sidekicks purchasing design threads is down to 10 points for figures and 5 for miscellany - the 5 for miscellany is actually the same as it was before, but you have got a 5-point price drop on figure LDs.

Previous restrictions on purchasing a design thread still apply. To quote:

Originally Posted by TrollBrute

There are some conditions to this new reward:

• Design threads are still subject to Hero approval and a rough design idea must be submitted to the Heroes after purchase, with a 96 hour period for Hero approval or veto. However, if a design is vetoed by the Heroes, the purchasing Ally may submit another design or have his/her points refunded.
• Design threads cannot be purchased by an Ally that would be leading concurrent designs with any other designs in process, and will not be eligible for any other design opportunities during the design process.

There is also one new restriction on Ally design threads, which is that two Ally design threads cannot be in the testing phase at the same time. If Ally Design A is ready to go into public playtesting, but Ally Design B is already in the playtesting phase, then Ally Design A will have to wait. Once Ally Design B goes into the editing phase, then Ally Design A can go into public playtesting.

If you're worried about the Heroes' vote for approval, don't be! If you workshop your design in the Public Design Thread ahead of time, you should be in great shape. Summing up, if you're an Ally or just a fan and you want to design for C3G, it's as simple as this:

• Have something you want to design
• Earn 15 points (or just 7 for something other than a figure). The easiest way to do it is by playtesting. If you're not an Ally already, you will be by the time you earn that many points.
• Workshop your design in the Public Design Thread.
• Post your design or a link to your design in the C3G Shop and request to start a design thread. The Heroes will vote and get back to you.

We will be slightly tougher on absentee LDs than we have been in the past, because with a relatively easy buy-in, we want to discourage people from starting design threads and then just disappearing. It's a hassle for the Heroes when that happens. From here on out, if you abandon a design thread that you happen to be running, that thread will be pulled into the Sanctum and the Heroes will do with it as they wilt. It won't necessarily be seen through to completion.

In fact, that fate has already befallen Miss Martian's thread. But before a new round of nominations and voting can happen in the public design poll, we wanted to talk with the Allies and fans about whether or not that poll should change, and exactly what those changes should be, now that there's an easy way to directly buy a design thread. It's been suggested that the poll go away entirely. It's been suggested that the winner should get to run their design for 0 points instead of 4. It's been suggested that the poll become more of a character poll to influence Hero/Sidekick output, like the March Madness poll. The Heroes haven't come to a decision yet, so what do you, the public, want to see?