Park Changes!

Hey, URPG! As Elite Rangers, Mistral and I had already begun looking at some areas of the Park we thought needed some attention. Now, as the Park’s new heads, we’re looking to give these parts that TLC now! Below are a list of changes that will be taking effect immediately in the National Park. You will start seeing these changes reflected in the InfoHub and their respective threads ASAP!

• Players may now be on one individual run and one team run at once.
  “Individual runs” are considered any one-on-one embarkations with a Ranger, including beginner, individual, endurance, and solo main RP runs. With this, we’re adding the rule that players cannot be in two runs in the same area at the same time, even if these areas are in separate threads. This means that, for example, you cannot be in a one-on-one Individual thread with a Ranger in Mt. Deckbi and in the Mt. Deckbi Main RP on a team run at the same time.
  
• Items are now locked individually into runs.
  Because of the more-than-one-run change, the way you can take items onto runs have now shifted slightly. Any items you take out onto a run are locked into that run for its duration, and cannot be used in other runs until the run ends. This means that you will have to stock up separately for multiple runs—prepare wisely! The exceptions to this are Apricorn Boxes and Digital Cameras, which may be used globally across your runs and characters. Players currently in a run can invoke a one-time privilege of notifying their Ranger on how they’d like to divide their current in-run stock. We request that you keep track of which items are in which runs on your character’s stat pages.
  
• You may now claim Pokemon as you catch them.
  We understand that the length of Park runs may make it frustrating to not be able to claim Pokemon until its conclusion. To improve on this, we’re changing it so that you may claim a Pokemon and add it to your stats as soon as you capture it. Keep in mind that claiming is permanent and irreversible. As soon as you’ve claimed the maximum number of Pokemon for your run type, you will not be able to capture or befriend any more Pokemon in your run! However, you’ll be able to do everything else you’d normally be able to do, including take pictures, collect apricorns, record blank discs, etc.! You are required to explictly say in your post (not in private messages or DMs) if you're claiming a Pokemon.
  
• Less fees!
  One thing we looked at was how players began a run. We found that the additional fees that came with signing up for a run were not only expensive, but also no longer serving their intended purpose in our current Park climate. Here’s what has changed:
  • Engima Ruins’ additional fee has been removed.
  • You no longer have to pay to bring a certain number of Pokemon. Instead, we’ve given a set cap to the maximum number of Pokemon you can bring, depending on the type of run. You may now bring 2 Pokemon to a Beginner run, 4 to an Individual or Team run, and 6 to an Endurance run. These are still only caps, so you may also bring less if you choose!
  • Disc rewrites are now free as long as they are specified in the form before you begin the run.
• Aprijuice is now useful.
  While natures are important to how you roleplay your Pokemon in the Park, we found that players generally were not bothered by the natures they chose or the natures that their Rangers assigned to them in the Park. We like the interactivity of catching Pokemon in the Park and encouraging players to role play its personality, no matter how difficult, but we’re also alright with giving people a way to change that if they so please—and for way less than the current requirements. With this in mind, we’re making Aprijuice a bit more useful and accessible.
  
  Aprijuice:
  • Now costs $500.
  • No longer needs Apricorns or any other requirements to make.
  • Can be used to change the nature of any Pokemon, even ones caught inside of the Park.
  
  Remember that this only applies to Pokemon you’ve already brought into the Park or captured in the Park. As always, you may change a Pokemon’s natures as much as you like before bringing them into the Park for the first time; it’s only after you bring it to the Park that you’ll need an Aprijuice in order to change it!
  
• Disc/PokePlayer changes!
  Right now, we think that Park shines in getting good deals for certain Pokemon due to its ranking system. We want people to still be able to do that, but still have a little more control over what Pokemon they get for a good value. We’re testing out some new values and tweaks for these systems!
  • Common and Uncommon discs have now been removed.
  • The PokePlayer item has now been removed. Feel free to be creative with how you play/record discs in-character in the Park!
  • Borderline discs are now $7,000 each.
  • Intermediate discs are now $9,000 each.
  • Encounter rate for disc uses has been increased to 20%. They can still only be used five times.
  • Blank discs are still $5,000 each.
  
  These values are experimental, so let’s give ‘em a go!

That’s all for now. We’re looking into a few other things moving forward (adding more detailed area descriptions, fixing our poor broken map image with something nicer, examining the capture calc formula, etc.), but these might take a little more time to develop! Remember, you may leave your current runs at any time if you’d like to start fresh, or if your Ranger has gone inactive, you can discuss with them about picking things up again or potentially getting a new one if they’re just a little too busy. Don’t be afraid to ask—we’re happy to help you!

Hope to see you all out out in the field!

- Mistral and K'sariya