Atsumari
President
Good afternoon,
Welcome to the 2023 annual report for The New Universes Project and its programs! I hope that this report finds you well and that this year will be great for the simming and role-playing community at large. In this report, we will go over how the organization’s programs progressed and any pertinent updates. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me, and I will gladly assist you. Now, on to the report…
SimmingHub
First, we will cover our non-SIMM operations, which include advertising support, resource list organization, technical assistance, website hosting, and TeamSpeak hosting, as well as events and community organizing services for the online play-by-post community at large.
Advertising/Community Resource Lists
Our advertising channels run throughout the year, though occasional moderation is required. Our resource list was updated on Discord and our website.
Hosting
Our TeamSpeak hosting has limited use and only has a few operational server instances. We hope this will be used as TeamSpeak works on their new version in the public eye. We also currently host only a few websites beyond those required to maintain our operations, which is not great given our agreements with cPanel, Microsoft, and AWS, which allow us to offer these services completely free as someone somewhere does need to take in these costs. Hopefully, this year, we will see more use of this service.
Events
This year, SciWorld was hosted again by RPG Writing while also being joined by Star Army (this would be their second time hosting a SciWorld), and FallFest was hosted internally by SimmingHub. We still offered voice and text panel options, which people enjoyed. We hope that moving forward, we can continue to have organizations host these events, but this all depends upon interested organizations and leaders within them who are willing to take on the role of chair. Attendance numbers for both cons averaged about the same as last year, with about 230 people in attendance and 12 active in voice. Around 15 people were chatting between the panels during each panel, so most of those in attendance were observers. Specific panels did have more interaction than others, but this is typical as community interest will shift. As per feedback from the community, we hope to improve the processes that hosts and chairs can use as an outline for future cons and hopefully be able to provide assistance more effectively to future host organizations.
Simming Operations
ENRB/TFS Lavie
The year the crew of the Lavie was met by a scientist who requested they explore a derelict part of space once inhabited by a race of light beings known as Mogs and upon heading to this space, encountered a portal which took them to the home of the Atsikai; linking together the final part of the TNU stories that was not connected into the main storyline. While on this planet, the crew has begun to be involved with the Super Natural Investigation and Elimination Force, the spirit police of the nation of Laviesta.
This year, we had about 12 active members, some on various forms of leave. We changed our posting format to one where people can pretty much come and go as they please. This has resulted in comparatively fewer posts than we are used to, but I hope that in the future, with there not being time constraints to posting, this will allow for more activity. During 2023, there were also improvements in our stat system, integration of our operational procedures with Discord, and, along with this, ease of usability of our RP with Discord.
DFS Phoenix
Currently, this role play is moving into the next phase of its story, and there is a battle occurring. Writing with this group has also slowed, as with our other operations, but I hope this SIMM will also see more activity in 2024.
Production Projects
The Visual Novel’s Unity build has been completed up to the end of the Marsia Academy Story with Sumire. The project is about 90 percent completed, with only grammatical and code changes remaining for the finished kinetic novel product. Soon, an attempt will begin to add additional features to the title and make it more VN-like than just a kinetic novel. Depending on community input and popularity, work may also start on a second game following Sumire’s adventures with the crew of the Lavie. The Steam version is currently up to this point, while the Google Play version is behind numerous versions. Patches for this will hopefully be released soon.
Administrative Updates
Now for administrative updates: Brian and I retained our roles leading the group after a vote by the council in April. None of the council members were up for reelection during this period. As with last year, significant budget constraints prevented expansion in certain developmental areas, such as server and IP infrastructure. We were able to renew our ARIN membership, but future renewals may be of concern due to funding. Our current operations will remain, and alternatives to certain tools we host may be considered if they provide a financial incentive to move (Less cost). No other notable items to report occurred administratively. All reports to federal, local, and state entities were current as of December 2023. For additional reporting details or inquiries, please contact me for a copy of these reports or refer to the applicable government agency’s online reporting database for up-to-date information.
That’s all for this year’s report. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need assistance.
Regards,
Josh Hina (Atsumari)
The New Universes Project
Welcome to the 2023 annual report for The New Universes Project and its programs! I hope that this report finds you well and that this year will be great for the simming and role-playing community at large. In this report, we will go over how the organization’s programs progressed and any pertinent updates. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me, and I will gladly assist you. Now, on to the report…
SimmingHub
First, we will cover our non-SIMM operations, which include advertising support, resource list organization, technical assistance, website hosting, and TeamSpeak hosting, as well as events and community organizing services for the online play-by-post community at large.
Advertising/Community Resource Lists
Our advertising channels run throughout the year, though occasional moderation is required. Our resource list was updated on Discord and our website.
Hosting
Our TeamSpeak hosting has limited use and only has a few operational server instances. We hope this will be used as TeamSpeak works on their new version in the public eye. We also currently host only a few websites beyond those required to maintain our operations, which is not great given our agreements with cPanel, Microsoft, and AWS, which allow us to offer these services completely free as someone somewhere does need to take in these costs. Hopefully, this year, we will see more use of this service.
Events
This year, SciWorld was hosted again by RPG Writing while also being joined by Star Army (this would be their second time hosting a SciWorld), and FallFest was hosted internally by SimmingHub. We still offered voice and text panel options, which people enjoyed. We hope that moving forward, we can continue to have organizations host these events, but this all depends upon interested organizations and leaders within them who are willing to take on the role of chair. Attendance numbers for both cons averaged about the same as last year, with about 230 people in attendance and 12 active in voice. Around 15 people were chatting between the panels during each panel, so most of those in attendance were observers. Specific panels did have more interaction than others, but this is typical as community interest will shift. As per feedback from the community, we hope to improve the processes that hosts and chairs can use as an outline for future cons and hopefully be able to provide assistance more effectively to future host organizations.
Simming Operations
ENRB/TFS Lavie
The year the crew of the Lavie was met by a scientist who requested they explore a derelict part of space once inhabited by a race of light beings known as Mogs and upon heading to this space, encountered a portal which took them to the home of the Atsikai; linking together the final part of the TNU stories that was not connected into the main storyline. While on this planet, the crew has begun to be involved with the Super Natural Investigation and Elimination Force, the spirit police of the nation of Laviesta.
This year, we had about 12 active members, some on various forms of leave. We changed our posting format to one where people can pretty much come and go as they please. This has resulted in comparatively fewer posts than we are used to, but I hope that in the future, with there not being time constraints to posting, this will allow for more activity. During 2023, there were also improvements in our stat system, integration of our operational procedures with Discord, and, along with this, ease of usability of our RP with Discord.
DFS Phoenix
Currently, this role play is moving into the next phase of its story, and there is a battle occurring. Writing with this group has also slowed, as with our other operations, but I hope this SIMM will also see more activity in 2024.
Production Projects
The Visual Novel’s Unity build has been completed up to the end of the Marsia Academy Story with Sumire. The project is about 90 percent completed, with only grammatical and code changes remaining for the finished kinetic novel product. Soon, an attempt will begin to add additional features to the title and make it more VN-like than just a kinetic novel. Depending on community input and popularity, work may also start on a second game following Sumire’s adventures with the crew of the Lavie. The Steam version is currently up to this point, while the Google Play version is behind numerous versions. Patches for this will hopefully be released soon.
Administrative Updates
Now for administrative updates: Brian and I retained our roles leading the group after a vote by the council in April. None of the council members were up for reelection during this period. As with last year, significant budget constraints prevented expansion in certain developmental areas, such as server and IP infrastructure. We were able to renew our ARIN membership, but future renewals may be of concern due to funding. Our current operations will remain, and alternatives to certain tools we host may be considered if they provide a financial incentive to move (Less cost). No other notable items to report occurred administratively. All reports to federal, local, and state entities were current as of December 2023. For additional reporting details or inquiries, please contact me for a copy of these reports or refer to the applicable government agency’s online reporting database for up-to-date information.
That’s all for this year’s report. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need assistance.
Regards,
Josh Hina (Atsumari)
The New Universes Project