RP Start-up Discussion

All right, well, now we've figured out where we'll be, we had decided to keep pan-fandom and fmp-only RP separate and to allow people to apply for which one they'd prefer, so now there's one more thing to address....

System.

We never had any PvP that wasn't choreographed between players using the stat system I had BSed for the pan-fandom RP at JH, so we never got to test it. So here's a few questions:

• Do we want to keep it like it was at JH -- Pan-fandom is a little more hardcore in terms of rules, having stats, and things, and have the FMP-only RP be purely casual and reliant on people RPing correctly and within their character's abilities?
  
• Do we want a system set up that applies to both pan-fandom AND FMP-only -- be it stat based or not?
  
• Do we want to use a stat-based system but change it?
  
• Do we want characters to be able to gain EXP and grow their abilities? -- My only issue with this is that many of the characters in FMP are pretty much at their peak performance and I don't see how they could improve without breaking the barriers of the 'verse. It would either be that, or they'd have to start weaker than they are. This would also make it difficult for the more casual players to be able to compete in PvP, even when their character should be able to. I'm against it on these grounds, but if someone has an idea on how to make it work, I'm listening.

Those are my main questions... I have one other one...

The more I think about it, the more I want to do a "Mithril High" AU RP. This picture by Hiroshi Ueda always makes me think it...


Should I make it part of either the Pan-fandom and/or FMP-only RP, or should I make it it's own section, with people able to apply for characters just for it? ^.^ (To do multiple threads in the Mithril High RP, if it's part of one of the existing sections, I figure can always be titled "[Mithril High]Thread-Name")

ALSOALSO

We should probably have mods... I mean, I can usually get on everyday, but I hate to make promises like that when I've got a baby on my hands, lol. Think we should have a separate mod for each RP section (as in, one for FMP-Only and one for Pan-Fandom?) Duties I'm thinking a mod should take care of would be character approval, establishing the character account, filling in the character's sheet, and moderating player interactions, if they're butting heads over character interactions/PvP.

Doesn't mean I can't/won't help with these things myself, just that if someone else is able to get to it first, it would help. Since the character sheets aren't set up yet, I don't know what the time will be like to set up each character's account, but I'd guess around 10min per character. That's usually not bad for me, but sometimes "Oh just 10 minutes" becomes *3 hours later* if my son takes that exact moment to no longer be content XD So, help with things is very much appreciated <3

Right now, with how small it is, this isn't a big deal, but if we manage to get a bunch of people, the help will be needed. I know a lot of us have time commitments that make it hard to dedicate time here for things like that, but if this actually takes off and we get a bunch of players, I'd like the mods to be people I'm long-term familiar and comfortable with <3 So, if you think you can help out, let me know! And if not, I totally understand, we're all busy in some way and there's a big difference between making a time commitment to play and one to do annoying worky stuff XD ^^

I'm for keeping it simple and forgoing the stats system. Hopefully we're all mature enough to handle battles in freeform. It can get difficult trying to assign accurate numbers to characters anyway. Though we could give people the option of using a stats system in the threads they create if they want to.

I'm not sure I'm reliable enough in terms of time commitment to be a mod. My activity on forums sometimes goes in bursts...

A high school AU of a series that already has a major high school component? Well, I suppose it does actually sound kind of interesting. What did you have in mind?

I don't want to come across as too much of a troublemaker by bringing up something that's already been settled, but I do have a few concerns about the rules, particularly with regards to handling the privilege/responsibility of playing canon characters. Some of these characters could be in high demand and it may be a little much to expect one person to handle them in all the threads they could possibly end up being involved with. I really think canon characters ought to be handled on more of a thread by thread bases, though of course that calls the idea of using character accounts into question.

I'm all for abandoning the stat system if people are in agreement. It's not something I had wanted to have to use in the first place, but circumstances had called for something to be implemented. I hope we're all past it and have learned/matured since then.

I understand, Tabby. ^^ I think most of us are the same way. I probably wouldn't be poking my head in quite as often if I weren't mod/admin and felt like I had to. XD Things are thankfully pretty low-key right now so it hasn't been an issue at all, the mods will just be more necessary if things get busy around here.

The more I think about doing characters on a thread-by-thread basis, the less I like it. It's too susceptible to favoritism.

Say Player A really wants to play Sousuke in a thread run by Player B, and applies first. Player B turns Player A down in favor of Player C, who was late to the game, just because s/he prefers their playing style. Player A might start a thread with a good idea, claiming Sousuke for themself, but maybe no one joins simply because Sousuke is claimed by Player A.

This isn't fair to Player A, they would never be able to play because of the favoritism. People might not even mean to do it, but it would most likely happen, and that's not something I want to see happen, whether or not people have the best of intentions.

What I would propose is this: In the event that someone doesn't want to play their canon character in a thread that calls for him/her, a player with interest can approach that character's mun and ask 1 of 2 things. 1-To borrow the character, if you feel comfortable enough sharing the account. (I recommend making a temp password you don't use anywhere else) or 2-To ask me (or the mod) to make a character account specifically for use on that thread.

This had actually been a rule on the old forum that I'd put in place, but no one took advantage of it so I can't say how well it did or didn't work.

As for the Mithril High AU, I'm thinking it would be something like a pseudo-military academy. If you've ever seen DenYuuDen (Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu/Legendary Heroes of Legend), it's like the school Ryner and Sion met at. Without the magic.

It's not necessarily all that fair to give one person who snagged a character early first crack at all the threads on a particular subforum either though. I'd also like to think we're mature enough to manage a highly flexible system. We're not a big forum with tons of members nor do I think we're likely to become such a forum in the near future. My opinion is that we should be making things easy and flexible to encourage people to get some activity going.

That's just my opinion though. It's your ship.

I haven't seen Legend of the Legendary Heroes, so you might need to elaborate a bit. Is this a canon character oriented RPG? An original character oriented RPG?

Snagging a character early is fairer than risking someone not being able to play AT ALL just because it's them and no one wants to let them play a character on their thread. It would happen, no matter what people said, I know it would, so I just can't go with it. I know I was the first to put a system like that on the table, but I'm just seeing too many flaws in it the more I look. I know what you're saying, I just can't see it working. ^^

Ah, in DenYuuDen, all orphans were forced into the military in this one country. They had to attend a specific school that was part normal classroom, part training academy, and they were forced onto frontlines as cannon fodder. The RP wouldn't be an orphan school like it is in DenYuuDen, but I'm thinking it would be part normal school, part tactical school, and part training school, along with field trips that are like mini-missions. I'm thinking it would do best either as pan-fandom, or it's own thing (that is, adding a 3rd RP category with people being able to apply for characters specifically for it). Because it's AU (alternate universe), it doesn't have to be limited to FMP characters, though there does have to be an agreement about what flies in it -- As in, no magic, etc.

My opinion in regards to the stats is that we abandon the stats system and if we need to do anything structured with combat we use T1.

I'm indifferent on how the canon character deal is handled.

just noticed. For some reason the reply with quote button says 'locked' lol

Ahahah, yeah, that's something wrong with the theme, I gotta fix it, I just keep forgetting to ^^;

Edit: Temp fix using a default button until I make something better