Return of the Emblem: Chat

[Balcerzak]

Dude, you've still been better at things than I, and apparently I'm still welcome.

Do what you can when you can, and do what you need when you need.

[Phoenix]

Well that was a pain in the everything to post, like any retro over two pages long. Took me about twenty minutes to fix all of the conversion errors SF and/or Word kept causing and now I just want to blow stuff up so I'll be gaming for awhile--laterz.

[roymbrog]

*sends phee many paninis*

[Phoenix]

Stop using the term 'zombie', there's no basis (origin) for that one.

[Phoenix]

I won't be on IRC until around the usual time even though I'm around right now. I'm trying to focus on finishing up the TS post. Only a few segments left but they're the annoying ones. Also, I'd like to do a quick gauge to see how the rest of the evening should be paced. Mainly, I want to know how soon people think the ball should end (not specifically the ball but how soon our people start checking out for the night to head back). Obviously once the ball ends for the party, regular gloom and doom resumes (yes there were no plans of any kind for violence or a stat battle at the ball, just stating that for the record, so I hope you managed to enjoy the relative peace and safety so far). Anyway, opinions, etc ...

[Snike]

No real preference here for end times, though Raquel had mentioned that she was getting a bit weary, so IC-wise it'd probably be sooner rather than later. At least, for Blake and herself.

[Mercakete]

Well, let's see. Gytha would only begin to get bored once she runs out of people to talk to and things to do. The ball, to her, offers new people to talk to, dancing, new foods to try and that painting, but a lot of this can happen within the TS (though I'm a little tiny bit disappointed we didn't get to rp out the dancing competition, I understand that not everyone has something to do and that the rp has been on the ball for long enough irl that it really should be over soon.) So anyway, Gytha will be heading out when group members prompt her that it's time to get going (not before attempting to pick up her painting, though.) Hope this helps in some way.

[Toogee]

Anything Jam and Alphonse are doing could probably be wrapped up in a joint post if need be. I'd like to move on to the next scene.

[Snowy_One]

None of my characters are doing anything ATM. While I would like something like Robin getting to talk to someone (and not having it result in her feeling worse afterwards), there is no reason it has to be done before the TS.

[Phoenix]

@ Snike

Honestly Raquel will be ready to check out the second she's done talking with Nadine, but even so it'll probably take awhile to actually gather everyone up. But yeah, probably sooner rather than later, regardless with Raquel in mind. That just leaves Weyland who's ... hahah, yeah he wasn't exactly thrilled to be out here either come to think of it.

@ Toogee

It could take awhile but you'll see it coming at least, so if you want to wrap up or play it out naturally is up to you and Eail.

@ Merc

I'm slightly bummed about the dance comp jump too, but that did save us about four or five days probably. And there's a lot more interaction intensive stuff to come so try to be available if you can. Anyway, if Gytha's not going to put up any resistance then leaving sooner rather than later should be easy enough.

@ Snowy

The TS isn't centered on the folks at the estate since their spot in the timeline is really ambiguous right now. All that's for certain is that post-TS, people will be showing up again, so she'll have plenty of people to talk to. With them leaving early it'll only be around 10pm or so when they get back too, so ... have fun with that unanticipated extra hour.

Alex is already kinda sorta hired, so he should head out to the main entrance at some point and meet them there. Now he probably can't go with them yet because he's still got a job to do, but as long as he gets things cleared up with Weyland before they leave, he should be able to catch up. Though, I'd actually like to find an excuse for him to leave early (like 'with the group' early), so anyone with ideas, lay'em on me.

Okay, now that those responses are up, I have things to say about ... things ....

---------------------------------------------

Something really unsettling happened to me last night. I happened upon a thread in creative made by someone who was interested in getting into rping. After reading everything that had been posted so far in the thread, I noticed that I was extremely hesitant about posting. At first I just thought maybe the advice I had for her might start an argument with someone else in the thread, but then I realized what was really bothering me was that I didn't want to just give her advice, but invite her to the rp as well ...

Of course, I couldn't do that. I felt I couldn't invite her to join the rp, not because RotE is lore intensive, or has stat fighting and other potentially intimidating elements, but because I didn't want her first rping experience to be a negative one. I'm genuinely embarrassed by all of this. Now I still posted some advice for her, but I just can't get over how toxic the OoC environment of this rp is ... for it to get to the point where I can't even entertain the idea of inviting anyone else to join the rp myself? That's just ... well it makes me realize just how bad things have gotten. It's only occasionally bad, yes, but it's bad enough for me to not want to advertise this place. That along with something scorri said recently got me thinking that I can't be the only one whose experience here is being dragged through the mud by all of the various crap that goes on.

I've got a few articles written that I wanted to share that are somewhat related to the stuff above, but mainly to specific issues in the rp. The articles contain a great deal of my views and explain much of why I've done things the way I have to this point. I've been reevaluating all of this RotE stuff though, and definitely feel some major changes (on my end) are in order, if not for my own sake then at least for the sake of those who are going through these boggling disputes for no good reason. I'd like to reach true understandings with each and every one of you, but since I don't see that happening overnight, my main focus, for now, is going to be on the problems and IRC (which has been a very efficient catalyst for said problems).

I haven't decided what changes if any I'll be making to the channel (rules) just yet, but that's highly likely. Rather than doing something drastic like sweeping changes, it'll probably be a progressive thing. I've entertained the idea of abandoning it (IRC) altogether, but since people would still use it whether or not I'm there, and issues would carry over to the regular chat thread otherwise, this wouldn't even begin to address any issues. For now, do derisive things at your own risk; my reservations about kicking and banning people from both the channel and the rp for that kind of behavior are eroding bit by bit and I'm convicted that I would rather have a very small rp with cooperative rpers than a large one with a bunch of infighting and petty garbage being spewed back and forth, and I will gladly make it happen if there's no way to have a large rp with cooperative rpers. The rpers who are willing to get along with each other have put up with enough senseless squabbling so I really do feel like it's time to start weeding that stuff out. That won't happen over night either, but we're going to get started very soon.

The Articles:

The Flavor of Battle

The Canon Conundrum

Anachronisms, Anachronisms Everywhere

Characters of Influence

http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=20342&page=2#entry2767269

[Snowy_One]

IMO, I think you need to start muting people if they become a problem, at least for five to ten minutes. Something to break up fights and problems, but not being mega-harsh.

Regardless of what you decide regarding mibbit though, be careful. It's very easy to end up sliding down a slippery slope and ending up banning people for not-mistakes.

[Mercakete]

Will be unavailable for most of thursday (today) and saturday (and probably friday but no more so than usual methinks.)

[Balcerzak]

On that note, Saturday and Monday I will be at funerals. I will try hard to get out something today (Thursday), but I woke up at 3 am and can't get back to sleep, which isn't boding well.

[Eail]

feeling sick today, will post tomorrow

[scorri]

Hey guys, so (un)surprisingly, there's likely a battle somewhat soonish depending on how quickly things go. Snike and I were talking about a point and we made up some teams. They'll probably vary a bit based on exactly who's active come battle time, but here's the rough draft. Feel free to comment.

http://pastebin.com/zPMrSfq9

Edited November 30, 2013 by scorri

[Toogee]

Which battle is this again? The one in the church (if I remember correctly)?

Regarding Blake/Raquel/Eli, is there a reason for two healing characters in the same party? I don't mind, but I was curious.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Toogee

[scorri]

Uh, no, this is just a battle, not the challenge.

That one was cause Eli's physic, so doesn't need a defender for the most part.

[ReformBlade]

Until further notice, I think I'll be done posting. Not that this makes a difference to anyone involved anyway.

[Ether]

Let it be known that everyone on Sardius is scared shitless of scythes. gg

[Phoenix]

I've started steering things toward a minor TS so we can get to the actual battle, but it's not going to go nearly as smoothly as I'd like. For guys with characters that still haven't joined up with the dancing group (Nadya, Haythem, Tina, Zach, etc), you'll either have to sit out the upcoming battle and join the group later (next day most likely), or (very quickly) talk your way into that group. Anyway, onto some specifics.

Gar: I got nothin'; I don't even know where he is so for now I'll just assume he heard all the stuff going on and took a horse back or something.

Angelica: Her situation's tricky since she's heading out with the NPC search and destroy squad, currently. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem if their mission didn't have a good chance of overlapping with the party's battle. Still musing on this one.

Blake: I don't think Blake's going to make the battle in any way that isn't forced, but we'll see.

Alex: Now would be a good time for him to recall that arrangement he made with Raquel. If he doesn't catch a ride back with them or something to that effect, he's probably going to miss the battle.

Theodore: He was close enough to overhear a lot of what was going on, so if you want you could probably have him get into this by pulling an Ethan.

Cruz: His only option might be pulling an Ethan too but alternately he could just sit this one out and meet them the next day.

Anyway, I'm bringing these up now because tackling it on my own is not gonna work and I'd rather not surprise people at the last second with, 'oh sorry, your character can't participate because you wandered too far/weren't active enough'. I'd rather give some kind of advance notice while there's still time and see if we can work around that. Anyway, anyone with ideas, now's a good time to lay them out for us, but this isn't going to be the prettiest battle setup, either way.

[Script]

Gar's in wonderful Plot Hole Avenue.

[Snike]

I have no objection to Blake missing out on the battle, despite how inconvenient that may be for the battle itself. If there's a way to get him there without it being forced, then sure, by all means, let's do it. Otherwise, I'll take the night out with the hellhounds.

(I still have 2 other pcs to battle with anyways.)

[Toogee]

I'd like Jam to participate. I'll reserve Eli for that special battle.

[-Cynthia-]

Well, you can use both and there are no issues with anyone at the estate being involved.

[Script]

I've updated the Spreadsheet to get ready for the upcoming battle. I've also moved plenty of characters to inactive based on the purposed Battle Teams in scorri's pastebin post.