RP Comments (3)

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Okay so, first major problem that I saw: that Exposition dump at the very beginning. If you've ever played Xenogears, then you probably remember the infamous second disk. If you haven't, the developers ran out of money and so the second disc was made up entirely of cutscenes and boss fights. Not good cutscenes either: literally the charters sitting in a chair and telling you about the cool things that happened. That's what it felt like. The United states fell apart? There was a meteor? What are overlords? Superpowers, what? Basically; show, don't tell. I would advise we starts, if not at the point the meteor shows up, then In medias res during the collapse of western civilization as we know it. Have all the characters meet then, become friends, give us a reason to care about them and want them to live, then skip forward a few years once the group is established. Now you've got your power bases in place and you can start looking for the stone in earnest. Maybe be in the middle of their latest failed attempt at it.

I also can't help but feel that the world is to, well, tidy afterwards. Total collapse of the state should be a big, big deal.

I'm not even going to go into the amount of death that will come out of total system overhaul like this. The US army isn't just going to stand by while superpowered psychopaths are sectioning off states for themselves. And the public reaction to superpowers, both the people who have them and those that don't, would be enough chaos without guys doing that. And it would be a slow fall, not a fast one. Maybe it' peaceful at first, an oddity to be studied. Maybe they joke about it. Then, some guys dress up and rob a bank. Maybe another decides to get revenge on everyone ho ever laughed at him. Other people try to play superhero, and the resulting brawls do more damage than ever. The government cracks down, but there's only so much it can do against the reality that living weapons now walk unseen amounts it's citizens. Martial law is declared, super get rounded up, they fight back, chaos ensues. One by one, people would lose faith in the governments ability to maintain order. They start looking for a strong leader. And, in this crucible where dictator are forged, they find one.

Once the first state declares sovereign territory, it's all over.

I'm not saying go full Fallout with it, but society is going to be changed in a big, Big way. Travel would be difficult, vast areas would be lawless, no one is going to be maintaining the satellites, money would be worthless because who wants paper when you can have food, No one would be making movies because who do you have to sell them to, law would probably be much harsher, electricity would be a problem even with those supers that could generate it, international trade.... well, I read a passage once, in World War Z of all things, that really opened my eyes to how connected everything is:

World War Z wrote

Ingredients:
molasses from the United States
anise from Spain
licorice from France
vanilla (bourbon) from Madagascar
cinnamon from Sri Lanka
cloves from Indonesia
wintergreen from China
pimento berry oil from Jamaica
balsam oil from Peru
 
And that’s just for a bottle of peacetime root beer.

Most of the world Ideas I have actually come from that book. There's one passage that always struck me: A guy who's getting married is telling Max that, for his bachelor party, his friends actually managed to find a stag film. He describes how, as he was watching this beautiful naked woman drape herself over a car, he couldn't stop looking at the car. Because no one was making that kind of car anymore, and they probably never will again in his lifetime.

It's.... well, it's a really good look at a society that pulled itself back from the brink of collapse. I would suggest reading it even if you don't like Zombie Fiction.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

 I do so agree. I understand and appreciate all the implications you're giving me. Still, I would need help with all this. When we originally planned the story out, we only got out some of the premise before the folks started posting. And then, they left me holding the bag, with the responsibility of either keeping it going, or being the one who has to say the project failed.

So, if it's going to start up again, with you guys' help, I would appreciate very much if you do everything in your power not to up and leave this project out of sheer boredom or lack of inspiration. Only the most dire of situations must draw you away, when you say you want to come on board. And if you DO end up leaving just to catch up on a game of Skyrim or the latest Call of Duty, then PLEASE be so kind as to leave me a notice of some kind, or at least the plans for what you want to go down in your part of the story.

As I said before, we will be able to work with one another's characters (something like how we're doing with LoC), but for the most part, we will have areas in which we specialize, and over which we have main jurisdiction.

For example, Zale may take the storyline for Japan and the lands that interact with it, but maybe GV has a character that comes from there, and wants to comment on what's going down there. We should be able to come to collaborative conclusions about what's going down where, and if one person asks another about the whereabouts and whatabouts of a different land, the answer should be easily traceable back to somebody. That way, settings, events and characters can come through that much easier and clearer.

Hopefully, that (and my prerequisite to BYOB [Bring your own brainpower]) won't be asking too much.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Aye, Sir! I obey your every command!

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Excellent! That makes Marv, Zale, GV and myself. A very clever and competent team in the making already. I think, even if no others come aboard, we could make some very cool things happen. And each of us with our own perspectives on life, and our own writing skills? This could be dynamic.

And since the RP seems to be underway again for something of a reboot, we could use this thread to discuss what will be done for that, rather than continuing the series already in progress!

As much as I hate to throw away a perfectly good series idea, I have no problem at all setting that idea aside, for a facelift, and some improving renovation! Whaddya say? Should I set that version of the series aside, for posterity, while we work on bringing its pretty younger sister to life?

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Is this going to lead to multiple threads again? Because that was one of the accessibility problems I had with the old incarnation.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

It depends.

If we have as many characters as we did last time (somewhere around like twenty or thirty), then multiple threads may be needed, to denote multiple settings; numerous places, or even different times, worlds and dimensions, because I did eventually plan to do alternate timelines and all that.

I wanted it to be a series, sort of like X-Men, or New Beginning, with different arcs, alternate universes, time travel, space travel, epic boss fights and all that.

However, I don't think it would be in the best interest of the RP to do the different threads all at once. It would likely be best if we just did the threads one at a time, as a tight collaborative effort. That way, nobody gets overwhelmed or confused or feels left out (sometimes that happens if you prefer working on one arc over another, or if one arc gets more attention than another; it tends to be divisive and otherwise unfair). We wouldn't have to worry about taking on so much of the burden for ourselves, and where some slack, others could come in immediately to pick up the slack.

Not to mention, it'd be much easier to focus on what development and continuity errors need fixing, when folks don't already have their own other crap to worry about. And characters tend to be more accessible and loveable (or hateable) when you take special care to develop them.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

I think it should be thought of as sort of a Rough Draft, or maybe we could just call the new one the old ones Ultimate universe.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

So, if I'm reading the Lords of Creation comparison right, each of us would be controlling a separate faction?

[Celadon's Penultimate]

I am perfectly okay with that, either way. I could use some bada**ification. I think my hesitance kinda showed through the last one. I think it was sort of obvious that I was overwhelmed. I would take breaks for days at a time, and then only add a little bit. It must have been obvious, after a while, that my interest was dwindling, and my effort simply wasn't there to take on thirty characters at once. Or at least, not to do so, and portray them all effectively.

They would all be flat, if I stuck to it the way I have been thus far.

So, with you guys' help, this time will live up to every bit of it's 'ultimate' idealization.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Well, I think so, at least. Though, I'm always up to different suggestions. There's so many different ways we could go about this.

We could each portray different members of the same team.
(ex: GV plays Wayne, Shadowulf plays Pierce)

We could portray different members of different teams.
(ex: Zale plays Overlord Trelaine, Marv plays Tamara)

We could take responsibility for our own entire team (like in LoC, with people instead of pantheons) which may be on the same moral side, or the opposite.
(ex: Shadowulf plays Ivan, Nadia, Pierce, Fitz, Tessa, Marv plays Wayne, Jack, Damien, Flores)

We could do any of the above in the SAME land, or in DIFFERENT lands. In the SAME times, or in DIFFERENT times. In the SAME universe, or in a DIFFERENT universe.

We might even be able to combine some of the above options.

[Philote]

If we are starting from the beginning, I'll jump in as I would with any Rp. How much are we bringing from the old one, or are we starting with a newly created group of main people?

I think I've shown that I'll stick with an RP once I actually get into it, I'll just have to get caught up to what you guys are thinking for the new one.

We should probably stick with only one thread and a small group of people so that they can get into out minds before we start adding in more main members.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

The amount of material that will be integrated from the original RP has yet to be determined. Though, I was thinking. Basically, if you guys want, we could just keep the major events (ex: the demise of x Hero or x Overlord) and basically, all the stuff in between, we could embellish on as much as we like. We don't even have to stick to the way that x person died (unless you guys choose to). We could basically just use that all as a loose guide line to follow. We could pick and choose from what we may, but with no intention of following the plot exactly.

Also, I was thinking some about thread distribution and arrangement. I kinda agree with you, Phi, and kinda had an idea of my own, but I want to know...how would you guys like to work on threads? As one big team, as pairs/smaller groups to be divvied up, or as individuals? Or would you like to mix up aspects of all of the former, for a more varied work effort?

Also, I'm kinda skeptical about how well, I'm explaining any of this. Let me know if I'm ever confusing.

Not to mention, any newcomers that come cross this message...feel free, at any time, to ask to join. You may ask questions, make comments and add suggestions at any time. Just don't think you get to call specific characters, places or moral alignments in advanced. Those things need discussing, so that everyone can be up on what's happening, and so that people neither feel angry about, confused about or left out of the arrangement in the end.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

To explain my reasoning here, I'm going to explain why I think the "Playing a Faction" method works for Lords of Creation.

In LoC we each started with a single character, and were told to simply create. It is in this way that we built our specific factions, piece by piece and character by character. Doing this gave us ample time to develop each member of the Faction as an independent entity with it's own beliefs and feelings. This allowed for multiple possible dynamics both within the Faction, and when interacting with the others.

The other thing that I think makes LoC work is the appropriate scale that events take place on. In LoC, the entire world is our stomping ground, and it is completely open to us. We can have characters be as far flung as we like with little to no difficulty, mostly because of divine providence. There is no point in time where it would be impossible for the Watchman, if he so chose, to fly literally across the entire world and speak with Uburra-Namall. A player can always seek out another player to interact with. If a player is spending time making their faction members interact with only one another it is because they choose to, not for dearth of options.

In light of these points, here is what I suggest: Each one of us starts off with only a single character, until the point that the rebellion is well under way. After this point, each one of us takes up a general role within the rebellion, and starts to recruit followers.

Ex: I handle Wayne and manage a group of Assassins, Wulf controls Jack who works with the plan makers and diplomats Etc. Etc.

It is, of course, vital that we don't cause to much character bloat.

One Hero unit, a handful of Sub-Heroes, and then the Grunts underneath them. All working within the same larger faction (The Rebellion) but handling different roles. We can Rotate who get's to be that arcs Big Bad Evil Guy, to keep things interesting.

Now, and maybe more important. Appropriate Scale. Our character are not gods, they won't be able to operate together if 2 are in Georgia, 7 are in New York, 4 are in New Orleans, and 2 are all the way over in Cairo. We keep to appropriate scale of operation, and that should grow over time as overlords topple. Even then, we should never be focused on more than a single country at once.

We could, of course, cover all that ground by splitting our factions once they grow. This is a bad idea. It juggles to much at one time, and leads to having seven plotlines running simultaneously and incredibly slowly. It's like trying to download to much at once: you split that bandwith to much and eventually you realize that it would have been faster to just do them one at a time. In that spirit, we should stick to one plotline at once, only moving on to the next antagonist after the first has been dealt with. This doesn't mean we can't have sub-plots running throughout, or that we can't drop foreshadowing for the next arc in the current one.

In regards to time travel and dimension hopping: if we do that, and character get ported to another time/dimension, then we Stick with the Characters that were Ported. If that is the the whole plot. If they were ported away as part of the current BBEGs plan, then it's all one plot and we can play on both sides of the looking glass.

[Zaleramancer]

Prologue

I'll handle bits and pieces of that, if no one objects. So long as I'm told what Overlords will end up where, I can narrate from the arrival of the stone to the collapse of government and their rise to power.

GV's Suggestions

I'm going to have to object.

LoC was conceived as a game from the beginning. It has plenty of rules and directions for this.

Evo Stone was made as less of a roleplay and more of a collaborative story effort. People would make characters, and everyone would have some say in their actions. However, as time went by, people drifted away and all that was left was Shad..

I don't want this factions idea because I fear it'd end up being rather.. gamey.

I don't want story to suffer because people feel a subconscious desire to win, somehow.

The main reason we could have uber-powerful characters in this is that no one person had control over them..

Other

Samantha is an overlord and one of my favorite characters. A supervillainess ..

Hell, she's basically supposed to be a female Vetinari.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Zaleramancer wrote

Prologue

I'll handle bits and pieces of that, if no one objects. So long as I'm told what Overlords will end up where, I can narrate from the arrival of the stone to the collapse of government and their rise to power.

GV's Suggestions

I'm going to have to object.

LoC was conceived as a game from the beginning. It has plenty of rules and directions for this.

Evo Stone was made as less of a roleplay and more of a collaborative story effort. People would make characters, and everyone would have some say in their actions. However, as time went by, people drifted away and all that was left was Shad..

I don't want this factions idea because I fear it'd end up being rather.. gamey.

I don't want story to suffer because people feel a subconscious desire to win, somehow.

The main reason we could have uber-powerful characters in this is that no one person had control over them..

Other

Samantha is an overlord and one of my favorite characters. A supervillainess ..

Hell, she's basically supposed to be a female Vetinari.

If no one else objects, then you may have what parts of the prologue you desire. Though I suspect somebody else may want to work on other parts, and I will gladly help to fill in what gaps need filling in. Whatever you need to know, I probably know, due to my undying obsession with this story for the past couple years. If you like, we can use the Overlords/Warlords thread in which to discuss their specific positions (within the United States and without), as well as their roles, their exports, their governing styles, etc.

Though, now that I think of it, the various army threads (Diata, Xeinia, Dark Sun, etc) can be integrated into the Warlord/Overlord thread, and the Warlord/Overlord thread can be integrated into the character thread. Along with the Hierarchy of Assassins thread.

And seriously, folks, both Zale and GV have valid points as far as team arrangements go. Though, we need to come to a unanimous decision early, as to how things will run. This way, we can have a clue of what characters will be where, and when. That's the most important part, after the events themselves.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Okay. So, here's the deal. I combined all the different army threads (Diata, Xeinia, Dark Sun, etc), and the Overlord/Warlord thread into the Characters thread.

However, it arranged the posts chronologically, so in order for you to get all the info that you may have missed out on, you'll have to re-read the whole thread, and reply specifically to the threads pertaining to the army or Overlord/Warlord that you want to discuss.

And shortly, I will add the Hierarchy of Assassins as well, so if you go looking for it, chances are, it will be in the Characters thread.

EDIT: Correction. If you need to find it, it was misspelled. It's "Hierachy of Assassins".

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Have any RP questions? Feel free to ask away.

[Zaleramancer]

Ah.

I still want a thread to discuss them in general, if possible.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

What do you mean? Like a separate thread?

Because I thought the RP Comments thread would be for anything pertaining to ESRP, including actions, events, items and characters.

[Zaleramancer]

Zhat Verks.

Alright, It would be nice to have a map.

Maybe if we give Marv ze puppy dog eyes?