Personification Life OOC VII [OPEN -Sign up and Planning]

[Torsiedelle]

Excellent, Swith

Why are the sisters there? Well...I can't say that they had a reason to come to the apartment; Torii was just sent there, and Katya just moved in, like many other characters. They stayed because they formed bonds with others, and got settled in enough that they couldn't simply leave. Their reason? To try and adapt to life, meet new people, learn new lessons...

Katya wants to build her own life, and follow her dreams, but she's impulsive and wanders. Torii is more about coming of age, growing into adulthood, discovering new things and people, and trying to figure out exactly who she is. She believes that the apartment can help with all of these things, plus more.

I have the same feelings about the pace of things. Even when PL was mostly one-liners, everyone was on an adventure, lots of action was seen. We had crazy shit like the raptors trying to destroy everything, Bran's airships, Prim's Lovecraftian monsters, etc. Now, a lot of that is gone or regulated,and many players have no role to play.

I do admit that I can occasionally get carried away with gaming, but I've been gaming since I was old enough to hold a controller. I usually game all the time, but can juggle PL and social obligations.

[Giovenith]

The overarching pony story will begin most likely after these main stories. Prim's characters play a part in launching it, as we agreed before this story. I was afraid it was looking dragged, and I am truly sorry for that. I promise that it can and will be handled as soon as possible.

[Primordial Luxa]

The overarching pony story will begin most likely after these main stories. Prim's characters play a part in launching it, as we agreed before this story. I was afraid it was looking dragged, and I am truly sorry for that. I promise that it can and will be handled as soon as possible.

Yes. Plus her idea is stone cold Gio brand brilliant.

[Tiltjuice]

Swith, I'm sorry, but every time I want to do something in the IC that you want us to do, I'm bogged down by people simply wanting to chit-chat. It seems like that happens to me every time, which is why I always ask for more clarification that I'm still involved in a story, and that I haven't been forgotten, because it feels like I am more often than not.

The chit-chat comes from when I think I'm forgotten, and then I feel like there's nothing else to do besides sit around and do pointless shit.

Toscha's only been chatting for a while because he's new, I literally just brought him and he hasn't even been around long enough to get involved in any events, so I don't think questioning why he's here is fair.

Prelude: The following is a no-animosity advisory.

That's ridiculous. It shouldn't be about what Swith wants us to do. If it were, she would and should go offline to write a novel. RPing is cooperative. If you get bogged down by people simply wanting to chit-chat, have your characters move away. And keep moving away. Until they get the point and stop talking for the sake of talking.

Stop taking things so personally. Just because we don't say in the OOC thread that we're taking people's wishes into account doesn't mean that we aren't. Half the reason Allspice got pushed back and delayed and then postponed some more was because I was waiting for people to get back to the thread from RL or video game worlds. And if you think you're forgotten, make up something to do, just as Swith did with the animal fest when we were all waiting for Urran during his nation trip.

[/advisory]

[Bone Fort]

There's a reason I show up so rarely, why some of our other players left, and why most new people who join don't stick around.

[Swith Witherward]

Swith, I'm sorry, but every time I want to do something in the IC that you want us to do, I'm bogged down by people simply wanting to chit-chat. It seems like that happens to me every time, which is why I always ask for more clarification that I'm still involved in a story, and that I haven't been forgotten, because it feels like I am more often than not.

The chit-chat comes from when I think I'm forgotten, and then I feel like there's nothing else to do besides sit around and do pointless shit.

Toscha's only been chatting for a while because he's new, I literally just brought him and he hasn't even been around long enough to get involved in any events, so I don't think questioning why he's here is fair.

That's a lack of communication on all our parts.

I brought a new character into EH, having never played there before. At first, it was rough. People didn't know me at all. Esty came to my rescue with her character Emi, and I found it easier to settle in and not get overlooked. Fen, my often-shy Polynesian, didn't have a moment to settle. That's what I was alluding to in my "EH Recap" above. Fen established herself on the fly, running from weird beach to library to Hell and into an even more intense story. I went in with a blank slate and she evolved through game play rather than dialog. She emerged as more of a healer than my envisioned "ice girl", I discovered she was a bit of a kleptomaniac, her goal is to one day own her own VW Bug, and she's discovered that Demons and Orks are cool. Her long-term goal is to open up a tea shop in Hell somewhere near Queen Victoria's cottage. Her short-term goals are to find her new roommate, Emi (Esty has been on leave due to course schedule), to find Harry again to return his cell phone, and to figure out how Crowley deals with being lonely (she's a loner by design due to her back story). I don't give a crap about romance, so I'm able to insert her into conversations or make comments that won't be misconstrued as an attempt to start an IC sexual relationship. I would never have progressed this far if all she did was talk to Emi in some room in the castle. Action shaped her. (That's why I personally hate completely forming a character in an app.)

Why is Toscha here? That's the first question a player needs to ask as he's making his application. It's a fair question. Why did you create him? Was it just so you could run a lamia? What are your hopes for him? What are his flaws and how do you think those flaws will challenge him in everyday life? Now look back on it and ask yourself how far he's come. Tweak. Tinker, Experiment. Involve yourself. He grows. He does something completely unexpected but oh-so-very-cool.

Players that distract with chat: "Urran, I have Minerva here because I'm doing xyz with her." He sends Tieria off to do something else. "I'm sending Misaki to get Sanjay settled in". People know she's not there for entertaining existing characters. You had Bran ask in the collab if Minerva wanted to go to Chaos. I had Minerva shy away from it because I need to finish the last dream sequence but the scene continued. A polite, "No, because..." works wonders when players try to pull you into things you don't want or can't do.

You can't please all the people all the time, Bran Muffin. You can only do what you can do when you're able to do it. Sometimes you just have to say, "No".

[The BranRiech]

Tilt: All I have for that is whenever I want to make something up, there's the whole "Don't start any side stories" or "Get OP approval first". It makes me think your answer would just be a "No"

And Swith: I know, but I feel like I need to try to.

[Tiltjuice]

Tilt: All I have for that is whenever I want to make something up, there's the whole "Don't start any side stories" or "Get OP approval first". It makes me think your answer would just be a "No"

And Swith: I know, but I feel like I need to try to.

It feeds back into itself. I think we're getting frustrated because people don't get OP approval first, which pushes back stories so we can't get them done, which causes us to insist on people getting OP approval first, which is yet another tortoise.

Why do you think our answer would just be a "No"? I fail to see anything that could possibly be construed as a "no". Swith ran that mini-event because the GM (Urran) was stalled IRL and in any case she ended it when he was able to get back. The above cases that she listed were because PLAYERS were stalled IRL or with video games or with meaningless chatter.

[Warpspace]

This assessment does NOT apply to our new players (Fvaar, Rocco, Spike, Night etc.), rather it applies to long-running players who have been here for months or more:

The question posed to Cer: "Why do you get to be in P2TM? You're an IC chat thread. I think that belongs in F7." Ouch.


There are characters in PL who do nothing except IC chat/drama similar to Wombat or 'Roo but better written; these characters don't participate in any actual stories. Roo-esk conversations drag out the timeline, stall stories and sequester active participants.

The rest of us are carrying the weight to keep PL a RP instead of a location chat thread. '

Exciting OP/CoOP and player stories that were scrapped last year because IC chat/drama dragged on too long or because players sprung lame events on us:

Bane
Christmas Miracle (the intro was the hurricane)
Strawberry Fields
Tilt's SiMs
God War (we took it behind the scenes to keep it running)
Kei's Discovery
The Raptor in the Mirror
Fallout: Bielefeld
Invasion from the Country Across the Way
Team Fortress Retooled
NA's SCP thing
Heaven and Hell
The Six Element: Oh Crap
Meddler's Ruin
Swith Witherward Trip
Rome Hetalia
I Can't Believe It's A Law Firm
Genesis Pool
Woosh (pulled from a Star Trek episode)
Demen's Request
Adventure League (beginning of last IC thread)
Invasion of the Tsu Snatchers
Yoinks!
Torii's Tank
Is it a Drone?

We scrap these things because our key players are too busy having "character development" that leave no lasting impression on the character or develop him in any way. Can you experience the bonds of longing if you never leave someone's side? Can you grow stronger if you never move a muscle? Can you appreciate food if you've never known real hunger? Your characters aren't going to develop if all you do it sit.

We didn't have this problem in the beginning. PL was a lot of asterisk play but characters were constantly on the move and doing things. Then players began adding more characters, and those characters were given characters to interact with, and now we're a quagmire of characters.

Some of our funnest recent things have been when Cer ran an encapsulated event. He allows only one or two characters in play, and the group works as a whole on a campaign. There's time to allude to feelings, or be jealous, or develop quirks, but there isn't time to dwell on them. Other fun things have been the magical Indian Bazaar where some of you got nifty new toys and flying carpets, the animal tea party, etc. It takes Ref/GM skill to pull these off without having them fall flat, lag, grow stale or turn out to be lame in the end.

A trend I'm noticing is that some of you are so bored with the IC conversations (which you're in!) that you check out to play video games. That's part of what's causing days-on-end delays.

Straight up:
Why are Sterling and Willow in PL?
Why is Toscha in PL?
Why are Blossom, Tieria and Yoshi in PL?
Why are Torii and Katya in PL?
Why are Jacob, Sig and Namal in PL?

I'd pick on others, but I've had communication with them and they've validated some things, or I know their reasons for having characters active: Barox and Wren are part of the revival story, for example. And many players have parked characters not currently serving a purpose (Chloe, Octavian, Dimitrus, Cuisine, Rylli, Rachelle, Will, Levi, etc.) I also know that Gio and NA were working on a Pony story that sheds light on why they're here, but I think that, too, has been delayed by IC nonsense.

Please take a look at your characters. Determine why they're here and how you'd like to incorporate them. If they serve no other purpose than IC chat, please move them to a thread in F7. Give me a reason to appeal to Cer to keep them active. Cer's point of view is that some of them have had a year to "develop".

Cer wants to finish Allspice, Teen Club and then Prim's thing. I've agreed to put off my planned stuff. We'll continue Thriller Revival/Book since, at the moment, it doesn't pull too much from the thread or tie up characters outside of mine and GT's (others might eventually be drawn into it, if interest is shown. GT's call.) However...

Once Allspice, Teen Club and Prim's thing are done, we are going to start a story. Figure out who you want to play on a routine basis. You won't have much time to have characters sit on their butts.

Another straight up: Urran

Use that notebook and read the threads before posting. I will no longer go to bat for you when your character does something out of context once Allspice/Prim are done. You have the talent and intelligence to RP properly. I won't accept laziness as an excuse any longer. NA and Bran nailed it last night. Cer is not going to put up with a character who pulls bitch moves and then runs away crying. Cer has given me permission to remove characters from the thread. I'm not comfortable doing this but Cer (my mentor) has challenged me to grow a spine and "deal with it appropriately".

Aye, I applaud this as well. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the chit-chat was why Volt never got that fun 'slaughter the cursed criminals' bit. It's part of the reason why I don't interact with the 'main body' of players simply because there's nothing interesting for any interaction. It's why my interest in the RP ebbs and flows similar to that of Bones. It took me forever to get that colab with Swith running and get Volt's story up and running because I was afraid it'd simply be washed away shortly.

I can't even really describe the problem. I just feel it, and it's like it's sucking away my creativity and will to post at all. Maybe we need to split into two groups? I dunno. All I know is that whatever this problem is that I can't entirely describe, isn't enjoyable at all.

[Giovenith]

Bones, is there anything we can do to persuade you away from that? You've said that often, but from what I've seen, that while we're still far from perfect, we have changed significantly since you took hiatus. It would be awesome to see you more in action again, your style is unmatchable, but whatever we are missing to persuade you back still apparently hasn't been reached. I think that while there are still bumps to smooth, we have overall improved greatly in many ways, and if you can help with that one sweet spot we seem to be lacking, it would be beneficial to us all.

[Monfrox]

Two points I want to say:

1. We are all human (I'm 99% sure) and we make mistakes. It's our nature to be imperfect.

2. I've never been told 'No', I've been told 'No, and this is why because we want you to understand why not' whenever I was told no to something.

[Germanic Templars]

A Part of me wants to be the guy that helps arrange quest/events up for the other players (Not involving mine), just to give something people to do, and hopefully keep them entertained. Hell even if it is just a quest to go to another dimension just to explore an abandoned base with homicidal robots in it equipped with miniguns and 40mm grenade launchers. (Non magic only). Or maybe even one where magic users can be involved only and fight off hordes of undead and demons from a powerful wizard. Even better a mixture of the two that could involved magic users and non magic users to work together.

I have ideas, and I am willing to spare them out to ya'll just to give you some fun.

[Bone Fort]

Thank you. I'm well aware of the changes, as I never really left, merely lurked.

I actually have been planning to return for awhile now... As part of a story that's been constantly delayed for months due to the aforementioned, for lack of a better term, "stupidity". And every other attempt has repeatedly been shot down. So if you really want me to really come back, make it worth my time. I'm tired of wasted evenings and planning, all down the drain because Urran or Torsi or whoever screws up so badly I'm actually left wondering if it was done on purpose.

And Mon, we perfectly understand people make mistakes. What we don't understand is said mistakes happening repeatedly despite constant lecturing on the matter. Bones diving into a solid wall because I forgot there were no windows is a mistake. Urran ruining an entire night of plot development because he decided he didn't want his spies to be caught and retconing the whole thing is not.

[Swith Witherward]

Cer doesn't mind if people want to make up stuff to do, but they need to give him a heads up. For example, that New Years dinner seriously fucked up five different player's plans. Seriously. Fucked. Plans. Up.

The dinner on the beach seriously fucked up player's plans. Seriously. Fucked. Plans. Up. Yinz missed out on the actual planned adventure for the island because we lost over a week of gameplay. What resulted from the feast? Characters ate. That's about it.

There are times Cer and I and Tilt spring things on the fly. We do this because the lag is getting so bad that we want to mutilate our own genitals. The Tea Party was because everyone was on the most boring trip in RP history. We had nothing to do. The thread was DYING. The Indian Bazaar was on the at SAME trip. That's when Cer said "NO MORE PLAYER RUN EVENTS". Player run events were killing the entire thread.

(It's also why he said, "No more nation visits until Swith does her nation visit." My nation visit is to teach players how to do these little diplomacy things successfully.)

Running a side story takes effort and dedication. You have to at least have something basic mapped out in your minds. You can't just say "Well, I'm going to follow a rabbit down a hole". No. You're Lewis Carroll leading others down the rabbit hole. You have to have something vague fleshed out beyond "they go down the hole". Carroll's characters are co-writing his story, though. Teamwork. Carroll has to overcome Alice wandering away from the Cheshire Cat to talk to the Flowers. He just needs to be very quick on the fly to find ways of guiding Alice back to the Cat. He can't do shit if Alice and the Flowers spend a week in chat while the Cat, Hatter, Mouse and entire deck of Cards sit on their thumbs and wait for the conversation to end.

Side stories crop up when there's a lull. Think of a zombie RP. The purpose of a story is to get a group from Point A to Point B. All sorts of things happen between. Romance, comedy, tear-jerkers, disappointments, thrills. The characters don't stop trying to get to Point B, however. If a side story crops up, it's tied to the main story. A group of characters leaves the group to go find gasoline, for example.

[The BranRiech]

GT, I'd love to do things that you run. That's all I've got.

[Tiltjuice]

A Part of me wants to be the guy that helps arrange quest/events up for the other players (Not involving mine), just to give something people to do, and hopefully keep them entertained. Hell even if it is just a quest to go to another dimension just to explore an abandoned base with homicidal robots in it equipped with miniguns and 40mm grenade launchers. (Non magic only). Or maybe even one where magic users can be involved only and fight off hordes of undead and demons from a powerful wizard. Even better a mixture of the two that could involved magic users and non magic users to work together.

I have ideas, and I am willing to spare them out to ya'll just to give you some fun.

^

This.

[Warpspace]

A Part of me wants to be the guy that helps arrange quest/events up for the other players (Not involving mine), just to give something people to do, and hopefully keep them entertained. Hell even if it is just a quest to go to another dimension just to explore an abandoned base with homicidal robots in it equipped with miniguns and 40mm grenade launchers. (Non magic only). Or maybe even one where magic users can be involved only and fight off hordes of undead and demons from a powerful wizard. Even better a mixture of the two that could involved magic users and non magic users to work together.

I have ideas, and I am willing to spare them out to ya'll just to give you some fun.

^

This.

Same here, only my brutality can vary greatly which might complicate things.

[Tiltjuice]

Same here, only my brutality can vary greatly which might complicate things.

I'm going to call it the Pony to Prim scale.

[Swith Witherward]

Aye, I applaud this as well. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the chit-chat was why Volt never got that fun 'slaughter the cursed criminals' bit. It's part of the reason why I don't interact with the 'main body' of players simply because there's nothing interesting for any interaction. It's why my interest in the RP ebbs and flows similar to that of Bones. It took me forever to get that colab with Swith running and get Volt's story up and running because I was afraid it'd simply be washed away shortly.

I can't even really describe the problem. I just feel it, and it's like it's sucking away my creativity and will to post at all. Maybe we need to split into two groups? I dunno. All I know is that whatever this problem is that I can't entirely describe, isn't enjoyable at all.

I keep a list and am communication-heavy. We've had 14 players quit because:

A) There are way too many characters to keep track of.
B) There was way too much pointless dialog and drama.
C) They couldn't get involved because, despite all the characters in play, they had no one to interact with.


I'm going to use Gio as a positive example:
She runs a very unique character. Giovenith is passive and not interested in battles. This character has spawned more awesome side stories than all the other good ones combined. Some stories are whimsical. Some are dark. Some are comedy. Her planned Pony story has green lights from OP/CoOPs because she's proven time and time again that she can juggle things well. If she were to spring something that would cause a delay for other stories, she would say "Oops" and then figure out a way to wrap things up in a tidy bow rather than get angry.

Gio is a powerful addition to our thread. She doesn't have but three characters, and only two are in use. Her characters don't get involved in drama or mindless romance yet they are well defined. She'll drop a character in when she sees some new player or new character is adrift (Myra, Toshca, Lilian etc.) That's why I don't mind seeing her characters in conversations. But, that said, I'm perceiving just by reading the IC that you guys might sometimes lock her into those conversations and cling to her characters. We can alleviate that by crafting stories that give new characters a reason to expand their horizons beyond just Willow or Giovenith. This frees up Willow to work on the Pony story. Gio isn't stalled.

[Torsiedelle]

Maybe we need to split into two groups?

We've stated several times that doing so would only be detrimental to PL, an greatly so.

I agree that frivolous side-chatter and lag is hurting us. However, if people want to simply walk away and not come back until things get acceptable for them, instead of speaking out and actually working to improve things, then I don't think they're any better than those who slow things down.

[Monfrox]

Well, I've nothing to contribute to this convo unless I start juggling tables.

I'll be in the IRC.

[Germanic Templars]

^

This.

Same here, only my brutality can vary greatly which might complicate things.

I don't make things easy though, so pure brutality might complicate things for your character without proper teamwork of others.

[The BranRiech]

We've stated several times that doing so would only be detrimental to PL, an greatly so.

I agree that frivolous side-chatter and lag is hurting us. However, if people want to simply walk away and not come back until things get acceptable for them, instead of speaking out and actually working to improve things, then I don't think they're any better than those who slow things down.

Exactly. Splitting us up doesn't get rid of the problem. It's basically shoving the problem into a closet to make your house look all pretty and shiny. There'd be no point other than for the experienced players to distance themselves from the rest.

The first step in solving a problem is to realize there is one, not looking away from it.

I told Swith. I want a place where I don't feel abandoned because characters would rather have chit-chat rather than do some awesome story that will inevitably get the boot to the ass because of said chit-chat. I want a chance to prove myself to you all that I can run a decent story, one that won't be delayed because people think my characters are only good for chatting.

Because that's how I feel.

[Warpspace]

Same here, only my brutality can vary greatly which might complicate things.

I don't make things easy though, so pure brutality might complicate things for your character without proper teamwork of others.

I wouldn't mind doing a side story where Volt takes everyone on a 'vacation'. Take that wherever you want with your imagination with what a Chaos Lord would consider a nice break from the normal life.

Just give us some nice explosive side-story with a side of adventure to it. Just something to do that isn't a nation visit.

[Tiltjuice]

We've stated several times that doing so would only be detrimental to PL, an greatly so.

I agree that frivolous side-chatter and lag is hurting us. However, if people want to simply walk away and not come back until things get acceptable for them, instead of speaking out and actually working to improve things, then I don't think they're any better than those who slow things down.

Exactly. Splitting us up doesn't get rid of the problem. It's basically shoving the problem into a closet to make your house look all pretty and shiny. There'd be no point other than for the experienced players to distance themselves from the rest.

The first step in solving a problem is to realize there is one, not looking away from it.

I told Swith. I want a place where I don't feel abandoned because characters would rather have chit-chat rather than do some awesome story that will inevitably get the boot to the ass because of said chit-chat. I want a chance to prove myself to you all that I can run a decent story, one that won't be delayed because people think my characters are only good for chatting.

Because that's how I feel.

And that's precisely what we've been saying. Help us come up with a solution, then, if you see a problem.