In Memorial of the Fallen [RWBY RP|OOC 3|Open]

[The Templar High Council]

According to Discord, Storm was discharged from the hospital at 10am EST yesterday. But after that he went home for a little R&R. Just thought I'd drop that little info bomb so you all can tidy up and look pretty for him to get back online.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

According to Discord, Storm was discharged from the hospital at 10am EST yesterday. But after that he went home for a little R&R. Just thought I'd drop that little info bomb so you all can tidy up and look pretty for him to get back online.

I wish a speedy recovery and all fortune to him.

[Stormwrath]

Shit post is shit post. Can't really use my full writing potential atm, since I need to rest more, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Shit post is shit post. Can't really use my full writing potential atm, since I need to rest more, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.

A warm welcome back, Stormwrath!

[Stormwrath]

OP CONTEMPLATION TIEM

I've been thinking about this for a while, especially since activity seems to have slowed more often in our Volume 2 and 3 arcs. In fact right now V3 seems to have stalled over here. There are certain things that I have observed that present an issue to the progress of this RP as of now:

1. There's nothing to do. Only those who are participating in the tournament get some meaningful activity out of their characters, let alone something to do. The fairgrounds, while it is intended for characters to explore and hang out as well as for players to come up with their own booths, has become a location with almost nothing in it. The only booth seemingly there was Voice of the Sea, nothing else.
2. Co-OPs are slacking off or failing to show initiative. I was hoping that I wouldn't be the one managing the OOC and IC threads on my own. Isn't that the reason why y'all have one post reserved for you below the OP (the Desk)? Because that's where you post stuff that I should get on or update. Pending apps? Just post the direct link there. Story arcs you're handling? Put it there. Your role means you aren't just players, you're also the ones managing the RP in my place.
   
   But what about the IC? What should the Co-OP do there? Simple. If I can't provide any hooks to jumpstart character activity, you should provide those hooks. Give them something to do, don't just wait for me to do anything. Again, you aren't just players, you're also managers.
3. New players flake out. Partly bcoz of Issue #1, partly bcoz their characters aren't integrated to the world, partly because there aren't enough hooks.
4. Lots. Of. Post-blocks. Too much stalling in story arcs, said stories drag out more than they should, players grow disinterested, activity goes down.
5. No players are taking the initiative. Come on, you don't have to wait for me to post something so your characters can have something to do. Make one up and let the players come to you. Explore, create, develop. Vale's a pretty big setting after all, let alone Beacon. If you're concerned that you might add something that may not be compatible with the RWBYverse in this RP, just ask. My role in this regard is to advise. This unfortunately is something I cannot solve, for this is on the players.
6. Not a serious issue, but some of us feel we're way behind where the RWBY canon is at now. This was first brought up several months ago when the RP was at Volume 1 and RWBY itself was in Volume 3.

Here are some things that I could do to rectify many if not all of these issues:

1. Reboot the RP. Perhaps the most drastic move of all, this will entail timeskipping everything to the post-Volume 3 timeline. We could start anywhere within V4 and V5 if we want. This reboot will drop the school-based nature of this RP and replace it with a more open-world setting where characters can go explore Remnant and create their own stories.
2. Remove Co-OPs, replace with players willing to handle the tasks and responsibilities of a Co-OP.
3. Start enacting a posting requirement of at least one post every 3 days. Of course, this is flexible depending on RL schedules.
4. Skip to the Battle of Beacon already, though not everyone may appreciate the death system in place.
5. Reduce the number of teams that will be participating in the tournament. 2 or 3 more fights should do before shit hits the fan.
6. Have players notify the others more openly about any RL things that might hinder his/her ability to post. This is to avoid post-blocking. It's even in the rules, darn it.

[Parcia]

I fully support the above.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

OP CONTEMPLATION TIEM[/list]

Well, I may as well do my bit! While I'm not in favour of doing anything OOC with the storyline (I'm still looking forward to CLAL's match!), I am more than happy to undertake some sort of Co-OP-like role to help out in instigating more activity. I would suggest, however, engaging Icrum and Sonitusia in telegram dialogue before doing anything rash regarding them.

[Legatia]

Anything up above would certainly work. In my humble opinion Nimbus would make for a good Co-Op, as well. I've wanted to get back in, but as said before, I can't find a reasonable place for interaction.

[Sonitusia]

OP CONTEMPLATION TIEM[/list]

Well, I may as well do my bit! While I'm not in favour of doing anything OOC with the storyline (I'm still looking forward to CLAL's match!), I am more than happy to undertake some sort of Co-OP-like role to help out in instigating more activity. I would suggest, however, engaging Icrum and Sonitusia in telegram dialogue before doing anything rash regarding them.

Pretty sure Icrum already stated his reasoning.

I, on the other hand, have not. And yes, I do realize that I have not been doing my duties effectively for the past few months (slightly offed by the wording though, Storm) due to RL situation (final year of highschool and focusing on other things for my future), so I'll peacefully step down from my position since it's not even well taken care of in the first place.

As for the RP, I'm not fully sure if I'll be joining a reboot. That is all.

(I support Nimbus taking the Co-OP mantle since he's the most motivated)

[Stormwrath]

Well, I may as well do my bit! While I'm not in favour of doing anything OOC with the storyline (I'm still looking forward to CLAL's match!), I am more than happy to undertake some sort of Co-OP-like role to help out in instigating more activity. I would suggest, however, engaging Icrum and Sonitusia in telegram dialogue before doing anything rash regarding them.

Icrum already left the RP. Not sure about dropping So-

Pretty sure Icrum already stated his reasoning.

I, on the other hand, have not. And yes, I do realize that I have not been doing my duties effectively for the past few months (slightly offed by the wording though, Storm) due to RL situation (final year of highschool and focusing on other things for my future), so I'll peacefully step down from my position since it's not even well taken care of in the first place.

As for the RP, I'm not fully sure if I'll be joining a reboot. That is all.

(I support Nimbus taking the Co-OP mantle since he's the most motivated)

Oh, darn. That's fine, RL stuff first always.

Sorry if I came off too blunt, btw. I was going to put how I understand that even the Co-OPs have RL commitments but then I might sound like I'm all over the place.

Anything up above would certainly work. In my humble opinion Nimbus would make for a good Co-Op, as well. I've wanted to get back in, but as said before, I can't find a reasonable place for interaction.

Interested in a paintball match story?

[Sonitusia]

Oh, darn. That's fine, RL stuff first always.

Sorry if I came off too blunt, btw. I was going to put how I understand that even the Co-OPs have RL commitments but then I might sound like I'm all over the place.

I don't even know why you were unsure of dropping me, should've been done sooner

[Sterkistan]

Sorry for the inactivity, I'm away atm and I'll try to get a well-structred post up that meets the length limit but Mobile kinda restricts that.

[Stormwrath]

Oh, darn. That's fine, RL stuff first always.

Sorry if I came off too blunt, btw. I was going to put how I understand that even the Co-OPs have RL commitments but then I might sound like I'm all over the place.

I don't even know why you were unsure of dropping me, should've been done sooner

Because you were the most active out of the Co-OPs. No offense, Ark.

Sorry for the inactivity, I'm away atm and I'll try to get a well-structred post up that meets the length limit but Mobile kinda restricts that.

Just take your time.

[Sonitusia]

I don't even know why you were unsure of dropping me, should've been done sooner

Because you were the most active out of the Co-OPs. No offense, Ark.

We'll see if that dropping should be finalized then.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Just to let everyone know that I'll be away tomorrow and a fair amount of the next day as well. I'm currently trying to think of collective activities that we can do to get the OOC more active; that way, the roleplay as a whole will look more engaging to people who stumble across it.

[Stormwrath]

Just to let everyone know that I'll be away tomorrow and a fair amount of the next day as well. I'm currently trying to think of collective activities that we can do to get the OOC more active; that way, the roleplay as a whole will look more engaging to people who stumble across it.

That's fine. I'm out of town for a few days as well so I'm gonna move things along by next week.

[Sterkistan]

Sorry to do this since I've just started, but I'm going to drop this RP. It sounds great and all, but the inactivity has kind of driven me away from it. Keep up the good work.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Sorry to do this since I've just started, but I'm going to drop this RP. It sounds great and all, but the inactivity has kind of driven me away from it. Keep up the good work.

Humble Suggestion: Why not stay and try to correct that inactivity? There are lots of people who (I hope) are still around but just aren't involved in any plot threads at the moment; one solution would be to create some and get other people involved.

I'm currently working on another solution: get people more involved in the OoC thread. Thus, I present to you 'The Semblance Workshop'! Each week from now on, I'll present a reasonably bare-bones Semblance concept (telegram me if you have one that you want to be presented; I'll give full credit if I use it) for us to discuss, flesh out, tinker with and then, at the end of the week, catalogue for new people to draw upon when creating characters, either off the shelf or just as inspiration.

That said, then...

The Semblance Workshop
Week 1

Semblance concept for discussion:
(telegram me if you have a concept for discussion)

'Elemental: Can consume Dust to form an animated incarnation of the power of that Dust. The elemental consumes Aura at a steady rate and vanishes when the user cuts off the flow of Aura to it, either consciously or by running out.'

[Sonitusia]

Sorry to do this since I've just started, but I'm going to drop this RP. It sounds great and all, but the inactivity has kind of driven me away from it. Keep up the good work.

Humble Suggestion: Why not stay and try to correct that inactivity? There are lots of people who (I hope) are still around but just aren't involved in any plot threads at the moment; one solution would be to create some and get other people involved.

I'm currently working on another solution: get people more involved in the OoC thread. Thus, I present to you 'The Semblance Workshop'! Each week from now on, I'll present a reasonably bare-bones Semblance concept (telegram me if you have one that you want to be presented; I'll give full credit if I use it) for us to discuss, flesh out, tinker with and then, at the end of the week, catalogue for new people to draw upon when creating characters, either off the shelf or just as inspiration.

That said, then...

The Semblance Workshop
Week 1

Semblance concept for discussion:

'Elemental: Can consume Dust to form an animated incarnation of the power of that Dust. The elemental consumes Aura at a steady rate and vanishes when the user cuts off the flow of Aura to it, either consciously or by running out.'

Pretty sure that's already similar to what Weiss and her sister uses.

[Stormwrath]

Humble Suggestion: Why not stay and try to correct that inactivity? There are lots of people who (I hope) are still around but just aren't involved in any plot threads at the moment; one solution would be to create some and get other people involved.

Nimbus is right. Most of the time inactivity stems from the players not wanting to post something unless someone else offers a story arc to join, or bcoz they're waiting for the OP or Co-OPs to do something. If you want to come up with your own plot arc and invite other players to join, you can do that. The staff won't try to direct it as they see fit, for we are in an advisory role regarding the RWBYverse and its established lore. This is why if you have any questions or concerns, ask.

'Elemental: Can consume Dust to form an animated incarnation of the power of that Dust. The elemental consumes Aura at a steady rate and vanishes when the user cuts off the flow of Aura to it, either consciously or by running out.'

I'm guessing the Dust is administered orally to activate this Semblance, yes?

Pretty sure that's already similar to what Weiss and her sister uses.

The Schnees' semblance is glyphs, which I'm pretty sure cover more than just summoning.

Personally I find this Semblance similar in implementation to Blake's shadow cloning if the Dust ammo was permanent, mixed in with whoever has a kind of summoning Semblance. Sun's comes to mind here.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Hi, it's Tito here. Storm, may I transport all of the Albastru's post from that nation to this nation's account? I'm moving to a new account for RPing.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

'Elemental: Can consume Dust to form an animated incarnation of the power of that Dust. The elemental consumes Aura at a steady rate and vanishes when the user cuts off the flow of Aura to it, either consciously or by running out.'

I'm guessing the Dust is administered orally to activate this Semblance, yes?

I actually meant 'consume' in the abstract... Still, hey, why not?

Pretty sure that's already similar to what Weiss and her sister uses.

The Schnees' semblance is glyphs, which I'm pretty sure cover more than just summoning.

Personally I find this Semblance similar in implementation to Blake's shadow cloning if the Dust ammo was permanent, mixed in with whoever has a kind of summoning Semblance. Sun's comes to mind here.

Hmm. Agreed; the only thing to set it apart from a hybridisation of those two is the fact that there can only be one elemental at a time. I'm trying to think of a way to make this more unique - any ideas?

[Stormwrath]

Hi, it's Tito here. Storm, may I transport all of the Albastru's post from that nation to this nation's account? I'm moving to a new account for RPing.

I think you can just start posting in the IC on your new account and keep the old posts, since deleting them and moving it to the new one would complicate things.

Hmm. Agreed; the only thing to set it apart from a hybridisation of those two is the fact that there can only be one elemental at a time. I'm trying to think of a way to make this more unique - any ideas?

Well I think you should focus on trying to make this Semblance stand out instead of being unique. After all, it's likely that any original ideas you have were thought up by someone else sometime somewhere.

But anyways, how would you define one elemental at a time? Is it just one elemental to be summoned in the technical sense of the word or can there be more than one elemental but they have to be of the same element?

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Hmm. Agreed; the only thing to set it apart from a hybridisation of those two is the fact that there can only be one elemental at a time. I'm trying to think of a way to make this more unique - any ideas?

Well I think you should focus on trying to make this Semblance stand out instead of being unique. After all, it's likely that any original ideas you have were thought up by someone else sometime somewhere.

You have a very good (if pedantic, though pedantry is a trait that I like in a person) point!

But anyways, how would you define one elemental at a time? Is it just one elemental to be summoned in the technical sense of the word or can there be more than one elemental but they have to be of the same element?

Hmm. Armies of elementals would undoubtedly be fun and I do like Semblances that let the user control the amount of Aura that they're using. Then again, another way to do that would be to let the user alter the size of a single elemental...

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Here's what I have so far regarding the Semblance concept, then:

‘Elemental: Can metabolise Dust to form an animated incarnation of the power of that Dust. Only one elemental may be formed at once; the elemental consumes Aura at a steady rate, which the user may vary in order to increase or decrease the elemental’s size, and vanishes when it runs out of Aura to consume, either by the user cutting off the flow deliberately or by them running out. The user may also restore the elemental’s form with additional Aura should it become damaged in some way. The elemental is semi-autonomous, taking actions in accordance with the user’s will and knowledge, but not sentient.’

Any further thoughts?



On another note, discussing this has also brought to the forefront of my mind questions about Dust. Since it isn't significantly elaborated on too much in the show, I think that it makes sense for consistency's sake to establish a framework for types of Dust.

We know from the World of Remnant videos that there are four types of primary Dust (I like referring to them as ‘Primal Dust’; not sure why) that are almost certain to be for fire (crimson), air (light green), lightning (yellow) and water (light blue) and that these four types of Dust may in turn be combined to form other types. That means that there are, at most, six different bi-Primal combinations, four different tri-Primal combinations and a single combination of all four in addition to the four base types.

Something to address at this point: fire Dust is commonly referred to as ‘Burn Dust’ in the show but sometimes referred to as just ‘fire Dust’. My own headcanon is that Dust types have technical names that accurately describe their properties but also have monosyllabic names with distinguishing vowel sounds that are used in Huntsman parlance for speed when out in the field; feel free to incorporate this as a bit of worldbuilding or not, Stormwrath.

Without further ado, then, here are my suggestions for Dust types:

Dust types which have been observed in the show and whose combinations of Primal Dust are known:

• Fire (Burn) - Crimson in colour. Primal.
• Water (Flow) - Light blue in colour. Primal.
• Air (Wind) - Light green in colour. Primal.
• Lightning (Spark) - Yellow in colour. Primal.
• Ice (Frost) - Dark blue in colour. Formed from air and water Dust.
• Steam (Steam) - Colour unknown; I suggest grey. Formed from fire and water Dust.

Dust types which have been observed in the show but whose combinations of Primal Dust are not known:

• Gravity (Pull) - Purple in colour. Now, gravity is one of the four fundamental forces of the universe and there are four potential three-way combinations of Primal Dust… I’m sure that you see where I’m going with this. I suggest that gravity Dust be formed from air, lightning and water Dust.
• Name unknown; I suggest ‘Stone’ (Rock) - Colour unknown; I suggest brown. There aren’t really any two-way combinations of Primal Dust that make sense for this one; it seems to me that air and fire Dust are the best fit by virtue of the tenuous connection of ash.
• Name unknown; I suggest ‘Lava’ (Melt) - Orange in colour. Again, no really sensible candidates here, especially since the combination of fire and water is steam; bizarrely, I think that I’m going to have to say that lightning and water Dust are the most plausible combination.
• Name unknown; I suggest ‘Kinetic’ (Move) - Cyan in colour. Fortunately, there is an obvious combination for this one: all four Primal Dust types.

Dust types of my own creation to ‘fill in the gaps’; feel free to suggest alternatives:

• Light (Shine) - Colourless. Formed from air and lightning Dust. While ‘light’ and ‘shine’ share the same vowel, ‘light Dust’ as a phrase is difficult to say quickly without tripping oneself up over the ‘t D’; hence, to fit in with my previous reasoning, the different name.
• Aether (Sear) - Cobalt blue in colour. Formed from fire and lightning Dust. It’s always been my view that RWBY’s civilisations skipped a lot of the scientific and technological development that reality has undergone due to their understanding of Dust, hence why this isn’t called ‘plasma Dust’, which is what this is. Plasma, of course, is gas that undergoes ionisation (lightning) due to heat (fire).
• Magnetism/Polarity (Join) - Dark grey in colour. Formed from air, fire and lightning Dust. I wasn’t sure whether to call this Magnetism or Polarity; both terms are known in the show.
• Poisonous (Bane) - Pink in colour. Formed from air, fire and water Dust. The Dust of the strong nuclear force which, as I understand it after some brief research, would be less volatile upon manipulation than the weak nuclear force (any physicists here, correct me if I’m wrong). Anyway, I’ve called it ‘Poisonous’ and ‘Bane’ due to the potential for nuclear radiation poisoning; again, lower level of scientific development, so people in the RWBYverse don’t understand just what that is yet.
• Chaotic (Rage) - Dark green in colour. Formed from fire, lighting and water Dust. This is, of course, the Dust of the weak nuclear force; it’s called those things for a very good reason.

Those, then, are my thoughts on Dust. I’d be happy to hear feedback on any of them; you’ll probably be able to do a better job!