BrokenPromise

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RPGC #19: Beware The Metal Age - Discussion

Man, it's been so long since I've entered a contest or written anything with a word count over 2K. I'm glad I decided to do this, but it feels like I'm flexing muscles that I haven't moved in ages. Everything hurts, but the pain is soooo goooooood <3

@Vocab @PlatinumSkink @Exit

How's everyone doing on their entries? It looks like I'm going to be finishing up down to the wire. heh.

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Tonya “Mac” Murphy

Age: 24/11 | Gender: Female/Female | Illusion, Gravity
Body | Power of Friendship, Regeneration, Third Eye | Moirai
Coercion, Soul Jar, Martial Training, True Sight, Parasite, Gifted, Awareness, Mystic Artifact

Magical Overload, Paragon, Blessing, Gifted Item | Monster Form, Big Brother, Arrogance, Vendetta
Redirected Magic, Second Specialization | Non-Standard Limbs, Destroyer

STR: 05 | AGI: 04 | VIT: 05 | MAG: 03 | LCK: 03

STR: 10 | AGI: 08 | VIT: 11 | MAG: 17 | LCK: 05

Earnings this post: Saved some civilians, ensured Chloe's survival, and waited for a fight to end? idk...: 7 Silver 9 Bronze

Total: 2 Gold, 85 Silver, 82 Bronze

That was... wow.

Amaryllis really should have thanked her lucky stars there was someone nearby to camo her escape, but that would require her to know Tonya was even there. Pretty much mission accomplished, but she would stand her ground until all parties left.

As much as Tonya would have liked to jump back into the shower gym, she would need to start preparing for a meeting as soon as this was over. Hopefully fate wouldn't waste her time with engagements like this in the future. Next time Chloe got in trouble, she was on her own.

---

“Creatures this weak don't even deserve to be called distractions...”

---

Su adjusted her collar. ”I'm sure she's watching us both from somewhere.” The former familiar said under her breath. ”But yes, I'd like to tell you something. It's about Boteg. While he was watching us in the over city, He picked up the magical signature of the terrible one's champion, and he's insistent that we do something about them now.” Her fists were trembling. ”H-he also told me that he thinks they may have been the one who destroyed Amber's ship. They were nearby at the moment it was destroyed.” Su's breath was starting to get noisy. ”After Amber died, I would tell myself every night... At least... We have... Her ship... And then the day we returned to retrieve it-” Su placed a hand over her face, but quickly regained her composure. ”I remember what you said about Justine, and I'm not going to let revenge obscure my vision. There is a possibility the champion isn't the one who destroyed Earth Bastion” Su fret her brow. ” But if they were near Earth Bastion when it was destroyed, that would mean it would have to be someone from Beacon. Provided it wasn't one of Justine's minions. But I find that unlikely.” Su closed her eyes. ”I need to do some investigating. I promise I won't get into any fights. But this is an order from our patron. The very reason Boteg formed a pact with Amber in the first place. I need you to stay here, both to keep Boteg safe, and so that you can let Mika know I'm not here. I don't trust her enough to watch over Boteg by herself yet. ” Su waited to hear Helga's thoughts on the matter.

---

After enjoying the rest of that girl's her food, Mika stood up and stretched. "That was really yummy!" Mika noticed that Su's food was ready. A brave wage slave stepped out of the back room and held out Su's food with trembling hands. "Thank you very much sir, you're the best worker this fine establishment could ask for!" She gave the man a salute, who just chuckled nervously before retreating back into the kitchen. It did seem like the spirit madness had died down a bit. Come to think about it, they went away after a girl in a red dress stormed through the Pit Stop. Mika probably should have paid more attention, but the food sure was good!

Once Mika had gone outside, it seemed like the spirit situation was under control. At least in the immediate area. Part of Mika wanted to transform and save the day, but it was probably for the best that she didn't have to do that. Su would never be mad with her if she transformed to save people, but it just wouldn't look good. A magical girl coming out of the pit stop with food for Su. The chances of someone finding out she was connected to Su were pretty slim, but it was still something Su would scold her for. She suspected.

Not that Su had been mean to her for the few weeks she had been around. Su and Helga had been awesome! Boteg too, but he didn't talk to people very much. Probably because everyone has such a hard time understanding him. But the way he talked was so cool! And out of everyone, Mika probably talked to the golden dragon the most. Maybe too much. This was probably the longest she had been away from the Golden Trove Apartment Complex since her arrival here. And she already had a friend! Maybe even a girl friend. The thought made her cheeks blush slightly. She had to place a hand on the side of her face just to get control over herself. But how would she find this girl?

If she was a local, it would be easy, She'd just have to ask around if anyone spotted her. Maybe she even regularly ate breakfast at the Pit Stop! But if she was a visitor, well, that would make things a bit harder. There was even the possibility that they would never meet each other again. Even though they hadn't spoken very much, that thought made Mika a little sad. She had just made a friend, it would be a shame for her to leave before she could say thank you, or even goodbye. Not being able to say goodbye was really eating away at Su...

Mika smacked herself. That was no way to be! As long as she showed determination, she'd see that girl again! Maybe she was even a magical girl just like Mika, who enjoyed fighting for the good of the people. That sounded more like it! And if that was the case, all Mika had to do is find out where all the spirits had dissipated to! Yea! She was probably fighting the spirits! All she had to do was find her locked in combat*! She hurried back to the apartment complex, hoping, no! Knowing that she'd encounter something on her way back.

*Even if Mika saw Katarina, she likely wouldn't recognize her in her magical girl guise. Don't tell her that though.

Arena Chat Thread

@Dias Blade

There was a wee bit of discord drama. The people managing it were also divided in opinion, and it was the sort of thing where people were arguing how it should be run as the character sheets were coming in. So as a result something that could have had a lot of support lost it all. I also feel some of the character sheets shouldn't have been accepted without some revisions. A pyro mouse that moves at the speed of sound?

There was room for improvement.

Arena Chat Thread

@Dias Blade Actually, I found it. I forgot a participated as a meme.

roleplayerguild.com/topics/162782-new…

Arena Chat Thread

@Dias Blade I forget what it was called, and honestly I can't be bothered to try and find it. It would be hard to locate because it was broken up into 5 different threads. None of the fights actually ended. Things just kind of fizzled out for a number of reasons.

I got bored of the chat thread so here's something useful maybe hopefully

Oh, I was kind of hoping for a system to regulate combat, not specifically how "dick points" are measured. Regardless, I think the arena scene is too small at the moment for a ranking system of any kind. But I'm going to put those thoughts off to the side to give my opinion how it currently stands.

I do like the idea of champions because while it puts an individual above all others, it's a title that they could lose to anyone. There's nothing quite as thrilling as the upset of an underdog or new blood snatching the title from the current champ. I also think a system like this works for smaller communities like this one where there are less than ten active fighters.

On the flip side, I feel like fighters like to see how they stack up to others. Having one absolute champion does not show how the others stack up to each other. And while the idea of a champion losing their status over a single win is exhilarating, the title of champion simply belongs to whoever is the last to win. It is not a mark of true skill by any measure. It can also be unsatisfying when a champion is unable to show up for a match, and the new champion is crowned without having beat the previous one.

Arena Chat Thread

@tex Nah fam, nothing important to read really. We're at that point where someone needs to do something. I think at this point people need to take steps to actually do something like host a tournament/reform the rules/etc, but I really don't see that happening.

I'd love to be proven wrong, however.

Arena Chat Thread

I don't think bringing in people from other sections of the same site would count as "new blood."

@Dias Blade

The goal is to increase the number of people participating in Arena, it most certainly counts.

As for your point about arena stats, sure, there's a problem. But is making a tiers system going to work with so few people participating in the arena? I don't think so.

Kay...sounds like they failed said challenge then. I'm not entirely sure what the point is of that anecdote, I mean do you have a link to this thing? I feel like it would be better for to just see the setup for myself rather than ask for the details.

@Dias Blade

My point was that "player Vs Mod" is basically what the rest of the forum is for. You don't need to see my RP to find it, I have yet to participate in an RP that doesn't feature this.

To be fair, that's pretty standard policy for like any forum, not just RP related. Like if you want new people to come and stick around its just logical not to throw your weight around and treat them like crap. Actually that concept is true for life in general. Though when I see people make that assertion about this particular Arena, Iunno. I mean I've seen people give equal to if not more so attitude in the other sections as well.

@Dias Blade

I've seen a fair bit of toxic behavior in casual. But everyone's in casual, so that's to be expected. Nearly every fight I see in here boils down to an OOC shouting match. The problem isn't that there's toxic people, it's just the ratio of toxic people to chill people. That's not good for a small group that wants to grow.

Consider for a moment that there isn't actually a toxicity problem here. By someone's admission, the Newby Tournament brought in randos from other parts of this forum to the Arena, but that was just a temporary thing. I'm going to assume that such effort was also assisted by those who were likewise already established in said other sections and so all they did was just apply some of their influence over said sections to drum up recruits. I don't know if said tournament actually came to a full completion or not, but clearly folks didn't stick around.

@Dias Blade

This is why it needs to be done again, and better. So far it's the only thing that's gotten people coming in here to do any actual role playing. Is it going to solve everyone's problems? unlikely. Arena's problems are too numerous to be solved by hosting a single arena. But it's where I'd start.

My point is that your Arena needs an overhaul and reasons for players to stay and invest time. TIME is the most valued commodity around, especially true for RP Communities. With work or school, other hobbies and interests, one's personal time is finite throughout the day. People, by and large, don't like wasting their time. If they do something, its because they want to do it for whatever reason. But there IS always a reason involved. That's how our species is hardwired. So, in staying true to what the Arena is and the purpose it has always served within the Greater RP Community, you implement a system designed to ENCOURAGE said time investment.

Hence the reason I shared this;


Its Human Behavioral Science. There is an actual methodology associated with the things I was suggesting.
Do you HAVE to use said suggestions? No, obviously.
But there's actual wisdom in said feedback. Even if said ideas inspired something similar, the point is my wisdom has been shared and its for the purpose of being helpful. If what you're doing hasn't been working, then consider a "new perspective" to be just the thing you're missing. You might be surprised by the results.

@Dias Blade

I don't think anyone is going to argue that arena needs an overhaul. Strictly speaking for myself, an achievement system and other shallow reward systems are not going to turn people like me into arena regulars. I need to feel like the mini-community is worth participating in. But I've already said this.

I feel the core problem with Arena is that nobody really wants to change anything. Anything that would require an admin's help (coding) is well out of arms reach.

Arena Chat Thread

@Dias Blade

The newby tourney brought in new blood from other sections, and almost everyone hides their arena stats, that's a fact. full stop.

The gauntlet mode you proposed sounds just like every fight I've had outside of arena. I actually did something like that in my DR RP, where I controlled 8 highly trained robots and their superbot. The 20 other player characters had to create a plan that minimized casualties and would allow them to take down the superbot. Some of them fought poorly and got themselves or others killed.

I really just think people should do more story-driven arena RP's and tone down on the attitude so people can find talking with people in the forum non-confrontational. The rest will come with time. Baby steps.

@Inkarnate

This approach seems to have worked for the rest of the forum.