BrokenPromise

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

If you enjoyed Helltaker, you should play Awaria.

If you didn't enjoy Helltaker, you should play Awaria.

It's free, so there's no reason not to try it. Especially if you like arcade "puzzle" action or ghost waifus.

Do You Have RP Pet Peeves?

@Letter Bee I do not find that annoying. Maybe if it's done excessively, but anyone can get annoyed with anything.

Do You Have RP Pet Peeves?

This has serious “Bitching Thread V3.0” energy, but if we all act like adults maybe it won’t get locked.

For the time I’ve been roleplaying, many of my pet peeves have come and gone. I’ll often move past some only for others to spring up in their place. But the one thing that consistently bugs me is people who publicly complain. We all talk about our grievances from time to time, but I feel that is best done as privately as possible. If a player or GM has an issue with a post, it should be a matter addressed between those people in PM/DMs. If you just want to vent, one on one with a friend or group is fine for that. Matters involving an entire RP (which rarely happens) could be hashed out in the OOC, or preferably over an IM service like Discord. But I see little reason to vent one’s grievances to everyone.

The status bar is probably the most egregious example of this. You have people taking to the status bar to overshare family drama report every time their writing partner does something annoying. Why are you trying to put this in front of a stranger’s eyeballs? Are you trying to validate your position by fishing for a few likes? Do you hope that your writing partner will see you complain and change because you can’t talk to them directly? I have a hard time finding flattering reasons for people to vent in this way even if they have a good reason to do so.

Another problem with complaining, and especially chronic complaining, is that everyone has learned to read between the lines. Complaining about ghosting creates the perception that you are impatient and/or not worth playing with. Rushing to the status bar to mention icky writing practices makes you come off as a Mark Twain wannabe that can’t write to your own standards. Complaining about the size of a long post can oust you as someone who finds it painful to read. Your complaining might resonate with a few, but every time you do so you alienate a group of potential writing pals. It’s the same reason most people won’t join RPs where there are 20+ rules. Even if half of the rules seem reasonable, it starts to feel strict and controlling when taken too far.

If a status bar complainer saw this post, do you think they’d change their ways or just write me off as a jerk?

Battle Toyale — Christmas Rumble!

There are many horrific fates that can befall a sailor, more so a pirate. In addition to the risk of drowning or being eaten by a sea creature, a pirate is also at the mercy of other pirates and their hunters. From Kurosame’s experience, humans could be more cruel than any force of nature. She had heard stories of men placed in wooden boxes and buried where their treasure used to be. While Kurosame was in a box, it was not made out of wood, above ground, and all of her effects appeared to be with her.

Though something was off.

The pirate’s surroundings were not familiar to her. Nor was her body, which seemed to be made out of a hard, wood-like material. Before the absurdity of the situation sunk in, a flood of thoughts entered her mind. Yes, she had agreed to be here. While many of the specifics were left out, she understood this was a free for all and only the winner would get their wish granted, allegedly. Thinking further on her predicament would have to wait until later. Across the aisle she could see someone systematically walking past toys and ending them with a skewer of their tail. There would be no rest here.

Rather than bursting out of the front of her box, Kurosame took hold of her sword and shoved it through the top. She grabbed her hat before climbing out and landing on the edge of the shelf. A quick look around didn’t reveal any immediate threats, so she took stock of her equipment. As she did so, she was starting to understand how her equipment had been altered in this world. Even her blade was a great deal thicker now that it was encased in some crystal composite. It was fine. She had trained with many swords, and just because this wasn’t going to behave like a standard katana didn’t mean she couldn’t use it.

Next order of business was figuring out what had become of her magic. She could feel that she still had it, but she was so… dry. Nothing but air left her lips as she tried to conjure a simple droplet. She would need to hydrate somehow, and the water pelting the glass window let her know how she might do that.

She ran to the edge of the shelf and jumped, soaring across the isle and landing before the window. With a hefty swing, she managed to crack the glass. Part of her would have loved to have smashed right through it, but a simple crack would work for her purposes. She raised her hand to the crack, and the falling rain began to pool over the crack. Then it seeped through, racing down her arm and behind the seam between her face and the back of her head. Before long, the space in her chest would be filled.

In addition to all the curious things going on, a voice told Kurosame of a mask hidden in the center of the toy store. Given how few of the awakening toys were headed in that direction, it seemed safe to assume that it hadn’t been relayed to everyone. Though she couldn’t confirm that it wasn’t a trap of some sort. Maybe another toy had simply whispered such a thing to her, but it wasn't something that could be ignored. If such things existed in the toy store, holding as many as she could would increase her chances for survival.

After pulling as much water through the crack as she dared, she allowed the water to surround her and launch her through the air. She held her breath inside the water droplet as it soared towards Kanohi Kama, unaware of what would be waiting for her.

Intro!

I just saw your status about soft pretzels.

I made these about a week ago and they were very good.

saltandbaker.com/homemade-soft-pretzels

Also, welcome to the guild.

Battle Toyale — Christmas Rumble!

@Shinny Just for clarification, does this mean that everyone with an accepted character can post?

Related to that, were you going to randomize our start positions, or are you letting us start wherever?

Symphony on High

"At least she didn’t try to blast my stones."

— Elroy Bates

@Ponn@Majoraa

Elroy’s gauntlet latched onto Ashley’s shield when she brought it up to defend herself. As big and imposing as Elroy’s shield was, its size did make it hard to fit into small spaces. His own arm prevented him from intercepting Ashley’s wand, which she was able to slide her wand under her shield and blast his torso. To a normal esper this would have been a fatal if not battle ending attack. But rather than green techno energy burning through his intestines, his abbs cracked and spewed magma out of them. But he didn’t stop moving forward. He didn’t stop moving up.

Elroy jumped into the air. He was still holding onto Ashley’s shield, so she came up with him. The rushing air would have thrown them both off of the train, but the barrier that was keeping the rain out had also locked the air in place. Though that didn’t explain how Elroy was hovering twenty or so feet in the air.

"Maybe you’d be happy to know my sister is dismantling Crazy Train as we speak."

Below her, Ashley could see the battle unfold. Finn had almost become dashed against the rocks, but the time kid’s quick thinking and quicker melody manifestation saw him teleporting right back aboard. But instead of engaging the nuns, he ran for the incoming spirits. The wall of spectral humans split up, with some crossing arms with Finn and the rest swooping towards the other agents.

Raven was clearly toying with the idea of shooting Elroy, but with Ashley in such close proximity, and Bobo trying to fry them, it wasn’t worth the risk. That, and she was about to receive backup.

”Leave ‘em, we gotta deal with this one first!” Cerise seemed to agree with her notion. With the added intervention of Peace Train’s attendants moving in to attack them, there was no way they’d be able to keep coordinated on just Elroy. The miko nodded to Raven before swiftly moving to rush Bobo and slam her shield into her, channeling a melody through to add a bit of fuel in the resulting impact.

Bobo put her mace between herself and the incoming Miko before bracing herself for impact. Then the specters rushed past her and clamored to Cerise. Her melody vaporised the first ghost, but more quickly took its place. Bobo had plenty of time to dive into the air, where, much like Elroy, she floated in place. She aimed her flamethrower at the Miko before pouring napalm over her. But the massive shield held fast, and even Raven rallied behind her for protection. The ghosts were unbothered by the flames, nor did they seem to mind Raven’s shots.

"This isn’t good…"

Elsewhere, Mika rushed Lexi. Her bestial magic surged towards her hands as she closed in on the nun. After seeing what happened to Finn, she knew she needed to be careful. But unlike Finn, Mika had recently developed an innate ability to tell when something was being aimed at her, and from where. If Lexi was hiding again, she’d pick up on it immediately. But it didn’t seem like that was at play. Perhaps Lexi was banking on Mika being too cautious about sharing Finn's fate. Mika didn’t care.

As Mika closed in on Lexi, she took to the sky. She soared over to Mika’s flank and swat her with her staff, casting Mika off Peace Train. As she fell, Mika groaned in annoyance that she had managed to fall to a similar trick as Finn, but this could work to her favor. Moments before smashing into the ground, her emergency power activated and placed her right behind Lexi. She swiped at the nun’s back, but only managed to cut into her shoulder before she pulled away. The nun clenched her teeth and floated over to her allies.

Then Peace train passed through Pax Septimus. It was hovering high enough that it passed over the streets. Even at its speed, it passed over parked cars, traffic lights, and overpasses without destroying a single structure. "My oh my." Elroy scoffed. "Look at all the destruction this thing is subjecting the populace to!" He hurled Ashley back at the train before lifting his shield. "Why didn’t you guys attack the other train first? Doesn’t this seem weird to you?" But what were these questions at a time like this? Hadn’t the time for discussion passed?

With Elroy’s allies grouped together, he soared towards the GEMINI agents. Bobo and Lexi fired over either side of his shield. Blazing napalm and winged lanterns filled the air on their approach.

---

”The trick to enjoying a good 3v1 is to be on the winning team!”

— Regina Bates

@Vertigo@The World@Nakushita

Again, it was Marrie who acted as the spearpoint for the team. While most espers would regard a smoke barrier with caution, especially one that turned angels into rolling heads, the fog charged into the smoke. Most would call the action foolish, but it was a gamble that might pay off. The smoke that Nova had created was only a wall, and Marrie could see everything once she flew through the veil. The nuns were already changing positions to make their positions less obvious to those that could no longer see them.

Lenore’s eye glowed bright as Marrie closed in. Sword met chain, but both parties passed each other without incident. Once Marrie landed, she stole some of Crazy Train’s mana through contact with her weapon. Maybe it wasn’t a lot, but monsters used mana differently than humans did. Mana wasn’t used for casting melodies, but it was needed to stay alive. Monsters that lost too much of their mana would grow tired and fall asleep, or worse. Surely Crazy Train wasn’t so far gone that such a small amount would be important, right?

Lenore (and Nova) appeared to be running towards the smoke wall. Lenore sidestepped the incoming rogue shadow projectile. It flew through the smoke screen and didn’t hit anything. But just as they got close to the wall, the two of them hugged and walked into the smoke wall. What was going on?

Where was Regina?

Back on the Maverick’s side of the train, the Ruinous Meteor barrelled through the smoke like she was breaking through the atmosphere. A rock appeared in her hand, and not a moment later did it burst into flames. She lobbed it at Ciri’s face afterwards. A simple burning stone might have been easy to dodge, but why was Regina’s body catching fire? She was from the jungle.

A mighty nova of flame blasted out of Regina in every direction. It came too fast to avoid, and it rolled right through everything it touched. It set Ciri on fire, it set her spider on fire, it set her spider on fire, it set Crazy Train’s back on fire, and it set Marrie’s portal on fire. Even Himiko wasn’t able to avoid it during her casual, lackadaisical stroll back over to the combat area. If she had pigtails right now, she’d have burned them off. Only Marrie had been spared due to her and Regina rushing in different directions.

Regina was soon joined by the nuns, who came out of the smoke screen just moments behind her. They had managed to avoid the scorching, even as the flames crept along the giant train’s back. With a war cry, Regina brandished her daggers and closed in on the burning goth punk oni.

March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay

"When your header’s this big, you don’t have room to include anyone else’s!"

— Chloe Irving

"Boy are you in for a treat!" Chloe led her girlfriend in front of her hidden army. There, filling the space of a football field was an array of blood red skeletons. Because Ruby wasn’t familiar with warhammer 40K, she did not know the name of each unit, but she could tell she was standing in front of a terrifying force. The ones in front were simple skeletons in armor, wielding magical swords, spears, and shields. Behind several rows of them were larger skeletons, easily three times the size of a man. They each had an extra pair of arms, and had either a greatshield and a halberd or a sword in each of their four hands. Further back were even more monstrous abominations, which looked like large animals divorced from anything resembling a man. There were also “Gothizard Harvesters” like the one that was used as a bodyguard at the meeting. Further behind them were rows of trebuchets, but made out of bone and with legs instead of wheels. It definitely looked like an army that an eldritch horror could conjure. "Tada! What do you think? I can answer any questions you might have."

Armies were not really Ruby’s scene. These were things she usually avoided as a Djinn. Wishes people made under those circumstances didn’t tend to turn out well. At least she didn’t really have to worry about those compulsions anymore. As she surveyed the sheer number of creatures, it certainly felt intimidating. She would whistle. ”Wow. These are from your patron, I assume?” It wasn’t really that hard to identify, but she didn’t know all that much about Chloe’s other patron.

"Sort of." She tapped her fingers together. "Without getting too into the weeds, I was supplied with some undead mages that specialize in creating things like this. They’ve been building this little army for a few weeks now, but I added a few of my own touches." A grin crossed Chloe’s face when she thought about the gothizard devastators they had made. The bony abominations that were made from the “penny papers” before all of the Mint research was destroyed. And then there was another surprise, but no point in popping the lid off of that yet.

Not far away, Harmony was standing aside running the numbers and assessing all the units in preparation. She would turn to the two as they approached. ”Ah, good to see you Chloe. I was just making sure your army was in order.”

"I figured as much." Chloe didn’t fully trust Harmony yet. She understood that Harmony was very much for Mint and against the Queen, but she was also a potential competitor in the future. Though something like this couldn’t be fully hidden from the Mint, so she had reluctantly told her about it. Some of Chloe’s other minions were also present, which was the only reason she trusted Harmony wasn’t going to try and turn this to her advantage. She hadn’t told Harmony about the Gothizard Devastators or her surprise. At the very least, she wouldn’t be able to figure out exactly what they were. That was the most important thing. "Any word from the other factions? Is the Tin Princess ready to roll yet?"

Pausing for a moment, Harmony would check up on what systems had some insight to the meeting. ”Not completely sure. I believe she is in another meeting I am not present for. I expect more action to come once that’s finished.” After a couple seconds she shrugged and gave a awkward smile. ”Penrose isn’t the most organized group I imagine.”

"Understatement of the year…" Chloe rolled her eyes. "So! How closely have you been observing my minions? Probably close enough to know they aren’t exactly your average magical girl fodder, right?"

”To a degree. I can’t say I understand a lot about magical creatures like these. It’s like... book smarts. You know a lot of information, but it’s very different in practice.” She would try and explain. Having a load of data dumped into her head didn’t automatically mean she had command of it all. The AI wasn’t really built for that purpose.

"Well! I was just about to explain what this is to Ruby, so you can listen in." She turned away from the AI to look at her girlfriend. ”I don’t think it’s a secret to say that a lot of magical girls have died in Penrose. Sometimes the overcity area, but you know, it’s just… something that kind of happens a lot. Especially if we include the rave." She turned to her armies. ”Nagash works in souls. So many souls. Each of his creations are made by fusing the strongest parts of various souls to bone, and then animating them to be obedient servants. Normally, they would not be terribly powerful. I mean, compared to a magical girl, that is. Even if they are made up of several human souls, souls do have their limits." A smile crossed her face. ”Which is why all of these guys are made from magical and monster girl souls! I hunted everywhere for resurrecting magical girl souls,though the bulk of them came from the rave." Harmony likely knew that the whole fiasco was Chloe’s doing. Ruby hopefully didn’t. Regardless of what was offered, it had always been Chloe’s goal to get her hands on a large sum of monster girl souls and a few ascendancy souls for this very purpose. The cycle of reincarnation would likely cause her creations to break down after a decade or so, but they should be able to do some fighting in this upcoming battle without any issue. "It’s almost poetic, isn’t it? The dead returning to defend Penrose one last time…"

Listening intently, the details didn’t seem to bother the holographic girl all that much. Hard to say exactly why that was, but not having any connection to the magical girls in question probably went a long way. ”Impressive. I don’t imagine that is an easy task.” With more details, she could better identify the essence of souls with her Spirit magic.

Ruby herself had not ever seen anything like these creatures before. Though she could not say she was surprised. Magical girls were magic after all and that power can be used in many different ways. But to Chloe’s observation. ”It does have a poetic note to it.” It still a bit awkward given that Chloe was likely involved with some of these creations. Most were probably unrelated though. ”So what is the plan for them? Will they be with whatever the others are planning, or will they be in another offensive?”

Chloe wrapped her arm around both girls and pulled them into a huddle. "Well, things have been dragging a bit, haven’t they?" She grinned like a shark. "These guys were always going to be a distraction, but if everyone is still twiddling their thumbs then maybe I have to be the point of the spear.”

”Ooh, that sounds fun. What did you have in mind?” To Harmony this sounded like an interesting challenge. Already her mind began to reach out and craft scenarios of how best to move each piece. Not that combat was exactly her strongest area, but enough overlapped that it wasn’t that hard to imagine what could be done.

"I’m just going to start the attack myself!”

Harmony noded along. ”Mhm. And that would divert some of the Queen of Heart’s forces away from where the others will be going.”

Chloe grinned. "Possibly all of it, if the other teams keep stalling.”

Ruby was a little less enthusiastic on the matter, though it would probably take a while longer than she was thinking to attack. ”Shouldn’t we wait until their meeting is done at least? That way we aren’t left without backup or for them to have the chance to start whatever it is they have in mind.”

"Time isn’t on our side, queenie knows as much.” Chloe wrapped her arm around Ruby. "If there’s something that big group huddle we were all in taught me, it was that nothing happens around here until a fight starts. Maybe the meeting pans out, maybe it doesn’t. I don’t see how kicking the hornet’s nest could hurt. Maybe putting wonderland under siege will give our allies room at the negotiation table. Mary likes to work alone, and I’m sure she can adapt to whatever we do.” She winked.

”Okay. Do you need me to do anything specific?” Harmony would look over to Chloe. ”Oh, would you like me to try and predict our success?”

Chloe swung her eyes off of her waifu and onto the digital monster girl. "I think I have everything covered, but sure, calculate our success. I’m curious.”

With a nod, Harmony would direct her processing and magic to foresee the possible outcome of their assault. Her visage would flash and blink as traces of light zip up and down her body. Her eyes would glow bright as she zoned out. ”I see your forces are able to prevent the flanking by Wonderland’s armored forces and capture the army base.” A moment later, she would return to normal and gasp out loud. Recoiling, Harmony would and grasp at Chloe and move in close. ”Y-you should not attack alone.” She would whisper in a hushed, but urgent tone.

"Why is that?” Chloe continued to grin.

Chloe clearly didn’t know what Harmony has seen in her vision. ”I saw your head in front of a castle surrounded by the bones of Nagash’s troops.”

"Really now? My head in front of a castle? And it wasn’t attached?” Chloe held her chin when she looked over the army. "That’s awfully specific. I thought for sure you’d give me a probability. But if I’m doomed to fail, I suppose I shouldn’t lead the army.” She placed a hand on her hip. "I’ll just have to hope that the hekatos are up to leading the army.” She pointed at a necropolis stalker "Sakura! Lead the charge! Do what you were born to do!” The giant skeleton moved to the front of the army. "It’s not like we have much of a choice at this point. The queen is all seeing, so we are forced to attack sooner rather than later.”

”Usually it is data. I think the events are close enough that they are clearer.” She sighs. ”I’m glad it was though. I don’t want to see you killed.”

It was a shame that Chloe hadn’t gotten to know Harmony earlier on. Maybe if she had, she would have been able to involve her more deeply in her machinations. Initially, Chloe was pissed when she realized Harmony was going around acting like her own free agent, but it was starting to seem like that was just a quirk of her being a monster girl rather than some deep seated desire to run everything some day. She wrapped her arm around the girl’s waist and pulled her close. Chloe was shoulder to shoulder with both girls. "With any luck, the others will get here soon.”

Sakura pointed one of its four swords towards wonderland, and the entire army started to move. Extremely disciplined, all possessing the exact same ability and moving as one cohesive unit. Humans could not move with such unison, and even the more monstrous of the ossiarch moved with machine-like precision. Even though each of those creatures had a soul, not one of them was acting with anything more but single minded devotion. Fanatics in everything but name.

"Could you tell Penny that the siege has started? My army got spotted.”

Symphony on High

"Miko are just weeby versions of nuns, you know?"

— Elroy Bates

@Ponn@Majoraa

And why would Elroy talk with Ashley? Each faction had its own slander. Freelancers were a bunch of dumb money grubbing wannabes, Maverick Alternative were monster loving terrorists, and GEMINI was a collection of murderous sociopaths. If this was just a payday for him, then “saving innocents” was just an excuse to see some guts splattered all over the wall.

The Bates brother's shield had a well documented ability to absorb impacts without letting the wielder feel any of it. Ashley was reminded of this when her techno blasts smashed into the shield with no visible change in Elroy's momentum or trajectory. As she had surmised earlier, they would need to get around him if they were going to neutralize him.

Elroy barreled forward like a train himself. Raven took a deep breath and rushed him. But he was hidden behind his shield, which was spewing flames out the side. With a hop, Raven rolled off to the side and fired at Elroy. This wasn’t anyone’s first rodeo. The legendary freelancer shielded the side of his head with his gauntlet, and the bullet rebounded off of Elroy’s fist. She wouldn’t have time to fire again before he rolled a ball of magma at Raven. She hopped out of the way just as it popped into a puddle of lava.

Taking advantage of the opening Raven indirectly provided, Cereza opened fire on Elroy, saving one arrow specifically to shoot a piercing melody at his arm; an attempt to disarm him of his shield. But a sudden twitch of his arm pulled the shield in front of the projectile. While such a melody would pass through most defences, the obsidian esper was exceptional and the projectile stopped at his shield. He pivoted off course from Ashley and slammed into Cereza hard enough to roll her onto her back. Without missing a beat, he lunged for Ashley, leading with his gauntlet.

Meanwhile, Cerise quickly moved to follow after Raven. Ashley had her own shield, she’d be fine without hers. The scarlet haired miko tossed her own melody at Raven, one of crimson light, and one to keep her shielded from Elroy’s attacks for a little while. Though Elroy wasn’t who they had to worry about presently…

A flame appeared on the end of Bobo’s gun, which was now leveled at Raven and Cerise. With a gasp, Raven grabbed Cerise by her collar and hopped back just as the napalm was fired in their direction.

Finn and Mika both had the same idea of taking on Lexi, though while Mika preferred a straightforward approach, Finn placed himself behind her. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth opened once she realised she was surrounded. Finn and Mika swiped at the same time.

Their attacks hit nothing but air.

The nun before them shriveled and waved, like a mirage vanishing in the summer heat. Just as the agents were starting to assess the situation, a projectile flew out of the darkness. It looked like a lamp with four feathered wings. It smashed into Finn’s back and sent him skidding off the edge of the train. The train was only a few feet off the ground, but at the speed it was moving at, the fall would be near fatal to a normal human. Moreover, he wouldn’t be participating in the rest of the operation.

But Mika didn’t care about that. She looked to see where the projectile had come from and noticed the shadows melting off of Lexi in the distance. It was like she had never moved from her spot, provided this too wasn’t some kind of illusion. She renewed her resolve and scuffed her way towards Lexi, weary of what getting hit by her melodies could do.

Meanwhile, the spirits were no longer just orbiting around. Shovel brandishing specters howled before charging the length of the train towards the Gemini agents. They only had a few seconds to act before they were set upon.

Death of the genre

I do sort of understand this point but it is hard to argue with the forum visitor numbers posted for all to see on the front page that has gone down considerably from what I consider the heyday of RPG (and other forums).

It's not as if I can't find RP's if I want to - rather, it is the opposite - but moreso that the amount of fresh blood is diminishing quite heavily.

@Dion

Visitor numbers no longer reflect hidden users or even "guests." I've seen 500+ people roaming casual and that was just a month or so ago. And new people join the forum all the time. I think the bulk of them are less social because that's a lot more interesting on Discord.

Again I see your point, but I used to be a group-RPer only (and even looked down on the gooners in the 1x1 section) and the experience was only different because there was a million RP's back then (granted 50% of them were a variation of (Fandom) in Equestria, but soit). I'd kill for a group RP that works for me but my tastes are no longer satisfied by "Naruto: with a twist" so I do most of my writing on other forums now -- even there, though, the issue is persistent in that group RP's tend to die extremely quickly nowadays compared to before when a bunch of no-life kids sat around writing 5 posts a day. I don't think I look for a GM that has understandable rules, but I look for a GM that can just run the RP in a way where people stick around. It doesn't have to be super well constructed if it's fun and the GM is genuinely involved, which a lot of them don't seem to be (and never were! This is a problem as old as time, but back then you'd just replace it with a different one). That's more of a critique on the GMing styles that seem to be prevalent though, and less about the platform.

@Dion

I feel like group RPs have gotten a lot more original, or at least they haven't diminished as much as the fandoms have. Again, there's no shortage of stuff for me to join here, so I can't relate to your experiences.