Krayzikk

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

So in further news it's about midnight for me...

Y'all got two weeks and it's been awhile since contests so you better give me some good writing to feast on.

@Write

I thought the deadline was today for a single second and I head-desked.

Dammit Write don't scare me like that.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Looks like I've messed up pretty badly then. It's not been many times in my life that I've felt my heart sink. Doing badly on tests gets me pretty badly, but I think that knowing that I've screwed up so badly that now people who I care about hate me and that there's nothing I can do to fix it is just about the worst feeling I can have. For a while I was holding out the hope that others were in the wrong, but it looks like it's me. It makes me want to either give up or break down, completely. I'm sorry, for whatever it's worth. Anything I could say in my defense would only make me shabbier. It must seem like a complete lie if I say that I never meant to be an asshole, except for my recent post to Plank. I say I'm stupid because I don't think about what I'm saying online, and what effect it has on people, which is why I tend do go back and edit my posts loads of times. That much is true.

I don't know what to do next. Would it fix things if I were to leave, or does suggesting that make me even more of an asshole? I never thought I'd dig myself a grave this deep.

@Lugubrious

No one's asking you to leave. If anything, your departure would be the final nail in the coffin; games rarely survive that power vacuum. Nor did anyone say anything with the intent to make you leave. I can't speak for Write, but I think he spoke up for the same reason I did; we saw the stakes get too high too imminently, and weren't about to leave Plank out in the cold.

When someone fucks up, they sometimes need to be shown that they fucked up. You were.

So try and learn from that as we all move on.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

<Snipped quote by Plank Sinatra>

I'd ask to be forgiven for taking more than five minutes to think up an appropriate response, which is something that has evidently escaped you, but I'm honestly sick with trying to be accommodating to your hair-trigger temper. I'm aware of my own communication issues and I've been doing the best I can. Not instantly pumping out a response is not indicative for ignoring; for instance, I haven't assumed that you were ignoring the multiple posts I've written IC while you've been not posting for more than a month. I merely assumed that you were busy. If I'm a shameless and aggravating moron, then at least Write is being courteous and mature enough to deal with me like an adult, and not foam at the mouth with nastiness at the slightest indication of a slight on someone else's behalf. I applaud Write for his patient and considerate treatment of me. You, on the other hand, have made my minuscule brain ache one too many times. For Heaven's sake, either mind your own business or mind the door on your way out.

@Write I am very glad to clear up any misunderstandings I may have and strive to provide a better creative environment from you. Expect my PM shortly.

@Lugubrious

Ooookay, this is where I've got to cut in. Plank here has posted when there are posts for him to respond to, with greater regularity than I have. I've been busy not posting for Ben because I didn't really feel like dealing with bullshit for the past week. The majority of BASL and JCL have been gritting their teeth to get through Brewing Storm for the past month, and irritation is a very reasonable reaction when you just axed a team without so much as a by-your-leave, and originally said "Just forgot about them".

If you're going to tell Plank to mind the door, I'd hope you're ready for a very sudden, very drastic reduction in players. I'd say two team's worth, minimum.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

How're you all doing? I expect that school's over for pretty much everyone, though of course that means the resurgence of work.

@Lugubrious

Quite well. I've been moving, which has held me up a bit, but there should be some BASL posts coming soon.

Your Hero Academia!

Is this still accepting? @Write showed it to me, and I might see about drafting up a CS if it is.

Mobile Suit Gundam - Londo Bell's Rising

I cannot speak for Swift, but I have unfortunately been busy. My family was moving just after I returned from school. My ability to post should be more consistent now that we have.

Mobile Suit Gundam - Londo Bell's Rising

Akemi cocked her head slightly, regarding the man with what resembled faint curiosity. She took a bite of her food without looking, instead briefly swapping the focus of her gaze for her brother as if to determine whether or not he had picked up on the same points of interest she had. If Akimi gave any indication of his opinion, it wasn't one anyone else picked up on. His twin nevertheless looked back to the guard and permitted her head to return to its usual orientation while she took a bite of food.

"I did not say we were new." The female Schida said simply, taking a bite of her food before continuing to elaborate. "We have not previously been enlisted in a recognized Earth Federation Forces unit. We have seen combat in the First Neo Zeon War. By the standard of old Earth branches of aerial services, we would be considered aces by virtue of having a kill count in excess of five enemy units each. These actions were not sanctioned by the Augusta Newtype Lab, however."

"We were not permitted to take part in the Second Neo Zeon War. I was quite disappointed."

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

It doesn't have to be an either-or is what I'm getting at, though. In fact it shouldn't be. Collabs should never be used to the exclusion of traditional posts, and traditional posts shouldn't mean that a few players can't cover an interaction or development heavy sequence in a collab.

The problem is that right now, collabs have pushed out traditional posts almost entirely. Thus the community and activity (seems to) dry up. And it has dried up; just because writing is going on doesn't mean the game is active. It means preparations are happening for the day that a post might go up and show all the work that's happened.

Traditional posting can get a little rapid fire, but this is Casual. One liners aren't allowed, so people can't just spam activity. And for people who really can't keep up with the potential for quick posts, just keeping an eye on what posts are relevant is easy. The "Unread" button makes going right back to where you left off literally as simple as a mouse click. And then you can just skim through display names until you see posts from someone you're waiting for. If you miss something important, like someone arriving to an interaction they weren't at before, a quick PM fixes that in an instant.

It doesn't have to be all or nothing, but keeping everything in pads is killing the game.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

I for one do not really mind the collabs. Regarding the lack of OOC activity it was more often an assortment of random stuff completely unrelated to the RP which frankly is better suited for a skype group or somesuch, from writing perspective I'd rather have the option to do easy inserts and edits on stuff like missions because it just makes it look neater, and from a readers perspective it took me a couple of days of convincing myself to actually catch up with other missions than our own just because it's so easy to lose thread in such plethora of posts - I find it much more enjoyable to read a couple of larger chunks.

I don't really see the problem with the illusion of the thread being dead because we do not need to attract new people. IMHO it should really be a common courtesy to notify others if you are going to have an extended absence and to check the RP for progress. If people can be bothered to click that subs button once a day, where's the problem.

@Forsythe

Except a Skype group for Beacon as a whole doesn't exist, which means the OOC is the one place a sense of community forms. Community beyond the fragmented subgroups, that is. When that begins to wither, the community withers.

And collabs are detrimental because, ultimately, RPGs thrive on interaction. A collab every now and again can be very good. But where I come from, they're referred to as jams (in the sense of "jam session"); in keeping with the term, they are what you add to food to make it better. You don't build your sandwich out of jam. When everything is done in collabs, games fragment and disintegrate because you aren't all playing one game anymore. You're playing half a dozen separate ones that don't overlap in any way.

And as we've seen here, that leads to dying games. When the first OOC post in a week is a comment on how dead the activity of the game is, you've long since crossed over into "too many collabs". I can cite a list more than half a dozen entries long of games that have died this way.

Mobile Suit Gundam - Londo Bell's Rising

I will try to have one done today. My semester didn't end until Friday, and I only got home late last night, so I've been a bit busy.