56 replies to this topic

[DarkLink_14]

Alright, I'm starting this to have a central place dedicated to updates, news, and discussions concerning the LA Chronicles. This isn't supposed to be a place to plan and plot your own RPGs, I'll bug DJ about re-opening the RPG Discussion for this reason, but I will be posting news about what I'm working on concerning the chronicles, as well as give you guys a place to post your ideas and comments.

This next portion is a repost of my latest post in the World Guide Poll thread, but I think it fits well here too:

Sorry that I haven't updated since that last time. Don't worry though, I haven't forgotten about it. I've just been horrendously busy with school these past few weeks and by the looks of it, will be so for a few more weeks.

I've still got some items planned for the world guide, including more ancient civilization profiles, more towns (I'm sorry I still haven't updated the map), a few more location profiles, and dating of all events mentioned in the guide.

Also, if you'd like more updates and don't want to wait for me to have time to write stuff, write something up yourself and send it to me. I wanted this to be something of an open forum where the world was as much a product of your imagination than it was of mine, so I'll be more than glad to accept any reasonable submission.

Also, if anyone could send me a digest of important events occuring in each of the RPGs, especially stuff you think should be added to the world guide. Fortunately, activity in this forum has mushroomed far beyond my original predictions and there's almost no way for me to keep track of this stuff on my own as I originally planned. That said, I have been considering requesting another mod to help me out in running this forum, more info on that at a later date.

But please, continue posting, and send me material (writings, drawings, ideas, whatever).

ME WANTEE!

IMPORTANT - FEEDBACK AND COMMENTS GREATLY APPRECIATED

As I'm sure all of you know, RPG activity is pretty much confined to the Dorms. There are very, very few (if any) characters whose allegiances lie with the Alliance, and I for one think this hurts the RPG as a whole because many aspects of the world are left unexplored and unused. Now, I know most RPers here are here because they are in a dorm and do this sort of as a dorm activity and I know the one character allowed will almost certainly go to a dorm-related character.

So, I am considering allowing each member one additional character so long as it is a non-dorm aligned character that is operating mainly on solid Alliance territory. I'm hoping this will get RPGs to expand beyond only dorm-related storylines and locations, allowing members across dorms to RP together were they normally couldn't. Now, I do realize there are some downsides to this. A lot of people find it hard enough to keep up with one RPG (I know the number of posts per RPG are staggering, even to me) and might not want to keep track of a second. Others, still, may just use the character as an additional character in current Dorm-related RPGs and do nothing to expand the world. And of course, others might have absolutely no interest in playing the other side of things and just not use it. Still, a lot of these could simply be solved by the person choosing not to create a second character and aren't compelling reasons not to do it. I am not planning to institute this feature right now, nor do I have any idea of when I would do so. This second character also wouldn't be just another character slot. It would have to be an Allianced-aligned character, not a dorm-related character. I would however, consider allowing a player to create 2 Alliance characters and no dorm character.

I want to hear your ideas on the subject. Is it a good idea? What do you like about it? What don't you like about it? Would you use the second character at all? Do you think other players would use the character correctly? All ideas I want you to throw my way.

[Steel Samurai]

Well actually I like the "one-character-per-person" rule. It makes it seem more like we're actually in the world as our online personalities than just controlling a mindless army of characters who do our bidding, if that makes any sense. Especially since most of our character names are already just derivatives of our nicks.

Edited by Steel Samurai, 11 October 2006 - 06:24 PM.

[Selena]

I wouldn't mind playing a bad guy in addition to my dorm character. Well.... good guy. ...*scratches head* Opposing player! There we go!


Although this reminds me I did write up a more extensive entry for LoD a little while ago. Will PM it to you in a little while. And as always, if you have any additional ideas for Dorm War/Chronicles integration, lemme know and I'll see if they're doable.

[SL the Pyro]

AUGH! I had plans to invite a third character into my fold... great. JUST great. Now I'm STUCK with Z and Koran. So much for my plot twist... :linkcry:

But wait a minute, what about all the people who already had extra characters, like me and Gabe?

[Selena]

Erm.... you're only supposed to have one. Thus the 'one character per person' rule. Otherwise, you've been breaking one of the few rules the Chronicles had this entire time, if you have in fact taken on a second character.

[Goose]

I'm for having more characters. Well Yeah, I love the RPGs. I"d love to have an agent smith type character.

[Steel Samurai]

AUGH! I had plans to invite a third character into my fold... great. JUST great. Now I'm STUCK with Z and Koran. So much for my plot twist... :linkcry:

But wait a minute, what about all the people who already had extra characters, like me and Gabe?

Motoko and Koran are like . . . major NPCs rather than being specific characters. Motoko is rarely if ever away from Gabe anyway, so they basically count as one. And as for Koran, he hasn't really done anything yet.

[Xeres]

I agree with Steel's point about the 'one character' rule making our characters better representations of ourselves. But I wouldn't be opposed to playing an alliance character. Would give me more stuff to do.

Also, in response to the people who've been 'kinda sorta' having more than one character... I think if they need their own 'blurb' in the character section... Then they're another character. I'm kind of against having two characters around at the same time. It creates an imbalance in any situation, and makes interaction more difficult.

[DarkLink_14]

I'll look over these possible multi-character offenses. There will be no change in the one-character per person rule, not involving this case anyways, but there is a problem in defining the difference between a player character (that you have to submit) and an NPC. Xeres' definition is nice, but I don't think it would work all too well, especially not when the RPGs here tend to succeed one another, it is easy for an NPC to reappear and become developed into a three-dimensional character itself. Right now I'm thinking that what differentiates a player character from an NPC would be playing rights.

PCs belong to individual members and as such are controlled ONLY by that member, except for a few rare exceptions, as per general RPG rules. NPCs are free game to ANYONE in the RPG at any time. So if Motoko and Koran (the characters not registered in the character list) are ruled as NPCs, then Dark Link and Gabe would loose their right to exclusively control their fate.

Even then, if an NPC, developed enough that it could need a submission, is controlled for an exended period exclusively by one player, it would be considered an illegal second character. This is pretty much my stance on it and should be taken as official until I say otherwise.

I can see this could be a point where a long list of legislation could be drawn up to regulate everything in the Chronicles and that is something I don't want to happen. If everyone just follows the few rules to a reasonable extent, we should be fine without me having to make any more declarations.


As for the new second character rule, you guys have been making good points as to why you wouldn't use the second character but no one has really said anything wide-reaching about why the the rule shouldn't be implemented. Right now it looks like the rule COULD (but isn't yet) be implemented and everything would run fine with people choosing to just not use it.

My main argument for not implement it right now is my fear that people would simply create the character and just use it to supplement dorm-related RPGs, which is completely opposite of the feature's purpose, which is to extend the RPGs outside of the Dorms and into the Alliance, focusing on Alliance locations, characters, and events. Granted dorm RPG events could affect an Alliance RPG, but I don't want to see RPGs starting in the Alliance and moving over to supplement a Dorm-related storyline.

[DarkLink_14]

Alright, the World Guide has been updated with an article by Button. Thanks Button!

Also, his submission brings up a very good use for the World Guide. If you want to set up background information for a current/upcoming/possible/whatever RPG, feel free to send me an article and I'll gladly post it up.

I've also yet to find my image editing programs so I haven't been able to update the map. If someone would be willing to handle the map for me, it'd be very much appreciated.

UPDATE: Another new article posted today, this one comes to us courtesy of Steel Samurai. I love the historical report style and it does give me some ideas for other ideas, which you'll hopefully see early next year =D

Edited by DarkLink_14, 28 December 2006 - 11:54 PM.

[DarkLink_14]

THIS JUST IN!!!

In preparation for the upcoming Dorm War 2, Selena would like those who've participated in the Chronicles to write up a brief synopsis of their RPG. Since the Dorm War will be an event in the Chronicles World, these synopses will help us set up the war story-wise. Also, I'd like to post these synopses in the World Guide, so if you could adjust the style of your synopses accordingly. Time-wise, I'll assume all of these RPGs have taken place between 0 and 2 years after the original dorm war. If you want to be a little more specific with your RPG, just make sure to note the timeframe (doesn't have to be worked into the synopsis, just let me know) and I'll list it accordingly.

Oh, I almost forgot. Only one synopsis is needed per RPG you want considered as canon, so you can select someone from the group to write it up or do it as a group, but once again, just one synopsis is needed per RPG.

Edited by DarkLink_14, 28 December 2006 - 09:57 PM.

[Selena]

Right, just one synopsis per RPing group. You Woodies and Pirates get one, since you've mainly stuck together (unless there's a spinoff), and the Boners get one. Team up and list the major action that's happened so future RPers can read up and see what they've missed.

I ask this since the Dorm War is approaching, and at that time, this section will be locked out and all your characters will essentially be summoned back to their native dorms to fight (whether or not you actually enlist in the dorm competition part). After the war, we start over again, likely with new adventures or restarting the older ones in the aftermath of the war. Thus the synopses. After Dorm War 2, new people may want to participate, and I'd like everyone to be up to speed without having to read through eleventy billion posts.

edit: This is also a subtle warning to start closing your story arcs if you want a sense of completion. The Dorm War is likely to happen by January or in February, if all goes well.

[SL the Pyro]

All has not gone well, though. We've lost all the update material. I'm guessing this server crash will result in the 2nd Dorm War being bumped to February... darn it.

Not I'll have to start from scratch in gathering my info...

EDIT: I put up a summary in the latest RPG topic (not "The Storm," it was deleted) of the info and events that happened in that topic that were deleted by the crash. It should (hopefully) get everyone back on track towards the 2nd Dorm War. Now it's up to DL14 to put his part of the story back in motion...

Edited by Dark Link, 15 January 2007 - 08:43 AM.

[Selena]

No, this will not effect the start date of the Dorm War that much. I still have all my materials. Also, Steel should still have his .doc file of the Wood/Pirate events. So you haven't lost much.


>Reposts Ikana's<

(Thread: “The Canyon's Vigilance”)

• The Canyon hears about an Alliance convoy heading for Lanasach via the desert.
• Selena and the others, along with an incognito Krystal (toast), intercept the convoy and steal all the shinies inside.
• Ikana parties. Because they like to drink. There, they open up a locked box that contains a classified letter saying that Sornaiid is in rebellion and in need of reinforcements. They decide to go party crash the rebellion and stir things up further.
• Xeres returns from abroad, and tells Lena that a weapon is in transit in Sornaiid, heading to Khuffie. It's the Kanagida, Selena's old spear used in a previous LoD war. It enhances magic and strength, turns the user kinda crazy in a bad way, and is otherwise the polar opposite of the Master Sword.
• Later, Selena heads to LoD and talks with her 'mysterious contact' *wink* who informs her on the status of the other dorms, the two obviously working together as Loddies for some sinister goal. Lena then goes home after bickering.

(Thread: “Come Sail Away” and “Bird Napping”)

• Selena, Xeres and Rhiannon set sail across the sea towards Sornaiid. They are attacked by a Lanasach vessel and eventually kill all the sailors aboard and steal it. Because it has a nice cannon.
• Goose is apparently captured and Shiima (ninja kitten) goes off to rescue him. Eventually they get away. They head off.
• The three femmes fatale land in Sornaiid and hike up to a small town known as Strandheim, where they hit the bar and get the local scoop on things.
• Toan makes it to Strandheim, where he primarily confronts Selena. The woman turns him away from his ultrareligious cult and orders him to go back to working for LoD, saying that most of her group were already members of the Labyrinth. Toan agrees and comes with them, allowing Rhia to live. For now.
• Goose returns to them via a warp spell.
• The Ikana group hikes north to the town of Alsvard, where the Kanagida is.
• The Labyrinth/Ikana group reaches Alsvard. There, they sneak in and locate the Alliance convoy holding the Kanagida. After Goose distracts the guards via some prostitute spell, Selena makes her way to the wagon and gets her weapon back.
• Shiima, warped by Goose's spell earlier, is caught in the middle of the conflict. Toan is assigned to defend her. A brawl breaks out between the Alliance soldiers and the Ikana warriors.
• Selena, armed with her weapon, is struck with immense bloodlust because of the spear's nature. She cuts through a great deal of soldiers and ultimately destroys the military complex after ordering the rebellious Sornaiid civilians to finally stand up for themselves. The civilians start up with a bit of a riot.
• The complex destroyed and the spear recovered, it is decided that they need to get out of there before the whole Alliance army is dispatched to find them. Selena directs them into the Woods, Toan leading the way.
• They make camp after hiking deep into the Woods, and Selena cooks dinner. Rhiannon wanders off by herself, stopping at a pond. She passes out, falling into it, and Goose discovers her a bit later, and fears that she's drowned.
• The group (or most of it) tries to help, but Toan is the one to give her CPR, to her absolute horror as she wakes up. She runs back to the others, and they settle in for the night. Toan walks the Woods, not one to sleep, Xeres just not wanting to, and the others nodding off wherever they lie.
• They wake to the scent of Rhiannon cooking breakfast, and they eat, Goose telling a story as they get ready to move out.

(Thread: “The Castles Crumble”)

• The Ikana crew situates themselves just outside Resden, staying in a house that Selena 'liberated' from its previous owners.

• The Ikana are separated into different groups, each handling a particular mission meant to destabilize the Alliance forces in Sornaiid and usher in a rebellion, hoping their actions will be blamed on the local rebels.

• Goose and Toan are dispatched to destroy an outpost on the border of Resden's city limits. Goose torches nearly everything in sight while Toan wanders off for a little while.

• Xeres and Rhiannon are tasked with assassinating an important diplomat visiting the city. Rhia largely takes an observational role, and Xeres performs the actual deed. They have a (very) brief talk on their way back, managing to avoid detection by Alliance patrols.

• Selena leaves Shiima to watch the safe house, and goes on a solo mission to infiltrate a military complex and assassinate the leading Alliance general in charge of major operations in the region. She begins to sneak in herself, but is stopped by a mysterious figure who refers to himself as “One.”

• One offers her aid, and although she is initially hesitant, she agrees to it after he describes his goals as being similar to her own. He teleports her through the wall, showing the ability to pass through solid objects.

• One assists in the elimination of guards, leaving Selena to do the actual assassination. She kills the general after a bit of a standoff, and the pair escape after the deed is done. They slink through the streets of Resden until Selena leads him into the woods, away from the Ikana stronghold.

• The two have a discussion about forming an alliance of their own, though Selena's suspicions prevent her from jumping on board. She is coaxed into it, until Xeres and Shiima arrive. It is revealed that both are the apprentices of One, and with some ambiguous description of ominous and potentially dangerous ongoings elsewhere, Selena immediately terminates their potential alliance.

• Xeres lashes back at Selena for not trusting her. Selena, in turn, goes silent, tells them they may do as they like, and goes into the city to find a still missing Rhiannon.

• Rhiannon recovered, the pair head back to the safe house. Xeres, Shiima and One eventually follow, while Toan is inside on a major drug trip. Selena goes on guard duty outside, not wanting to speak with anyone.

• Xeres and One depart for their own adventure, leaving Shiima behind. Goose returns, and eventually Khallos, who has had several unfortunate run-ins with the Alliance over the course of the thread, makes his way to the safe house. Shiima tends to the worn out warrior.

• Selena summons Toan and Rhiannon for a meeting outside, not at all pleased with recent events.

[Steel Samurai]

'deed I do.


Aydin and his split personality tweak out and kill a bunch of people, and Ken eventually crosses paths with Aydin, who's entirely upset about his little psychotic outburst. Ken has a whoopass sword.

They eventually head to a temple, where they meet up with Toan and Gabriel.

They converse for a bit before trying to find their way out of the Woods.

Germanlink and Kitsune join the Woodie party, but Toan soon leaves after they all make it out of the forest after a few battles with wolfos, determined to go find and kill Rhiannon.

The Woodie group meets at a tavern. Lightgoddess (hailing by the name of Lena - not at all confusing) joins the group. Steel Samurai drops in on the fun, too.

Kitsune gets in hot water after a mob decides he's to blame for a murder. Seeing things are not going to go in their favor, the
Ken and Steel swipe a boat and the Woodie group set sails for the Forsaken Fortress.

Ken and Steel go to meet with DJ, and on the way they encounter XI.

DJ meets with his pirates and issues his orders. Steel is to go with him on an errand to one island while Ken is to go recover a
Crimson chest on another. Ken, however, cannot initially get a crew together, and is forced to wait.

Steel prepares the flagship, the Ark, for launch, and it is about to set sail.

XI and Button set sail to pick up the Woods affiliated characters left behind earlier. The Woodies are picked up, and XI finds a chest and a hedgehog in the ship.

In the hold of the ship, Perseus awakens and breaks loose, but is subdued by the group after a showdown. Immediately after, however, an Alliance ship attacks. They face off against the Alliance and then make it back to the Fortress two days after Steel and DJ departed for their mission (time jump warning).

The group is in search of the Kaze-Dao, one of the sacred swords in the world. They head into a tunnel of the Fortress to go find it, Steel now tagging along. Z, a mysterious figure who suddenly shows up, gets into a fight with the group. After a skirmish, they are able to distract him while Kitsune goes to get the sword.

Kitsune recovers the Kaze-Dao and leaves his older sword in its place. This sword manifests Kitsune's corruption, and this menace attacks Steel, clawing out his eyes and leaving him blind. Steel fights back, and the two nearly defeat each other. Kitsune then rushes in for the save, using his new sword to finish off his darker half.

The conflict with Z ends after the mysterious man decides to simply stop fighting, and leaves.

Motoko heals Steel, but in unable to fix his eyes. His senses are heightened after the loss of his sight.

They all leave to go assist Ken on his mission, Z showing back up but not necessarily to fight. They depart, and are currently en route to their predetermined location.

(insert Crimson Chest here)

After a hard labour gaining the chest, Ken and company relax on the Namor. Meanwhile, Steel approaches the ship, his intentions unknown

The crew on the Namor do different housekeeping things. In the meantime it is revealed that Steel has set out to gain the crew’s aid in a quest to destroy the Society of Laz, before they can allegedly mount a bid for world domination.

Steel arrives at the Namor and the crew agree to help him. They set sail for the Taj-Nar mountains, where they will find one who can help them in their struggle against Laz. Meanwhile, Z had jumped ship and gone to a nearby port.

Steel reveals that they must make their way to the retreat of a Sensei in the Taj-Nar mountains, who will show them the way to begin defeating Laz. Extraordinarily coincidentally, Z, at the very same time, is approached by someone who claims to be from Laz, offering him a large sum of money to kill the Sensei. Button also makes an appearance.

Ken sends the chest back to the fortress with Steel’s men. Button and Z meet and make plans of an as-yet unknown nature. The crew near the shore as Z hurries to reach the Sensei before them. Husky turns up on the ship.

The party set off into the mountains. Z bumps into Ken, but after a short confrontation they leave each other alone and pick up their pace into the mountains. They run into a light barrier but find their way around it, after Steel finds a mysterious sword in a gully.

They are nearly to the Sensei’s retreat when they are set upon by a band of Zombies. After a fairly brief battle they are rescued by one from the Sensei’s retreat. He brings them (including Z at this point) to see the sensei, who tells them that they must have training before they are ready to take on Laz. Meanwhile, Husky has become a wolftaur.

The different members of the party train for two weeks. Z heads off to confer with Button. Perseus, suffering from a bad headache and nightmares, flies off, eventually falling into the sea.

Z comes back to the Sensei’s retreat after discovering that he needs a scroll from there to translate a scroll one of his friend’s obtained from a ruin. Steel tries to stop him, but Z gets away. Steel, Ken, and Gabe give chase.

After a showdown in a nearby port, Steel manages to pick the pocket of Z’s friend, who had the scrolls. They head back to the Sensei’s retreat, (Gabe wanders off along the way) but discover Alliance soldiers burning it to the ground.

After a huge battle, which leaves Ken reduced to spirit form and Steel wounded, Kitsune shows up to help them finish off the soldiers. Meanwhile, Motoko and Husky have been introduced to a Foxtaur and Husky given a special necklace.

Steel senses someone crying for help.

I'm putting in part of DL's summary as well, cause he actually knows what's going on in his storyline.

-Button, Hali (NPC) and Z are at sea heading for the "garden" (refer to previous pages), but a sudden change in current has forcibly changed their course and they are now heading towards the Dorm War location
-Z's plan is revealed; go to the "garden" first, then solve the mystery of the Crimson Chests (he suspects that DarkJuno may already have the third chest), and going for the scrolls afterwards

[SL the Pyro]

*sigh* I wish someone from LW would fill in the blanks from before "Quest for the Blade," because I have no knowledge up to that point. I can summarize Crimson Chest and the woodie part of Quest for the Blade, though.

----------

Quest for the Blade

-Kitsune, Ken, Gabe, Ayden, and the unconscious Motoko stay at a tavern for the night. Lena also joins.
-Steel destroy a Scmik(sp?) monster hiding on the roof, which is feeding on the gang's energy.
-The blood from the Scmik on the roof is mistaken for human blood by the other people at the tavern, and Kitsune is accused of murder. Kitsune becomes possessed by the Blade of Illusion (the seals from Gabe are losing their affect) and takes them out almost effortlessly.
-Ken hijacks the Namor and they go after the Kaze-Dao.
(Insert Steel's summary here, from where the FF pirates board the ship.)

The Crimson Chest

-Z stows away on the gang's ship while Ken sails to where the second Crimson Chest is.
-A Sea Serpent attacks, by Motoko calms it down with flute music.
-At the island where the chest is, Button quickly hops ashore and loses his good side; now only the evil remains, but he can still be strangely calm.
-Z meets up with one of his sorcerer friends, Koran (water sorcerer). Kitsune, Motoko and Gabe break up the "friendly" meeting, and Kitsune disappears into a portal that Koran travelled through to get there. Koran then departs to places unknown.
-Ken finds himself at a cave where a "spirit of his Wolfen sword" beckons him in for a fight.
-Z attempts to take the Crimson Chest from under Ken's nose; Perseus, Lena, and Gabe try to stop him, but fail.
-Ken defeats the Wolfen spirit, but Z gets away with the chest.
-Kitsune reappears and thwarts z by making him drop the chest and tricking into taking a fake one.
-Z escapes, and the gang sails towards the mainland.

(The rest of Steel's summary, plus the stuff he copied from my old summary, about wraps this up.)

----------

That's all I got. Sorry if I did anything wrong. I NEED A WOODIE TO HELP WITH THE SUMMARY BEFORE THE EVENTS OF QUEST FOR THE BLADE!

[Steel Samurai]

Actually the period before QftB is covered by my (rather, lena's first summary which I included) summary.

[SL the Pyro]

Oh. If that's true, then we've got everything. Woot!

[Keen]

Now that I've arrived, I would like to say, as a future RP'er, thank you very much. I thought you might like to hear it after all that work you did.

[Selena]

Character submission rules have been updated slightly with this:

Rule Revision (April 20th): Required because of past abuse.
- Characters MUST be reasonable in terms of strength and abilities. It's a good rule of thumb to not make them stronger than Diel below, but you aren't necessarily limited to that if you can prove you're willing to be a team player. Nothing is more annoying to an RPer than to have someone come in, slay everything at once using their 'l33t skills' and then take over the story because they have the muscle to do so. Work as a group. A storyline is not always about 'you.'

- You are allowed a maximum of two characters: One must be a dorm or neutral character, and the other must work exclusively for the Alliance to help further that group's development. This should NOT be used as a loophole to gain a second character. If you pick up an Alliance character, it should be more than just a loose affiliation with them.

- What is an NPC? Some people are using the 'NPC' excuse to have an additional character. This is not allowed, and if it becomes evident that you're doing this, you will be asked to stop immediately. An NPC is an unimportant character that usually only has a short of amount of time in an RPG, as you should know from the games. They're bar patrons gossiping. They're a king sending you off on a quest. They're a random guard you steal information from. Gone in a couple posts, often nameless, and otherwise don't effect much in a storyline. As I said, this should not be used as a loophole to get another character. Thanks.

Not a major change, but an apparent necessity. Thanks. This is to ensure that everyone gets an equal opportunity to kick ass, because yes... overpowered characters are absolutely annoying to everyone but their owner, and I say that as a veteran RPer of many years. If you want to be strong, fine, but know that you are not invincible in the least. You need to show some kind of vulnerability at some time or another, and I don't care if your character is a 'natural badass.' It's no excuse.

[ninja kitten]

it's more fun to RP if your character has a huge flaw.

[DarkLink_14]

Thanks for the rules update, Selena, though I'm going to have to make some tweaks to it, mainly, players are not required to have a Dorm character, it is possible to have 2 Alliance characters or two neutral characters, just not two dorm characters. This is because the Dorms are a sort of sub-forum and making a dorm character a semi-requirement almost makes this a Dorm supplement, and while the two are interconnected, it should be a bit more open to those who do not participate in the dorms.

Also, I know I defined the NPC before and I would prefer we add that definition there as well. I think its perfectly reasonable to have a well developed NPC. In looking at the NPC, I had decided that the defining characteristic of an NPC in terms of regulation, should be in control rights, not just story presence. When a person controls a character, they have exclusive control of it. That's why its their character and why it needs its spot on the characters list. Any other character is free game and can be controlled by anyone at any time. This is where the slippery slope comes in. Once a character becomes well-rounded, people become hesitant to control it and then a person is left dragging them along on their own and basically becomes another character. Now in terms of regulating this, I think Selena's addition should be used as a guideline with the 'control' issue being the iron-clad regulation.

That said, I'm revising Selena's additions as follows:

Rule Revision (April 20th): Required because of past abuse.
- Characters MUST be reasonable in terms of strength and abilities. It's a good rule of thumb to not make them stronger than Diel below, but you aren't necessarily limited to that if you can prove you're willing to be a team player. Nothing is more annoying to an RPer than to have someone come in, slay everything at once using their 'l33t skills' and then take over the story because they have the muscle to do so. Work as a group. A storyline is not always about 'you.'

- You are allowed a maximum of two characters: Each Player is allowed two characters, only one of which can be Dorm-affiliated (please keep it to your actual Dorm). For example, each player can have their dorm-affiliated character and either an Alliance character, or two Alliance Characters. An allied character should operate mainly for that group's interests. An alliance character, for example, shouldn't be spending all their time in the desert seeking to defect or just tagging along with Desert characters.

- What is an NPC? Some people are using the 'NPC' excuse to have an additional character. This is not allowed, and if it becomes evident that you're doing this, you will be asked to stop immediately. An NPC is usually an unimportant character that usually only has a short of amount of time in an RPG, as you should know from the games. They're bar patrons gossiping. They're a king sending you off on a quest. They're a random guard you steal information from. Gone in a couple posts, often nameless, and otherwise don't effect much in a storyline. As I said, this should not be used as a loophole to get another character.

This is the general guideline and following it should keep you out of trouble. The NPC rules, however extend a bit further into complex territory. As far as the enforcable rules are concerned, an NPC is defined by player control. An NPC can be well rounded and even be a main character in the story, the only difference is that no one player has exclusive control over it. An NPC can, and MUST be controlled by various people throughout the RPG. If you're the only person to control the character across 2 consecutive posts, you're pretty much fine. If 3 or 4 of your posts have gone by and you've been the only person controlling it, someone else should be ready to take it off your hands for a while. There is no iron-clad rule about how much you can control the character, which is not to say that you can ignore it. If it is becoming evident that you are using this as a loophole to basically bring along a second character, you can be sure that the moderators will have something to say about it.

Thanks.

Edited by DarkLink_14, 21 April 2007 - 12:31 AM.

[Ransom]

is there by any chance a rule about grammar, tense, etc?

[DarkLink_14]

Alright, I've finally gotten off my ass and started working on the Chronicles once again. Today I've added the World Guide entries for the recent Civil War as well as the Dorm War II.

Development on the upcoming project, which I will announce today, has come along a bit, just a little more developing and I'll be able to implement it.

Anyways, the current map is out of date as far as territories and such are concerned, but that will be sorted out soon.

I still need to update the world guide with the RPG activity posted earlier in this thread, but it will be coming soon, honest this time.

And finally, my announcement:

The upcoming project is in fact the Chronicles' first expansion of sorts. I dub it The LA Chronicles: The Age of Exploration. I still need to finalize some details, but its only a short while away. There will be some small additions as well as some large changes that I myself am particularly excited about. So yeah, just give me a little more time, enjoy the World Guide as it is caught up on some much needed updating, and whet your appetite on the title and by all means, speculate and suggest features in this thread, if its good, I just might throw it in. Until then, please enjoy.


Thanks for your time,
-DL

[Selena]

Attention all posters who are using 'NPC' characters.

An NPC can, and MUST be controlled by various people throughout the RPG. If you're the only person to control the character across 2 consecutive posts, you're pretty much fine. If 3 or 4 of your posts have gone by and you've been the only person controlling it, someone else should be ready to take it off your hands for a while. There is no iron-clad rule about how much you can control the character, which is not to say that you can ignore it. If it is becoming evident that you are using this as a loophole to basically bring along a second character, you can be sure that the moderators will have something to say about it.

An NPC is only an NPC if multiple people are using it. You are allowed two personal characters in the Chronicles. One can be dorm, the other neutral/Alliance. Or two neutrals. But there can be only two that belong exclusively to you. These new villains that are cropping up are not NPCs, because only ONE person is using them.

General public: Please read the rules and follow them accordingly. You cannot have more than two exclusive characters.

Pomazon, I think you only have one character to your name. You'll be fine if you either open your villain up for multiple posters, or take him on as a full character. If someone else was using him earlier, I didn't see it, so if you've been properly renting him out, then ignore this.


SHADOW LINK. You, on the other hand, do not seem to heed warnings about NPCs. Since the days 'Halie' first arrived, to your TEAM of villains, you've been using the excuse of 'NPC.' No. They are not NPCs. You have been the only one controlling them. You get irritated if someone else uses them. If they are NPCs, you personally can not dictate what happens to them. If you do not want anything to happen to them, then do not bring them into a storyline, or multiple storylines, and then tell people that they can not do things to them. If they're NPCs, any other Chronicles poster should technically be able to make them dance naked in the street to summon a unicorn god without you throwing a fit about what happens to them.

Halie is not an NPC. You are the only one controlling her. The other Elemental Sorcerers are not NPCs. You are the only one dictating what they do, and when someone else tries, you undermine them and tell them 'no no.' Lose them or let other people control them. Because right now, they are extra and illegal characters who are annoying people more than anything else. If you do not want them injured or dead, then do not bring them out at all. Especially into multiple storylines just for the sake of having them there.

Your designated characters are Z and Shadow Link, and that's all.

Non-player character. It means no one owns them. Please understand this.

Thank you and good day.

[DarkLink_14]

Yeah, we all know I'm not really in charge around here anymore, but I still have mod powers so

Anyways, I just thought I'd throw this out to anyone who cares to look and speculate

Attached Files

•  hmmm.jpg   17.71K   21 downloads

[JRPomazon]

New map? Sounds interesting.

[Selena]

Fairly extensive world guide update just posted. Update includes new articles, reorganization, and some article updates.



And remember, you're free to add whatever you wish to the guide (assuming it doesn't mess with everything else). Just send me an article via PM and I'll add it in. New legends or rumors of treasure, for example.

[Selena]

Warning: Chronicles will be partially closed starting March 10. Try to wrap up all your dorm related RPs by then.

[Selena]

- Chronicles reopened.
- World Guide update.
- New map.