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Announcement & Discussion

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
More clarifications, this time for roleplaying!

Shadows are similar to Radiance in terms of corruption amounts, and they follow the same thresholds. So, when you're thinking about your Shadow Moves, follow the same rules as Radiance would. Additionally, just like Radiance, you become the Shadow type at 20 corruption, and your regular moves become Shadow type at 70 corruption. This corruption level is separate and independent of your Radiance corruption.

Where higher Radiance is considered a lowering of inhibitions and mental filters, Shadow is considered a heightening of negative thoughts and suppressed feelings. Essentially, a Shadow is the part of one's character that they would rather not show to others; these thoughts become amplified.

If you combine both types of corruption, both Shadows and Radiance, you become Blacklight. This is when your negative thoughts or suppressed feelings are amplified, AND your inhibitions and mental filters are down. The haze that manifests from your characters' Shadows is a physical form of these inner thoughts, and are a part of your character in every way. Regular Pokemon cannot see them. They can be as simple as an apparition that manifests during attacks, or as complex as some part of them that lingers when their Shadows are high.

And finally, there is a different penalty for reaching 100 Shadow corruption. If you reach that level, you gain +1 action, but also become an enemy at the same time, and will become hostile toward them. The DM will then decide what attacks your character will do toward the party. If you go above 100 Radiance AND Shadow on the same turn, you will perform Blacklight Meltdown against anybody who interacted with you that turn, in addition to three additional party members. You do not want this.

Now that both Shadows and Radiance has been properly introduced, here is the type chart for how they interact with Shadows, Radiance, Blacklight, and mundane typings:

Defending >​
v Attacking
MundaneShadowRadianceBlacklight
MundaneNeutralNeutralNeutralNeutral
ShadowSuper EffectiveNot Very EffectiveUltra EffectiveSuper Effective
RadianceSuper EffectiveUltra EffectiveNot Very EffectiveSuper Effective
BlacklightUltra EffectiveSuper EffectiveSuper EffectiveUltra Effective
 
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Small announcement/adjustment to a core gameplay aspect. This has to do with Critical Hits and Stagger. I have made a minor adjustment to how they trigger, and this technically counts as a buff for all players.

"Leftover" Stagger points reset to 0 at the start of that player's turn. In other words, if the player's stagger threshold is 3, but they were only hit twice on the enemy phase and not once during the last player phase, their stagger buildup will reset to 0, and they will gain no Stagger points and therefore will not be in danger of receiving a critical hit next turn.

This means that, for both players and enemies, Stagger can only be gained if the threshold is achieved all in one turn. In exchange, bosses will have slightly lower Stagger thresholds compared to what had been planned, but that also means concentrating attacks, higher critical hit rates, and so on will be more valuable than before. In general, this does not warrant a change in anybody's existing builds, but it may require looking over old strategies again.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Sorry for the delay, but here's the current lineup for Front Liners unless they step down or others ask to hop in!

Front Lines: Owen will probably be Support once again, though I'm not against joining if there's an empty slot. Doubt there will be, though.

0: Starr
1: Brisa
2. Mellow
3: Jaro
4: Cabot
5, 6: Bahamut, Cynthian
7,8,9: Astrid, Zane, Vix

*Even though Starr is technically very low on the priority list, I am making special arrangements for her to participate in this fight for a number of reasons. The biggest one that Chibi did the boss portrait art for this fight. It's only fair Chibi gets to participate front-and-center for it.

special note: I may expand the FL limit for this fight specifically due to it being a Big Boss fight. I'm going to see how things fall in terms of people coming in and sitting out before I make a decision.

If anybody is on this list but wants off for this round, let me know. For those not on this list who want on, same goes for you and I'll see what can be done.
 
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Hey all, making a quick interest check based on some discussion on the discord. Would anybody be interested in a "Table of contents" sort of thread where everybody would be able to post scenes that pertained to their character in a single post? Essentially, your post would be a chronological archive of all the scenes your character was part of. The only question is if I make another pinned thread for it, or if it would go in one of the existing threads, like as part of the signups.

Thoughts?
 

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
I think this is a good idea. I already struggle a lot with figuring out which scenes everyone has been in.
 

SparklingEspeon

Back on Her Bullshit
Staff
Location
a Terrace of Indeterminate Location in Snowbelle
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. espurr
  2. fennekin
  3. zoroark
I think this is a very good idea! It also makes it easier to catch up long-term with events rather than just checking which threads are unread, lol.

My question for whether it should be a pinned thread or not is how many we can have. I know you said on the discord that we were getting high on them - is there anything else that might become a pinned post later on/something we might want to use that space for? I'd say put it in the Story so Far thread, but I notice you're doing separate posts per chapter so that'd be very messy...
 

Dragonfree

Moderator
Staff
Location
Iceland
Pronouns
she/her/hers
Partners
  1. butterfree
  2. mightyena
  3. charizard
  4. scyther-mia
  5. vulpix
  6. slugma
Here's the Dave Index:

Mission Statement (introductions in Veritas City)
Arrival (introductions in Treasure Town)
Finding Equipment (meeting the God Squad)
Truffle wants to show Dave the Hidden Quarters
Dave's Turf (Truffle shows Dave the Hidden Quarters)
Dave and Brisa
Cynthian and Dave
Group communication - help call for Zane (single post)
Sushi and Sashimi appear (single post)
An Unfortunate Confession (Dave and Zane)
Infighting Aftermath (strategizing)
Training: Dave & Owen
Sushi and Sashimi fight
Battle Aftermath (post-Sushi and Sashimi fight)
Dave vs. Astrid
The Darkwhite (Darkwhite's first appearance)
Dave and Nate on the Beach
Team Spice Found (receiving badges/food names, single post)
A Radiant Boost (Radiance explanations)
Investigation Preparations
The Great Slug Hunt (Marketplace investigation, Dave befriends Squiggly/gains Radiant powers)
Dave Speaks to the Manager (Dave confronts Maple about Radiance)
Dave and Curio Discuss Politics
A Hasty Escape (post-Darkwhite/Lugia fight)
The Rumor Come Out (Dark Matter reveal)
Chip and the Shades (Squiggly goes in the Ultra Stone)
Dave and Tricky Eat Curry
Group communication - post-Maple's interrogation (two posts)
Shaymin Village fight
Victory Drinks (Nate and Dave)
Dave and Starr Discuss Shades
Dave and Owen Discuss Rooming
 
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Negrek

Play the Rain
Staff
I definitely support people curating links to scenes where their characters appear if they're interested in doing so; I think it'll make things a lot easier for anybody trying to catch up with a character or catch up with old scenes.

I don't think we want to be putting them in this thread, though, since they're going to get lost in the middle of... other announcements and discussions, heh. I'd say either create a dedicated thread or go with Phoenixsong's idea of having people edit links into their character profile post.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
After a lot of thought and planning, I've decided to allow, specifically for Big Boss Battles, an increased limit on how many Front Line units there are. In exchange, bosses may be scaled up in strength and difficulty to accommodate for increased potential of synergy and general power.

Essentially, all Front Line players who have not opted out for this round will be participating, up to 15 fighters for Big Boss Battles. As of now, the fighters are...

1: Brisa
2. Mellow
3: Jaro
4: Cabot
5: Bahamut
6: Astrid
7: Zane
8: Vix
9: Starr
10: Owen
11: Celeste
12: Dave
13: Curio

Opting out (to my knowledge):
Nip
Cynthian
All other Support units.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
And once again, congratulations to everyone for a very resounding victory! As per usual at the end of the round, I have a few things that I would like to go over. I will order them in order off retrospective remarks by importance, and then the Round 6 announcements.

Retrospective:

There have been some concerns about the Support class and their participants. A lot of Support skills are going without upgrades and, for many players, without their tier slots for perks. As a reminder for this, if you buy all six tier perk slots, your ability to contribute to the Support Burst meter will go up by double! If everybody who had used Supports last turn had bought their perk slots for Support Burst, it would have activated for the first time.

Regarding Supports not being up to date, I have a fairly easy solution there. From here on, if Supports are not purchased to a reasonable upgrade level by the end of a round, I will automatically make them for all active and semi-active players.

But as for purchasing perks for Support Burst, there is nothing I can do. You will have to encourage your fellow players to make this choice.

--

Balance: Critical Shot. There were concerns early on in the last fight that Critical Shot seemed less useful because it did not lower the trigger time, only the amount contributed after a trigger. Normally, adding to a Stagger threshold requires dealing 10% HP in damage to normal enemies, and 1% damage to raid bosses. No matter how high your critical+ is, if you do not deal more than that amount in damage, you will not add any Stagger with that strike at all. There was a request to find a way to buff that so higher critical+ means it's also less damage needed to trigger it. We have decided NOT to do that for now, but perhaps a future perk upgrade will have what you are looking for.

--

Logging and timing: Generally speaking, I make an effort to get calculations done within an hour of turns being due. I then spend some extra time writing the flavor of the post, but the volatile sheet is updated so people can strategize in advance. Unfortunately, things can get a little frantic when these are submitted late, or right up to the deadline, and as the battles get more complex, I'm starting to make mistakes to keep up with the deadline. I may be taking it slower to do calculations now, or I will try to do some of them in advance if the team is able to submit their actions earlier.

Related, I still see that some players are not leaving an autobattle behind for future turns, and are also not bothering to keep up when they are awake or otherwise present. This also impacts your performance in battle, as they are noticeably less effective in the fight. I won't name any names, but again, if you are Front Line, that is part of your responsibility. If enough people come to me about your play style in front line, and I agree, I may have to take you aside and ask you to be in Support so a more present player can slot in.

--

Balance: Abilities such as Snow Warning, Intimidate, etc. Any abilities that activate "at the start of battle" will no longer do so. Instead, users can activate it at any time, once per battle, as a free action that costs nothing. This is a straight buff. This is both so I don't have to worry about doing these checks all the time, necessarily, and also because it gives some usefulness to otherwise unwieldy once-only abilities in a game like this.

--

There has also been some talk about opening discussions about the Front Line system and its limits. While I am still unsure about raising the limit, I do want to open a dialogue for any concerns, possibly related to the Support players and concerns mentioned above, for any thoughts that people may have about other players' styles, the way the Front / Support system is run, and so on. Be sure to bring it up now! This is your best opportunity to speak yet now that we've gone through the first arc of the story.

--
--
--

Announcements

You guys did extremely well this fight. I'm bumping the difficulty up from 7/10 (Hard) to 8/10 (Very Hard)! Note that bosses won't be as bulky as this one since Ethereals won't be able to help, but will follow the same trends as before when those boosts were not available. However, the difference will now be that bosses will make fewer suboptimal plays compared to before. The foes are getting smarter, perhaps reacting to the team's own connections...

--

As per discussions earlier about the "turn 1" meta stagnating into maximizing speed to get more than 1 action per turn, we at the balance team have decided to introduce a mechanic early to alleviate this, making it possible to start turn 1 at 2 actions all on your own, and potentially other boosts as desired. And that new addition is...

Blacklight Boost!

The team is getting stronger and Diyem's power is flowing through them at an even quicker pace. Stabilizing within their cores, when they enter battle, their energies flare up and prepare them instantly. Combined with Maple's Radiance, it has become a Blacklight Boost.

Blacklight Boost is something that occurs on turn 0, before your actual first actions. Blacklight Boost varies from player to player, and can be configured (ONCE) by a point-buy system. Everyone will have 5 boost points, and each kind of boost costs the following:
An innate +1 to a stat, up to +2 on top of existing perks: 1 point
The use of a self-affecting, low-tier Shadow or Radiant move: 2 points

As an example, something I might plan for Owen would be a +2 in Speed (so he starts off at +4 with his Speedy perk, therefore beginning with 2 turns) in addition to a +1 in Magic, and then spending the remaining two points so he automatically performs Shadow Perceive. Another example would be spending points on using a low level Blacklight move that would gain +2 in speed. The only caveat is that the turn-0 move MUST have a target radius of "self" and nothing else. No allies, no enemies, only "Self."

--

I would also like to announce that first ascent is now available for purchase! First ascent will cost 20 points. It will...

- Raise your base stat total to 7.5, from its current 5.0
- If possible, evolve your character to their next stage. If your character is only a 2-stage Pokemon, you may choose to not evolve for first ascent.
- Reset talents, bonus stat points, and Support skills.

--

Check out the shop! New items have been added as the shop has gotten an upgrade! Chip has been hard at work making new items compatible with your odd auras for the cause.

--

Additionally, I have one last announcement for gameplay! After purchasing first Ascent, you also unlock the ability to see the shy Mimikyu, Leg, who is capable of manipulating and enhancing auras. With her special powers, she can take 0.1 of a base stat away from one stat that your character has, and add 0.1 to another, up to 50% higher or lower than the original amount. They are called Leg Days. The first Leg Day costs 1 point. The second costs 2, then 4, then 8, and so on, up to 10 Leg Days.

--

By the way, stay tuned for one last revelation early in this round, right after the first plot scene. I hope you are all cozy with your lumps. : )
 
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Tanuki

Friend of All Chu
Location
Rhyme City
Pronouns
He/him/his
The bossfight this round was mostly fun. The fight itself was great! Palkia and Dialga using their space and time abilities to counter the player strats both made sense lorewise, and made the fight more engaging. As far as text-based rpgs go, it was an immensely immersive fight. Then, Maple happened. It wasn't the actual final blow, but having her end the first phase for the players took a lot of the impact of taking them down.

The setup for the second phase was really exciting. It justified Maple's presence and gave a pretty clear picture of how the fight would go on from there. I assumed Maple's fight with Joule would be a new factor that disrupted our fight, but it was just kinda there. It was more a spectacle than anything, which was kinda disappointing. There were a lot of big numbers happening, but we couldn't do anything about it. I guess it made them seem like formidable opponents if we ever had to fight them later on, but even that would've been a lot more effective if their clash had any impact on the fight.

The problem only compounded on itself after we beat the boss. They kept on, but they were too far/powerful for anyone to intervene. Then shadescomefromJouleDarkwhiteshowsupGiovanni'sMewtwohasaMasterballandCapturedJoule. Last time Darkwhite showed up, it was cool because she was a part of the fight. Here, we were supposed to ignore her so she'd go away. The post battle felt like a massive exposition dump happening to us instead of interacting with us.

There were multiple big huge threats that you took care of with NPCs. We couldn't escape, fight, help, all we could do in character was wait and watch. Maybe I'm too stuck in a meta headspace, but having threats like Darkwhite show up after we've beaten the boss, after we know there won't be any more turns, after Maple and Joule existed at each other for the second half of the fight, nothing felt like a tangible threat. If you've ever played RE6 (I don't mean this as an insulting comparison. RE6 gets a bad rap, but it's a fun action game), the story happens in cutscenes after the fun action.

It works well in an action game because they happen after intense, exhausting gameplay, so the cutscenes give the player a breather. Or, the player can just skip them. This felt like a cutscene with NPCs performing quick-time-events for us. Truffle and Soda saved Maple. Mewtwo captured Joule. We had to ignore Darkwhite so she'd go away. The scene didn't feel like it needed us there at all, which is especially bothersome after such a fun and engaging boss fight. RPGs are at their best when players have an integral role to play; if they don't, the party's just sitting around the table waiting for the DM to finish the game for them.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Then, Maple happened. It wasn't the actual final blow, but having her end the first phase for the players took a lot of the impact of taking them down.

Unfortunately, the alternative here would be spending an extra turn with just Palkia, dragging the battle out when it's just one weak threat remaining before phase 2, which ultimately bogs down the pacing of the fight. Due to the nature of the game, it's much better to have something to expedite that slow point when whittling down multiple strong bosses.

I assumed Maple's fight with Joule would be a new factor that disrupted our fight, but it was just kinda there. It was more a spectacle than anything, which was kinda disappointing.

In the very turn they were introduced, Joule was depicted as "too far away to target." I'm sorry if that was not clear enough, but that was my explicit signal that they were not something to interact with directly.

I guess it made them seem like formidable opponents if we ever had to fight them later on, but even that would've been a lot more effective if their clash had any impact on the fight.

This was an option, but I did not want to cheapen the fight by having the boss or players having to deal with that when they couldn't do anything about it. I wanted the players to take out the centerpiece on their own, and that's what happened.

The problem only compounded on itself after we beat the boss. They kept on, but they were too far/powerful for anyone to intervene. Then shadescomefromJouleDarkwhiteshowsupGiovanni'sMewtwohasaMasterballandCapturedJoule.
We couldn't escape, fight, help, all we could do in character was wait and watch.

Incorrect. There were several pauses and openings for people to have an impact if they wished, one way or another, but generally the decision was to be more cautious about it. However, I do have an immediate counter example in what's happening precisely now in that very scene, where Starr is impacting the scene by calling out Mewtwo.

This could have happened earlier if someone decided to jump in and try to save Maple themselves, or otherwise try to get Joule's attention, or look for a way to do so. The options are open. If someone chooses to not do that and have their character sit around or do something inconsequential, that is not my problem, that is the player's choice.


We had to ignore Darkwhite so she'd go away.

Darkwhite is still there. She can still be interacted with.

The scene didn't feel like it needed us there at all, which is especially bothersome after such a fun and engaging boss fight. RPGs are at their best when players have an integral role to play; if they don't, the party's just sitting around the table waiting for the DM to finish the game for them.

This is related to the other thing I said above. Nothing is stopping people from trying to engage with the plot at this very moment. There can be positive or negative consequences to the things you do, and this has always been the case. Zane, for example, has had quite a few impacts on the plot and the way other characters perceive him, and not to mention the Darkwhite incident in the past.

There may be a strength difference and great powers at play, but it still isn't stopping you from trying to do something to impact how a scene rolls around. I think there are several people here who can say what they did in a scene impacted things later.

Related to that, as a veteran who knows the old iteration of this plot, I think you would know even more examples not only from how things were different this time, but also how the actions of players very clearly impacted the story going forward. We'd gone through this discussion before and there are several counters to this idea that players don't have any impact.

So, to other players, I would like to emphasize: The reason I am always so eager to have people in plot scenes is because you guys can have an impact on what happens, how it happens, and so on, from small to large details. You can have an impact. Not everything you do may have an impact, because that's just how things are in any game or story, but it is always there as a possibility.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
And so, we are finally here...

As per the scene in the Poppin' Arms lounge, I would like to finally announce the presence of Ultra Familiars. Familiars for short. Or buddies.

They started off as Shades shoved into strange lumps. Then, with the powers associated with the team and perhaps other influences, the Heavy Lumps have become Ultra Stones, and have gained the power to manifest themselves physically beyond their spherical bodies!

These familiars are all as diverse as the hosts that they came from, but they do all share a few common traits to keep in mind.
All of them have a core, the Ultra Stone, which is the same thing that the Useless Lump had been.

  • A familiar is inherently friendly, or at least cooperative, toward the host they are associated with.
  • Their personality, appearance, and so on can be based on several different factors, or a combination of them, such as:
    • A person significant to their past (a friend, a parent, a child, etc)
    • An aspect or characteristic of their host (their child self, their future aspirations, their deeper thoughts, etc.)
    • Another 'alter-ego' of their character (Similar to their Shadow, but more balanced.)
    • If you have another idea, run it by me first. There are a lot of venues for what your Ultra Stone becomes!
  • A familiar has a mutual telepathic bond with their host, and can share thoughts between one another regardless of distance so long as they are in the same dimension. They also mutually know where one another is, as well as how close or far they are from one another like a sixth sense.
  • Related, a familiar is NOT restricted to always being near their host. They can move independently throughout the world of Cibus.
  • Regardless of what they are based on, a familiar is inherently friendly, or at least cooperative, with their host.
  • In terms of appearance, a familiar is mostly black and a little see-through, but their Core is the Ultra Stone. They are anywhere from amorphous to mostly-solid, and are less stable if they are physically separated from their Core, but can still operate remotely from it.
  • Color wise, familiars are either monochrome or black with a single, light-emitting color for things such as eyes, stripes, or other such flairs. The color is up to you.
  • If your familiar is based on a person in the character's memory, they know they are not truly that person.
  • The familiar has vague memories of life as a Shade, and clearer memories when they were a stone.

Effectively, an Ultra Familiar is your second, and final, character, based on the parameters above. Mechanically they are the source of the perks that you have been buying. Flavor wise, they fight alongside your main character in battle, one way or another.

If you have any further questions, ask me now! This is the biggest rp addition to the campaign, so I'm ready to help coordinate and answer as much as I can. You can also ask veterans for help.
 
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Hey all, I've got an announcement for everyone! The review blitz is back, being hosted by @kintsugi like before! And I'm offering some parallel prizes for those who participate in the review blitz! Check this post for the details, as well as my post a little further down. For those who have the time, this is a good opportunity to expand your horizons on the forum!
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Hi all, here is some roundly maintenance for you guys. First off: Round 6 Front Line priorities:

1. Shiron
2. Nip
3. Brisa
4. Bahamut
5, 6,7,8: Astrid, Cabot, Vix, Zane
9,10: Curio, Starr

--

11,12: Dave, Celeste
13, 14: Mellow, Owen

There were discussions before about rebalancing FL, but I didn't really get any commentary on that. It's still open, but until then, this is how things are currently rolling.
 
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Blacklight Boost clarifications:

-If you choose to use a turn-0 Shadow or Radiant move, it does not add to your turn-0 corruption.

-You can forego getting a turn-0 Shadow or Radiant in favor of getting a total of +5 innates instead of +3. This allows for a higher ceiling of what your stats can be boosted toward (as normal Shadow/Radiant moves do not add to innates, but to your normal boosts)

-If you do not have a self-targeting Shadow or Radiant, or you don't think they are good for turn-0, you can come up with a turn-0 exclusive Backlight move that does something similar, albeit with stricter guidelines. The move may not even have a name and will simply be noted down as non-innate boosts on the Blacklight Boost section.

For example, you can choose to do a +2 in innate Speed, a +1 in Attack, and then a Blacklight move that increases Attack by 3. However, while they will start off with +4 attack, they will only have a cap of +7 attack rather than +8 attack if they had gone fully for innates and other boosts. That is the balance you will need to consider.

The alternative would be, for example, +2 innate speed, +2 innate attack, and +1 innate defense (say, if your character has subpar defenses). You won't have any initial normal boosts, but your ceiling is much higher for what you can handle later in the fight.

Also, I forgot to mention this, but Supports now have an additional +1 to add to a third stat!
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Hey all.

It has been a VERY busy month. For everyone, it seems. The holidays are coming, NaNoWriMo took over, and in general the round has been significantly slower due to a whole ensemble of circumstances. Additionally, I noticed that round 7's scheduling will have the boss fight happen precisely on Christmas, which may make it difficult to keep up with depending on everyone's circumstances. Granted, delaying it a week will make it land on New Years, but that's possible easier to manage.

With that in mind, there was enough talk that perhaps giving an extra week to round 6 to get everything done might make things easier for people involved to get that one scene you guys wanted to do, but did not have time to grab. I'm willing to adjust for this, but only if enough people are in favor of it.

There are a few ways to go about this. I can simply delay the fight by a week and everything else that follows. That will give everyone a little extra time to do challenges if they missed it, and so on. Or I can lock challenges but give extra time for scenes and so on (BLECs will still apply, of course.) Or I can go as-is, but delay round 7 instead to avoid the Christmas conflict. I'll decide what to do based on the results of this poll.

Vote on this poll here and discuss below.

Thanks all! I'll make an announcement on what I shall do tomorrow.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
It seems a few people misread or misattributed what round this is.

Note that a "Yes" vote will mean THIS CURRENT ROUND will get an extra week. The "No" option to delay round 7 instead means that this round will still end in a few days, but NEXT round will be 4 weeks long instead, so it avoids the Christmas boss timing.

If you made a vote in error, tell me here or in private and I'll adjust accordingly.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
I'm not going to call it too early, but it looks like this current round is going to be extended by a week to offset the Christmas fight next round in addition to adding some extra time to decompress from NaNo and other holiday madness. I will make the official call tomorrow, but if there are any objections or debate around this, now is the time to discuss it. It's still possible things will go as planned depending on discussions.

Hopefully the same will not be necessary for round 7 because I don't want to give these out lightly!

I'd also like to announce a small policy change that I've approach a few people about beforehand, but forgot to mention publicly (possibly due to the aforementioned holiday madness.)

To make things easier on me and other players for the sake of calculating turns, Front Line players should have an action plan at least half an hour before moves are due if they are going to be missing. This means that if they are not going to be present for a turn, they should have at least one of the following 30 minutes before the turn is due:
  • An autobattle for the turn they will miss (i.e. On turn 6 have my character perform [Attack] then use [Item] if [Condition])
  • A control trustee for the turn they will miss (i.e. If I'm not around, I give my action decisions to Player.)
  • An actual action (such as if you're about to go to bed before turns are due, so you toss in your action before leaving)
  • Or are actively participating in the discord strategizing chat during those 30 minutes before the deadline.
That's just a complicated way of saying, "If you won't be around much, leave something for active players to work with early." This makes things much easier for both the players and myself. If you have any questions, let me know.
 
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