Announcement & Discussion

[Namohysip]

I like Virgil's idea and will be looking into that for the first boss only. Until then, though, I'm also starting to post out the demo battle! Be sure to take a look at that if you're interested in seeing how battles work, and if you'd be interested in the Front Lines or the Support role at a glance. I'll be posting it throughout the day, not to a schedule like other rounds, since it's only me doing this fight.

Official actions can be found here: https://forums.thousandroads.net/index.php?threads/official-actions.382/

And the actual fight can be found at the Lush Prairie!

 

[Adamhuarts]

I'll admit this upfront that this was something I never fully understood even in my brief participation in the former campaign, so I'll ask it here for a more thorough explanation

What's the difference between a turn and an action?

How many actions can one take at base speed during a turn?

Do items use up actions or entire turns? Would using a blast seed for instance cause me to use up my entire turn?

How many more actions does each +1spd grant the player?

Can one take an action and then use a move during the same turn at base speed? Or does one need more than +2spd?

 

[Namohysip]

Most of this is covered in the "nitty gritty" section of the announcement post, behind the spoiler.

Put simply, turn is the culmination of all actions that you take between enemy phases.

At base speed (+0) you have one action. Every +4 speed, you get an additional action.

Pretty much everything you do, unless otherwise specified, takes an action. Using an item, using a move, both of these things take one action.

 

[Jedi Shulk]

This is what I wanna say to Owen after he wakes up from the Hydro pump “There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know."

 

[Namohysip]

lol, I can imagine Diyem saying the same thing.

 

[Tanuki]

Could we have a link to all relevant threads near the beginning? It’s frustrating to have to scroll through the entire post every time I need to access a thread. Also, if possible, since this is the hub of all game mechanics and info, a table of contents would be extremely helpful.

 

[Namohysip]

Could we have a link to all relevant threads near the beginning?

How do you mean? As in, at the top of this post's starter, have a link to signups and official actions and such? Sure, I'll look into that in the coming days.

Also, if possible, since this is the hub of all game mechanics and info, a table of contents would be extremely helpful.

I'm not sure if this is possible, but I DO plan to make a "user manual" of some kind. I might just do it in GDocs again or something since a ToC can be hyperlinked there, and I don't think that's possible on forums unless I make them all individual posts, and that's weird.

 

[Namohysip]

I've posted the volunteer thread! https://forums.thousandroads.net/index.php?threads/blacklight-eternal-prize-volunteers.385/

There are still a few questions that I wanted to ask all those who are volunteering, particularly for the art prize that's probably going to be more intensive. For example, we don't want any particular artist being swamped with requests from all the prize winners, nor do we want any particular volunteer to feel like nobody wants their work, but at the same time we wouldn't want any Blacklight participants dissatisfied, within reason. But that sort of organization is beyond my knowledge alone, so I'm reaching out to see what other people think, particularly the art volunteers themselves.

Thoughts?

 

[Starlight Aurate]

I got a question as far as providing prizes. It looks to me like providing prizes is for those participating in the campaign, yes? I'd be happy to volunteer (not for art lol, I have no art skills and I can imagine that'd be the most highly sought after prize giver) but due to the transitory nature of my real life right now I'm hesitant to sign up as a participant in the campaign.

 

[Namohysip]

You're free to sign up for volunteering to provide for prizes! Along with that, you can also sign up in the Ethereal role if you don't want to join the campaign proper--that will make you eligible for points and prizes yourself, but you don't have to worry about the fights.

 

[Persephone]

If I signed up to offer World Myth Encyclopedia / Alola Pokedex entries for art prices, would anyone be interested in taking it?

 

[Virgil134]

So, currently you can earn credits by positing a chapter somewhere else if your fic ain't fully caught up yet on Thousand Roads, right? With the reasoning behind it being that the chapter will eventually get posted to Thousand Roads as well. Will someone also get credits for reviewing that chapter on that other website?

For example, Fledglings currently has 7 chapters posted here, but 78 on Serebii. Does someone also earn credits for reviewing chapter 78 on Serebii?

It would seem fair to me since that way it's treated equally to how you earn credits for posting new content. Plus the "you don't earn credits for cross-posting old stuff" applies to previously written reviews as well, so if that's the case you might as well do the same with reviewing chapters that haven't been posted to Thousand Roads yet. Especially since there's nothing preventing those reviews from eventually being posted onto Thousand Roads as well, since I've seen people cross-post reviews in the past. Hell, I've even done it myself with reviews I've written for The Legendarian Chronicles and Tales of Arrival.

 

[WildBoots]

I'm a little slow on the uptake, but I like the idea of being able to credit "time spent drawing." That's usually really, really easy for me to quantify. And hell yeah points.

 

[Namohysip]

If I signed up to offer World Myth Encyclopedia / Alola Pokedex entries for art prices, would anyone be interested in taking it?

While nobody showed interest here, I saw a few people express interest in discord, so I think I'll quickly add this as an alternative option to the art tier prize! People can pick it or not. Let me know if you'd like to put a first-come-first-serve cap on how many you'd be willing to do for this.

Especially since there's nothing preventing those reviews from eventually being posted onto Thousand Roads as well, since I've seen people cross-post reviews in the past. Hell, I've even done it myself with reviews I've written for The Legendarian Chronicles and Tales of Arrival.

Hmm, the problem with this comparison is that while it's much more likely that stories themselves will eventually make their way to TR if they're already partially posted here, the same can't be said for reviews. That goes double for reviews that may no longer be relevant due to revisions and edits many months down the line. Still, it is in contribution toward a TR member, so that's a gray area... What do others think? I'm on the fence, so I'm willing to hear input from others--particularly people volunteering to give out prizes, because this will largely affect you more than anyone.

I'm a little slow on the uptake, but I like the idea of being able to credit "time spent drawing." That's usually really, really easy for me to quantify. And hell yeah points.

It indeed counts for points! Same challenge type as "time writing." However, for "prize credits," only words/reviews written, rather than time spent, is counted--unfortunately, it's very hard for me to reliably quantify something that leads to tangible prizes later.

 

[Namohysip]

Hi all, I've made a World Map thread, which doubles as a directory to all important threads as well.

Additionally, I would like to confirm here based on discord discussions that I WILL be allowing reviews to count for BLECs as well as points if they are posted offsite, but ONLY if the story is being actively uploaded here as "catch up" to other locations.

 

[Namohysip]

Hey all, if you're interested in actively participating in "group plot" scenes, please fill this sheet out. A "group plot" scene is usually when a major event is happening where most or all characters would witness it. Examples include before and after a boss fight, major in-between scenes, and other fun activities and catastrophes.

Make sure to give your discord name and set your time zone to your local time zone when filling this out.

This is basically giving me an idea of when most people will be online, hence my "sweet spot" for getting plot scenes started when as many people are online as possible, and maybe shuffle things around so people in rough time zones don't get shafted.

The time slots given to you are when I am awake and not at work or streaming.

To clarify: despite there being specific dates, ignore them. Only the day matters: On a typical week, when are you available?

WhenIsGood: Blacklight Major Plot Events

Plan the time to have your meeting or event by coordinating availability with all the participants using this fuss-free online tool.

whenisgood.net

 

[Tanuki]

Re Scheduling:
We were discussing in discord that having a static schedule this early on will likely lead to only a few players being able to participate for most of the campaign. Since we already have so many frontlines, it was proposed we have a more liquid schedule that rotates out different squads. This way, we can work with each individual group to make the campaign as inclusive as possible.

This is a rather loose idea at the moment, and there’s definitely a lot to figure out logistics wise! This way, though, should lead to an experience that more than just a few players can participate in important plot events, boss fights, all that.

The more specific ideas were rearranging the time slots and even lengthening the bosses. It all depends on what we can make work, though.

 

[Namohysip]

Summarizing from the discord: The scheduling is going to be fixed for bosses but with enough time between turns that everyone should be able to manage, even if they may sleep through a few turns. I will be explaining autobattle a little more thoroughly as we get closer to the first boss.

 

[Namohysip]

Hey all, I have another announcement to make now that the game is underway and official actions are up.

As many of you have noticed, there are "bonus points" available for your character's stats. Each bonus point, if allocated to a stat, will add 1 to stamina, 3 to HP, and 2 to any other stat. Note, however, that you cannot increase a stat beyond 50% of what it has at its base value. For example, if you have 20 Attack, you can only add a maximum of 5 points, for a total of +10.

If this sounds too complicated, there is an easy way to do this without worrying about the numbers!

If you go to your Official Signup sheet and add a section called "Bonus Point priority," I will automatically distribute your points at the end of each round based on your specifications. I will interpret any ambiguities in good faith. I have already amended my own sheet as an example.

 

[Namohysip]

Hey all, just making a roleplay announcement that at around Saturday, I intend to advance time to Day 1 ~ Evening. This is a small skip, so it shouldn't be too much of a jump, but be aware that some of these jumps could be for several days. Of course, since Magikarp is looming in the distance, that wouldn't make sense right now.