Shouja

I'm a bit curious as to the storytelling method and Point Of View you're going to use for this story. Are you going to try for a multiple narrator sequence, with the POV switching from each Grandmaster as they go through their life? Or something more unique, like some sort of mindblending flashback sequences with the unknown stranger being the focal point of the POV and main narrator, viewing the lives of the Grandmasters? Or will it be completely third-person omniscient narrator (a.k.a. "Once upon a time" style)? ~Shouja~

Well, just to give a fresh take on it: The objective is to get more people to chat in local. So far, most of the discussion has centred around penalising players for NOT talking in local (i.e. the "stick" method). What about rewarding players FOR talking in local (i.e. "carrot" method)? I could imagine something like special areas being implemented (like Town Squares or something) where each sentence spoken in local within that area adds to the player's "Reputation Points" (or "Speaker's Influence Points", or "Gossip Points", or whatever...). Perhaps certain rewards could be given out after the player hits a certain threshold in those points, like the ability to have one more conversation channel, or something that further increases their power to socialise. (Maybe even the chance of getting a special item that gives the player the ability to make ONE global announcement?) If that's the case, people might naturally gather in those areas to talk, and you'll have a constant hubbub of conversation going on, just like a real town square or central marketplace. It'll be noisy as anything, of course, and the downside to it is that it might be difficult to control the spam if all the player cares about is getting the points without saying anything useful, but still... just throwing it out for consideration. There's more than one way to achieve an objective without punishing all players. I'm sure there could be more alternatives along the "carrot" method, aside from the one I just proposed. ~Shouja~

Offhand, I'd say don't expect too quick a response. As far as I can figure out, it takes Roja about three or four days before getting around to the Storylines Forum for a visit. She's always busy. ~Shouja~

Thanks, Roja. Okay, here's the preliminary prep-work on characterisation of all ten tavernkeepers. Character Sketches (based on Monday’s Child nursery rhyme) : Eldest: Laura (Wooden Corner Tavern, Portland) Age: 28 Personality: - Saturday’s child (Works hard for a living) - Ambitious and strong-willed. Wants to get rich, and likes the hustle and bustle of business. Very energetic and busy all the time. - Strong feminist. Believes that anything a man can do, a woman can do better. Despises men who try to buy sexual favours, and sees no need to be dependent on anyone for her living. Fiercely independent. - Likes to talk with Rodica, who also shares her views about the roles of men and women, and her affinity for business. Second eldest: Maria (Happy Spirits Inn & Tavern, White Stone City) Age: 27 Personality: - Monday’s child (fair of face) - Charming socialite. Wants to rise in the social hierarchy and marry a peer of the realm. Trying to upgrade her tavern into a high-class bar for social activities among the elites of White Stone. - Bright, bubbly and likes to gossip. Makes friends easily, and knows how to use her charm and wit to get what she wants. - Not given to deep thought about philosophical matters – focused on things she can see and hear right now. - Likes refined tastes, dislikes common things. However, she has fond memories of growing up with her sisters, so will tolerate anything unrefined about her family for old times’ sake. Third eldest: Roua (Merry Soul Tavern, Corren Town) Age: 27 Personality: - Tuesday’s child (full of grace) - Quiet and spiritual. Religiously-inclined, devoted to Elandria and Jayden (in that order). Is concerned about the spirituality of her sisters, often wishes they would seek to learn more about the goddesses. - Believes she has a mission to provide for the needs of the people of Corren Town. Trying to create a safe, comfortable family-friendly environment in her tavern. - Dislikes conflict and quarrels among people she cares for. Often seen as the wise sister to go to for comfort and advice. Plays mediator and healer of family wounds a lot. Quietly watches over Valeria for Mother Oana. - Often at odds with Rodica, but feels it’s her duty to love her sister and try to temper her violent nature. Fourth eldest: Rodica (Morcraven Marshes Tavern) Age: 26 Personality: - Thursday’s child (has far to go) - Wild tomboy when she was young. Grew up with dreams of going on high adventures and being just like the boys, but also came to accept her feminine qualities and use them. - An earthy, passionate personality, who likes to play rough and have fun without really caring about principles or consequences. Slightly bloodthirsty, and despises cowardice. - Often at odds with Roua, but feels affectionate towards her anyway. Takes all her sister’s religious philosophising with a laugh and lets it go in one ear and out the other. Fairly sensible at business as well, so often serves as a sounding board for Laura to test her business schemes with. Middle child: Corina (Grahm’s Village Tavern & Inn) Age: 26 Personality: - Wednesday’s child (full of woe) - Romantic dreamer. Wants someone to sweep her off her feet, wants to get married, wants to have children and be deliriously happy, but finds life to be not as she expected it, and very dull instead. - Unsure of her place in the world, and suffers from low self-esteem in social situations. Feels like she doesn’t really belong anywhere. Doesn’t realise she’s got a talent for art yet, not having been exposed to it while growing up in Nordcarn. - Can be envious of other people’s good fortune, and turns bitter when that happens, using cutting sarcasm to bring the person down. She usually apologises afterwards, though. Fourth youngest: Elena (White Stone Inn and Tavern) Age: 25 Personality: - Friday’s child (Loving and giving) - Humble and quiet. Wants a simple, safe and secure life. Doesn’t have many ambitions, but just goes with the flow and uses the skills she has been taught to earn an adequate living for herself. - Likes to cater to the common folk of White Stone, unlike Maria. Serves all the tradespeople and the working class of the city, treating everyone equally. - Self-sacrificial and people-pleasing by nature, so always tends to put others above herself and deny her own needs. Her innocence often leads her into traps and gets her taken advantage of. - Very close to Corina, who used to play and dream quietly together with her when she was young. Third youngest: Diana (Lakeside Tavern and Inn) Age: 24 Personality: - Sunday’s child (bonny and blithe, good and gay) - Well-balanced in terms of personality, and has a sweet girlish face with a hint of spice. The “perfect girl-next-door”, so to speak. - Likes to hear about great adventures and dream of heroes, but not brave enough to pursue them like Rodica did. Instead, she settled for being in a port close to the entryway to the new continent and listening to sailors. - Friendly and open, feminine and wise. Gets along well with nearly all of her other sisters, especially Maria and Reca. Is sensitive to other people’s feelings, so tries to keep from triggering Corina’s envy. Second youngest: Reca (Pula’s Tavern, Isla Prima) Age: 23 Personality: - Thursday’s child (has far to go) - Endlessly-fascinated with learning new things and seeking after knowledge. She was a bookworm when she was young, but wanted to find out more about the real world as soon as possible, so tagged along with her elder sisters as they left. - Is probably the most scientifically and academically-inclined of all the sisters, liking to experiment with new things and concoctions (which occasionally blow up in her face). Youngest: Valeria (Moonshadow Tavern, Mynadar) Age: 21 Personality: - Wednesday’s child (full of woe) - Rebellious and stubborn by nature. Likes to argue at lot with authority, and often had fights with Mother Oana when growing up. Loves fiercely, but also hates fiercely, and bears grudges with a vengeance. - Gets along very well with dwarves, being similar in nature to them. Is interested in dwarven mythology and culture, but refused to stay in Nordcarn with Mother Oana after everyone left, so ran away to Mynadar instead. (Under the discreet watchful eyes of Roua, of course). - Loves and listens to Roua a lot, as she helps soothe Valeria’s turbulent nature, and shares a common interest in mythology. Parental Guardian: Oana (Nordcarn Tavern) Age: 152 Personality: - Friday’s child (loving and giving) - Old-fashioned spinster dwarf. Lives by the dwarfish principles of good hard work, discipline, respect for traditional authority and duty to help those in need. - Adopted the 9 girls to raise by herself for close to 15 years after the orphanage they were in burned down and killed their Matron. Taught them all how to earn a living through tavern-keeping. - Tends to feel emotions strongly, but is embarrassed to talk about it, so will bury her feelings and suffer in silence until someone else brings it up. The actual writing is still a long way off, but this is just world-building prep work first. I've got a question, though: Which of the gods/goddesses is the patron of food and drink? Is it Elandria, Goddess of Invention and Home, or Jayden, Goddess of Potions, or Zarin, Goddess of the Arts, or Lucaa, Queen of Nature? Or is it separated out, like one being in charge of wine and drinking, and a different one being in charge of the culinary arts? I'm trying to figure out which Goddess(es) Roua is supposed to follow. ~Shouja~

And this ends the Pre-Reunion Letters. In a sense, they form the Prologue of the story, setting the scene for the Reunion. But since I haven't written the Reunion yet, it'll be a while before the next story post. ~Shouja~

Well then, let's continue. This experiment is turning out to be quite interesting. Essentially, I'm trying to role-play ten characters at once, and trying to see how they would all interact. It's a plotless, character-driven tale. I've got some vague ideas of dividing it into three parts: Pre-Reunion Letters, Reunion Stories, and then Post-Reunion Letters. But the latter two parts aren't written yet, so I'm not sure how far I'd be able to take it. For now, let me just complete the Pre-Reunion Letters.

Just took a break from some of my other writing projects. Is it okay if I finish this series, or should I go by the new rules and post a story of my character first, wait for approval, etc.? ~Shouja~

For fans of RPGs on consoles: The Grand List of Console Role Playing Game Cliches LMAO! (I loved the MacGuyver rule. ) ~Shouja~

Hmm... there doesn't seem to be a "Forum Lurker - reads everything but doesn't post or vote except in very rare instances" option. ~Shouja~

I'm not sure whether this point is relevant or not, but has anyone thought of the effect this might have on the newbies entering the game after the changes have been implemented? More specifically, I'm concerned about whether this will create a dominant strategy for all newbies who want to become high-leveled all-arounders. They will not consider any other options except going for the skills which do not require nexuses at first and then buying the nexuses for other skills through hydro bars later, because that is clearly the most efficient way to go about spending pickpoints. Do you want to encourage this kind of dominant strategy? Will this affect the game balance or types of players in the community? (i.e. If the best way to spend pickpoints is increasing stats to gain levels through combat, magic and other non-nexus skills, will there be an increase in the population of new fighter/mages and a decrease in the population of new makers, over the course of the next year? Or do you think players will still choose their own playing style, regardless of how the pickpoint system works for/against them? In any case, what will happen to the resource flows in the community, considering that fighter/mages are consumers while makers are producers of resources?) ~Shouja~

On a side note: Isla Prima is one of the smaller islands in the world. Why on Draia would anyone want a horse there? (It makes sense for something like White Stone or Lakeside taverns, but IP? >.<) ~Shouja~

Chad Vader (Darth Vader's wannabe brother), anyone? Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 There should be a fifth episode soon. ~Shouja~

Put all the gambling and entertainment bots into taverns, perhaps? Then you could have open-source entertainment of sorts. Games don't have to be hard-coded into just the NPC system, do they? Charades, puzzle games, trivia games, or Taboo! might work, and can usually be generated by bots in local chat. (I think) ~Shouja~

I'm more of a manga than anime fan (100+ manga series compared to ~30 anime series), but nevertheless I would suggest some of the following anime: Full Metal Panic series: Three seasons aired so far - Full Metal Panic, Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, and Full Metal Panic - The Second Raid. The first season is mecha action/adventure, the second is high school romantic comedy episodes set in-between the events of the first season, and the third season is a continuation of the story. (Very likely there's going to be a fourth season, eventually...). The story is simple. Sagara Sousuke, a teenage mercenary who has known nothing but war since his childhood, is sent undercover to Jindai High School to protect Kaname Chidori, a normal high school girl whom some terrorist organizations are targeting. Chidori is rumoured to be a Whispered - one of the very few people who have knowledge of advanced 'black' technology locked away in their heads unknown to their own selves. Sousuke works as a mecha pilot for MITHRIL, an anti-terrorist organization whose objectives centre around using the 'black' technology of its own Whispered to protect others. Unfortunately, Sousuke is probably one of the worst undercover agents in history, as he has absolutely no idea how to behave in a normal everyday high school setting. Watch the relationship between Chidori and Sousuke grow over the course of three seasons (and then you can go on to read the translated light novels! ) School Rumble series: Two seasons and two OVAs aired so far. High school romantic comedy, along the lines of Azumanga Daioh and Suzumiya Haruhi. Possibly the closest successor to Ranma 1/2 I've seen in a long while. Tsukamoto Tenma is your average high school girl - a little ditzy - who is in love with the blandest guy in her class, Karasuma Ooji. Harima Kenji is a notorious high school delinquent - who is in love with Tsukamoto Tenma! Both of them are struggling to find a way to convey their love to their respective targets of affection, and the resulting insanity draws in everyone - friends, classmates, and strangers - into a tangled web of relationships that's as funny as it is action-packed. Love truly becomes a war in this story! I guarantee you, if you watch this series through, you'll end up with a favourite pairing (and believe me, there are a lot of them!) to root for. Fruits Basket: This is a shoujo classic by now. If you were okay with Full Moon wo Sagashite, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien and Gunslinger Girl, you'll definitely like this series. I have rarely found an anime series which was as able to touch the heart as well as this one. Half-comedy and half-bittersweet tragedy, Fruits Basket tells the story of Honda Tohru, a simple high school girl, and her encounters with the Sohma family. The Sohma family is placed under a secret curse - whenever one of them is hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into one of the animals of the Chinese zodiac (cow, horse, dog, rabbit, etc.). What sort of relationships can you form if you can never come into physical contact with someone of the opposite sex - including your parents, family, and friends? (Momiji's story was especially sad and beautiful.) That will do for now, I think. There are plenty more, of course, but let's see whether you like these first. You can get anime HTTP downloads (in small file sizes of <60MB) from the following places: AnimeStash Chosen Anime I'll save manga recommendations for another day, when I have more time. For now, if you want to get a preview of different manga series, I recommend MangaVolume, which is an online manga viewer with about 270 series available. ~Shouja~ EDIT: :smackhead: I can't believe Cowboy Bebop wasn't mentioned. If you liked Akira and Samurai Champloo, you'll absolutely love the Cowboy Bebop anime. Futuristic story about bounty hunters in space. Action/adventure, all to the music of jazz and bebop. EDIT 2: Hajime no Ippo manga is better than the anime.