Sandy

[quote name='indifference'][COLOR="Indigo"]Feh! Then Paraxis should not have said this: "They will wake up separated from each other, finding themselves in a room from their memories. What lies beyond that room, no-one can foretell." Everyone has them in a room from their memories, you didn't say nothing else would be going on. I got the impression that the moment they left that room of 'memories' was when they would be entering The Ragnarok, like how Rach did it with the guy who worked at the bar. He was confronted by Celesta as he went from the last memory he had into the Ragnarok. *pokes Sandy* That's how I've been writing my posts as well. Naomi was reliving her last memory before she was taken and that room she was in was at work where she was confronted by her ex boyfriend. The moment she ran out the doors, she ran into the Ragnarok. :p At least that is how my reasoning is going. I can't say with Matt since he did not end his post in that manner. *pokes Matt as well*[/COLOR][/QUOTE] I understand it might have been confusing, but I also made the gods see the 16 souls asleep in a void before Paraxis said the words. I thought everybody would understand that the characters would start out at the Ragnarok (and that the rooms would be part of it, like in both of my posts). Sorry for the misunderstanding, I just hope that from now on people would write about the characters' misadventures at the Ragnarok instead of their old lives. ;D And 2007DigitalBoy, I'm very glad to see you finally joined us. I was fearing you had given up before the game had even properly started... ;P

[quote name='Rachmaninoff']Which raises the question for Sandy... is it possible to earn points for more than one type of action in a post and thus pick up enough for a death card in a single post?[/QUOTE] Of course it is, but I will only count specific actions once per post. So if "A" is an action that gives points, and it's done three times in one post, I will only give points from the first "A". Also remember that Death Points and Life Points cancel each other out, so you might be so unlucky that you gain 10 Death Points but also 5 Life Points, so assuming you start out from zero, you'll end up with 5 Death Points. This means one has to have 10 or more of either points at the end of their post in order to get a card. Could I make this anymore complex? ;P Off to count some points now! [B]EDIT:[/B] People, what are you doing? What's with all these NPCs and real-life events? The mortal souls should've been transported to the Ragnarok already, but instead you just write about their lives before it... Wasn't this clear enough from the guidelines I gave and my examples? :/ Like in the previous parts of this series, there are [I]no other people[/I] other than the 16 chosen souls inside the Ragnarok (the "gameboard" of the gods). Now you're wasting good interaction to NPCs when the characters should instead be interacting with each other... Anyway, the first action has been used up: [INDENT][B]Swearing aloud[/B] (1 Death Point) - Shy, SunfallE, BKstyles[/INDENT] No longer will swearing give any points (it's not forbidden to do it anyway, of course). Oh, and [B]BKstyles[/B], your points are still in zero since you got a Life Point as well. Do note that I didn't give any points from actions taken by the NPCs, since they don't count as characters. I was really hesitant of giving points from anything done outside of the Ragnarok, but I decided to give them anyway to get this game starting. From now on, please cut all NPC interactions strictly to flashbacks and reminiscenses. Also, pay attention to the country of origin of the character when naming NPCs. It's a bit silly that all the NPCs have English names despite what country they live in. Sorry for this rant, I just wanted to make these things clear to everybody. Please, if you're in doubt, ask away! ;D PS. [B]Rachmaninoff[/B], I liked the way Celesta appeared to give Jamie the power. Just everybody be sure that the gods don't give away too much to the mortal souls straight away. This game should be a big mystery to those chosen to participate it.

[FONT="Palatino Linotype"][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]The circle of deities observed each others, cautious to make a move themselves. Paraxis suspected that his brothers and sisters were hesitating because the stakes were so high, so he decided to show them how the game should be played. [B]"Hold nothing back"[/B], Paraxis croaked, his ancient voice unbefitting to his youthful, pure face.[/COLOR] [CENTER]~~~~~ [img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-chohee.jpg[/img][/CENTER] Cho Hee Hanja wasn't an outgoing person. She didn't enjoy the company of men nor other women, she preferred solitude and silence. Even in her classes she demanded that her students spoke only soft, low tone, and the one thing she hated the most was incessant giggling. It didn't mean that she didn't ever smile, though. On the contrary, the courteous smile never let her face. She had smiled when her sister had married a poor comic artist, she had smiled when her mother was diagnosed with cancer, she had even smiled when she heard her father had died in a plane crash. She smiled when tears were running down her cheek. She was smiling now as she sowed the seam of a traditional Korean [I]hanbok[/I] dress. That giggling idiot Yoon Sang had torn it in the last session. Cho Hee had kicked her out of the class three years ago. Cho Hee's sowing came to stop. She looked down to the dress she was holding. She had already fixed the seam three years ago, so why was she doing it now? She looked around the room she was in. It was filled with [I]hanboks[/I] and other traditional costumes of every color imaginable hanging from racks. She suddenly realized that there was no door on sight. Then she heard it. Sobbing. She dropped the dress and the needle, and stood up. She walked towards the voice, pushing the racks and dresses out of her way. It seemed that there was no end to them. Finally she stumbled out amongst the clothing racks and into a large room with charred wooden walls and pillars. Some of the ceiling had fallen down revealing a sky filled with a cloud of smoke. She saw a lone little girl sobbing in the corner of the hall. [B]"Are you alright?"[/B] Cho Hee asked cautiously. The girl looked up at her with her large brown eyes wide open, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Cho Hee smiled at the girl. There was one thing that she hated almost as much as giggling: little children.[/FONT]

Since the points are gained by the gods (not the actual players) by manipulating the mortal souls, only the actions taken by the souls merit points. So no matter what you do with your deity, it won't give you any points whatsoever. Just scornful looks from the other gods. ;P

[quote name='SunfallE'][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]Anyway, I was wondering what your take is on posting or rather frequency of posts. I obviously have no intention of posting again so soon, but did you want us to wait until everyone has posted at least once?[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] No, by all means, post post post! You won't gain the upper hand to your rivalling gods unless you post, and do it frequently. At this moment there are still plenty of characters that have not been even mentioned, so there's plenty of them to go around. Getting a highly active game is one of the reasons I created this point-system, since I got fed up with the pace of one post/month with OBS 4. So don't hold anything back. ;D

[FONT="Palatino Linotype"]Thanks for the feedback, Treble. As you probably noticed, I'm having trouble getting the shadows in their right places in the right size. This is evident on the piece I did yesterday: [URL="http://sandyledandy.deviantart.com/art/Battledancer-VS-Battledancer-65676260"][COLOR="DarkOrange"]Battledancer VS Battledancer[/COLOR][/URL] So I did a close-up on both versions of the battledancer facing each other to seem like they're a character in the fighting game SoulCalibur IV (I even snitched the logo). But they/he has a name and a background story now as well! He's Mischa, a Prussian circus performer whose troupe was slaughtered by none else than [URL="http://www.soularchive.jp/SC4/character/tira/"][COLOR="Green"]Tira[/COLOR][/URL], the crazy girl with a ringblade. This piece required a lot of work, but it allowed me to try out several features of Photoshop that I hadn't used before (text input, text manipulation, pasting pictures, resizing them without stretching the pixels on them, layers upon layers upon layers, etc.). The only thing I'm not happy with the picture is the skin with it's shading. :/ Any tips for making a more realistic skin, anyone?[/FONT]

[quote name='Rachmaninoff']So if only one person is getting life points... You'll stick out.[/QUOTE] But like I said earlier, you can save your cards for as long as you want to, and just because someone gets 10 Life Points, it doesn't automatically mean that they'll get a Life Card out of it. ;D Besides, using both Life Cards and Creation Cards goes through me, so other contestants can never be 100% sure of who used the card. I might be tempted to use a few cards myself, heh. ;D Oh, just in case you guys forgot already, you are free to assign your Power Cards to any character in the game at any time. I know you probably want to introduce the characters first before making them all lusty or crazy, though. ;P

Hmm, I'd prefer if I would only have one place to update the points into, it would keep me from getting confused. Trust me, when you reach ten points in either direction, you'll know it. ;D I'm also thinking that once a specific action is used up (done three times), I reveal it in this thread to give you a sort of clue what type of actions merit the points. I will also add in new actions to my list when the old ones are used up, so that there's always good chances in gaining points. ;D I will give you one hint, though: [B]the list of actions that merit Death Points is much longer than the list of actions that give Life Points.[/B] Take that as you wish...

[FONT="Century Gothic"]Alright, thanks again, you two. Now it's time to put a closing to this game as well. I just want to say that even though I've enjoyed hosting four OtakuBoards Survivor-games tremendously, I think I'm kind of drained out of ideas. So it's very unlikely that I'll ever start another one. But if someone else wants to host a new OB Survivor sometime, you are free to PM and I'd be happy to give you tips and directions. But for now, Sandy bows out![/FONT]

[quote name='Redemption'][size=1]Hiya all. Haven't been around for a while so I don't know how the situation in the Arena is going.[/size][/quote] Welcome back! The Adventure Arena is doing quite alright, thanks for asking. ;D [QUOTE]So how is the quality of the RPGs being posted? Does it stack up to what you knew of the past RPGs posted in OB?[/QUOTE] In my opinion the quality of OB RPGs have been on their status quo for quite many years now. There are occasional peaks in the quality, of course, but you just have to have a bit of luck to find those oftentimes hidden gems (like SunfalllE's [I]Silver One[/I]). [QUOTE]What do RPers want these days? What elements of an RP do you look at before signing up?[/QUOTE] In general, people seem to be more open to new ideas than before, but of course one must be careful not to overdo it with innovativeness. Naruto and other anime-themed games attract the younger memberbase, while sci-fi and a certain level of maturity (for example involving crime and gangs) draw in the older members. As for myself, I like trying different things and playing different roles, so basically anything out-of-the-ordinary will get my attention. The background story is highly important - the more elaborate the better - and a certain amount of epicness really appeals to me. [QUOTE]When you look at signing up to an RPG, does it matter who posted it?[/QUOTE] It does, actually, but not in the way you might think. I don't categorize RPGs based on whether they're created by old members or new members, but whether I know if the creator is a good roleplayer or not. I can usually see that by glancing at the recruitment thread (coherent spelling, intriguing story etc. are topmost clues), but I've been here long enough to know whose RPGs are a joyride, and who just lose their interest in their own games after a while. The most important thing to remember here is that no matter how great the preset of an RPG game is, no matter how reknown members join it and no matter how big the hubbub created before the game is, it will [I]not[/I] succeed unless the creator him/herself is dedicated to taking it to the end.

[FONT="Century Gothic"][B]The votes are in![/B] The public poll marks 4 votes to Aaryanna, and 8 votes to Rachmaninoff. That means [B]Rachmaninoff[/B] gets the public vote. As for the votes of the Jury, three went to Aaryanna, and three went to Rachmaninoff. Yes, that is correct. The winner of OtakuBoards Survivor 4 and the subsequent title of the Survivor of OtakuBoards is... [SIZE="5"][CENTER][COLOR="Red"]R[/COLOR][COLOR="Orange"]a[/COLOR][COLOR="Gold"]c[/COLOR][COLOR="Green"]h[/COLOR][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]m[/COLOR][COLOR="Indigo"]a[/COLOR][COLOR="Purple"]n[/COLOR][COLOR="Indigo"]i[/COLOR][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]n[/COLOR][COLOR="Green"]o[/COLOR][COLOR="Gold"]f[/COLOR][COLOR="Orange"]f[/COLOR][COLOR="Red"]![/COLOR][/CENTER][/SIZE] Congratulations on my behalf, Darren! You outwitted, outplayed and outlasted [I]ten[/I] challenges and [I]twenty[/I] other contestants! There is only one question for this type of situation: [B]How do you feel now?[/B] Thank you, [B]Aaryanna[/B], it was a real close call and in my honest opinion you deserved to win this game just as much as Rachmaninoff. You were the real life of this game. I also want to thank our Jury - [B]Aaryanna_Mom[/B], [B]8Bit[/B], [B]BKstyles[/B], [B]Ezekiel[/B], [B]Shy[/B] and [B]SunfallE[/B] - for their hard but all-so-necessary decision. Thanks goes to the other contestants as well; [B]Keyblade Wielder[/B], [B]Anomaly[/B], [B]Gavin[/B], [B]indifference[/B], [B]Allamorph[/B], [B]kalon[/B], [B]Darren[/B], [B]Dragon Warrior[/B], [B]Kitty[/B], [B]Peanut[/B], [B]JJ[/B], [B]Sakura[/B] and [B]The Boss[/B]. You all dared to face whatever the OtakuBoards made you face, and you put up a heck of a fight! It's been a long, [I]long[/I] nine months, but I dare say that this has been the most influential OtakuBoards Survivor yet, and I'm extremely proud of getting to host it. Thank you all! I'll give the final words to our finalists, Rachmaninoff and Aaryanna.[/FONT]

[quote name='Darren']No, I have it. Crystal Clear, thank you. I was just unsure about whether the list would be public. But I suppose I could have just waited for the game to start before I started asking questions. Let the game begin, haha. It's cool that you remembered your mythology (Apollo and Artemis being twins, that is) And while I wasn't planning on Telumas being related to any of the other gods, it certainly makes for some interesting posts from the god's POV... :D[/QUOTE] Well, in this game all the gods are related on some level (they're calling each others brothers and sisters), but I figured Telumas and Raone had a deeper bond, since they represent the Moon and the Sun, respectively. And don't even get me started on mythology, since I was quite the myth geek when I was younger. XD I can still name most of the deities in the Greek Mythology with their area of specialization. It's also the main reason I chose the godly aspect to this game. ;D

[quote name='Darren']Yes, the fourth installment... But only my third time to participate. :p EDIT: And here's an important question... I realize that with this new system, you have your choice to shoot for death cards or life cards... However, what if you're the only one that aims for a life card and then your character dies? It would be obvious if he/she was revived... So how do you plan to correct such a scenario? Will we have the option to save our life cards for as long as we want, (or with some sort of restriction) or will there be some other option... I guess this all stems from the point system; it still confuses me. I'm sure I'll get it after it's started, but I'm just curious[/QUOTE] An unlikely scenario (since you can't know what actions give you Death points and what Life Points, except the general "positive for Life, negative for Death"-guidelines), but one just has to take the risk. You can of course save up your cards, and use them when it's the most advantageous to do so, but there's a [B]three-post deadline[/B] to when use your Life Card after you lose your last character. It means that if you fail to acquire and use a Life Card in three posts (your own posts only count, of course), you're out of the game for good. Anyway, the game is up now, so enjoy. ;D If anything is left unclear about the rules and the flow of the game, just ask away in this thread!

[FONT="Palatino Linotype"][CENTER][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-logo.png[/IMG] {Rated [I]mature[/I] with excessive violence, language and sex.}[/CENTER] [i]Since the dawn of civilization in the planet Earth, there have been gods and goddesses who have used humankind as pawns in their disputes. Taking countless forms, the deities have always found a way to enter the hearts of humans and persuade them to do their bidding. This has caused endless misery, wrath and pain to the mortals, yet they fear too much to doubt the almighty forces of the universe. One god has remained neutral through this all, observing the actions of his brothers and sisters with his empty eyes. One day he decides that he has seen enough. Summoning the warring gods and goddesses, he organizes a fateful game of cards he calls The Ragnarok, or the Fate of Gods. The stakes are high, as the one deity who wins will rule over the universe. The other gods must succumb to him or her and leave the Earth. The other gods and goddesses agree to participate in their brother’s game. He tells them that they must choose three souls, dead or alive, to represent them in the multidimensional gameboard. One by one, the deities must get rid of the souls representing their rivals, and try to save their own champions. They can do those things through the Cards of Fate, dealt to them by their brother, the God of Death. He will make sure that there is only one god left in the world when the game ends.[/i] [CENTER]~~~~~ [SIZE="5"][U]The Deities[/U][/SIZE] [i]Sandy[/i] as [SIZE="5"]Paraxis[/SIZE], the God of Death [B]Power Card[/B]: Undead Makes the mortal soul carrying it immune to all cards, including Death Card, but also make it’s flesh start to rot. [i]Aaryanna[/i] as [SIZE="5"]Treisleilai[/SIZE], the Goddess of Sin [B]Power Card[/B]: Bloodlust Magnifies the mortal soul’s sense of desire to the point that they ignore reason in favor of lust and greed. [i]Rachmaninoff[/i] as [SIZE="5"]Celesta[/SIZE], the Goddess of Life [B]Power Card[/B]: Heal Grants the user the ability to heal all but the most mortal of wounds. However, it also exacts a toll proportionate to the level of healing done. [i]SunfallE[/i] as [SIZE="5"]Bellanna[/SIZE], the Goddess of Love and Beauty [B]Power Card[/B]: Passion Makes the mortal soul so beautiful and desirable that none can resist them, even if pursuing them results in their own destruction. The one given this power has control over whether or not it’s active as well as whom the power is being used on. [i]Aaryanna_Mom[/i] as [SIZE="5"]Raone[/SIZE], the God of Light and Truth [B]Power Card[/B]: Light of Axiom The mortal soul granted this power will have the ability to see the undeniable truth. This also allows the mortal to detect the truth in the atmosphere and realize when they are in precarious areas. In exchange, the mortal soul will progressively give up his or her memories until they are no longer in possession of the Light of Axiom. [i]indifference[/i] as [SIZE="5"]Jachym[/SIZE], the God of the Sea [B]Power Card[/B]: Tsunami Gives the soul the ability to control water, from keeping the water away from one’s self to prevent drowning to creating a powerful Tsunami. However doing so will exhaust them both mentally and physically. [i]Shy[/i] as [SIZE="5"]Illyria[/SIZE], the God/dess of Insanity [B]Power Card[/B]: Madness The wielder gains the power to control others' perceptions and manipulate them at will. This card also manipulates the perceptions of the wielder, wearing away at their sense of reality until they are truly insane. [i]Darren[/i] as [SIZE="5"]Telumas[/SIZE], the Goddess of the Moon and Hunt [B]Power Card[/B]: Sure Shot Whichever mortal soul possesses this card, has a sure shot death in their pocket. Once a Death Card is attained, they may use it on whomever they wish, without fear of protection from any type shielding card, should they be introduced. [SIZE="5"][U]The Souls[/U][/SIZE][/CENTER] Ashley “[SIZE="5"]Ash[/SIZE]” Brendan [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-ash-death.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Age:[/B] 19 [B]Origins:[/B] Torquay, Australia 2007 [B]Occupation:[/B] Beach Bum [SIZE="5"]Charles[/SIZE] Jefferson [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-charles-death.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Age:[/B] 22 [B]Origins:[/B] Charleston, South Carolina (USA) 1854 [B]Occupation:[/B] Slave [SIZE="5"]Charlotte[/SIZE] Jouet [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-charlotte.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soulswapcard.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soulswapcard.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Age:[/B] 27 [B]Origins:[/B] Versailles, France 1789 [B]Occupation:[/B] Nobility [SIZE="5"]Christopher[/SIZE] Francis [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-christopher-death.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Age:[/B] 46 [B]Origins:[/B] Marseille, France 2007 [B]Occupation:[/B] Electrical Engineer [SIZE="5"]Enora[/SIZE] Isago [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-enora-death.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-timetravelcard.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Age:[/B] 125 [B]Origins:[/B] Cairo, Egypt 3007 [B]Occupation:[/B] Judge [SIZE="5"]Farah[/SIZE] Salam Abdul [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-farah-death.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Age:[/B] 35 [B]Origins:[/B] Kabul, Afghanistan 2003 [B]Occupation:[/B] Housewife Hanja [SIZE="5"]Cho Hee[/SIZE] [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-chohee-death.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-dualdeathcard.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Age:[/B] 27 [B]Origins:[/B] Seoul, South Korea 2007 [B]Occupation:[/B] Traditional Arts Teacher [SIZE="5"]Ian[/SIZE] Hughes [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-ian-death.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-dualdeathcard.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soulswapcard.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Age:[/B] 35 [B]Origins:[/B] East Anglia, England 610 [B]Occupation:[/B] Fletcher/Tailor [SIZE="5"]Ira[/SIZE] Petrov [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-ira-death.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Age:[/B] 28 [B]Origins:[/B] Tver, Russia 1935 [B]Occupation:[/B] Retail Store Clerk James “[SIZE="5"]Jamie[/SIZE]” Alan [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-jamie-death.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Age:[/B] 24 [B]Origins:[/B] Los Angeles, California (USA) 2007 [B]Occupation:[/B] Night Club Bartender [size=5]Jeanne[/size] Rawlings [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-jeanne-death.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-creationcard.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-anticard.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Age:[/B] 30 [B]Origins:[/B] Quebec, Canada 1985 [B]Occupation:[/B] Wedding Consultant [SIZE="5"]Joe[/SIZE] Gossett [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-joe-death.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Age:[/B] 59 [B]Origins:[/B] Birmingham, Alabama (USA) 2007 [B]Occupation:[/B] Puppeteer [SIZE="5"]Kenneth[/SIZE] Harvey [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-kenneth-death.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Age:[/B] 25 [B]Origin:[/B] New York City, New York (USA) 1914 [B]Occupation:[/B] Photojournalist [size=5]Kenneth[/size] Jouet [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-kennethjunior-death.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-creationcard.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Age:[/B] 6 [B]Origins:[/B] The Ragnarok 2007 [B]Occupation:[/B] Child Kirima [SIZE="5"]Nagi[/SIZE] [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-nagi-death.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Age:[/B] 11 [B]Origins:[/B] Kyoto, Japan 857 [B]Occupation:[/B] Shrine Maiden [SIZE="5"]Marta[/SIZE] Kramer [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-marta-death.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soulswapcard.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Age:[/B] 48 [B]Origins:[/B] Vienna, Austria 2007 [B]Occupation:[/B] Graphic Designer [SIZE="5"]Naomi[/SIZE] Gallo [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-naomi-death.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Age:[/B] 20 [B]Origins:[/B] Milan, Italy 2007 [B]Occupation:[/B] Student/Clothing Store Cashier [SIZE="5"]Patrick[/SIZE] Malone [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-patrick-death.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Age:[/B] 16 [B]Origins:[/B] Dublin, Ireland 1900 [B]Occupation:[/B] Choir Boy [SIZE="5"]Reiko[/SIZE] Cheng [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-soul-reiko-death.png[/IMG] [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Age:[/B] 18 [B]Origin:[/B] Pulau Palawan, Singapore 2007 [B]Occupation:[/B] Unemployed [CENTER] [SIZE="5"][U]The Rules[/U][/SIZE][/CENTER] [SIZE="1"][indent]1. Your aim is to get rid of everyone else’s souls and protect your own. 2. Each soul can be freely controlled and developed by all the gods. 3. You can kill souls only with Death Cards, and revive your own souls with Life Cards. 4. Both cards are gained by collecting a total of 4 Death or Life Points. 5. You get Death Points by making the souls do specific negative things. 6. Life Points are awarded to those who make the souls take specific positive actions. 7. There’s a secret list of actions that merit either 1, 2 or 3 Death/Life Points. 8. When an action on that list has been used three times, it will no longer merit any points and will be made visible to all deities. 9. Death Points and Life Points cancel each other out, so you need to remain consistent with your play style until you gain a card. 10. When you reach 4 points and receive a card, the counter will drop down to zero. 11. Sometimes getting 4 of either points will give you a new type of card instead of Death/Life Card. 12. One of the other types is the Creation Card, which will allow you to create a completely new soul. 13. When you gain a card, you can freely choose when it’s most advantageous to use it. 14. When you use a card, you include the image of the card alongside with the image of the soul you use it with to your post. 15. However, if you want to use a Life Card or a Creation Card, you should notify me through PM along with the target of the card, and I will post it for you to avoid revealing your souls. 16. From the get-go, you’ll have access to your personal Power Card that you can affiliate with any soul you want. 17. You can only give your power to one soul, but that one soul can carry several powers. 18. If the carrier of your power dies, the Power Card will be returned to you to be used to another soul. You can also opt to remove the Power Card from the one you gave it to anytime. 19. When all of your souls have died, you have one post to try and revive one of your characters, after which you will be erased from the game along with your Power Card. 20. The winner is the deity whose soul (or several souls) is the last one alive. 21. In each post you must have at least a sentence written from the point-of-view of the deity you're playing. You can write from the point-of-view of several mortal souls in one post.[/indent][/SIZE] [center]~~~~~[/CENTER] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"]Paraxis, the God of Death, gazed upon his brothers and sisters with his empty eyes reflecting the depths of eternity. Seven deities stood around a decorative round pool filled with swirling mist. These seven were the only deities who had remained to face the Death God's challenge. The others had abandoned Earth voluntarily. Among the seven was the dark Treisleilai, the immaculate Celesta and the voluptous Bellanna, three goddesses who reigned over the morality of the humankind. There were also the brilliant Raone and the raging Jachym, glaring each other scornfully. Telumas, the Heavenly Huntress, stood next to her twin brother Raone, eager to best him as well as the rest of the deities. Finally, there was Illyria the Insane, an enigma even to the God of Death. Each of them held a card in their hands. [B]"You have prepared your Power Cards?"[/B] Paraxis said with his coarse voice. [B]"Then reveal them."[/B] The seven deities laid down the cards onto the edge of the pool. Paraxis conjured a card of his own and showed it to the others. [B] "These cards will either aid you in the game or help bring you down. Use them well. Now, call upon the pawns you have chosen, and send them into the Ragnarok."[/B] The deities closed their eyes, and the mist in the pool began to clear up, revealing sixteen mortal souls surrounded by bright light. [B]"They will wake up separated from each other, finding themselves in a room from their memories. What lies beyond that room, no-one can foretell."[/B] A thin smile appeared on Paraxis' pale face. [B]"Let the game begin."[/B][/COLOR] [CENTER]~~~~~[/center] Charles Jefferson woke up to a rocking sensation. He opened his eyes, and saw a wall of moist planks before him. His eyes widened with panic as he realized that he had returned to the place that haunted his dreams years after leaving it behind: the ship that had taken him and hundreds of others from their homelands to under the slavery of the white man. He tried to stand up, but the shackles between his hands and feet made him stumble back down. He felt like he was the same nine-years old boy who had witnessed people around him dying to starvation, wounds and diseases during those long months spent inside the hull of this ship. Only this time, there was no-one else around. Charles got up slowly, and struggled to remain in balance as the room around him rocked from side to side. Dragging his shackles, he slugged towards the stairs leading up to the deck. [B]"Help!"[/B] he shouted, out of a spur of the moment. His captors must've still be onboard. [B]"You forgot me down here!"[/B] When no-one replied, he started climbing up the stairs. He reached the door, and saw flashing light and rain trickling in between the planks. But as he pushed it open, he didn't come out to a deck of a ship, but something completely else.[/FONT]

[quote name='Darren']I was definately worried about having real photos instead of drawn ones, but I'm surprised at the outcome and I'm excited to see what comes of the Ragnarok... Hopefully third time's a charm...[/QUOTE] Actually, this is the fourth installment to the series... ;P Anyway, I decided to require real-life photographs to add another layer of maturity to the game. It's easy enough to slice and dice anime-characters with no sense of mercy or regret, but when you have to put a photo of a person of real flesh and blood next to the Death Card... Then hopefully something moves inside you. ;D I'll post the game thread shortly.

[quote name='SunfallE'][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]*poke* Because I can... *poke* So Sandy will smack me... :catgirl: Anyway, I was talking to Shy on AIM about this and we were wondering what part the Gods would take beyond simply bestowing cards and such. Will they too be talking and reacting among each other? In their own thread from their position in the Immortal Realm? I certainly hope so since that would open things up for interesting storytelling on so many levels! XD I mean I know you said we'll be playing both, but I'm curious as to how much the Gods will fit into the picture. Heh.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] Actually (and I was going to say this when the game starts, but I can just as well say it now), each post that you make should include [I]at least[/I] a sentence or two written from the point-of-view from the deity you're playing. Of course they can talk to the other gods, or mutter about what's going on at the Ragnarok by themselves, or plan a grand scheme or whatever. So I'm aiming this to be multidimensional game, where one dimension is the "mortal soul" characters, above them are the "god" characters, and even above them are us. I should remind you that all [B]out-of-character(s) posts[/B] should come here. You should only post as your god and the characters to the upcoming game thread. [B]Edit:[/B] The Ragnarok will launch today, with seven players and myself. This brings the total of mortal souls to 16, since I added two souls of my own as neutral pawns. Here's a sneak peek of the characters: [center][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/SamSandy/Ragnarok/ragnarok-souls.jpg[/IMG][/center]

[font=Century Gothic]I should probably stress that [I]anyone[/I] can vote on the poll, no matter if you've been following the competition or not. I'm still lacking votes from [B]Aaryanna_Mom[/B], [B]8bit[/B] and [B]Keyblade Wielder[/B] (who hasn't even been around lately), but I will announce the result as soon as it's clear. I have to say that at this points it's anybody's game, you two are so even.[/font]

[quote name='2007DigitalBoy'][COLOR="DarkOrange"]I'm aware of all that. I just like making my opinion sound like fact. Also, 'anygays'?[/COLOR][/QUOTE] It's great that you're aware of it yourself. ;D Also, if this the first time you've seen me use that word, then you mustn't have read my posts very carefully. ;P

[quote name='2007DigitalBoy'][COLOR="DarkOrange"]An otaku is obsessed with anime and manga or the cutures surrounding them. You CANNOT be a science otaku. It DOES NOT work like that. An otaku IS an anime fanatic. [/COLOR][/QUOTE] That's your own definition. [I]Otaku[/I] is really just a Japanese word for a fanatic, and although it's used as a derogatory term there, there's a common consensus here that it can be taken with pride. There's also a common consensus that it can mean a fan of practically anything. Just because the word is Japanese doesn't mean it can only include Japanese things. If I say "kannattaja" or "kiihkoilija" (fan and fanatic in Finnish, respectively), I'm not limiting the words to people only interested in Finnish things (cause that would be, you know, silly). Anygays, I believe we western people have much more sense of self-irony than the always-so-bashful Japanese (if you excuse my generalization), so we can use the term more liberately to refer ourselves as ones.

[quote name='Miss Anonymous']Frankly, I'm slightly offended you would question my mother's trustworthiness. I'm sure you didn't mean to, but regardless.[/QUOTE] Family pride aside, you can't deny that [I]usually[/I] parents don't want their little girls and boys having sex until they've at least moved out of the house. That has nothing to do with lying, they're just trying to protect their children from making mistakes. I'm sorry I made that generalization with your mother, you know her the best. But you also said that you'd take her word over anybody else's, which is silly since the emotional side of sex is something that cannot be shared with mere words, as it's different for every individual person. So your mother may be saying that sex is always a huge emotional fanfare, I say it can be done without any emotion at all, but you won't learn the truth about it until you experience it yourself. But if you'd take my word for it, it's really not something [I]so[/I] worthwhile that one would need to rush into it before one is ready. ;D

I don't get it. Are you saying you don't want to be friends with your future boyfriend? Then what [I]do[/I] you want from him (besides the physical aspect)? To me it sounds you're just not ready for a relationship. Or maybe you've just lost all hope in finding a suitable man to actually care about. Or maybe you're a lesbian after all (well, you never know!). Of course you [I]can[/I] have a relationship without the emotional bond, but that'd be one crappy relationship to be in for both of you, I'd say. Give it time, Roxie. You will find your soulmate (be it a boy or a girl) eventually if you just keep your eyes and mind open. ;D

[quote name='Aceburner']Don't worry about Rat Boy. He eats it up. Either that or he just doesn't care.[/QUOTE] Honestly, I adore Rat Boy. This place wouldn't be the same without him. He knows that I'm just messing around with him. ;D

[quote name='sakurasuka'][FONT="Arial"][SIZE="1"]Also, I'm not waiting around for some prince charming, nor do I have some romantic notion that such a man exists, but I've already found the man I'm spending the rest of my days and years with. He may not be perfect, but he's perfect for me.[/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE] I'm happy for you. I've found such a man as well to my life. I didn't mean my words as a personal insult, I just thought (and still think) that you're a bit oblivious to the way things work in the world. You preach what you think is the right way to go with sex, but unfortunately you could just as well be talking to the walls. No amount of restrains or preachings can hold a thirteen year old from having sex if he or she so desires. You and I and everybody else have to just accept that, and hope that someone will at least teach him or her how to do it safely. I admire your strong belief in your ideals, I really do, but like it's been said many times in this thread already, people make their own choices in life. You just got to live and let live, you know?

Alright, the nine of you who have signed up this far are all accepted into the Ragnarok. Here's a compiled list for reference: [SIZE="1"]2007DigitalBoy as [B]Treisleilai[/B], the Goddess of Sin ? Bloodlust Card Rachmaninoff as [B]Celesta[/B], the Goddess of Life ? Heal Card SunfallE as [B]Bellanna[/B], the Goddess of Love and Beauty ? Passion Card BKstyles as [B]Raone[/B], the God of Light and Truth ? Light of Axiom Card Kam as [B]Iah[/B], the God of Justice ? Holy Fire Card indifference as [B]Jachym[/B], the God of the Sea ? Tsunami Card Shy as [B]Illyria[/B], the God of Madness ? Madness Card Darren as [B]Telumas[/B], the Goddess of Moon and Hunt ? Sure Shot Card dMage as [B]Gui-Mor[/B], the God of Dreams ? Vision Card [/SIZE] I will start accepting the character profiles for the mortal souls now. Please read the instructions below carefully before submitting. So, you as a deity are entitled to summon [B]two[/B] mortal souls as your avatars in the game of Ragnarok. Their profiles must be sent to me [B]by a private message[/B], and kept secret from the other players. There are certain requirements for the souls: [SIZE="1"]1. The other must be a [B]male[/B] and the other a [B]female[/B] 2. The two must come from [B]different countries[/B] (their native language doesn't matter, for inside the Ragnarok everybody can communicate with each other) 3. One of them must be a [B]living soul[/B] from present day Earth (age does not matter), while the other must be a [B]dead soul[/B] from the past history (starting from the year 2006 and limited to the beginning of civilization, so I won't accept any cavemen or such) 4. I won't accept any famous people, celebrities or historical figures, so please stick to [B]original[/B] characters[/SIZE] If I see something I don't like in the characters, I will ask you to change them. Now, since all the souls are controlled by all the players, none of them will have a set personality or background stories to them. Instead, the profile sheet for the characters looks as simple as this: [SIZE="1"] [B]Picture:[/B] 100x100 pixels large realistic [I]photograph[/I] of the face of the character (no drawn images) with 1 pixel wide black border around it [B]Name:[/B] first name and family name, fitting to the region and era the character is from [B]Gender:[/B] male or female [B]Age:[/B] in the case of dead souls, the age when the character died (please try to make other type of characters than teens and young adults as well) [B]Origins:[/B] place (city & country) and year of origin (contemporary characters must all have 2007 as the year) [B]Occupation:[/B] if the character is still a child or has retired from some job, mention that as well[/SIZE] Do not put anything else into the profiles, as I will remove them if you do. It's important that the profiles are done in the same pattern to obscure any possibilities of recognizing which character belongs to which player through them. I hold the right to adjust the wording in the profiles for that same purpose. Okay, have fun creating the characters, and when everybody's done, we can begin the journey to the Ragnarok. [B]EDIT:[/B] I posted the discussion thread "Valhalla" to the Arena Underground, so further questions can be asked there. [B]EDIT #2:[/B] The sign-ups are now closed. I'm still missing characters from three players: [B]BKstyles[/B], [B]Kam[/B] and [B]dMage[/B]. Please post them as soon as possible, or notify me if you have lost interest or time out of a sudden.

I have to remind you that there are plenty of other nationalities than just Americans around here. ;P Anyway, I think the common definition of Otaku in this place has become something like a "devoted fan". We carry our title with pride, and if someone wants to see us as geeky, greasy-haired, antisocial fanatics living in our parent's basements, they are free to do that. After all, they'd be at least partially right. *glances at 2007DigitalBoy nonchalantly* ... ;D