Sandy

[font=Century Gothic][B]Question to all team members in all teams:[/B] What are [I]you[/I] expecting from the future of OtakuBoards Survivor 4?[/font]

[QUOTE=James][font=arial]I'm looking for a Final Fantasy XII avatar, although I'm not really entirely sure what I want. It can have one of three characters: Vaan, Basch or the prince who gets married at the beginning of the game (I don't know his name, I'm not too far in at the moment). All I want is the standard size with a regular 1 pixel black border. See how you go. ^_^;;[/font][/QUOTE] The prince's name is Rasler, it's mentioned right there at the beginning. ;D Eh, just so I'm not merely spamming, I'll provide a few good images that can be used in the making. I'm not going to do it myself, because all I can do is crop and resize pictures - you'll surely want some special effects to your avatar... ;D

OMGWTFBBQ!!!!11one The new themes are teh SUXXORZ!!!!11 ...Ehm, yeah. Didn't like them. Not a big fan of ear-aching heavy-duty metal blare. XP The new animations were even more psychedelic than before, I'm actually a bit sad that the series is moving away from the dark gothic ambience to a cyberpunk-ish environment (with all the high-tech and gadgetry). And somebody can just shoot Misa-Misa, she really got on my nerves in this episode! Hopefully she'll rediscovers at least some of her intellectual capacity in the next episode... *rolls eyes*

[font=Century Gothic]You know what to do now, Beth and Darren. [I]Attack![/I][/font]

[quote name='BKstyles][font=tahoma']I'll officially announce you in the main thread as our representative, Beth. If you're still up for it :P.[/font][/quote] [FONT=Century Gothic] Actually, you don't even have to make any announcements. The one chosen to debate should immediately post their opening statement, just like in the last round. ;D[/FONT]

I bought the game on Friday, and I have a hard time letting it go out of my hands. Clocking over 30 hours now, but I will hold my opinions about it until I'm finished. *fears the spoilers he has been dodging for a year now* There's just one thing I'm absolutely certain of: this is the friggin' [I]best[/I] game I have ever played. Let's see if that opinion holds to the end.

[font=Century Gothic]I edited the subject of your debate for clarity, leaving out the "worldwide" part. The thing is that in some places it's perfectly legal and in some places it's not, and at least in my country it's a heated subject of debate should cannabis be legalized or not. So hope that clears things up a bit! ;D[/font]

[font=Century Gothic]Okay, girls, I'm not going to go to specific details about this, but I wanted to say that both of you were good debaters. You had many arguments, and what's more important, you grasped into each other's points. Nevertheless, the other of you two clearly outshone the other in bringing up different arguments, while the other one was put more in the defensive stance. Congratulations, [B]Aaryanna[/B], you earned your team 2 points! Also, you and Tiana have now done your share for the challenge, so you cannot participate to the future rounds, no matter what the subject is. Here are the scores after the first round: [color=DarkRed]The Mercenaries:[/color] 2 [color=DarkOrange]Team Argo:[/color] 0 [color=Green]The Laugh Out Louds:[/color] 0 [color=Blue]The Titans:[/color] 0 And now we move on. [center][B]Second Debate: Legalizing Cannabis[/B] [color=Green]The Laugh Out Louds[/color] (for) vs. [color=Blue]The Titans[/color] (against)[/center] BKstyles and Darren, please choose your debaters.[/font]

Just watched episode 19. Poor Matsuda, he's got comic relief written all over him... :/

[color=DarkGreen]Hey, Elemental_Lords! Before you go starting any new games here, please read the [B]Adventure Square Basics[/B] as well as the general [B]Rules[/B] of these message boards to learn how things work here. This game of yours lacks pretty much [I]everything[/I] required from an OtakuBoards RPG, so I have to close it. Despite all, I hope you enjoy your stay! - Sandy *thread closed*[/color]

[color=DarkGreen]I'm sorry, but I can't let this stay open. This game lacks depth, substance, a background story and all-around playability. Sparring is totally accepted here, but not in a generic, spam-prone way like this. You have to come up with more than just pitting godmodders against each other here, [B]Armageddon[/B]. - Sandy *thread closed*[/color]

[quote name='Haibara']I grew up sheltered and recently developed a mental condition called Agoraphobia which is basically an intense fear of being trapped in particular places and situations or of not being able to find help if I experience anxiety or a panic attack.[/quote] You must mean claustrophia. ;D Agoraphobia is the fear of open and crowded places.

I think the most problematic thing here is that her parents accuse your friend of having no social skills, when in fact they are the cause of that. I don't believe they're doing it out of malice, they are just afraid of losing her to the cruel world outside their home. The most basic solution to your friend would be to move out - she's 19, old enough - but if she lacks the basic social and practical skills - not to mention the support of her parents - to do that, it might be difficult. I don't know in what age young people are emancipated from their parent's care there, but in my country it's 18, after which they have no legal rights over the young person. I don't know what else can [I]you[/I] do, cancer, except help your friend to become an independent person. [I]Show[/I] her how to use the bank automat, [I]encourage[/I] her to participate to the daily chores, [I]teach[/I] her everything you know about filling in forms, applying for jobs etc. Maybe, just maybe, her parents will start to see what a capable person she really is, and loosen her leash. ;D The whole situation is quite ridiculous, actually, and that's exactly why teenagers rebel against their parents at that age - to avoid getting stuck in the childhood. Apparently your friend just skipped that phase...

[font=Century Gothic]Okay, it is time for your closing statements, where you get one final chance to compile your arguments and make your point. I know it's quick, heh, but consider these as miniature debates. ;D[/font]

[color=DarkGreen]Greetings, [B]Lord of Terror[/B]! Unfortunately your RPG doesn't meet the requirements set in the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=44318]Adventure Square Basics[/url]. It lacks a [B]rating[/B], and you should really focus on the [B]grammar[/B] as well. Also, writing in all-caps is considered impolite here, so why don't you figure out another method to get your point across, okay? Feel free to repost your thread once it meets the requirements. Thank you! - Sandy [B] *thread closed*[/B][/color]

[font=Century Gothic]Okay, now Aaryanna and Tiana can start tackling into each other's arguments freely. I'll check tomorrow if they have debated enough, and if so, then they can post their closing statements, after which I judge their performance and we move onto the next round. This pattern is repeated in all of the rounds, so this challenge could take a while. Feel free to make up some own entertainment for your teams in the Team Threads meanwhile. But now it's time to get aggressive, girls! Just remember the Golden Rule of debating: it's the issues that argue, not the people.[/font]

It's great to see another female character to the vastly male cast, although I don't think Wedy and Aiba will be very prominent figures... The 18th episode was quite slow in comparison to other recent episode, but I have a hunch it's just calm before the storm. ;D It was also a nice glance to the Japanese culture of shame and career-orientation (although I thought Aizawa was pathetic for crying because he had to spend more time as a responsible parent *rolls eyes*). I didn't enjoy the fighting scene, though, I think it's stupid that two male protagonists always have to get physically violent at one point or another in every single tv-show or movie. >:/

[QUOTE=BKstyles][font=tahoma] As for the format of how the debates will go, I've spoken with Sakura about this already and figure Sandy will play the teams against one another so that one person from each team faces off against a person of the other 3 teams, such as: [center][b]Titans vs LOLs Titans vs Argo Titans vs Merc Argo vs LOLs Argo vs Merc LOLs vs Merc[/b][/center] It would be six rounds like Sandy said it would be and would seemingly be the best way to run it, though I suppose it's a possibility that Sandy could stick us with the same team for all 3 runs.[/font][/QUOTE] [FONT=Century Gothic]It's no secret; you and Sakura are right that I'm going to pit each team against each other in this challenge. I thought I mentioned it in the rules, but I guess I forgot...[/FONT]

[quote name='Aaryanna_Mom']Actually since Sandy has stated that the rules of the debate only allow one player to participate, unless I am mistaken, working together on it would not be allowed. [/quote] [FONT=Century Gothic] Hmm, I don't mind the other team members helping, but the one the captains choose should do the most work for their round. Depending too heavily on others could cause the player to lose the round, I'd say. But I don't mind if you, Kathy, and Aaryanna give some pointers to Alexa for the debate.[/FONT]

[QUOTE=Keyblade Wielder][COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=1][FONT=Tahoma] Anyway, as captain of my new team, I was wondering exactly when we had to choose our participants. Just wondering since I asked who wanted to do it and when this will actually start.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE] [FONT=Century Gothic]As soon as possible, please. If you (and the other captains) are going to ask about everybody's opinions each round, we'll still be on this challenge in April. ;P Use the authority give to you, girl![/FONT]

[B]Announcement[/B]: [B]Tiana[/B] has moved to Team Argo, and [B]BKstyles[/B] is your new captain now. Cheers!

[B]Announcement[/B]: [B]Kathy[/B] has moved to The Mercenaries, and [B]Tiana/Keyblade Wielder[/B] is your new captain now. Cheers!

[B]Announcement[/B]: [B]BKstyles[/B] has moved to The Titans, and [B]Darren[/B] is your new captain now. Cheers!

[B]Announcement[/B]: [B]Darren[/B] has moved to the LOLs, and [B]Kathy/Aaryanna_Mom[/B] is your new captain now. Cheers!

[FONT=Century Gothic]This is it, the moment you've been waiting for with anxiety and suspicion for the last day or so. There are now fourteen players left in this game, and now it's time to mix, shake and stir things up a bit. Let the next challenge begin! [center][size=5]Fourth Challenge: Controversy[/size][/center] In this challenge, the four teams are pitted against each other in heated [B]debates[/B]. Because the team spirit is so strong in all teams, I got four players - one from each team - to volunteer for a little switch-around. ... Well, they didn't really know [I]what[/I] they were volunteering into, but now it's too late to back down. Starting from this challenge, these four volunteers will [B]switch teams[/B] and automatically become [B]captains[/B] of their new team. Here's how that is going to work. [INDENT][COLOR=DarkRed][B]Aaryanna_Mom/Kathy[/B] is the new captain of The Mercenaries[/COLOR]. [COLOR=DarkOrange][B]Keyblade Wielder/Tiana[/B] is the new captain of Team Argo[/COLOR]. [COLOR=Green][B]Darren[/B] is the new captain of The Laugh Out Louds[/COLOR]. [COLOR=Blue][B]BKstyles[/B] is the new captain of The Titans[/COLOR].[/INDENT] These four players are no longer allowed to post in their old Team Threads, and all the previous captains will lose their position. This change [B]stays in effect[/B] even after this challenge (although the title of the captain can be changed after it, like normally). Hope this is clear to everybody now. Now, to the rules of the challenge. [INDENT][B]1.[/B] There will be [B]six rounds of debates[/B] between two teams at a time about a specific subject given by me. [B]2.[/B] Only [B]one player[/B] from both teams can participate in one round, and each player can only participate into one round. The [B]new captains[/B] of the teams will [B]choose[/B] the participants. Because [COLOR=Blue]The Titans[/COLOR] have two extra members, two players from that team won't be participating at all. [B]3.[/B] Each round will consist from [B]opening statements[/B], free [B]argumentation[/B], and [B]closures[/B] from both sides - all posted to this thread. I will make sure that the debates won't last too long, and I will also judge each round based on the debater's performance, arguments and language they use. [B]4.[/B] The [B]winning[/B] side gets [B]two[/B] points, or in the case of a clear [B]tie[/B], both sides get [B]one[/B] point. [B]5.[/B] When all six rounds are over, the teams will be awarded for their points as such: [INDENT][I]1st place:[/I] Team will get to [B]bring back[/B] one evicted player, or choose a new one from the [B]standby[/B] to join their team. [I]2nd place:[/I] Team doesn't lose or gain any members. [I]3rd place:[/I] Team goes to the [B]Team Council[/B] to evict one member, but gets to choose a new one from the [B]standby[/B] as a replace. [I]4th place:[/I] Team votes off one member, but doesn't gain any new ones.[/INDENT] These "rewards" should keep everybody motivated - especially the new captains.[/INDENT] If more questions arise, don't hesitate to ask them! But now, let's move onto the first round of debates. We'll start with a simple one. [B]Survivors GO![/B] [center][b]First Debate: Abortion[/b] [COLOR=DarkRed]The Mercenaries[/COLOR](For) vs. [COLOR=DarkOrange]Team Argo[/COLOR](Against)[/center] Kathy and Tiana, please choose the first participants from your new teams. Those two can then post their opening statements to this thread. Go go go![/FONT]