James

[font=franklin gothic medium]It'll just include the current ones, yeah. Reserve players will be either included in the main story if active players drop out...or they will be incorporated into a secondary thread. It's not quite time for the latter yet though.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]In terms of hybrid abilities, that's up to you. Your character can be aware that they're a hybrid or not - perhaps some characters will struggle with that issue. You may use your powers whenever you like and as much as you like, but please keep it within reason. Obviously it will have to relate to the context of the story. Thanks for all your posts so far, guys. I will be including a posting order and beginning the first chapter shortly. Please feel free to have your characters mix and meet each other during the ball, if you like.[/font]

[QUOTE=Charles]Believe it or not, yours is not the first reported case of this kind, liveinmybubble. Other brave souls too, with a plethora of smilies and broken English, have stepped forward about this mysterious brand of harassment. There are several solutions for your problem, but rather than go through them all I'll just save time and give you the most helpful one: [CENTER][IMG]http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/1238/crappyposts9fu.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER][/QUOTE] [font=franklin gothic medium]Thank you, Charles. 'nuff said.[/font]

[quote=The Boss][color=navy][size=1] I'd like you to note something, which I suppose you didn't pick up in my posts. I have no interest in becoming a mod or requesting to become one. That has never been my wish or intention. Another thing I think you missed is the fact that Viva Otaku and MAMA were both groups formed so that our quarrels with the OBs condition would be spoken about privatley and then when we had all come to a descesion, we would have addressed you personally. This thread was never meant to be assosciated with either group. This was the personal descesion of AC!D!C to make. However, he is my friend, and some of his veiws I share to a much more civil degree. So I backed him, like friends do. I don't agree with everything he said, nor does he probably agree with alot I have to say. Also, I do not place myself above any member. I hope your not allowing Annie/Athena to speak for me in this aspect. My saying what I did about the age of mods were simply the fact that I found it slightly strange that alot of members who are both older, dedicated to the OBs, and long time quality members had been passed up over for those members. It has nothing to do with me being a Mod or being put in any position of power, nor was it the fact that I thought the current mods are undeserving. It was the fact that some other members who I thought would most definely be recognized as quality enough to become Mods. I don't hate the mods, I just love those members. I'm in no way demanding change or anything. Nor were the founders of MAMA. It was simply that we wanted to eventually contact you with our opinions, not demands. I didn't plan on you just flipping and saying we were right. We just wanted to tell you the way that we felt and see if you understood our veiws enough to look into things. The signature tags were simply there so that the members could identify one another and to have some sort of meaning when we finally did contact you to show how many members we had to support these opinions. This is me speaking now, and this is me speaking for what the original intentions of Viva Otaku were, as for MAMA, I'm very confident this was their original intention aswell, though you would have to confirm that with JJ. We basically got outted when we weren't ready to reveal ourselves and our opinions. Athena herself isn't a part of Viva Otaku and I don't belive she is with MAMA either. I'm not sure who informed her of what we're about, but she basically went off and put our names on something which we as groups didn't authorize. Again, I hope I am not veiwed in a negative light with you. These are just opinions. [b]The Boss[/b][/color][/size][/QUOTE] [font=franklin gothic medium]Here's the second PM The Boss sent me. I've posted this here out of courtesy to him, as it was his request. But that'll be the last post on the issue. I'm happy to discuss things constructively, as I've said. But none of the issues presented in the first post of this thread - [i]none[/i] of them - are legitimate. I am not going to discuss ages of staff, or how long they've been here or whatever. If that first post represents what these groups support, then they can consider my existing responses in this thread to be my final ones. If there are any [i]other[/i] issues to discuss that are actually legitimate, I'm more than happy to discuss 'em.[/font]

[QUOTE=Sandy]Oh, good. I was beginning to wonder on how many "My name is Anne" posts I had to read through before I get to post next... XP It was actually quite interesting to see how different people managed to make a similar scene so different. So off to the ball, we are? I assume you will post the Supreme Chancellor's speech at the ball (if there's going to be one), because I for one don't have any idea what she would say to our characters...[/QUOTE] [font=franklin gothic medium]The ball will probably go for a while before you hear anything from him - afterall, characters will need time to get to know each other. ~_^ So please do not worry about that. I encourage you to use your imagination and inject your ideas into this. You will see how it all progresses with my next post and the commencement of Chapter One.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Well, you can post whenever you like. My next post will mark the end of the ball and the commencement of the first chapter. So you can post about the ball itself if you like, that'd be totally fine. ^_^ Once the first chapter commences, characters can go whichever way they want.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I think the problem is that I have been directly told that people are unhappy that younger members were chosen and that "public favourites" never became Moderators. That's just bad luck. This type of stuff is definitely not going to bring anyone closer to a staff position. And as I said, a lot of it is clearly related to personal feelings that have nothing to do with the real welfare of the site. So yeah. Have a mature discussion with really constructive criticisms or don't have one at all, I think.[/font]

[QUOTE=James][QUOTE=The Boss] Hello James. I'd first like to apologize for any trouble the proceedings in that particular thread have caused you. The thread was originally meant to voice the personal opinions of myself, AC!D!C, and another member who never posted and whose name I will leave out. AC!D!C is a bit of a hot head at times, he's a very raw person, so he has a hard time voicing his opinion in a delicate manner. That's just him, so please don't penalize him on that.[/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]I don't really need to penalize him. I think he has penalized himself by ranting like that. Other members have posted and I think that speaks for itself.[/font] [quote=The Boss] As for me and the members of Viva Otaku, I take responsibility for anything they have said or done. That group was created by me and it's members are my responsibility. MAMA, I was a member of, so I shall take responsibility for that aswell. But here are my reasons for these groups. There are two things.[/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]As I said in the thread, these groups were apparently secret - how, then, were they supposed to achieve anything? I only knew about their purpose today. Considering that I am the only one who can make radical policy changes on this site, you would think that it would be wiser to approach me directly. So the groups have actually achieved nothing, other than perhaps annoying a few people. lol A mature discussion with constructive criticism is fine. But ranting of the kind we saw in that first post is probably not so good.[/font] [quote] One, I simply just didn't feel comfortable with the fact that there are Moderators who are younger than I both physically and as a member. It was nothing against them personally, nor do I have anything against there quality as members or Mods (save one or two). It's just a personal problem which I share with other select members.[/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]I will be frank. You guys [i]really[/i] need to get over yourselves. Let me try to be very clear. You guys can not claim that you care about OtakuBoards if you make this a personal thing about your own ambitions; whether a Moderator is younger or older than you doesn't matter. I do not see why something that arbitrary should be an issue. Clearly, some of you feel that [i]you[/i] should have been chosen as Moderators as opposed to some of the people who have been hired. So that means this is more about you and really not about OB or how well it's being run. These kinds of activities - these kinds of groups and the way their ideas are presented - is not going to help any of you in terms of being hired. This is the kind of immature stuff that kids do. How can I look at that first post in Suggestions & Feedback and think "Wow, that guy really should be given some responsibility on the site!" It's just not going to happen like that. If you guys really care about OB and its welfare, I would stop worrying about silly things like how old our Moderators are.[/font] [quote] The second was that I feel that there should be more Staff in the Arena section. I'm sure Ozy is a great mod and I understand if her life gets in the way of her responsibility and activity in the Arena. I simply suggest adding one or two other Staff members to that area so that it's high population of threads won't go out of control, and so that the Mods will be closer to the average and recurring RPer. These choices are yours. It's just a suggestion from a long time member who wants the best for the OB.[/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]You are not telling me anything I don't know, my friend. We are in the process of hiring more staff as we speak. My goal is to have between four and five Moderators in Adventure Square and Adventure Inn. This process is occurring right now and I've been well aware of it for a while. It's fine to make suggestions, of course. And I do welcome that. But everyone has gone about it the wrong way. At the end of the day, I will run my own site as I choose to. I would not go to your sites and tell you how to run them. Again, I do welcome suggestions - but the problem is that none of you guys actually know what goes on behind the scenes. You don't understand all the issues related to hiring and traffic and you are obviously not aware of the instructions I have given Desbreko. What you have suggested there is precisely what is happening. I do not announce every behind the scenes decision to the public, so the problem is that you guys have the risk of going off half-cocked, because you are complaining about things that we are all aware of and that are already being dealt with.[/font] [quote] That is all really. I hope what I have said has not brought me under a negative light with you. Thank you for your time and thank you for the OBs, because I love 'em a whole bunch. Peace, [b]The Boss[/b] aka [b]Mike[/b][/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]As I said earlier, if you love OB that's fine...you can love OB. But I think if you really love OB, you shouldn't take a personal ambition and masquerade that as "loving OB". Because that has nothing to do with OB's welfare, it only has to do with jealousy about who was hired and so on. And that doesn't get anyone anywhere, you know? I'm not going to penalize anyone over this, but I strongly recommend that this stuff gets handled in a mature fashion in future. [i]Nothing[/i] is gained by juvenile rants. Mature, constructive criticism is the best way for members to gain positive attention from me. - James[/font][/QUOTE] [font=franklin gothic medium]Here is the PM between myself and The Boss. Let's drop the kiddie stuff, guys. If you want to have a real discussion, please do so. But forming secret groups and taking everything this seriously is not going to achieve anything. Feel free to start [i]constructive[/i], mature threads, by all means. Just be aware that anyone who feels they should be a Moderator candidate would do well to avoid this type of stuff. And I mean that in a general way, to anyone who feels they've been "passed over" or whatever.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Well, this is what happens. lol I think your PM to me really outlines the core issues and I think my response is pretty frank. I would be happy to post that PM with my response in this thread if you would like the end result to be clear to everyone.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]And just out of interest, I do have a question to members of these groups. You said that they were secret groups...if this is the case, how did you ever expect them to achieve anything? How can a group achieve something if nobody knows about it? lol[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]This doesn't have to be complicated, really. If people have complaints, I am happy to hear them and to consider them, especially if they are presented in a respectful way. The original post in this thread wasn't particularly fair, because it basically dragged a few people through the mud in an insulting way - there was no constructive criticism there, only bashing of individuals. I don't really tend to respond well to that, because I don't think it's nice to rudely bash people in a public forum. It is possible to make specific complaints in a respectful manner and that's what I think people should do. It's fine to form groups or whatever you want to do - that's been happening on OB since the dawn of time. But I wasn't even aware of any of these groups until now and I'm the Site Director - so how effective have they really been anyway? lol None of that stuff really matters; the best way to solve problems is to discuss them openly and to find solutions. That's what I'm prepared to do and I'm happy to explain why we do what we do. I'm also happy to talk about what we are doing to improve things.[/font] [quote]MAMA stands for "Members Against Mods and Admins". It's a group that's been "secretive" about their angst/anger/whatever the crap you want to call it of how they perceive the OB now from back-in-the-day. They're upset about all the new mods, the poor quality in posts these days, how "n00bs" are running the scene, and about how they feel that "oldies" are being treated poorly (mainly because they're sour that they aren't mods themselves instead of the new members). Honestly, I did go through an angst stage that I'd been here for a long time, and felt I didn't get the recognition I felt I deserved. Over the past six months or so, I just don't care anymore. [/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]I just think the whole concept of the group is absurd, as it's been explained to me in this quote. Such a group has to understand how they appear to other people - especially given the original post in this thread. The original post's tone was noteably rude in certain areas and it offered [i]nothing[/i] constructive. There were no suggestions or alternatives given. Instead, it was a whining session - and a highly unfair one, at that. What I see here is really hypocrisy. Some older members claim that they are only concerned about quality. The original post in this thread does not reflect that. It comes across as being more interested who has what status, who has how many posts and so on. To me, that ideology sounds like the sort of thing we [i]don't[/i] want to see at OB. That's what we've always been trying to get away from...I wouldn't want a return to that way of thinking. That would truly flush OB down the toilet. The only real difference these days is that we have actually gotten away from that in many respects. Members are turned into Moderators when we feel they [i]deserve it[/i]. They don't get there by some personal drive or whatever - they get there by demonstrating strong quality and activity on the site. We don't discriminate based on age or gender, even though certain older members seem to [i]want[/i] to exclude people based on these arbitrary factors. As I said, I welcome a frank discussion about the state of the site. And I have complained about certain things myself, as you will have seen in my posts within this forum. What I really don't welcome is a juvenile "us versus them" approach. That's not how I see it and I would hope that's not how others see it either. That kind of approach is not going to gain my attention at all. It's only going to cause problems. Instead of forming secret groups that don't really achieve anything (considering [i]none[/i] of these groups have ever come to me to discuss anything until now), it might be wiser to simply create threads here that provide constructive criticism as opposed to accusatory whining.[/font]

[quote]1. It seems that we get new members by the bundle every day and that?s fine, but when most just won't clean up their post quality and make an active effort to abide by the TOS it tends to make the boards look trashy. I remember a time when the OB was a, 'shape up or ship out' kind of message board. What happened?[/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]I think that we try to reach a happy medium. I know I wouldn't want to be using a service that had no flexibility whatsoever; so I have instructed the staff to try to be lenient where possible. If someone is making an effort to improve (even if their posts are not perfect), they are generally allowed to stay. Only in cases where someone refuses to improve (or even acknowledge the warnings), will we actually remove them without any further notice. The main problem is just that there are certain realities to running a place of this size. We are rapidly growing, but quality staff are difficult to find. More importantly, the staff we do have also have their own lives; I cannot expect them to dedicate every single hour of their day to the site. The idea is that this place is for leisure and keeping things under control is difficult enough. If I put too much pressure on the staff, we simply won't have any staff (and believe me, my requirements are already pretty high). In addition, we have a situation where we've had groups of staff leaving or being added within short spaces of time. This requires significant adjustment on our part and it's not something that can be ironed out immediately. I can only tell you that I am aware of these issues and that I am trying to keep staff levels in balance, while also keeping everyone well-trained and aware of what they need to do. We will always have times where we get a glut of lower-quality posts - that's just the reality. But that is always dealt with eventually. So in short, I don't think you will see this being a regular problem forever. It's just something we go through now and then.[/font] [quote]2. Our moderator staff. This is a big one in a few ways such as the Arena Underground mod Bio. He hasn't posted anything since February and he was last active at the beginning of this month. Is that not dereliction of duty? More so than inactivity is the age range of our mod staff, and lack of experience. Some moderators are only 14 or 15 (Aaryana is 13!), have less than 500 posts and haven?t even been here a year. Another mod that has caught my interest is Ozymandius Jones, who seems a bit lazy for her own good. Why does it take 150+ posts to figure out a thread is sorely lacking in quality and must be shut down? How about a certain Pokemon RPG that is still up after Ozy warned them to clean up the post quality? Hello? Thread lock yet? [/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]Okay, there are a few things I need to say here. In Bio's case, yes, there should have been more notice related to inactivity. But this has now been sorted out and as far as I'm concerned, it has been dealt with. Bio has stepped down because he does not have the time to commit to the site anymore. The big thing here - and the thing I'm going to take issue with - is the concept of experience. First and foremost, age is not a barrier to becoming a staff member here. I have seen members on this site who are [i]over[/i] twenty years old, but who post as though they are ten years old. If you are concerned only about post quality on OtakuBoards, age cannot and should not be a major factor in staff decisions. Moreover, the minimum age for registration is thirteen. If we claim to want to involve all members in the operation of the site, we cannot arbitrarily exclude a group of them based only on age (especially if many of them are quality contributors). I also do not believe that the amount of time spent at OtakuBoards (or the number of posts) is particularly relevant. Yes, experience can be good because it means that you know the site well. But if you're a long-time member, you might also be less flexible and less open to change - you may also demonstrate favoratism in your decisions. This is avoided with newer members. In addition to that, why should the number of posts be relevant? We keep talking about post quality and not post quantity - including a post number requirement for staff is not only arbitrary, but it also goes against the idea that we are more interested in the qualitative stuff. As for Ozy, she can speak for herself (and I would welcome her to do that if she wishes). But I would only make a couple of points. First, a Moderator cannot always ascertain the quality of a thread based on the first few posts; it is sometimes necessary to wait and see how a thread pans out. It isn't always fair to close a thread too soon, especially if you aren't giving the thread creator a chance to improve. Also, even after a warning, it is sometimes wiser to let a thread run through for a little while. It's really just a matter of giving staff a chance.[/font] [quote]Then there is Charles who seems to disregard and blatantly flame other members and bounces around and mods where he feels like it and the porn avatar? I?m not sure about you guys but isn?t a moderator supposed to be a sort of role model for other members as well as the police of the message boards? The signal that Charles?s avatar sends me is; ?Hey! I don?t give a crap about policy, and you shouldn?t either!? [/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]I don't think that Charles disregards and flames other members, firstly. The problem is that some people simply misinterpret him; it's easy to be too sensitive when it comes to debates or discussions. Charles is an honest person and he always posts with a lighthearted tone. I think it is generally obvious that this is his intention and I am not going to make him censor his personality - he does obey the rules and although he gets close to the fringe at times, I don't think he ever seriously violates anything. I'm sure most people would agree with that. As for his avatar...well, there's no accounting for taste. I don't personally like it, but I understand that it's designed to be tongue-in-cheek and it doesn't actually violate any of our rules. There's no nudity or anything. All you could [i]maybe[/i] say is that it's suggestive. But if I started going after people who do anything suggestive, most of our membership would disappear. lol[/font] [quote] Don?t get me wrong, there are plenty of moderators who do their job such as Bombu, Revelation, and Retribution among others. I guess what I?m getting at is that the situation in the Role-Playing forum needs to be addressed, and the younger mods like Aaryana, Amelia, and while not young but still newer to the boards indifference also need to be replaced by members who have been here longer and are as competent and more deserving. [/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]With respect, I feel that Desbreko (and myself to some extent) are in the best position to decide who is competent. Admittedly I do not play a direct role in hiring anymore, but I [i]do[/i] approve each and every hiring decision. So I do take responsibility for the choices that are made. I am happy with the younger Moderators and I am not prepared to remove them. They are doing their job to a fair degree and I am comfortable with the way they conduct themselves. At the end of the day, I am the one who has to decide how I want the site to operate - when I am sufficiently dissatisfied with things, I change them. I agree that we need more staff in certain areas and this is something I am working on with Desbreko. But it takes time and it isn't something to be rushed.[/font] [quote]I guess those are my main issues with the boards as is. If these issued were addressed then the OB would reform greatly and we?d all see the OB re-emerge that we loved back 2 - 3 years ago. Take this as you will but its just me exercising my freedom of speech.[/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]The problem is that too many people look at this site (and any other) with rose-colored glasses. You think OB was in a golden age two to three years ago? I don't know about that. There are people and events that I miss...there are RPGs that I have fond memories of and so on. But I would probably have that same fondness for more recent events if I chose to participate in them; that's what it comes down to. So while I'm all for nostalgia, I don't think that it necessarily equates to a truly accurate view of the site. I understand why you feel this way but when looking at things in a broader sense, I don't really share all of your concerns (though as I've mentioned above, I do share some). I am pleased that you've posted with your concerns and I do not want people to feel that they can't make complaints or suggestions. However, of course, I also reserve the right to respond to those comments and to explain why we do certain things and what is being done to remedy problems. I hope that my comments here have helped to clarify my position on your complaints and the relevant issues, anyway. As I said, I do welcome your comments and I'm glad you took the time to make them (I'm also glad that you care enough about OB to take time to discuss its welfare :catgirl: ).[/font]

[QUOTE=sakurasuka][size=1] Look, I'm bisexual, and quite honestly, I wouldn't care if I couldn't get married to the man/woman. If the government told me 'Y'know, you're not allowed to marry your girlfriend/boyfriend/fiance. Deal with it.' I'd probably just keep living with the person, keep loving them. Buy rings maybe. Have my own celebration, hell, even call it a 'wedding' if I wanted. I don't need anyone to tell me how to live me life. I don't need to have the church/state issue me a marriage licence to love and commit myself to someone, and I pity the people who do. Also, we all live, and we all die. Who the hell cares if you can't legally wed someone of your same sex and take on thier name? Once you're dead, you're dead. Yeah, we all deserve equal rights, but the system isn't perfect. We all get screwed over eventually. Either live with it, or go start a petition or something. Arguing here won't change it. [/size][/QUOTE] [font=franklin gothic medium]I agree that arguing here changes nothing, but I do think it's worth stating one's views and at least explaining the other side of it - particularly when it is so vastly misunderstood. Let me lay out a scenario that might explain my point of view a little more. I am in a same sex relationship and my partner is a registered nurse. So he is often in situations that can be dangerous - only a couple of weeks ago he had to do an assessment at a house where a man was living with his nearly-90-year-old mother. He man was mentally ill and was extremely violent. My partner had to take a needle filled with a strong sedative, as a back-up, in case this guy got violent. Only a day before, this guy had called his office and threatened to kill him if he ever visited the house. If my partner were to be seriously injured or killed during his job, I would not automatically be contacted. Due to the fact that I have no legal recourse, I would hear nothing - the only way I'd know is because he wouldn't come home and I'd have to call the police or ring hospitals one by one or something. Imagine how horrible that is for a person. Because I have no legal recourse, I am the last to know about something like that. Granted, at his job I am now listed as his next of kin...but the fact remains that if he were seriously injured during work, I may not even be able to visit him in hospital because I'm "not family". So, while the marriage issue may seem trivial to some, it is a [i]serious rights issue[/i] for many people. It's not about everyone recognizing or tolerating your relationship. It's not about the church or religion. It's about stuff like this; day-to-day basic rights and quality of life. While I agree with you that the piece of paper or the ceremony is ultimately only as important as you make it...I must also say that when you are in a serious, longterm relationship...you come to understand how important these legal protections are. Without them, you are definitely not an equal citizen. And there are times where you feel that in a very acute way.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Okay, the RPG has commenced. Let me take a moment to explain what I'm going to be doing here. This first segment of the RPG is really more of a prologue, to introduce characters. All participants will wake up in their own room and they will all attend the ball. This is really the only requirement and it allows characters to meet each other initially. After that, I will begin the first chapter on my own - those who want to join in with the chapter may so do, those who do not may go their own way. That will be the time where players can first move off the beaten track, so to speak. I do have a little bad news though. I am not really ready to launch a second thread for this RPG and since we have so many players, it may become confusing to have so many begin right now. So I'm going to divide players into two groups: Active and Reserve. Active players will begin the RPG now in the main thread. Reserve players might be used in a variety of ways - either they will enter the RPG at a later stage (to replace any characters who do not remain active), or they will be used in a secondary thread. I want to try and get the main thread rolling a bit first before I introduce anything else, so that's why I'm being a little more cautious. Originally I was going to have a posting order in this RPG but I think I may avoid that for now. If things get too confusing, I will bring in a posting order. But for now, you may post whenever you want. Once again, I will use this thread to keep players updated on the status of the RPG, including the bigger plot developments. Finally, here is a list of Active players: Lady Katana Doukeshi indifference The Boss Ikillion Aaryanna Retribution Sandy Gavin Ecstasy Starwind Grace Pumpkin Sakura If you are not in this list, you are a Reserve player. Please watch this space for any developments related to Reserve players.[/font]

Lucas sat on the edge of his four-poster bed, reading [i]the letter[/i]. If this had been any other time in his life, he might have considered that it was a trick played by one of his University buddies. But waking up in an enormous bed, inside a room with walls punctuated by art neauvou tapestries and sculptures somehow lent weight to the strange letter. He was wearing the same clothes as the day before, but he was definitely in an alien environment. [i]Perhaps someone spiked a drink[/i], he thought to himself. But that didn't make much sense, considering that he had been studying alone the night before. As he sat on the edge of the bed, pondering his situation, there came a swift knock on the door. "Come in," said Lucas weakly. The door lazily swung open to reveal a small, plump elderly woman. She was curiously dressed, wearing a strange all-grey dress that appeared to be made of a material that Lucas could not immediately identify. There were large, gold-rimmed glasses atop her nose and she wore a small hat with several feathers protruding from the side. Her clothing appeared somewhat intimidating, but Lucas could see that she wore a warm face. She smiled and quietly pushed the door shut. As soon as she did this, she began busying herself around the room, opening closets and removing all sorts of odd clothing. For a moment, Lucas simply stared at the woman. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, she paused and looked up at him. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. Her cheeks flushed slightly. "I have been doing this so many times today that I almost forgot to introduce myself." The woman outstretched her hand and grinned. Lucas shook it weakly, as he still wondered when the dream was going to end. "I understand," said the woman as she withdrew her hand and continued busying herself with the clothing, which she was now laying out across the bed. "I can't imagine it being easy, waking up from a coma and finding yourself in a strange place." Lucas's eyes widened. He had so many questions, so many things he wanted to say, but as he opened his mouth he could only manage one question. "A coma?" The woman paused. "I should begin again," she said slowly. "My name is Anne. I work here. I'm here to take care of you and all the others. The Supreme Chancellor is holding a ball tonight to welcome you. You [i]did[/i] read the letter, did you not?" Lucas paused before responding; Anne's tone now seemed slightly sharper, as though she were irritated. If she had indeed met with many others like Lucas, it was perhaps understandable that she was becoming tired of repeating herself. "I read the letter," said Lucas, as he stood up for the first time. He walked over to the window and leaned against the sill. The world beyond was like nothing he'd seen before. At first glance, the scene before him looked like Paris at night. But something was different. Most noteably, the Eiffel Tower seemed to be surrounded by several walls at its base. It also had an odd silhouette sitting at its apex, which was unidentifiable at night. The surrounding city, at least from where Lucas was standing, was far darker than he remembered. There were less lights and there was less noise than usual. Odd shapes sat among the familiar buildings, strange silhouettes rose up over the horizon, like giant angry beasts sitting on their haunches. It was certainly not the romantic, starry Paris that Lucas was used to. It was something entirely different. It was cold and bleak. "I imagine it doesn't look familiar," said Anne in the background. Lucas simply shook his head. "There have been many improvements since your time," said Anne with a slight chuckle. Lucas turned back into the room and saw Anne standing by the bed, gesturing towards it. She had laid out several pairs of clothing, all of which looked disctinctly alien to Lucas. "The ball will begin at eight. You only have an hour to get ready and I need to see several others before I'm finished tonight. Once you have chosen an outfit and you are ready, just go over and touch that panel on the wall," Anne gestured toward a small white panel, which sat next to the door. "It will let you know where to go." And with that, Anne smiled once more and abruptly left the room, leaving Lucas alone. Lucas began pacing back and forth. [i]This is too vivid to be a dream[/i], he thought. But how else could it be explained? At the very least, Lucas felt that he was likely to receive some answers if he followed Anne's instructions.

[font=franklin gothic medium]I think that if you wish to spread spirituality, you need to ensure that it is inclusive and not exclusive. Telling gay people that they cannot marry based on your own religious beliefs is only going to alienate more people from a particular faith. There's one basic element of unfairness about this issue that I really notice - and perhaps others are not especially aware of it - but it really stands out in my mind. Think about it on a very basic level. If two gay people marry, what does this mean for religious people and those who disagree with the concept? It means very little at the end of the day. Sure, you may not like it or approve of it, but in a free society it is your choice to have that position (and not to participate). More importantly, if two gay people marry, this does not violate your rights, nor does it impede you in any legal sense. But what if you put the shoe on the other foot? If you allow something like this to be dictated by a religious perspective - a personal perspective of faith - what ultimately happens? Yeah, one group of people get what they want, but another group's rights are then violated and there is no sense of equality. So one group's beliefs have a [i]direct impact[/i] on the lives of many others. I do not think that anyone is saying a gay marriage should have to happen in a church, or that churches or religions should be forced to observe them. A religious organization is, by default, a private organization with its own members. In the same way that a club or another group might have certain policies or ideals, a religious organization is capable of deciding what it wants to pursue and what it wants to reject. Gay marriage does not have to interfere with that. All that's being said is that gay people have the same [i]legal[/i] rights as straight people. This does not and should not have to intersect with faith whatsoever. It's like divorce. Devout catholics may not approve of this practice, yet for our society it is considered to be a necessary legal channel for some people. In a divorce proceeding, the church is not involved; that is to say, the church has no involvement regarding the legalities or whatever. So the church can maintain its stance and people who disagree with that stance can still have the freedoms they deserve. That's what it comes down to, at the end of the day - one group dictating to another. You cannot have equality or tolerance in society if you allow this to occur. Gay marriage does not have to mean a diminishment of religion or diminished rights for anyone else - on the contrary, it simply seeks to provide basic legal coverage for a segment of society that has been discriminated against for far too long.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]The freestyle chapter system is new in the sense that while there [i]are[/i] chapters, they are purely opt-in. So therefore, people can join the main spine of the story or they can largely ignore it and go their own way. That's the idea behind it anyway. The idea mentioned in the original post has existed for a long time in OB Anthology, but nobody has made much use of it. If you go and look at my Return to Wonderland thread in OB Anthology, you will see an example of dynamic story. It has my own little spin on it (to keep it organized), but in that thread, [i]everyone[/i] essentially plays whatever character they want - it's less about "role-playing" and more about "collaborative storytelling". I have tried to incorporate dynamic storytelling in projects in the past (the most obvious was Return to Wonderland), but it doesn't always work. Although there's a certain structure, it's a type of system that requires people to thoroughly read the thread and to basically think on their feet. It also demands that players are in-tune with each other to some extent; while it's good to have plot-twists and stuff, you obviously don't want a post that completely derails the entire story off its general intended course. I think that a combination of systems is good. Some RPGs require chapters, some don't. The Maverick Hunter series [i]never[/i] used chapters, for example, yet it was always very cohesive and it moved along very well. This was because there were only a few participants who really read each other's posts and who tried to keep their posts in-tune with each other. In terms of the future of OB RPGs...that's up to the players. Some things might change because of the way OB itself changes, but generally I think the only thing RPGs lack is imagination. Imagination is what will push them forward, both in terms of their concepts as well as their execution. For instance, Shy mentioned not long ago that we always use the default Linear Mode view for threads in RPGs. Why not try the Hybrid or Threaded Modes? These modes provide a potentially new structure for RPGs in the future, but nobody has ever attempted to use them. So as I said, we are still only really scratching the surface of what RPGs can do on OB - we aren't even fully utilizing the features that OB provides so far. So there's plenty of room for change, improvement and experimentation, I'd say.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I just got this game a few days ago and I've really been enjoying it. It's clear that Nintendo hasn't forgotten how to make a good Mario game. I suppose that on the one hand, I'm disappointed that this isn't really a "new" Mario game, in the sense that it's not a new Super Mario World as such...but it's really a great mixture of old and new. The graphics and the level designs are reminiscent of Super Mario Bros., but Nintendo have kept the game fresh by adding various new elements (including the new items and the new level elements). I still have to unlock a few things, but I've been enjoying the game a lot despite the shortness. I really hope that this is the start of a trend; I'd like to see Nintendo get back into the habit of releasing new Mario games every few years...especially 2D Mario games.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Okay, let me see if I can explain. Originally I planned to have one thread in Adventure Square and one in Anthology. Then I thought it might be better to have to AS threads. However, I think it might be better if the Neo Chicago thread is a "companion" to the main RPG. This part still hasn't been entirely worked out and I know many of you are itching to start, but I want to try to avoid rushing the thread out. The main problem for me, as I said earlier, has been work. I've had such long days that by the time I get home I pretty much go straight to bed; it's been very hard to find the time to get this thing going. However, I am going to work on it during the weekend and hopefully I can get it up shortly. Don't worry though; it [i]will[/i] go up, I'm just not entirely sure when. I can promise you, though, that at the very latest it will be up within the first half of next week.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]No worries, Grace. There will be a posting order for both threads, so if you aren't here for your turn, the next person will simply post. Then when you get back, you can just take your next turn. So it's not a problem.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]You will not be able to control specific sword-slashes with the Wii remote. Sword-slashes will be controlled just as they have before - with a combination of button presses and analog stick movements. But as Desbreko mentioned, you can use the nunchuck attachment to perform downward strikes and so on. The spin attack is actually not performed with the remote; it's performed with the nunchuck attachment. In terms of more specific remote-related swordplay...you'd really have to play Red Steel for that. Whether or not the next Wii-specific Zelda game controls in this way is anyone's guess at the moment.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I think this underlines the fact that nobody is going to be entirely satisfied with the outcome. Some people, as evidenced in this thread, do not want a SMS-style manual camera. Those players find it annoying to constantly have to change camera angles while controlling Mario - they would probably rather have an "intelligent" camera which always provides an optimal view. And then there are people like you (and me as well), who would probably rather a more manual camera, where we can select whatever viewing angle we want with ease. In terms of moving the camera to the side and stuff...I'd probably say, are you really going to be running around with Mario while you have a side-on view? I doubt it. You wouldn't be able to see what's ahead of you that way. Realistically, an above-and-behind view is probably going to be optimal for most situations. In some videos you can see the camera pan out and to the side slightly, so as to provide plenty of forward-visibility while also letting you see behind Mario and to his side. At the end of the day I don't know what Nintendo will do, but I am presuming that they will go with a more automated camera this time around. Due to the way levels are designed, a totally manual camera isn't as necessary as it was before, because visibility is much better now. However, I imagine there will probably at least be some sort of first-person option where you can see through Mario's eyes and look around. But as I said, I don't know. I can only speculate based on what I [i]do[/i] know. With any luck, Nintendo will provide a couple of different camera styles in the options menu.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Once again, apologies for the long delays. I've had long hours at work this week so I haven't had the time/energy to get this thing rolling. But you can expect it all to begin shortly. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions, too. I know you all have a lot of ideas and I'm looking forward to seeing them emerge within the RPG. :catgirl: [/font]

[quote]I don't see why everything being on a sphere would negate the need for camera control. Sure, you can't fall off the edge and plummet to your death, but that doesn't mean it's fun to run around without being able to see what's in front of you. From watching those gameplay videos, there were some pretty horrible angles in there where you couldn't see anything in Mario's path on the spheres until he was right on top of it. And there were also times when the camera would be at some funky diagonal pointing off away from where you're running, but not far enough to give you a decent side view. Or, in other words, there were camera angles in there crying out, "fix me!" with a very loud voice. [/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]I don't really agree...I've seen multiple videos and the angles always seemed fine for me. The reason the spherical worlds are different is largely [i]because[/i] they are spherical. Any structures that Mario runs and jumps on are usually designed so that the camera can rove around them - a sphere has no walls, it's not like a mountainous region or an enclosed space. As a result, you tend to get better visibility - there's also a difference in viewing the horizon, which gives you higher visibility of what's surrounding Mario in all directions. I think FLUDD wasn't handled well in some cases, but it was generally a good addition to the gameplay. I don't view it as a gimmick at all. The spraying of objects wasn't always so interesting, but the hovering aspect was pretty fundamental to the way the game played, particularly as it relates to level design. There were lots of areas where you had to jump/hover/run and repeat, in order to make it across. It's not much different to floating in Super Mario Bros 3, really. What I objected to was various add-ons for FLUDD...they were mostly pretty useless. As I said though, the Wii controller really replaces any need for FLUDD or a backpack/device. It's also far more flexible in what it allows you to do.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I meant removal of the pop-up feature. Perhaps we can maintain a check box and leave out the pop-up.[/font]