Discuss The Almagest Legacy: A Steampunk RPG

[Raiha]

[quote name='Sandy']I'm sorry, guys, but hosting an RPG together is not an easy task. Anyone who has actually been through that must know what I'm talking about.[/QUOTE]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Jesus Christ people, I leave for 9 hours to actually sleep and the place explodes. But seriously.

Nobody's saying that pulling off this story is easy, and I'm relatively sure that nobody thinks your job is simple and painless.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Sandy]

[quote name='Raiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Nobody's saying that pulling off this story is easy, and I'm relatively sure that nobody thinks your job is simple and painless.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Don't take my words out of context, D'Ann. I'm not trying to play a victim here. I was referring to the problems we're experiencing with the fact that there are two hosts in this game (as pointed out by Kathy). But we'll sort it out with Josh tonight.

[Gavin]

[quote name='Sandy']Don't take my words out of context, D'Ann. I'm not trying to play a victim here. I was referring to the problems we're experiencing with the fact that there are two hosts in this game (as pointed out by Kathy). But we'll sort it out with Josh tonight.[/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Relax Sandy, she didn't take your words out of context, in fact she completely agreed with what you said. Plenty of us have created RPGs before too, so yes, we know how hard it is to try to mesh your own ideas in with those of your players, it's give and take on both sides. And nobody said anything about you playing the victim, I don't know where you got that idea.[/SIZE]

[Shy]

[size=1]In other news, my breakfast is delicious!

I'll try to do a better job of making sure everyone is on the same page. I had planned to PM Sandy/Mom about some stuff today, but apparently they beat me to it... ugh. Really, though, there have only been a handful of miscommunications and problems with the RPG so far. I'd like to keep things as positive as possible as we move forward towards the finale.

As a general rule, if you are writing multiple characters in your post and aren't sure if everyone is on the same page, just ask. We have this thread for a reason.

Apologies if I contributed to the recent problem in any way. I'm sure I'm responsible somehow. I'll speak to everyone today to straighten out the plot and make sure there aren't any future incidents.

-Shy[/size] :rolleyes:

[Sandy]

[quote name='Aaryanna_Mom']I can't help that you and Shy don't seem to be on the same page dear.[/QUOTE]

Me and Shy are on the same page now, after we discussed. We both will continue in hosting this game until it's end, and we both will try to improve the communication between us, as well as with you players.

And you players have to remember that me and Shy aren't the same person, so things that you discuss with Shy will not necessary reach me, and vice versa. We're all humans with our errs here.

I also want to add that the Starks couple are [I]not[/I] my characters, they are NPCs just like Hugo Black and the rest of them, so they are fair game to use in your personal plot-lines, as long as you don't kill them off. Hope this answers to some questions you might have had.

As for my character, Gadget, he will be on the run for a while, but Eva will go search for him next morning. If anyone wants to follow this plot-line with their character, please contact me.

Now, I hope your resident Drama Queer has provided enough drama for you to last another week, so you can start pondering about the encrypted text in the landmark. ;D

[Gavin]

[quote name='Sandy'][B]Now, I hope your resident Drama Queer has provided enough drama for you to last another week[/B], so you can start pondering about the encrypted text in the landmark. ;D[/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Try lifetime Sandy. ^_~[/SIZE]

[Sandy]

People will come asking for more soon enough, Gavs.

[James]

[quote name='Sandy']What's with the tone? ;D

Since the Underdogs have an unnumbered amount of camps around Czenovia, it's your choice where Audrey is taken - it can be either of the two mentioned, or completely another one. Most of the kidnapped scientists are kept in Camp Rottweiler in the underground city, but that's not to say there aren't any captives elsewhere as well.

I don't think we have any set plans on what will happen with Leonhart and Catherine, except of course we're all aiming on getting them out of there before the game ends. Right? ;D[/QUOTE]


[font=franklin gothic medium]What tone? I just meant that if my post clashes with anyone's plans (because I'm not sure what the plans are with Leonhart and such), then that's totally cool and I'm happy to make changes.

Looks like it might be okay anyway. Now I just have to wait for Jack to arrive at the same camp - he can choose the camp if he likes.

And guys, please...chill out. The frequent objections and outrage are really starting to wear thin. We're all adults here and this [i]is[/i] just an RPG. There's no reason why issues can't be raised in a completely calm and mature manner on all sides.

And that, folks, was my public service announcement for today. :catgirl:[/font]

[Gavin]

[quote name='Sandy']People will come asking for more soon enough, Gavs.[/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Heh, probably true, you know what they say, if it's available, someone somewhere wants it. Or something along those lines anyway. :animesmil

Besides, this place would be so terribly dull without you Sandy.

And no, before you ask, there was no sarcasm there.[/SIZE]

[Aaryanna_Mom]

[quote name='James'][font=franklin gothic medium]And guys, please...chill out. The frequent objections and outrage are really starting to wear thin. We're all adults here and this [i]is[/i] just an RPG. There's no reason why issues can't be raised in a completely calm and mature manner on all sides.

And that, folks, was my public service announcement for today. :catgirl:[/font][/QUOTE]Here's mine, next time I'm going to just say, could you please take my character out of that post? And nothing else. I'll just keep my irritation to myself next time. It's not worth the hassle.

I want to have fun, not get annoyed. All I ask is that when doing something that portrays one's character in such a profound manner... please talk to me first? I think that's reasonable to ask.

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]You adults are silly! *pokes everyone* Anyway...

I know why Catherine was kidnapped, even though my mom didn't tell me it was going to happen. It's there in her posts, the reason why the Starks would even bother. It's even in the very first post of this thread no less! Hahahaha!

[INDENT][FONT="Arial"][COLOR="Black"]Catherine Sara is the youngest of Marette Almagest?s three children, but may very well be the brightest. Although she has no children of her own, she has enriched the lives of literally thousands of children by teaching various fields of Magitechnology as a professor at the CHAOS Academy.[/COLOR][/FONT][/INDENT]
And then in my mom's posts...

[INDENT][FONT="Arial"][COLOR="Black"]how many times had Leonhart managed to sneak in a visit to her office over the years? Not very often, but he always did, when he had a chance.

Checking on how she was doing, chatting a bit over what was going on in both their lives. She was going to miss those random visits, as well as the evenings when they got a chance to discuss the different fields of magi technology.

how could she focus on only one aspect when all of them were so interesting?

her office was a mini library with two of the walls housing all the books she owned, many of them given to her by Leonhart over the years.

And her own personal room back in Rosengard was a small library on it?s own. Catherine often spent a portion of her evenings reading up on things.

"[B]Those were given to me by Leonhart, they are not text books for the students.[/B]"

Victoria Ann looked at the title of the first book, Systems, Organizations, Analysis & Management: A in-depth review of Gadgetry. The second one was similar only it was for Weaponsmithing .

she had already read the books, she had been meaning to take them home and do some cross checking with the books she had there. [/COLOR][/FONT][/INDENT]

It's obvious really... Catherine is the really smart one, probably even more so than Leonhart. :p [/FONT][/COLOR]

[James]

[quote name='Aaryanna_Mom']I want to have fun, not get annoyed. All I ask is that when doing something that portrays one's character in such a profound manner... please talk to me first? I think that's reasonable to ask.[/QUOTE]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Yeah, agreed on both counts. I do think it's polite to ask when using someone else's character.

For instance, I wanted to incorporate Jack...so I had a long discussion with Malkav about his plans first. And then we agreed on some ideas. It should work really well.

That's ideally what people should be doing.[/font]

[Rachmaninoff]

[quote name='Sandy']Yes, the text in the latest Landmark does mean something, so have fun finding out what it says! ;D[/QUOTE]That's great. However, ciphers/word puzzles/codes aren't my thing, at all. I'll try to help but honestly, I really have no interest in putting in the time to figure something like that out. I've never found those type of puzzles fun, ever. Unless there is some sort of clue, I don't see myself really being of much help for this landmark.

[Sandy]

[quote name='James'][font=franklin gothic medium]I do think it's polite to ask when using someone else's character.[/font][/QUOTE]

I made a mistake with Catherine, because I thought I knew what was planned for her. I should've asked her first.

However, outside that case, I do believe it will hurt the game in the long run if we have to check every post with other players, just in case someone has something planned. It leads to a situation where player characters only communicate with NPCs, afraid to "talk with other person's mouth", so to speak.

The bottom line is that a roleplaying game is about interplayer communication, and adapting to the post prior to yours. It is not a novel that you can plan in details very far, because there are other people involved who can suddenly make everything turn around completely.

So while we have to collaborate with other players in the important scenes, it's also important to give space to creativity and surprises. This is all just generally speaking, some of the thoughts that have come to me during this game.

Btw, if you didn't know it, the Almagest Legacy is officially the biggest RPG in the Backstage, with most posts [I]and[/I] views. We totally kicked Panopticon's butt, although many of us participated in it as well. XD

Let the greatness continue!

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"][quote name='Sandy']However, outside that case, I do believe it will hurt the game in the long run if we have to check every post with other players, just in case someone has something planned. It leads to a situation where player characters only communicate with NPCs, afraid to "talk with other person's mouth", so to speak.

The bottom line is that a roleplaying game is about interplayer communication, and adapting to the post prior to yours. It is not a novel that you can plan in details very far, because there are other people involved who can suddenly make everything turn around completely.

So while we have to collaborate with other players in the important scenes, it's also important to give space to creativity and surprises. This is all just generally speaking, some of the thoughts that have come to me during this game.[/QUOTE]I don't think anyone is saying you have to check with every little post. :p Only for major events. I speak from experience when I say that the same is true of my own rpg Silver One. For the most part, it's not required, but when it's something big for a character then we can and do communicate with one another. ^_~

The bottom line is, its a hell of a lot more fun to plan things out with someone instead of simply posting and hoping you read things right. Plus bouncing things off of the other person often results in a much higher level of creativity too.

Anyway, the real reason for this post? Like Rach, those kind of puzzles really aren't my thing either. So unless you've got some hint or clue... I won't be any help on it either. The latest landmark that is. Hope it's not super important since I'm pretty sure I won't be much help for solving it.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Sandy]

[quote name='SunfallE'][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]Like Rach, those kind of puzzles really aren't my thing either. So unless you've got some hint or clue... I won't be any help on it either. The latest landmark that is. Hope it's not super important since I'm pretty sure I won't be much help for solving it.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Heh, I've done similar puzzles in my Survivor-games. ;D And if you need a hint, then [spoiler]perhaps Rikku could lead you to the right path.[/spoiler]

[James]

[quote name='Sandy']I made a mistake with Catherine, because I thought I knew what was planned for her. I should've asked her first.
[/QUOTE]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I agree with your overall point about not wanting to plan everything out - this is something I actually wholeheartedly subscribe to.

[i]However[/i], it's important to understand that this entire RPG has been established in that way from the beginning. We were all given fairly strict guidance on where we could and couldn't take the story.

So I think most people have logically continued that by making sure that they don't step on any toes.

In general, I agree that one's own judgment is best used. However, if I'm planning to include another character in a [i]major[/i] way (i.e. somehow make them do something instrumental to the plot), then definitely, it should be discussed with the writer.

On the other hand, nothing is ever so broken that it can't be fixed. If you make a mistake in your post - or if any of us do - it's as easy as a quick edit or, at worst, a deletion. Thus the reason I've urged everyone not to overreact to misunderstandings in an RPG - it's just not worth it.

Anyway, I think we can all pat ourselves on the back for making The Almagest Legacy so strong. It's good to see that OB is still host to some really stellar RPGs.[/font]

[Shy]

[size=1]My that Hugo Black is a busy man!

As we mentioned in previous posts, there [i]will[/i] be a coronation ceremony 'today' at around noon in the RPG. During this time the Underdogs will storm the headquarters of the Royal Guard in High Czenoble, effectively destroying them. Gaul Rosier is at the Mirror Palace, and will survive to fight another day.

I will most likely not be posting the actual coronation ceremony, but just the raid. I imagine Rach and I will be working together on this.

Beyond that, tension is building on all fronts. Jack's story in particular is one I'm interested in seeing more of moving forward.

-Shy[/size]

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Great, so after expressing an interest in having Macey make a public appearance at the coronation ceremony to represent some of her family's interests....I find that Shy has officially dragooned me into writing it myself.

.......sometimes I wonder why I still live? WHY?!

But actually it shouldn't be that bad, except if someone could post that isn't me before 4-5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, that would be good. Double posting is a sin.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Gavin]

[quote name='Sandy']Heh, I've done similar puzzles in my Survivor-games. ;D And if you need a hint, then [spoiler]perhaps Rikku could lead you to the right path.[/spoiler][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Well, it's not Al-Bhed, I've worked out that much already. Any chance of a slightly less vague/esoteric clue ?[/SIZE]

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]"This weapon shall bring an end to misery though only an Almagest can wield it."

"But one must do it with pure intentions or everything will end in misery."

-Al Bhed only referred to the fact that it was a letter replacement cipher system. And because you let that slip, I was able to whip out the faithful pencil and paper and start scribbling. Granted I'm now slightly less sane than I was five seconds ago, but who cares? HAH![/FONT][/COLOR]

[Gavin]

[quote name='Raiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]"This weapon shall bring an end to misery though only an Almagest can wield it."

"But one must do it with pure intentions or everything will end in misery."

-Al Bhed only referred to the fact that it was a letter replacement cipher system. And because you let that slip, I was able to whip out the faithful pencil and paper and start scribbling. Granted I'm now slightly less sane than I was five seconds ago, but who cares? HAH![/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[size=1]Guess that's that eh ? Heh. As I said over AIM, awesome job D'Ann, I just wish you'd given me that hint before posting the translation. ^_^;[/size]

[Rachmaninoff]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]Well, it's not Al-Bhed, I've worked out that much already. Any chance of a slightly less vague/esoteric clue ?[/SIZE][/QUOTE]I'd agree with this since as I said before, I already knew it was a type of ciphers/word puzzles/codes. That hint of yours Sandy was rather useless. I already knew what you told Beth. But since Raiha has solved it, the point is moot. Which is good really. Because though I think such things are interesting, I hate solving them since I find them boring, so I wasn't planning on really trying. XP

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Oh well, now that I have time to actually work on the cipher, it's solved. Heh. Not that I mind. It needed to be solved. :p Anyway, I'll have a post up later this evening, I'm just going to have some dinner first. I post better when I'm not hungry! [/FONT][/COLOR]

[Sandy]

[quote name='Rachmaninoff']I'd agree with this since as I said before, I already knew it was a type of ciphers/word puzzles/codes. That hint of yours Sandy was rather useless. I already knew what you told Beth. But since Raiha has solved it, the point is moot. Which is good really. Because though I think such things are interesting, I hate solving them since I find them boring, so I wasn't planning on really trying. XP[/QUOTE]

I'm sorry, Rach, but this isn't making much sense to me. You say my hint was useless, but it got the riddle solved, didn't it? And you say the riddle was interesting, but it was also boring. Huh? XD

And Raiha, you solved the riddle correctly, so well done! The scripture alludes that the cannon can only be used by a born Almagest, and that it can be used for both good and evil. No, it doesn't say outright [I]how[/I] to use it, but if someone were to translate the text to Leonhart, he might figure it out...

As for my latest post, although I said Bavaria and Beatriste moved out of Rosengard to the countryside for security reasons, that doesn't mean they cannot visit High Czenoble. The countryside villa of the Almagests is of course situated on the opposite side of Mount Grail to New Czenoble.

And yes, Gadget is returning to Rosengard, but his presence there won't be initially known to others than Eva and, if Raiha wants, Macey. I'm open to other suggestions, though.