Alchemist's Waltz

[Anno Domini]

Hmm... Two responses to that:

1. I too miss the chattiness of this OOC, it's always a good source of laughs and camaraderie.
2. HOLY SHIT THAT'S HOW YOU SPELL BRAILLE?

Erm... I mean, I knew that. Anyways, don't worry about the slump in posting Lightning. We all have our down time. New question: What's the cool and hip roleplaying genre lately? I have no intention of joining or starting a new one for a good long while, but I always like bouncing ideas around. What's "scene" now?

[Kurokiku]

That is indeed how you spell Braille. (^_^)

And I honestly do not know what the answer to your question is. I hate to say it, but I'm pretty sure the most popular genres right now involve werewolves and vampires (>.<), which is pretty much always done poorly. And then there's stuff based on something that already exists, and then maybe apocalypse-survival? I think I've seen a lot of those.

Any ideas, Lightning?

[Anno Domini]

Hmm. Yes. The supernatural roleplays of that sort are almost exclusively romantic or barbaric, both of which I'm not fond of. I won't insult them- every game has its place, as well as its fans. I just wish that those fans would stick to the existing ones instead of blindly creating an endless amount of uninspired clones of the same setting and characters.

Post-Apocalyptic, too, seems uninspired more often than not. I love the genre in films and games (though it's beginning to peak at its over-exploitation), but the roleplays seem to have as little goal as they do story. The MacGuffins they (rarely) feature tend to have little hold over most characters anyways. It just ends up being a loose bandit free-for-all, which would be alright if the players that frequent them weren't (usually) negligent of basic etiquette towards godmodding and metagaming. ;_;

Stuff based on something that exists... eh. Few roleplays feature a vivid enough universe to bounce this off of. Usually it's just people playing as their favorite characters, or just a really elaborate fanfic for the GM. That can get old. I'm just upset that so many roleplays are afraid to innovate and try something drastic or effective. Kiku, your roleplay's emphasis on plot development and player communication is (quite honestly) unprecedented. Very few gamemasters are willing to stop and ask "So who's going to go where? Who will they meet? Oh, wouldn't it be great if she caught him? Let's all agree on how they'll achieve this." It's progressive without inhibiting everyone's creativity (like in character-slot roleplays). It's probably the best solution I've ever seen to the major challenge every roleplay faces- completion of the story.

[Kurokiku]

Flatterer. Lol, thank you though. I honestly wasn't sure how that was going to go over. But then I thought to myself, "I've spent several hours creating this world and all this background information and I'd really hate to see it go to waste." Frankly, though, I think most of it comes down to who the players are. There are people who are always the last ones to stop posting, and I definitely personally sent PMs to try and get some people I know who are like that/might be interested in the genre to join.

Yeah... I've only seen a "based-on" roleplay done well like once or twice, and that I think is because the GM said right off the bat that nobody was playing anybody from canon ever, so it's really only in the same setting. And you're completely right about the post-apocalyptic thing. The levels of literacy for those are all the way across the board, but direction is just... lacking, usually. I guess the most popular genre after those is the random high or low fantasy, which can be good or bad depending on the way the GM handles the logistics of the world, and random slice of life, normal-people-in-modern-world stuff? Those also usually suffer from non-directed plot.

If you ever do create another one, you're probably best off trying to just make up something new. Original plots are great. So are original worlds.

Speaking of, I'm thinking of posting all the info for Revelation in the "existing worlds" OOC thread or whatever it's called, which means that other people can make things set in it. I doubt anyone would, but it would be kind of interesting to see how someone who is not me/you guys would interpret it. Then again... I'm kind of attached. Decisions, decisions... -_-

[Lightningflash]

I agree, Kiku; original is always better. That's why I haven't made any role plays: I'm not creative, like you two.

And for a note on literacy: I HATE bad grammar. One of my biggest pet peeves in role playing is when you get a player who writes extremely long run on sentences, or has bad spelling, or something such along those lines. I'm not saying that I'm perfect, I just try REALLY hard to not make mistakes.

And I think you pretty much covered it in popular role play topics nowadays, although the 'teens gain superpowers' theme could perhaps fit in there as well.

[Kurokiku]

Yeah, the grammar thing.... I run into problems with spelling sometimes. I use a browser with a built-in spellcheck, and I can understand stuff like if it's the wrong word but correctly-spelled because they don't catch that, but sometimes it just gets egregious. I have been left with headaches from trying to decipher the spelling of otherwise good writers before, and it drives me crazy. I blame the public school system. Nobody checks for that kind of stuff anymore, not when Microsoft Word has it built in. Do kids even have weekly spelling lists anymore?

Haha, sorry, that was but a tangential moment in a much larger rant, which I am self-conscious enough to spare you. >.<

EDIT: So I'm guessing it's your turn for writer's block, Anno? I have to admit, I was fully expecting Beval to climb on top of a moving train. I dunno why, but that's what I thought he was gonna do. :P

[Anno Domini]

You'd be completely right on that second part, Kiku. Beval would climb onto a moving train. The first part, though... More like disillusionment.

Alright guys, I know this sounds strange coming from your modestly stoic and handsome Gamemaster, but I think I've lost confidence in this roleplay's strength. I thought that three solid players were enough to pull the story forward, and that we had a sufficient amount of plot lubrication (totally a real thing), but I'd be thick to not notice that we're losing our steam. And I don't think it's just Pokemon to blame ^_^

This roleplay was clearly a badass idea. I mean, I came up with it. But I think the set pieces for it were too few and far apart for things to keep going, even accounting for the standard drop off of 50% of its players that most roleplays get. I also wasn't nearly as strict as I believe myself to be with character submissions, but whatevz. My point is that the side-quest we've set off on can only delay closing doors. You guys have stood by this with me and milked all the alchemy goodness you guys could, but this isn't the only roleplay of its kind.

That said, I'd like to just come out and ask. Do you guys want to continue with this pulsating carcass of a roleplay, mein Kind, or say goodnight to it. I'm trying to tell you it's not your responsibility to stick around it. If you think its time has come, then it has.


To ease you guys in considering this roleplay's final fate and accepting whatever is to come, I present you with this archaic noun, kindle, meaning a group of kittens. May your life be one great kindle.

[Kurokiku]

Mmm... sigh. That's not an easy choice to make. I really do quite enjoy this, and I would be quite sad to see it go.

On the other hand, I see where you're coming from. I guess we've basically been giving marathon CPR to something that cannot be saved, huh?

...Ultimately, Anno, the decision is yours. I'm happy to continue my silly putzing around in your lovely world for as long as you would stand for it, but I certainly understand the disillusionment thing, at least theoretically. If you're of a mind to end it, though, I'm not gonna get mad or anything. :P

So what I'm basically saying is, don't ever ask me to make choices. I suck at them. You do it. XD