All Roads: The Journey

[danm36]

I have been trying to get Zolarix to post quite a bit, but he is a very busy person and we may have to drop his character (Or I'll take over) if his duties prove to much.

As for the live chat... you just had to pick the time when I'm about to go on a four hour train journey! I hope that I have Wi-Fi there and can join you, but at the time the chat starts I'll be headed to the station. :/ At around 11pm GMT or 6pm Eastern I should be available again if I can get WiFi at the lodge.

Apart from this Thursday and next Wednesday, I am available every day at those times. If we need to reschedule or have a follow up chat, I'm there!

As for the live chat on this site, I did notice that what Zolarix said on the chat was also posted on the Roleplay main activity feed (See the blank fourth post and the corrected fifth post on page 6) so I'm not entirely sure if the chat can be trusted in keeping our chat out of the activity feed. I'm fine with IRC or Skype if any of those are chosen.

[Aeroron]

You bring up some excellent points, Dan. Since the previous group chat time didn't end up being very convenient, I've decided to push the chat forward two days. Let me know if the below dates and times are feasible. Once the dates and times look acceptable, I'll edit my previous post so that no one gets confused with conflicting information.

U.S. Eastern Time
6:00 pm December 7th

U.K. London Time
11:00 pm/23:00 December 7th

AU. Queensland Time
9:00 am December 8th

The point about the glitches in Roleplay Gateway's chat feature is also a good one. Gateway's chat is convenient due to the fact that it's built into this site, however it doesn't seem like a very good option even though it's convenient. Perhaps what we should do is gather here on chat first, then we can transfer over to a free and commonly used IRC, such as Chatzilla [Firefox browser add-on].

In regards to Zolarix, I understand the situation; real life should always take precedence. He is welcomed to PM me if he feels like he should step out of the roleplay, or if he has any other concerns.
In regards to Niddhogg, a personal friend and equally busy person, I believe he is still very interested in sticking around. I'll speak with him about the roleplay, and perhaps pester him more often to post.

[danm36]

Sorry for the late reply. Yes, I am OK with these times and hopefully Zolarix can join too.

[Aeroron]

Edit: The Internet Gathering was a success. It was excellent to have so many people turn up and express their ideas and concerns. One of the things discussed in the meeting was using IRC as a tool to discuss plot ideas, agree upon metagaming, and generally brainstorm. I will be opening an IRC channel every week for this purpose. These chats will be completely optional, and less formal than posting here OOC or IC. Because of timezone differences and other scheduling dilemmas, I understand that not everyone will be able to join every week. Because of this, I will be posting a brief summary of any important topics covered in these chats in the OOC, just so everyone can stay informed!

Below is some information about these chats and how to connect to them in the future.
>Chatzilla, the free add-on for Firefox web browsers, will be our IRC client of choice. If you don't have Chatzilla, it can be found here. PM me if you have any questions about how to work Chatzilla.
>Open Chatzilla when the meetings are scheduled to start. [See below for potential weekly times]
>Click "freenode". This is located in blue text in the client window towards the bottom of the screen.
>Once you're in freenode, type "/join allRoads"
>Say hello to everyone!

Potential Weekly Times are currently the same as the initial meeting. Any changes will be noted in the OOC. Again, these meetings aren't mandatory, so don't feel obligated to come if it's inconvenient; it's simply a resource to help!

[danm36]

An alternative to Chatzilla (In the case that you don't use Firefox) would be to use freenode's own online IRC service. Simply type a nickname, the channel as allRoads and fill in the CAPTCHA and it will autoconnect for you.

[Aeroron]

Last week's IRC meeting sadly didn't turn out, but I hope that everyone can join me this evening if they'd like to discuss plot ideas for the coming Jakarta arc!

In regards to posting, should I make a post for Adelaide? I didn't know if anyone else was planning to post right about now. I'll jump in if no body else posts within a day or so, just to keep things active.

[danm36]

I won't be available tonight because it's a friends birthday. :(
As for last Friday, well, it was the same thing actually. Apologies for not notifying you.

A post from Adelaide would certainly help I think. Zolarix is quite busy with college at the moment, and I'm not entirely sure where Alan is, but I can follow up after an Adelaide post.

[Alan23]

Just to let everyone know I am still interested. My stay away turned out to be longer than expected, and right now I am just mnaking a brief home stopover, and checking in.

Aeroron, I'd appreciate an email telling me current state of play - is the RP still active or not? Me, I'm in regardless, and should be able to start regular posting again in a week or two.

Happy new year to all

Alan

[Niddhogg87]

Sorry it's taken me a while to reply; between holidays, classes, and Ohayocon, things have gone a lot slower than expected.

Anyway, per Aeroron's suggestion, I'm doing a time skip over several weeks to get Adrian to PNG, or at least somewhere close. Unless everyone else does one as well, this could be explained by having his previous adventures take place about a month prior to events posted at that time.

Also, while I was originally going to do the whole journey in one post, the current bandit encounter has turned out to be a lot longer than expected, so it and the events leading up to it are getting separate post of their own.

[Aeroron]

What will probably end up happening in terms of the timeskip is that Adrian will not end up joining up with our current group, but instead exploring the opportunity of the Clodia Project [which will involve him more directly with the group once they reach Jakarta]. I might also join up Yoko's arc with Adrian's, but this will be decided based on how Niddhogg wants to handle the timeskip.


Furthermore, as everyone probably knows by now, I do enjoy reading articles and sharing them in the OOC. And this one is particularly relevant to the current point that Adelaide has made about the sun cycle. This article talks about the effects of cosmic radiation on our bodies, without the protection of the magnetosphere. While it deals more with hypothetical space travel, the current situation that this roleplay explores on earth isn't much different. Earth's magnetosphere has collapsed, leading to a barrage of radiation and damaging particles. Now, the peak of the solar cycle is also in effect, adding to the damage.
Some of the conditions that the article discusses are cancer, cardiovascular problems, and degradation of muscles and the skeleton. Additionally, it discusses the premature onset of Alzheimer's disease, which Moonie might have in this story.

[Alan23]

i have to admit, I didn't really think Moonie's situation through in a medical sense - I just had a general idea that "her brains got fried by the sun" - a situation that in Australia we call "going troppo"...

Retrofitting things, and given that Dandy tends to temporarily fix her problem, I would guess that certain neural pathways have been destroyed by heavy exposure to the sun without the atmospheric protection that the planet enjoyed pre-sizzle. The drug maybe stimulates the brain cells to make new connections without necessarily repairing what has been destroyed. Thus Moonie is more or less at the stage of a young child, in that she has a very simplistic world view and a lack of refinement, yet it's possible for her brain to grow, and "mature"...

There is something else about Moonie that hasn't yet been revealed, which also has a bearing on this situation. Stay tuned...

[danm36]

Still here! With all the fun of the exams I didn't manage to pull a surprise Christmas...surprise. Either way, new [long] post. I've decided to re-introduce Huntac as a player in the game, albeit a small one for now. Maybe he could meet up with Adrian and join team Not-so-A?

[Aeroron]

I just wanted to make the obligatory post to let everyone know that I am in fact not dead, but still very much alive. Real life, like always, seems to have overwhelmed me for longer than I had wanted it to. However, you can expect a post from me right away.
I will also reach out to Niddhogg and see how his next post is coming along. I hope to hurry up the time-skip for his post, so that he can join up with Yoko, and then have an encounter with the so-called A-team.

I was also hoping to revive the neat OOC chat concept I had thought of a while back. It was great for a meeting of all the members to discuss the future of the roleplay, but it seems that the time was consistently inconvenient for everyone, so it never became a regular thing after that. I thought it could be a great tool, though, so I'll be thinking of how to make some improvements. Perhaps not having it on a Friday night would be a starter. Although time zone differences- and now that accursed Daylight Savings Time will continue to cause some problems, I think.

Also, one of the reasons for my absence was that my birthday came around recently! It's an interesting thought that this roleplay has been a part of my life through so many months. Real life changes quickly, but this roleplay is always a comforting thing to come back to. It's always rewarding to see that everyone else enjoys it, too.

[Aeroron]

I've spent some time considering my place in the roleplay after having received a few messages from players. It's nothing but irresponsible of me to continue being a part of this roleplay when

• My writing style is rather plain and uninteresting
• I don't have sufficient time to dedicate to this roleplay

However, it would also be irresponsible for me to simply leave and let the roleplay die. Each of us has personally contributed much to the roleplay, and that effort should not be wasted. I will find a new GM to take my place, and I will step down as manager and player in this roleplay.
There are several ways that this could be accomplished; you could choose among yourselves who to be a GM, or I could recruit a new member to take this position. The new GM would receive a document from me outlining the rest of the plot, major places and events, and ending, should they wish to continue it in the same way I have. Please let me know what you think would be best.
Additionally, I will continue to post until this new arrangement can be made.

My sincerest, truest, deepest apologies for my inability and lack of experience in GMing. This is something I will make right.