Rough Comment: I am seeking inspiration from the two games "Fantasy Life" and "Tales of Symphonia" but as a note, I am only halfway through both games, well more so with the first than the latter since well, I don't have a Gamecube anymore but I do know the gist of how things turn out. Either way, it doesn't really matter for what I have in mind, the point is my inspiration comes from those two games and should you have played either, you might be able to pick up on the tone of what this story should be about. Of course you needn't play either to join, I just thought I'd lay cards on the table.

Rough Concept: It's your typical fantasy situation, we'll have a range of classes/lives for your character to embark and study. the world will be put into some sort of danger thanks to some possible prophecy or collection of omens. Thus a crew of strangers or friends, will be put to the test to travel and help people and more importantly, save the world. There will be magic, dragons, knights, dark lit caves, secret forests, gold and of course quests. Now my qualm with fantasy is that people can sometimes take it too seriously. So there won't be some wide range of races like faries or elves, just straight up humans will be in this story, except for the obvious divine intervention that is certain to aid the heroes...or villains?

Rough Collection: I am hoping that this is fun and lively and active. If you've played games like Final Fantasy or Legend of Zelda or hell, even Pokemon, you should know that pacing can be slow or fast, depending on the task at hand. I will emphasize this be a slice of life adventure first and foremost. Then I would say the action and intrigue come into play. Another issue I've had with these situations is that people make roles who don't play well with others. Fuck that shit. If your character can't talk and have a conversation but is somehow important/powerful/a genius, they are still useless and shouldn't have survived as long as they have. Loners and anti-social tropes will be mocked and of course, unacceptable. On the flipside, it's one thing to play a bubbly character but making them so clumsy and or naive that they become a distress or annoyance, is equally troubling. And lastly, don't make someone stubborn and strong, be them male or female, that is also overdone beyond believe. Characters steeped in tragic history or unrealistic training or traits are also blatant bullshit. So don't think you can come in making a cookie cutter character or dust one off that you've been saving. Make someone interesting, dynamic and believable!

Rough Conclusion: I have a big semester ahead of me. I GM a few other groups at varying paces, I do off-site writing and of course have a handful of one on ones. I also will be commuting to and from school which means it's another hour I won't be online, though I should have a 2-3 hours window between my classes Monday through Thursday. So I'll be busy but I want some light fun adventure full of quests, hope and fear, all of that good stuff. I will be seeking a co-GM, is the point I'm trying to get to here. A co-GM should be less busy than me but should also be reached through skype or even email or texting if you're okay with that (should we need to talk when the site is down). At any rate, I am seeking a small to medium sized group, the OOC won't flesh out the world too much because that's not fun, it's taxing. I will of course ramble about magic, the world itself, classes to play as, and whatever gloom prophecy is coming true. I expect that those accepted will be able to post in the IC once a week. I use Rounds which I can elaborate in the OOC, should this get attention and interest. Posting amount should be around 3-5 paragraphs, which I assume is anywhere from 350 words to say 700 but that isn't a lot but hey, we'll see how the IC goes.

If you're up for some light fun, grab you sword, fishing rod, cape, encyclopedia, ax or wand and follow me!

Sounds good to me, I've been looking for a good old style fantasy RP.

Hello, glad to have some interest. Classic fantasy games are hard to pilot (well same with sci-fi and everything else these days) but I figure the less frills, the more room characters have to move and direct the story, rather than rely on heavy GMing or nitpicking.

I've always wanted to experiment with more fantasy RPs than my usual predilection for hard science fiction (I like to go severe into my science.)

If you wouldn't mind, I am interested. :)

Hey hey, I like this.

Interest: checked.

Wonderful.

If you three wouldn't mind giving some input on the following ideas, it would help me figure out which direction I could best take to ensure the players are happy, remain dedicated and that of course interest from the IntChk carries to the OOC and IC.

My general thought is that those we play as will end up being sacrifices to save the world but that there would be a loop hole of sorts allowing some to be saved, if certain items were gathered and in a sense, substituted. Sound okay?

Thought Nugget 1 - I could list each selection of class/life types by Magic and Non-Magic and let everyone take their pick but ensuring that there are equal parts from both categories and no duplicate types. For example, there wouldn't be two Wizards but there could be a Wizard and Alchemist, both who use magic but apply it differently.

Thought Nugget 2 - I Just pick 3-5 classes and outline their use. These would be the ones players can pick from. This would allow me to write up a prophecy that is more specific to each type of role. it also gets things moving faster without people being torn between all the choices.

I'm leaning towards the 1st because players do like more choices/freedom but it also ends up stalling progress with CS construction when people are trying to nitpick things that may not really matter. I'm also going to encourage we have a player from each of the regions in the world but that we don't have to waste time with introductions or getting everyone in one place to start things off. Now if we want our roles to be friends, we can approach it differently with characters having done more extensive traveling than some which would help act as a guide for when they do see new places and things. I would personally prefer friends over strangers since it does take away the awkward strain of introducing each other and gaining trust.

Thoughts? Pictures? Anything?

Either one of those sounds good to me. I think with fewer initial choices it's easier to keep the story thematically tied together, rather than just a rambling ball of nonsense. A lot of times fantasy founders at the outset because people have an idea set in their minds of some direction the story should take and create characters with non-setting attributes or histories, and are then obdurate when you ask them to change. :D

But Advanced is where the players are supposed to be able to cooperatively form a living story, right? So, you do what you feel is best.

I like this idea! I hope you don't mind me barging in all of a sudden here. :P Anyhow, you have my interest.

P.S., since I just barged in after reading things, then I would say as Antimus that either of those two is okay.

Hello, yes, I am interested.

Getting right into the discussion at hand, I'd prefer the former idea. Mostly because I'm a bit on the "that guy" side of things in enjoying more obscure character concepts. The prophecy to drive the story, which you mentioned, can be written retroactively to suit the character base, and incorporate elements other than character class, such as region of origin, which you mentioned.

Just something that crossed my mind: presenting various options or roles to players, and then asking that each selection be unique between characters breeds something akin to competition within a game. Things tend to dissolve into a contest of who can grab what first, and the other players are left trying to work a character into whatever it is that remains. Perhaps we, the prospective players, can put forth character concepts, and our general input could be used to shape the setting to an extent? Just a thought to ease the character creation process.

I would be interested as well provided a mandatory IC posting rate of not more than 1x/week. One time per week is easy, I can usually do more, but there are strands of time when I get super busy and one time per week may be all I can manage.

AS for the current discussion...

I, like Dead Cruiser above me, prefer to make obscure character concepts and make them interesting or take something completely normal, even mundane and focus on personality and creativity to make the character shine. The idea of working as a group/team to create a party of characters that don't overlap is very appealing, more so than having a set amount of archtypes we can chose from. I'm not sure how well it would be accomplished, it would require cooperation, but it is certainly an intriguing idea and certainly doable.

As far as prophecy goes...it is often self-fufilling and the more vague you make it, the less well defined, the more likely we the characters are to simply assume we fit into it somehow and in general bring about its meaning because it has been prophesied that we would even if it wasn't exactly in the manner intended (if that made any sense whatsoever congratulations on understanding my mental processes).

I'm game for either friends or strangers, both have lots of potential. The first you have deep relationships already formed, they know each other and how to work together, and some of the mechanics of things are easier. The second gives you a chance to write much of your character personality on the fly and develop it and interactions as you go creating a character that, I at least, feel much closer to.

If we were limited to one post a week I would back out. That's ludicrously sluggish.

I must have mis-written that...I did not mean to imply ONLY post once a week; I believe it was said earlier that posting should be AT LEAST once a week.

genkai said
I expect that those accepted will be able to post in the IC once a week.

I meant to say as long as we were not required to post more than once a week I would be interested.

I should be able to fulfill a once-per-week schedule; a rather demanding and chaotic work schedule allows that much at least.

Prior relations would likely be most interesting as a mixed bag. Some characters may begin knowing each other well, others may be more loosely acquainted or be complete strangers, and perhaps some start out distrusting others based on prior experiences.

@Arbirus: I've seen merit in either case, I've seen people do well with choices boiled down for them, or hell, even rough ideas sketched out. And I've seen people come up with good things by themselves but in the same regard, I've had people squabble over the stupidest things when a role is up fro grabs. I'll probably take a day to mull it over since I am sure it would be a deal breaker for some people.

@Hebigami Shiho: No I don't mind at all. Glad to have another wanderer come aboard!

@Dead Cruiser: You bring up a good point, if anyone has a concept they are thinking about fleshing out, as a GM I'd be happy to hear what is rattling inside your heads. It would make my job easier with knowing what to expect while tweaking ideas before people get too attached to them. (ex: Considering some dragon tamer? We'd have to talk first.) ANd it is possible that someone's idea may spark another player's concept to take shape.

And in regards to your recent idea about some people on good terms, no terms or poor terms...I really want to avoid bad blood. I've had RPs get derailed because two characters couldn't work together and in a fantasy setting, people need to mesh well. Do they need to be bffs? No but they should be able to talk, travel and fight together. An issue with stranges mixing with say, old friends is the issue of feeling left out of a loop. If we did mix the two together, it would need to be done in a way that isn't damaging to the team as a hole and doesn't leave anyone out.

@Astarael42: I will say that said characters will not know about their fate until half way through their adventure, it is possible for one or two to know up front but the event of them finding out and trying to find a way out of it or seeing who might be willing to give up their life, is a concept that will be very present during the latter half of the massive storyline.

And as you pointed out the pros and cons of each, either friends or strangers, it is something to consider. I find in many RPs when given the chance to have pre-existing relationships or bonds, people don't utilize them as best as they could so hopefully in an Advanced setting, it could be done in a way that is useful and not suffocating. (ex: two former friends spend most of their time slinging inside jokes back and forth)

@Everyone: I may need to clarify expectations on posting because it is a big deal. Ahem.

I do Rounds, which pretty much means I ensure no one is left out, it can be a slow pace or a quick one, depending on the players. But this is Advanced, people have lives and I don't consider things to move fast. Fast for me would be two round a week which...I've seen happen maybe once before. A Round for me is each player posting once in no order, once every has posted, I will post and things will begin again.

Ex: GM, Player 2, Player 4, Player, 5, Player 1, Player 3. Then a new round would begin as follows: GM, Player 1, Player, 3, Player 5, Player 4, Player 2.

This eliminates people speed posting or lagging. Should a player skip two rounds or hold us up for several days, their ass is out, but only after they can write themselves out without damaging the story too much. This also gives people room to collab on posts so their turn isn't wasted on petty things. This also makes sure people interact with each other and have things to respond to, depending when they get their post in during a single round.

Now personally...I'd like to expect a round a week, which means one post a week. At least.

I'm not capping anything and saying you can't post more than once a week but it will depend on the pace of your fellow writers. If you're impatient, you're better off in Casual or a one on one but this system hasn't really failed me yet and it's been tested for about...3-4 years. I know it might not make some people happy but it is something I will enforces for the greater good of the story.

Make better sense...?

I'm a Linguistics major with tons of essays to write (Hong Kong is demanding like that). While once a week is good, I perhaps can manage a bit more. I am just afraid of the people who may lag behind to those who would have by then written up to 2 pages their own - goodness knows how many times that's happened to me, what with time-zones, engagements and responsibilities.

Strangers or friends, both work for me. I just hope to see a lot of prep work before writing a post with two-or-more interacting characters.

Edit: Better sense! :)

Thank you that is much clearer (that also happens to be how I run my own threads most of the time). I have no problem meeting that posting expectation. Also pleased that cooperative posting is allowed.

I also have to say I've seen issues with strangers mixed with old friends as was mentioned; the strangers (my character) really got left out of the loop, inside jokes, history, story, etc; it really made it hard for me to work my way in. Not impossible. Just hard. Though that was a situation when the players had an outside history in addition to the characters having an in-game history. My two cents. I'm the kind of person who can work with whatever is thrown at me but I know it is not always easy and can derail the story at times.

@Genkai Thanks for clearing all this up. I think acquaintances/distant friends works well because there are opportunities for bonds to develop naturally between the characters. I agree with above statements that it's easy to create an 'outsider' feeling for some people when there are existing histories (especially OOC) which makes it really easy to lose someone's interest. And when you're writing a lot - spending time to think out, write, and polish something creative and interesting that is focused on building the story and developing characters, losing interest is a killer. If people are going to put forth the effort to write, it's important that they feel included in the story.

At least 1/wk works just fine for me. I am employed full time and in grad school (fml) but I should definitely be able to make this commitment, maybe even be a little more active if everyone else is moving quickly. I agree that 2/wk is pretty quick and anything more dilutes the quality of my writing. Some people might be able to keep up with that, but I'm not one of them.

One last little bit about the pre-gen classes/original classes/curated classes dilemma. For me, none of these are deal breakers or even really annoyances. The deal breaker for me is when people don't collaborate/cooperate.

@Everyone I'm looking forward to writing with you!

And we're back :D

Okay here I was hoping to use today to flesh out the OOC and of course the site doesn't agree with me.

So tomorrow should be the day.

And I am still seeking a co-GM if anyone should be interested, school is about to fuck me in the ass so I could use any help I can get. ^^;

Well, I've just registered after looking at this wonderful idea for a Roleplay and really hope it truly becomes a thing. I've been Roleplaying for a long time and have a wide range of character ideas I can use depending on the scenario of how things play out. Bare in mind, I am 19 and still doing my a-levels, so it might make me come across as slightly moronic, Having Autism and being a bit dyslexic can do that! I can write a good post though, my only problem is that I tend to overuse comma's but you should be able to read what I put down without issues. I've actually been involved with Advanced Roleplayers who were so stuck up that if I didn't spell anything like some sort of highly intelligent English graduate they stuck their nose up and were all like "No, I refuse to assist you in your English and instead will act like a snobby douche because what is humanity?" XD I doubt you guys would do that though.

Though I really hope this Roleplay becomes a thing like I said above, it sounds like it can be a great bit of fun and just be an enjoyable experience since it's at a slow but steady pace. Here's hoping you guys can tolerate me! And here's hoping I don't get kicked out of another Advanced Roleplay because my character actually had morals, because THAT was actually a thing! XD