General update for everyone -- character sheet's in the process of being organized.

That theme in the interest check is so mesmerizing oml.

I know this was posted in the hang-out thread, but it felt more appropriate to comment here. It's a pretty amazing piece, isn't it? Figured it'd perfectly capture the atmosphere I wanted here. Seriously, Naoki Urasawa's Monster is an amazing show in general -- I recommend it to everyone. If I hadn't went down the supernatural route for a murder story, I imagine I'd possibly have done it more like that show.

@CrazyShadowy
'Partially' being the appropriate word, yeah. If people are reading between the lines in 'The Overview' and a few other breadcrumbs I'm leaving then it should be pretty clear that this role-play has the potential to get a whole lot deeper and more complex if you guys don't just let the flow of the premise control you. Imitating the murderer game is just one direction this story could go down.

@Shoryu Magami
That is true, I skimmed some of the other parts not 'The Overview' I made sure to read that as a whole, it was some of the other things that could be called 'fluff.' What I had skimmed was what I had already known, I worded the other statement poorly in my previous messages.

@CrazyShadowy
While I'm used to the term 'fluff' being used in a derogatory sense, I'm fairly confident you didn't mean it that way. Anyway, it makes sense that you wouldn't bother reading the parts you already knew (mostly just 'The Rules'), since they were more or less the same as in the hang-out thread.

So, any questions or details in the 'Discussion Points' you'd like to talk about?

@Shoryu Magami
Not at the moment, I'll have more of a chance to disovle into conversation on this a little later, I'll make sure to ping you when I do have something to discuss from this though.

I did not mean it in that way, your confidence in that is correct. I ended out using that for a lack of better words on my end.

I'll try to create a CS if my role is secured from the start. And if I actually make a CS then the rest is easy.

@Shoryu Magami Man you weren't kidding about being exhaustive in details, were you? *amused* I will be lurking, I think, but I've never been a huge fan of this sort of thing done solely through rp, so I'd need to seriously consider if I'm interested. ...Also might go for joining and then being killed off like /right away/ if we can stay in the game because WOO GHOSTS! *giggles* But I definitely want to see your style of writing, or at least an idea of it. Also I love Grain, and no, I'm pretty sure there is no longer version. Monster in general is <3 *waves to everyone*

Before I say anything, I'm gonna quote part of a post from someone in the hang-out thread.

Hey, I saw your thread and it looked super interesting! I'd love to join, but, unfortunately, I just started on something that might turn out to be another big project for me.

Just thought I'd stop in and say good work! It's a neat concept and I'm kinda sad that I'd only be able to half-ass it if I did join.

Honestly, I felt like I should personally say it here -- I appreciate the compliment.

Alright, to business (despite not having slept for roughly a day now), shall we?

@CrazyShadowy
If I'm awake, I'll be looking forward to that conversation.

@Bishop
I'm not sure what you meant by 'if your role is secured from the start'. Unless you're just saying you'll work out your interest in getting involved after you know if your character's accepted or not, you might want to elaborate. Either way, welcome to the thread. It's pretty cool how quickly this is coming alive.

@shylarah
I'm actually glad you've decided to post all this, since it's one of the reasons we've got the interest check at all (considering I already knew enough people were interested to have seven players, more or less) -- this is going to be a discussion thread to iron out some of the details. I'll respond to your post in pieces, like I usually do, since I think it might be the first post that's brought up more than a single inquiry.

Man you weren't kidding about being exhaustive in details, were you? *amused*

No, I wasn't kidding. *smirk* Honestly though, I think I'm holding back a lot. If you think this is comprehensive you should (you're not getting to -- spoilers) see the shit I've got locked away in PM for this role-play so far, not to mention the stuff only in my head currently. I've only been working on this role-play for a few days and it's become very extensive, evolving far beyond merely being a role-play of 'Who is the Murderer?'. I've already got friends telling me I should be writing this thing as a novel instead and making money, but my 'Guardian Ascension' project is my one true story and I'd like to give this to you all as something to enjoy as players.

I will be lurking, I think, but I've never been a huge fan of this sort of thing done solely through rp, so I'd need to seriously consider if I'm interested.

If you don't mind, can you define what you mean by 'this sort of thing'? I can't respond without better understanding. There's a few things I think you might be referring to, but I'd prefer to ask you instead of just make assumptions.

...Also might go for joining and then being killed off like /right away/ if we can stay in the game because WOO GHOSTS! *giggles* But I definitely want to see your style of writing, or at least an idea of it.

This would be one of the reasons I've brought up discussions with people, and made a point of including subtle hints and details such as the implications about ghosts (good work noticing that, by the way) -- I've been wanting people to inquire about these sorts of things. I'm completely open to discuss about whether or not you guys would prefer this element to be used or not, since the story I have in mind is detailed enough to adapt to either. As it currently stands, players being able to remain in the game after death (if they want to) is the most likely route, but obviously there will be certain 'limitations' placed on the actions characters can take if they're ghosts. What limitations would be spoiling too much, I feel.

Also I love Grain, and no, I'm pretty sure there is no longer version. Monster in general is <3 *waves to everyone*

Monster's a great show. It's one of the very few that satisfied me in terms of wanting to see that the writer hadn't missed any significantly noticeable details. It's also pretty much the only 100% realistic story I've ever really enjoyed.

@Shoryu Magami Well if I'm intending to join in the capacity of a ghost (that is, intending to die and die /very/ early) it's a bit unfair not to know what I'll be allowed and not allowed to do, but alright. ^.^; Not sure how I could possibly miss it, I mean you practically said it. O.o

"This sort of thing" is the whole mafia game scenario as an rp. Or locked in with a murderer...chupacabra, whatever. It's a good game to play irl, but I've never had an rp of this type go well. I'm not saying it couldn't, just that I'm biased against such rps, and I don't want to contaminate the enjoyment of others with my predispositions. Also it'd have to be significantly /better/ than a type of rp that I already love for me to feel like it was worthwhile. ^.^;;

Another issue is that I'm a huge fan of plotting and theorizing in the OOC, and...you're discouraging it. I mean, my characters might not know everything I know, but they might also see things I just don't, and that can be hard to portray without knowing there's somethign to be see. Also any time we have the sort of game where you're encouraged to team up and get rid of other groups I get...uncomfortable. I mean, we're not directly encouraged to, here, but it invariably happens. Plus navigating that sort of social situation is a nightmare for me. x.x

I figured you might be holding back, as you've said that many rpers around here don't appreciate your level of detail.

Unfortunately, the requirement of an anime picture for a character is probably not one I can meet, given that you want attention to details. I have a lot of pictures that are /similar/ to how various ones of my characters might appear on any given day, but pictures that are specifically my character are not easy to come by. And if I'm making a new character entirely, unless I /start/ with an image, finding one can take me a long time -- plus I get distracted by the pretties and then I have fifty tabs open and where'd the afternoon go?! @.@

OH. And upon reading through a second time more thoroughly (I admit I was a bit distracted the first time) I think I know the spoiler tag. ^.^ Hee~ *wriggles but says nothing*

@Shoryu Magami I meant as in "everybody posts their CS and a limited number of people with the best one get in" doesn't work for me. Too tiring to build a CS only to watch it get tossed away, if I get around to building one.

Anyway, have you written stories and CYOA games for profit?

@shylarah
I've noticed that I didn't respond to your comment about seeing my writing style. As it stands, the couple of role-plays I'm already a part of on this site are about the only examples I have to offer that I consider in a readable state currently.

Anyway, as for the new comments.

Well if I'm intending to join in the capacity of a ghost (that is, intending to die and die /very/ early) it's a bit unfair not to know what I'll be allowed and not allowed to do, but alright. ^.^; Not sure how I could possibly miss it, I mean you practically said it. O.o

People often miss details, and it just shows you didn't skim read, which is precisely the type of person I'm trying to prevent from joining. No offense to @CrazyShadowy, obviously. He mentioned skimming before, but it was only the part he'd seen in the hang-out thread which he did that for.

It's not so much that I can't go into what the ghosts can or can't do so much as I'd prefer to bring it up after some of the other elements of this are finalized in discussion. Since you'd more or less be intending on playing in that sort of role, I could probably let you know privately if anything felt like it'd be too much of a spoiler, but I'm honestly too tired right now to think that through at my usual extensiveness. It'd also be unfair to reveal a spoiler about this story before it even starts, so I'd like to avoid that.

"This sort of thing" is the whole mafia game scenario as an rp. Or locked in with a murderer...chupacabra, whatever. It's a good game to play irl, but I've never had an rp of this type go well. I'm not saying it couldn't, just that I'm biased against such rps, and I don't want to contaminate the enjoyment of others with my predispositions. Also it'd have to be significantly /better/ than a type of rp that I already love for me to feel like it was worthwhile. ^.^;;

Well, generally speaking being biased or letting past experiences determine an opinion can be dangerous, since I'd probably not even be role-playing on this site at all if I did that -- I make a habit of generally only role-playing with my close circle for a reason. Anyway, not wanting to drag everyone else down is appreciated. I'm not quite sure what you meant by the comparison with the 'type of role-play' you love, or what this 'type of role-play' is, but I'm incredibly picky with role-plays in general so I'm not gonna tell you not to go with preferences. So long as you don't try to dissuade those who are hyped about my idea, it really doesn't matter to me if you like it or not.

As for the whole concept of how this is basically that game being done as a role-play, it's one of the main things drawing most of the people presently here to it. However, I want to emphasize that - if people are reading between all my lines - it should be clear that this role-play has the potential to go far beyond that premise if people play well. Honestly, there's a lot of mysteries to uncover in this role-play, and I actually - to give a minor spoiler that isn't really a spoiler if people are reading between the lines - consider working out the murderer the least important mystery. It's pretty much what the plot focuses on if everyone isn't getting anywhere.

Another issue is that I'm a huge fan of plotting and theorizing in the OOC, and...you're discouraging it. I mean, my characters might not know everything I know, but they might also see things I just don't, and that can be hard to portray without knowing there's somethign to be see.

That rule was put in place specifically to prevent people from trying to 'power game'. I'd seriously prefer that no PM discussions go on between people involving uncovering mysteries, and I'll penalize people if their characters suddenly seem to know things or are cooperating with another character without the IC having shown those two characters developing this collaboration. It's the whole 'your characters shouldn't know everything you know', as you put it. I don't trust people enough to believe they'll be mature about this, so I've set up a penalty if I find anyone mixing IC with OOC -- in essence people are punished for bad role-playing.

However, I like what you've said about the other side of the spectrum -- if you recall our discussion (in the hang-out thread) about one of the reasons why I'm exhaustive with details, I made a point that I believe how much details a role-player gives shouldn't be their decision, but the decision of their role-playing partner. What you just described is precisely why. It's the responsibility of the role-player to make sure they give their partner every possible detail that could be significant, to ensure the player knows everything their character can see. I intend to be thorough about making sure anything important that your characters should know about is presented in the room, even if it's only mentioned as a subtle detail (like the breadcrumbs in the opening post), because you should be looking for these details. It's a mystery story, after all. With that said, why does not talking about things in the OOC cause problems with this? There's a difference between trying to get unfair information OOC that your character shouldn't have, and using the OOC to ask a partner (or the GM) what they meant by a post so you know everything your character's seeing.

Also any time we have the sort of game where you're encouraged to team up and get rid of other groups I get...uncomfortable. I mean, we're not directly encouraged to, here, but it invariably happens. Plus navigating that sort of social situation is a nightmare for me. x.x

In terms of the last part, there's not much I can say to defend it or to help you -- a lot of stories have complex factions and a lot of treachery or moles, and people who want to watch the story have to pay attention to it all or they'll lose track of what's going on. To be perfectly frank with you though, you guys won't be breaking into factions if you're playing this game 'properly', because - as I keep spoiling (yes, it's a spoiler, since I didn't want to spell it out for you and 'The Overview' was meant to be a subtle hint) - you should all actually be working together to solve the real mysteries, not splitting up into factions (though I'll certainly be trying to make you *evil grin*). The whole elimination voting thing is a nasty little time limit I've got in place which will systematically wipe you all out overtime and if you fail to make enough progress in time it'll end up killing you all. I didn't want to say this outright, but eh... a few people know already, and swore they wouldn't let this OOC knowledge impact how they behaved IC.

I figured you might be holding back, as you've said that many rpers around here don't appreciate your level of detail.

Pretty much, and that's why I truly give my thumb up to all the people who do.

Unfortunately, the requirement of an anime picture for a character is probably not one I can meet, given that you want attention to details. I have a lot of pictures that are /similar/ to how various ones of my characters might appear on any given day, but pictures that are specifically my character are not easy to come by. And if I'm making a new character entirely, unless I /start/ with an image, finding one can take me a long time -- plus I get distracted by the pretties and then I have fifty tabs open and where'd the afternoon go?! @.@

While I can't compromise the picture thing for a few reasons, a physical description will also be included in character sheets that will specify ways that the character's appearance might differ to their image provided. There's a multitude of reasons why I want character portraits. I'm planning on actually specifying where everyone currently is at a regular interval by placing their portraits on a map I provide in a hider during my IC posts, for example. Most of the people involved in this role-play are also very drawn to its 'anime-ish' nature and this immersion could be weakened without an image of the character. If you don't want to use an entirely new character (I'm not forcing you to, just for the record -- wasn't in the rules, after all), which would allow you to build them around a picture, then we'd need to find a way to balance the need for a portrait with how you're imagining the character. Believe me, I know this feeling. I'll usually only use images (that I didn't draw) for characters that aren't part of 'Guardian Ascension'.

OH. And upon reading through a second time more thoroughly (I admit I was a bit distracted the first time) I think I know the spoiler tag. ^.^ Hee~ *wriggles but says nothing*

I like how you're scrutinizing the details. Nevertheless, yeah, if you're onto something then keep it quiet or I'll use duct tape. There's a lot of people who don't want any of this spoiled, from what I can tell.

>Double posts to ensure that @Bishop gets his reply.

Your role is more or less secured from the start if the character brought forth in the sheet meets my requirements and all of the rules present for this role-play can be followed. Obviously, I can't just accept any character into the role-play, but so long as they're fitting to the role-play I don't plan on rejecting them without a good reason. There's a difference between 'playing favourites' and not letting everyone just join even if their characters aren't appropriate. Admittedly, the number of people that we seem to be getting is growing quite significantly, but I did mention the seven players wasn't a cap -- it was more like a minimum.

However, it'll be a while before the IC commences, as I've mentioned a few times now. We need time to discuss certain details (like we're currently doing), and I need to find out how many people showing interest are genuinely in this for the long run and weed out the people who're just going to be whimsical and ruin the game for everyone else. With this in mind, there's only a few people I can guarantee a place in this game currently -- those who've clearly shown me their devotion. I'm not implying I think you lack devotion, by any means, but I want to find out which people are truly interested in this. With this in mind, character sheets aren't completely open for registration yet, though I encourage those who want to work on them to go ahead.

Edit: To answer your other question -- no, I haven't, but there's a lot of people who think I should and one of my friends is seemingly very adamant about helping me sell my main story project someday. My main project isn't a CYOA story though.

@Shoryu Magami When I say my chars might see something, I mean they might put pieces together that I would not. For example, I immediately went "ooh maybe ghosts?!" when you said someone might stick around after dying. Another person might have gone "right, so...rolling new characters? Okay then." And a third might not even have noticed. It's an issue of the player having a way of viewing the world that does not always match the way their characters think, and yeah, there's only so much you can do about it. My social ineptness bleeds into my characters no matter what I do, even the ones that are supposedly very perceptive or very compassionate. ...This can and has resulted in them being total jerks at times without me intending them to be. I do tend to pick up certain things better in text, simply because of conservation of detail. This means that the more details you give me, the less likely I am to notice the important ones, in many instances. And of course if I'm the sort of person you have to throw a brick at before I recognize a guy hitting on me, many of my characters are going to be similarly dense without a bit of serious hinting or OOC help.

As an extension, I have been known to ask "Is character A acting X" where X is nervous, upset, or some other emotion. Or I'll ask "would [my char] be able to recognize that A is X", with X again being an emotion or some such. There's also the matter of someone trained in fighting, for example, might recognize a soldier by their behavior, but some office worker might not. If you say "A cleaned the mess with the conservation of motion expected from a martial artist", I'm going to take that as it's obvious enough that there's a good chance even the office worker would notice. Not for /sure/ -- I still get to take his nature into account and decide if I agree he would. But it's a possibility. Thus too /many/ details can actually create issues, because I highly doubt you describe every detail and then also just how evident each detail is to various types of people. I'm not sure anyone would want to read something where you have to hold hands like that.

It helps that I draw, and I do have a slightly anime style in many cases. However even with anime, there's a wide range of styles. You might be better off creating tokens with names, or descriptors -- "shadowy figure", "glowing eyes", "thin lady". That way you can preserve consistency between tokens, and still use the map. It would require more reading, but still work. As for anime-ish, if you mean in imagery, that's not the text at all and so it would limit portraits /only/ to anime ones, but not require portraits for everyone. If you mean in style of story...that's not an image issue, I've seen it done in books and TV shows, and even rps that used varied images or no images at all, and so there is no reason to constrain images because of it. Personal opinion here, though.

As for the overall plot in opposition to the game of chupa...that's not how you presented it, and you're going to be attracting people who want the latter, and will gun for it, and make characters with that sort of a mindset instead of a "we probably should be working together, guys" kind of mindset. This will affect your outcome. It will affect the players going in knowing this is not, in fact, a game of chupa. Also I'm fairly certain I know not only the tag but also the twist, and possibly even why. And with me knowing, I'm more likely to have my character put pieces together faster. I'd need evidence, of course, to imply such a conclusion, but it's a lot easier to put a puzzle together when you're looking at the box. I'm not sure this is fair to others, and so I'm going to bow out. Between my uncertainty and the rest, I don't think I'd make a good player.

Totally gonna lurk to see if I'm right, though! <3

@shylarah
I can barely see at this point (blame not sleeping for a day and a half), but I'm going to reply because I don't want this conversation to derail the game, especially since it's becoming blatantly clear (from a multitude of discussions now) you simply don't like my style of writing and - frankly - that's your choice and it doesn't matter to me -- but this thread is for discussion about how to finalize the details presented, not to bash ones we don't like.

When I say my chars might see something, I mean they might put pieces together that I would not. For example, I immediately went "ooh maybe ghosts?!" when you said someone might stick around after dying. Another person might have gone "right, so...rolling new characters? Okay then." And a third might not even have noticed. It's an issue of the player having a way of viewing the world that does not always match the way their characters think, and yeah, there's only so much you can do about it. My social ineptness bleeds into my characters no matter what I do, even the ones that are supposedly very perceptive or very compassionate. ...This can and has resulted in them being total jerks at times without me intending them to be. I do tend to pick up certain things better in text, simply because of conservation of detail. This means that the more details you give me, the less likely I am to notice the important ones, in many instances. And of course if I'm the sort of person you have to throw a brick at before I recognize a guy hitting on me, many of my characters are going to be similarly dense without a bit of serious hinting or OOC help.

This sounds more like a personal issue you have, rather than an objective problem with the role-play I'm presenting, to be honest with you. No one role-play is going to be perfect for everyone, and most of the people here are glad I'm going into so much detail. That's probably one of the main reasons why they're here. The vast majority of the people who came to this interest check and already knew about it were mostly in the 'will probably join' phase, and suddenly several people who were thinking about it jumped at the chance. Why? Well, I can't speak for them, but I'd imagine it's how in-depth I'm being.

Also, this is one of the reasons I frequently encourage people not to role-play a character if they can't handle that character -- it's unrealistic, and actually rather unfair to the other players, to have someone trying to role-play a super intelligent detective when their deductive skills are complete garbage, to give a random example I mentioned to @Ailyn Evensen last night. As for what you mentioned about people misreading the rule about the ghosts, I've made it pretty damn clear people don't get to roll out new characters -- the story explicitly will have a set number of guests and they all need to be registered before the game starts, a detail clearly in the rules. As for the people who don't notice it -- that's their fault for not paying attention.

As an extension, I have been known to ask "Is character A acting X" where X is nervous, upset, or some other emotion. Or I'll ask "would [my char] be able to recognize that A is X", with X again being an emotion or some such. There's also the matter of someone trained in fighting, for example, might recognize a soldier by their behavior, but some office worker might not. If you say "A cleaned the mess with the conservation of motion expected from a martial artist", I'm going to take that as it's obvious enough that there's a good chance even the office worker would notice. Not for /sure/ -- I still get to take his nature into account and decide if I agree he would. But it's a possibility. Thus too /many/ details can actually create issues, because I highly doubt you describe every detail and then also just how evident each detail is to various types of people. I'm not sure anyone would want to read something where you have to hold hands like that.

Once again, this feels entirely subjective. Not everyone has issues when a lot of details are presented, and the type of people who're drawn to mystery stories (what this is) thrive on the details in the first place since scrutinizing details is what makes a good detective. I'll describe the details that people need to know in order to uncover the answers if they're paying attention. It's not my fault if they choose not to look for the details in a mystery story -- that's the whole point. I've never struggled with working out how my character should react in these types of examples you're giving.

Not only that, but when I explain a detail I'm usually pretty specific about the type of person who'd recognize it. In that example you listed above, I'd make it clear whether or not it was something an average person would recognize, or whether it's something only someone with insight in a field would notice. Again, this all comes down to people not trying to role-play a character they can't understand. You're also contradicting yourself because at one point you want details about what your character can see and at the next moment too many details is confusing, and ultimately none of this is even relevant to the OOC. Also, that last sentence felt like a closeted attempt at insulting me, and was also biased, so just be aware that one particular line was uncalled for. I was fine with the conversation until this point, but now my patience is being tested.

It helps that I draw, and I do have a slightly anime style in many cases. However even with anime, there's a wide range of styles. You might be better off creating tokens with names, or descriptors -- "shadowy figure", "glowing eyes", "thin lady". That way you can preserve consistency between tokens, and still use the map. It would require more reading, but still work. As for anime-ish, if you mean in imagery, that's not the text at all and so it would limit portraits /only/ to anime ones, but not require portraits for everyone. If you mean in style of story...that's not an image issue, I've seen it done in books and TV shows, and even rps that used varied images or no images at all, and so there is no reason to constrain images because of it. Personal opinion here, though.

You're right, it is personal opinion, so it's irrelevant. This thread is for people who enjoy anime, and you're thus far the only person complaining about the rule involving the pictures. I made that rather clear in the rules, and all the people I made this thread for have been content with it.

As for the overall plot in opposition to the game of chupa...that's not how you presented it, and you're going to be attracting people who want the latter, and will gun for it, and make characters with that sort of a mindset instead of a "we probably should be working together, guys" kind of mindset. This will affect your outcome. It will affect the players going in knowing this is not, in fact, a game of chupa. Also I'm fairly certain I know not only the tag but also the twist, and possibly even why. And with me knowing, I'm more likely to have my character put pieces together faster. I'd need evidence, of course, to imply such a conclusion, but it's a lot easier to put a puzzle together when you're looking at the box. I'm not sure this is fair to others, and so I'm going to bow out. Between my uncertainty and the rest, I don't think I'd make a good player.

Totally gonna lurk to see if I'm right, though! <3

Actually, I think you're missing the detail that I've blatantly stated this story has multiple routes and endings. Everyone is perfectly fine with playing this role-play out just like 'Who is the Murderer?' is they like, but there's other options available to people who'd like something with more depth and engagement. If they just want to dance to the puppet master's tune and get themselves all killed, who am I to stop them? If that's actually what's going to entertain them, I'm not gonna pass judgement for that. I've put it there as an option for a reason, and all of this discussion has sort of spoiled the fact that people can dig deeper.

I doubt that much information has been worked out by you unless you've hacked my PMs to be honest with you, and even then most of the significant details are in my head and haven't even been given breadcrumbs in the opening post (they're for the role-play, obviously). Nevertheless, if you feel obligated to act based on your OOC knowledge instead of play IC, then you're right in assuming you wouldn't be a good player. Lurk if you want, but honestly a lot of this feels more like criticizing based on personal opinion rather than offering objective ideas, which is also against the rules I set.

I don't have to do this thread. I could be working on 'Guardian Ascension' right now, and not going days without sleep making a game to give people some enjoyment -- one that won't earn me any material profit. If you don't like what I'm presenting, don't waste my time attacking it when all your criticisms are out of personal preference. You're not interested -- simple. Leave it at that.

This is precisely why I don't like role-playing with people I don't know -- too many politics built on subjective bias.

Shoryu asked me to relay a message to everyone since he's pretty much too exhausted at this point. Him and Shylarah ended up continuing in a PM to clear up some misunderstandings on the rules and how some of her feelings regarding the rp were not being represented properly. He's gonna finish talking to her on PM when he's coherent. He realizes that it's kinda thrown the thread into a messy state, but he plans on putting together a full update on clarifying some more things when he wakes up.

For clarity, I am personally not privy to any private information or conversations, I am only relaying what Shoryu asked me to write.

@Pudding@UnknownScarlet4@Aewin@Ailyn Evensen@tsukune@Xyo@MayLien@CrazyShadowy@Bishop@shylarah
Poking everyone who's been in this thread so far and commented, because this is important. Things got a bit off the main points we need to discuss in this thread, but all information is useful if it's relevant and with that in mind I'm gonna make an update post here to let all of you know my thoughts regarding certain elements of the role-play that've been brought up.

As mentioned in the rules and later on, the purpose of this thread is to discuss some of the finer details that could only be established once I knew roughly how many people were interested. This thread isn't about criticizing my ideas since the whole purpose of an interest check is to express interest -- those who aren't interested in what's presented shouldn't even be posting. While the conversation that happened previously was useful, and has been explained to me as being not lack of interest but rather being interested but unsure of being able to fit in, I'd prefer this sort of thing not become a routine.

If anyone else is interested in the thread but has uncertainties about some of the rules and is concerned they might not be able to express these concerns without being misread, send them to me over PM instead of here (subjective criticisms'll be ignored). If you're confident you won't create misunderstandings, feel free to address them publically here. A lot of the rules put in place were to facilitate the existence of this being an 'Advanced' role-play, because there's a lot more to this tag in my eyes than merely having a lot of content in your posts.

I'd also like to make a point that none of this information is inherently new, since it's all in the opening post -- I'm mostly giving this for clarification, and in the case of the last point because I'm looking for input from you all.


Mixing up IC knowledge with OOC knowledge is one of the first signs of bad role-playing, and one of the rules was created explicitly to keep this from happening; however, I believe certain misconceptions might've been made regarding the nature of the rule involving this. If it turns out that the rule isn't clear (I was admittedly quite tired while writing it, as I often am), then I've got no objections to rewriting it. I won't be changing my intended rule, but I'm willing to make it clearer for people. This role-play is listed with the 'Advanced' tag, and I intend to employ rules like this to make sure the integrity of our writing remains that way.

I'm not discouraging people from using the OOC to collaborate and discuss their posts for the IC; in fact, I encourage doing this whenever it allows the IC posts to be portrayed more realistically. There's a big difference between mixing up IC/OOC knowledge as opposed to using the OOC to make the IC more appropriate. For example, the players know more than the characters do by default of the nature of them existing in the fourth wall -- they possess a god-like point of view in terms of how they're able to observe the world around them, which is something the (normal) characters can never do. One of the marks of a good writer/role-player is being able to create a line between what you know and what your character knows, since characters are restricted only to their subjective perspective while the writer/reader sees the world more objectively (with the only subjectivity being what they don't know in terms of spoilers, or information the other players have failed to make clear in their posts/character sheets -- one of the reasons being detailed for the sake of others is very important).

With regards to people not being able to effectively write their characters due to the character needing to know something the player doesn't know, this is one of the reasons I encourage people to pick their characters carefully. Yes, it's fine if people want to role-play outside of their comfort zone, and I don't have a problem with people using the OOC to assist each other's posts and make their IC more realistic, but that's a very different thing from using OOC knowledge in the IC -- understanding the difference is very important if you're planning to use the OOC in this way, since one of those things is encouraged while the other is blatant violation of not only this role-play but also writing at its very foundation. If you're planning on writing a detective (and not a bumbling one), then make sure your deductive skills are reasonable -- it's not like you have to respond to a situation in real time like an actual detective would, so you've got way more time to scrutinize the details by rereading them whereas a detective usually gets one chance to notice something and has to do it instantly. If you're going to play a doctor, make sure you either have a passable knowledge already in medicine, or are willing to do internet research to gain that knowledge when appropriate to an IC post. This is pretty much 'writing/role-playing 101' in my eyes.


This role-play is explicitly listed under the 'Anime/Manga' tag because it's - in my eyes - aesthetically going to appeal to people who are fans of that media (the project isn't inherently inspired by anything specific, since I'm more a fan of the style than I am of any particular fandom), since that style of art is what appeals to me. I'm extremely picky regarding aesthetics and I won't be lowering my standards just to role-play with someone who can't appreciate that form of art. This was made clear in the rules regarding character sheets, so as far as I'm concerned people can either 'take it or leave it' in terms of this detail. If you've got an issue with that media, then this role-play isn't for you (I blatantly said this in the opening post). If you've got an issue with using a character portrait then it's also not for you, but there's already one member in our group who wants in on this role-play yet doesn't normally like using pictures for their characters -- they can do it, so no one has an excuse in my eyes. I'm not the first GM to ask people to provide a character portrait appropriate to the role-play, and I won't be the last.


The decision to have a unique name for this role-play instead of simply calling it 'Who is the Murderer? {Role-play}' has more significance than people might realize.

While the initial inspiration to create this role-play came as a result of me deciding to put up that game in the spam forum, the role-play was never intended to be completely bound by it and I've made that quite clear both to people in discussions and also directly in the game's thread itself. I also - even in my opening post for that game - stated that I already had the idea for the role-play in my mind, meaning that some of these ideas were somewhat worked out before I even brought it up. Like I said previously, the direction of this plot could go down very similar to that of the game, if that's the 'route' you all decide to go with, but I've put plenty of other engaging concepts and potentials for plot twists into the role-play as well for those willing to look for them.

Also, this isn't a game; it's a role-play -- there's a big difference and a lot of people miss it. I'd prefer that people not think of this as simply an elimination game but rather as a piece of writing (what play-by-post is) in the exact same way that people shouldn't mistake a role-play for a 'Tabletop' game.

I should also make a point that a lot (not all) of the people who seem to have taken a liking to this role-play are fans of things like Danganronpa or 999 -- which were far from standard murder mysteries. While elimination rounds were a part of Danganronpa (for example), the main point of the story was actually the characters trying to uncover the mastermind (as opposed to just the murderer) and find a way out of the situation before everyone got killed. With this in mind, it shouldn't come as a surprise to people that something like this is going on with my role-play either, but I was trying to not spell it out for everyone in order to let you guys learn the revelations as they happen. I did leave breadcrumbs in the opening post though, so anyone who thought this was meant to just mimic that elimination game mindlessly in a role-play form didn't read the opening post thoroughly, or pay attention to anything I've said when I've talked about this role-play outside the interest check.

I'm not going to be held accountable by people who don't read my posts, especially when this is listed with the 'Advanced' tag. While I've got no reason to think anyone present so far isn't reading my posts, let me make one thing clear... As far as I'm concerned, 'TL;DR' isn't a real excuse in a role-play using the 'Advanced' tag, and people who operate under that mentality don't belong in 'Advanced' tag role-plays period. If you've got a problem with that then leave now. I'm creating this role-play for the enjoyment of those who appreciate it. I could be working on my 'Guardian Ascension' project and that project alone. I could also just write this role-play as a novel and make some money. I'm in a long-distance relationship of over five years and am in desperate need of money to fix that dilemma, so keep that in mind. My PC's also regularly screwing up on me and making me lose important work, and the time I invest into this role-play could be spent fixing that problem. I expect people to show some gratitude for me doing this, and not be entitled about it. I'd love to give you all this game to enjoy, but I'm not a pushover and it's not gonna be the end of the world for me if we can't do this role-play because people ruin it.

Like I said, this a warning for everyone in general and I'm not pointing a finger here -- just telling people to be adults about this.


Now on a more immediate matter -- does anyone have opinions or feelings regarding the possibility that dead characters will be able to continue to be able to take part in the role-play in some sort of light? Before I even consider discussing how this might work, I want people to give their thoughts, since this element's something I believe my plot can adapt around both ways. Those who die can either be out for good, or I can have ways to allow those characters to continue to be part of this thing to a certain capacity -- I'd like your opinions. This idea primarily exists so people who get eliminated don't feel like they're being 'kicked out' of the role-play, but I've got ways I can use it creatively.

Just for the record -- characters who get killed because their player broke the opening post's code of conduct section (under the title 'The Rules') don't count.

Holy Crap! *internal screams*

@Masaki Haruna
I'll just go out on a limb here and assume you like what you're seeing.

Edit: Side note for everyone -- I've recently posted a portion of the character sheet into the hang-out thread, for those interested in getting an early start at things.

What a happy coincidence a proposal such as that come up just right after I finished Gossick a month or so ago and just (re)read The Murders of Rue Morgue. Either way, I'm inspired for a detective /mystery RP for ages and will be glad to take part, should you accept me once this idea takes flight.

Either way, I do have a question.

Since this story is basically a locked room mystery set on the modern times, how will you handle the potential game breaking interference that communication devices (cell phones, etc) can create?

@KoL
I've noticed you looking around the thread a bit, so I did wonder if this post was coming. Welcome to GRG. I'm unfamiliar with the works you've just named, but nevertheless it's good to have someone else interested in the role-play.

Since this story is basically a locked room mystery set on the modern times, how will you handle the potential game breaking interference that communication devices (cell phones, etc) can create?

I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you...

Bad jokes aside -- this is a good question, since it's the sort of thing I want people to address. I'm pretty comprehensive when it comes to the details and I believe quality of writing is found by paying attention to them, so I've already got this worked out. Exactly how I plan to go about it is a spoiler, but it's connected to the 'Contemporary Fantasy' genre elements mentioned in the opening post. If you want specifics, it'll have to be over PM, but the simple answer is that - while your characters are allowed to have these sorts of devices - an element of my lore will make it impossible for them to communicate with the world outside of the setting. This includes the internet, just for the record.

@Shoryu Magami

Gossik is one of the best mystery anime ever, which includes a quite detailed intro story that's pretty much identical in plot (differing in set up and most likely execution, given that a RP can't work like a novel all the time) to the premise of this story. The other story is actually the first detective story in the world, by Poe. Both are really good works.

Either way, you don't need to expand on the issue with me at the time. I pretty much expected supernatural powers to be the answer, given that their existence is left as a basic possibly.

I'll be looking for this in the future. Oh, by the way, Thania for the welcome.