@Shoryu Magami

Sho, I seem to have lost track as to when I'm meant to be posting. I know I need to wait until chapter two begins and then I'm posting right after Itzal @Shadow007, is that right?

@Heap241

Exactly right. We're hoping to have the chapter shift come soon, so I just need everyone to remain patient a little longer.

@Shoryu Magami

You got it boss! I will be standing by!

@Aewin@Pudding@Melo@Ailyn Evensen@Snagglepuss89@tsukune@Shadow007@Eidolen@MayLien@Heap241
@banjoanjo@CrazyShadowy@JaceBeleren@aviendha@Indra

Status update:

• Collaboration should more or less be done by the end of the weekend, worst case scenario (unless something unexpected happens), so the next chapter will start at that point.

• I'm not picturing many of the Major Arcana needing to be changed in terms of who received what, a least not in the sense of making bad decisions (especially since those of you who know about the cards at all have agreed that my choices were fitting on multiple levels, even beyond just the base meaning of the cards). I used a combination of my own understanding of each card, alongside personal symbology, and merging it together with information I looked up (I went through multiple sources written by people who actually do Tarot readings, for those curious), to determine them. With this said though, a few last minute contemplations will be done now factoring in some additional information/interpretations I've been given, alongside all the new characters we've been getting. For whatever reason, most of the images that I linked you all for the cards ended up becoming broken images, so I'm planning to repost them after making final decisions.

• Still waiting on Daniel's 'Private CS' to be finished. The PM reminder was sent a while back too.

@Aewin@Pudding@Melo@Ailyn Evensen@Snagglepuss89@tsukune@Shadow007@Eidolen@MayLien@Heap241
@banjoanjo@CrazyShadowy@JaceBeleren@aviendha@Indra

This is more of a general update, as opposed to one related to the role-play itself. I can barely see right now, so I might typo in this post. We'll see, I guess.

Only just woke up recently, due to another PC breakdown shortly before I went to bed pretty much severely fatiguing me. As a result of this, I wasn't awake when I wanted to be, which means the collaboration couldn't get finished yet. It'll still be a bit until it can happen, because from this point onward those involved in it will need to get my attention over the PM system instead of Discord. I know I implied it previously, but it's a definite now. This recent breakdown was kind of the last straw for me. When you combine the floods of viruses I've been hit by while using Discord, together with all my PC breakdowns being directly caused by it, there's just no way I'm using it, especially when I know some people who actively avoid it due to the program being unsafe. Anyway, to top it off, when I try to open up Discord now my PC is having a breakdown pretty much automatically, so I can't even log into the application anyway at this point. I'd like to point out that apart from that though, my PC is working normal.

Anyway, I'll be dealing with data recovery as soon as I'm not in enough pain to be unable to sit down extensively (there's a major migraine to solve too), and I'll try to work on the collaboration as well whenever Tsu or Pudd get in contact with me.

@Aewin@Pudding@Melo@Ailyn Evensen@Snagglepuss89@tsukune@Shadow007@Eidolen@MayLien@Heap241
@banjoanjo@CrazyShadowy@JaceBeleren@aviendha@Indra

Status update:

• Directly relating to the previous post I made, I'll be taking steps to try and get my new PC bought and set up in this place earlier than expected, but it'll only happen if I can find a way to have both that PC and this one running at the same time. This'll allow me to keep recovering/collecting information off this PC without having to worry about new stuff being compromised or breaking down. I'll be getting in touch with my contact who's helping me get the PC later today, because I know I can only get the PC at specific times.

• Indra got back to me about half a day ago, and told me that his 'Private CS' should be done in the next day.

• I need to get in contact with Ed (Eidolen), because he's been missing for a while now (we're a bit worried) and is currently the only person who isn't active. At least, he's the only person who I don't know will reliably respond to me if I poke him. If this sort of inactivity ends up becoming a routine then I'll end up having to take over Guy Heinze myself (we built some lore around his character, and the current IC development makes it difficult to just retcon now -- for the time being, it would also be difficult to just kill him off), though I'd really prefer not to if I can avoid it, because me and him have some good stuff in the work that'd be more fun with him. I just won't be letting this role-play die after all the effort I put into it.

• The collaboration between Leonard, Reinald, and Karlita should be finished the next time me and the others can sit down to work on it. Until then, there's nothing I can do regarding it, because I posted last there.

I am alive and will make the best effort to keep myself and this rp that way. @Shoryu Magami

Anything else I need to take care of will be taken care of soon as I can. Gonna make sure the most immediate stuff is done first XD, then I can work on a new post and all that.

@Eidolen

Got your PM too. Cheers for getting back to me, Ed.

I'm not gonna lie, I was getting worried about you there, since it almost felt like one of those 'you disappear for months, or half a year' moments was coming. I figured those days should be over now that you're in a better living situation, so I had a feeling something was wrong, and it looks like I was right. We were concerned about you.

Anyway, as soon as we're both around, we'll work stuff out. It shouldn't be too late, especially since this week is likely to be the slowest week in terms of progressing this IC forward (need to finish up the collaboration to shift the chapter forward). Once this week ends, I want things to move into full gear for everyone. There's quite a lot we need to talk about, so the sooner the better.

I didn't want to have to 'single you out' in that last post, but it'd be unfair for me to break my own rules (I blatantly told everyone to remain active in the rules, otherwise I'd take whatever means I needed to keep the story moving without them) and make exceptions to them just because you're a good friend off the site. I'm sure you understand.

Either way, it's good to know you're still invested because I really would prefer Guy remain in your hands. It sounds like you had a good reason for vanishing, based off everything you told me over Skype, but we need to avoid that sort of thing as much as possible, especially without explanation and without preparation to make sure the group isn't sabotaged because of it. Regardless, I'm glad you're alright, and you know I'm good to talk if you need an ear.

@MayLien@CrazyShadowy

How's that collaboration of yours coming along?

@Ailyn Evensen@Melo

Your posts arriving at the escort point will likely be able to happen as soon as this slow week is over, so stay tuned. Things are almost ready to move forward.

@Shoryu Magami
On and off, haven't had a chance to do much with it since that one night we started it.

@CrazyShadowy

Right, well since I can't poke Lotus on Discord, make sure they know it needs to be done within this week.

@Shoryu Magami
Will do, I'll just send them a DM.

@CrazyShadowy

I appreciate that.

@Shoryu Magami
Yo Shomarin, this week I've been adjusting to Uni life, so my appearnce might be a little rocky until I've gotten into a set routine. If you need me, just poke me, or get somebody else to poke me.

@Pudding

For all intents and purposes, I'm good to work on the collaboration whenever you and @tsukune are both around. I can open up the pad now, if you have questions about it or something.

I'll be making another big status update post here in the OOC sometime soon -- hopefully tonight.

@Aewin@Pudding@Melo@Ailyn Evensen@Snagglepuss89@tsukune@Shadow007@Eidolen@MayLien@Heap241
@banjoanjo@CrazyShadowy@JaceBeleren@aviendha@Indra

Status update:

• Still waiting on Daniel's CS, which was meant to be up by now. There's gonna be a problem if these sort of delays are a routine. I'm not able to let someone take part in this if they can't keep active -- was blatantly in the rules. I'm currently remaining patient because I assume he's having exams like Tsu is, but this can't become a norm.

• Preparations for the shift to the next chapter are taking place, with two collaborations I'm part of needing to be completed in order for this to happen (one with Phantom, the other with Tsu and Pudd), and there's meant to be a collaboration between Lotus and Henneth happening before these are posted.

• Y'all might've noticed a new player character being introduced into the IC today. I've currently got his CS in the work, so I'll post that up in my next update. I've been planning him out for a little bit now, but I decided to post in the IC first because I told aviendha that I'd give her some interaction.

• In some other good news, I'll have my new computer starting tomorrow, though I might not have it set up the same day. It's all still sort of up in the air how easy it'll be to have the new one running at the same time as my current machine. Nevertheless, I'll be returning to the Discord chat once my mate and I manage to organize an anti-virus that'll prevent Discord from giving me the virus issues I keep having.

• Since we're getting close to the time that we head to the estate, I figured it was time to bring this up one last time. Specifically, a certain 'gameplay mechanic' that the role-play is using. Some of the concepts were discussed a bit during the interest check, but they honestly never got completely discussed in detail before we moved to this thread, and with several people now part of the group who were never part of the interest check, I thought I'd let everyone give their thoughts.
  
  This'll be the last chance anyone can give input/opinions about this concept before it's likely too late.
  
  Basically, whenever a murder happens, a plot event will occur where your characters can investigate the crime scene, and then an event where you all have to deduce and discuss who you believe the culprit was will take place, resulting in a majority vote that will kill off whichever character is most suspected of being the killer. I won't spoil plot reasons for how any of this works (all I'll say is that your group'll more or less be obligated to participate in the voting -- how you use your votes are your own call though, but they've gotta be used), but I wanted your thoughts on it. The idea was to build more psychological conflict between your characters and sow mistrust in the group, since they have to come to terms with being 'responsible' for the death of this person (who your characters won't be told if they really were the murderer or not, fyi).
  
  For clarity, I'll mention that I'm not committed to using the voting system myself yet, because I'm fully aware that it has negative points as well as positive points, so that's why I wanted (in the interest check) - and still do want - some group discussion about it. This mechanic is, to put it bluntly, not vital to the rest of the system I've set up for the role-play and we can operate with or without it. If you guys would rather just let the murderers go free without so much as a slap on the wrist (unless you guys decide to kill who you think is the murderer -- murdering a murderer, per se), then we can just do that.

Personally, I don't like the idea of a voting system, for a variety of reasons, outlined below:

• It's a hackneyed trope. That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, that just means it's overused. It's not original. It's not inventive. There's a certain outcome, so it's incredibly predictable. In short, it's boring.
• It's a classic trope because it's easy, and easy doesn't necessarily mean good.
• It plays off the idea of a mob mentality, and that only works when you have cohesive groups. We are each playing as individuals, and I've never seen a mob mentality actually form in an RP with such talented writers as you all. We're too attached to our characters' individual belief systems to let them fall into the trap of peer pressure. Therefore, it would work out in such a way that no matter who is voted off the island, the majority of the players would be dissatisfied with the results.
• It will get rid of players/characters twice as fast. And half of all character deaths will be predictable, and boring. One half will have exciting, heart pounding, thrilling escapades which lead to their demise; the other half will simply be voted to death, and follow through to a boring ending. It's predictable, it's boring, once again. It lessens the suspense, cheapening the story.
• If we didn't have a voting system, it would be on us- or rather, our characters- to take up initiative and find out who the culprit is. Having a voting system makes it so that our characters don't need to individually attempt to figure out what's happening. It makes it so that we can be lazy, and just let the murders happen, then vote someone out, then wait for another, etc. If we didn't have a voting system, there would be nothing in the way of the murderer but the drive of the characters not to want to die. It would give us a better chance to develop our characters.
• A voting system will lend to the killing of innocent people, sure, but don't we already have that with the murders? Don't we already have the "psychological conflict between your characters and [mistrust sown] in the group"? And, if there was no voting system, wouldn't they have to "come to terms with being 'responsible' for the death of this person", the person in question being the latest victim, given that your character did not take the necessary steps to stop the murderer?

In short, it doesn't add anything that I can see, it takes away opportunities, suspense, initiative, development... etc.

Honestly, I've been waiting for this sort of discussion to come up. I tried to initiate discussion about it in the interest check - multiple times, actually - and it just sort of never happened. That's why I put up the comment I did in the last status update I just made, since this has been on my mind for a while now.

I'll respond to each point separately:

• Realistically, there's no such thing as a truly 'original' idea. Originality is more about taking something that already exists and doing something inventive with it. Essentially, everything draws inspiration from something else -- there's basically no exception. While I know you did say it's not necessarily bad, I feel the need to bring this up because it seems to be a major problem with writers in this era -- everyone's so desperate to be original that they forget it's an egotistical illusion. I'm not saying you are, but it's a common issue. Being creative is a good thing, but it's easy to be creative with a tried and true classic if you're a good writer. So while I agree the voting system could be potentially boring, it's not for this reason.

• This, alongside the previous point, is the only point that I don't find too relevant. I think it's just as easy to pull off something that isn't a classic; in fact, it's become a conformity in modern literature to take a classic idea, flip it upside down, and call that 'original'. It's pretty much as overdone - probably far more so, actually - as the classic now. It's gotten to the point that I actually often think it's more predictable to see a trope get subverted/inverted now than it is to see it played straight. Classic ideas are good if they're done well, in the same way that they're bad if they're done poorly. There is, with some exceptions (and these exceptions are all built around subjective bias - you have them, and I have them, because we all have them - so those exceptions are irrelevant), no such thing as a bad trope or cliché -- only a bad writer. You'd also have a difficult time finding an idea that hasn't been done a lot already, so I think how something's executed is more important. I don't want this discussion about the voting system to turn into a pointless debate about 'whether tropes are good or bad' though, so we'll move to the more important (in my eyes) points below now.

• It only technically plays off the idea of mob mentality if you're all pointing your fingers at someone randomly, instead of actually trying to work together to deduce a culprit (and the culprit is trying to mislead or frame you), which is what you guys will be doing with or without the voting system. With that said though, I can understand why the players would be dissatisfied with the results. This is one of the reasons I kept asking people to discuss the system, but it never really happened. At the very least, we never discussed it as a group. People just kept coming to me about it, which is why I asked you to post all of this in the OOC instead of PM. For the most part, we agree on most of the points you've presented, starting from this one down, but this is all meaningless unless the whole group can have their input. When I told @Ailyn Evensen a few days ago that I'd be posting this discussing into the OOC here, I actually made the joke that we're 'voting about whether or not to vote' (even if we're not really 'voting' here, it's still funny).

• I actually completely agree with the issue of the psychological elements being cheapened; in fact, this is my primary reason for actually being more in favour of removing the voting system than keeping it (I wouldn't keep bringing it up for discussion if I actually definitely wanted to keep it). My primary concern for removing it is that characters might starting dying too slowly, which would make it too easy for the protagonists to 'win'. I do, however, have several other systems in place that can kill the characters (this was made very clear in the opening post of the OOC -- the murderer concept is only a part of this role-play, not the whole thing). Actually, each time your guys manage to get closer to uncovering the truth by winning a 'level' of the 'game' (best terminology I can think of), the stakes will actually get higher and new mechanics are added. I've been planning on adapting some of the new ones in on the fly, without planning them in advance.

• I'm in agreement with this point for the same reasons as the previous response I've given, and - just like the last point - my only concern was the possibility of the characters not taking initiative. I'd like to hope that weeding out a murderer or traitor in your group would be enough incentive for your characters to take initiative, but would they kill them over it? Some of them might, but it's still a thought that crossed my mind during the months I've contemplated this. Bonaparte ultimately wouldn't set up a scenario he couldn't 'win'.

• Honestly, while I agree with you, I think an easier way to think of it is that your characters could still end up being responsible for murdering an innocent person -- the murderer could frame someone else for a murder they committed and get this person killed. Once again, my biggest concern with leaving the punishment of culprits entirely in the hands of the players, instead of forcing them to do it, was the concern that they might just refuse to do it entirely, which makes the game too easy for them. Bonaparte wouldn't make things easy for you. If we have ways to work around this, then there's no problem really.

Anything the system adds to the role-play was largely built around making sure it wasn't too easy for the protagonists to survive, but I've got other methods planned out that I've been keeping hidden from you guys (though if you read the OOC, and all the discussions we've had and hints I've made, it should be sort of apparent). Due to this, the system was never actually needed, and pretty much only existed due to being a breadcrumb left behind from the game that's being shamelessly plugged here that this role-play was originally 'inspired' by. If people are generally in favour of removing it, I'm actually fine with that because I've been indifferent towards the system pretty much since the interest check. Me and Ed discussed an alternate version of it we could use, but it never really worked out.

Tomorrow - or rather, today, since it's already past midnight - is my final paper. Then I'm free...

Or so you think.

I do have holiday jobs (to save up money for my next semester), but it's mostly freelance work - I'm officially writing for a living, yes - so multitasking while RPing shouldn't be much of a problem. Hopefully. When I'm not catching up with my 1x1s, that is.

And then get the collab done and over with already. Seriously, 1-month worth of delay and 24 pages on Gdoc is just waaaaaaay too long. And we're still not finished with it yet!

Anyway.

Regarding voting system, I'm mostly indifferent as long as it can fit the context of the IC development and stuff. Just don't try to pull retarded stunts to settle personal grudges and keep the drama strictly in IC only, and I guess we can all be dandy. Though, personally I'm still more inclined to the classic deduction style of mystery-solving in fictions than voting, yeah.

I see what the others are getting at. I can't exactly give an argument for either doing it or not just because I haven't really played any scenario in any depth that uses that. Sure, I've played a little of the 999 series, but not enough to fully understand how the voting thing works.

I'll just say that I don't think we should vote. I feel like I'm being lame and not contributing when I just say that I don't want to do it. But honestly, I don't see any good points made about it. The others have made good arguments against voting and I can't really add much more to that. Sorry, I feel stupid for not having anything smart to add to this conversation.