[OOC] Digital or Real?

[Genkai]

So...

We should probably settle on a location and probably a year.

And probably if we wanted to RP them as young kids and teens or move right to them in college / post college.

I can probably dig up some locations/pictures for the RP as far as settings go since I like visualization.

- - - My Character - - -

Name:

Sasha Watson

Birthday:

October 8'th 2006

Appearance at age 12:

Link

Appearance at age 24:

Link

Online Alias:

Fracture

Online Join Date:

December 20'th 2029

Online Appearance as a Mythic:

Link

Level:

26

Class:

Main: Warlock
Sub: Cleric

*has plans to get another subclass of Flyer once she hits level 50

Personality:

Lively, Trusting, Enthusiastic, Nonchalant, Active & Gullible

Ambitions:

Sasha has an affinity for teaching or doing something creative.

[Scout]

I can help image hunt tomorrow, as for starting off, I imagine a non-major city or some small-ish town... any preference on country? I know Murika best, but I'm happy to learn if you've strong preference to any European country or something. Sorry, typing is hardon my tablet.

---

My Character

Name:
James Allan Delacourt

Birthday:
August 23’rd, 2006

Age Progression:
(Left to right is mid-teen, full-grown, and pre-teen)
Note: Image can be clicked for a link to higher resolution.

Online Alias:
Spectre

Online Join Date:
September 12’th, 2029

Online Appearance as a Mechnic:

Note: Image can be clicked for a link to higher resolution.

Level:
33

Class:
Main - Sabre Soldier
Sub - Rogue
*Has yet to decide whether he wants to have Technician or Rider for his third class at level 50

Personality In-Game:
Outwardly Friendly, Clever, Thoughtful, and Manipulative in order to get ahead

Personality Out-of-Game:
Serious, Careful, Reserved, Blunt, and Distrusting – often misinterpreted as being a bit of a jerk

Ambitions:
Outside of Endless Realms, James basically lives automatically. He barely experiences what he sees anymore and spends a great deal of time thinking about what he’s going to do when he gets back online. He works a fairly basic job in system programming, which he could honestly care less for. Ambitious, a word which was once the first to come to mind for describing James, is now a concept completely lost to him. Long ago, he had actually wanted a large family of his own and to work in engineering. But as high school came to a close, he stopped caring for anything, truly, and bought into the idea that reality is naught more than a series of constant let-downs.

[Genkai]

As an American I try to avoid the US at all costs. XD

But Japan, China, Germany, London, or Canada could work for me.

[Scout]

I agree - it's definitely good to play outside of your comfort zone, my problem is that I don't want to butcher the culture of a region I've not personally been to or know much about. Japan, I could do, but I don't really know how their whole testing into High School and University as well as their actual cultural mannerisms go. >_< I suppose my best bet would be London, as long as we're not making our dialogue phonetic, that would likely work the very best.

As far as year goes, I imagine future... I'm almost positive that we could have a strong VR technology going within 30-50 years, high balling, and that's based on the advancements such as the Oculus Rift, which has received fairly strong reviews for what it strove to be, as well as a language-recognition system being worked on so that a computer not only recognizes voice and words, but rather understands what they mean, not converting it into data and calculating a response. Rather amazing, if you ask me, but it's real and it's absolutely spectacular, they're trying to make it be able to learn as well... Anyway, my estimate comes to a full-dive type of technology on a massive multiplayer server around 2040-2060something, if you'd like to put it around there, and I would imagine we would have had an amazing technological push elsewhere with products like Google Glass and the laser- oriented keyboards which project onto tables and the like. All that would likely be taken a step farther... so we just kind of have to decide what we want our future-Earth in England to look like.

I also believe it might be good to start them young and then make the jumps in chapter-like/arc sequences before settling on older versions of themselves. Honestly, one of them could have quite the background which gets them both dragged into some kind of scenario that incorporates a fair amount of action. After all, the early-life roleplaying would mostly be centered around laying the foundation for their adult personalities and lives which would then lead to them realizing who they've been spending so much time with online, and then finally we begin to develop after one or both of them is dragged into something which would further develop. It almost seems, though, that once we reach a certain point, there will be a definitive end, which would mean we could/would retire the roleplay and hit the drawing board once more. :p After all, I've rather found myself growing tired of characters who have like 5-8 books in a series when the writer continues to milk ideas that are long-since dead. Harry Potter and SAO are exceptions because... well, I love them, but because things continue to happen which are 1) logical and 2) exciting without being over-the-top - a hard combination to nail. :p

Though I also quite liked the idea of them coming out of the game after an obscenely long session and finding that they were thrust into the distant future, or some post-apocalyptic scene. ^^ I think we could keep rolling that ball around if it interested you as well.

[Genkai]

Japan isn't that complicated, granted we're doing something set in the future, I'd like to believe some honorifics have been cast aside and most modern day family are quite up to date as far as housing goes, school can be a bit complex but since you've decided upon London, I won't get off track. That works for me. I don't think we'll need to concern ourselves with certain dialogue or accents, as using general slang or terms should be enough to get by without making too much of a mess.

In terms of when we start, be it say 2020 or something like 2040, I don't think will matter too much. I just wanted to know in terms of knowing about pop culture, events and the like but considering we're doing this in the future either way, it shouldn't matter when. I don't want to bog ourselves down with technical innovation in real life since this already has an 'anime' feel I think it's safe to suspend certain jargon and logic. That's the issue with certain cyberpunk/sci-fi is that I find some people focus too much on the technical and not so much on the plot as a whole, along with the emotional stuff. So it's great that you're up in terms of how close people really are to getting goggles (versus the google glasses we have today-ish) but it's not something I would personally want to focus on too much because it usually takes the whimsy out of the equation. So I'm fine with either year, though doing a bit of math probably has it that if we began in 2020, with our characters around ten or twelve, the bulk of the RP would probably take place in 2030-2035 range which is fine with me. Otherwise it would be around 2050-2055 for the other option but I'm really flexible since it's not something I've put much thought behind like you may have.

Arcs/Chapters can happen, surely. I expect we'll break events down accordingly. If we're building a foundation for the future, I'd still like to express my hesitance of lingering in the "kid-teen" department for too long. I don't see it being too necessary to stretch that out any further than like 10 posts each (probably a page or a page and a half). Or something like that. It's just my ability to write from the vocabulary and mindset of a young child is difficult, not impossible and not something I'd outright deny but granted it's more than likely my writing won't necessarily be able to reflect that of a ten year old but if it's in the future, I guess you never know. Considering how lame kids are these days, it's entirely possible we've turned child rearing back around to actually enforce reading and respect and the like, and not focus too much on digital devices. I dunno. I ramble. We should probably outline a very very rough timeline of events (be them global or local) just so we're both able to refer to the same things, without over complicating the RP.

I have no qualms with ending a RP, I've done it before and then I've make sequels and the like and they're fun. Granted the ending is logical and definitive, it suits me just fine but planning TO end at a point seems rather pointless, the last thing I want to do is go down a check list and reach the end and be done with it, RPs tend to end more gracefully than that. If we want, we could always try something post-apoc or dealing with time travel afterwards. It'll be hard to see how it fits in but it's an option.

In terms of locations and things I've gathered, I've come up with some things/thoughts I've had in mind:

In-Game Locations:

An abandoned Hall

A Majestic View

A Golden City

A Oceanside Oasis

A Dark Division

A Dazzling Escape

A Great View added 2/1

A bit of Joy added 2/1

A Red Wood added 2/1

A Piece of Peace added 2/1

Real Life Locations:

*I have a lot of modern+fantasy images that could be called a future if you were keen on the idea of water levels rising and things becoming more organic on the surface while making technological bounds, perhaps it could tie into a sequel of a new setting. I dunno. It's not easy finding a lot that could be London, but it's not impossible. I'm kind of quickly rummaging through my old piles, I do need to check out some new things though.

A Classroom

A Celebration

A Blast (could be in either section but I think it's cool)

A Skyline added 2/1

Anywho I'm multitasking at the moment but I can check back + edit if I come across anything new, depending on our vision for the game itself and tone.

[Scout]

If you prefer Japan, that's fine, I'm happy to learn a little bit. ^_^ And you're right, the families likely would have modernized a bit more within however many years we go forward, so if you prefer it, sure. But whatever - we can just make a decision and let it go. XD

As for the technical side of things, yeah, I didn't mean to sound like that was a true focus, I was merely gauging where we might be for background. But I suppose a good indicator is VR gaming existing. So, yeah, that's really not that big a deal to me, it was just another aspect of the world. You seem to have done very well with the planning of the year, 2020 would work just fine for their 12-ish age and then 2030-2035 for the main story. You're right as well, the "arcs" or chapters for their younger years shouldn't be more than 10-15 posts. I agree, as well, that an ending must be done right, lest ye be left with a sour taste in your mouth.

Now, as for the small timeline we create... Hm... Starting in 2014 and moving along six years I don't see there being as much global reform as an even further futuristic situation, like the 2030s. But, on the other hand, there are likely to be major events to reference, seeing as war and things break out rather often... Let's see what we come up with. This isn't a true timeline or anything, it's just an outline of ideas that came to my head and you can feel free to tell me yes or no to any of them at all that you'd like.

Fall 2016: United States pulls the final soldiers from the MIddle East, opting to use simple, unmanned technologies to keep tabs on the newly reformed countries, though odds of true peace are low, the US has finally begun to loosen the reigns on the war effort.

April 2018: Tensions between Communist North Korea and South Korea finally reach critical mass and war breaks out. The United States is the first to retaliate, followed by China, putting two of the world's strongest super powers at one another's throats.

November 2018: Russia, much to the world's surprise, announces at a UN meeting that it will be aiding the US in the assault on North Korea as much of the war effort to this point was in defense of South Korea (in its position between China and North Korea), turning the tables. Much of Europe has remained isolated for the majority of the war, choosing to ignore the efforts.

January 2019: Europe is thrown into the war by Africa when the Maghreben invades France with aide from the Chinese.

December 2019: Claimed as World War Three, the battles are long and cost all involved an excruciatingly large amount of money. The winner was not clear, but the effort was stopped when China pulled from South Korea, the Maghreben was officially named a part of France once more, and the US made one final push with Russia onto North Korea, effectively toppling the country. The nations of England (and the rest of the UK), Sweden, Italy, India, Japan, and Canada became the largest superpowers as the treaties are finally signed, having either spent very little on the war or actually profited from it.

2020-2030: England's economy has boomed greatly since the end of the war and they have entered a Golden Age, essentially becoming the most financially sound nation in the world, leaving even the smallest towns as very well-off communities while the rest of the world bustles to pay off war debts and find more jobs once the weapons industry slowed again.

If you've anything to add or you want to change or take away, that's fine! Sorry if it seems like I spent a ton on the idea of WWIII, but if you don't like it, just let me know. It kinda hit me suddenly, putting our setting into a nice place to explain why they have such a technological leap as to be able to commonly afford things so frivolous as virtual reality gaming and the like.

I found some pictures too! I love yours, and they actually gave me an idea for the concept of the game. It's split into two halves - one half is fantasy-based and the other is cyber-punky. Each player can choose their own side, but the game evolves as the cultures are mixed (those who are on the sci-fi side traveling to the fantasy side and vise-versa, where they trade skills and manufacturing stuff to the point where it seems as though the worlds are mixing - tech being improved by magic and things of the like while that same tech works to improve weapons, etc.) What do you think of that?

Here are my pics - sorry if they're not so creatively titled:

Real life:
Possible Town
Another Possible Town
A Final Possible Reference for the Town (All three of those were tough finds, but I wasn't sure on any of them, just wanted to put them out there)
A Classroom/Cityscape of the Future

In-Game:
A very sci-fi-y location... Genetic Engineering stuff, maybe? Lots of ways to go with skills in VR Games
Underground City-scape - could be something like a neutral place between sci-fi and fantasy territory? Dunno, another cool picture to share XD
A Fantasy-like Setting/City?
Sci-Fi Possible City.
A Fantasy Forest/Dangerous Area?
More Fantasy

I'm not super-glued to any of these ideas, no matter how much I like it. ^_^ I do like how the brainstorming is going though. :o

[Genkai]

I'm fine with Japan or Britain to be honest. I was just making note of how most nice pictures tend to highlight Japan a lot easier than say the US or Europe, which is a shame.

I'll see if I can add any other events, beyond the scope of global and economical affairs:

Fall 2016: United States pulls the final soldiers from the MIddle East, opting to use simple, unmanned technologies to keep tabs on the newly reformed countries, though odds of true peace are low, the US has finally begun to loosen the reigns on the war effort. With technological advances in spying (ha ha) and covert security, more private companies are aiming to give more power and convenience to the masses, in terms of computers, cell phones and television tech.

April 2018: Tensions between Communist North Korea and South Korea finally reach critical mass and war breaks out. The United States is the first to retaliate, followed by China, putting two of the world's strongest super powers at one another's throats. Technological progress is put on hold as many of the manufactures are now being suspended from trade to major counties such as the US, Japan and China.

November 2018: Russia, much to the world's surprise, announces at a UN meeting that it will be aiding the US in the assault on North Korea as much of the war effort to this point was in defense of South Korea (in its position between China and North Korea), turning the tables. Much of Europe has remained isolated for the majority of the war, choosing to ignore the efforts. While trade is cut off from Europe, local groups are coming together to strengthen their advances in medical and digital technology, keeping all labor local and cost-efficient.

January 2019: Europe is thrown into the war by Africa when the Maghreben invades France with aide from the Chinese. Europe's attempts to become independent are put on hold as they try to strength their armed forces.

December 2019: Claimed as World War Three, the battles are long and cost all involved an excruciatingly large amount of money. The winner was not clear, but the effort was stopped when China pulled from South Korea, the Maghreben was officially named a part of France once more, and the US made one final push with Russia onto North Korea, effectively toppling the country. The nations of England (and the rest of the UK), Sweden, Italy, India, Japan, and Canada became the largest superpowers as the treaties are finally signed, having either spent very little on the war or actually profited from it.

2020-2030: England's economy has boomed greatly since the end of the war and they have entered a Golden Age, essentially becoming the most financially sound nation in the world, leaving even the smallest towns as very well-off communities while the rest of the world bustles to pay off war debts and find more jobs once the weapons industry slowed again.

I'll admit, I wasn't too keen on the idea of a WWIII because it could get out of hand and steal the focus but it does make sense to have some kind of big event to provide a chance for things to be reborn on for some kind of peace to happen across the world, it does simplify things in the RP's present at least.

When you first said that you wanted to do a fantasy x sci-fi, I thought you meant the real world could be fantasy with the game sci-fi or something like that. But it does seem cool to have the worlds inside the game "split" in a sense. And there would be different paths for a character in each other to take and then they could merge or visit the other for certain quests or after getting to a certain level. I see it more as a free-form game where it's less "do quest 1, do quest 2, fight boss, etc" and more along the lines of .Hack where you can pick what you'd like to do or where you explore, while leveling up and battling at your own leisure. I think it could be cool to have our characters from different paths, it could always be a likely instance where some quests have to be completed by one of each.

Though we should also begin fleshing out the game (name, how long it's been on the market etc).

I'll go to my post with the pictures and add some more. Though yours don't work for me because I think you linked directly from that site and I don't think they allow it...

Possible video gameTitle Ideas:

Beyond
Stars in the Sky
Endless Realms
Magical Mechanics
Digital Fantasy

Possible titles for the users, fantasy/sci-fi:

Dreamers/Doers
Flyers/Riders
Mythics/Mechanics
Painters/Players
Fanta/Scia (fanta as in fantasy and scia ((pronounced saya) as in science fiction)
Sky Flyer/Abyss Flyer (or something)

Trying to determine difference between a player who uses more elemental magic and tools, versus one who uses more future oriented tools and weapons, though a merger could happen where someone could be slightly skilled in either, though the "difference" should be more for flair rather than stirring up which archetype is better in the game, though within the two choices, there'd likely be similar types/classes someone can be in terms of a fighter, healer, swordsman, gun slinger, etc.But then I assume we could just select locations for the game and then make it up as we go along, rather than plan out too much besides the basic key points?

[Scout]

Oh, the ball is rrrrollin'! Yeah, I didn't want you to think that my WWIII idea was to become the focus at all, by the way, it was because I wanted something massive to happen - so it's significant simply because it would be a major subject in school, in every class from History to Economics. And... Hmph... Well I don't wanna relink them :( zerochan shouldn't create an issue though - it's free and I don't have an account or anything... maybe it's because I used the "View Image" link rather than just the webpage. Sadface. ;n; Maybe I'll fetch them again or fix it later; for the record, I do highly recommend zerochan.net for anime pictures. Their database is *massive.* Moving on. Your additions to the timeline are great ^^ I like how we've got a nice solid work up to the "present" now, as the world is in a sort of hiatus while it recovers and mourns for its losses.

And yup! You got exactly what I was thinking for the game's world - where there are several choices, and the two genres clash for those people who actually invest time into exploring and growing as a player, making for some very exciting landscapes (a digital/fantasy mix that would appear smooth... hard to briefly explain ^^"). I don't think I could have come up with a better list of names than that :o Endless Realms is very good, has a kind of neat ring to it and it fits. As for the "names" of how players are classified (based on their playstyle of fantasy versus sci-fi, I'm partial to Flyers/Riders and Mythics/Mechanics. The former because I've always loved mounts in games :p it's like... my favourite thing. XD Mounts or vehicles or what-have-you. But the other has a nice ring) and Ididn't notice Fanta/Scia before, that might be a real good way to have them classify one another.

I figured that after the very earliest points of the game, the differences aren't significant in power, but mostly classes. Add what you like, take out what you don't, ^^ but here's what I've got off the top of my head...

For the Riders/Mechanics/Scia
Main classes:
Gunslingers - dual pistol uses, focused on speed and light armour attributes; effective with dodges and short-ranged, fast paced attacking.
Soldiers - rifle/submachine gun users who are typically balanced with wriggle-room to focus on speed (SMGs) and strength/range (rifles)
Tank - Heavily armoured players with heavy weapons (LMGs) - they are slow, as their weapons and armours require a considerable strength parameter

Sub-classes: (Sub-classes are geared in concept to their respective side of the world, but there are many players who use this opportunity to cross-class and mix sci-fi with fantasy in their character, as they can be taken as a secondary to one's chosen "Main Class")
Mechanic/Techsmith - Can fix/upgrade/create weapons and armours
Saboteur - Explosives and gear experts, able to break into or through most obstacles for a team, dependent on level

Flyers/Mythics/Fanta
Main Classes
Gladiator: A balanced class which specializes in sword & shield with light/heavy-metal armour
Swordsman: A dual-swords user, using leather or light-metal armour and specializing in DPS; their damage threshold is low, their HP moderate, but their regeneration rate for health is quite formidable once started.
Rogue: A dagger and poisons specialist which is most effective with leather armour - they are weak when faced 1v1 head-on, but they have a range of abilities which allow them to remain hidden and deal massive damage for sneak attacks as well as the use of poisons and paralysis. They may also use thrown weapons.
Warlock: A combat-magic user, typically specializing in one or a few specific elements (depending on level and patience for training) including, but not limited to: water, fire, ground, wind, electricity, plant, ice, light, and shadow

Sub-classes:
Cleric: A healer and buffer spell-casting sub-class, often essential for large hunting raids, boss battles, and clan wars.
Thief: A pickpocket and security professional, thieves can unlock most doors (with the right amount skill) without detection and steal anything from cash to keys from NPCs and players who aren't careful enough to keep their belongings tucked into their inventory.
Weapon/Armoursmith - Can make all sorts of weapons, dependent on specialization, and armour for different classes.

Feel free to edit all of that, it's kinda late and I really wanted to get it down, I've also got quite a few things to do, so it may not be perfect, and there's plenty of room for improvement. If it's a little confusing on main versus sub-classes, I thought of it as somebody would choose a Main Class at the start of the game, and as they progressed, their skills might start to focus in a certain way and they would be able to eventually take up a related sub-class. The sub-classes are not restricted to sci-fi only or fantasy-only characters, they're meant to be the way to break down the separation of the two types of players.

So between the two types of players, we have a somewhat rough balance, between DPS and tanking and the like, though Fantasy has more options, that doesn't mean it's better. And of course, I still have to see what your thoughts on it are and what additions you might make, but I didn't want them to be the exact same on either side of the coin, make the decision that much harder for some people. Not to mention there's cross-classing and plenty of stuff I missed that are just uber specific. :p I know I missed some stuff... spear/2h users, sniping class, etc. that I just realized and I'm waaaay too lazy to go back. But I imagine some fantasy/sci-fi crossers (in either direction) will want to combine the weapon types - like a gladiator or swordsman might use some sort of techy-blade while the techsmiths or other scia classes would opt to some magical abilities/items with enchantments, etc.

I do agree, however, in terms of equipment, there shouldn't be a *power* gap, but rather an aesthetic and practical difference. ^^

[Genkai]

Endless Realms it is then!

I'm a bit partial to Mythics/Mechanics since I can see Flyers/Riders being more of a class than an overhead classification of the factions.

Main classes for Mechanics:
Gunslingers – Sleek dual pistol uses, focused on speed and light armour attributes; effective with dodges and short-ranged, fast paced attacking. Low defensive and low endurance.
Saber Soldiers - Large laser swords (not exactly Star Wars) usually between three to five feet long. Each laser saber is customizable in shape and power, the more power, the less speed a user has. The less power, the more speed they'll have. All around flexible and strong. Though when a user's health is in decline, so is their weapon as it's a digital feed reflecting their health.
Hyper - ???

Sub-classes: (Sub-classes are geared in concept to their respective side of the world, but there are many players who use this opportunity to cross-class and mix sci-fi with fantasy in their character, as they can be taken as a secondary to one's chosen "Main Class")
Technician - Can fix/upgrade/create weapons and armours.
Hyper Vigilant - Explosives and gear experts, able to break into or through most obstacles for a team, dependent on level.
Ghost Healer – Someone who can focus on mild healing for a team, uses a digital touch pad to evaluate injuries and restore health.
Rider - ???

Main classes for Mythics:
Gladiator - A balanced class which specializes in sword & shield with light/heavy-metal armour
Swordsman - A dual-swords user, using leather or light-metal armour and specializing in DPS; their damage threshold is low, their HP moderate, but their regeneration rate for health is quite formidable once started.
Warlock - A combat-magic user, typically specializing in one or a few specific elements (depending on level and patience for training) including, but not limited to: water, fire, ground, wind, electricity, plant, ice, light, and shadow

Sub-classes:
Cleric - A healer and buffer spell-casting sub-class, often essential for large hunting raids, boss battles, and clan wars.
Rouge - Can unlock most doors (with the right amount skill) without detection and fix items. Has a discerning eye for good items and making plans.
Flyer - A character with exceptional speed and agility, uses a broom or cloud for transport, sticks to long range magic attacks and throwing knives/stars. Only accessible after a certain level.

I think we're on the right track though I'd rather like to see the Mechanics more into sleek sci-fi tech, rather than just toting varying guns, that seems more "steampunk" or something, I can't really think of the word. But I more imagined future weapons, touch interface perhaps for executing? I dunno. I'll keep thinking. I just don't think we need too much of a focus on weapons, since we should also be considering what our characters will pick.

[Scout]

Hm... Those look quite good! I am totally fine with Mythics/Mechanics; for the record, regardless of the character I play, they'll actually roleplay it.

I imagine Riders would have some kind of customizable speedbike which they can improve using cash (which gets really expensive over time) or finding/being a skilled Technician.

Then, looking at "Flyers" what if we changed it to "Tamers" - so that rather than making it easy to fly, one would tame animals as mounts, battle companions, or pets (they can only choose it as one) and they can train them to do certain things. Higher level Tamers can tame stronger monsters and at some level they would be able to obtain an egg for a flying mount, which they can then use to access higher leveled air-based monsters?

For the future-based weaponry of the sci-fi world, we could do something like the game Fallout, where there are bullet guns, laser, and plasma-based guns, perhaps multi-barreled or whatever we can think of, seeing as while we're playing, we would come up with new weapons that have different abilities/play styles, I don't see much need to do toooo much info on this. It'll be cool to have a little more view on the settings than the gear when it comes to the "cyberpunk"-y area of the game, from the architecture to the tech all about.

Hm... As far as what our characters pick, how about we make them and decide who is taking on which "role" (though it's less close-minded that a true role, just the basic of whether they're the one that moved away or stayed and lost them, etc.)

Sooo... perhaps we make our characters, share them, and then we can see who fits the very best as we develop them through their childhood for those short sections?

[Genkai]

Substituting "tamers" for "flyers" would be good, they could have a choice of say a small dragon (because hey, that can get out of hand unless if your pet turns on you, it's now a sudden Boss >___> Awkward) or fish or something useful within reason. And then "riders" could have either a bike (I'd refer to Haseo in G.U but you haven't played it) or maybe some hoverboard.

I do think the weaponry for the Mechanics should be more laser/plasma/sleek/hyper ish. Like with more updates than just guns. But we'll see what happens. As far as character creation goes, I have pictures/ideas for either a Mechanic or a Mythic.

It'll be hard to choose but they'll probably have bits of both down the line so I guess it just depends on what we want a bit more focus in. Would you rather a Mechanic since you're more knowledgeable with tech?

[Scout]

Awesome! And yeah, I think the taming could be some kind of animal that they either pick or, later, tame themselves. Maybe. I don't know, heeheh. As far as the riders go, I think that we could use some kind of bike like this:



This

But it would be somewhat customizable, like they could shift the colours and upgrade it and the like with the right skill or money to have somebody else do it.

I don't see anything wrong with having the Mechanic myself, really I have no preference at all, so if you just wanna do the fantasy side, feel free. Feel free to take whichever you like. ^_^ I'm a little more interested in how far along we think they should be in the game when they meet - high-level, mid-level, or complete newbies? And how long has the game been out? Are they veterans of the game, or, again, newbies?

These are things we can keep discussing as we go too, once we get our characters out.

[Genkai]

As far the game itself, I thought you wanted the friends to connect around age 12? Then we'd skip along to any other milestones. I'd like to assume that the game could come out after they move away, otherwise it would be too easy to just find each other online intentionally so I'd say they may need to be newbies or around level 10, assuming the cap could be something insane like 999? Something massive where there's a wide range of experiences so that things don't get stale if you hit a cap or something?

EDIT - As a note, I'm about ready to post my CS, which I'll probably do in the first post of the OOC at the top. Did we settle on London (we didn't change it to Japan?)? And I'll probably keep it clean and minimal with just an appearance for her at the start (age 12 or so) and then at the real beginning of everything (age 24 is what we decided?). We still have some edges to smooth out but we're about ready to go I think.

[Scout]

Yeah, we'd start the RP with them at 12, in real life, as friends, and then advance on up. 24 sounds just fine to me. The extremely massive level cap is a good idea - meaning the game took a lot of time to be released. I was thinking maybe they'd been playing for a year or so, making it plausible that they would be able to move from their original side of the map (sci-fi <----> Fantasy) with a basic understanding of the game and then become online friends without knowing at all who the other person was until a ways in. Yeah, we decided on London officially and feel free to post your CS whenever it's ready! I have work today, so I won't be able to make and throw mine up until tomorrow. ^^ Keep in mind that online, they'll look at least somewhat different from how they did in the real world.

Hm... That about covers our bases! Though it would be good to have a "real-life" storyline in progression for each of them when they logout. Unless you wanna focus on the game and those two for a while without any other kind of subplots - that'd be fine too.

[Genkai]

I made a very skeletal CS, keeping to the basics.

A real life storyline is what we planned on doing alongside them online. I mean I'm still unsure what brings them together in the online world, is it a quest or something? And I assume my character would be the one to move away (probably due to the unrest in Europe around 2019 or so when we're starting or just before it). And then I assumed the game would come out in 2028 or so and also assumed a subclass could only be added once you reached level 25 so Sasha's skill as a sub Cleric would be low key. And then again at 50 or 100 if you'd rather...*shrugs*

[Scout]

2028 is a good time for the game to have come out. ^^ The level cap is high and leveling is very difficult. For the record, as far as those who use ranged weapons go, be it bow or rifle, their playstyle will be rather more difficult, as they have to actually aim their weapons and account for how they work. However, they get the benefit of range and speed. But for those who can just "run and gun" or anything, there's gotta be something to let others dodge if they're fast enough (not that it would be easy, by any means) but there's an idea in one of the SAO novels called a bullet prediction line - after somebody has fired once and made others aware of their presence, red lines show where their shots will hit once fired. It's not easy to evade them, but it does make it a little more fair. Also, I'm gonna make my guy a little farther ahead in time spent playing, but because the leveling system is so arduous, he won't be able to be too far ahead.

[Scout]

For the record, I posted my own CS to my first post as well. ^_^ I figure that his sidestory can have to do with finding something to live for outside the game, seeing as he clearly has nothing. :p

EDIT: For how they meet... I was thinking that over and it gave me the idea, actually, to have James be a different person in game than out of game. He seems like a much more friendly person, when in fact he's actually not. He's a bit of a thief and has quite the reputation for getting people into situations which he can get out of or safely endure, while endangering them. Very few realize that they don't have his username until after he's gone and even less know his face, because he masks it whenever he's doing something he shouldn't be doing. With more and more people in the Mechanic-side of the world becoming wary, he's started to expand his horizons and prey on the fantasy dwellers as well. So, he sees a girl who focuses on magic use... Which means in close-combat, she's vulnerable. Despite her low level as a Cleric, he offers to split the winnings of some battle or other if she's willing to act as a healer? Or something along the lines, I've not really finished hashing it out, but I figured it would be neat to make him one of those people on line who you go "Did he really just..? Oh, what a freaking douche." to. :p

[Genkai]

Yeah you probably shouldn't ref SAO, I don't think I'll ever go into that fandom. >___> With your limitations with .Hack and my nonexistent knowledge or interest in SAO probably means we should steer away from them since we're making our own hybrid. *nods*

My character will generally be happy to help people on and offline, not really using a "new" identity more so than just still being herself online. I'm not sure how well she'd tolerate someone who seems keen on making a bad rep for himself, even with the promise of a prize. Even if he approaches her, she may be reserved. Is it possible for her to intervene when he's in trouble or has caused it?

[Scout]

Oh, I wasn't referencing SAO, it was more a disclaimer that the idea was inspired by something else and not entirely original. ^_^ I wouldn't take plot or world ideas from it, I was just giving the origin of the concept.

Hm... I think you're right too - but he's not keen on obtaining the rep, he's trying to just get ahead. Money, equipment, stealing the experience, etc. But I like your idea. ^^ I think I know the exact kind of trouble to put him in too, seeing as it's quite possible that he's been cornered somewhere in the fantasy realm by a group of Mechanics that he's affected, all claiming to have finally found him. He would be vehemently rejecting that he was the guy they were looking for, and then she would intervene - trusting that he was telling the truth and the other guys were all mistaken?

[Genkai]

She's probably still have her guard up around him, not trusting rumors but not shady guys either, she'd probably be more willing to help clear his name and probably learn the truth in the process and make him shape up a little? Would that work?