Dion

obsolete

Again.

Some ideas and thoughts about RPG - as a community, as a writing forum, but mostly just in general

Will reply tomorrow. There are some things I should clarify but I will not bother to do that from my phone. Interesting things are being said though.

Some ideas and thoughts about RPG - as a community, as a writing forum, but mostly just in general

@pugbutter I don't believe that on RPG in a roleplay setting they are mutually exclusive. The cliques manifest in the OOC nature of RPG - the community itself. As a result I believe that people are interacting more often than not negatively. I.e. shitstorms, arguments and just negative attitudes about others.

The lack of talent, ideas and RP's manifests itself mostly in the individuals - not the cliques. The individuals are more often than not part of a clique. We all have select friends off of RPG, so naturally these cliques exist. The lack of these things does not come from the cliques, and I don't believe they are connected. Perhaps you need to explain more but I fail to see the link that makes them exclusive.

I believe the confusion comes from the idea that cliques naturally promote helping each other.. I do not think that is the case anymore and I believe it was the case in the past.

@Ellri Insightful, as I am used to from your/their? posts. The one thing I would add is that not all new players can be 'helped'. You can't skip grades when it comes to roleplaying. A total newbie that doesn't understand basic roleplaying concepts would be better off going from free roleplay to casual roleplay to advanced in their own pace, rather than being forcibly 'transformed' into an advanced roleplayer. But, you understand that as well as I do.

Some ideas and thoughts about RPG - as a community, as a writing forum, but mostly just in general

Alright so here's an issue I have been struggling with. Being a 'pre-guildfall' veteran that came in from a Dutch forum originally meant for a game called Mount and Blade, where we roleplayed in Dutch and the plots were centered around the game of the forum, I was not a very good roleplayer. As in, I was really bad, mostly because I was 14 and just.. wasn't that good at coming up with interesting stuff, and well thought out plots, character arcs and other things like that. RPG really brought me up and made me better mostly because the environment was one that made me constantly strive to become better - the people here were objectively better writers than me, I was impressed with their skill, and naturally, I pushed myself to become better (than them) and constantly asked for feedback and remaining humble. For instance until last year I was convinced I could not write in advanced roleplay threads. Now that I have been there, I have experienced that it's much less advanced than I had anticipated (but, exceptions being there, there is a lot of threads that are really advanced.)

In this time period I GMed one of the largest, longest lasting Naruto RP's (if not the single largest longest lasting Naruto RP's) that ever existed on RPG. This was my first RP I ever made together with a friend from that Dutch forum and, as a result, also one of the worst GMed RP's to ever exist (we made it last mostly because we had a lot of veterans from the Naruto RP community help us, as well as a very active head GM (my friend)) and also the first RP where I ever had a character that I was interested in for more than a few months. It was my first taste of a long lasting, persistent RP. It was also my first taste of roleplayers that were just simply put better than me. Some names come to mind that are no longer around (or are) such as Hillan, J8cob, Savato and perhaps most notably Ganryu.

In turn these people uplifted me by more or less forcing me to become better. And that is what I enjoyed so much about the RPG community - it really forced me to be better, to try harder, and it motivated me to do so too. I wanted to become a better writer, I wanted to become a better writer for them because I could give back the same quality they gave me. More examples can be made but the thread would obviously become too large.

Now this is where my issue comes in, or rather, it comes in two parts.

Part one is the community. And to me it seems like something has changed - for the worse. The community as we can tell is dwindling, there are a lot of new faces and that is a good thing but I constantly notice that older faces are leaving, and not coming back. And, constantly, this has spelled out something to me - that the old generation of RPers where the community was so important, and where people helped each other in more ways than just saying 'welcome to RPG!' in the introduction threads, that these people are leaving.

The community has become more self centered, and much more clique-y. Perhaps I feel that way because I try to avoid clique's and always start shit with everyone and their mama, for fun, but still it very strongly feels that way. And I admit it has always been like that. There were a lot of people on here that really RPed Naruto only. And then there were the 'slice of life highschool/college' roleplays. 'Superhero' roleplays and whatever you have. There were still clique's but it seemed like the clique's didn't interact in a negative way where as now that seems to be the case more and more often.

Perhaps that is just my imagination. But, I also partially think the lack of progress with the website is a part of the problem. I mean no ill will towards Mahz - I respect what he does, I respect that he puts himself before RPG, I respect above all that he makes a financial sacrifice to provide this for us. I'd like to repeat what I have always said.. this is a free service offered to us by Mahz that he may terminate at any given time without notification or reason. I don't want to criticize him - because he is already doing more than he has to do for us.

But. The website has fallen still - key features that were promised months ago have not appeared, and while the key components of the forum (i.e. layout, color schemes, and the ability to post, BB codes etc) are all in place some of the nicer side-components are broken. Arena system. Why? Nobody plays in arena anymore. RPG Chat - great idea! Lack of progress made it obsolete and now we have a discord. I'm not going to voice what I think about that, but I think it's sad that an official RPG function has become obsolete because people consider that function to be .. well, worthless. VM system was a great incentive but shitty implementation, as characterizes the most of the issues here. It's broken, doesn't work well, notifications are borked.. I have sent moderators messages offering some insights and critiques and they mostly went ignored or were met with a 'I agree, but I can't do anything about that, because we need Mahz'..

all these things I feel like negatively impacted the traffic from old-time roleplayers. And have in turn created the community we have now.

And admittedly I don't like the direction the new community is going. I'm not sure what the cause is (B-but Buddha you're just getting old and conservative!! Shut up I'm 20) and I am not sure if there even is a cause, perhaps this is just the natural progression of the forum? But I don't like it and I feel slightly concerned for what RPG might become in the future - not enjoyable to me but I have faith RPG will continue to make some people happy as long as it survives. So for that I am glad, but I also wish that it will continue to make me happy too.

And that brings me also to my second issue which might be linked or might not be linked to the first issue. I've felt, growingly, that it is harder to satisfy myself with roleplayers that write below my 'level of writing' and yes that sounds arrogant. I don't care. RPG has made me a better writer and over the years I've become aware that the better I became, the lower the amount of people I 'could' roleplay with on the same level.

Take for example:

I used to write at a casual level of two to four (small) paragraphs and it was always fairly easy to find a roleplay that a) matched my level and b) suited my interests.

Now I write at an advanced level of 6 though often more paragraphs, and a desire to further plot, characters and set the theme of a post more clearly. It is harder to find partners that can match my level post-by-post and also enjoy this process. So, matching my level is hard enough (haha, arrogant again, but those familiar with this problem would understand) and add to that that I've become more specific in my roleplay desires, and you have a lot of trouble finding roleplays and/or partners.

And many people are capable of 'matching post length' and I find that admirable but I can't do it for the life of me. I have become so used to writing out these posts that it's very hard for me to 'dumb it down'. And I find I generally enjoy an RP less nowadays if I do that.

Adding to this is also that a lot of people who write down themselves as 'advanced writers' are more often than not at the level they should be at. I'm not saying post length, either, but just sheer character progression, plot creation, etc. Both the IC furthering of plot, character exposition, posting meaningful posts as well as the OOC process of brainstorming about plot points, ideas, setting changes, location ideas, interesting concepts.. these things used to be so prevalent back then, but now it seems like all I can see in the 1x1 interest checks is 'well, I'm fine with whatever, so I'll just do what you say..' Have people just suddenly turned into sacks of potatoes that can't think for themselves, or is this a growing trend? I hope I am not alone in saying this - that I am not the only one that has noticed this.

Now my idea is that perhaps these two are linked - after guildfall a lot of advanced writers left, a lot of the people that wrote longer posts left, and perhaps the new faces were 'me' at 14 years old - into roleplaying, wanting to get better. And that makes me sad because here I am feeling annoyed when I accidentally end up in a roleplay with them. I want to help them get better - but I put my own pleasure in roleplaying first (I feel no guilt for that).

And lately I have lost a lot of my pleasure in roleplaying bar a few roleplays. Either the other person just doesn't scratch my itch, or we just don't match up OOCly, or.. I don't know, I just don't enjoy the writing? And I know it's not an issue with me getting bored of roleplay, because there are other RP's that I am enjoying thoroughly.

Now with all of this said I should also add that I am grateful we still have this website, naturally. It's a great place. I enjoy shitting around on here and mocking people OOCly (never for their writing - even I have a code of honor) and starting arguments over dumb things. I enjoy it. It makes me happy to fuck around with people. So I am happy this website exists.

But I really think there may be some issues with the website. I am interested in hearing what you all have to think about this, to see if it's just me (which is possible) or if there are more people with similar ideas and experiences.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

@Undine PMing you now, then.

@McHaggis Woo wee voice of reason here. Eloquently worded too, my hat off to you (I don't wear hats). I'm actually interested in your hate mail though, feel free to PM me a copy of that if you still have it. Sounds hilarious.

And an apology to all those involved if I sounded like an angry cunt, that is my standard way of expressing myself, mostly cause I am an angry cunt. No harm intended, but if you took offense I'd like to remind you offense is always taken and never given. Cheers lads, thanks for the good discussion too. It was enjoyable and rather contrary to the type of discussions I usually experience on this website.

Soulless Regency - Regency Period Supernatural RP

Hider

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Torstein Grimhílðrsson

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Character Summary

Name: Torstein Grimhílðrsson
Social Class: Lower Middle Class
Age: 29
Birthday: February 14, 1794
Nationality: Swedish
Birth Place: Göteborg, Svea Rike
Residence: London
Gender: Male
Education: None noteworthy enough to mention - thought to become his fathers' heir to the shop, instead found his calling in the ancient arts of the Norse, and was brought up learning these whether by tutelage or on his own accord in order to survive.
Income Source: Occupation
Native Language: Swedish - not written, just spoken

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Appearance

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 176lbs
Build: strong, burly, 'strong arm' build.
Eyes: brown eyes, forming in a thin but notably European eye shape. Naturally possesses large pupils.
Hair: Rough brown hair. Short, well kept, except for his facial hair, which is 'trimmed' by hand, done by himself. No money for fancy barbers.
Skin Tone: slightly pale, not overly.
Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: Torstein has numerous tattoo's on his body, notably his arms, chest, and back. These are placed amidst scars of various sources. They include:

Aegishjalmur - chest, placed over heart, said to provide protection and irresistibility in combat.
Vegvisir - chest, placed over right upper chest, literally 'way pointer', this rune is said to prevent getting lost by providing a runic compass.
Ottastafur - lower right arm, said to put fear into your enemy.
Hraethigaldur - lower left arm, said to put fear into your enemy.
Ginfaxi - back, large tattoo, said to provide courage in battle.

As for his scars they are numerous and many, littering his body as remnants of his training and the harsh environment that is Scandinavia. The largest ones are across his back and chest, usually results of cuts of swords or axes. They mostly run straight. The smaller ones are more often than not just the result of Torstein not being a very smart man, and doing foolish things.
Personal Style: Due to his relatively low status he owns little in the ways of knickknacks and jewelry. The two accessories that he has are a necklace, that has an Othala rune carved into it to remind him of his home in Göteborg (not that there is much there for him). The second is a silver bracelet, made how the ancient Norse made it. It's made like a torque bracelet, as they were made back then, and it's simple 'twisted' metal. It's something that represents some status or meaning in his homeland, but seems entirely meaningless in England.

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Psychology

Fearless * Tactless * Ambitious * Reckless * Loyal * Inconsiderate

Sexuality: Heterosexual
Relationship Status: Single
Personality: Torstein is, for a lack of better words, not an intelligentsia. He is not 'brains' as much as he is strength. This shows in his personality - he favors strength, power, martial prowess and charisma above many other things. He possesses at least of two of these traits, namely strength and martial prowess, but lacks the other two. These preferred traits come from his religion - he is a pagan, much in line with his upbringing in the North, far away from Christian priests. Perhaps this causes some to see him as a savage - though who is he to deny that he is a savage? No, very much so he embraces this title. Better to be a savage than a beggar, in his eyes. He is ferocious when he is turned against you - like a real savage.

But he is loyal to those that earn his favor, which is often not that hard. His ambition makes him slightly predictable. Promise him great benefits and titles and he will most likely take your side if he can trust you. As long as you make good on your promises, he is your shield-brother and will help you with whatever it takes. Within reason, of course. He is not an intelligentsia, no, but he is not dumb either.

He favors smarts, information, knowledge. Óðinn gave his eye for the knowledge of the world, so Torstein has taken that lesson to heart and has been convinced that knowledge is the most valuable good in the world if you know how to use it. It should not come as too much of a surprise that the information and smarts that he seeks are different entirely from intelligence - he is not interested in physics, the laws of man, science. He is attracted to information that can profit him, that he is interested in, that he can use to survive and make some money while he is at it.
Habits: Seems to grip his weaponry whenever he is engaging in a talk - no matter how friendly, a hand always rests on his weapon. Whether this is a choice he makes or something he does out of habit, it can be positive and negative. Positive, if he can use it to quickly react, negative if someone distrusts him because of it. Well, their loss.

Seems to talk to the Gods as if they were there. Not quite schizophrenic, as he doesn't claim that they speak to him, but a passing remark to Óðinn or Freya or Tyr might be commonplace with him.
Hobbies: Walking alongside the red light district, to go 'window shopping'. Never seems to buy anything. Always seems pre-occupied with just looking. Err, well, if that doesn't count as a 'hobby', then he also enjoys sitting in the inn and drinking.
Fears:

• Fear of insignificance - Torstein fears being a nobody, and has worked very hard to ensure that the status quo of being 'a nobody with at least some pocket change' remains where it is. While this fear is, so far, not too big, it could turn bigger if he were to ever fall on his luck and lose all he has (what little he has.)
• Fear of being controlled - Torstein fears people using him for personal gain while not repaying him in kind. He does not mind 'being controlled' in the sense of being a follower of someone. Much rather this fear relates to 'the fear of being used and manipulated' so to speak. This fear generally results in violent and angry escapades. Would become apparent once he finds out - if he doesn't find out he is being controlled, he probably wouldn't be fearful of it. (Makes sense, right.)
• Fear of being abandoned - Torstein fears being abandoned by 'companions' in danger, left to himself to survive, but more than likely die. He remains skeptical of his companions even if he is loyal to them. Some would chalk this up to paranoia, but it runs slightly less deep than that.

Likes:

• The sea
• Sailing
• Drinking
• Pretty women
• Paganism
• A good fight

Dislikes:

• Smart-asses
• Overly intellectual people
• Long, boring travels on land
• Cowards
• Christianity (and Christians, sometimes)
• People that talk too much and say too little

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Cards On The Table

General Skills:

• Dueling
• Pistols
• Swimming
• Language (English)
• Wood carving
• Bone carving
• City Knowledge (London)
• Sailing
• Hunting
• Skinning (animals)
• Leatherworking
• Negotiations

Trained Skills:

• Language - Norwegian
• Opri
• Hrilf
• Ingulf
• Gislid
• Kotkell

What Is On Your Person:

• Clothing - simple, lower class clothes. A white buttoned shirt, and black trousers held up by suspenders, though these are covered by a grey double breasted vest. Over that goes a black coat, of questionable quality and even more questionable pricing. Finally, some black leather shoes. Nothing out of the ordinary, admittedly, and all 'cheap' clothes. He typically wears his two accessories - the bracelet, and the necklace. Furthermore, a leather belt that runs through his pants - though, very loose. They're for holstering all kinds of objects, not for keeping his pants up.
• A hand axe, holstered in some leather strappings. Hangs visibly on his side.
• A flintlock pistol intended for dueling. Amounts to defending his honor, as well as being imposing, mostly. (Henry Model 1813 for those into historical accuracy).
• A cheap pocket-watch in his vest.
• A flask of cheap liquor (half-full).
• A knife (for blood rituals, not combat).
• A small pouch of money, though not too much.. he's not that rich.
• N/A
• N/A
• N/A

Residence:

• N/A
• N/A
• N/A
• N/A
• N/A
• N/A
• N/A
• N/A
• N/A
• N/A
• This spot is for an animal only (N/A)

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History

Family History: His family, in the spirit of Norse naming, does not bear a surname. They were far too unimportant to bear a dynasty name, either. And so, Torstein was named after his father, Grimhílðr. They were living in Göteborg and as such they were already far away in an unimportant area of the world. The family comes from humble beginnings - tracing it's lineage back to some small chieftain in the area some thousand years ago, though that knowledge has faded ever since and not one person in the family remembers.

Grimhílðr himself was a man that built his own fortune. Though it's not much of a fortune, it required several long years of (slave) labor to obtain funds to start his store. Once he did so, however, the easy life began. He went from being a laborer to being a shop owner and rose through the ranks of classes (ever so slightly). He found himself quite saddened that his legacy would not be passed onto Torstein, but found a suitable replacement in Torsteins' sister, whose husband was to take over the shop.

Torsteins' sister, Anne, she was quite the catch, actually. Considered the prettiest girl in the entire town, though that wasn't hard. Her husband was a well off middle class man, son of a shop owner that was doing better than Grimhílðr's store. The marriage was for simple reasons - Grimhílðr wanted to continue his family business and Torstein was no longer a good candidate to take over the store. The other shop owner merely wanted to extend his holdings, and obtain this store too.

As for Torsteins mother, she was nothing special - a simple house woman, who did not have to work due to her husbands' position as a shop owner. It saved her the hard labor in the factories perhaps, and she was instead tasked with taking care of the children. An easy job, she found, as most her wishes were affordable to her husband. When Torstein left for England, she was heartbroken, seeing her dear boy go off somewhere to fight soulless.

Your personal life: So far, it would seem like Torstein has little behind him. His father ran a shop, a simple general store that didn't earn a lot of money. It was enough to sustain the family, selling food and supplies and such to those in nearby streets. It was expected that Torstein was going to take over the store and earn his living like his father did - but Torstein found another calling. Instead of doing so, and learning the trade of being a merchant, he found out about the schooling in Norse arts against the soulless. He found himself intrigued and soon after found himself begging his father to let him study these arts.

Well, that much had been accomplished. He went to study under a Norse tutor, far in the North lapplands, where no Christian priests would dare come due to the cold harsh environment. Here he studied for many years, learning Opri combat with other students, learning to fight with an axe, and learning various rituals and skills. For instance, he had to hunt a lot to feed himself and his tutor, teaching him to hunt, skin animals, and work with the leather and the bones. The large amounts of free time were spent carving wood, to keep occupied. And such more..

When he left for England some years later after finishing his education, he had found himself picking up the art of sailing and swimming, as he paid for his admission onto the ship by helping the crew. This bargain he had obtained by his rather.. skillful 'negotiation' techniques, that came forth from his aggressive personality. He didn't take no for an answer.

Upon arrival in England, he traveled to London by carriage and has stayed there ever since, doing the odd job as a laborer, strong-arm, bodyguard or mercenary. He's picked up the language since then (since he only spoke Norwegian and Swedish, as well as writing in runes) and learned the city from the north all the way to the south. Especially the prostitutes housing area.

What you want for your life: Money. Wealth. Status. Power. Knowledge. All these things Torstein seeks and hopes to find in England, though so far it has been of little success. He seeks material gains, as well as intellectual gains - an understanding of the world, what makes people tick, how can they stop the soulless, how can he earn money. He seeks someone to follow - or to become one such person himself. Perhaps, to summarize it, he just seeks occupation, some meaning in life for him to fulfill.

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Extras

Character Quote(s): Cattle die, kindred die, every man is mortal:
But I know one thing that never dies, the glory of the great dead.
Theme Song:

Embedded

Anything Else: The Hraew is pretty kickass. As for conventional undead, I think I prefer the zombie. Explains why I like the Hraew.

_{*By submitting this CS in its completion I am stating I have read all the rules for this Rp and am agreeing to follow them to the fullest with respect and courtesy. I acknowledge that I can and will be removed from the RP without warning if I break a rule or cause problems with my fellow Rpers or the GM.}

I duly present Torstein, @Lady Amalthea.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

@Undine Was more or less aimed at the others, but yes, I think it's very stupid that your friends 'stood up for you.' As far as I could see you weren't being bullied or some such that required standing up for. Nothing you couldn't have done yourself either way. So I stand by my words. If there had been any kind of gut involved these two friends of yours would've let you do it and they would've let you know about it instead of doing it themselves.

The respective argument in the RP thread also went unanswered by you. And when I came here to mock the argument, you had already 'liked' the posts made here. Show of support or something, silly really. So, no, you could've said something earlier, and seemingly you were aware of the argument in here. In fact, you probably could've stopped the argument. Whichever one it was, I think it's stupid regardless of what you did and did not do.

That said, let's not derail this thread further. If you want to defend yourself against me (I doubt it, my opinion isn't that important to you I imagine, as it shouldn't be important to you) I'll gladly PM you.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

@The Harbinger of Ferocity And perhaps it is up to me to 'reality check' this person and tell them that the BB codes are nothing to feel personally offended by. Like I said, I would agree with what you said if it was a character, roleplay or something similarly 'time consuming' to write. Making a character sheet skeleton? I've made hundreds. Not simple ones either, ones that I invested a lot of time in and that I carefully wrote out myself to fit my RP. They have been used, re-used, altered, blatantly copied and 'plagiarized' and much to my happiness so because it means I did a good job at making something presentable and readable.

We are not talking about intellectual property. We are not talking about characters, or a roleplay. A character sheet. I really don't care how 'personal' this person feels this 'theft' was. It doesn't matter because it's just fucking stupid.

This was an immature situation (party A should not have taken it without asking, party B should not have gone the public route) caused by immature people with no sense of community. This public battle was immature, unnecessary and above all just humiliating for both sides.

I mean shit. Our homeboy wrote a fucking essay comparing the two bb code sheets to each other. Spent way too much time on this. Like a personal bloody crusade. And the best part is; he's not even the original creator. He's just some guy that feels offended in someone else's place. Why hasn't the original creator posted here? Why was it not the original creator in the thread Wick made? Why was it two holy pious knights taking up arms and shield for the original creator? Can I take away from this that the original creator doesn't really care as much as this guy and this other person seem to make it out like?

If there was any gut in them the original creator would've done it themselves. But, this is the spirit of RPG nowadays that I have felt growing increasingly.

Lack of community, lack of common sense, lack of etiquette. Granted I am guilty of that myself, but at least I have the common courtesy to at least stand by my words rather than hide behind my friends. And it makes me fed up because this place used to be the holy grail of online play by post roleplaying. Now it's just a wankstain circlejerk of idiots that take themselves too seriously now, some echo chamber where OOC grievances or even simple disagreeing opinions are taken more seriously than the quality a writer can put forth. And that's sad because this place is the place that made my writing skyrocket.

Returning to your points however, no, I don't agree with your initial paragraph. It isn't personal - because the original creator that was apparently so offended by this didn't post here or in the thread. It isn't something worth being personally offended by either. They seem to think it is - and that is their good right, I am not telling them they can't feel that way. But I disagree with it. Strongly, and more so because it happened in such a backwards way.

Things to take away from this is that you should ask permission before taking something, but also that personal crusades against someone else in their OOC thread are probably worse than that. One simple PM could've prevented all this but instead we have White and Knight get involved and now we have some shitstorm in the bitching thread.

I really miss pre-Guildfall RPG.

After the End

@DeltaV As you are still accepting, am I allowed to just craft up a character and drop it in here? I assume the answer is yes but I figured I'd best ask beforehand.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

@The Harbinger of Ferocity Then don't call it plagiarism or theft. Because it's not. It's disrespectful and he should've asked. But forum etiquette is lost on many people on this forum (haha, remember when we sent PM's to resolve issues in a respectful way rather than going on a public rant thread, or into their OOC? I do.)

But going in here and starting a petty little argument (the both of them) is just retarded and shows immaturity. Going into an OOC and starting a fight is immature. In the spirit of what RPG once was (a place where people came together to write and grow) Undine (yes, that person that hasn't said a word here themselves) should've sent him a PM, telling him to change it and/or ask permission. That is what RPG stood for. But lord knows it isn't that anymore.

Besides, you're talking about characters. Not character sheets. AKA the BB codes that make up a skeleton and the words used there in. Are you really going in here proclaiming you take a lot of joy and pride on your bb codes? Codes that aren't your but Mahz's?

This entire argument was about stealing a character sheet skeleton. Not an actual fucking character or their sheet. A skeleton. Nothing to be mad about but apparently this hit the stick up these peoples' asses a tad too hard. If it was a character I could've understood, see, because one might take pride in that, but if you take pride in your CS skeleton bb codes (which was barebones anyway) then you should perhaps find another hobby and create something else to be proud of because BB codes are nothing to be proud of.