Writers Academy (Previously Demonia)

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Originally Posted by Red

the items is something I was thinking could be somehow involved with the RP'ing portion, as in an RP you usually have character development etc. why not have a character who gains items and experience.

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Well it is true that character development is important whilst RPing but I think you might have grabbed the wrong end of the stick. The RPB and RP sections of this club are probably not going to take place in the same universe, unless you choose to re-use a character. But where's the fun in that?

What I'm saying is that if an RP character is made up of how many matches you win or how much experiance a character gains then there is obviously going to be a lack of balance. Remember that when you RP you have practically unlimited choices for your character (assuming that you don't god-mod or don't follow the universe of the RP) so if you used the same RPB character as an RP character then you would find yourself limited to the boundaries you've already placed.

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Originally Posted by Prodigal Madness

... It seems you want to know how superior you are to your opponent, or how close you came to beating the other person. It seems they're trying to eliminate the bad feelings over numbers and whatnot.

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Well we've not really ruled out any ways of judging. The 'points' system as you say might still be in place (no judging standards have been outruled except an internal ranking system), however since the score is only used in judging a match and is not used as a character rank then it may be that it will be held in place.

I think you just got confused by the idea of the RPB having a score with the actual character having a score. Not to worry, nobody will be forced to the bottom of a list.

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Now that I think I've cleared that up I'd like to propose that the club offers some RPB hook-up practices. In the same manner of speed dating. In other words if anyone chooses to sign on to this list then they can be put into RPB matches with another random participant, much like Alexander tried to acheive. Of course this is just an idea, but if people do sign up it'll give them something to do between tournaments etc.

That's a good idea, Aerif. We can try that idea out and give it a trial run. And as far as the judging goes, obviously it's going to be based off writing skill. However, I don't think I'm going to have individual categories to judge on to add up together, unless that's easier.

I would just grade the person's performance out of 10. Just like a movie/game/olympics. XD

Oh! I almost forgot to mention. Yes, the RPBs and RPs of this academy are not going to all be in the same universe. That's just silly. Especially RP wise. Who wants to do the same RP over and over again? Certainly not me. The RPs will most definitely be in several different universes where we have to create all new characters. I know I used to be the type of person who used their same character and just molded them to fit whatever RP I joined, but I'm not like that anymore. And neither should any of you.

However, on the RPB aspect... It could be within the same universe unless it's a tournament and there's some sort of special setting for it and requires new characters to be made. But more often than not, it will be in the same universe more or less. And PM has a point. You could probably do that item/exp thing on your own and just make an end post at the end of your fight if you win. But honestly, this isn't a video game, so to most of us, EXP is pretty much moot. Your character gains invisible experience through battle known as battle experience, and when they reflect on their battles and train, etc, then that's how the experience is applied. There's not really any leveling up going on here, unless you already knew that.

However, since this is an academy, we could have shops, so to speak. We can RP as clerks for whoever wants to get a new weapon or armor or what have you.

And if anyone wants, we can even have an Inner-RP, focusing on the Academy. If we do, I'm obviously going to be as either myself, or make a new character entirely. I haven't decided yet.

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Originally Posted by Toph Bei Fong

Your character gains invisible experience through battle known as battle experience, and when they reflect on their battles and train, etc, then that's how the experience is applied. There's not really any leveling up going on here, unless you already knew that.

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yes, I already knew this it's just I would have liked to "earn" my items so to speak. like for example, I wouldn't lie to lose a match than gain an item. I'd want someone to be given an item because they earned it.

and just so you know I'm not still nagging about the idea or anything, I just wanted people to understand what I meant.

So, basically, you want to put Slim's idea into motion. Because that's what this sounds like. Minus the whole... controlling someone's character. I see where you're going with that. And that is certainly something interesting to think about.

Perhaps an item can be gained that reflects on the type of person the character is and what fighting style they use and what not. Instead of just some random item that they're most likely never going to use anyway.

Edit: Although... what's the point of the winner gaining an item? If you win, you're already good enough. So an item would just give you more of an advantage. I understand about tournaments, because it's a tournament. But regular battles don't need items or such every time. If you want items or experience or whatever, just edit your profile accordingly to the battles you have fought. That's what PM meant about an ABB. Active Battler's Biography.

alright I understand, it makes sense. now I was wondering, are RPB's just battles? or can they bring forth character development too? can two characters fight and like become rivals or friends and have kind of a side story in the characters bio? or is this not allowed? I always thought it would be cool to combine RP and ROB elements.

Well, what you're asking is pretty much decided by the both of you. So technically, yes. It really depends if the other person agrees to it or not. If not, then it's just a battle.

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Originally Posted by Toph Bei Fong

However, since this is an academy, we could have shops, so to speak. We can RP as clerks for whoever wants to get a new weapon or armor or what have you.

And if anyone wants, we can even have an Inner-RP, focusing on the Academy. If we do, I'm obviously going to be as either myself, or make a new character entirely. I haven't decided yet.

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I like the idea. I for one, am up to it. It'd be a pretty cool idea. The shop thing could go two ways though. The only way for it to make sense would be to enforce a rule that people couldn't edit their characters unless they buy something. And winners of matches could be awarded "money." But that's severly limiting. Plus, I think you all reached a conclusion anyway. I say just stick to Rping the academy. It'd allow for critique and praise on a smaller scale that would make official club writes more enjoyable.

Nice short post. xD

I look forward to the tournament.

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Originally Posted by Xeim

I like the idea. I for one, am up to it. It'd be a pretty cool idea. The shop thing could go two ways though. The only way for it to make sense would be to enforce a rule that people couldn't edit their characters unless they buy something. And winners of matches could be awarded "money." But that's severly limiting. Plus, I think you all reached a conclusion anyway. I say just stick to Rping the academy. It'd allow for critique and praise on a smaller scale that would make official club writes more enjoyable.

I look forward to the tournament.

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I too think it's a good idea, so don't rule it out just yet, if enough people agree then, it could ultimately make a difference.

also I'm psyched for tournaments, when can we start one?

Well, so far I've marked the list with those who have confirmed participation for the tournament. If anyone else wants to participate, let me know so I can add to the list.

I'm ideally looking for 8 people in total. Because that's really all we can arrange with the amount of members we have. So far there are 5.

count me in! unless of course this tournament involves death. I want to keep my character Kai for as long as possible, with as much friendly matches as I can and no death.

I think I'll rejoin the club, if that's alright? It was starting to help me out in my RP skills. Plus with the current slowdown on RPs, it'll be nice to RP again.

Yeah, that is true. Welcome back, Jecht. =P
I'll go ahead and put you on the list and would you like to be in the tournament as well, or are you going to mainly RP?

Ok, on the inner RP. Toph and I have started formulating an idea. It needs to grow and develop with the help of this here club, though. Here's the beginnings:

We attend "The Writer's Academy." Our characters are people similar to us in personality. Any similarities don't have to go beyond that though.

We are able to sign up for any class we please. Depending on the classes we're in, we get to do training activities. So, an example is: evangel signs up for detail class. he can do training activites based around detail. However, toph, who did not sign up for detail, cannot do detail training activities.

Classes can be centered around anything that has something to do with writing (that we can help you improve). We can start a list and watch it grow, even after we get this thing off the ground.

After choosing your initial classes, you can sign up for additional classes on certain days. The first full week of the initiation of this RP will see you signing up on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The second will see you signing up on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Then back to M/W/F.

This issue of time zones will get sorted out.

And, if the leaders see fit, they can force you into a certain class (on any day). You will be required to join in any Training Activity assigned to the class. Training activites in other classes are optional, though we'd hope you'd want to do them..seeing you signed up for the class.

The training activites themselves will not be part of the inner RP. The Rp will focus more around school life.

an RP about school life? does that mean I can't use my character Kai? and this "school" is it just an average school? because I thought RP's involved RPB elements such as fighting and weapons etc.

No, you can't use Kai. He's one of characters your school character uses in HIS Rp's and/or RPB's. The school character is basically you, with a twist in appearance if you want.

And, they go to the Writer's Academy to help their writing. It's like a college focused only on writing. So yeah. Normal school.

And...RP's can be ANYTHING. You could do an RP about a fast food resteraunt if you wanted. Of course, that'd get boring fast. RPB's are the only things that require fights. This is just a small RP. You don't need six page long posts. Shortish stuff is just fine. Just...it needs to be at least a paragraph.

Regarding the previous conversation about rewards for winning: Shadow, what about that RPB proposition I did awhile back? It could work here as easily as anywhere else. I don't think Cesar did anything with it, but I still have the draft copies.

Bro, I'd do a match with you but would we both stay active? We've never actually finished a match so if we're going to set one up, we should finish it this time. Maybe one with a post limit? It would be damned hard to find a judge though, unless we could drag Spike or Syd in.

~DragonHeart~

Or Me and/or Aerif could do it. Spike/Syd could be the third party incase there's a tie or something. And if you think your RPB Proposition could work, we could apply it to here and see how it works out.

And no, you can't use Kai. Haha.

In theory, everything works. ;) But seriously, with a little tweaking (it was originally intended to go along with a ranking ladder), you could get something out of it. Let me just dig the copy out...

I'm too lazy to change it all around right this second, so I'll just post the initial proposal and the addendum I sent the next day.

Part I:

Ranks:

The rankings will be points based on the number of victories. Victories will be counted as points, while loses will deduct from this point value, and can cause demotions. Draws will not impact rankings either way. Incomplete battles will be automatically counted as a draw.

Battles do not need to be judged unless the case of a draw or a conflict with the current RPB rules, but they do need to be checked over before a ranking point is awarded or deducted.

Titles:

Each rank will have title, but titles can also be awarded for defeating notable opponents. For example, defeating a Champion of Arms, a Wild Card, or an Elite Challenge, will grant a title based on the character who was defeated. Titles not only tell what kind of victories someone has had, but also enables them to use special items, abilities,, spells or techniques (only one title’s power may be enabled per battle, and restrictions do apply) given as victory spoils.

They may also earn a personal title based on their main RPB character after reaching a certain rank, enabling the use of a personal battlefield, designed to give them the advantage over their opponents.

Special Battles:

In addition to normal battles, these special events not only grant bonus ranking points, but various other things as well.

Wild Card:

If a battle is chosen to take place on a battlefield “owned” by a current RPB character, that person, if they are not an original participant, may choose to enter the battle in the beginning and fight one, both, or all of the other participants.

Elite Challenge:

A battle against the highest ranking members, those who possess titles and battlefields of their own. These are considered the toughest of all opponents. They must be fought on the character’s registered battlefield, and the Elite may use all of the items, spells, techniques, or abilities they have earned up to that point. (If they earn another in a battle while doing an Elite Challenge, they cannot use it until the next.)

Battlefields:

There are two types of battlefields: Normal and Custom.

Normal battlefields and custom battlefields have only one difference: a custom battlefield is registered to an Elite, and thus eligible for use in Wild Card and Elite Challenge battles. Both types can be any area in which a battle can be held, of any size or features, within reasonable limits. For example, all of the battle environments in the current ToA could be eligible for use as normal battlefields, custom if someone chose to register one to their character.

Part II:

Anyways, I was thinking about how the titles can be used to grant advantages in battle, but if we go by only one ranking system, it's a bit limited in what it can do. So, what if we added clans/guilds into it? I don't mean like the Clan/Forums wars, though. It wouldn't be a clan vs. clan type of thing as much as a way to further specialize one's character.

For example, say I have a mage in the mage's guild. If I achieve a high rank with this character, I may recieve the title, given only to high-ranking mages, that gives me Meteor. Meanwhile, someone in the warrior's guild who achieves the same rank as my mage, will get something completely different, like a powerful weapon-based AoE attack.

I also thought that as a way to limit the use of these abnormally strong abilities, each one will have a cooldown; the stronger the power granted by a title, the longer they have to wait between uses. For example, a Meteor spell would have a five battle cooldown - if used before that it would be an automatic loss for the person who used it.

This is all just example of course, I'm not saying we'd actually have a Meteor spell for people to throw around, it was just the first thing I thought of.

Basically, it's another way to enhance character customization while still remaining autonomous; people can go at their own pace, choose their own battles, and pick and choose what they want their character to have.

To make this work it would have to be based mostly per character. I was thinking that maybe all victories/wins/loses count for all of someone's registered RPB characters, but only the character that participates in special events gains the rewards, and characters will not be able to gain the highest ranks if they are pulled up by another character. If that even makes sense.

Hmm...

I'm pretty sure I had a third part relating the custom battlefields, but it's fairly well buried. I think I remember telling you the gist of it though Shadow.

~DragonHeart~

I really liked that idea. confused a bit with certain sections, but I'll re-read it later when I'm not so busy.

Same thing with winning items...

The titles might as well be just titles. If you want a new ability/spell for your character - ADD IT IN. By the name of the club, it's the Writers Academy. It's supposed to be here to IMPROVE your writing. It's one thing to win stuff in tournys, but this is going overboard with winning/need stuff. You have an edit option, use it. I have no issue with the rank, but I am rather tired of seeing: Can we win xxx? =/

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Originally Posted by Prodigal Madness

Same thing with winning items...

The titles might as well be just titles. If you want a new ability/spell for your character - ADD IT IN. By the name of the club, it's the Writers Academy. It's supposed to be here to IMPROVE your writing. It's one thing to win stuff in tournys, but this is going overboard with winning/need stuff. You have an edit option, use it. I have no issue with the rank, but I am rather tired of seeing: Can we win xxx? =/

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I see your point and I hope you know that in my above post when I said "I like the idea" I meant that I liked the whole ranking system. I'm fine with simply editing my bio to gain new items.

Yeah...the item thing created uneccessary trouble in the last club. I really think we should avoid that kind of thing altogether, just for safety's sake. We don't want more flamebaiting in here.

The ranking thing seems kind of cool. It might get a little too complicated though, to have a list of ranks and their positions in comparison to each other and how to get them...and to keep track of who has which titles and why... o_O Uhm, it could use some simplicity in my opinion, but is otherwise pretty cool.

And, let's not forget about the internal RP. We don't want the same thing to happen in here as in Royalty where there's only two members posting for it... o_O Get phyched! As an event designer I order it! *cough*

Haha....

Well, we don't necessarily have to use it, I was just throwing it out there since I had it. I only posted the ranking part because the other part wouldn't have made any sense without it. They were meant to go together originally.

Honestly I don't care much for ranks and such, but I do like titles. Personally I'd like to see at least some form of the wildcard and the normal/custom battlefields. I suppose the titles are mostly an optional thing, I just like them cause most of my characters have at least one. XD

~DragonHeart~

I think we'll use just the Battlegrounds section of your proposal. Everything else has caused a bit of arguing. So we'll just drop that. And instead of Elites, we can keep the custom battlegrounds to the Student Council. Since this is an Academy and all. It'd also tie into the inner RP, which is kind of the new topic now.

Seeing as I've already discussed it with Toph, I might as well make it official. I am planning on joining this new tournament coming up. I don't think I've even done a tournament since the '02 TOA.

However, it's also been a long time since I did a serious RPB. I'd like to do a bit of a warm up before the tournament starts.

DragonHeart's Open Challenge:
Post limit of 5, not including introductions.
Requesting Aerif as the Judge for this match.

Battlefield (borrowed from the '07 TOA, courtesy of Andromeda's creativity) :
The Lost City of Tithuraw - Desert Field

Location – Placed in the middle of a desert that wiped out an entire city in one night with a massive sandstorm.

Terrain – The land is hilly from the blowing sand and drifts up against the ruins of the town. Most of the town is buried underneath the sand with only small parts of it popping up. The sand is also not as dense in areas making it easy to fall through. There are areas where the buildings are collapsing under the weight opening up holes in the ceiling when an unsuspecting traveler walks through. The lost city was a most built out of stone and a cement like mixture, not a very advance civilization.

Other notes:
The character I am using is a nonhuman. Prepare accordingly. The battlefield I have selected is not advantageous to my character. Magic is allowed, including white magic as long as it is within the current RPB limitations for such things.

~DragonHeart~

I'll take that challenge DH, if that's okay. Like I said before, I want to fight before anything starts; I need the practice and the motivation/reason to come on more often. So if thats okay with you I will participate.

In all seriousness I liek the concept of things being awarded to characters after their battle but I only see a few ways of doing it effectively and I think Slims method lacks a tiny bit of logic. I mean sure we could choose an item to win at the end, but, it will always be something the character never really needed in the first place otherwise we would have made them have them from the start.

I think it's a limited prospect with a varied, eventual, outcome. As for money as a reward I think thats limiting like others have said too, plus, it doesn't actually do much and so lacks as a sufficient reason or drive to win a match, or try harder.

I think the only way of offering a reward outside of a rank is by having some sort of club-only medals or whatever, kind of designed for each competition. Like gold, silver, bronze in the olympics; and people can put these in their banner or something. I'm not a designer but I think thats something better than money. Items and moves given to characters may not be wanted/needed and may end up being ultimately useless.

I think DH's ranking system is great, only one thing I can't grasp; if the battle is incomplete due to one side then surely the point should go to the willing side. It's not fair to grade somebody based on another persons lack in enthusiasm or willingness to participate. We all know people that constantly let down on that front, an outright draw seems unfair to me, maybe a bonus point... or half point.

I also love Aerifs idea, I'd like to be put on that list as pending whether DH accepts me for her fight.

I have a few ideas for a tournament or something to boost how people react in certain situations and perhaps even aid creativity, they are raw designs and are free for people to develope on or quash depending on what you all think.

One involves the designers creating temporary characters and randomly assigning people them, this could help people be more creative with things as they have no ready firm concepts with those characters and are moulding the character to suit situations despite not having created it themselves. It could also help people to think of more things and/or use different personalities to what they are used to; some people tend to use the same personality for their characters i.e "i'm ultra powerful" or "grrrrr, i'm mean".

Another thing I thought of is to help people use new words correctly and maybe boost vocab and even help some people use words correctly, it may also aid grammer depending on how it is developed. This involves them being given a list of words to use and they have to use all/most of them in their posts and if tehy use them incorrectly, that move is void and ignored. Likewise they may be limited with sentence number/structure or be put on a limit with how many of a type of obvious word they use e.g- using 'fast', instead they may be able to use 'rapid' or 'swift'. You know, just getting people using different words.

Raw concepts like I said.

Thanks, Aimee.

Challenge accepted Hyz.

I don't know if I'll finish it today but I'll start the introduction. I'll put the link in here when it's up, if not today then tomorrow for sure.

Well, I'm not quite as rusty as I thought heh. Thread's up.

The Shadow in the Sand: DragonHeart vs. Hyzenthlay

~DragonHeart~

Right I'm fine with judging this match. Have fun!

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Originally Posted by Hyzenthlay

One involves the designers creating temporary characters and randomly assigning people them, this could help people be more creative with things as they have no ready firm concepts with those characters and are moulding the character to suit situations despite not having created it themselves. It could also help people to think of more things and/or use different personalities to what they are used to; some people tend to use the same personality for their characters i.e "i'm ultra powerful" or "grrrrr, i'm mean".

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This sounds absoloutly fantastic, a great system. I suggest we try it on a trial basis, maybe even put it in the upcoming tournament as a 'special' round, I already have ideas for unusual characters, this could get really interesting.

I want to make another suggestion that could possibly work hand-in-hand with the random match-up system that we've put on trial (that sadly only contains Hyz, or at least Hyz is the only one who's decided to sign up). That is a handicap system, eg. if an expert writer, say DH faces a newer member of the club who hasn't had much experiance at RPB then the new writer could be given a few bonus points or something to try to balance the competition.

I'll sign up for the random match-up system. I think that's how we should have regular matches. =P j/k

But honestly, I like the system of creating stock characters for people to get used to. It should provide a good challenge and increase the diversity of someone's creativity.

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Originally Posted by Hyz

In all seriousness I liek the concept of things being awarded to characters after their battle

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Originally Posted by Hyz

I think DH's ranking system is great

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Ok, Hyz, just a couple things... No items are going to be rewarded. We came to that conclusion. And uhm, no ranking system will be put into place. That we came up with in the previous club. The only thing we're using of DH's idea is the battlefield part, because frankly, that's the only part that will work well in the club. >_< The title thing is cool too, so if we can find a way to get that to work, but not clutter things up, then I'm for it. But that's the leaders' decisions. I'm just an event designer.. xD

And I was really under the impression that we were only going to do random match-ups to determine battles. Giving people a challenge is good, and if we let members choose who they go up against, some people might fight someone just because they know they'll when. You don't learn from that. Plus, putting people up against somone really good will give them a chance to really analyze how that person fights and then take that into consideration, thusly becoming better themselves. I don't see a point in doing it any other way. If you want to go up against a certain person...PM them...and make yerself a fight. Anyone can RPB at anytime. o_o So yeah, I'll sign-up, though I'm still thinking every member should be required to.

On the being assigned a character thing, it is a good idea, but if you are given a character, you will inevitably give it your own styles in battle. This might even alter its personality...which doesn't get us anywhere. But we should give it a go. Just don't force it if it fails...heh.