A New Makeover for the Dawn Treader!

Vote for the changes in forums (poll will close in 90 days).

  • Don't delete the top section (sub forums)

    Votes: 2 20.0%
  • Delete the top section (sub forums) and all the threads

    Votes: 5 50.0%
  • Delete the top section (sub forums) but leave threads active (state which ones in your post).

    Votes: 3 30.0%

  • Total voters
    10
  • Poll closed .
Thank you to the old pirates for their magnificent input. And Liz, I do not remember creating the thread you mentioned but if I did, that's the kind of mistakes we want to avoid with the new changes. I want thread creators and players to have freedom to be well, creative, and come up with awesome collective stories.

I want to say in reply to Copperfox's latest post that we do not intend to become referees in any scene of the role plays. I definitely don't want to wear a black and white vertical stripped shirt and carry a whistle every time I come to the forum... oh, and black short shorts. That's not what the new role plays will have. I will, however, be here to assist when problems arise and discuss other issues, but I will not make the decisions for you. I expect every player here to be mature, level headed, and noble enough to make the decisions for their character in a way that will contribute to the advancement of the story in a believable way (fantasy or not), without any one person telling them how to act and what to post.

With regards of taking over a player's character, I like Fish/Liz (Liz/Fish)'s idea of how to take over a player's character in order to advance the story. This is probably in line with what Copperfox said earlier so now I'm changing my mind to allow it, as long as everyone who joins the thread agrees. This act of taking over characters should be used sparingly and limited to special circumstances, otherwise it may get out of hand and people will start to resent it. If a person objects to having his/her character taken over, then please don't do it and allow them a reasonable time to come back and post again.


Oh, and English is not my first language. I write how I think so I hope it makes sense.:p
 
Maybe there could be a doppelganger rule, so that if you disappear from an RP without first letting the other members know about your coming absence and how long you will be off-story, then after X-number-of-days a Doppelganger of your character might appear, controlled by other players. When you come back you will have to find a way to defeat or neutralize the mutant twin character to get back in the story... ? (Just a suggestion, but I'm speaking as a non-RP greenhorn.)
 
I want to say in reply to Copperfox's latest post that we do not intend to become referees in any scene of the role plays.

First of all, serious props on your handle of the English language. I would never have guessed it wasn't your mother tongue. You make perfect sense. :) (Which is all more than I can say for half my high school graduating class... ;))


As to your comments about "referees/judges" I just wanted to say that you pretty much stole the words out of my mouth... :p

BK said:
With regards of taking over a player's character, I like Fish/Liz (Liz/Fish)'s idea of how to take over a player's character in order to advance the story. This is probably in line with what Copperfox said earlier so now I'm changing my mind to allow it, as long as everyone who joins the thread agrees.

(By the by, you're welcome to call me Liz but I am [or was, at least] known as Fish on the whole forum, not just the pirates. Whichever one works fine. *Imagine there is a smiley face here because I'm limited to 4.* *wink*)

Machia and I were actually discussing this particular part of my post yesterday and pointed out that by the time we "use" each other's characters, we knew each other pretty well. He is absolutely right about that. While I still think that it is incredibly useful for keeping the story moving along, I do have to agree with you, BK, that it should be used in limited amounts (like I originally pointed out, if QA and IOWW had been online, I would not have used them), and I'm not so sure it should ever be used by people on different "sides".

(The original pirates game had four main groups: The Pirates, the Knights, the Rangers, and the Isengarders. The first three for the most part got along, the last were the villains. We also had several other groups as well as singular villains pop up now and again. I'm not sure it would ever make sense for a person from group A to know how a person from group B would react to anything- even if they are friends but especially not if they are enemies.)

In the end, while I understand that some rules have to be set up from the beginning, I think that the the more we let play progress naturally, the more we'll find out what works for each individual group. As long as you have a few mature people leading the RPG, then it's amazing how "unspoken laws" happen. Those then get voice and become rules that are shared with new recruits. All these discussions are interesting and probably even important to have, but we also all should keep in mind that the whole point of what we're doing is just to have fun. :)

(Benisse, I don't want you to think I ignored your post! Machia has some really good thoughts on what to do when people disappear/aren't online and will be posting soon. We share one computer and I've been a bit of a hog lately. *wink*)
 
I have an actual RP concept. It would not need any fighting, being more about, shall we say, adjustment to a new environment. Imagine the following alternate universe. The events of "The Last Battle" occur as in the book, EXCEPT THAT--

** Nobody dies in a train wreck.

** Eustace and Jill are sent back to Earth alive; and Tirian, Jewel and Poggin are sent with them. Aslan says that He expects Tirian to be a good influence on Britain in the 1950's, and the Professor (not being dead) helps to create a fake identity for the former king. Jewel is given the ability to disguise himself as a plain horse by making his horn invisible.

This would give plenty of slots for players to act as canonical Narnian characters. Additionally, if people know who was famous on Earth in those days, Earthling celebrities like Elvis Presley could appear as characters.
 
Well, now that I have just read this entire thread, here are my two cents:

I came to the forums not long before the Dawn Treader was revamped. I joined the Narnia RP's that were created and was pretty active in them until they all started to die. Originally I was active in the "Swords, claws and teeth bared" thread too, but fell out of it due to life. Which is a valid point that has been mentioned and should be remembered; nobody currently on this forum is online and active 24/7. If I were to start in a RP game now, in summer, I would probably be a lot more active these next two months than I would be when I go to college in the fall and if I -poof-, disappeared for a week, it would probably be because of school. Just a consideration which I'm pretty sure everyone understands. (You did ask for why I quit the RP's though, so, that's why.)

That being said, if the Pirates adventures were revived (and other such RP's created) I would most certainly join, mainly because through all the years I've been on the forum I've heard them referenced and my curiosity has been piqued. (And Fish made it sound really neat.)

Also, Benisse's idea about the dopplegangers sounded fun and, BK, I had no idea your first language wasn't English.
 
That being said, if the Pirates adventures were revived (and other such RP's created) I would most certainly join, mainly because through all the years I've been on the forum I've heard them referenced and my curiosity has been piqued. (And Fish made it sound really neat.)
That would be awesome! It really is was fun as it sounds and more! :)

----------
Please forgive my long post, and please excuse me if I repeat myself or ramble off in a different direction. My thoughts sometimes don't gather themselves as neatly as I'd like... ;)

Here are some of my (Lengthy) thoughts on this RPG discussion.

First let me just say that any RPG I've ever been in, by their nature, (and especially with a diminished active forum member count) have been slow moving and they take time to do anything. That means there might be a day or (shocker!) even two where nothing major would happen... and that's okay! That's the nature of the game.

I think Elf of the Grey Havens said it best when he once said: "Don't expect constant action. 75% of this game, maybe more, is planning, planning, training, and planning. 1% is action. The other 24% is "(Ten Thingy)"

There seems to be a lot of discussion about characters holding up the story.
We never had too much of a problem with that with the pirates and I think I can pin point some of the reasons why:

Everyone had one* character, and every character was just as important as every other character. Although we had the top ranking pirates (The Fearless Five and the evil Wizard), none of them were so indispensable and crucial that the storyline couldn't move on without them.

(*A word on the One Character rule: Each person had their own character and they controlled that character’s fate. No one else could: kill, injure or move that person’s character without their permission. Multiple characters weren’t allowed, expect for one exception. A person could create a secondary character that supports the personal story arc of their main character. The secondary character must play a supporting role only. For example: If you decided your character has a long lost younger sister, you can create that character and you control their fate. But you couldn’t “talk” or “think” as that character. You’d have to talk through the eyes and thoughts of your MAIN character at all times. Your secondary character could only support the main character. (However people could create background “Faceless” characters that anyone could use.)

There was usually a “big picture” story idea (Just an idea and basic plans of what might happen, not specifics on how we’d get there), but ANYONE could start their own side storylines, so there was usually more than one thing people could talk about.

Let's look at some examples of people disappearing. Say this happened:

THOMAS: *Boards the Black Spot and spots Fish working on fixing a leaky barrel.* Aha! So we meet again Fish! I swore I would have vengeance on you one day, and that day is TODAY!! *Thomas draws his cutlass and points it at Fish*

FISH: *crickets*
(Fish is offline)

Now, the thread wouldn't just pause there for days as we wait for Fish to come back and respond. Instead this is what would probably have happened.

MACHIA: From his perch in the crow’s nest, Machia saw the flash of steel in Thomas's hand. The next second, he was on his way down the riggings, drawing the pistol from his belt. The First Mate hit the deck running and came to a halt right behind Thomas, pistol raised. "Arrr, ye picked the wrong ship, matey."

Thomas: *Whirls around to face Machia instead*


So that's one example. Someone else would come and insert their character into the mix.

Let's see another example: Let's say the Pirates came to the climax of a battle with the Wizard and suddenly the user controlling the wizard just disappeared.

First of all, there would be another storyline going on. So there would still be activity from other people.

Second, the pirates would use that disappearance in the story itself. But only AFTER giving the user time to respond.

So here's what might happen if the wizard disappeared in the middle of a battle with the pirates. We all chill for a day or so. Then we’d probably discuss with each other what we wanted to do. I can think of two options on how you could continue:

OPTION 1:
Captain Aravis: Where... where did the Wizard go? He was here a minute ago!

Twilight: He just disappeared into thin air! What trickery is this?

Machia: Everyone back to the ship!


This wouldn’t be using someone's character. It would be making up a logical excuse for his absence. You never force the character to do something; you would just make a logical excuse for their absence.

Or let’s say it wasn’t a wizard or someone who would typically disappear. Let’s say we’re fighting a Calormene warrior and the user just dropped off the forum. First we wait…

OPTION 2:
Suddenly the ground began to quake and beneath the Pirates feet. Machia stumbled but managed to regain his footing and steady himself. He and Twilight both turned their pistols towards the warrior, but Captain Aravis was soon in more trouble. The cliff edge she was standing on started to crumble away. Tossing her cutlass aside she managed to grab onto a tree root at the last second.

“Arrrr, Cap’n!!” Machia shouted as he and Twlight sprinted over to the Captain.

The Earth gave another violent termer, and without any time to react all three pirates went tumbling down the embankment.



And so when the Wizard/Warrior came back, he would find his character right where he was left, but at the same time he could expect the story to have progressed and he would just roll with the new twist or convince the others to go back to that time.

Now the reason we'd do it this was was because everyone’s character was completely tied to the real life forum user. What happens to the user affects the character. So let's say if the user was suddenly banned, their character would disappear from the game too, no matter what the consequences. (Back to, no character was ever considered so important that the game would stop if they weren't there.) If someone had a question for the captain and she wasn't around, we'd make excuses like, "I don't know where the Captain is; perhaps she be resting. What can I help ye with?" and everyone moves on.

Again I think that’s one of the biggest differences the Pirates had from other games and what made it one of the longest running and best beloved RPGs of all time. Because the characters weren’t just throwaway characters, they were extensions of the person controlling them, with real completely unique backgrounds. Even today, five years later, every time I talk to QA48 (Our Pirate captain) on Facebook, text or in person I still call her Captain and she still calls us “Mateys” or calls Liz Fish. It wasn’t just a game, it was more like a club or… a team, an actual crew! There was a sense of community and pride that I never experienced in any other RPG (And I did try a couple others)

Another reason why we didn’t have too many problems with people disappearing and holding up a story was because a character almost NEVER went anywhere by themselves. The pirates almost always moved as a crew, or in small groups of two or more. So there was always SOMEONE around to deal with anything that came up. Characters could, say, walk off into the woods by themselves, but if something were to go wrong, other characters were always in the area to help out if needed.

Also, if someone was going to have a prolonged absence, they might arrange with someone to “watch over” their character, but that was up to the individual people if they wanted to do that. So they could set up a “dopple-ganger” if they wanted to, but I think that sort of thing should be left up to the individual person.

And a final reason the game wasn’t often held up, (I think I already mentioned this.. sorry!) the game was “run” by more than one person and the STORY was created by everyone, not just the leaders. There was always more than one “leader” who helped plot in which direction the story MIGHT go. So they could try to steer the story off on another path if everyone seemed to be in a rut. But at the same time, anyone could start a new storyline and see if anyone was interested in it. Some storylines worked and some just fizzled out. So there was always something going on.

(The “leaders” of the thread had two basic functions: 1. Brainstorm, put forward, and help people execute, new plot directions and ideas. 2. Police their threads and step in if needed to make sure no one runs rampant in their thread. So if someone showed up and started destroying the ship and blowing everyone up, (Which was against the rules) the leader would post something like:
"ooc: Um..... No. You can't do that. That was complete godmodding. You have to give us a chance to react. "
Then the leader would post something in character, completely ignoring the last "illegal" post and taking the story back to before the other person started destroying the ship. And if the person continued being a nuisance they would find a mod.)


Ok, I'm done now! :D
 
I have an actual RP concept. It would not need any fighting, being more about, shall we say, adjustment to a new environment. Imagine the following alternate universe. The events of "The Last Battle" occur as in the book, EXCEPT THAT--

** Nobody dies in a train wreck.

** Eustace and Jill are sent back to Earth alive; and Tirian, Jewel and Poggin are sent with them. Aslan says that He expects Tirian to be a good influence on Britain in the 1950's, and the Professor (not being dead) helps to create a fake identity for the former king. Jewel is given the ability to disguise himself as a plain horse by making his horn invisible.

This would give plenty of slots for players to act as canonical Narnian characters. Additionally, if people know who was famous on Earth in those days, Earthling celebrities like Elvis Presley could appear as characters.

This sounds like an interesting idea and you could probably find people to join you, however it's not quite time to start bringing up ideas for actual RPs yet. The pirates is a special case, it's being discussed whether to bring it back and how to do so and it's being used as an example of the older style of RPing. Once we have the new RP section we will no doubt have a way of suggesting ideas for new RPs. For now we are mostly discussing rules and modifications being made to the style of RPing on the forum.
 
Thank you Mozy for your contribution. In regards to my English, even though it's not my mother tongue, it is the language I use in my day to day communication at least 95% of the time, so I think I have a handle on it. Besides, I do have a Master's degree from a California State U, and although writing academic papers is not the same as writing a novel, I could have never written those papers without having some command of the language.

And now, on to the topic. I do hope, Mozy, that when the forum becomes active again, that you come back and participate in the role plays. You do have permission from the first mate of the Ginger Pirates to join the Original Pirate Thread.

And as far as the role plays, yes, the way the pirates played as explained by both Fish and Machia is the way I wish all role plays were handled. That way there are no issues with players being absent and no need to take over someone's character. There would also be no need to try to advance the play in any one way because all players would contribute one way or another in making the story come to life. Making it personal, as in the character being an extension of the actual player makes it much more interesting, fun, and lasting. Let's aim for that type or role plays.

And GG, I think CF was saying that in jest.
 
Can the thread called "In Ashe Fork (This is the for-est primeval...): Free RP" stay? I want to see of Mozart would still like to continue in there and if not, it can be deleted but I want to give her a chance to continue in there first.
 
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Just waiting for a couple of answers and a few other things to fall in place and then I'll post about the revamping of this forum.
 
Just a quick double post to let everyone know that the Narnian Pirates thread has been given the go ahead. Expect to see it up and running as soon as the first mate has everything in place.

I will soon post the new rules in their own thread for everyone to read. Expect the changes to be gradual, but surely coming in the next few days. :)
 
In case you are wondering where the old roleplay threads are going, they have been saved to the Cair Paravel Library in the Sea of Forgetfulness. If you want to continue one of these archived threads, please pm Barbarian King or GondorGirl.
Once a king or queen of Narnia, Always a king or queen of Narnia ;)
 
For months now, I've been trying to find "With Sword Claws and Teeth bared" but on every occasion I put this or anything else in "search" I get the message that search has been disabled. Any reason for this?
 
For months now, I've been trying to find "With Sword Claws and Teeth bared" but on every occasion I put this or anything else in "search" I get the message that search has been disabled. Any reason for this?

From what I understand from something Specter said in a Facebook post a while back, he had to disable the search feature on the forum because it was one of the things that was causing the server to be down constantly. So we probably won't be able to "search" for anything in the near future.

Here is the thread you're looking for: http://narniafans.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28825

Alternatively, if you're looking for old threads, go down to the bottom of the "Dawn Treader" page and you'll see a box that says "Display Options". There are three pull-down menu options: "Sorted By", "Sort Order" and "From The"

To find the thread I had these options selected:
Sorted By - Last Post Time
Sort Order - Descending
From The - Beginning

The forum automatically only shows you the threads that have been posted on in the last month. By selecting "Beginning" in the "From The" menu will show you pretty much any thread you would need to find. (unless it's been retired in The Sea of Forgetfulness)

Hope that helps!
 
From what I understand from something Specter said in a Facebook post a while back, he had to disable the search feature on the forum because it was one of the things that was causing the server to be down constantly. So we probably won't be able to "search" for anything in the near future.

Here is the thread you're looking for: http://narniafans.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28825

Alternatively, if you're looking for old threads, go down to the bottom of the "Dawn Treader" page and you'll see a box that says "Display Options". There are three pull-down menu options: "Sorted By", "Sort Order" and "From The"

To find the thread I had these options selected:
Sorted By - Last Post Time
Sort Order - Descending
From The - Beginning

The forum automatically only shows you the threads that have been posted on in the last month. By selecting "Beginning" in the "From The" menu will show you pretty much any thread you would need to find. (unless it's been retired in The Sea of Forgetfulness)

Hope that helps!

Hey thank you! I attempted to seek out the older rpgs (ex. Rangers, pirates, knights, etc.) but kept coming up short. Now I can go back and reminisce on the good old days 🙂
 
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