Starscream
Major
"Sometimes I can almost feel it!"
strangely enough, male.
Posts: 945
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Post by Starscream on Jul 13, 2007 19:56:16 GMT -5
You refer to 'Cartoon Network' when really, it should be called 'Animated' with a side-remark about how it's the cartoon network show, formerly called Heroes.
Also, 'Dreamwave Beast Wars' was limited to a single 8-or-so page story. The story that WAS DW Beast Wars was apparently condensed from a 6 issue story to a 4-issue one for IDW.
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Post by Long Haul on Jul 13, 2007 19:58:57 GMT -5
I'll probably call it Animated/Heroes then, with the note on the side, yes. Considering most of these were animated, calling it Animated seems to be asking for trouble. The changes will be made on the refined version. Thanks for your feedback.
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Post by Swerve on Jul 13, 2007 20:17:11 GMT -5
The notes on stat conversion? HUGE help. I do love me some clarification.
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Post by Long Haul on Jul 15, 2007 10:33:27 GMT -5
How do you guys advertise your game?Word of mouth, mostly. Many of us come from a number of other Transformers role-play communities (I believe the Transformers: 2005 MUSH and Livejournal's Nexus are two of our biggest sources of players) and when we get one person from a Transformers RPG, they tend to bring friends with them. Most of us have Livejournals, and some of us have advertised in our own Journals, but that still pretty much just counts as "word of mouth." Also, a couple of us watch the Livejournal community Bad RPers Suck (I do it mostly to feel good about myself... "Man, I have got it so good as far as RPGs go!). While they don't allow advertising outside of a specific advertising post (one we have not used), by their rules, "Also, this LJ is not a game-advertisement and/or plugging community, though I don't mind if you mention a game by proxy in a post. Just don't spam the group." If I happen to spot someone bemoaning the difficulty of finding a good Transformers game, yes, I'll mention it, as have some of our members. If I ever spot someone else has already mentioned their Transformers game, I would not (because then it does start to seem like spam) so.... beat me to it, and it's all yours! If you'll check the BRPS info page, they list a number of RPG advertising resources. Again, we've not taken advantage of these (although we occasionally consider it), but some might find them useful. Finally, other games may advertise here if they wish to. We don't want our boards or our members to be spammed, but a single thread in the General Board to advertise your game and answer questions is considered acceptable. There's a lot of different RPGs out there, and a lot of different players. Not every game matches to everyone's tastes, and many players enjoy different games to meet different needs and moods. We don't consider ourselves to be in competition with any other game, and would therefore like to maintain a friendly relationship with other RPGs. You guys have some players with multiple accounts just to make the game look more popular, don't you?No, we have some players with multiple accounts because, when they run multiple characters, we think it's less confusing that way. We're honestly not that worried with "popularity" as long as everyone is having a good time. When running a Transformers RPG (which, think about it, is something that would traditionally be considered very geeky) becomes a popularity contest, something's been lost. But we do have more "member" accounts than we actually have players, because some players run multiple characters. We also have two utility accounts, Anonymous and SceneMod, who serve specific purposes but who don't have any one player. Finally, we have a few members without approved characters, as it's a convenient way to watch the game, communicate with the mods, ask questions on the OOC board, or just... hang out, if that's what someone wants to do (most of our non-player-members are pretty quiet, so we're just making guesses with some of these).
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Post by Long Haul on Jul 17, 2007 19:33:32 GMT -5
Why do you guys keep nerfing/deleting the skills from my application?
You're probably asking for too many, or asking for them at too high of levels. Remember that "average" means "your character could conceivably make a living doing this, although they would only be average in the field." This description, of course, only applies to those skills that one actually could make a living doing, but the general idea for how "good" average is still applies.
While there are a couple of characters who have skills lists in the double digits, these are rare, and many competent, highly skilled characters only have 3-4 skills on the wiki. Also keep in mind that many canon characters are not shown to exhibit a wide array of skills outside of combat. It is entirely possible for a character to have no skills, and still be a valid character.
Silly skills, or fluff skills, can be amusing, but should be kept at a minimum. A single fluff skill on an application ("Cloud Watching," "Conciseness") can be fun, but a long list of them gets tedious. Players are asked to keep to only one or two such skills, if they are included.
Finally, a lot of people request "skills" that are really not skills. "Mayhem and Destruction" is not a skill. It's something pretty much every Decepticon does by being a Decepticon, and some Autobots are capable of if you get them angry enough. Not everyone needs a fighting-style skill. While some people get training in specific schools of fighting, most of combat fighting ability is covered by the Melee, Ranged, and Agility stats. And so on.
So if we keep asking you to lower your skill levels or delete skills from your character, it's because we feel you have no support for what you've asked for, or because you're asking for a lot of fluff skills and skills that are not skills.
What are the most over-applied for skills?
Originally, it was Repair. Generally speaking, we'd like to keep significant levels of Repair restricted to the technically oriented characters to prevent them from being marginalized.
Since we made our ruling about Repair, First Aid replaced it as the most over-requested ability. The arguments sound good. "Doesn't everyone in our military get trained in basic human first aid?" Yes, yes they do. And they frequently immediately forget the bulk of it, because it does not get used often enough to stick with them. The fact is, not every character in the series is shown to be technically inclined, or to be able to do even basic level repairs. Therefore, not every character in the game is that way.
Intimidation is asked for too often, and often with justifications that are inappropriate. If your character is intimidating because they are large and heavily armed, this is not a skill but a side effect of their appearance. They are not intimidating because they understand how to encourage people to behave the way they want them to through the application of fear; they are intimidating because they are big and scary.
For example, Omega Supreme only has Intimidation at Average. The truth is, most Transformers would (and do) find him far more intimidating than skill alone accounts for. Most of Omega Supreme's Intimidation "omph" comes from being firking huge and hugely powerful. He does have some level of understanding how to use his size, and both his speech patterns and general stoicism would unnerve most robots, so he still has some level of the skill; it just does not reflect how intimidating he actually is.
Scouting is probably approaching the level of "over-requested," but is not there yet. This is not mentioned as a way of saying, "Better ask for it while you can!" Rather, it's put here to encourage you to think it over before including it on your application.
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Post by Starfighter on Jul 17, 2007 22:13:16 GMT -5
Also, a couple of us watch the Livejournal community Bad RPers Suck (I do it mostly to feel good about myself... "Man, I have got it so good as far as RPGs go!).
After the OC with the five-foot, er, interface unit mentioned in their bio, I will never doubt you guys ever again.
No, we have some players with multiple accounts because, when they run multiple characters, we think it's less confusing that way. We're honestly not that worried with "popularity" as long as everyone is having a good time. When running a Transformers RPG (which, think about it, is something that would traditionally be considered very geeky) becomes a popularity contest, something's been lost.
I run multiple characters because I get bored with just one, to be honest. Not to look good, just to have fun.
Nerfing?
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 17, 2007 22:33:40 GMT -5
Lowering. As in, we ask the person to take a skill at a lower level than they apply for.
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Starscream
Major
"Sometimes I can almost feel it!"
strangely enough, male.
Posts: 945
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Post by Starscream on Jul 24, 2007 5:14:35 GMT -5
Playskool Go-Bots - Unless you send in an app so good that it causes all three admin to orgasm on the spot.
I accept your challenge.
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Shortround
Minor
Breaker of the Fourth Wall
Posts: 272
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Post by Shortround on Jul 24, 2007 6:33:47 GMT -5
Speaking of Gobots, would Bandai Gobots be accepted? The ones who jumped continuities and gave the Transformers the Spychanger technology.
Guys like Bug Bite for instance?
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Post by Starfighter on Jul 24, 2007 12:05:24 GMT -5
Playskool Go-Bots - Unless you send in an app so good that it causes all three admin to orgasm on the spot.I accept your challenge. So that's what that cold chill going down my back last night was about.
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Post by Long Haul on Jul 27, 2007 11:50:10 GMT -5
Speaking of Gobots, would Bandai Gobots be accepted? The ones who jumped continuities and gave the Transformers the Spychanger technology. Guys like Bug Bite for instance? Shortround: I'm terribly sorry for not getting back to you on this! I saw it, thought, "Gee, I'd better discuss that with the other admin," and then... completely forgot about it. The answer is: we still don't have an answer. >_> But I just remembered the question, and we will take that suggestion into consideration.
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Post by Long Haul on Jul 27, 2007 12:21:47 GMT -5
Why do you ask the question about how I perceive my character's role in the game, what my goals for the character are, and what sort of RP I'm looking for?This question is here to try to root out any potential compatibility problems. The setting and environment of Deadzone is not for everyone, and if a player's goals and interests in role-play are vastly different from what we offer, it lets us know that this may not be the game for them. This is not to say that we think they are probably bad role-players. Only that they are likely to be more satisfied in another game. We also are looking for possible disconnects between character type and player goals. A good example of this is someone applying for a character who functions, primarily, as a warrior, but who states they want to avoid combat RP. A conflict like this is an invitation to player dissatisfaction, and may lead to problems down the road. Additions to this answer: At any given time in the game, there are character types that it would be useful, plot-wise, to have around. This section provides a handy way for us to identify if your character fills any particular gaps or niches we'd like to see filled. Now, mind you, there is nothing wrong with a character whose primary purpose and role is "generic warrior," "generic medic," "generic scientist." There were plenty of those in the series, after all! However, the more unbalanced any one faction is, physically, at a given moment, the less inclined we are to approve characters who add nothing more than more combat strength to a faction that already has the advantage in that area. The same sort of thinking also applies to the "generic medic" and "generic scientist" roles. One thing that very few players take advantage of is this question's potential use as a means to sell your character to us. If you have specific plot ideas that you'd like to see run that require your character, this is the place to tell us about it. They can be grand, sweeping plots, or smaller-scale, but the best ideas have the potential to involve a lot of other players and, to be blunt, don't focus on your character's awesomeness. If you've got ideas for plots that would require/spotlight your character, but also allow several other characters to shine, that's great! Tell us about it! Make us want to approve your character just so we can run that awesome plot you mentioned in your goals section! Note: "My character takes over/tries to take over the Autobots/Decepticons" is not an awesome and original plot. It actually gets mentioned a lot.Finally, it should be noted that it's possible to state that you are inflexible in some goal, provided it is a reasonable goal, and still get your character approved. As a specific example, the character Needlenose was applied for as an Actionmaster, something that was set to wear off quickly after his introduction. The applicant stated that they did not insist that he have his Actionmaster status, but did add that if he did, they wanted to be involved in at least one reasonably sized battle with the character still pumped up before he returned to normal. Being inflexible in this goal was not deemed unreasonable, and the character was granted.
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Post by Long Haul on Jul 29, 2007 17:31:34 GMT -5
Speaking of Gobots, would Bandai Gobots be accepted? The ones who jumped continuities and gave the Transformers the Spychanger technology. Guys like Bug Bite for instance? Shortround: I'm terribly sorry for not getting back to you on this! I saw it, thought, "Gee, I'd better discuss that with the other admin," and then... completely forgot about it. The answer is: we still don't have an answer. >_> But I just remembered the question, and we will take that suggestion into consideration. Getting back to you now. Shortround, we've discussed it, and I'm afraid the answer is "no" for two reasons. First, this game is limited to Transformers in some way, shape, or form, not just transforming robots. Those Go-Bots' IC explanation is that they were not Transformers, but Go-Bots pretending to be Transformers, and so they don't qualify. Second, they were universe-hoppers, which plays all sorts of havoc with our setting. So I'm afraid the answer is, "No." In other news, the restrictions on Transformers Go-Bots are being lifted, because those are, specifically, Transformers. In fact, their symbol is even a variant of the Autobot symbol. In the hands of a good enough RPer, these characters would be no worse, "cutsieness-wise", than, say, Holi or Wheelie, although they'd certainly be in for one heck of a culture shock. They will still probably call for a well above-average application, and it is suggested that the "Thread-Starter" section be answered with the Deadzone setting in mind, but they are allowed. For anyone up to that rather bizarre challenge, the only four cartoons for them can be downloaded here: chawks.brinkster.net/gb/story/downloads.shtmlMy connection speed prevents me from downloading them, but Emirate Xaaron has been looking at them so that he can act as canon-checker.
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Post by Long Haul on Jul 29, 2007 17:37:49 GMT -5
Do you guys have a set system when converting from tech spec to Deadzone stats, or are you just making things up as you go along?... SNIP ... SpeedAlthough we do look at the Speed stat on the official tech spec, we're more likely to reference real world equivalents, established canon abilities, and tech spec write-ups instead. We now have a hard Speed system, where the categories break down as follows: 0-50 mph : Slow 50-150 mph : Average 150-800 mph : Fast 800-25000 mph : Zoom! 25000+ mph : Poof! Slow-to-Average is mostly arbitrary. Average-to-Fast is set low enough to let most of the sports cars characters be fast, but high enough to keep slow pokes like Kup and Long Haul out of the category. Fast-to-Zoom is based, loosely, off the speed of sound. Zoom-to-Poof is based, loosely, off the escape velocity on Earth. Most robot-mode running speeds will be assumed to be Slow, unless reason is given to think otherwise. Those with robot-mode flying can usually move at Average while flying, but not running. Those characters who have specific top speeds mentioned will have those included in parenthesis after the generic values.
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Post by Long Haul on Jul 30, 2007 14:01:08 GMT -5
Who is Adminimus?
Adminimus is the combined form of the Deadzone admin gestalt. We are an old school gestalt, built off the Devastator model, meaning we have difficulty taking action unless all our component parts are in agreement. The result of this is that we are sometimes slow and clumsy in responding to things. However, we feel this is a superior model to, say, the Superion model, where all component parts of our personality not dedicated to battling players would be shut down. Such a situation would be uncomfortable to both admin and players.
The Defensor model, where we decide that all our players are like our children, would be kind of creepy.
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