Suggestion: Character interaction areas

Okay, Harry told me to come over here and say something so I am. :3

I'm in agreement with this. I also agree with Ataro in the sense that we should wait a while before even trying to incorporate something like this. However, I also agree with all of you that role playing is all about character interaction, and while we've got the National Park, it's not exactly that easy to interact with each other. If this was to be implemented, it should solely be for the purpose of character interaction and development, and not for the purposes of capturing Pokemon/monetary gain. I think that, because you've got such an active role-playing forum here and most of you are regular users of it, you were expecting the URPG to be a lot more heavily role-play based, which is fair enough because of the name - Pokemon Ultra RPG.

If you want this to get the go-ahead, you need to decide exactly how you want this to work. I've seen quite a few of you suggest different ideas in this thread already. You need to write up some sort of system that you think will work best and send it to Harry or whoever when you've finished. Make sure you include as much detail as possible (descriptions of possible locations, restrictions, guidelines, the actual purpose of incorporating this etc.).

 

Ok, in response to Misuzo-kin's post, I'm going to repost my preveious post on the second page, and in aknowledgement to as many people's ideas as I can, I'll revamp what I previously said. Please, read all of what I type, and bring up any concerns or issues with it so that we can improve on these basic ideas.
Please note that if a step as a (*), that means there is an optional tag on at the end of the post that could be added to the step in the future

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Step 1. A new section of the park area be created for the sole purpose of character interaction (a trainer cafe if you will) It WILL be outside of the gate, so no entry fee like other areas, but would still be counted as such (like 'The Woods' or 'Meteor Valley' would be considered an area)

A. Permission need not be granted to enter this one thread, you may simply post at will. However, all other areas remain intact, and you must still pay and request a ranger to walk through.​

B. Mods and Rangers would be free from an duties to this particular area (unless rules are broken, the usual) and the only obligation they will have is the starting post that sets the scene like all other areas.​

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Step 2. If this particular sub-area of the National Park does take off, and ONLY assuming that we have enough Moderators, then a vote should be taken place the Trainer's Court on whether we should create an entire sub-board dedicated to off-topic RPing, and if an appropriate amount of votes is reached (which I would assume would be left to the Moderators to decide what number is appropriate) then it would pass.
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Step 3*. ONLY assuming that an appropriate amount of votes are achieved, we need to make a clear distinction between our usual RPing and this new RPing, because I'm sure everyone here in the beginning was a little fuzzy on what was being proposed in the first place. Probably the best way to go about this is to have two different kinds of threads.

A. One thread (I repeat, only 1 thread,) will be created, that is both sponsored and ruled by the mods. Just like the "Trainer Cafe", they have no real obligation in here. Any of their duties (such as sprinkling in a random little event or getting some new plot going or something) are purely optional, and if they choose to, let the thread take its course and not intervene at all. Their choice. ​

B. All other threads will be left up to average players to create. Any person can create an RP/club thread, and will only be able to create one. (They will be able to participate in more than one RP, however they can only create a single RP themselves)​

1. All RP threads made in this sub-board would be non-objective based. Anything that takes place in these threads are purely for personal story and character interaction purposes, and nothing that happens in them will be carried over, or effect, anything that happens outside of the RP board.​

2. These are essentially role playing clubs and stories, that are run by their individual members, to which case their continuity is dependent upon themselves and only themselves. Therefore, Moderator demand would be limited, save for Help and the occasional peek through to see if there is no flaming and such. ​

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Step 4*. Expansion of stories would be a huge improvement to the URPG. Possibly after any sort of RPing sub board is made, perhaps offer the option of collaborative, ongoing objective based stories, perhaps with some extra incentives for reaching a certain point (i.e, 10 people in one story, 20 people, etc.) This may actually be a blessing in disguise for graders, as while they may have more to grade in one go, writers would keep themselves occupied by going back-to-back with other writers as they wait for a grader to come around, thus boosting morale around here, which is always a good thing.

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[Optinoal] Step 4 Cont. Instead of completely objective based stories (case in point, only capturing pokemon, which puts a strain on graders when only one writer is making stories that can take a week to get to with such high demand) perhaps we could give the option of posting on topic, relevant stories in the Story Board that offer different incentives. For example, a group of players go through a dungeon to find different items that are distributed between them to however the writers agree upon (as this would be too much to ask for the graders, so therefore it's the writers responsibility) and if the GROUP'S work is collectively acceptable, give them a yes or no on wether they get the items they want.
(This would however call for the demand of a hierarchy of items that require more difficult writing than others, so this is why I have designated this as an optional step. Even if we would have a decent amount of graders at this point, I don't think this would pass any time soon, but it's worth metnion.)

[Optional] Step 3, B-2. In the case that Moderators are needed less in the RP board, then a volunteer watchdog team could be trained to watch over and make sure that everyone is getting along. They would essentially be average role players with minimal granted powers, and if an unruly player does not listen when warned by these volunteers, and they continue their disruptive behavior, then Moderators would be alerted by said group.
(This was mostly added to pacify the people who I KNOW are gonna attack me for Step B-2. However, current programs such as the Mentor/Tutor have given me hope that this might be slightly feasible in the future)
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Step 5. Shut up. Eat Cookies. Be merry

 

[/slightly off topic] I must pipe up to say that URPG stories are not intended to be "completely objective based stories." The guides for new writers just portray them at that level for ease of learning process. Ideally, we graders want URPG writers to step above and beyond the idea of "GO CAPTURE A POKÉMON AND TA DA" to more... story-based stories.

Uh. Now for the on topic comment. As a test-run idea, I could genuinely see this working. In the long run, however, it's not as much of a "hands-off" venture as I think you're insinuating, as there would probably (eventually) be some form of demand for "rewards for our efforts" (on all ends). These demands would likely be met, which means deliberate organization and work from moderators that goes beyond the occasional story prodding. SO KEEP THAT IN MIND.

 

Seems like we have little choice, you all seem to have some sort of concept as to what you want. We'll discuss it and get back to you with something.

 

Oh, don't be a spoilsport, Isaiah. Personally, I like the idea.

 

I would say we start with just 3A; just one thread. And if we do get permission to create individualized threads, say for clubs of Rocketeers or whatever, I think we should have to ask permission before we create to make sure they don't a) duplicate already existing threads and b) get too cluttered or specialized.

But this is putting the cart before the horse. As you present it, I'm okay with the structure of what you have put forth. I agree with 3 up until A; I'd say hold off on 3b. And I like 4 as it stands without the optional rider.

 

I WAS TRYING TO LET THEM KNOW WE WERE LISTENING TO WHAT THEY WANTED AND TRYING TO ACT ACCORDINGLY
........

 

First thing's first: This will NOT be going in the National Park section, if the Mods even approve it to begin with. Why? Because the Park's whole point is to capture Pokemon. This proposal sounds like a general RP for the URPG as a whole, not just for Trainers in the Park. To me, it seems like everyone wants to have a loose URPG-based RP. That would have to have its own sub-board, like every other section in the URPG.

Now then, I'm not going to say this couldn't work, but it's too early to try and implement something else to the URPG. We're still trying to get things settled; as was mentioned, now's not the best time to try and bring in a new element. We're not saying to push this into a dark corner and forget about it, we're saying put it on a shelf and give us a few months to get all the other stuff taken care of. Because yes, this would need to be modded like every other section, and there are hardly enough active Mods on Garden to keep up with what's going on now.

As for the thing itself, it would probably need its own sub-board. Within that sub-board would be a general sticky for coming in and posting, doing light RP and such, maybe finding someone to RP with you. Then there could be individual threads were pairs and groups could do their RPing.

As for RPing over AIM, it can work. I've done it before, when I was a member of the Forgotten Legacies group on Yahoo. Several of us would get together on AIM and have this massive RP, which would then be posted on the group forum so those who couldn't take part still know what happened.

I personally like RPing over AIM ^^.

Also, I have to admit that a good 40% of these posts were quickly scanned, so meh.

 

Actually, if we eliminate any reward-based RPing from the proposal, this can be implemented quite easily within the next week or two.

The only question I have is how will this be different than the RP section that already exists on Bulbagarden? Will it be similar, differing in the major aspect that roleplayers are restricted to using only the Pokemon they own in the URPG?

 

We could make it with that clause Kim, and I think that since it would be for the purpose of URPG members, then they would be held to similar expectations just like the other sub-sections. Case in point, only have the pokemon you have currently (save for new additions through stories.)

Possibly make it mandatory that the rping has to be at least somewhat relevant to the URPG? Otherwise, if there's a whole lot of RPing that has nothing to do with pokemon or the RP, then it'd basically just be a clone of the current RP section

 

Believe it or not, my start on Pokemon forums actually was in the world of Pokemon Roleplaying. It was the draw that brought me here and something I've always enjoyed.

So it is exciting to see an interest in that aspect even in the URPG, where we've long held more focus in battling and stories. This idea... is more akin to what I'm familiar with.

So, based on the proposal, here's my counter-proposal. It will look very familiar.

A sub-forum under General that deals specifically with Roleplaying. In it, we shall have, as mentioned:

A. One thread will be created, that is both sponsored and ruled by the mods. Just like the "Trainer Cafe", they have no real obligation in here. Any of their duties (such as sprinkling in a random little event or getting some new plot going or something) are purely optional, and if they choose to, let the thread take its course and not intervene at all. Their choice. ​

B. All other threads will be left up to average players to create. The only Pokemon a roleplayer will be allowed to use are those they own within the URPG.​

1. All RP threads made in this sub-board would be non-objective based. Anything that takes place in these threads are purely for personal story and character interaction purposes, and nothing that happens in them will be carried over, or effect, anything that happens outside of the RP board.​

2. These are essentially role playing clubs and stories, that are run by their individual members, to which case their continuity is dependent upon themselves and only themselves. Therefore, Moderator demand would be limited, save for Help and the occasional peek through to see if there is no flaming and such. ​

3. In regards to RP threads, that particular RP's host will have the option of letting the roleplayers resolve any battles that occur in the RP through the URPG battle system. This, of course, can only occur if the said battle is between URPG members. The RP can then decide whether to roleplay the actual battle, the results of the battle, or skip it entirely. This is entirely optional.​

 

I think that could work, Harry. I think the last part will encourage more people to battle, particularly.

 

I agree. And I know where you're coming from Kim. I started pokemon forums through RPing too, and it's a great way to meet new people and have alot of fun, that encourage participation in other communities within the forum

 

It sounding great. I love it. ^.^

 

How about another site linked to the URPG.Like make another Forum specifically for the URPG.It can have 4 sections for each region(Black and White can be added later).And players can choose where they can start from.Even give thrm a house if they want.

 

I'm not sure how much I'm interested in creating another site for the URPG, especially when we already exist on two forums and a back-up forum.

Bulbagarden's staff has been the most responsive to any changes I've requested. If we add anything new, the changes would likely be made here first (and perhaps only here since PE2Kers aren't as interested in the RP aspect). That being said, can you explain a bit further what you have in mind?

 

By per chance we could create another forum,what if we were to separate the regions.It could be a URPG only forum where people could traverse the different regions of the pokemon world(Game versions only,NO random anime cities).Gym leaders can be stationed in there cities or wander near the said city if they please but they must accept any gym challenge.People can interact with each other on routes,cities,towns all of that.

 

That sounds like something totally different from URPG... kinda takes the whole "G" out of it.