URPG Stories Chat and Feedback

omg, nitro, it's called patience. get it plz. we have lives. gosh. But srsly, I guess I'll go claim your story since it's the only one left that needs grading. I GUESS. I DON'T REALLY WANT TO, BUT I GUESS I WILL. jk, i actually want to read it, so that gives me a reason to.

Someone on PE2K did that, & I didn't see anyone there complain about it, so I imagine it would be okay here as well.

 

omg felly don't make me ban you

 

I think I made basic grades... When is the wages, anyway?

 

Wages pop up at the end of the month. Probably a week from today, or possibly a week from tomorrow.

 

I'm going to be starting the next part of The Sunless sometime this week, so any tips for it or additional feedback on the previous story would be more than helpful.

 

So this has been an argument for a while now, and I think it's time to put an end to it:

From now on, all story passes impact the Minimum Character Requirement, not the rank of the Pokémon.

This means that all 5k Story Passes now remove 10% of the Minimum Character Requirement, and all 10k Story Passes remove 25% of the MCR. This applies to all story passes, unless you can prove that your pass was different (I believe there was a specialized Story Pass handed out at a semi-recent auction). This makes the most sense for the Story section, as the difference between ranks at the higher levels rarely validates the loss of significant length, especially for the cost of 5-10k. PLUS WE CAN'T HAVE PEOPLE GETTING MAGIKARPS FOR FREE!

If you have something to add or explain, feel free to post your response.

 

I am so glad Story Passes are only handed out in gift stations & at some auctions. xD Felly doesn't math at all.

 

So in the past:

Magikarp + Story Pass = FREE?!

 

You would have to write SOMEthing, though if you're using a Story Pass for a Magikarp you have to be pretty desperate for any Mon.

 

You might've already done this and idk, but I'm going to make sure, this should probably be editted into some stickied story thread. If not, it'll get could very easily end up forgotten like Pidge's auction thing, and then the argument will crop up all over again.

 

I have two Story Passes that were for 20% MCR reduction that I've had for ages. Do those stay @ 20 or do they increase/decrease?

 

Sure, keep it at 20%. Before the passes could be bought for either 5k or 10k, the percentages varied, and it honestly didn't matter too much. As long as you keep it where it was, I see no problem as to why it can't stay at the original amount.

And the free Magikarp example is an extreme exaggeration. The argument is that the pass decreases the rank of a single Pokémon, but Magikarp is the lowest rank, so the question rises if you would get the Magikarp for free. The answer was vague, but it's now a definite no.

Also I already edited it into the Grading Group/Grading Guide!

 

Quick explanation to the Rank modifiers:

Stories section doesn't pass or fail based on MCR. The character minimums are not a bible, and should not be treated as such. This fact is even written in disclaimer form at the top of http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/f396/all-pokemon-we-dont-hate-58596/.

This means the story is judged on overall composition. Yes, the character ranges are pretty accurate, and should be used as a guideline when determining outcome. But, that is because more advanced stories typically need the extra cc to be such high-level. A Merciless plotline will most likely not fit into 20k. I'm not saying it cannot be done, but the skill required to accomplish that kind of achievement is probably out of our user range.

That said: story tickets are useless. They do not affect tier, and they do not affect outcome of capture. All they affect is MCR - something that is not actually a requirement in the first place.

For example: Let's say someone uses their 20% off story ticket on an attempted Abra.

Cool! I can remove 4000 characters from my required 20,000 characters!

Not cool. The 20,000 characters are not a requirement. They are a guideline. This means that the author now "has" to write a Hard-level story within a span of 16,000 characters. They've made it more difficult on themselves, and essentially wasted a story ticket. If they managed to write for a Hard rank within 16,000, that's great. But they didn't need the story ticket to pull that off; it would have been a capture regardless.

CC is an incredibly common misconception with grading. I DUN UNDERSTAND HOW WE COULD HAVE MADE IT ANY MORE CLEAR... PERHAPS IN BOLD ABOVE THE TIER EXPLANATIONS? owait. xD The story is the most important part of the story. The story decides whether or not the story passes or fails. The grade is an assessment of all of the criteria combined and then judged as a whole in the outcome. If any section should have highest impact, it should be the plot. Not details. Not grammar. And most definitely not cc.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR STORY TICKETS, YOU ASK

Nothing. It's why I've rarely (almost never) seen them used since they've first begun existing. They do not, and will not affect the odds or difficulty of capture. They simply make the author feel like they "have" to write less. I unofficially addressed this issue last summer, and changed the MCR reduction to Rank reduction in effort to actually make these things useful, but forgot to make it OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL. MY BAD. I'M SORRY, HANNAH.

The tier ratios are not significant enough for this to be a problem. Whether it's Stupefying to Merciless, Merciless to Demanding, Demanding to Complex, Complex to Hard, etc., you're only dropping one difficulty and saving yourself an estimated max of 15k. This is not substantial enough to be "OP", especially if used at the highest tiers of writing requirements. (you'd still have to write a Demanding level story if your target is in Merciless rank) These Passes are also not meant to be handed out at whim, they were specifically intended for special occasions like auctions and gift stations, and a hopeful motivation in increasing Story board activity.

And obv. a pass would be void at Easiest Rank. >:

I am (happily) no longer Head, so if Hannah wants to change them back to %off "MCR", by all means go for it. Just figured I'd elaborate on the confusion, and the reason why they were changed. I AM ENJOYING MY BREEZE-EASY (SECOND)RETIREMENT HERE IN THE CARIBBEAN. SORRY YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH THESE PROBLEMS, PRECIOUS. (Sucka' >DDDDD I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeee.)

Yeah, this wasn't a quick explanation.

 

To be honest, I'm completely indifferent to either side. They both are valid, and I basically only chose one because nobody could find what was actually the rule. We looked through a bunch of threads and couldn't find anything saying either way, so I just had to stomp my foot and say one way or the other.

I see where Emma's coming from, and I certainly agree with Winter and the other ideas as well. This is currently up for discussion completely, and anybody can add their opinions on it.

EDIT: Also, would the graders reading this prefer wages to be on the last weekend of the month or the literal last day of the month? Either works for me, but I think you guys should have a specific idea as to when they should pop up.

 

Either way's fine with me for the wages. I just like seeing them because wages = money for EMs, & money for EMs = better 'mons. Better 'mons = winning more battles.

 

I just like liking things. n~n I am fine with wages whenever Hannah wants to put them up!

 

Personally, the reason I've never used my Story Passes is simply because I can write for pretty much any Rank (not trying to sound arrogant or anything, it's just that I really like writing, so longer stories are no problem for me). In fact, I have a hard time writing shorter stories because I love to flesh out plots and build them up. Using a Story Pass that removes MCR would just be a waste because I'd still probably end up writing over what I need. Since MCR is such a low factor in determining if a Story passes or not, knocking off a certain % isn't really useful because like Emma said, it just means you have less room to work the that particular Rank.

Dropping Ranks is much more useful. Take my WaR Pokemon, for example. I want to write for a Larvesta, but the plot I have wouldn't really work so well for a Demanding Pokemon, even though I can easily hit the 40k minimum SUGGESTED requirement. Dropping it down to Complex would let it fit in with my plot better. Sure, I might have to settle for a Complex prize if my story does well enough, since Larvesta is being dropped to that Rank for the sake of my story, but I have no issue with that at all. Also, Story Passes aren't something you can get on a whim. Sure, we can buy them during Gift Stations, but not very many people ever get them. A lot of people don't usually go over Hard Rank either, since most people write for the lowest form of a Mon (easier Rank + money from basics), so it's not like we'd be seeing a massive influx of Porygon, Munchlax, Happiny, and Larvesta from making Passes drop a Rank. And anyways, even if a lot of people with Passes decided to try to grab Larvesta, let's not forgot the most important thing; the story itself still has to qualify for a capture to start with, regardless of Rank.

tl;dr Story Passes should drop a Rank because otherwise they're pretty useless and will collect dust in most peoples' stats like mine have done for over a year or longer (idr when I got these things, it was a while back).

 

hey guys, I'm trying to write my first capture story for a Natu.
And I'm writing it as a side story for my fic over in the story section, and I'm jsut wondering if anyone has any tips or advise for writing as a pokemon.

 

Well, big thing to remember is Pokemon aren't humans. You have to try and think like the Pokemon to sorta make it realistic (canine Pokemon having strict hierarchy in packs, herd animals being led by a alpha male and/or female, so on and so forth). Also, irl a lot of Pokemon wouldn't automatically come into their powers like in the games; realistically, no Fire Pokemon is going to be developed right from the get-go to spew massive Fire Blasts. They can maybe spit out thick smoke and small Embers, but until they grow older and develop, they're not gonna be in epic battles. Also, keep in mind a Pokemon's relation to its surroundings, namely, what the Pokemon eats. Miltank will be herbivores, Houndoom will be carnivores, Ursaring will be omnivores, and so on. Pokemon need to interact with other Pokemon in a realistic manner; even creatures with human-level intelligence and their own language have to eat in order to survive.

Basically, imagine you're writing from the perspective of super-powered human who may or may not have to eat other super-powered humans to survive and you'll be good to go XD. *Completely contradicts the first sentence but still sorta fits.*

 

XD jsut a bit.

But it helps regardless