The Chat Thread

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

Just now, ZincAboutIt said:

Sliding in here to echo 18th Shard. As it happens, The DA Departments of Counter Intelligence and Acquisitions are looking for talented new acolytes. If that’s not your speed, I can introduce you to our Head of R&D and you can chase that god complex all the way to the horizon 

hmmm, what about non DA god complexes?

[+ZincAboutIt]

8 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

hmmm, what about non DA god complexes?

I’m unauthorized to speak about any other god complexes

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

Just now, ZincAboutIt said:

I’m unauthorized to speak about any other god complexes

mkay. have there even been non da god complexes?

[Voidus]

5 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

mkay. have there even been non da god complexes?

Plenty, the DA tends to have more just actual gods in honesty. But we've had at least 1-5 people each era with a god complex, most of them outside the DA. Of course some might say that the entire DA has a god complex by messing with things that mortals have no business in, to which the DA has replied:

*Will reply later, busy seeing what happens if we spike a chinchilla with the Shard of Cultivation*

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

Just now, Voidus said:

*Will reply later, busy seeing what happens if we spike a chinchilla with the Shard of Cultivation*

this seems very accurate.

I wonder if an actual god besides Voidus and that other one appeared. hmmm, maybe that could be some kind of plot twist.

[Voidus]

Also happens pretty regularly actually, I think we've had at least one of those each era too? Not to mention era 1 where someone tried to ascend to being the God Beyond.

[Ashbringer]

That's why my Absen is going to be quite happy being the Head of PR where nobody wants to erase him from existence, thank you very much 

He's actually coming along quite nicely.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

1 minute ago, Voidus said:

Also happens pretty regularly actually, I think we've had at least one of those each era too? Not to mention era 1 where someone tried to ascend to being the God Beyond.

wait really? alleys, I guess making gods is out of the question for a plot twist. what if Voidus *the character* got corrupted by the forgery. and that could be a result of removing the forgery.

[Voidus]

Voidus' entire character has been built as refusing to call himself a God or meaningfully exercise power. I'd rather not undo that and turn him into yet another cookie cutter villain with ego problems.

Super powerful characters are just not all that interesting for story. If we ever decide to wrap up the AV and have one final era I might do a Villain Voidus plot, but barring that I'd rather he stays on the sidelines.

Interesting stories come from struggles and from the frustration of those who have no power.

Lita(Zinc's character) is a great example of this, and one of my favourite of all characters. Even now, when after several eras she finally has risen into some power of her own she still struggles with the fact that it's meaningless for what she's dealing with. It's an amazing journey and I hold it up as one of the pinnacles of good RP.

[+ZincAboutIt]

@Voidus You’re too kind

[Voidus]

Or am I not nearly kind enough?
(But seriously everyone should read Zinc's RP and be amazed at how great they are and then go and see all of her art as well and wonder what we did to bless us all with such a talented and generous soul. Just make sure you don't read them aloud, or at least not one of those ones that makes me cry)

But yeah, just a note because we have a few new players lately, I think you will get much more out of the RP if you focus on the small stuff, your character and how they are affected by the world around them. Who do they become friends with? Why? What is happening that you might be able to involve yourself in, and ideally not just as another person to fight shadow monsters but try to find somewhere that will affect your character. Don't just think about where they can succeed but think about where they can fail and how that changes them as a person.

Character arcs like that are much more interesting to read and much more likely to invite other characters to interact with you than just running through the city stabbing things with Shardblades or hurling coins. The AV does have its roots in a very absurdist power-fantasy space but that was with vastly different structure and pacing, the only way we managed to transition into a full collaborative RP like this was that we by and large left those elements behind. And I think the RP is much better off for it, because as entertaining as penguin's building a death star is, if it happens every 5 minutes it loses its charm and it also makes telling any kind of serious story very difficult.

[MacThorstenson]

3 minutes ago, Voidus said:

Character arcs like that are much more interesting to read and much more likely to invite other characters to interact with you than just running through the city stabbing things with Shardblades or hurling coins. The AV does have its roots in a very absurdist power-fantasy space but that was with vastly different structure and pacing, the only way we managed to transition into a full collaborative RP like this was that we by and large left those elements behind. And I think the RP is much better off for it, because as entertaining as penguin's building a death star is, if it happens every 5 minutes it loses its charm and it also makes telling any kind of serious story very difficult.

I echo this, as someone who genuinely loved the absurdist power fantasy that started this thing, I'm really happy to see the direction its taken in the last couple of years. In the same way that eating a carton of icecream is delicious, writing the absurd power fantasy was fun, but both left me feeling kinda dull afterwards. Taking the time to try and write a character that goes through progression is much more rewarding, interesting, and engaging. It makes you feel like you accomplished something, and told a story worth telling. It's more difficult then simply saying your character gained another worldbreaking power, but when I was able to briefly pull it off I could look back and be proud of my work.

Occasionally I'll be up late and wonder if things should have stayed absurdly weird, but when it comes down to it the only reason I would check the shard in the early days was because of the friends I made, not because of any compelling RP. Now I check the shard because my friends are still here, but also because the RP is actually good. It tells stories with stakes and tension, and it pushes me to be a better writer and storyeteller.

[Ashbringer]

Just to add my two cents in:

When I joined the AV I was more focused on exploring powers and power combinations. That led to Cassie, Byron, and Tyrian. I like where Cassie's ended up, and Byron's doing a bit better, Tyrian fell off immediately and will probably stay that way until the DA needs something turned into dust. But a rather self-critical TL;DR is Cassie is quite similar to early Jasnah with a mean streak and better opinion of the Ghostbloods, Byron's a really interesting savantist power attached to a Generic Rogue (minus the edginess), and Tyrian was a min-maxed glass cannon (could either absolutely destroy or do absolutely nothing with so little in between) who stole all of Byron's edge and then some. 

Playing with powers is fun, but there's also a lot to be played in with what they can do. Byron can slow down time for a chunk, but he's also extremely perceptive and quick while within his bubble, and learning to care about a world that's much much bigger than him. Cassie has to deal with her savantism in a much greater way then I imagined while also dealing with the fallout of a world tearing itself apart and is quickly going down a path to ignore it. I even have a plan for Tyrian, should the need for a monster arise (drastically changed, but something I did set up slightly). 

That's the other reason I'm playing with a DA head who's nothing more than a boosted Coppercloud, because it gives him a unique danger as just someone very good at what he does and lets him reasonably interact with people he should see beneath him.

 

(Although I do have an interesting capability that he could have... but it needs a way to rip Identity from an object which, while probably DA capable, is also incredibly powerful in situations that are not the one I'm imagining )

[Fatebreaker]

1 hour ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

I wonder if an actual god besides Voidus and that other one appeared. 

Hurtful, but accurate.

[Voidus]

13 minutes ago, Fatebreaker said:

Hurtful, but accurate.

Poor other one.

[MacThorstenson]

13 minutes ago, Fatebreaker said:

Hurtful, but accurate.

Ok not trying to be rude but I thought he was referring to sudiov, not the stranger. 

[+ZincAboutIt]

24 minutes ago, Fatebreaker said:

Hurtful, but accurate.

Always a bridesmaid 

[Ashbringer]

29 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

Ok not trying to be rude but I thought he was referring to sudiov, not the stranger. 

So one got labeled "that other one" and one just got left out completely? 

[MacThorstenson]

6 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

So one got labeled "that other one" and one just got left out completely? 

perhaps

[kenod]

3 hours ago, Voidus said:

Super powerful characters are just not all that interesting for story. If we ever decide to wrap up the AV and have one final era I might do a Villain Voidus plot, but barring that I'd rather he stays on the sidelines.

And, to be honest, this rp doesn't work well for super-powerful chars, as we noted in era 2, because there are also people with weaker chars around. A full-on power fantasy god rp could work, but it'd need to be a completely separate from the Alleyverse, so it doesn't mess stuff up for everyone who actually enjoys rping weaker/Cosmere-standard chars.

[Voidus]

1 hour ago, kenod said:

And, to be honest, this rp doesn't work well for super-powerful chars, as we noted in era 2, because there are also people with weaker chars around. A full-on power fantasy god rp could work, but it'd need to be a completely separate from the Alleyverse, so it doesn't mess stuff up for everyone who actually enjoys rping weaker/Cosmere-standard chars.

Yeah, and we have done like fight threads and no holds barred threads, etc. in the past and they tend to die out pretty quickly. There's just not much sticking power to the plot of 'I have ultimate power!' 'Well I have EVEN MORE ultimate power!' 'But I bet you didn't know that I secretly had ALL the power!'

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

10 hours ago, Fatebreaker said:

Hurtful, but accurate.

10 hours ago, MacThorstenson said:

Ok not trying to be rude but I thought he was referring to sudiov, not the stranger. 

10 hours ago, Ashbringer said:

So one got labeled "that other one" and one just got left out completely? 

wait, fate breaker (autocorrect said fat breaker) has a god character too? I was talking about Sudiov. 

and about character arcs, yeah. I'm going to try and add a nice NICE character arc for Darien dealing with trauma he's covered up and other various things as in something with Elek which I don't want to fully reveal yet because I want it to be a pleasant surprise for you guys, but it will be awesome.

[+ZincAboutIt]

1 minute ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

wait, fate breaker (autocorrect said fat breaker) has a god character too? I was talking about Sudiov. 

Lol yes the Stranger is the one responsible for this entire plot arc XD

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

Just now, ZincAboutIt said:

Lol yes the Stranger is the one responsible for this entire plot arc XD

oh, *remembers conversations about the Stranger* ... *realizes something awesome* you know what I have an awesome idea for a later era that would be amazing. it would be the BEST! it would be really REALLY good. it wouldn't be about a super powerful character but it would be.. well, awesome!

[mathiau]

13 hours ago, 18th Shard said:

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I really like your character design here, @Harbringer of Auroras. It's a great way to synergize two powers. If it's information that your character is interested in, especially with a background in experimenting, the Dark Alley would be happy to help to your character. Unlike the Ire, the Dark Alley encourages the pursuit of all knowledge, Investiture, insanity, and unknowable secrets, and are well-funded to help in those pursuits!* Unfortunately, my Dark Alley character is otherwise engaged, but there are plenty of Alleys and Denizens who can help you reach your potential.

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