Post by Hyoza on Apr 29, 2015 13:09:42 GMT
Okay, so we've been talking about it a lot, and it's no secret that it's ticking me off if you've been in the cbox with me at all lately.
New characters apps are getting REALLY samey. To put things in perspective, let me provide you with some numbers, without naming any names:
In the past week alone, we have had 9 character app threads created/approved. Of those, only 4 were not either a Saiyan or a Saiyan hybrid. If you were to extend the scope of the sample even further, I'm sure you'll find the trend continues. Now, just over 50% might not sound too insane, until you consider just how many other options we have. This isn't like choosing between Alliance and Horde here, we have 10 other species (including all versions of the custom alien template) to choose from. And yet somehow over half of our applicants are Saiyans or Saiyan-based hybrids. This is somewhat understandable, as (despite rumours of Toriyama wishing it had been otherwise) Saiyans were always the most prominent heroes in Dragon Ball media. But it's also important to understand that this detracts from the site as a whole. Especially when you take into account that of those 5 apps alone, all but 1 were heroic or at least 'lighter-side-of-neutral' characters.
Now I'm not saying we should ban new Saiyan apps til things balance out. And I'm not saying we should penalise Saiyan players in any way for choosing the race they want to play as. But Saiyans in this time period are supposed to be a race of bloodthirsty conquerors, sweeping across the stars in a tide of destruction that has so far only been halted by the Arcosian Empire and a few scattered worlds like Earth who had the strength to resist. The fact that easily 80% of all our saiyan/saiyan-hybrid characters fly in the face of this idea is one symptom of an issue that's been addressed elsewhere, which is basically people cherry-picking the lore they want to adhere to, much of which is due to us drawing almost no attention to the custom lore of this new time period.
And now, for another issue we're still experiencing. In part, we can blame the fact that when the site started out only Earth was accessible to players, but even now every new character is starting out on Earth, and coming up with increasingly-contrived reasons for doing so. In the grand scheme of the universe as it stands in this time period, Earth is pretty damn irrelevant. The Centurial Conference ended in disaster, and that's basically the only thing Earth does that effects either of the two major political forces here - The Saiyan Solar Empire and The Arcosian Empire. We've got loads of characters who don't come from Earth who are for some reason there now. Earth is increasingly overcrowded, and the situation is essentially forcing new characters to go there, as well as old players to stay there. There is no frequent RP ANYWHERE else, and so we've got Wyntre - literally the supreme ruler of dozens if not hundreds of species - hanging out on Earth most of the time.
And while we're on this track - we need to try and find a way to encourage people to engage more with the greater forces that are supposed to be at work within the universe. The Arcosians and the SSE are supposed to pretty much dominate all of the North galaxy between them, right? So why do no custom races ever mention them in their backgrounds? Why do so few characters have loyalties to either of these massive interstellar governments? Why do we even have background if everybody just ignores it?
*nips out for a cigarette to calm down*
So, how do I suggest we begin to fix some of these problems?
Good question! As I said before, it goes against the whole purpose of an RP site to penalise players for doing what they want to do, so long as it falls within the rules. But the fact that these issues have gone on for so long is only making them harder to break away from. So something surely needs to be done. But what?
(1) - All species need to be assigned starting planet/s in their race profiles, with the possible exception of Custom Aliens. Hybrids should have to choose one of the starter worlds of their parent species. I'm aware this was supposed to be how it worked from the get-go, but in practice it most certainly has not. We also need to institute a policy regarding applications, where if there is not sufficient explanation for why a character starts on a certain planet, they be requested to go elsewhere. This would be to discourage races with more freedom for simply going the easy route and starting on Earth every damn time. We've had characters try to start out on other world, but they quickly disappear, which I strongly suspect is due to the boredom of having to keep things fresh all by their lonesome.
If a player wants to start on another planet, I propose that we ask their BPs to focus on their journeying to the other planet, and that they start without their one-use space pod. This makes sense from an in-story perspective, and might just push people a little to start spreading out across the now much larger space we have for RP.
(2) - Some kind of incentives need to be provided for people to create non-'goodie' Saiyan characters, hybrids included. It's getting ridiculous, the number of 'mould-breaking' Saiyans we have here, who are in fact just creating a new mold, which pretty clearly has 'Son Goku' stamped on it. Meanwhile other important races within the universe - particularly Namekians (who are the source of Dragon Balls, for example!) - are being almost completely ignored. What kind of incentives could we offer? Starting PL/zeni boosts, based on how much their race is considered 'desirable' at the time, meaning once a species starts to get overpopulated (like Saiyans and their hybridised offspring), the bonuses are no longer offered. We could also draw more attention to the specific roles available to them IF they select certain races/starter planets (such as the opportunity to become the Grand Elder/Warrior Clan leader on Namek). Beyond that, I can't honestly think of much else we could do right now, and this is where I want some people to start giving their own ideas as part of the feedback.
(3) - Lastly, with regards to the global factions present within the setting and time period of Souls. They're getting almost no attention (Wyntre is the only notable character aligned with the Arcosian Empire, and there's basically nobody working for the SSE). Once again, I feel we need to draw more attention to the lore of these factions. I hope to remedy this somewhat once we get the lore section implemented and start filling it up with articles that make things that aren't Saiyans look just as cool. But it may also be worth offering some incentives. From an in-story perspective, soldiers in service to their governments would likely be afforded some monetary compensation for their services, so perhaps a one-time zeni bonus for characters who join/start as a member of a 'global' faction could be put in place?
I'm not saying what we've got going on on earth isn't cool, and I'm not directing complaints at anyone, nor trying to place blame here. But the fact is, right now, we're on a path to stagnation story-wise, and we need to do something to try and balance the scales before they tip too far.
New characters apps are getting REALLY samey. To put things in perspective, let me provide you with some numbers, without naming any names:
In the past week alone, we have had 9 character app threads created/approved. Of those, only 4 were not either a Saiyan or a Saiyan hybrid. If you were to extend the scope of the sample even further, I'm sure you'll find the trend continues. Now, just over 50% might not sound too insane, until you consider just how many other options we have. This isn't like choosing between Alliance and Horde here, we have 10 other species (including all versions of the custom alien template) to choose from. And yet somehow over half of our applicants are Saiyans or Saiyan-based hybrids. This is somewhat understandable, as (despite rumours of Toriyama wishing it had been otherwise) Saiyans were always the most prominent heroes in Dragon Ball media. But it's also important to understand that this detracts from the site as a whole. Especially when you take into account that of those 5 apps alone, all but 1 were heroic or at least 'lighter-side-of-neutral' characters.
Now I'm not saying we should ban new Saiyan apps til things balance out. And I'm not saying we should penalise Saiyan players in any way for choosing the race they want to play as. But Saiyans in this time period are supposed to be a race of bloodthirsty conquerors, sweeping across the stars in a tide of destruction that has so far only been halted by the Arcosian Empire and a few scattered worlds like Earth who had the strength to resist. The fact that easily 80% of all our saiyan/saiyan-hybrid characters fly in the face of this idea is one symptom of an issue that's been addressed elsewhere, which is basically people cherry-picking the lore they want to adhere to, much of which is due to us drawing almost no attention to the custom lore of this new time period.
And now, for another issue we're still experiencing. In part, we can blame the fact that when the site started out only Earth was accessible to players, but even now every new character is starting out on Earth, and coming up with increasingly-contrived reasons for doing so. In the grand scheme of the universe as it stands in this time period, Earth is pretty damn irrelevant. The Centurial Conference ended in disaster, and that's basically the only thing Earth does that effects either of the two major political forces here - The Saiyan Solar Empire and The Arcosian Empire. We've got loads of characters who don't come from Earth who are for some reason there now. Earth is increasingly overcrowded, and the situation is essentially forcing new characters to go there, as well as old players to stay there. There is no frequent RP ANYWHERE else, and so we've got Wyntre - literally the supreme ruler of dozens if not hundreds of species - hanging out on Earth most of the time.
And while we're on this track - we need to try and find a way to encourage people to engage more with the greater forces that are supposed to be at work within the universe. The Arcosians and the SSE are supposed to pretty much dominate all of the North galaxy between them, right? So why do no custom races ever mention them in their backgrounds? Why do so few characters have loyalties to either of these massive interstellar governments? Why do we even have background if everybody just ignores it?
*nips out for a cigarette to calm down*
So, how do I suggest we begin to fix some of these problems?
Good question! As I said before, it goes against the whole purpose of an RP site to penalise players for doing what they want to do, so long as it falls within the rules. But the fact that these issues have gone on for so long is only making them harder to break away from. So something surely needs to be done. But what?
(1) - All species need to be assigned starting planet/s in their race profiles, with the possible exception of Custom Aliens. Hybrids should have to choose one of the starter worlds of their parent species. I'm aware this was supposed to be how it worked from the get-go, but in practice it most certainly has not. We also need to institute a policy regarding applications, where if there is not sufficient explanation for why a character starts on a certain planet, they be requested to go elsewhere. This would be to discourage races with more freedom for simply going the easy route and starting on Earth every damn time. We've had characters try to start out on other world, but they quickly disappear, which I strongly suspect is due to the boredom of having to keep things fresh all by their lonesome.
If a player wants to start on another planet, I propose that we ask their BPs to focus on their journeying to the other planet, and that they start without their one-use space pod. This makes sense from an in-story perspective, and might just push people a little to start spreading out across the now much larger space we have for RP.
(2) - Some kind of incentives need to be provided for people to create non-'goodie' Saiyan characters, hybrids included. It's getting ridiculous, the number of 'mould-breaking' Saiyans we have here, who are in fact just creating a new mold, which pretty clearly has 'Son Goku' stamped on it. Meanwhile other important races within the universe - particularly Namekians (who are the source of Dragon Balls, for example!) - are being almost completely ignored. What kind of incentives could we offer? Starting PL/zeni boosts, based on how much their race is considered 'desirable' at the time, meaning once a species starts to get overpopulated (like Saiyans and their hybridised offspring), the bonuses are no longer offered. We could also draw more attention to the specific roles available to them IF they select certain races/starter planets (such as the opportunity to become the Grand Elder/Warrior Clan leader on Namek). Beyond that, I can't honestly think of much else we could do right now, and this is where I want some people to start giving their own ideas as part of the feedback.
(3) - Lastly, with regards to the global factions present within the setting and time period of Souls. They're getting almost no attention (Wyntre is the only notable character aligned with the Arcosian Empire, and there's basically nobody working for the SSE). Once again, I feel we need to draw more attention to the lore of these factions. I hope to remedy this somewhat once we get the lore section implemented and start filling it up with articles that make things that aren't Saiyans look just as cool. But it may also be worth offering some incentives. From an in-story perspective, soldiers in service to their governments would likely be afforded some monetary compensation for their services, so perhaps a one-time zeni bonus for characters who join/start as a member of a 'global' faction could be put in place?
I'm not saying what we've got going on on earth isn't cool, and I'm not directing complaints at anyone, nor trying to place blame here. But the fact is, right now, we're on a path to stagnation story-wise, and we need to do something to try and balance the scales before they tip too far.