Post by Zuni on Aug 9, 2015 20:37:51 GMT
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I'd like to present to you a new addition I'd like to see added to our progression system. Strap yourself in, keep your arms and legs inside the thread and please hold any questions until the end. Are you sitting comfortably? Then read on!
The Milestone System
The primary reward for RPing should be RP. However, we have a progression system in place! We give PL and Zeni out to people as encouragement for doing based on the quality of writing - that's why the reward is higher for good quality writing rather than bad.
This is a proposal designed to help encourage continuous plot development involving other players. It has arisen from an observation I've made since becoming grading staff that there are many characters whose triumphs and tribulations occur almost entirely within training threads - when they occur at all - and quite a few characters who seem to exist with no real development made at all. These are things I would like to see change, because I believe that a character with no journey is a boring character indeed.
Under this system, each character can have three milestones at any one time - one each of a Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term Milestone. What is a milestone you ask? What a perceptive question, my good-looking, smart and devilishly delightful reader friend. Read on!
A milestone is an in-character plot beat or goal that you declare ahead of time you would like to achieve. These come in three flavours; short-term, medium-term, and long-term. In order to have a milestone approved for your character, two steps must be achieved.
First a member of staff must approve your milestone as an acceptable plot beat or goal to aim to achieve at the level you have specified.
Second you must then put a post showing at least the minimum number of threads for that level, all of which must have been graded, in the Milestone Thread for the attention of the staff member who originally approved your milestone (any other member of staff may approve the milestone if there's some reason why the original staffer can't check, but it is generally preferable for the same staff member to approve the milestone and confirm it has been met). Only threads with 2 or more participating characters count towards achieving Milestones. Hitting significant plot beats should only count for reward purposes where they are adding to more stories than just your own.
You then achieve the following rewards!
Short-Term: 1000 PL OR 500 Zeni
Medium-Term: 5000 PL OR 2500 Zeni
Long-Term: 20,000 PL OR 10,000 Zeni.
The thread requirements for these juicy, juicy prizes are as follows:
Short-Term: 1 thread.
Medium-Term: 3 threads.
Long-Term: 10 threads OR 3 threads and 1 DE (open or otherwise - must be a 'genuine' DE with a real chance of death as determined by the grading staffer. The three threads leading up to the DE must clearly examine the reason and motivation for the game-wide event and/or preparations made for it amongst multiple players).
You may, of course, take more threads to achieve goals than the minimum. The important thing here is the story. These are the bare minimum requirements for gaining the extra mechanical something-something for brightening someone else's story with your own.
Milestone Details
As a general rule, short-term milestones are easily achievable, simple things that do not really challenge a character's capability in any noteworthy way but are, nevertheless, nice to have happen on-screen. Medium-term milestones are significant plot beats that will have a major ongoing impact on how you roleplay your character and what story you're trying to tell. Long-term milestones are the kind of thing you could base an entire Saga around and which have major, ongoing effects to the site lore as a whole - they are the things your character has done, or would like to do, to leave their mark on the game world. You may choose to give up a milestone at any time to replace it with another, but you may never have more than one milestone at any level.
Again, to reiterate:
Short-Term Milestones are easily met but are nevertheless a concrete plot beat that another player helps you achieve.
Medium-Term Milestones are more challenging to meet and will require several scenes. They are significant moments of development for your character.
Long-Term Milestones are extremely difficult to achieve and will leave a mark on the game lore as a whole - the ramifications must go beyond just your own character but out into the wider game world.
Some good and bad examples of milestones at all levels follow.
Short-Term Milestones
Good Examples
I want to be introduced to a faction and learn what they are like.
I want to teach my signature technique to a new person or learn a new signature technique from someone else.
I want to kill/fight some bandits/aliens/monsters of the week.
I want to get beat up.
I want to find some treasure.
I want to learn an exciting new dance.
Bad Examples
I want to do any of the above on my own.
I want to eat dinner.
I want to conquer all of known space.
I want to blow up a planet.
Medium-Term Milestones
Good Examples
I want to join a faction.
I want to build a new home somewhere.
I want to find some MAGIC treasure.
I want to find a rival/pupil/teacher.
I want to overcome a crippling personality flaw.
I want to discover secret lore (afterlife/dragonballs/etc)
I want to undermine/build up a major faction.
Bad Examples
I want to die.
I want to earn a new transformation.
I want to cook dinner.
I want to escape the afterlife.
I want to learn about friendship.
I want to undermine a major faction with no way of them noticing or doing anything about it.
Long-Term Milestones
Good Examples
I want to blow up/conquer/create a planet/city/screaming hell dimension.
I want to build a new faction.
I want to find the dragon balls. (Special case, but applicable Long-Term Milestone)
I want to kill my established long-term rival.
I want to atone for my previous sins/let go of the fire raging in my heart/be driven mad with furious rage and be accepted as a reformed character/psychopath warmonger. (Requires 10 threads focused on nothing else!)
Bad Examples
I want someone else to cook me dinner.
I want to dance the fandango.
I want to be the best there ever was.
I want to kill this dude who is no threat to me.
I want to do a DE.
The Milestone System
The primary reward for RPing should be RP. However, we have a progression system in place! We give PL and Zeni out to people as encouragement for doing based on the quality of writing - that's why the reward is higher for good quality writing rather than bad.
This is a proposal designed to help encourage continuous plot development involving other players. It has arisen from an observation I've made since becoming grading staff that there are many characters whose triumphs and tribulations occur almost entirely within training threads - when they occur at all - and quite a few characters who seem to exist with no real development made at all. These are things I would like to see change, because I believe that a character with no journey is a boring character indeed.
Under this system, each character can have three milestones at any one time - one each of a Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term Milestone. What is a milestone you ask? What a perceptive question, my good-looking, smart and devilishly delightful reader friend. Read on!
A milestone is an in-character plot beat or goal that you declare ahead of time you would like to achieve. These come in three flavours; short-term, medium-term, and long-term. In order to have a milestone approved for your character, two steps must be achieved.
First a member of staff must approve your milestone as an acceptable plot beat or goal to aim to achieve at the level you have specified.
Second you must then put a post showing at least the minimum number of threads for that level, all of which must have been graded, in the Milestone Thread for the attention of the staff member who originally approved your milestone (any other member of staff may approve the milestone if there's some reason why the original staffer can't check, but it is generally preferable for the same staff member to approve the milestone and confirm it has been met). Only threads with 2 or more participating characters count towards achieving Milestones. Hitting significant plot beats should only count for reward purposes where they are adding to more stories than just your own.
You then achieve the following rewards!
Short-Term: 1000 PL OR 500 Zeni
Medium-Term: 5000 PL OR 2500 Zeni
Long-Term: 20,000 PL OR 10,000 Zeni.
The thread requirements for these juicy, juicy prizes are as follows:
Short-Term: 1 thread.
Medium-Term: 3 threads.
Long-Term: 10 threads OR 3 threads and 1 DE (open or otherwise - must be a 'genuine' DE with a real chance of death as determined by the grading staffer. The three threads leading up to the DE must clearly examine the reason and motivation for the game-wide event and/or preparations made for it amongst multiple players).
You may, of course, take more threads to achieve goals than the minimum. The important thing here is the story. These are the bare minimum requirements for gaining the extra mechanical something-something for brightening someone else's story with your own.
Milestone Details
As a general rule, short-term milestones are easily achievable, simple things that do not really challenge a character's capability in any noteworthy way but are, nevertheless, nice to have happen on-screen. Medium-term milestones are significant plot beats that will have a major ongoing impact on how you roleplay your character and what story you're trying to tell. Long-term milestones are the kind of thing you could base an entire Saga around and which have major, ongoing effects to the site lore as a whole - they are the things your character has done, or would like to do, to leave their mark on the game world. You may choose to give up a milestone at any time to replace it with another, but you may never have more than one milestone at any level.
Again, to reiterate:
Short-Term Milestones are easily met but are nevertheless a concrete plot beat that another player helps you achieve.
Medium-Term Milestones are more challenging to meet and will require several scenes. They are significant moments of development for your character.
Long-Term Milestones are extremely difficult to achieve and will leave a mark on the game lore as a whole - the ramifications must go beyond just your own character but out into the wider game world.
Some good and bad examples of milestones at all levels follow.
Short-Term Milestones
Good Examples
I want to be introduced to a faction and learn what they are like.
I want to teach my signature technique to a new person or learn a new signature technique from someone else.
I want to kill/fight some bandits/aliens/monsters of the week.
I want to get beat up.
I want to find some treasure.
I want to learn an exciting new dance.
Bad Examples
I want to do any of the above on my own.
I want to eat dinner.
I want to conquer all of known space.
I want to blow up a planet.
Medium-Term Milestones
Good Examples
I want to join a faction.
I want to build a new home somewhere.
I want to find some MAGIC treasure.
I want to find a rival/pupil/teacher.
I want to overcome a crippling personality flaw.
I want to discover secret lore (afterlife/dragonballs/etc)
I want to undermine/build up a major faction.
Bad Examples
I want to die.
I want to earn a new transformation.
I want to cook dinner.
I want to escape the afterlife.
I want to learn about friendship.
I want to undermine a major faction with no way of them noticing or doing anything about it.
Long-Term Milestones
Good Examples
I want to blow up/conquer/create a planet/city/screaming hell dimension.
I want to build a new faction.
I want to find the dragon balls. (Special case, but applicable Long-Term Milestone)
I want to kill my established long-term rival.
I want to atone for my previous sins/let go of the fire raging in my heart/be driven mad with furious rage and be accepted as a reformed character/psychopath warmonger. (Requires 10 threads focused on nothing else!)
Bad Examples
I want someone else to cook me dinner.
I want to dance the fandango.
I want to be the best there ever was.
I want to kill this dude who is no threat to me.
I want to do a DE.