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From The Judge's Desk


EmperorWhenua

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Yanno, it's kinda lonely here. Nobody's submitting any RPGs since, well, January. What's wrong? I mean, gee, you'd think somebody would have a cool tale to tell by now, right? I mean, four of the six pinned topics in COT are devoted to RPGs. Why? Because they were a huge part of the forum back then. Now we have a handful and that's it.

 

Can people start getting me to work again now?

 

Please?

 

;_;

 

~EW~

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At least the Judging team gets a break, right?

 

If it weren't for RotR, I'd make and submit one. Maybe you guys should consider exceptions for the one RPG per person rule. :P

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If it weren't for RotR, I'd make and submit one. Maybe you guys should consider exceptions for the one RPG per person rule. :P

 

Well, we'd likely have to go bug Than about that since it's like, his forum 'n junk. But a reason I wouldn't be too for that idea, is that I think a bunch of members would likely try to take on two, and one would end up failing (or both) due to the divided attention and the level of responsibility to both games at the same time.

 

But there were like, four being discussed in the topic.

 

Dunno if they'll ever be finalized though...

 

I more miss the high fantasy TBRPG's, those were always fun XP

 

Although that Avatar (The Last Airbender based one) sounded pretty interesting, and I still have fond memories of one of the old, old, old dead ones floating around COT.

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Spink: Oh, I figured that; hence the ":P". I remember that type of thing being an issue before the system got revamped, so I wouldn't be surprised if things stayed as they are now.

Although, that's also why I said "exceptions" -- I'm sure there are a few people who could successfully manage the running of more than one RPG at a time (me, for example; I'm doing it right now, after all. :P)

 

Hinky: That idea... it sounds...

glorious. :o

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Spink: Oh, I figured that; hence the ":P". I remember that type of thing being an issue before the system got revamped, so I wouldn't be surprised if things stayed as they are now.

 

Although, that's also why I said "exceptions" -- I'm sure there are a few people who could successfully manage the running of more than one RPG at a time (me, for example; I'm doing it right now, after all. :P)

 

Oh yeah, I definitely think there are some individuals who could handle it. Many members have proven it in the past with one Bionicle TBRPG and one COTRPG running at the same time. But then comes a whole system of deciding who can and can't, then talking to the members who want to but we don't think they could really pull it off well, then Than would need to play a larger role in the whole thing... :P

 

Though, I do miss when COT was like, a hub of fiction. With the bajillions of TBRPG's to the point where even Kex thought a separate sub-forum was a good idea, and the tons of stories that popped up almost like a fad once, and with the stories and stuff that the old, old, old Short Story Contest helped spur.

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Hopefully that Avatar RPG will go somewhere.

 

I have two awesome (IMO) RPG ideas floating around but hardly anything on paper and writing RPGs is apparently impossible for me because every attempt IS NOT SUCCESSFUL.

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It really isn't so much a problem of having people to run the RPGs -- anything can be done by anybody provided they have the right team helping them -- it's more a matter of two things, IMHO:

 

1. Lack of interest in running an RPG. People come up with ideas, discuss it a bit in the planning topic, and then say "So, who'll lead it? I can help, but I don't wanna lead it." And then the ball drops. Rinse, repeat. People don't realize that if you can roleplay, you can lead an RPG. You may not do it extremely well (there will be very few EFs and CJs) but you can still do it, and with a core team of friends in the game, it makes it easier. RPing is, at its finest, friends making stories, there just is a greater among equals keeping it all together. Anyone can be that person.

 

2. Lack of follow through. If the above doesn't happen, then the original idea gets scrapped in exchange for something similar but not quite the same. Like a game of telephone, it's the same idea, just recycled so many times it's something else and people still can't bring themselves to lead it cuz, hey, they have something else in mind they wanna do! (Which will not be made, anyway.) Or another thing is they just abandon a perfectly good idea for something else and keep doing this like a professional brainstormer.

 

If people took leaps of faith and understood the real simplicity of RPing and creating/leading an RPG, there just might be some life in this. Unfortunately, there is none. Boy, I really wish I could change that.

 

~EW~

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3. Real life can interfere with the maintenance of an RPG or limit your efforts greatly.

 

I've thought about... coming out of retirement? I just don't want to take on something and then have to shut it down with all the upcoming stuff I have planed. Maybe once after I get adjusted to school, work, and the BZPRPG again, I'll bring something to CoT.

 

 

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Me and Kaitan are working on a high fantasy COT RPG. We just need the profiles sorted out. So that should be up for you soon.

 

Also, if we were allowed more than one COTRPG I would totally be trying to run about four

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Okay, one "let's get everyone in COT in a single RPG" coming up. :)

 

(I can see it now! Cloud palaces, rainbow ponies, and flying walruses!)

Ok, now that's just too weird. Look at the opening of a RPG I was thinking about writing.

 

Daydream

 

You are lost in your dreams. You don't know how it happened or why it continues, but you do know that it isn't right. You are sure this continued slumber was forced upon you through some unholy means. But why it was done in the first place you do not know.

 

For years you have dreamed only one constant dream where you are a god, crafting all you see before you. But one day that dream abruptly ends, and you find yourself on the steps of a grand palace in the sky. Peering over the edge, you find the large, white granite structure to be supported only by clouds. You find with disbelief that your former god-like powers are gone, only to realize they were replaced with measly abilities.

 

Heading up the steps, you are surprised to see a large mass coming your way. Whatever it is, you know it holds your former friends from the real world. As it comes to a stop in front of you and you board it via wooden ladder, you realize it's a giant walrus. The walrus huffs and begins to fly under its own propulsion. Your mind remains unblown, however, since you had flying hippos in your god dream.

 

Flying up and up, you come to the top of a spire. Getting off and patting your new walrus friend on his hide, he flies away, leaving you standing before two guards. The guards, decked out in stately armor, are, well, horse-men or something. You can't be sure. And squinting at them doesn't help. One second they are men, and the next they are horses. The only thing you do know is that they are the color of a rainbow.

 

One glares at you for squinting at him, but leads you and your friends deep into the castle. You only find that it's larger on the inside than on the outside. Once again, this is familiar territory for you. But what is not is the shifting walls everywhere. You don't understand how anyone could navigate the place.

 

Finally, after many hours of ponderous walking and backtracking (Apparently the guards also don't know the palace as well as they could), you find yourself before the queen and king, who look suspiciously like apples. You can't be sure on this, but you have an undying urge to walk over and take a bite out of one of them.

 

They say they have gathered you to go on some type of quest. You're still busy wondering how they could be fruit and figure your friends will tell you the quest later. Meanwhile, all your friends have the same idea.

 

Finally, you are randomly teleported to some dark realm, with nothing to fend for yourselves. You are basically doomed. Good luck.

 

This is Daydream.

 

Nice opening, aye?

 

:P

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http://www.moviedeskback.com/wp-content/up...1920x1200-3.jpg

Surely you can't be serious.

 

You just wrecked my RPG aspirations.

 

Look at my image. Now back to yours. Now back to mine. Sadly, yours is too big, but if you understood that you have to link huuuuge images instead of just displaying them, you could be using a perfectly fine small image like mine. Look down. Now up. It's an edit in the comment you made. Anything is possible when you're the blog owner. I'm on a horse. -EW

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Honestly, I've lost almost all faith in the COT RPGs. There was once a glorious day and age when COT was filled with them. Now? As if that wasn't enough, I still don't entirely agree with the system that approves them, as I honestly feel it's too prone to bias, but I've made my complaints and received the response; nothing to gain rehashing them.

 

I've got a nice idea, and I could probably write up a nice RPG that some would play, but after seeing the bureaucracy that happened when Exo suggested RPG, I lost most of my faith. The community was rallying behind that thing; it made me more giddy than any other RPG, even Outbreak. And a few Judges said they didn't like it, and suddenly a project that could of, no, would of been the next big hit was stopped in it's tracks.

 

In other words, I sometimes feel the Judges are the MPAA; they exist for a purpose, they've done a lot of good, but occasionally, IMO, they mess up big time.

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Honestly, I've lost almost all faith in the COT RPGs. There was once a glorious day and age when COT was filled with them. Now? As if that wasn't enough, I still don't entirely agree with the system that approves them, as I honestly feel it's too prone to bias, but I've made my complaints and received the response; nothing to gain rehashing them.

 

I've got a nice idea, and I could probably write up a nice RPG that some would play, but after seeing the bureaucracy that happened when Exo suggested RPG, I lost most of my faith. The community was rallying behind that thing; it made me more giddy than any other RPG, even Outbreak. And a few Judges said they didn't like it, and suddenly a project that could of, no, would of been the next big hit was stopped in it's tracks.

 

In other words, I sometimes feel the Judges are the MPAA; they exist for a purpose, they've done a lot of good, but occasionally, IMO, they mess up big time.

 

I don't really remember a communal wish for the game, otherwise, it would've gone through. I remember a number of people wanting it, but also a number of members not really too psyched for it (non-Judge members). The consensus was more 50/50 as far as the community went, and that game would be very hard to run -- plus, Exo was also running a BRPG at the same time, which would make it even harder to run. I don't think it would've gotten too far before it became an unrecognizable jumble, and it wasn't easy to join for new members who had no experience with Reality and the like. Basically -- hard to moderate (plus attention being split), alienates members who are new to RPing (due to not knowing the games mashed in there), and there wasn't a following that justified approving what could have become a huge mess.

 

Honestly, I don't really think it's just the Judges who deter newcomers (Some maybe, but we are a lot more strict in general on BZP than other sites). I do think a good chunk of people in the RPG Planning Topic deter members just as easily, if not more so. (I mean, we've been the same for the last two years. Our harshest Judge has been on since the start, Sisen and I have been on since the start, and the others act with level heads and are good replacements -- Gato left recently, however). However, the COT RPG Community has changed drastically over those two years -- no more Robo, no more Laz, no more CJ, no more Exo-Fat, no more Rockhound, no more Kativa (who had some of the most successful games), and a good chunk of others who all made games constantly. Plus, the memberbase is declining -- Bionicle ended, we aren't going to get new Bionicle fans and if we did, I'd think those guys were insane. So naturally, interest in all forums is down, and interest in COT RPG's is also down as a result (it was a niche community to begin with, really).

 

But, I think the Judges have been pretty successful. I mean, all the games approved had a good amount of activity, interest and generally died out due to the host unable to keep up. Kaen died kind of randomly, but Exo left and the remaining staff were scrambling to try and make up something believable from what he had left. (I think I screwed up a few times, anyway). We turned down a few games over this year, but only because the owners needed to work on certain sections and those owners never came back.

 

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