Toa Levacius Zehvor

Disclaimer Beforehand: I don't personally think the word filter is necessary. I was always familiar with a long enough list of expletives by the age of eight to rival most adults, and I'm sure with the diversity of BZP's userbase, more than a few played the Pokemon swear-word game even better than I did. With the exception of the most explicit of words - mostly those referring to sexual exploits - I don't think there's a problem with them, particularly in light of BRPG having a generally older audience than the BZP average. That being said, BZP is a Bionicle fan-site, with some degree of sponsorship (which, not being part of admin, I'm not aware of the full details on). While I may be making assumptions, I'm fairly sure following policies handed down from LEGO - for instance, the spoiler policy - is a pretty important thing. And unless we're going to age-gate one forum - which simply encourages people to lie about their age, and is thus pointless - we can't lift the ban elsewhere. So I can understand why the policy is in place. Does this really need to be asked? Disregard this. Swear words are a part of language, which is simply a means to convey an idea. The idea behind a swear word, then, is more important than the actual composition of letters. Be it a female canine, a child born out of wedlock, a persons rear end, someone's unpleasant fate in the afterlife, a racist slur, or even carnal acts, something is being said. The intention may be to offend, or it may be to express irritation. If the intention for your character is to say something offensive, you can either make use of Bionicle-approved swear-words (Karzahni, Piraka, more?), or you can actually be a creative writer, and come up with better insults. Sarcasm is a powerful tool, and figurative language as a whole can be used to create far more interesting commentary than a single, one-word swear. It can also be a powerful way of expressing the differences between characters intellect; less intelligent ones can't into sarcasm, and simply come up with simple insults, while a more intelligent one will be more adept at subtle, sometimes extended comments. For when the intention is to express irritation, see my above post; you don't actually need to type out a word to carry the idea across. More importantly, you don't need to actively define the idea, which spares you having to worry about bypassing the word-filter. Only the irritation is carried through to the reader, allowing them to fill in the blanks. Now, before someone accuses me of not reading the context of the posts: I did. And in that given context, there's nothing inherently wrong about them. However, it's very easy for someone, particularly a younger member (from experience, I'd say the 12-15 age group), to get the idea that they might, perhaps, be allowed to bend the rules in other places. While one would hope to have more faith in newer members than that, let's not forget that we've become significantly more liberal in what's been allowed to slip by over the last five years or so. This was perfectly fine with Bionicle dead; with the reboot, cleaning house is an unfortunate side-effect. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. They just aren't very funny. While no doubt fun for the writer, the audience is not guaranteed to feel the same way. Personally, I find anything which breaks the narrative flow to be distracting and out of place, on par with a random pie-in-the-face gag breaking out in the midst of the RPG's climactic end-fight. Still, depending on context (as with the puns) I can't imagine there's anything inherently wrong with it. Maybe I'm wrong? :shrug: Overall, it just comes across as unnecessary. Immature? Not so much. But definitely unnecessary, and perhaps a little forced. But don't take my word on any of it. I think the rule was "if it fit's in a PG-13 movie, it's fine", but with the broad range that entails, I'm not entirely certain. Better to just wait for B6 to rule one way or another than go charging head-first into an edited post. -Toa Levacius Zehvor P.S.: I feel like I'm waving a flag around that says, "No Fun Allowed", but this discussion isn't giving me "this will definitely end well for everybody involved" vibes. End Note: If the formatting is wonky on this, it's because I've been having difficulties getting the BZP posting box to work right on Pale Moon. The older members on the site may recall the days of having to code their posts? Yeah, I don't miss that part.

You can always just not have an expletive said. Let the reader use their own imagination to fill in the gaps. The other main trick is to just have something cut a character off. The good old fashioned, "Oh..." *crash; or the always lovely, "Why don't you take your sword and -" *crash*. There's no reason to make up alternative swears or dodge wordfilters when you apply your writing skills creatively. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

This is a good thread. I like this thread. In terms of power, though, I'd say the list is about as follows - Mata-Nui (Robot) Tren Krom Golden-Skinned Being Artahka (On-Island) Karzahni (On-Island) Brtuaka (Antidermis Charged) Teridax Voporak Tuyet (Toa Stone)* Toa Nuva (No Toa Code) Element Lords Artahka (Off-Island) Miserix Takanuva (Karda-Nui) Icarax Botar Helryx* The Shadowed One Karda-Nui Makuta Brutaka/Axonn Average OoMN Member Average Makuta Karzahni (Off-Island) Toa Nuva Powerful Dark Hunters/Piraka Takanuva(Normal) Toa Inika Barraki Average BoM Servant Toa Mata Average Toa (Mahri, Metru, etc.)* Average Dark Hunter POWER GAP Unimportant Characters I've also lowered Toa a few ranks below where they should reasonably be, because of the Toa Code and so forth which bind them. If a Toa is actually using their full power, they're only just below the Makuta in terms of power; we know this because what's-his-face supposedly used his iron powers to outright kill a Makuta. Mata-Nui is a no-brainer. Tren Krom is very much similar to a god or demon in the Matoran Universe. His power isn't completely know, but it was enough to keep the entire Federation terrified. Of course, he's limited pretty much to one island; set free, we have no way of knowing just how powerful he really was. Artahka, while on his island, is known to have access to immense power and resources. Teleporting people, using telepathy, providing virtually and equipment at will. If we further add the Matoran, Crystal Serpents, and so forth to his span of control, he's capable of fending off the army of the Brotherhood of Makuta single-handedly; if we expand his power to include his contacts, such as the Order, he can have anyone in the universe killed, including Makuta, with a few words. His "off-island" rating his based on the fact we know he was enough of a threat to at least cow Miserix, but not... well, we'll get to her. Karzahni's power seems to fluctuate. I'd project the given amount based on his seeming authority on the island, including military forces, combined with what we know of his mask, ability to channel energy attacks, and that he was at least on par with Artahka. His "off-island" power is projected based on comparing his performance in The Pit versus the other players involved; of course, as he was mutated by the Pit, it's difficult to give an accurate rating. The Golden Skinned being has the power to make dreams reality; it is essentially in possession of nearly unlimited power, perhaps even more than Tren Krom and the like. Its ability to create an entire settlement by willing it shows power at least equal to Artahka and Karzahni; that it created it from nothing, even more so. Brutaka, with full antidermis powers, appears to have the ability to not only see the future, but also all of his old powers, and those of the Makuta. Even if Shadow is missing, this makes him a very dangerous adversary, and more powerful than any entity other than the "world builders". Teridax is ranked next not just because of sheer power, but because of how he uses it. He's thrashed Miserix and Icarax, both established to be "most powerful" at some point. Further, his encounter with Karzahni shows his willpower and ability to be enough to shatter the effects of a near-legendary mask; his ability to wear the Mask of Shadows shows similar immense will. And while this is speculation, I find it difficult to imagine he couldn't either overpower or out-think Artahka simply enough, if it came down to a forced confrontation off-island. Voporak can age light (somehow) and wipe out armies of Rahkshi. He is definitely more than a match for pretty much any Makuta other than Teridax, who could win only by outsmarting him. Tuyet, in possession of the Toa Stone, is just shy of Teridax. She might even become more powerful, if she uses the Stone enough. Further, as she has no moral compulsion to follow the Toa Code, she's easily the most dangerous being in the Matoran Universe; enough so that we know she barely considered the other beings in the Core Processor to be a threat. Add in the element of surprise - nobody really comprehends just how dangerous she is, after all - and you have the most dangerous Toa in the MU. The Element Lords are basically the embodiments of their elements, as Teridax embodies shadow. This is only a guesstimate, based on what we know about them. Miserix was known to be the most powerful Makuta, until Teridax proved him wrong. He's presumably not a match for Tuyet either, so he goes down here. Icarax was also very powerful, but there's a slight power gap between him and Mixerix, which is easily filled by Takanuva with his full charge from Karda-Nui. While there, in possession of both heightened light powers and shadow, Takanuva showed himself more than a match for the Makuta; and that was with some remaining morals, and being held back. Of course, without his power-bump, he is (presumably) less powerful than the Toa Nuva. Whatever Greg says, I guess. Helryx is said to be one of the most powerful beings on the OoMN, and at least a match for a fleet of Dark Hunters. She may be less "powerful" than Gali and the other Nuva, but she's far more experienced, and willing to get things done. The Shadowed One seemed fairly confident that he could take Teridax, but wound up being out-maneuvered by both him and Vakama; not to mention out-powered. But while he couldn't match the Leader of the Brotherhood, there are certainly other Makuta; and while Icarax or Miserix could presumably thrash him, I'd consider it safe to place him on a level above the others. The Karda-Nui Maktua were the elites of their kind, so just below that. Brutaka and Axonn were tough for the OoMN, but both were below the more powerful Makuta, and below Botar. Botar would presumably be even higher than he is on the list, going off of his dealing with the Barraki and Teridax, but Icarax crushing him (literally) bumps his power level down. The OoMN, in terms of "members", is presumably even smaller than the Brotherhood; evidence shows this may be the case, with some beings such as Krakua acting as allies, but that being the extent of it. We also know, thanks to the fate of Tridax and Kojol, that these members can deal with Makuta quite effectively; thus, their ranking goes just above that of the average Makuta. The Toa Nuva are said to be the most powerful Toa. If they were to make use of their full power, as Gali was forced to against Icarax, they'd be higher; considering they're presumably above the Element Lords, placing them on that level seems the most appropriate. The Toa Inika were a new kind of Toa, for their short time with intertwined lightning powers, and with intelligent masks to aid them. While Greg tells us they're below the Toa Nuva, I have my doubts on that. But we'll respect Word of Greg on this. The Piraka rank between them, along with (presumably) the other powerful Dark Hunters, such as Lariska (not "powerful", but we know what she con do) and Ancient. While they showed themselves as more powerful than an individual Inika, their collective group was unable to work together well, and was trumped. They were less powerful than the Toa Nuva, but won because of the element of surprise, their ruthless actions, and the aid of Brutaka. The Barraki, I'm guesstimating. We know that some didn't consider Toa to be a threat, while others (like Takadox) were more wary. In any case, they were smart, and we're unsure of just how far their abilities extend; thus, they rank where they are. Pridak being a former BoM servant, and a powerful one, bumps him above beings like Sidorak, who were Brotherhood servants. However, based on testimony of such beings, we can be at least somewhat sure that some of these servants, such as Roodaka, went above the average Toa. Presumably, because of experience, even the Toa Mata. So there they are. Toa Mata go above the average Toa, because story reason and stuff. And, in turn, the average Toa presumably trumps the average Dark Hunter, based on the fact it took two of them (Nidihka and Krekka) to nab a single Toa (experience aside; both were equal in that department). ------------------------ So yeah, that's the closest I can think of to an accurate power gauge. Some things may be off, but whatever. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

While my current circumstances with regard to time make it pretty much impossible for me to play this RPG (it wouldn't be unfair for me to be suddenly absent for days and holding up the game for whoever I was fighting), I nevertheless want it said that the third tag alone has me wishing the very best for this RPG. Good luck, GMs, and keep this thing as active as the Planning Topic was. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

I'm pretty sure this is the second time within a few months that Dreamland has revisited me. It was a good RPG. Maybe instead of doing it on purpose, the characters crashed into the island while riding a massive airship to Metru-Nui? Of course, that on it's own wouldn't be enough. We'll need to include some sort of secret organization, a few weird monsters. Maybe even an island teleporter of some kind? And of course, a really great plot twist at the end; something completely out of left field, like everyone being dead or something. That's original, right? Regardless, it brings up a good point - thinking up something original for the plot. Shoot, you're living the dream. Just throw in a few political and philosophical debates and it'd be perfect. [/sarcasmnotsarcasm] -Toa Levacius Zehvor

Hello, Ssendam. Let's talk about your RPG. This is more of a semantics question, but in what was it it bigger? Metru-Nui isn't a particularly large island on a physical scale, so is the implication of Krakas' size more of a metaphorical one, rather than actual? Or is the island itself also meant to be extraordinarily big. In some ways, this can be a fairly important factors; when the scale of an island becomes too large, it becomes unrealistic for players to come into contact with each other over the distances assumed, because of the huge gaps for size. Keeping the island just slightly bigger than Metru-Nui in size, while maintaining its mythical status, would seem the more prudent option. I'd also add that the Brotherhood supposedly operates without giving their names; they're simply referred to as such by their status. The lack of knowledge of the Makuta's name thus seems very appropriate, and should be heavily enforced to add to the mystique of the setting. An interesting framing device, to be sure. If we could get a map of the island, though, that would certainly be helpful; considering that the setting itself seems fairly interesting, I'd be willing to help in that aspect. As it stands, we don't have quite as much proof of destruction as could be offered. To bring up an old spiel of mine - This is not the BZPRPG. Limiting the players options in terms of species and the like is an unnecessary limitation; other than blanket rules like "please don't be a Makuta" and "no, you can't have the Mask of Life" which should be blatantly obvious, there's no sense in having them. I also wouldn't limit the natives to being only Matoran, either; having a few unusually twisted Skakdi crawling about, for instance; or perhaps even a stranger species, like one of the ones the Dark Hunters come from. We definitely need a story of some time. If I could suggest: Faced with the possibility of profit, some large company (possibly Xian based) decides to fund a treasure hunting expedition, gathering volunteers and sending them to the island. They set-up base camp, and begin the task of exploring; of course, problems immediately begin to arise, and everything just starts to collapse, as various splinter groups begin to form. Players could also opt to be independently funded, and come via their own means; perhaps even as a group. These independent groups wander the island, and post just as big of a threat; however, the natives, who themselves have their own various tribes, are not particularly pleased at the intrusion. Or at least, that's how it appears; only a few xenophobic natives are actually responsible for the killings which begin. Which begs the question: what is behind the killings? Just dangle some plot threads around. These are pretty cool. Could use some work, but we'll wait until further into the process for that. As is, this is a good start to an RPG. We just need to start seeing the mechanics, rulings, and so forth; but as a proposal, it's pretty sound. We just need to start seeing characters and plot. EDIT: Oh, and - Tsk, third person. I'm not that easy to get rid of. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

No doubt, a larger staff would be helpful, to pay attention. Though further notes, further down in this post. The biggest ruling would, of course, be a simple guideline for the GM not to take action unless an action was clearly outside the norm, and to do so with full authority (no arguments) when doing so. Because sometimes, when your mind is stocked with seventy or so characters from dozens of RPGs, and your only chance to post is late at night when your eyelids are collapsing, a quick reference for consistency isn't entirely out of the question. Further, having the personality section present allows the GM to be sure that a character isn't going to be a disruption; if an RPG about role-playing in a police department spawns a character whose personality is "unorganized, disruptive, and loves explosions", then perhaps that character shouldn't be allowed to start the game with the rank of detective. Silvan, you seem to be confusing the point of the conversation. It's not about prohibiting changes to characters; it's about preventing blatant, disruptive shifts, while at the same time encouraging changes, as part of the plot. That is to say, trying something new: instead of character development happening separately from the main body, it becomes the main focus. And it has the potential to work out extremely well, especially with mature players who are actually willing to role-play, instead of just reacting to things happening. To prevent the circular logic GSR mentioned from inevitably coming up, I'll just ask this (seeing as I'm haven't actively played in some time) - Is the average player on the BRPG forum both competent enough to write a developing character, and mature enough to take advice on doing so? Or is that no longer the case? I don't believe it was ever a metric to be utilized, either. Compare: Han Solo at the start of A New Hope wouldn't have returned at the end. However, the events of the film lead to him making the decision to turn around at the very end; character development. However, sending the co-ordinates and information about the plan to the Empire, and turning around to help them by targeting Rebel ships? That would have run directly counter to every prior action, and all established traits. There are no percentages or measures; it's simply a measure of paying attention. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

Sorry, that doesn't make any sense. Why would other players need to know your characters personality, unless they were looking for meta-game knowledge? The characters personality, for them, should be based upon dialogue; not based upon the profile. The profile is there for you, the player. You design your character; you decide who they will be, and what they can do. And once more, role-playing. In any case, where do you read "tell the player how to use their own creation?" You are the one who wrote it. Other people are not telling you how to play your character; you are the one who is doing the telling! Over the course of the game, your character is meant to adapt and change dynamically; thankfully, this forum supports post editing. Unless you're suggesting players are incapable of playing the very characters they wrote, I don't see how it's a problem. How did you get my e-mail address? -Toa Levacius Zehvor

I don't mean exactly word-for-word; I'm referring to blatant exaggerations. If your character is established as being "loyal" in their profile block, as their pretty much defining personality trait, suddenly backstabbing their allies and running away is a blatant violation of the meta. In other RPGs, this would just happen as some random moment, and would create a break in the narrative. However, the idea I propose offers a solution to it; instead of acting out of character, they were simply acting in-character for the Makuta possessing them, representing loss of control. And daily reminder that "role-playing" indicates you have a role to play, and you're meant to operate within that role. The challenge in an RPG comes just as much from playing the part as fighting other players. It should be more, really. That's the reason for the pacing. In essence, the idea is that every character would have their personality change, because it's being forced onto them. The challenge is to see how much of it remains. You can always adjust the pace based on how quickly the RPG is going. If the story's good enough, you won't even need to. And restrictive? No more so than any other RPG; it just gives a more organic method to the restrictions, so while more apparent, they don't feel as forced. I'd also say an RPG where you're meant to stick closer to your role would be a good exercise for newer writers; particularly those who aren't as comfortable with keeping a cohesive character. I know for certain one of the earliest difficulties I had was learning to write characters with definitive "voices", rather than just the same character with different appearances, powers, and exaggerated traits. Heck, I still consider it one of the toughest things to do. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

Or perhaps a more interesting scenario: The Makuta inhabiting the host can access none of their Kraata powers, save for mental ones such as Mind Reading; all of the other powers are held by their host, who is simply unaware of their presence, and has no way of using. The powers go off randomly; dodging a thrown knife out of the blue, instinctively creating a magnetic burst, that sort of thing. As they adapt to their powers, the Makuta within them grows more powerful, and as a result begins to have a greater influence over the host. And, of course, the struggle to retain mental control forces them to limit their powers; basically, a means to prevent godmoding. I'd suggest having players be granted permission to hone their abilities based upon proper roleplaying; if they do well enough, they maintain balance against the Makuta within, along with keeping everything timely, they manage to keep control of the form. However, if a character doesn't display proper roleplaying (acting out of character to their profile, constantly metagaming, breaking rules, etc.) then they will start to lose control; at the same time, if they overuse their powers, control is lost. Once control is lost, the character becomes an NPC, under full control of the Makuta (with full powers) and, as a result, the GM. In the case of overusing powers, though doing so in-character and in a way which was good for the story, the GM could reserve the right to allow the player to continue controlling the new Makuta character; otherwise, it could serve to either punish offending players (by granting their character an untimely "death") or simply as a conclusion to their story. Interesting possibilities, in any case. Addendum: As possessed characters grow more powerful, they begin to develop shadow abilities, and gain the eventual power to create shadow hands and the like. Through the use of their shadow hand, they could absorb other Makuta-possessed characters, and bolster their own powers. Think Highlander with Makuta. -Toa Levacisu Zehvor

I'll have to disagree. Not all players like crossovers, and creating them alienates people who just want to play Bionicle RPGs, as well as many fans from the source material. Note that Alien vs. Predator has a much smaller fanbase than either of the original films. Plus, crossovers more often than not lead to grabbing at and fusing the origins, rather than creating new source material. The point of BRPG is to create original content within the Bionicle IP, and as it stands, I'm not seeing anything original coming out of the crossovers. The Half-Life one came close, but of course had conflicts as well. Take transformers: We've seen the Allspark being fought over plenty of times. We've seen wars in Bionicle. What are you doing that's new? Blending the two isn't new, it's just different. But different does not equate to good. Mind you, original and new don't either, but at least they have substance. Before ending the post, food for thought to those looking at cross-overs: There's a reason "inspiration" is a word. You can take inspiration from something and use it to create an RPG, without actually crossing over the IP's. And, of course, a cross-over could be done well. But if every comment in the planning topic is about them? Bad news. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

To put it rather simply: The first time I saw an RPG get devastated in the polls for reasons other than plain bad writing, was the inclusion of humans. It was something like "humans come to Mata-Nui and reproduce with Toa, and the players are all half-Toa babies". I think it was some sort of Percy Jackson thing? Anyways, the reviews were hilarious; the polls less so. You shouldn't take critique as a reason to leave. Instead, take it as a reason to try something different. So what if your comic series doesn't translate? You can always try to write a new story. One more overall inclusive. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

Does not translate into Bionicle. I'm seconding this and this; there's no point in a cross-over unless it actually does something neither can do on their own. ... this sounds like a recipe for Author Avatar in the first degree. And trust me, there's nothing more annoying in an RPG than when the GM has an Author Avatar acting as the protagonist. Again, why does it need to be Minecraft? Why not just write a Bionicle RPG, set in the Bionicle universe? -Toa Levacius Zehvor

I just wish Greg would do for Bionicle what Michael Kirkbride has done with Elder Scrolls. The time spent dealing with the twenty-one questions of annoying 12-year olds could be applied just as well to answering one question with a decent, 1000 word serial. Further, and more important, is the encouragement within the TES Community for fan contributions and ideals in the creation of personal headcanons; meanwhile, Papa Bethesda just smiles down happily, while swimming without a care as people keep buying their games years after release just for those sweet mods. But I understand why Greg does it. He's been a lot more personally involved, so I imagine he feels a closer connection as "the writer" than "that one crazy guy who comes up with cool stuff". Not to mention still being on LEGO payroll, and the fact that he seems to enjoy interacting with his fanbase, rather than screwing with them. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

FTFY. At least Web of Shadows looked Bionicle. :\ See, I was actually wondering about that. I know it's the case in stuff like Star Wars, but that's a series where film was the original medium. In Bionicle, the books are basically the primary mode of story information, at least with regards to the "protagonists" of that year. They're also relatively stand-alone, in contrast to everything else. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

What is: deja vu? Oh, it has value. That value is derived from the amount of money it takes to buy a Mask of Emulation, grab the Enforcer's "power nullification" ability, and watch said Toa of Gravity's eyes go wide when he realizes he really can't no-sell physics. Depends on what we call a unique tournament. Parugi, if you're still lurking, you got any thoughts to share? Or maybe somebody who was around in the time of Tournament of Shadows? I think that one had Dark Hunter attacks and stuff towards the end and stuff. Really, the rule of turning points is the most important one. The RPG simply needs to have some. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

Well, a Toa of Gravity could nullify it, so... It's a good sub-plot, though. Not quite. The tournament is the central highlight; as a result, all sub-plots and shift should be based around it. These sub-plots would take place both between fights, and during them. At the same time, anything which makes the tournament itself distinctive, in contrast to other possible RPGs, should be fostered and encouraged. The internet in a nut-shell. At this point, the course of action is pretty simple. The Bionifight GMs go over the RPG, and make the changes based on what would better the RPG. Then, they take it to the judges, and the judges say their piece. With a topic this divisive, there isn't really a midway point to reach. Just decisions to be made. I tend to be somewhat blunt with stuff, but I really do try to only propose things that I think would actually make an RPG better; nitpicking is always easy, but in the end, it's just pointless. I think it was around the time I had a newer member withdraw an RPG after a review that I decided a shift in style would be needed. That being said, I'm sure almost any idea can work, so long as it's implement right. Except a Pony RPG; that could never work. Ever. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

This topic will probably give me Ebola, just throwing that out there. Seriously, folks? It has literally zero impact on the story. In fact, it takes away something. We never learned what the full extent of the Makuta's abilities were; heck, it's even called "42+" Kraata powers for a reason. Trying to find an answer is just taking away from the mystery. Good rule of thumb: Book Canon SUPERSEDES Movie Canon SUPERSEDES Web Serials/Web Animations SUPERSEDES Word of Greg (During G1) SUPERSEDES Word of Greg (Post-G1) SUPERSEDES Anything I Forgot To List SUPERSEDES Product Information/Commercials Not all cannons fire the same shots, and not all canons are equal. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

I just want to point out a somewhat amusing thing: The Academy was (one of) first RPG(s) in the contest system, and it was set in a school. Before my time, by over half a decade easily. I believe the topic had some 1000 pages or whatever? Not sure, but it was an enormous number. And what is the first RPG of the judging system? Corpus Rahkshi, set in a school. Also an enormous success, particularly compared to past RPGs over the last few years. Give it another month, and it'll have surpassed Techna in the same amount of time (or is it already over?), and that was the biggest one we've had during my time here (excepting maybe War Zone, because I don't recall how many pages it had). Everything is running parallel, people. Everything. The fun kinds. Plus, narrative with magical flying Toa shooting fire. Realism is a dead concept around here. For over one thousand years? No, they've got to have an ulterior motive of some kind, or the lulz would start to get old. Besides, where there's spectators, there's capital, and there's people. Where there's people, they are people who want capital, and people without the guile to hold onto it. Gambling is only natural. Also? Fun. A fool and his money are easily parted, after all. Especially when the "loser" gets 30% of your winnings for betting against him. Actually, that's wrong. The tournament model is good for creating a focused storyline, and setting an objective for players to reach for. It is a tool; neither good, or bad. All that matters is how the RPG is run. Exploration is also feasible, but once again, it's a tool. Everything. Is. A. Tool. Bionifight has it's problems, but exploration isn't one of them. If anything, I'd cut out the Infinity Stone sub-plot entirely, and focus entirely on character interaction within the arena areas. The tunnels and the like could remain as old, abandoned areas for players to have nightly duels and stuff like that, trying to remove the competition or whatever. Maybe even secret meetings, beneath the notice of those above. When all is said and done, though, two factors dominate: playerbase and GMs. Bionifight will likely bring in new players, if it really does drag a few G&T posters over here. The GMs, I can never say entirely for sure. However, since Blade is acting as a co-GM, and has been RP'ing longer than I have, I don't think there's much room for concern in that department. Our issue isn't whether the RPG will flop; it's whether it's best turned into an RPG, or best left in G&T. "Hey, Xerox, we made this cool device that let's you operate a GUI!" "That's ridiculous, and useless." "Hey, Xerox, were' a small corporation who like that. Can we steal it?" "Go ahead, it's useless." "Xerox, you're going to regret not listening to us." Later... "Hmm, maybe the engineers were right." I think that "don't be Xerox" might be a good addendum to the original post. Should someone get GSR to edit that in? It's in situations like this where I find my love of debate to be advantageous, really... I think the best rule of thumb to use is "boring, therefore wrong." If the RPG is made more interesting by doing something, it needs to be done. If it becomes less interesting, then don't do it. I mean, heck, wasn't that pretty much the whole reason why Aloft was made in the first place: to make something completely new and interesting? Personally, I feel that Bionifight, at the moment, isn't offering much more than any other tournament RPG could. There needs to be something distinctive about it; something new and different. One tournament RPG basically means no other tournament RPGs can be running at the same time, for lack of players. If this will be the case, there needs to be something about it the others can't offer. Yes, all of this is understood. But the "why" isn't important; the result is. When you add other elements, you get longer posts. I've played D&D games which required going across a Minesweeper field so I don't know what you're talking about. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

That is, in fact, what a tournament is. The way the proposed Bionifight RPG is set up at the moment makes it a mess of unnecessary fights in sequence. The Infinity Gems and stuff on the side are there, sure, but they're completely reactive to the players, rather than an active player in the plot. When you make an RPG, you're trying to create a setting and a story. There needs to be an objective, and there needs to be difficulties which show up to prevent individuals from reaching that objective. There needs to be some form of an antagonistic force (not necessarily evil, not necessarily a person, not necessarily even aware that it's the antagonist), or there's no sense of drive. I think the problem is that because the fights tend to be the most memorable aspect of RPGs, people in turn view them as the most important factor. But every memorable fight has something which transpires before it, and has some sort of build up, which separates it from the less memorable fights which just randomly happen. The example of Star Wars vs. the Prequels comes to mind via natural reflex, really. In any case, rigging the matches won't always be the case. Especially if players don't follow "the rules" that those in charge want. Really, the biggest matter is ensuring the NPC leaders have their own personal motivations, which are separate from those of the GMs; otherwise, the whole thing falls apart. And, frankly, there's a reason why I listed it as a "suggestion"; it's based on my personal judgement on the matter, and for all I know could be just as fallible, if not worse. I can't say for certain. I do recall one of the things that crossed my mind, as I'm writing now - there need to be gamblers. Like, seriously, gambling options are pretty much a requirement in this setting. But back to the initial point: If the game is going to be done as an RPG, it can't be a straight line. Tournaments don't just take place for the laughs; they take place because they're a sport, and like all sports, the money comes from either advertising, the state, or gambling. Seeing as there doesn't appear to be advertisements or state involvement, I'd say gambling wold be the case here. Which means there will be people up above not playing fair. Plus, not everything needs to happen in the open. Two players could easily go to PM with the GM, and describe their own under-the-table dealings to ensure that lovely reward money is being raked in. (Sorry if I got a little verbose, but some things need to be said. ) At the risk of summoning up the "elitist" comment from before... there are some pretty heavy differences. I checked the last Bionifight topic, read over stuff, and can say that most of those posts are quite simple, quick, and to the point. Contrast that to most of the posts here, where a character introduction can go over one thousand words easily. Older writers in particular like to take their time, and internal monologue, particularly during a fight, is the order of the day. Don't expect RPGers to "manage it as well"; design your RPG to match them. If Bionifight is better served as a fighting game, then Games & Trivia is the ideal forum. If it's meant to tell an interactive story, then this is the forum to use. But it takes time. The RPG "City in the Dark" takes place in a city, which is in the dark, but the city itself is not called "City in the Dark". If the RPG is called "Bionifight", it applies that Bionicle characters are fighting. It does not, in fact, imply that the setting is called Bionifight. You just answered your own question. Keep in mind two things: - Multiple fights can take place at the same time, no problem. Seeing as the Enforcer seems specifically designed to the unbeatable, at this stage in the game, no reason he can't monitor two places at once. And: - There's no need to reuse arenas. There are literally thousands of possible arena options. Making every fight different adds flavor, adds an element of unpredictability, and forces players to utilize their powers better. As mentioned prior, it can also even the ground between two players; a Toa of Fire might hold an advantage over a Ga-Matoran in most cases, but once you throw them in an underwater arena, things get a lot more interesting. Yes, that is true. But the question was, why do characters know that previous tournaments have also been established where items could be located? This. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

BIONIFIGHT REVIEW I'm going to streamline the review process a bit, just to save some time: I. Things to Add: 1. More arenas. II. Things to Remove: 1. Giving specified times, hour warnings, and so forth? Unnecessary. Especially here, on the opening thing. Everything about "lasting until X time" or whatever should be cut out, as far as I'm concerned. But i notice that this isn't exactly the first time, that somebody has brought this up. Nevertheless, not a fan. 2. The "the location of the tournament is based on legendary items" line. Why would this be common knowledge for the contestants? 3. The arenas. To explain: having five arenas doesn't really seem like enough, and gives too little environmental diversity. At the same time, describing them now takes away the surprise. If older players from previous games get involved, they can have their characters tell others about it in-character; otherwise, let every new environment be a surprise. III. Things to Change: 1. The name "Bionifight" works as a title for the RPG, but not as the name for the tournament itself. The name "Bionifight" implies a very light-hearted tone, which is directly contrasted by the actual content of the story. After all, nobody uses the name "Bionicle" as an in-story term, so why should it be used in this one? Treat the game aspect as a game; treat the story, which includes names and people, as a story. 2. I normally don't say this, but I think the current RPG write-up could use a little bit more fluff. While excess fluff is useless, there's very little provided to give a proper understanding of the setting itself. Some quotes from the Host, accounts by NPCs regarding the area... maybe even an in-character description for the RPG? This is your starting post, and yet outside of the initial "hook", it's a little boring. I'll also profess to disliking the font size, but that's almost a non-issue. 3. I would do an overhaul of the point system. I would drop the "ten points" deal, because it sets a quantitative amount of effort to get special rewards and the like. Stating that the "points" a character achieves tends to correlate which achievement by the Host and Queen would work a lot better, and also allows more leeway for the staff in doling out items and the like. IV. Suggestions: 1. You should have at least one preliminary round prior to the actual tournament, where players are placed into brackets; you might even have it be a free-for-all with everybody, to act as a skills test. This allows players to plan ahead of time, and maybe even attempt action against their rivals prior to the fight beginning. It would allow players to make bets, and possibly even deals with others in terms of those bets. Perhaps the Host and other event managers might even come to certain characters and have them intentionally lose? Of course, along those lines, a losers bracket would almost certainly be needed, to keep the fights going. Now, also keep in mind the most important part of this: it allows you to place overtly powerful characters against enemies who can no-sell those abilities. For instance, a Toa of Magnetism has a huge advantage in melee combat; against a Psionics user who doesn't employ metallic weapons? They're going to have a much tougher time. Do this, and you can ensure players never win as a result of having "OP" characters; everyone has a weakness. 2. As an addendum to the above point, since new players will constantly be coming in, you might want to make the brackets exceptionally large, with the assumption that NPC fights are taking place, at least until the addition of two new characters, and new spots in the fights. Towards the very end, this would pose a problem; but then again, it wouldn't seem particularly fair to give a one-week player the championship title, in sans of a three-month one. Oh, and whenever a player drops out, their character could be replaced by the Host with a newbie, just for kicks. 3. Final addendum to the above point; the various game types do work quite well, even with the brackets. The only real change needed would be the number of players advancing, possibly allowing a lot more. There's probably more than that, but I can't think of it at the moment, and my time to make this post is running out. So here, have fun; knock me, you, everybody out. Also: Listen to this. This is a good idea. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

Another morning, another "not enough time to post". Quick comments: Bionifight: I'm going to put a quick "inb4 Tournament of Shadows" because that's way before most of our times, including myself. Heck, if I remember by BZP history, I think TPTI was a newbie back then. That same rule also applies to Day Run and the like; a very, very different world on the forum. That being said, while Bionifight looks like an interesting concept, drop the heck out of that HP system. Make the fights run naturally. If they run too long, and the players can't come to a decision, the staff can intervene and decide the winner; if a player disappears, the active one takes the win. No HP, this is a TBRPG; it should flow like a narrative story, without any numerical breaks. I'd also raise the number of abilities to three, and cause certain abilities to be worth more. For instance, elemental powers have far greater versatility than a weapon, and something like psionics (telepathy+telekinesis+mental blasts+mind control+mental shields+illusions) is worth even more than a normal elemental power. This is especially true if you include weaponry. <EDIT>: Oh, and I forgot to add, players will never just find the story. There's a reason nearly every story begins with an event to kick it off, and the staff need to do that kicking. A lot of kicking. Asylum: The RPG's getting overshadowed because you need to put it in the Judging Topic. Sorry for lack of the review. Tanks: Judging Topic, sheesh. Again, should really review, but time is currently a scarce resource. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

Born too early to go to the moon. Born too late to play this RPG. Born just in time to echo the above sentiments. Reviews tomorrow, maybe? Hahahahahahahahahahhahahahahhaha I wish. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

Oh my... Nobody is telling non-binary people they are not welcome here. You are the only one who is saying that, and as a result, have been pushing that thought upon others. And I made multiple offers to discuss the scientific side with you, as an aside, because do you know what? You can be proven wrong. But rather than doing so, and assuming the person arguing with you might be open to discussion, you instead took up the belief that obviously, because I disagree with you, I must be a close-minded bigot. That is why I said you have a superiority complex; because you have chosen to assume, as a result of your beliefs, that you are somehow more tolerant than others; that you have endured more than others; that you are more progressive, more open-minded, and more respectful than others. But nothing you have said has demonstrated any of these things. Instead, you have placed yourself upon a pedestal of self-proclaimed enlightenment; one upon which you are granted sole license to cast judgment upon the others members of the same community you claim you are defending. If you wish to talk about which sciences are made-up, don't just say they're made up. Actually show why. Regardless of what you might think, I do consider you to be a person, and I am willing to listen to you. But rather than take of advantage of that, you either choose to ignore my points, or resort to ad hominem. You're right: this thread was, in fact, a thought experiment, not a serious consideration; not once do I believe I've ever said anything to the contrary. What I have done is ask questions, answer them, and tried to understand what other posters were thinking. You are the only one who took offense to this, and felt the need to become defensive. Do I misgender people? Not that I know of. Because usually, their gender is far less important than what they have to say, and never even comes up in conversation. If it becomes relevant, than I'll try to determine if they are male or female; whether or not they are is up their choice, and I will refer to them as the gender their identify with. And regardless of how they classify themselves, I will not discriminate against them as a result. In fact, on the off-chance that they do consider themselves to be some form of third gender, do you know how I will treat them? Exactly the same as anyone else. That same principle means that I will not alter my speech to refer to them by their own custom-made pronouns. To comment on your final point: You're right, I am not an expert on biology, or psych, or, heck, even film. And if you believe you know something I don't - which, considering how much I don't know, there's probably something - then say what that is, instead of simply saying that you know it. One is a dialogue; the other is simply a statement that you, and you alone, are worthy of an opinion. I can't speak for the others, because believe it or not, people not agreeing with you might not agree with each other either. But myself? I have done everything I could to treat you with respect; but somehow, the fact that we are of differing viewpoints automatically means, to your mind, that I am specifically targeting you, as a person, just because of your differing belief. And of course this isn't an actual academic debate, it's an informal discussion. Nobody is trying to offend you. Nobody is targeting you. Nobody is invalidating your opinion. My advice to you: Stop treating people like we're your enemies. Stop treating people like we don't care what you say. Because what you have to say, and the opinions you hold, are infinitely more important than your name, your gender, your physical appearance, or any other other facet which defines who you are. So start giving people the benefit of the doubt. It goes back to what I said before, about making a difference - be that difference. Don't expect other people to just "change" because you consider it the right thing. If you truly are offended, then I apologize. But neither of us should be forced to silence simply for disagreement. -Toa Levacius Zehvor