BZPRPG - News and Discussion

[Rahisaurus]

19 hours ago, Geardirector said:

I'm getting caught up

 

8 hours ago, Daniel the Finlander said:

with mar... you can do whatever you want with that character now

@Geardirector maybe we could pick up the idea we had with Siika meeting Mar in ko-koro if you have the bandwidth?

[Void Emissary]

Any culinary-minded Dasaka in Ga-Koro at the moment? Daijuno will be looking for recipes from Kentoku soon.

Thank you!

[The Drink]

Tatara

[Mel]

like warpaint or dried tears
.
: )

[The Drink]

keeping the bit going

Horimono

[That Matoran with a Vahi]

Hiiiii... any advice for a newcomer tentatively looking to jump in here? ^^

I've played in other RPs here on BZP, so I know how they work in general, and I think I've read most of the important information pages; but the sheer amount of backstory here makes it kind of intimidating for me to approach. Still, I've kinda been having the itch to do Bionicle things again lately, so I guess I just wondered whether it would be easy to just jump in somewhere and learn the rest of the details as I go?

Thanks ^^

[Mel]

47 minutes ago, That Matoran with a Vahi said:

Hiiiii... any advice for a newcomer tentatively looking to jump in here? ^^

Welcome!  Always nice to see new players.  If you're looking for a place to come in with very little knowledge, may I suggest becoming one of the refugee fleet from Kentoku that just arrived on Mata-Nui?   If you're playing a dashi (matoran) artisan, like @~Xemnas~ 's Eita, you probably weren't involved in any of the big events on Kentoku, and you'd be coming onto a completely new island that you know little about.

You can't have a vahi tho, sorry lol

[Visaru]

5 hours ago, That Matoran with a Vahi said:

I've played in other RPs here on BZP, so I know how they work in general, and I think I've read most of the important information pages; but the sheer amount of backstory here makes it kind of intimidating for me to approach. Still, I've kinda been having the itch to do Bionicle things again lately, so I guess I just wondered whether it would be easy to just jump in somewhere and learn the rest of the details as I go?

Yeah it's definitely intimidating, kind of unavoidable for a game that's been running for like, over a decade now? Still, I think you are right that the best way to go is probably to just jump in to some specific place and situation and learn from there. Don't be too afraid of contradicting previous lore, it's okay to contradict things so that you can participate! Pick a location that looks interesting to you and your character and read a few posts to see if there's any interesting plots you might like to join, like the refugees in Ga Mel mentioned. Or you can just make an intro post and set up your character to be open for interaction. If you have any specific questions, I'm happy to answer them to the best of my knowledge over PM, or you could probably put them here in this topic too!

[That Matoran with a Vahi]

Thanks, thanks both! I've kinda been shaping up the beginnings of a Toa profile as my potential start point over the last few days (the idea of beginning with a Dashi is very cool, but I think I'd rather start with a species that I'm familiar with until I'm a bit more sure of myself) but I'm not altogether sure what I can put for her backstory? I've read that the MU beyond Mata Nui doesn't exist in this universe, so are all Toa natives of Mata Nui in this context?

Thanks, again!

Edited July 6, 2022 by That Matoran with a Vahi

[BULiK]

If you like giant gangs of matoran doing hobbit things, there's a massive pile of characters in Ga-Wahi that are going to be grouping up on some quests to join in on. Also, there are two voyages in preparation that you could get a character in on the ground floor of - the pirate ship infernavika in Po-Wahi and the Po-Koronan naval flagship Fowadi currently in Ga-Wahi.

Regarding backstories: you don't have to be very specific. The rule of thumb for Toa is that they either washed up on a beach with no memories at some point in time after Makuta defeated the Toa Mata, or they were a Matoran on Mata Nui that transformed into a Toa at some point after Makuta defeated the Toa Mata (~102-103 years ago). If you have some specific ideas that help the characterization as far as when/how they became a toa on mata nui, go for it, but yeah, nobody who came from outside of Mata Nui knows how they got there.

Edited July 6, 2022 by BULiK

[The Drink]

boats full go to piracy

[That Matoran with a Vahi]

@BULiK Oh cool; that's really helpful, thanks! I'll see about getting her app up in the next few days ^^

[BULiK]

Not to mention that stuff's happening at the other two locations. Kentoku has a lot of lore but also plenty of places where it's easy to catch up given the apocalypse is going on there. Zakaz and Seprilli only have a few pages of posts and if you want to read up on a location before jumping in they have plenty of room.

Plus, the other locations on mata nui have some stuff going on too - some more than others - to drop in on.

[oncertainty]

I'm putting together some characters for Zakaz/Seprilli, and I'm wondering if playing as a Nakihl is something that is happening? I realize a few characters have picked up some Nakihl powers to varying degree, but seems like there are few full-on blood sorcerers.

[ARROW404]

On 7/10/2022 at 4:15 AM, oncertainty said:

I'm putting together some characters for Zakaz/Seprilli, and I'm wondering if playing as a Nakihl is something that is happening? I realize a few characters have picked up some Nakihl powers to varying degree, but seems like there are few full-on blood sorcerers.

I don't know about blood sorcerers, but there's one openly practicing Nakilh in Westside Zakaz (though whether he will survive remains to be seen), and I've got a Nakihl religious leader at the Nakihl HQ... as well as an undercover member or two.

On another note, are there any characters in Le-Wahi waiting to get some interaction? I've still got this dragon, and nothing to do with him. Meeting another dragon is on the table, but I'd like to start in a place that hasn't met one yet first.

Edited July 19, 2022 by ARROW404

[oncertainty]

 

 

decline and fall

 

must have earned one indulgence, in some seven months here : )

[Mel]

a hobby of warriors was the profession of fools

[Ghosthands]

Hi all — just wanted to give my apologies to anyone who's been waiting on me for posts over the past couple of weeks. It's been a bit of a tough time for me and I have a very difficult workload at the moment, so I'll try to catch up soon, but unfortunately I can't make any promises. When I'm able to post I'll prioritise the Ga-Koro sub stuff, since I know that's holding certain things up, and the Broker stuff on Zakaz.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Ghosthands

[Keeper of Kraata]

For Kentoku folks, I'll work on getting up a big 'ol post this weekend, probably Sunday. I just moved and am adjusting to life on my own, plus I'm starting a new job in addition to trying to get everything hooked up and back online. Thanks for your patience!

[a goose]

A dotted line of death and decay, where each drop of diseased blood had fallen.

[a goose]

"The Empire has come here for lumber. We will give them tinder."

pretty sure this passes the 12-hour double post limit

[ARROW404]

Guys, I think I'm gonna quit the BZPRPG. There just aren't enough people around to keep things interesting for me.

[Mel]

5 hours ago, ARROW404 said:

Guys, I think I'm gonna quit the BZPRPG. There just aren't enough people around to keep things interesting for me.

I understand, things can get slow.   If you have other things taking up your time it makes sense to leave--I did this for a while.

But if the issue is that people aren't posting enough, well, honestly most of us work on other hobbies in the interim.   This is what makes the BZPRPG survive, we're all adults and sometimes you don't check the forums for weeks, and then you come back to a novel chapter.

[a goose]

7 hours ago, ARROW404 said:

Guys, I think I'm gonna quit the BZPRPG. There just aren't enough people around to keep things interesting for me.

you will be missed

rip to the most peaceful spot in ko-koro 😔

[BULiK]

9 hours ago, ARROW404 said:

Guys, I think I'm gonna quit the BZPRPG. There just aren't enough people around to keep things interesting for me.

that'd be a real shame, I was really hyped for priicu's arc, he was shaping up to be the key innocent player in the middle of the philosophical differences between vrill and muir as the conspiracies got even more tangled.

I'd like to second what Mel has said - if anything, sometimes these lulls of activity are the times when it's easiest to keep up with the game, and any goodbye can always turn into merely a hiatus several months down the line. It's happened to... well... everyone, over the years.

[Geardirector]

Seconding Bulik on that one. We all come back. I'm gonna miss having Onepu in your capable hands o7.

[Krayzikk]

20 hours ago, ARROW404 said:

Guys, I think I'm gonna quit the BZPRPG. There just aren't enough people around to keep things interesting for me.

Sorry to hear it. Do whatever you need for yourself, but you will always be welcome back.

I know things are slow, and I know in some places that's on me; this semester of school is particularly important and that hasn't left a ton of time up until now. All of that being said we'll still be here, and we'll always be happy to see you back.

[Visaru]

Arrow you'll be missed, hope to see you again, however long it takes!

Believe it or not, there was once a time when I got abandoned in the middle of talking to someone because it took me a whole day to respond: people were writing nonstop, and there were new pages every few hours. But now the game runs at a much slower pace, which is good too: it makes it easier to stick with it long term, and I'm very thankful this game is still running.

[ARROW404]

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. I feel real sad now, but the issue isn't the rate people post at, just at how tiny the community is. At the height of the BZPRPG (or even past its prime) you could throw in a character randomly, and someone would interact with it. Now though, it feels like it's just propelled by a few players with a lot of characters. And with Bionicle gone from store shelves, I don't see that trend reversing.

The stories we made here were amazing, but it just isn't the same without the hope of new people getting swept along in the adventure, you know?

[Nato G]

I completely get where you’re coming from. For me, coming off the back of the faster-paced SK series, the limited amount of people around and the long delays between posts here in the BZPRPG has certainly been a bit disheartening. I often find myself having to go back and reread a bunch of my past posts to get back into character. It’s one of the several reasons I ended up drifting away from the BZPRPG back in the previous arc.

But if your problem is that there aren’t many people around anymore, leaving isn’t going to help. It just makes that exact problem worse for everyone else. I certainly don’t want it to feel like I’m guilting or pressuring you to stay, but going by the last few responses here there’s clearly a lot of players here who appreciate having you around, and you quitting leaves everyone with one less person to play with in an already-small playerbase.

Obviously, you’re right that new people getting involved is unlikely, but it’s not impossible either. Activity ebbs and flows, and sometimes when a new game starts it brings new users to the forum (we’ve got Bulik’s Xia game coming along in the relatively near future). I guess all I’m really trying to say is that if you still have the ability to stay around and the love for the community, and enthusiasm for the game, it might be worth sticking around a while longer to see where things go. 

Another thing to consider is, do you know any past players you could nudge back into returning? Do you have any friends who enjoy creative writing or who were fans of Bionicle, that you could introduce to the game? You're right that outside circumstances aren't likely to bring new players to our door, but that doesn't mean we don't have the power to source some ourselves. 

[Mel]

I'd also like to point out that within the last year we've gotten an influx of new players--not very much, mind you, but it's not zero.   Heck, the quest to the greenhouse that you're involved in has 7+ players alone.  Bionicle has ended, but role-playing is more popular than ever and there's always people who will be happy to use old hobbies as a vehicle for storytelling.

As someone who experienced the RPG forum in its heyday, it was pretty hopping, but there still barriers to involvement.   If your character wasn't interesting or powerful enough, or you didn't have an in with the central group of players, it was easy to fall by the wayside while big changes happened around you.   Now, I feel like I have a chance to slow down and really explore a variety of characters' stories and development without missing out.

The staff has done a great job in making Arc III a player-focused arc that makes room for new characters and gives old ones room to grow.

[ARROW404]

Well, you guys make some pretty compelling points. At the very least, maybe I should stick around for the stories my characters are prominent in. It wouldn't be fair to just drop off the face of the earth there.

[a goose]

"Tell me... about... the Matoran."

[ARROW404]

What do y'all think of an expedition to Seprilli and Zakaz? A trader looking to expand their prospects with exotic foreign goods, putting out flyers looking for labor at various ports?

[Mel]

I mean, if you look in Po I think there's already some people planning something similar.

[Visaru]

Yeah, the pirate ship Infernavika has spread the news that they are planning an expedition to Zakaz in the near future and are hiring crew in Ostia. While there's nothing stopping a second expedition getting underway, it might be more fun to join forces!

[BULiK]

IMPLICATIONS > CALAMITOUS

[The Drink]

Shuten-dōji

[Daniel the Finlander]

any news about dark walk questline continuing

[Krayzikk]

34 minutes ago, Daniel the Finlander said:

any news about dark walk questline continuing

I've been in touch with Kaithas, there was supposed to be a post on Monday but he came down with the flu. I'm working on making sure it gets continued or resolved as promptly as possible.