Trollslum Discussion 7: I think we're still doing this

[Arcanum]

I think the disorganized clusterfuck stemmed from our rampant use of memos and interactions between past and future versions of our characters. I think the best way to deal with this is to only allow linear progression, with time shenanigans needing to be fully planned out in advance and approved. Also, as much as I was looking forward to playing a hero of time, I think that role should be in Bard's hands since his knowledge of future events will allow him to use time shenanigans to steer us in the right direction (much like how the myriad of Aradiabots kept the troll session on track).

These are all just suggestions, of course.

[Flarecobra]

I agree, those time shinagains really gave me a headache when trying to follow them.

[Bard The 5th LW]

I think the use of the edupad really sort of fucked things up in that regard. If things were streamlined it would have been more straightforward and consistent.

Like, if I did decide to restart this or whatever then I'd basically say "No edupad" and bring everyone to the same position in time. No time shit on the memos either.

[Geminex]

In regards to the time stuff, I think back when this started, the idea was not to railroad you guys. We had a plot thought out (several, actually), but one that still gave you guys a good amount of freedom. We'd work your shenanigans into the plot, while providing a bit of correction where needed. The same applied to Arc, but I can see how it would've been hard to do time hero stuff without a narrative structure.

But okay, if we're gonna reboot this, let's gather some feedback! What I'm hearing right now is 'more structure, less time shit', which should be doable. If we cut down on the number of players, that should probably also help.

In regards to the reboot, what would you guys favor? A completely new beginning? A scratched session? Something that breaks the homestuck plotline entirely? In any case, you could make new characters or reuse the old ones, though everything after the first few posts would probably start going in a different direction.

Edit: Re: Bard. No edupad? That's gonna make chatlogs hard.

[Loyal]

Even keeping it to just our present incarnations, you had tons of players interacting with only a select group of other players, resulting in lots of instanced story threads that didn't naturally mesh with each other. On top of this, each thread moved as quickly as the involved players could manage it, resulting in some players running into the game and alchemizing and fighting monsters while others (such as myself, regrettably) were still stuck just integrating into Sburb.

All this leads to a series of separate story threads that don't interact with each other at all until eventually they come together at some unspecified point in the future. Players have trouble keeping up with it all, both because of how all-over-the-place it is, and because the vast majority of the content doesn't involve a given player's character at all.

Basically, any fairly-faithfully translated template of Homestuck and SBurb just doesn't lend itself well to a RP. A more pragmatic approach is required to adapt the setting successfully, which yes, means more structure.

Like, chatlogs would probably be gone altogether in favor of more organic conversations. It's perhaps even plausible to just start it after everyone had entered the Game.

[mauve]

It's perhaps even plausible to just start it after everyone had entered the Game.

This would work too. We wouldn't even have to start over from scratch (no pun intended) if we did this, too. We could either reshuffle server players or have active characters take over the roles of inactive server players for any necessary chatlogs, and go from there. Unless everyone has their heart set on starting over.

[Aldurin]

It's perhaps even plausible to just start it after everyone had entered the Game.

I'd be ok with this option, or simply doing some kind of "broken" scratch (refer to last post) to justify character fuckery and deaths to account for players that dropped out.

But we need some more structure since it just feels like that entering was the biggest kidney stone to pass, so big that I'm still not done with it yet. Maybe just allow for a time skip past that point, where the incomplete entrances are summarized and the prototypings listed out.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Edit: Re: Bard. No edupad? That's gonna make chatlogs hard.

The idea is to basically get rid of memos and other such convos. Let the logs be more like back and forth convos like Loyal said.

I think I'd rather just cut out the inactive players completely than keep them as NPCs. Pretend they never existed. Ill have plenty to work with for NPCS from Prospit and Derse.

[Arhra]

I wonder if we should try a little harder to stick to some of the patterns.

You know, just random things like amphibian consorts (might get a bit repetitive) and [ONE SYLLABLE]s of [ONE SYLLABLE].

Probably a bad idea!

Anyway, I think the pre-session stuff is pretty valuable since it establishes characters and fulfills various useful functions like dooming lusii and showing the reason for certain prototypings.

I think we just need to have that part fairly rigidly locked in on what's going to be happening. (much conspiring will be needed)

[Aldurin]

I'm thinking of outright scrapping my current character for a new one. Never had much for him beyond having a robot eye (for those of you who haven't figured it out) and his god tier power being able to shoot grey lightning that destabilizes reality.