Timeline Change Date and FL Applications

[Green Ranger]

With that being said, as character wise how powerful will the FL be as in lets say force and combat skills? I know theres no godly characters but the FL SEEMS LIKE HED/shed have to be up there a bit?

Honestly, it depends on how the particular FL in question chooses to play their characters. The Jedi in particular are a group that can allow for a wide variety of characters with varying combat skills to climb the hierarchy, so it'd be interesting to see a more administrative, but less outright powerful Jedi rise to the rank of Lord at some point.

But as a general rule of thumb style generalization, you can probably estimate that the FL will be one of the most powerful characters in the faction. Not insurmountably so, since freeform RP serves as a great equalizer, but they still should be considered pretty damn tough.

 

[Tsunami]

Yeah the Jedi Lord is kind of the Voice and the Enforcer of the Council who are just NPC fluff.

 

[Talon maara]

Yeah the Jedi Lord is kind of the Voice and the Enforcer of the Council who are just NPC fluff.

Either way im stoked for this new timeline

 

[Kenico]

You and me both Amigo!

 

[Sapphire Storm]

Same.

I really enjoy the example you used at the beginning of your post. I think a vice that some people have on this site is that they care more about their character and the story they have planned out from the beginning than they do an actual dynamic story that can change at a moments notice. The real fun stories on here are ones in which even you don't know what could happen to your character, whether or not that thread might be the last one.

A lot of that thinking was fostered during this time line with the whole lack of people wanting their character to die or really have anything bad happen to them at all. Something the Staff seem intent to change around this timeline, which I am dully grateful for.

While people might be attached to the character and the story they are creating, it is important to remember that the character is a part of an RP forum. You can't and shouldn't have complete control over your characters own story, because you are making an even greater story in which your character is only a singular part of. I might be a bit bummed if I couldn't play a certain character anymore, but how hilariously fun would it be if my Senator was shamed from her position after a failed power grab and was then executed? There would be tons of drama, and I hope there would be tons of ripples that would extend to the people she has encountered during her story. My favorite kinds of threads are the threads when someone is reacting to the death of another PC, and how that follows them through their individual story.

So I guess to sum my rambling up, I really do enjoy that you are an advocate for people actually playing their characters, and not writing out a predestined plan.

Something people should follow to heart in a roleplay.

People seem to forget that too much, which is really saddening to me. The idea that a character's death can be just as fun, if not funner, than other occurrences isn't as prevalent as I'd like it to be. And that's without mentioning all the other things said death can cause, depending on the character and their reputation, position and whatnot. Death, as I learned from reading a Song of Ice and Fire, can be one of the strongest plot devices there is.

I'd much prefer it if everyone had that joy of discovery with their characters. Throwing some characters into a thread and just seeing where they lead us is where a lot of the fun of RPing comes from for me. After all, if I wanted to guide and shape every action, decision and thing that happens to my character, then I wouldn't be RPing, I'd be writing a story.

At the end of the day, when it comes to my character specifically, I just want to create them, throw them at a setting and see where they lead me. They could spiral down into insanity and corruption or they could go in the complete opposite direction, and not knowing which one it will be in advance is where a lot of the fun comes from. The story that comes out of it has always been the part I've craved, and if I get to work together with other fantastic writers to craft an epic, gripping and memorable story, then that's just icing on the cake.

 

[StormWolf]

Death can be a strong plot device, but just as In a Song of Ice and Fire, if you use it to the point of it becoming a gimmick, it loses its impact.

Spoiler: Game of Thrones/ A Song of Ice and Fire Spoiler Ahead. Read at own peril

Especially when you bring a character back from the dead because you pissed off your fans and you had to throw them a bone. Same thing happened with the "Death and Return of Superman".

Yes, Death is an all-powerful, universal, and uncaring thing. Fellow players shouldn't be, though. Do I have a general idea of Rhonan's plot? Yes. It is important to have a base from which to jump and a target to reach, leaving the rest to be done as it unfolds. Now, if Rhonan is killed off (knocks on all the wood) before I have the opportunity to tackle his first, second, or third arc of character growth, I'd be fit to be tied. Now, if his death meant something to those around him or to his faction, or if the character had little else to offer anybody, that is a good sign that it is okay to take that dive.

 

[Sapphire Storm]

Death can be a strong plot device, but just as In a Song of Ice and Fire, if you use it to the point of it becoming a gimmick, it loses its impact.

Spoiler: Game of Thrones/ A Song of Ice and Fire Spoiler Ahead. Read at own peril

Especially when you bring a character back from the dead because you pissed off your fans and you had to throw them a bone. Same thing happened with the "Death and Return of Superman".

Yes, Death is an all-powerful, universal, and uncaring thing. Fellow players shouldn't be, though. Do I have a general idea of Rhonan's plot? Yes. It is important to have a base from which to jump and a target to reach, leaving the rest to be done as it unfolds. Now, if Rhonan is killed off (knocks on all the wood) before I have the opportunity to tackle his first, second, or third arc of character growth, I'd be fit to be tied. Now, if his death meant something to those around him or to his faction, or if the character had little else to offer anybody, that is a good sign that it is okay to take that dive.

I think stuff like the bolded part is where it becomes more subjective and preference-based than it already is. I rarely plan out personal character story arcs in RP, for three main reasons. Firstly, I've developed over the years as the kind of person that prefers to let things grow and unfold in a more organic way, and it has stayed the way I prefer to do things. Secondly, I hate trying to force something, and oftentimes when trying to play out specific story arcs and guide your character in certain ways that is exactly what happens. And thirdly, 95% of the time I attempt to plan out a story arc it goes in a completely unexpected way that is usually the complete opposite of the way I'd planned it out, mainly because my character randomly decides mid-plot that they want to go left instead of right and mess everything up.

I'm very much one of those people who, when it comes to my characters, writes them up to the point where I'm happy with them and plans out how I want their personality and everything to be, and that's it. From there? I throw them into things and let them lead me where they will. Now, I might simply plan things in the moment as I go and I just haven't realised it, but that tends to be my philosophy. It's far more organic and free form than it is structured and orderly, and if my character dies along the way as a result of their actions? Well, that's just how things happened.

 

[StormWolf]

That is just two different kinds of storytelling at that point. That is why, as I stated, I don't plan out events in the middle, even when I write professionally. If you want to talk organically developing story, going into a situation with an end goal and having that change or evolve over the course of events is about as organic as it get. Very rarely will someone go into a situation without an objective or goal. Now, that is not to say it won't change over time, but characters need that thing to strive for. Luke left Tatooine with the objective of taking the droids to Alderaan, but that changed due in part to Alderaan no longer occupying space in the cosmos. So his objective evolved to rescue the princess, then evolved again after Ben died.

No character in a well told story just goes off on an adventure without some sort of "plot true north". For example, Rhonan has two objective at the onset of the timeline, one personal and one professional. Those are his "true north" in plot terms, but as the story dynamically unfolds, those will undoubtedly change. His hopes and dreams are either compounded, realized, or (most often) destroyed in the development of the overarching narrative. Perhaps he'll die along the way, but the death of an important character should be meaningful. Roleplay is different from standard storytelling in that every character is a main protagonist, in a way. They all have their own importance in the greater metaplot, as well as significance in their own arcs of personal growth, and those of other characters. As such, it isn't something just as simple as snipping someone's thread and going on. When a character dies (or their player vanishes, which is just about the same result) it will send out ripples that will change the story of others... or it should, at least.

 

[Sapphire Storm]

I think that organic storytelling you described is what I do. I just described it badly, which I tend to do a lot. All the stuff with character goals, hopes and dreams and such are pretty much givens. I was referring more to goals as a player, so that's my bad for not making that clear. Characters having all their own hopes and dreams is just a must, because without those integral things they begin to feel flat and lifeless.

When it comes to my characters, they're all going to have their own goals, dreams, fears and so on, but as a player and writer is where I have less of a direction in terms of roleplaying. Writing your own story is vastly different, of course.

 

[Green Ranger]

Up until this timeline, I'd say that the site stories and trends have become very...well, Bac-ish. To put this in a context that you understand, Bac, well...Bac kind of hates RP. Which, I know, he's head admin and owner of an RP site, but bear with me on this one. He's a story writer. Bac likes to organize plots well in advance, to determine a beginning middle and end before writing anything. In previous RPs I've done with Bac we even went so far as to pitch dialogue and co-write posts and stuff. And that's nothing against him, it's his style and approach to writing in Star Wars. And that's perfectly cool.

Granted, I wasn't always so cool with it - frankly, when I first joined SWRP, I hated Bac for it, because I felt the second timeline was dictated by events that were occurring in closed threads - closed threads that Bac was (partially) responsible for organizing. Like, I'm pretty sure entire conflicts were dictated and resolved through closed threads, and outside of a handful of senior members the rest of us were just supposed to play along with what other characters were outright demanding of us. So me and Bac used to butt heads over that something massive, because he was all for writing a story, and I was all for...well, playing a game, or RPing really. And that's what brings me to the contrast between previous timelines and what we're doing moving forward.

I haven't really thought about it much until today, but this is actually a timeline that has a lot of...well, me in it. We've taken a massive leap back from overarching stories and grand plots and gone back to a very sandbox style approach - we set up a setting, and your characters exist in it. There are factions and rules, sure, but there's less control and less narrative direction then we're all probably used to. Now, don't get me wrong, the staff actually had very little to no involvement in the general direction of the story previously anyway (second timeline dictatorship notwithstanding >.>), but there was always a certain...general thrust of the timeline, an underlying direction that I can't really express in words, but we all knew was there. This next timeline doesn't really have that. The Republic can fall. The Jedi can be reduced to ashes. The Sith could be toppled. There's an unquantified galactic dark age at the end of this, so quite literally anything can go - and we can RP into that period and beyond with near absolute freedom, and it's oddly liberating to know that anything can happen and we could very well be in this era for longer than any previous timeline and still have more to explore.

And that's why I say it's a very 'me' timeline. Because I'm all for being thrown curveballs and open RPing and bar fights and the chaos of actual, real role-playing - the thrill of not knowing if friend or foes is around the next corner, of not knowing if your character will live or die, of taking risks and being rewarded for it and shaping the galaxy around you. I'm for this being a game. And that's what has, for me, been missing from the site for a while now. Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful that so many of you work so hard at making serious, overarching stories and deep intricate plots, but there's absolutely a balance between making rich, meaningful characters and being spontaneous, having to roll with punches, deal with curve balls thrown at you, putting everything on the line and maybe just having a little fun along the way as well. Because sometimes you're forced to write a different story than you expected, because someone else's actions have changed the path your character is on, and sometimes that makes for a story that's even better.

And sometimes dying is that curveball. Maybe the character you've planned out meticulously is overworked, or overthought, and the character you just randomly throw up afterwards is the better character. Kara Vaalki wasn't supposed to be my main character this timeline. Sarina Lightell wasn't meant to be my main character in the Third Timeline. The conceptualization process for ACE was 'Hm. need a Bogan leader. Jack from Mass Effect is a badass. Let's do that.' And yet my painfully, meticulously planned characters - Darth Bhalr, Edo Tesu, the Lightell twins, Aro Siiras (who noone has heard of because I only used him like twice before I realized I hated him so much) were all really sucky because I'd planned them out to such a degree that there was no fun in writing their stories - I'd already finished the story in my head anyway, so there was no joy in discovering them as characters, as personalities, as interacting within the galaxy. Hell, dare I say it, I still have a soft spot for my first character, Darth Boli (yes, that was actually his name at one point >.<) because I had no idea what I was doing with him, and almost everything he ever did was influenced by someone else's character.

So I guess the point I'm making is this: don't be afraid of being thrown a curveball. Don't be afraid of your character dying, or turning to the Dark Side, or falling in love with an Ithorian and not knowing how the hell you're supposed to kiss her. Because the absolute greatest thing about RP on this site is that other members are going to influence your stories, and that, above all else, is what I feel makes RP so much fun.

 

[Tsunami]

Up until this timeline, I'd say that the site stories and trends have become very...well, Bac-ish. To put this in a context that you understand, Bac, well...Bac kind of hates RP. Which, I know, he's head admin and owner of an RP site, but bear with me on this one. He's a story writer. Bac likes to organize plots well in advance, to determine a beginning middle and end before writing anything. In previous RPs I've done with Bac we even went so far as to pitch dialogue and co-write posts and stuff. And that's nothing against him, it's his style and approach to writing in Star Wars. And that's perfectly cool.

Granted, I wasn't always so cool with it - frankly, when I first joined SWRP, I hated Bac for it, because I felt the second timeline was dictated by events that were occurring in closed threads - closed threads that Bac was (partially) responsible for organizing. Like, I'm pretty sure entire conflicts were dictated and resolved through closed threads, and outside of a handful of senior members the rest of us were just supposed to play along with what other characters were outright demanding of us. So me and Bac used to butt heads over that something massive, because he was all for writing a story, and I was all for...well, playing a game, or RPing really. And that's what brings me to the contrast between previous timelines and what we're doing moving forward.

I haven't really thought about it much until today, but this is actually a timeline that has a lot of...well, me in it. We've taken a massive leap back from overarching stories and grand plots and gone back to a very sandbox style approach - we set up a setting, and your characters exist in it. There are factions and rules, sure, but there's less control and less narrative direction then we're all probably used to. Now, don't get me wrong, the staff actually had very little to no involvement in the general direction of the story previously anyway (second timeline dictatorship notwithstanding >.>), but there was always a certain...general thrust of the timeline, an underlying direction that I can't really express in words, but we all knew was there. This next timeline doesn't really have that. The Republic can fall. The Jedi can be reduced to ashes. The Sith could be toppled. There's an unquantified galactic dark age at the end of this, so quite literally anything can go - and we can RP into that period and beyond with near absolute freedom, and it's oddly liberating to know that anything can happen and we could very well be in this era for longer than any previous timeline and still have more to explore.

And that's why I say it's a very 'me' timeline. Because I'm all for being thrown curveballs and open RPing and bar fights and the chaos of actual, real role-playing - the thrill of not knowing if friend or foes is around the next corner, of not knowing if your character will live or die, of taking risks and being rewarded for it and shaping the galaxy around you. I'm for this being a game. And that's what has, for me, been missing from the site for a while now. Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful that so many of you work so hard at making serious, overarching stories and deep intricate plots, but there's absolutely a balance between making rich, meaningful characters and being spontaneous, having to roll with punches, deal with curve balls thrown at you, putting everything on the line and maybe just having a little fun along the way as well. Because sometimes you're forced to write a different story than you expected, because someone else's actions have changed the path your character is on, and sometimes that makes for a story that's even better.

And sometimes dying is that curveball. Maybe the character you've planned out meticulously is overworked, or overthought, and the character you just randomly throw up afterwards is the better character. Kara Vaalki wasn't supposed to be my main character this timeline. Sarina Lightell wasn't meant to be my main character in the Third Timeline. The conceptualization process for ACE was 'Hm. need a Bogan leader. Jack from Mass Effect is a badass. Let's do that.' And yet my painfully, meticulously planned characters - Darth Bhalr, Edo Tesu, the Lightell twins, Aro Siiras (who noone has heard of because I only used him like twice before I realized I hated him so much) were all really sucky because I'd planned them out to such a degree that there was no fun in writing their stories - I'd already finished the story in my head anyway, so there was no joy in discovering them as characters, as personalities, as interacting within the galaxy. Hell, dare I say it, I still have a soft spot for my first character, Darth Boli (yes, that was actually his name at one point >.<) because I had no idea what I was doing with him, and almost everything he ever did was influenced by someone else's character.

So I guess the point I'm making is this: don't be afraid of being thrown a curveball. Don't be afraid of your character dying, or turning to the Dark Side, or falling in love with an Ithorian and not knowing how the hell you're supposed to kiss her. Because the absolute greatest thing about RP on this site is that other members are going to influence your stories, and that, above all else, is what I feel makes RP so much fun.

This made me think really hard about what I have been doing. I think I am quite like Bac in the sense that I tend to plan things out before hand, I have a way I'd like them to go and things I'd like to gain from each experience.

I have been so focused on my characters End Game situation, that I don't know how I am getting them there, I have planned all these events in my head but, now I realise that they could likely never happen and even if they do happen, it could be a year or more?

I think for me the biggest thing I have looked forward to is the big main battles and conflicts, something there is no guarantee that there will always be one going, or that I will survive to see the next.

I guess I've seen my characters as such a fixed thing, where there is no leeway for my character to make its own mind up. It's likely that reason that I have thrown the SBZ faction under one bracket.

A lot to think about...

 

[Sapphire Storm]

That's what I love so much about roleplaying. The fact that it's not about any one individual character or player, but about the story that is weaved together by multiple people and their characters as they react to each other's actions. I love that thrill of discovery and knowing that anything could happen. I love the potential randomness and I love that I can write a character, throw them into a world and just let them take me by the hand and lead me wherever they feel like going.

Every time I roleplay a new character, regardless of how many different ones I've made over the years, they never fail to surprise me. I can think I have it all worked out and that I know how their personality will work, and then I'll actually begin playing them and suddenly everything I wrote changes and evolves before my eyes in a way that often feels like I'm not the one responsible for it, but instead just the conduit the character is using to express themself. And I love that feeling more than anything else.

 

[Kenico]

Sounds like a heck of an adventure :p

 

[Brandon Rhea]

To go off of what Boli said, the idea of curveballs, etc actually isn't something new. I controlled the entire second timeline. That was baaaaad. I was FL of three main factions at once. That was baaaaad. That sort of timeline control by one person isn't something that's ever been allowed again. That's why we say things like, you can only be FL of one main faction at a time.

The fifth and current timeline was like a hybrid. We experimented with the idea of an overall mythos storyline, and the site (at least in public) bought into that, but the plot of the war wasn't something that would be dictated or controlled by anyone. Unfortunately, through a combination of a ton of factors, it swung far into the opposite directions. No one was controlling it, but no one was moving it either, including the faction leaders. So we found ourselves in a situation where factions weren't doing anything, where people were afraid of death, where there were no risks, and there were no interesting developments or curveballs.

The vast majority of this site's existence had risk, interesting developments, and curveballs. Lots of people talk about the 'introduction' of this like it's something new. It's not. It may be new for people who have joined relatively recently, but in actuality this is a return to form for the site.

 

[Marf]

I agree with everything you said, Boli, bar a few things.

There was a time when I would spend hours plotting stories and threads with my friends that would never get RPed, and I learned the hard way that it's way more fun to just set a scene and go with the flow. I'm greatly looking forward to open-world adventuring with my characters next timeline and stories that aren't planned out. For me, knowing what happens in the end takes away a lot of the enjoyment and makes me lose interest really quickly. That said, that is why I dislike factional conflicts and PvP. Because the objective is so simple and leaves no room to be creative, go off exploring and turn the thread in a completely different direction.

Character creation is were we are different, Boli. It's impossible for me to RP as a character unless I've spent months planning out their personality, otherwise they are just bland and I have no interest in them. Creating characters is a joy of mine all on it's own and I once I get passionate about a particular character, I can't stop myself. For me, having a passionate, personal bond with a character is what makes them more enjoyable to RP. If I don't know the character on a very deep level, I don't know how to make them react to other peoples!

Unfortunately character death is just something I will never become accustomed too. No matter what anybody says. I honestly don't think I could cope if I lost Andromeda, she's just such an important part of me, a part that would be torn to bits if for some reason I couldn't RP as her.

but y'know, you win some, you lose some and I'm not as paranoid an RPer as I used to be.

Beyond that, I'm absolutely for unplanned stories and open settings and I can't wait to see what crazy scenarios my Sith find themselves in next timeline.

 

[MasterTyvokka]

I am really excited about the fact that curveballs are coming back. I wasn't here for them since I joined in this TL but on the site I was on before here not knowing what was going to happen was the norm, although death wasn't allowed. It was fun and exciting and really what got me enjoying RPing like this because I had never done it before. While I have enjoyed RPing here that is one thing I sorely missed. And quite frankly even though there was no main story and it was all very elementary I would still be on that site and not here if it hadn't gone as in active as a ghost town. I really hope I can get some of that fun back in the new TL.

On the matter of characters and planning stories and what not... I have always spent a good bit of time on creating my characters, mainly on the backstory. However I rarely plan out any kind of story arc for them. That's probably due to where I started RPing. However when I came here it seemed that's just what people did. I felt like I needed to have a planned out arc for my characters. So after RPing here for a while I started the whole story arc thing. It didn't really work out and while I tried, and had a bit of a story arc for both my characters, they mostly went know where. In the new TL I may have a few arc that's I plan out later on but I don't plan on doing any big over arcing thing.

I want to eco what Boli said about thrown up characters. While I spent a good bit of time of Ryak's backstory he started life on SWRP as a throw-away character. I wanted to transfer my BA Darth over from my previous site but I realized I had to start as an acolyte. Ryak was a character I had spent only a few minutes creating and threw up in the characters boards. I told myself I was scrapping him the minute I ranked up. Little did I know what Ryak would become. I will miss his character in the new TL but its time for a change.

 

[Halcyon]

Well, if I may be allowed to join the conversation in media res and contribute with my own two cents...

Every good story is made up of contrasts; the hero and the villain, the Light and Dark side of the Force, the climber and the mountain, that one crazy rabbit and the hunter dude, etc. And, paraphrasing Dmitri Mendeleev - that guy who recently was on a Google doodle, the dude who came up with the Periodic Table - "There is always a medium in things, determined by equilibrium".

Every story is made up of conflict; it doesn't necessarily need to be a struggle or something caused by an antagonist, but it's that conflict that keeps the plot going. No one wants to read or hear about the kid who's mother told him to buy eggs, he went to the grocery with money, came back with the eggs, the end. That's not really a story per se but an account. Now, if the kid had bought some candy before buying the eggs, only to later realize that the money was not enough... there's your story.

You probably already know all of this, and may or may not agree with me - that's your problem XP - but I'm not going through the trouble of writing all of this down just to come across as smug. I just wanted this preamble to better illustrate my next point.

To me, RPing sits right at the middle of both planning and improvisation. On the one hand, you have your OOC chats that lead to one PC meeting with another, so he can do that one thing and go to that one place somewhere, to gain that something something or another - eloquent ain't I? - while, on the other hand, you have a character that is so extensively and intricately designed; with all of his quirks, goals, and desires, so well considered that you often surprise yourself with his actions. As already said by writers on other posts, the character springs to life and you sort of become a spectator.

Both those aspects are quite fun, although I tend to favor the second one a lot more. Nevertheless, as stated, we also need the first one to ensure the prevalence of conflict, otherwise SWRP would turn into RL with ships and glowing sticks.

RPing is a much more organic process than your average story, because it's way more than a collab writing. Your characters interact with someone else's characters in a similar fashion than real people interact with other people.

With that in mind, I'm very excited with this new timeline (my first on the site, actually) because I anticipate it will be just the way I prefer it. You'll still have a lot of planning; but those will be more focused on building characters, technologies, races, factions, and so on; and then we'll just throw them into an open world and see what happens.

I don't want the PC that I've spent several weeks planning to die after a month of RPing, but if it happens, his short existence will mean that much more to me.

That's just me ranting though, pay me no heed...

 

[Brandon Rhea]

I wasn't here for them since I joined in this TL but on the site I was on before here not knowing what was going to happen was the norm, although death wasn't allowed.

Save for one or two main events, there was never a time when death wasn't allowed. Unfortunately, people saying "no death!" in the start of a thread became abused to the point where it's easy to see why someone might think that death wasn't allowed.

 

[Dmitri]

One thing I will say about throwaway characters is that you never know how things go. If you allow your stories to carry on organically, there is no such thing as throwaway characters. Characters deemed "disposable" could become major characters to you. For example, my main character this timeline is Geist Weiss, otherwise known as the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Somnus. However, he was actually designed to be a throwaway character, created to serve as a temporary disposable antagonist to another character of mine that I thought would be my main character, Nero di Lacrima. I had envisioned that after a short arc, Nero would kill Geist. Instead, Geist ended up evolving into my main character and one of the most interesting and fun characters I've had on RP sites in a long time (and Nero ended up going no where, eventually archived). Basically if you allow things to progress naturally, characters can go in directions you never imagined. When I created Geist, I never fathomed he would one day become Dark Lord of the Sith.

 

[Talon maara]

Save for one or two main events, there was never a time when death wasn't allowed. Unfortunately, people saying "no death!" in the start of a thread became abused to the point where it's easy to see why someone might think that death wasn't allowed.

I dont think it would be fun if there was no possibility of losing a character. I meam that creates a godly character right away for everyone and thats no fun lol.