A number of recent debates on Skype got me wondering. DIfferent people RP different ways, and clearly there are some rules in play. Illusion Magic, for example, has rules stated so you can't just go "lol illusions" for everything. No time travel. No divine powers. And so on. However, debate got very heated about what is and is not acceptable, and I was curious, so I just thought I'd get people to weigh in with their opinions.

I've compiled a small list of examples based on what I've seen other people do, and what I've done myself. I'm going to break it up into categories. If you want to simply go "Category 3 is Good, Category 5 is Bad" you can. This is why I am doing it. If, however, you wish to weigh in more heavily, you're welcome to do so.

With that out of the way, let us move on. Category deignation is bold. Examples are normal. My own thoughts are italicized.


1) Taking the Mechanics literally and completely.

You were introduced into the Black Knights by moving in an L shape, and brag to your friends about the people you saved by "using Castling" on them. You regularly practice your stalemate technique, and laugh as you use the "Forced Move" technique to stop them from getting away. These are the people that quite honestly take everything -TOO- literally. No deviation allowed. If you're a Lantern Bearer, you need a Lantern visible in your description or else you get accused of metagaming. Renaming a dagger as a spear to fit your theme is punishable by death. And don't even get me started on Rising Game!

In my own experiences, these people are actually kind of painful to play with. ICly telling people how to unlock classes this way is just one example of how bad I personally feel this method is handled. Thankfully, they are few and far between.


2) Taking the mechanics literally, within reason

A variation of the above, but far more practical and lenient. They do not literally explain everything like unlocking classes, but generally play everything completely straight. When using a Monk's Power Up, for example, they will emote the gesture described in the description, just because it's "more accurate."

Honestly, so long as they don't take issue with, at the very least, marginally more creative adaptations, I have no issue with them.


3) Marginally more creative adaptations.

This category is about merging class properties together to truly make dual-classing seem natural and not tacked on.

Say you have a Kensei/Monk. A popular combo. How do you RP Power Gradation? Monks have Ki skills. Why not an infusion of Ki into the blade to grant it that property of dealing magic damage? Protection from Arrows and Blade Barrier? A dodged arrow in a battle was also (ICly, at least) swatted aside by the blade.

Another fun example is how a mage casts their spells. The "spell" itself is the same, but the gesture itself can vary wildly. Punch the ground to cast Magaisendo as an Evoker/Monk, or something.

This is one of my favorites, honestly. Finding ways to make two different styles into one seamless whole. And few people have ever complained about it so long as it didn't look like I was godmodding.


4) Alternate Interpretation (Realism)

This category is about applying common knowledge to a few "skills" that... just seem normal.

Rising Game, for example. You don't want to RP it as just some "Ghost" Technique. It's anger. Or an Adrenaline Rush. There's a ton of different ways this could be approached. This also applies to things like Lupine/Felidae/Grimalkin Instinct, or a Mechanation's Mechanical Strength, to give a few examples.

Honestly, the fact that I've met anyone who had an issue with this baffles me.


5) Using existing mechanics to REPRESENT things that EXIST in the lore.

Let me use alchemy, as an example. Not everyone has thousands of zelegrand leaves or wellwarts lying around. So what about using MG and LB skills to represent that? Guns and Shell effects? Bombs. Offensive Lantern spells? Bombs. Healing? Bom- I mean potions! Alchemy, bombs, and potions are a thing in SL2, but as there is no dedicated alchemist class, and the items aren't common enough to be able to make a character use them as their main gimmick, someone could decide to do this. They are not canonically a gunner or LB. They just use their skills to REPRESENT other skillsets.

Other examples: Fist mages (Monks who levelled as Evokers who aren't canonically monks) or just about any summoner who evokes/installs without summoning and treats it as part of their skillset.

This has been accused by a small handful of being "Lore Breaking" because "That's not how that skill works!" I counter that with "Uh, they're NOT using "that" skill." They're using "X." I personally really like this kind of thing, if done well.


6) Extrapolating mechanics to explain another idea being repesented.

Say you have a Half-Hyattr with whose insides took a bit after their other parent, and using the Fire Breath is agonizing. Magical catalysts are a thing (Tomes, spelledge weapons, etc.) If they channelled that destructive energy to their weapon instead, why not release the fire in the form of a Shinken, if a sword using Soldier/BK? Unlike the above example, this -IS- something they're ACTUALLY doing that goes against how it NORMALLY works.

IMO, this is where it really gets iffy. I haven't seen enough people do this to really have an opinion. The above example was my own character.


Curious to see what others think about this.

On the door of the Law's End Pub is a neatly written piece of laminated stationary, taped securely with four long strips along each border.

This establishment is now the property of the Bailey Family.

To those whom previously maintained these premises, thank you for your service.

In recognition of your work, we will allow you to continue operating this business, for fifteen thousand (15,000) Murai every four months.

Failure to pay rent will result in eviction. Thank you in advance.

OOC Note: Four IC months is 15 IRL days.

Disclaimer: I'm not too sure where this should go, so it's going here. Move if needed!

So, today, apparently, a Guard trailed a character into Law's End. The lawless place. Where people go to hide from the law, you know.

This Guard then got into a fight, and called for help. Obviously, none of the denizens would be willing to run and call for help. Partially because Oniga is halfway across the desert, and partially because people who live there would want to stay away from law enforcement. Not to mention that the suspect would have been chased through a desert sandstorm.

So, how did they call for help? Ding ding, Laplace. This is a direct quote from Skype, from a GM.

"from what i have, they have a laplaceNET channel exclusive to them to call for it, though they can't go and do it in a way that breaks something on the Server Rules"

So, the Guards are allowed to get help from anywhere with a laplaceNET connection (Which, as far as I know, is everywhere), and then arrive on the scene?

The direct question, to Dev. Is this allowed? Do they have the power to walkie-talkie each other and pop out of the woodwork?

For anyone else who feels a need to reply to this, please keep your posts limited to elaboration of the events in question. Preferably without calling others out.

EDIT: People don't go where the criminals are to hide from the criminals. Silly me.

This happened.

Can we get an option for 64x64 face icons?

The difference is a bit.. big.

Also, the talk arrows shrank with the last update, which looks a bit weird.

The ability to import custom outfits and export custom outfits externally (that is, onto the user's computer) would be great, for uniform-making or just extra outfits.

So now that we can move around our character icons, would it be possible to get a layer feature for this? Most of the things look rather wonky and out of place after having been moved around, and I feel layers would be able to fix this.

Hair especially would be nice to adjust the layer of.

The x and y locations of the icons that have their x&y axis locations changed does not save, seems like a bug.

[float=left][/float]Here we go; 1.11! This is sort of a hodgepodge of random features that people have wanted at some point or another. There's even a feature which no one asked for but definitely wanted. Bug fixes, too! Which are very important, I am told. I've also been working on improving dungeon generation, but I have a bit more I want to do before I push that out. My efforts have been focusing on making the Castle theme more interesting first, because it stands out as the least interesting of the bunch, and I had a lot of ideas for it.

In the mean time, here's a preview, if you're interested!
http://i.imgur.com/Gh3r7rg.png
Compare to the current castle dungeons, and it's no contest which looks better. But more on that later.

1.11
Added - A new dungeon prefix has been added; Stylish. Stylish dungeons are unique because the battles play out differently, with the following rules:

• The Momentum cost of all actions is reduced by 2.
  
• You can only use an action once per round, even if you would have Momentum to use it again.
  
• Damage taken, damage dealt, healing effects, and FP costs for skills are all halved.

So, recently i got my hand on mars badge and i eager to try it on my trap (since it has elemental compatible on it)
so i tried on my gust trap, i was expecting something sear-like effect to happen when it's triggered.
the reality is.. it doesn't do anything, it's the plain ol gust trap, with "blazing" in front of it's name.
I don't know, is that suppose to be like that? or is't a bug?

setting up the so-called-blazing gust trap:

triggered one: