OOC talk for Monster Academy.

[Icarian Dreams]

4 minutes ago, JennyDK said:

For students and townsfolk, I see it as less of a problem, but if there is a bigger interest in making it clear who is active and who is not, from the community, I will try and make a thread for that.

I raise bigger interest!

Also, I, too, am looking forward for your feedback on that matter, Luna - from what I gather you've had some experience with public roleplays in the past, so your view/experience on that matter could be particularly helpful.

Edited January 6, 2021 by Icarian Dreams

[Starcry]

I have been more inclined to roleplay public in both group and solo rps. I have done this on and off for around 14 years? 

What I have seen work is the following -

- Make it clear what the rp is about.
- Give at least a BIT of lore. Too much and it becomes a wall of text; too little and people don't really know what to do with themselves. 
- Imagery for locations to give the players some idea of where things are and to get those creative juices flowing:

Example: 

This could be the headmaster's office or a business office? This imagery helps players really get into the world and think up more ideas of what could happen. 
- A bit of organisation so things aren't so muddled up and confusing. 
- Clear rules.
- Generally GMs listening to feedback from players.
- Don't be too controlling or players get upset and feel strangled.
- Don't be a total twat to people.


That is all that I have at the moment. Still a little tired from looking after little one but in my time this is what I have seen work and not work. I have seen a lot of drama on others sites and it isn't nice. 

[JennyDK]

I did put an image on all or most of the start post in all relevant location topics. It just seemed natural to do for me, along with a minor description when needed or fitting.

Honestly, I feel like I can check off all the stuff you have listed @LazarusLuna.

I hope that @Icarian Dreams can confirm this.

Certainly, I at least attempt to be as fair and open minded as possible. I have few hard no's, but in general I like players having freedom.

[Icarian Dreams]

Just now, JennyDK said:

I hope that @Icarian Dreams can confirm this.

On the case, Jen!

Let's see here...

• Make it clear what the rp is about. - I'd say it's pretty clear - ☑
• Give at least a BIT of lore. Too much and it becomes a wall of text; too little and people don't really know what to do with themselves. - Yep, right there, on the intro page - ☑
• Imagery for locations to give the players some idea of where things are and to get those creative juices flowing - Can confirm, almost every thread has image reference - ☑
• A bit of organization so things aren't so muddled up and confusing. - I'd say Jenny's doing a pretty good job on that. Although cleaning up inactive characters could be done - ☑
• Clear rules. - Yeah, we've got a separate rules thread. Hopefully people are reading it. - ☑
• Generally GMs listening to feedback from players. - Never had many issues with Jen in that matter - ☑
• Don't be too controlling or players get upset and feel strangled. - Well, Jen does like to keep things under her control, but generally I haven't seen her overstep her bounds - ☑
• Don't be a total twat to people. - While I have been once informed by her that my writing is comparable to porn-movie quality, Jenny's generally a rather welcoming person   I'll give that a - ☑

So... checks across the board. That's a green light from me!

[JennyDK]

Cleaning up inactive students seems fairly simple to do, but the question is this for me:

How to do it?

I would hate to "hide" the posts, in case said users do return and want to get with their student characters. The best I can think of now, is a separate topic with the only use is to show which characters are both considered "in use" and, as you mentioned, telling people which characters can be considered inactive by now.

I am an avid user and fan of the K.I.S.S. principle, so I try to make things as simple as possible.

[Icarian Dreams]

Well, the problem that we're trying to address, I think, is as much recognizing which characters are active as it is making navigation through characters easier, without having to scroll past dozens of "dead" characters.

Hiding would solve both these problems, but as you mentioned, in case somebody wanted to come back (like our friend Godot did a while back, for example), it would make things confusing and maybe a bit awkward for them.

A separate topic with a list of sorts could work, although I imagine people would rather see the entire "sheets" of the characters and not just names - I know I would. There's the possibility of linking specific posts, but that'd be a bit tedious, both for you, and for the users.

Another option is to keep a separate topic, where you'd basically "clone" the character sheets of active characters and keep it more moderated, deleting sheets when their author goes inactive. This is however, overly confusing, and certainly not in par to the K.I.S.S. principle.

So... a lot of words to say that I have no idea

[JennyDK]

Honestly, I still think the best option is a simple name list and their current status. I can also name the topic page number they are found on and any more info than that, they can now easily look up. It's look a single page is kilometers long after all.

Unless someone else gives a better alternative, I think this will be the "winner".

Also, I made a topic under "Suggestions" for asking the staff if there could be a club wide "tag", meaning with a single tag, every member in a club can be informed of something at the same time.

[Starcry]

Sorry for not replying sooner. Things got a bit crazy at home and ED went whack for a day for me!

Good to hear that this place ticks all the boxes. However I noticed that some of the threads have become victims of vanishing imagines! 

I am still confused on if monsters and humans can mix or not. Since in one thread it said that monsters are only allowed to mate with each other? or did mum brain strike and I need to re-read things? 

As for inactive characters - I would usually make another thread (inactive characters thread), leave the first post open, copy/paste profiles in there, and then link up the posts with names in the first post so someone could jump to it. Note that if someone hasn't posted or been active, without notifying the owner of the club for x amount of time, then they will be put into the inactive thread. They would be welcome to pm owner or mods of the club if they want their character to become active again.

Character thing in general - to do a general tidy up just put names of characters in the first post and link them to other posts within the thread. That way if people want to reference someone's character then they can just jump there. 

 

[JennyDK]

The image issue is due to the admin doing stuff with the image database or something along those lines and it messed up tons of image links on the site.

The monster codex does say to only lay with your own kind, but they are more guide lines than a strict set of rules. Basically, it is trying to outline what the best way for monsters to act like, but of course it is impossible to really uphold to the letter, even if they wanted to. It is there mostly for flavour and some fluff.

I see. Not really going to do all the work though. While I appreciate hearing the methods for it, I still find mine more simple and practical.

Not going to link to posts - but I will be putting the topic page number next to the names.

[Icarian Dreams]

3 minutes ago, JennyDK said:

The monster codex does say to only lay with your own kind, but they are more guide lines than a strict set of rules.

Weeeeell, it is pretty much up to interpretation anyways. I mean, as long as you approach the human with caution, and not breed per se, you're technically not breaking any rules.

Regarding the active/inactive thing, I do think that a simple list of active characters would suffice. Character post links would be highly preferable and definitely much more practical than posting page numbers, but, if you're not keen on adding them, then I doubt I can change your mind.

[JennyDK]

I have compiled all of the students listed into a full list. If you see any you wish to be listed as active, feel free to let me know. Of course, it does require the character to be used within the foreseeable future.

I hope this list will help you guys!

[SilverGirl20]

Ok

[Godot]

2 hours ago, JennyDK said:

I have compiled all of the students listed into a full list. If you see any you wish to be listed as active, feel free to let me know. Of course, it does require the character to be used within the foreseeable future.

I hope this list will help you guys!

This is great. I had something like that in mind before but I'm glad you've implemented it yourself. Won't it be a little bit difficult for you to constantly manage it, though?

Aside from that question, I was wondering, when is Yoko going to be free? I thought we could continue our little adventure with Hiro and Yoko, if you're up for it. Assuming it's evening, they could watch movies together, as they said they would.

[JennyDK]

Since the influx of new students is pretty low and the active members fairly consistent, it doesnt' seem like it needs a ton of work to keep up with. I simply have to watch which characters are being used regularly. But thanks for the consideration, nontheless!

I think she is currently in a scene, but my scene partner doesn't seem overly active. I would argue we can do the scene on the side in a dorm room.

[Godot]

3 minutes ago, JennyDK said:

I think she is currently in a scene, but my scene partner doesn't seem overly active. I would argue we can do the scene on the side in a dorm room.

Sounds good to me. Who's dorm should it be and would you like to start, or should I?

[JennyDK]

I am good with whatever one fits you the best. Currently a bit behind on some RPs and scenes, but I try not to keep partners waiting too long.

[Chiyako]

I'd like Nilaa to be marked Active for now in case she does interact with anyone!

[JennyDK]

6 hours ago, Chiyako said:

I'd like Nilaa to be marked Active for now in case she does interact with anyone!

Did I not put her as active? I am fairly sure I did, but I will double check, of course!

[Chiyako]

Oh, sorry, it is possible that you did and I didn't see!

[JennyDK]

Yep. Nilaa is very much on "active"!

How has your day been?

[JennyDK]

Greetings and a warm welcome to you, dear @clumsylemongirl

I am happy that you considered and chose to be part of our fun and active club here!

Please let me know if I can help you out in any way or have questions!

[clumsylemongirl]

Thank you right now I am just reading all the recent Rps and loot to jump in or start one.

[JennyDK]

Just now, clumsylemongirl said:

Thank you right now I am just reading all the recent Rps and loot to jump in or start one.

In case any of the other members do not notice or are too busy with scenes and such, you are free to ask me. I always offer to give members scene opportunities with my free characters.

[clumsylemongirl]

Oh I would love that because there is so much going on I am not quite sure where to start. 

[JennyDK]

It is understandable that it's overwhelming, confusing and hard, so I don't blame you one bit!

I always try to aim for my members feeling welcome, heard and so on ^^ so if I can do anything for you, please let me know

Feel free to look around as much as you need before deciding to make a character or characters as well. There is no rush!