I've not been nearly as productive lately as I would like to be. x_x I realize this, and I apologize for this. And I assure you that productivity will go through the roof once I get on Summer Vacation. For the moment, I'm suffering Finals Week, which is sapping not only all of my time and energy but my sanity as well. At least I'm exposing a friend to Xenogears while I'm at it, and she's possibly curious in RPing Helmholtz here. Booya. ^^

Anyway, we've got a handful of things to discuss here, so I'll get them out in the open. Feel free to give me opinions, right?

The Gear System:
One look will tell you that I've not touched the Gear Fighting Guide for years. I wrote it in early 2000 and never looked at it again. With the coming of the MUSH, however, I kind of want to change the system around a bit--Thus, why I've been a bit wary about rewriting the Gear guide, if another version is just going to come out soon enough.

My thought is to have a sort of Gear version of +finger on the MUSH: a program that lists any Gear's name, a short desc, and the Armor, Engine and Frame ratings. But while we're at it, why not add a few more features to Gears?

We could at least list the type of Weapon that it uses. But I kind of want to add Ether Capacity and Ether Defense.

We'd just have to find a scale for it: I know Xenogears has an Ether scale, and PW applies it to Gears. I wont have my PW for like a week or so, however, so we can either wait or someone else can make a list of charas and their Gear Ether power.

But does that sound like something valid to add? Or is it exteraneous? Should more stuff be added? Less?

Errrr.... The.... *Cough* Theme itself. x_X:
I can't say how embaressing it is for the HeadWiz to be posting this, of all things. But here it is. Sheesh.

Okay. The MUCK started in the year 1998. That's 4 years ago. We started mid-game, at around the time that the Ethos Massacre occurred. Then we RPed off on our own tangent for 4 years.

It's really tricky for me, thus, when people ask me 'Where are we in the game?' We're not really in a specific place in the game anymore--I guess you could best put it around the end of Disc 1, before you enter Solaris, since we have a functional Jasper and all of the MCs.

But you can't ignore that a huge amount of RPing has been done and a huge amount of time has passed. We're not following the game by any extent--Thus why we need the XMOCPW (which I'm actually working on, so no worries)--so how do we describe where we are?

Some players have suggested things like saying 'two years have passed'. That'd jerk a lot of MC ages up. x_X And likely influence some things more than we've likely admited to. But even then, it's hard to explain. "We're in the middle of the game, but so much has happened that lots of time has passed"? My.

Anyway... What are player opinions on this? Should we just assume that this has been one uber-uber-uber active year full of... 4 years of RP? Or should we let the world and characters age a bit and whatnot? Two years seems just about right, although it'd influence a lot of things massively. Especially the child characters.

So, right. Opinions? ^^

By Sigurd/Billy on Monday, June 10, 2002 - 09:42 pm:

I let my Billy-chan get taller; I assumed, though, that only a couple months to one year went by. I wouldn't mind Billy hitting seventeen, but I'm freaked out by the prospect of Sigurd hitting thirty. X_x

I don't have an idea of how MUCH RPing has gone on though, since I'm so new... so I can't really say much.

By Gabriel on Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 02:03 am:

Two years is what I've always based my numbers on... on the few XM documents I've made, I've listed the year as being 10,001.

But this raises another question in my mind... exactly how has the Gazel's timetable been altered by all that's gone on? Is there still an overarching plot to dominate the world and resurrect Deus? And what of Krellian's dream to be one with God?

As much as I hate to be called something like a "purist", we have to make sure that some elements of the original game are intact-- otherwise, it is not Xenogears, ne? ^^;;

By Domi on Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 02:41 am:

This is true. And it is a little hard sometimes to keep a grasp onto Xenogears itself. There's nothing wrong with beign a purist--We sometimes need a reminder to keep our feet on the ground and -yes-, not stray too far from what's reasonable.

The problem with a lot of those plots is that they're in the hands of people who either aren't RPed or are idle as hell. Yes, there are people trying to revive Deus. Yes, Krelian is yet trying to create God with his own hands. None of this is just being RPed due to a lack of these Rpers or people interested in those trains of thought.

And all things honest, I don't want Deus to revive and destroy everything/everyone. It's a bit too catastrophic for me, and takes out a lot of potential RP.

By Bart on Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 03:32 am:

OK, it's reply time:

#1- Gear System:

Sounds great. I suggest clarifying on the stats, really. Armor, Engine and Frame are a bit difficult to discern on their own. Also, Ether Capacity wont really hurt, we need something so people have an idea how much a gear can influence ether.

#2- Theme:

We do have a problem there. Thing is, if everyone is suddenly required to age, isn't that sort of forcing the situation on potential appers?

Say Midori wasn't taken. Say she was actually about 10 or so in-game. (This is an example, so just bear with me and pretend it's that case in-game if things are horrifyingly off :P) The difference in behavior in those 4 years is a whole LOT, since at 14 years old Midori is no longer a child but a teenager. RPing teenager Midori actually sounds kind of fun, but barring that..it's just not the same as RPing the in-game Midori, who was 10. You see what I mean? It forces some potential problems on appers and would probably do more to dissuade appers than the SolAveh pact ever did.

Besides, if people were to ask you 'Where are we in the game?', then 'Four years after the Ethos invasion' is only a little bit better than 'We don't really know.' because questions still arise.

That's just my two cents. I could just be ranting on and on about a misconception for all I know. Anyone else have any thoughts on that?

By Domi on Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 03:38 am:

Well, we've done four years of roleplaying. As I said to Sirus earlier, we can't really pretend to be anywhere in the timeline of the actual game. Yes, it's true--Saying we're so-and-so years forward, but in the middle of the game is still baffling. *Works more on XMOCPW. x_X*

But in-game time has to have passed, you know? We've come a long way since the peace talks, come a long way since Dominia attacked the Ygg on herself way back in 1999. But how much time has passed? Khiea had a birthday party; At least one year has to have passed logically, right? Just to let everything happen?

I'm not suggesting 4 years have passed by any stretch. ^^; That's extreme. One or two is more reasonable, if we're going to do it at all.

It's more a curiosity than anything else. Game time has passed. I personally spent these last 4 years in a sort of time warp, since I'm content to, say, let Margie not grow up. But it's come up a lot lately, and so it's an issue to wonder on.

So! I have no clue, Sirus has no clue. What do the players think?

By Domi on Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 03:39 am:

Erk. I'm being confusing. IC time doesn't equal OOC time! But some time has passed IC. I'm just wondering how much that time is.

By Bart on Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 03:45 am:

::opens a giga-time warp and let's time wrap itself around like a gigantic spring::

Or something :P.

It's difficult to discern and too much trouble in the long run, IMO. That's probably why most MU*s i've been on like to not pay attention to time in general or go with themes where time can easily stand still.

What I suggest is a timeline, a publically readable timeline so everyone has an idea what's happened and what the current (and past) states of the Xeno world have been. You don't have to get specific with dates for that, you know?

If you really want time to pass though, 2 years isn't all that bad.

By Domi on Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 04:10 am:

Oh! And as to my opinion on this... We know that at least one year has passed ICly. I'm okay with that just passing, myself. One going on two is okay with me. But no, just because I'm bringing this up doesn't mean that I am okay with us rushing our charas all up on years. ^^

By Gabriel on Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 04:45 am:

The only real big gripe I have about NO time passing is that the Perfect Works Book actually has a very meticulous timeline as to everything that happened. To try and then fit all that's happened thus far into the span of a single year is highly improbable... two is far more sensible, in my opinion.

The main game of Xenogears takes place across about a year, in my estimation. We've had a considerably higher volume of RP, so it's safe to assume more time has passed. And as for charecters aging... perhaps it can be a bit more of a natural process, ne? I mean, when a kid turns from 12 to 13, they are not automatically a "teenager". It's a slow process that takes time. Besides, Gabe being 21 now, he would have been 19 when the game started-- far closer to the ages of the other XG heroes. ^_^;

By Sigurd/Billy on Wednesday, June 12, 2002 - 10:25 pm:

Thirty-one year old Siggy. X_x Eighteen year old Billy. X_X

Well, that doesn't affect either of my characters, not that anyone cares.

By Sirus on Thursday, June 13, 2002 - 06:38 am:

Bah, you think you've got problems? It makes Cain 10,002 years old! Personally, i'm still not sure where to stand on all of this. I mean, I really don't think the main game of XG could've been more than a year like Gabe said, so two is iffy...of course, we're also not quite going canon...bleh, theme is such a frustrating issue.

By Sirus on Thursday, June 13, 2002 - 06:38 am:

Bah, you think you've got problems? It makes Cain 10,002 years old! Personally, i'm still not sure where to stand on all of this. I mean, I really don't think the main game of XG could've been more than a year like Gabe said, so two is iffy...of course, we're also not quite going canon...bleh, theme is such a frustrating issue.

By Dominia on Sunday, June 16, 2002 - 07:24 am:

Well, here's what I've decided after talking to players about this. We know that one year has to have passed--We had Deusmas and Khiea's birthday, which shows that time has passed in general.

But all things honest, a good point brought up with me is that most games don't keep accurate track of time: It really does change your characters beyond the game's and it kind of takes the ability to RP your chara maturing out of the hands of new MCs or whatnot.

It's like how it's not fair to force the fact that some of us have 4 years of Xeno-RP under our belt onto a world where some people have been RPing here for less than a year.

So, right, we can assume that all of the RPing that's happened has happened in about a year's time. You can age, you can not, you can do as you please, but we're not so significantly high in age that anyone's going to be too much more than a year. Maybe going on 2, if you'd rather. Still, one has definitely passed, so let's stick to that and leave it at that.

Er, is that okay?

By Ryukumu on Sunday, June 16, 2002 - 07:41 pm:

And in that one year, I have ICly been hunted down so many times you think I worked for Al Queda. I feel loved. O_o;

One or two years sounds okay to me. The +finger idea is also great. I don't quite understand what all will be new once in MUSH code... could I get a basic run-down? Is the MUCKSH gonna be more stat-based or something? ^_^;

By Domi on Sunday, June 16, 2002 - 08:30 pm:

It's not really going to be different, the MUSH. ^^ I just want to remake a few things that are awkward or don't seem to work as well.

But no, there wont be any stats. I just want to add on features that might be fun, and sort out faulty systems like the current, rather blurry Gear system.

Not like anyone uses the Gear numbers, anyway. :P And I'm okay with that! I don't use them either!