Mae

*lurks in* I've looked through the thread, unfortunately I'm tired so apologies if this has already been said... Comedy relies a lot on perspective, and the perspective that gets to enjoy the most amount of comedy is the perspective of viewers/observers. Take your favorite flavor of comedy movie: to the characters, they're in -fairly serious- situations, but to you in the audience, the chain of events is just hilarious. I firmly believe that it's not that different in roleplay -- target your comedy to the players involved, not the characters. Once you sort of accept that, you start getting to know your audience and from there you can start building a list of tropes (because tropes aren't inherently bad!) that you can a) pull off without wrecking them and b) your regular audience enjoys. As an example, here are some comedic tropes that I think almost anyone can manage to look natural and I always enjoy: Character A and Character B make a $10 bet about situation, situation happens, winning side pays up with no complaint/comment. (Think Steve handing the $20 to Fury in the first Avengers movie) Character A goes out of line-of-sight/offscreen, and then "WAAAAAH!" *CRASH* *BANG* *CRASH* *SMASH* *TIRES SCREECH* *CAT YOWLS* *DISTANT WAIL OF SIRENS* *FIVE SECONDS OF SILENCE* "... I'm okay!" *sound of something breaking* "... Oops..." or "Don't do the thing" *has already done the thing* "... Oops..." or *is touching things* *isn't looking* "Don't touch anything." "What did you do?" "I was irritated." "You do more damage out of simple irritation than most people do in a towering rage..." Character A misunderstands/mishears Character B on something inane/unimportant. "What is this?" "... I thought you said you wanted a watermelon to soothe you?" "I said 'I want a smoothie'..." Characters who plaintively asks "Why me?" often. *slyly* "Trust me." or *slyly* "Would I do that to you, old friend?" Character who has shoulder-length or shorter hair is startled and their hair "poofs up like a startled cat's". Important note: Character does not need to be a cat/normally have cat-like traits/features, in fact this one actually works best when a feline link is not present. Character gets saying/adage wrong. "Remember, we can find north because the bark always grows on the outside of the tree." *five-second blank stare* "... Oh shit, I forgot." *hurries off* Character makes their drink/food inedible to everyone but them. "How do you take your coffee?" "Oh, I'll do it." *pours in enough sugar that coffee is now crunchy* Character is asked/forced to unload their pockets (random items, stolen goods, weapons, etc), and the pile just gets impossibly large for what they should be able to hold. Extra points for "Is that all?" *character sheepishly unloads a few more items/item that should NOT have been able to have been concealed on them/looks like they literally just pulled the last item out of their butt* "Where have you been? I was knocking on your door for a half-hour!" "I think you were knocking on the wrong door." *five minutes later* "... I was knocking on the wrong door..." Character A gives Character B an obviously sarcastic and just as obviously wrong answer to Character B's minor problem. Character B does it anyways, things go bad, Character B returns to Character A and exclaims "I trusted you!" Character A is passionate about a hobby, but completely blind to the fact that they are in fact very bad at said hobby. Surrounding characters don't have it in their heart to tell Character A how bad, and sometimes even terrifying, their completed projects are, and in fact may feel compelled to further encourage or praise their efforts. "I made a butterfly cake for little Cynthia's birthday!" *presents cake that looks like a dismembered... member... laying between two orange-and-green-cheetah flip-flops. With sprinkles* "... Oh... gee, Aunt Mary... this looks... just wonderful. It's too bad, though... you see, some of Cynthia's friends have Celiac's, so we had to get a gluten-free cake. Next year, though?"

Okay. So. I saw it. And... well, I walked out of the theater after the movie not regretting the price of tickets and popcorn. It wasn't amazing, I don't think I can say that it was a solid addition to the overall GitS name, but I didn't feel like I wasted time or money and I think I might've actually regretted it if I didn't see it on the big screen.

I think this is one of those things where it's kind of hard to balance what we have for lore with game mechanics and real-life examples/comparisons, and then the "it's a fantasy world, real-life means nothing/very little". I'm in the camp that likes to use real-life comparisons to fill in the gaps that the devs left. So... take what you want from my opinion. I think a lot of your initial numbers look good... for chickens. And while it's not uncommon for chocobos to be jokingly called chickens, they seem (at least to me) to have more in common with ostriches, emu, and cassowary. These types of birds take around two years to reach adulthood, up to five to reach physical maturity suitable to breed, can be at breeding peak for up to twenty years, and have a lifespan of up to fifty years. Now... I wasn't able to pull up much information on racing ostriches, so I can only really speculate the next based on what I know about horses. And seeing that the age-ranges sort of match up, I think it's safe to assume that this would be similar. Anyways. The training/breaking process for horses usually doesn't start until they're at least two years old. You can get them used to wearing a halter and having their feet messed with and introduced to a blanket before that, but bridles and saddles (and sometimes shoes) are out of the question before then. And while the breaking/training can be started at this point, horses typically aren't considered really rideable until closer to four years old. Training for racing takes more time and generally you don't want to start racing a horse before it reaches full physical maturity, which happens at around six years of age. So where does this leave us? If we go a more realistic route with horse-to-ostrich-to-chocobo comparisons... a newly-hatched chick likely wouldn't be seeing it's first race until six years old. Which, from and RP perspective, isn't going to be fun for most people to have to RP waiting that long. Even more so in a game where the passage of time is fuzzy -- last I heard back during... I think 2.5... only three or so months had passed in-game from the start of ARR to that point; if that's held true, then we're likely not even gone through nine months yet. The complete opposite side of the spectrum, of course, would be game mechanics. Where if you've got enough time and caffeine in your system, you can breed for a new 'bo, receive the new 'bo already race-ready, level it up, and breed/retire it in less than twenty-four hours. Or twenty-four game-mechanic days, if you wish to consider it that way. Where does that leave us? Well... I'm not really going to argue against the more chicken-appropriate numbers. Given RP'ers attention spans, they're more friendly for most people. So, there's my thoughts on the timing. Something you might find interesting and may want to consider is the brooding habits of ostrich/emu/cassowary. Ostrich are the only ones (of the species that I read about) where the females are solely the ones who incubate eggs -- emu and cassowary both have sub-species where that's the male's part, and the females wander off to breed and lay again. Also, did you consider if the females would lay unfertilized eggs even without mating, or do they only lay after breeding? This could potentially affect whether not a female would even be a viable racer -- I didn't see if ostrich/emu/cassowary do auto-laying, I'm iffy about chickens cause I've heard they auto-lay but personal experience is that a rooster's presence is needed, but I can 100% guarantee that cockatiels auto-lay. If they do auto-lay, it could make it so that the females have a -very- limited racing career. I know with 'tiels, they begin to become moody and nasty a week or two before they lay and remain that way until they 'give up' on the egg, and you -have- to wait for them to give up; remove their egg too early, and they'll just lay another to replace. A similar reaction is why chickens continue to lay as well for an extended period.

If you catch her wandering around (or want to poke me here/poke me on my main to secure a time where I'll have her logged in), you can try The Gardener. She's an herbalist type and doesn't normally care about who she's selling things to or why -- and until she's had a lot of meaningful interactions with someone, she doesn't remember them. On a side note, with how the game presents it, I was under the impression that fogweed was more akin to tobacco in its reaction than to pot. Did I miss something? Not trying to start an argument -- I try to keep up with this sort of stuff both for playing Gardener and for personal interest.

Best I could suggest for ROG/NIN is the level 56 Titanium set. There's nothing I can think of that would cross between ROG/NIN and THM/BLM, though.

The definition of "tomato pie" changes from area to area. In my part of New England, it's typically something you can only find in Greek pizzerias and it's literally a Greek-style pizza with a layer of tomatoes under and on top of the cheese. You order a "pizza with tomatoes" from these same places, and it's only a layer of tomatoes on top of the cheese... something I learned the hard way when I first got out on my own. Imagine my shock when I started traveling and got different things whenever I ordered one. Philadelphia, I got presented with what looked like to me to be a Sicilian-style pizza that had a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese instead of mozzarella on top. Chicago, my experience was that it meant getting a different, vastly chunkier sauce on their deep-dish pizzas. Somewhere in the Midwest, I think Illinois, I got introduced to the (in my opinion) monstrosity that is a pie crust that has a mayonnaise-cream cheese-cheddar cheese "filling" topped with tomatoes, and that is closer in appearance/construction to what we'd call a tart back home. I also sort of learned that Greek-style pizza is not very popular outside of New England. To which I was both pleased and annoyed -- I typically don't like it, but when I get that rare craving for it, I crave it -hard-. Anyways. The game's icon looks like a tart to me, but the ingredients hint more towards a pizza-style to me. I can even justify the "pie crust" as a pizza thing -- some of the Greek pizzerias where I'm from, you have a choice of crusts: regular and "pie crust". The "pie crusts" are thinner, don't puff up as much, and are cooked in different pans with less oil so the bottom doesn't blister and fry. So until SE starts slapping some sort of mayonnaise into the recipe, I'm perfectly fine with people going with the idea that the tomato pie is more of a pizza thing.

There's tigers. I'm also 90% positive I've spawned a "Territorial Tiger" recently from doing treasure maps in HW areas that was a similar model.

I was just pointing out that there's technically not much for food, even modern food, that can be called off-limits for either technique or ingredient requirements. I'm certainly not advocating someone starting up a McEorzea chain, but if Kara was sitting at a campfire with someone and they offered her chopped meat scraps that were pressed together into a disk shape before being grilled and then placed between a couple hunks of bread because there were no plates, I don't think it's even lore-bending enough to raise questions. Yep. You can put all sorts of things on popcorn. I know people who like to sprinkle powdered ranch dressing mix onto theirs. And Ovaltine. Also someone who, instead of butter, uses bacon grease. Me? I liked mine just air-popped plain. Back before I had a three-month period where Dollar Tree boxes of microwave popcorn were all I could afford to buy to cover my lunches. Now, I can't even stand the smell of popcorn.

I'm very much of the opinion that we can't rely on or expect the Devs to include every single plant, animal, and the like that would make up the game's ecosystems through either inventory items or mentions in quests/leves/etc -- it'd make the game's file size too big. So I run on the assumption that if it's reasonable that something would exist (we have the in-game climates that would support whatever) and/or there are related examples, then until the Devs step in and specifically say that it doesn't exist, it's fair game. And even if they do come out and say something doesn't exist, there's likely something that DOES exist that would make for a decent substitute. Like coffee. I honestly had an argument with someone prior to 2.4 about the existence of coffee. My only way to get them to drop it and stop being disruptive (couldn't /blist, they were an LS member at the time) was to say that it was a coffee substitute made from roasted acorns, which is a real thing. I take a similar approach to how a specific food is made -- if the technology to cook it exists/would be feasible to make in the game's setting, it's fair game. I had a similar argument (with the same person I did with the coffee, actually) over ice cream. They said it wasn't possible without freezers, but all you need to make it is milk, cream, sugar, two seal-able jars of different sizes, ice and rock salt or ice shards, and about twenty minutes. So if you really think about it, there's... not a lot of food that couldn't exist in Eorzea. Off the top of my head... maybe astronaut ice-cream and anything that was specifically made to be cooked only sous-vide style might be 'out'. And maybe waffles, because I don't know how to make an Eorzean waffle iron off the top of my head beyond "magic!". But hamburgers, pizza, french fries, grilled cheese sandwiches, bacon McMuffins, Hot Pockets, doughnuts... they're all actually feasible with the game's represented cooking techniques and inventory items.

While the Cake Tray may be a better competitor, the Starlight Cake resembles my favorite cake so I have to vote for it.

*lurks in* There's already been a lot of good suggestions regarding being persistent, constant, and networking OOCly, so I've nothing really significant to add to that. What I do have to add might not seem to be the... most helpful or hopeful thing and may even, on the surface, reinforce the "clique" image newbies are seeing. But if you take what I'm about to say as a whole instead of piecemeal, it may help. So... here you are. Brand new, looking to find your first RP session in the game, and you walk into one of the RP hot spots. For the sake of this, we're going to go with the Quicksand because everyone knows about it. As you look around, you see a bunch of silent figures standing around alone-ish on the edges of the room who might be AFK or maybe they're non-RP'ers who just stopped in those spots randomly, or a bunch of other reasons. Either way, you have come to the conclusion (rightful or not) that you're not getting RP from them, so you home in on the group seated around a table who are actively RPing, and you start to approach... Wait. Stop. Don't. Or, at least, stop and don't approach -yet-. Don't even send a /tell yet. Watch and OOCly eavesdrop until you get a reading on the conversation -- ten lines/entries is what I suggest you should aim for as a minimum. If the conversation seems lighthearted, open, or any other situation where, if this was Real Life, it wouldn't seem rude to invite yourself into the conversation, go ahead and approach. Or send your /tell now, if you're feeling nervous. If the conversation, however, seems deep, involved, serious, or any other situation where, if this was Real Life, it would be rude to invite yourself in... don't. Just continue to spectate if there's currently no-one else to try (and if better prospects seem to come up elsewhere, by all means go and take them instead of sitting around), maybe toss out a solo emote to indicate that you are a fellow RPer if you feel the need, but don't become upset if they don't respond, or if they emote back that while they've acknowledged your presence ICly they've no inclination to inviting you to their conversation. Enjoy the show. Maybe after a while the conversation will ease up and the overall mood will shift to something more open and inviting, and that'll be the chance to move in and attempt to engage. Or maybe they're being silent, because the conversation has gone to another chatmode, and you have nothing to work with. Toss out a solo emote of some sort or send someone a /tell, but again don't get upset if they don't respond or they indicate that they're not open to having others join in. Don't bother waiting on this group, just move on. In Real Life, people go out to public places for various reasons. Going into a restaurant and approaching/sitting down at a random table where a family, some friends, or business associates are meeting would be downright rude, whereas joining in on a conversation at the bar is typically acceptable. The same logic and courtesy should apply to in-game RP, and perhaps with a bit more sensitivity -- the game has a much smaller pool of spaces to RP in than an average Real Life town, so we have to share and sometimes make a space double-duty. One table in the Quicksand could end up being a sort of extension of the bar (especially if the bar area is already full), while another table is the more 'private' group, and the tables will switch purpose depending on day and group. What this game does have in its favor over Real Life, though, is a much easier way to identify and contact other players even after they've left your immediate sight. Even if you've opted to not have named displayed on your screen normally, you can click on someone and get their names. If you see some people RPing and you liked what you saw but there's indications that your approach might be "unwelcome" at the time, write those names down. Keep an eye out for them and approach them later with a /tell along the lines of "Hey, I saw you RPing the other night and I was interested, but I didn't want to interrupt. Would you be interested in RPing together sometime?". The worst that would happen (beyond perhaps not getting a response at all, but that could happen for some valid reasons) is that you get informed that they're involved in a closed plot and they can't right now/in the near future. The second worst would be that you get told that it really wasn't that serious of a talk and that you could've jumped in. A bit of politeness, patience, respect for others, and striking up OOC conversations when people aren't busy can go a long way into getting you involved/connected with others than if you barge into a conversation where the reasonable IC and Real Life reaction (should they choose to acknowledge you) would be annoyance at the interruption/intrusion... which can easily feed into you feeling like you just got snubbed by a clique. And, if after waiting a while, nothing seems like a good prospect... go do something else for a bit. Walk away. Don't make a snarky exiting emote, statement, or /tells, cause people remember that. Just go do something else for a while and then come back and try again later, or another day -- the people who you're currently watching/waiting for are adhering to their own schedule, and that schedule is not compatible with your own right now. And always make the decision to walk away -before- you become frustrated/angry/upset. Getting that way only taints your future attempts, and feeds into the 'snubbed' feeling. Another thing, if you're new and you feel like you keep throwing out hooks and no-one is biting... you might need to re-evaluate what it is that you're considering a hook. If you walk in and emote that you're taking a seat a distance away from anyone else and pull out a book/paperwork, or look like you're waiting for someone specific, or in general look -busy-, that can easily be interpreted as... well... you're busy and/or waiting for someone specific. You appear closed off. If I go to a cafe bakery for tea and a pastry and bring a book to read, I'm there to read and don't want to be interrupted. If I go to a cafe bakery for tea and a pastry, don't bring a book, and see someone else sitting there reading a book, I'm not going to bother them because I assume that, like me, they're there to read and wouldn't appreciate being interrupted. TL;DR: When you go into a hotspot/event looking to make connections/find RP when you're new, take a few minutes to read the room first and then imagine that it's a Real Life restaurant. Aim for the 'bar' RPers, respect the 'sitting in a booth in the dining room' RPers. Make notes on who's RP you liked watching, and try to contact them at a later time when they're not overtly busy if they were one of the 'booth' RPers. And if prospects aren't currently looking good, go do something else for a while before you get frustrated. *lurks away*

Met X'elo originally through the old Sega of America forums back when PSO ep1&2 still had Gamecube servers, years later he was a guest at my wedding and we've had a couple other vacations/extended visits. Met another friend from PSO that I'd kept in contact with a couple years ago -- husband and I were driving through Statesville NC to do a delivery in... Georgia, I think, and we had some spare time. Met two guildmates from WoW over eight years ago, when husband, friend, husband's little sister, and I decided to call out sick from work/school and take a trip down to NYC for a book signing.

Was out doing deliveries on Saturday, stopped to grab lunch at a McDonalds and was standing in line behind two cops when I happened to notice they were both messing with their phones. I peek over one's shoulder and... Yup. Both playing Pokemon. Had a lovely chat with them while we waited over fifteen minutes for our orders. Neither had ever played a Pokemon game before (and really, neither had I but I at least was more familiar with the franchise), so it was REALLY HARD not to laugh when one of them showed me what he thought was his best Pokemon and it turned out to be a 10CP Magikarp. His reasoning was that it had a crown, so it had to be good >_>

My dog isn't very good at this game...

Kara has... three mounts, if you count her racer, IC'ly. The first is Dumpling, her GC chocobo. She actually dislikes Dumpling quite a bit; he's a very stupid bird that spends most of his time trying to do an ostrich impression. She uses him very rarely, and... honestly I don't remember where he's IC'ly stabled anymore. I can probably at this point consider Dumpling to have been repo'd by the Flames. She's much more fond of her racer, Outlaw. Unfortunately, she hasn't found a way to sneak him out of the Saucer's stables yet. And then, she has Max. Max was meant to be one of those "white elephant" gifts -- a puppy to annoy her. She actually became very fond of the little blue-gray puppy (the wolf pup minion). Of course, like all puppies, it had to start growing up... and surprisingly, Max got even big enough for Kara to ride (Ixal direwolf mount). But as he grew, something odd started to become noticeable about Max. The first being that his coat turned blue. The second being that, even at this point and his size, he hadn't grown into his paws yet -- they were still oversized. Which lead to people asking "What sort of dog IS that..? as he continued to grow. Turns out, Max is an Abalathian Hoarhound (Fenrir mount). Going back to the horses thing... I could've sworn that during the 2014 event, there was dialogue SOMEWHERE in the course of the event that insinuated that horses were prohibited from the Twelveswood by the Elementals. Possibly a rumor the 'bo handlers were known to spread around so that they could keep the monopoly on mounts.

Milkroot is used by the Sylphs (and augmented with Dream Toad slime) for intoxication and hallucinations. It does affect People, but is supposed to be fairly noxious. Somnus is derived from the "dreamflower". It is illegal in all the city-states, but Ul'dah seems to have the worst problems with it. You can visit Stone's Throw and Lost Hope (both in Central Thanalan) and find both users and producers. Also, one of the first quests in Limsa also has you picking up dropped flowers that the guard first teases that were dreamflowers but turn out to just be a type of lavender. There is rye in the game, and therefore probably ergot, which is a fungal infection of rye grains. Ergot is known to cause hallucinations, seizures, and burning sensations in the limbs. A writer surmised that ergotism was the cause of the Salem Witch Trials (but there is an utter lack of any evidence to support this) and may have been used by some of the Oracles in ancient Greece. It is also a fairly powerful aborticacient, but can cause many complications. And it can also cause gangrene and kill. We have a lot of representatives from the Solanoideae family in-game (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, potatoes, belladonna, mandrake), so it's likely that we also have datura. Datura, mandrake, and belladonna/nightshade are all hallucinogenic and cause delirium to various extents. Belladonna/nightshade tends to be the more mild and can be addictive and do have a 'sleepy' effect. Mandrake is stronger. Datura, even more so, to the point where the smell from the flowers (which is often described as smelling like peanut butter) can intoxicate a person. Belladonna, mandrake, and datura can all kill. Nutmeg can cause delirium in high quantities. it can also kill in the same quantities. We also have a few representatives of the Asteraceae family in the game, and we also specifically have mugwort, so it wouldn't be a stretch to say that we also have wormwood. Wormwood is one of the key herbs used when distilling absinthe, and was the main source of blame when absinthe was outlawed. HOWEVER, it's been proven that most of the the crazy behaviours blamed on absinthe were actually the result of poisoning (lead from cheap bottles, copper salts to give green colour) when absinthe became mainstream and mass-produced. It causes giddiness and a 'feeling of creativity'. It is also used in treating of various gastrointestinal issues. And that's just scratching the surface. We have models that, while not named, also suggest that we have poppies and various members of Ranunculaceae. We have more examples of Fabaceae, Malvaceae, and Rosaceae in-game than I have time or desire to go over, and we also have mushrooms, molds, and mosses that we can pretty much just take at face-value to exist (otherwise we'd be expecting the Dev's to devote time to making up hundreds of thousands of plants to make a working ecosystem for us). All of which have species that can/do have hallucinogenic/narcotic effects. If you're doing a character that dabbles in herbalism, I would suggest that you pick up a field guide (I cut my teeth on an earlier edition of this one a couple decades ago) or a similar online resource and just spend some time reading through so you can start to get an idea on what you can, can't, and shouldn't use.

1.) What’s the best way to get and keep everyone involved, so the plot doesn’t end up solely gravitating around one individual / group? First off, don't expect that you'll get everyone in the FC involved AND keep them the whole time. And don't make attendance mandatory -- you'll only risk getting resentful participants who will spend more time trying to find a way out. Which could include them giving their character a case of temporarily dead/kidnapped/not permanently terminally ill, which could hijack your story. Most people, when being presented with the idea of being involved in the plot in the beginning, will jump for it. That typically isn't a problem, so don't sweat that part. It's getting people involved again that fell by the wayside (they missed a day when something important happened, they lost interest for a bit and are now interested again) or didn't have interest in the beginning (the dreaded OOC argument of "But this isn't something my character would be involved with!") but developed interest further down the line that you should consider. Locate and hold aside plot threads that won't kill the plot progression if they're not discovered/explored by the main group for the purpose of bringing in/bringing back people later in the story progression. If you notice the plot starting to revolve around a select portion of your active participants, don't wait and hope that one of the others will step forward. This division (in my experience) tends to happen when you have a divide in participant's... capacity. Slower typers, maybe they're not logic'ing their way through the plot as fast as the growing 'super team' is. Assign stuff to these people that you might've just left for the group to possibly discover at random, and make it more personal than just "someone finds a journal from the missing person". Opt for a "In the morning, X will find a letter addressed to them in their mail -- it seems someone mailed the missing person's journal to X". Give them a few solo moments to shine. If they re-engage in a reasonable way, then it's just a case of they're a bit slower with their RP and you might want to consider tweaking some things so that they don't get left behind. If they don't re-engage, then you're possibly dealing with someone who is... just actively spectating. Not much you can really do with someone like this. I have someone like this in my RP group, and it doesn't matter what we serve him on a silver platter, he does not engage (or if he does, he engages 30 minutes after we moved on after waiting 5 minutes for a response and not getting one, and as if the past half-hour of RP hadn't occurred). It is frustrating, but if after several attempts to get them to re-engage doesn't work, then stop wasting time on them and just accept them as a lurker. 2.) What sort of pitfalls or common / easy mistakes would you guys warn against falling into? Pacing. Holy crap, but pacing/timing is something that can so easily screw you up in a long-running, large-group RP. And unfortunately, the only way to avoid it is to know how to accurately read your group. There is a fine line between progressing too fast (and therefore making people feel rushed and unable to explore parts that they find interesting) and progressing too slowly (where people feel the plot is dragging and begin to look elsewhere). Always have side-stuff prepared, in case people find a part that they want to stop and linger on, and (depending on the theme of your plot) don't be afraid to have these eventually become false leads/dead ends if following them doesn't suit your overall purpose. It is better to let the group deviate a bit from your itinerary and have fun and then rein them back in than it is to leave them thinking "Gee... that could've been interesting/fun/logical.". Similarly, be prepared to cut/trim/condense/"It Happened" a plot point if it starts to bore people. Even if, in your mind, this plot point is SUPER IMPORTANT and you put a lot of time and effort into it. If your participants aren't having fun, you run the risk of them wandering off. Cut/condense/"It Happened" the material for now, consider it for reworking later. 3.) Conversely, what are the things that may not be obvious, but I should be doing anyway? Periodic debriefings. Both IC and OOC. IC ones allow characters to get on the same IC page, discuss/explain things that others may have missed, and allows people who disengaged to re-engage and get ICly 'caught up' without a dreaded "Hey guys, what's up?" cropping up just as everyone's plotting on how to storm the fortress, or whatever. If you're not taking logs of the rest of the RP, you should take logs of any IC debriefings and post those up. OOC debriefings, these you should use to gauge how your pacing is, and how engaged people feel. Was there a really dizzying jump in logic that no-one really gets? Think of it as a progress report. Second, is prepare for people to not follow your exact script. When I write even just a short plot, I write multiple paths that might be logically taken, so that my players might -not- manage to outsmart me and go off in a direction that I didn't plan. It doesn't always work (one person I RP with regularly, I'll plan five different paths and 50% of the time he'll come up with a sixth and I have to scramble to contain him cause he'll just keep going like a runaway train) and if your players are just not getting the hint, DO NOT BE AFRAID of using some horrible cliche/trope/whatever to stop them. I haven't had to do it yet, but I am not afraid of dropping a massive, dangerous storm or other natural disaster onto a group in order to stop them from running wild. Actually, in general, don't be afraid of cliche and trope. The reason why many things become cliche and trope is... because they work. If a logical progression/train of thought/plot twist/conclusion to any aspect of what your planning suddenly feels cliche/trope-y, don't feel like you have to scramble to get out of that and find something totally unique. Embrace it. Do it -well-. We make fun of cliche and trope because so many people use them poorly. When cliche and trope is done well, most people won't even realize that that's what they're dealing with -- they're more kicking themselves in the butt for not realizing the obvious. Which can be EXTREMELY satisfying. 4.) Any other tips, tricks, suggestions, warnings…? Don't be afraid to call and/or allow a break if you notice that people's attentions are starting to wane. When this happens, it's typically one of two things; they're bored, or they're starting to feel mental fatigue, both ICly and OOCly. If it's the former, a break lets you re-evaluate what you're doing and figure out where the problem is. If it's the latter, it lets both characters and players recharge. If they're up to their eyebrows in super-serious RP, a day of relative lightheartedness is occasionally needed. Never leave a coded clue behind that, if decoded, negates all your plans for the group to run around and do stuff. I saw it happen once -- DM had the villain leave a coded letter behind along with a clue as to where the villain went. Most of the group just went with the clue and began a merry chase, which is what the DM wanted. But one person stayed behind to work on the coded letter, and because it wasn't a very sophisticated code, he managed to crack it ICly in a very short amount of time (like.. by the time he figured out where all the E's, T's, H's, A's, and I's were, he saw that all the letters were just shifted by a value of 10 or something) and solved the whole thing because it turned out there wasn't actually a villain and someone was just leaving and the 'clue' was their good-bye note. Plan back-up villains/mini-bosses. Especially if you have a villain/boss who isn't a fighter. Years ago, a friend was DMing a long-term campaign for our circle of friends. The intro scene for the day's RP, me and the friend I was teamed with utterly botched our willpower rolls, our characters went into a feeding frenzy (we were playing Vampire the Masquerade), then we both rolled damn near perfect 10's and attacked an NPC. The DM then botched the NPC's rolls. As soon as the NPC hit the floor dead, the DM sighed, looked at us, and said "... Well. We need to break for an hour, now... the priest you two just steamrolled was today's boss and I gotta come up with a new plot." Also. Do not expect perfection. Do not take it as a total disaster and think that you're an utter failure if you end up having to trash the plot after a couple weeks. There is a learning curve when it comes to these sorts of things. Keep it firmly in your mind while running this that you have never done this before. Keep it firmly in your FC's mind that this is your first time and that you are the first one to run one of these with this FC. There is no precedent for you to look back at that deals SOLELY with this group. You're breaking new ground for the FC, and no-one knows what is and isn't going to work for the FC until after your plot. Take it as a learning experience.

Hi, I'm Mae and I RP MSQ. Actually, I'm in a linkshell that RP's MSQ as a group. Not that there's many of us, to be honest -- MSQ RP is probably just a -bit- more stressful than regular RP, so it certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea. The rate of overall progression, RP-wise, can be grating, but for those who have the mindset for it it's fairly satisfying. Warren wasn't too far off the mark with (at least with the group I'm in) how we handle the Warrior of Light status. It's a group thing, so we're all Warriors of Light -- which is something that anyone can arise to if they had a vision of Hydaelyn talking to them and heeded her call (AKA, the level 5 MSQ CS where we -do- see more than just the MC buzzing around the crystal) which pretty much goes hand in hand with having the Echo in some capacity (our group's take on the Echo is that if you had a vision of Hydaelyn, you have the Echo/Hydaelyn's Blessing), and are willing to find a reason to work with the Scions. And... that's it. That's all it takes to be a Warrior of Light with my group. It is -mostly- a title that most of us ICly actually hate/have grown to hate. The only real 'superpower' we have is that we can't get thralled by Primals and we have the extraordinary bad luck of being dragged into the worst situations possible with just enough good luck that we don't all get slaughtered. We get hurt, sick, injured, accumulate greenwrath/woodsin, and we've had characters die and stay dead; we're not invincible juggernauts. Our MSQ related RP is handled 100% in-linkshell. This is done partially as a courtesy for the rest of the community, so that our MSQ RP doesn't bump elbows with another person's/group's MSQ RP, or their lack thereof. But it's mostly done for the sake of keeping our group all on the same page -- if you're in the linkshell, then you've agreed to RP as if we're all on the same point. Outside of MSQ RP, members have a choice on how to handle stuff in Open World RP/other groups; they can just keep the MSQ-based stuff quiet/secret, opt to be different versions of their character in Open World versus MSQ RP, or any other solutions they come up with. I personally don't RP much outside of the linkshell because, while I love my characters, most of them just don't do well in Open World RP (and I'm okay with this, no-one needs to come and try and save me from isolation). Inside the linkshell, we have scheduled days that we put time aside specifically to progress MSQ or other major events where we all need to be on the same page. Rest of the week, everyone is free to RP as they wish as long as they don't progress MSQ-related events past where our Pacekeeper is. So, the "Pacekeeper". This is a specific character that a player has agreed/dedicated to only progress MSQ-wise during our MSQ-scheduled days. This allows people who wish to progress OOCly faster to do so -- the Pacekeeper transcribes quest and relevant cutscene dialogue from NPC's into the linkshell for everyone to see and potentially respond to, and also makes any necessary adjustments to the dialogue to turn it from a one-person experience to a group one. And, where appropriate, creates original NPC dialogue. The Pacekeeper also sets the bar to what has already occurred in our group's timeline. Prior to HW, this meant that until a newcomer caught up OOCly to that minimum point, they had to be okay with not physically being able to go into/be considered for going into various duties but still RP them as happening/having happened. The way HW is gated is a potential problem for anyone who hasn't gotten 2.55 completed... we just haven't had a need to find a solution yet. ... This all sounds horribly complex. I know. In actual practice, though, it's much simpler. One of those things that's easier to show than explain. We also operate on the assumption that we're not the only ones doing things. The assaults on the Castrums, for example, weren't done by a single group of eight; it was a small army that went in with various units that came together or moved apart as situations needed. Same with other raids and duties, and even some quests; just because Alphie or Minfi sent us out to do a mission, doesn't mean they didn't send out a second team to try to accomplish the same thing from a different angle. In the end, MSQ RP is something that can be very OOC-planning heavy, somewhat frustrating, sometimes like herding cats, it's easy to burn out on in short time, not... well received... in Open RP, and IC progression can also be slow as hell. But if you have a like-minded group, it can be enjoyable enough that all the OOC mud doesn't matter. So go ahead and try it if it sounds interesting to you.

Bad Movie Bingo. If I go with a group to this in the theaters, I'm bringing sheets. Just in case.

Arad's involvement in this doesn't really worry me -that- much. Looking at his projects and scraping out and discarding all the sequels that were the result of the studios saying "Huh, people liked this. Produce more movies so we can keep the rights!", this is the guy who produced Blade, X-Men, Spider-Man, The Punisher, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and The Amazing Spider-Man; all of these did fairly well with the general movie-going public. Sure, he had a few turds -- Daredevil (which I personally don't think was -that- bad) Hulk, Fantastic Four (which is now a bright shiny gem when you compare it to the reboot), and Ghost Rider -- but the comic book movies are difficult to do anyways. He was also involved with several of the classic 90's Marvel cartoons. Which, regardless of what you might think now, if you saw these as a kid you can't deny that you loved them. They're like Power Rangers or Pokemon; you made fun of them in the light, but watched them religiously when no-one was around to catch you. That being said, though... Ghost in the Shell is not Marvel. But I'll still trust this guy more than I'd trust M. Night Shyamalyan to do it. I don't know about others here, but my initial experience with the original Ghost in the Shell movie was me walking away thinking "... What the HELL did I just waste my time on?", only to be hit with a weird urge a week or so later to steal the video cassette from my brother and watch it again. In the end, I think it took me five viewings before I could appreciate what I was watching, and then I was hooked. And for everyone I've introduced to GitS since, I tell them to watch the movie, walk away for a week, and then return to it. Rinse and repeat a few times -- when you're brand-new to the series, you need time to digest and process what's going on in the non-action scenes to appreciate it. But this is going to be a Hollywood movie, which means they have 90-120 minutes to get the general public to love the franchise or else they consider it a flop. Which means it's going to be flashy, action-oriented, and not as deep as those of us who are long-time fans of the source material want it to be. On the plus side, it seems (and if this is correct) that the writer was an Oscar nominee for Best Writing for an Original Screenplay this past year. So, maybe there's some hope on the writing side. Anyways. I'm not too worried about Scarlett Johansson getting Motoko's part. She's been doing enough action movies that I think she'll be able to pull off that part well enough. At the -very- least, they could've chosen a whole lot worse for the role. Who I AM worried about is the guy they casted for Batou. The only other movie that I've seen him in is "Lucy", and looking back at that I really don't think he's Batou material. At all. Appearance, voice... I'm super worried. Batou is my favorite, and a bad Batou is likely to kill any potential "GitS Cinematic Universe" appreciation I could have faster than bad writing/directing could.

Gumbo is... very varied, as far as I can tell. I've had it where it is more stew/curry like in Louisiana, I've had it where it was more soup-like in Mississippi. I think the general rule is "if it tastes good, you didn't do it wrong". I personally liked the soupier version I got in this backwater truck-stop diner in southern Mississippi the best; it had been cooked so long that everything had basically dissolved into this thick, muddy, oh-so-tasty bowl of sludge that the cook topped with a scoop of rice. I had to pick out bones (I like to tell myself that it was chicken or turkey, but for all I know it was armadillo, gator, or nutria), but it was entirely worth it. Gumbo file, or 'file powder', is dried powdered sassafras leaves. As I understand it, you don't use file powder with okra unless you want a hagfish-slime mess. Similarly, you don't want to add the file powder until after you take the gumbo off the heat, and you don't even want to add it then if you're not planning on eating the entire batch in one go -- sprinkle it into plated bowls. Seriously, unless your hubby has an allergy to it, you're better off with the okra. Cut it up fine and don't tell him it's in there (or cook it long until it all falls apart), and he won't notice. The characteristics that turn most people off about okra are the things that people look for in gumbo. When you make the roux, you want continuously stir it and cook it until it looks like peanut butter and smells like Ritz crackers. I suggest making a double batch, because sometimes it doesn't thicken up quite as much as you want it to and, refrigerated, it can last a week or so and makes for my favorite type of roux for macaroni and cheese. Once it's cooked, I would also suggest scooping it all out into a cool dish or taking the pot and placing it in a dish with a bit of cold water in it. Leaving it in the pot with a hot bottom, even off the heat, it can continue to cook and scorch within a couple minutes. Oh, and this type of roux gets super hot. And sticks. Handle it like you would melted sugar for caramel. It's nicknamed "Cajun Napalm" for a reason.

Kara is, at best, what I would consider moderately/semi literate. She can read well enough for everyday use, but I don't picture her being able to easily read anything past what I was reading in kindergarten. My reasoning on her ability is that while there were certainly other skills that would've been much more important for her to learn/for those who raised her to know, the ability to read a shipping manifest, ledger, or leaf through a book to determine its value would have been useful. As for the literacy/illiteracy rates of Eorzea, I personally have problems with what the devs have claimed on the matter. They say that literacy is rare, reserved mainly for the rich/privileged. However, the examples we're given in-game, to me, don't match up with this. We pass notes between common people, recover 'religious' pamphlets that were meant for the poor and refugees, deliver well-written (and even eloquent/poetic) letters from and to bandits and poachers, and hang job postings for everyday workers. And in all this, there is -only one- NPC that can't read... and her inability to read is because "I never bothered to learn my letters". So I personally run on the assumption that a great deal of Eorzeans are actually literate, just the average level is what I'd expect from, at best, a third-grader. Which from a lot of our Real World expectations, could possibly come off as being illiterate.

I already knew Yul Brynner (actor) and John Quincy Adams (US president). I guess I also share with: Giorgio Armani (fashion designer) EB White (wrote "Charlotte's Web") Richie Sambora (lead guitarist from Bon Jovi) And... Frederick I of Prussia. Those are the ones I recognize/care about. There's a long list of athletes, TV actors, and YouTube stars (...whut...) that also got listed.

It is possible. Provided that the female mastiff is laying down or the male chihuahua is on some sort of elevated platform (... step-ladder, as the joke goes...) or it's artificially done; the mastiff will give birth to smaller-than-mastiff-breed-standard puppies. Female chihuahua to male mastiff would NOT work or be a safe choice even if done artificially; the puppies would be too big for the female to carry safely and/or to term. As the puppies came into their own breeding rights, the males would likely be able to breed either naturally or artificially with pretty much whatever they wanted. The females, comparative sizes with potential mates would likely still need to be considered. ANYWAYS. I had a Duskwight alt for a while, and part of her theme was that she didn't look like a Duskwight. And as long as I kept direct sunlight or moonlight from hitting her face/skin, nobody knew for sure without me telling them; those who I RP with the most knew I had a preference for Duskwight, so they were suspicious of me running around on what appeared to be a Wildwood character. But as soon as she got hit directly in the face with sunlight or moonlight and the blue/grey tones that the Duskwight skin options have got highlighted, it was TOTALLY obvious. So, as far as my experiences go, it's totally possible to at least make a (female) Duskwight that can pass as a Wildwood as long as you make careful creation decisions, not tell others, and stay mindful of the game environment. Provided, of course, you're not dealing with people who are going to metagame and do, like, a Lodestone search or someone who's gone and analyzed your character's face against DW and WW creation options.

... ... ... ... ... ... What happened...?