Petition for Characters

There has been an issue on this site that has been nagging at me since the first few weeks I have joined. Let me be clear. I like this place. I like the layout, I like the community, and I like the thought and effort that has obviously been put into its construction. There is a lot to be proud of here.

However, there are some issues too.

One of my personal problems is some of the rigid codes regarding how rping works. Namely, the character system that is present. I came from sites where buying characters is unthinkable, and I can’t fathom a serious reason as to why an economy system is a necessity for making more. If anything, character creation should be embraced instead of constrained. It means members are generally invested and willing to try out new ideas.

5,000 poke for a new character is a lot. Even if it is 2,000 less than the old 7,000, members literally have to dedicate MONTHS of rping in most cases to earn a new character.

Let us use a system to determine just how long it would take. Assume we have a character that organizes or at least does missions in teams of 2. Let us also assume that the average poke reward for missions is 100 poke (Good estimation for beginning members and a good portion of the missions overall), so each member gets 50-50. We will also assume that each mission takes 3 pages to complete. People take turns posting, so each member gets roughly 22 posts out of 45 (15x3). At the end of the day, people are walking away with 270 poke per completed mission. They earn 220 through posting, and get the reward poke of 50.

Seems like a lot right? Except this formula have ideal conditions in place for early starters. It assumes that there are only two people present receiving the reward, that the individuals rping are doing constant, consistent mission runs (not general rp threads), and that nothing is bought to hinder their goal of new characters. So how many mission runs does it take to earn a new character under these circumstances?

Well… 5,000 divided by 270 is… Roughly 18.

You need to do 18 missions before you have enough for a new character.

I pity you if you play an outlaw, shopkeeper, or just someone who doesn’t actually do exploration missions. You have 500 posts in the very least to look forward to.

I like this site, but I have a life outside of it. It takes weeks to get ONE mission done, and most people can get in a couple, maybe 3 posts in per day on a single topic if things are going good.

Let me be clear. I don’t have a problem with the economic system. However, it guides EVERYTHING, and it also influences things it should not. Poke should be used as player account currency for artwork commissions, maybe as something to improve characters (Like the TM or dojo. I have no problem with that), or maybe buy them items (A useful thing to have to prep for the new energy system. This could make shopkeepers a more viable thing to play anyway.)

Let us be honest. There either isn’t a lot on the site to buy with poke, or it is too expensive to risk in the rather vain quest of a new character. People are going to hoard their resources first in the face of that, and they are going to wait because of it.

5,000 poke for something that other sites allow for free (And indeed, rely on to live) is ridiculous. 200 poke for changing your username is ridiculous. Art trades and player economy is stifled in an economic system that is FORCED on the players. In the coming energy system, the consequences on how that affects the current system could only be predicted. From what I gathered, it will be an inconvenience in mission runs and a major problem for beginning character advancement at worst. If the energy system doesn’t affect anything, then the question would be why implement it at all in the grand scheme of things. Alas, the energy system deserves its own post, and I’m only here to talk about poke for new characters.

I have a solution though besides the obvious one of just allowing new characters to be made freely like any other rp site. My suggestion is to base the availability of new characters on post count. The reason being is that it keeps poke separate, but is still a good indicator of activity and dedication to the site (Which seems to be the reason for the poke system in the first place). I think each mile marks for every hundred or couple hundred posts are fair. I have also anticipated two potential rebuttals, and I have counter responses against it.

Q- What if people post in general threads that have nothing to do with rping?  They could use that to unfairly earn a new character through general post count.

A- First off, what harm is there in members posting in the general threads talking about the site, rping unrelated things, or showing off their fanfiction and art work? They are still contributing to the site. People come here to rp. Posts outside rping are going to make up a VERY small percentage of overall posts. After all, the poke system itself, as well as character levels are only in place in rp zones. It is in everyone’s best interest to put their posts there to get the full benefits… And they will do it anyway because… Well… This is an rp site. It is what they came here to do. If someone spams, they spam, and they get in trouble for spamming.  Besides, there is already a double standard with the poke system as it is. Namely, the art competitions come to mind. Whoever wins an art competition earns 500 poke to keep to themselves. It has nothing to do with rping, but it is still there, and it’s only available to those with subjective artistic talent. In fact, it can be considered one of the best moneymakers if you succeed. No sharing of loot is required, and no threads have to be made. The effort put into a ‘good’ picture has the potential to be a lot more profitable than mission runs. By comparison, a post count system for characters makes a lot more sense and is a lot more fair.

Q- What about people dropping characters on a whim?

A- In all honesty, I don’t see this as a major problem in the long run. On sites that didn’t have a character limit or buy on them, if they were abandoned or just not played they were shelved away. In no way was this system detrimental; it just meant that every few weeks whoever was in charge of the boards would move some threads around. That was it. Besides, I’m personally more likely to see members getting tired of old characters, desiring to mix it up a little, but find themselves unable to acquire new ones in a reasonable amount of time. I can see people getting frustrated and moving on because of that. Additionally, the post count is a good qualifier of a dedicated rper. If they have already put a hundred or couple hundred posts on the site, it is reasonable to throw them a bone and trust that dedication.

I understand that throughout these complaints that I have referred consistently to me and my opinions and beliefs… But in truth, I only do so to embody the voice of other members on this site who are disillusioned with how character buying is done. I am their spokesperson, but the names listed below show that this is a united front. I am not alone with my beliefs.
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1. Jeremy Blackwood
2. Headphone Actor
3. Tsukiakari
4. Evvy
5. Crytic
6. MexterInfinite
7. MonkeySage
8. Savato
9. Chespinhat
10. Gemini
11. Sakura
12. Suds
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Let me be clear. I am not here to personally attack the admins who currently enforce the rules of the site. I appreciate what you do, and I know this site needs you. However, this is a community, not an oligarchy. Ideally, the admins help structure and run the site. They don’t necessarily have full control over the wheel, nor should they.

Overall, you know where we stand and what we want. We respectfully await your response.

Just so you guys know, the poke per post has now been upped to 20 essentially halving the time it takes to gain enough for a character, but the character creation system will always be poke based. We will not be removing the use of Poke to create characters and I am sorry if that is something you do not agree with.

Personally, I am still not satisfied with this. With the change you offered, characters still have to be obtained with roughly 10 mission threads. The reason for this wait in the first place in addition to the poke system is still something I question. It is more of the nature of this ruling that bothers me. No other site I know of 'earns' characters, especially with an economic system. You gave me a reason as to why it was in place, but that doesn't make sense. Why would a rp site, something that RELIES on people rping with CHARACTERS, try to LIMIT them? If this is a clutter issue, Headphone Actor herself stated that she is fine with sorting out unwanted characters should that be an issue. Me personally, I haven't seen extra characters becoming so much of a problem that it warranted a system for it. In fact, I would go as far to say it would have probably been unthinkable.

I get the impression you see me as an enemy Serene, and that is far from what I want to be. However, I still see an attempt to throw a bone, especially a grudging one and I know when I am not liked. I don't feel like this petition is getting serious consideration that warrants it. I also don't like people manipulating my voice and speaking for me either. I can do that just fine thank you.

However, this is a group effort. I will talk to the others about what they want and if these concessions satisfy them. If it does, I will drop the issue.

Okay Jeremy, I'm going to restate my points here in order to make them clearer and easier to follow. Firstly, let's talk about rping in general. Rping is, as you said yourself, "about exploring a character, the concepts behind them, and how they interact with others." And this is meant to be enjoyable. I know I enjoy it and judging by how seriously you are taking this matter you do as well. So why is rping at least 10 mission threads such a chore? The amount of poke you have to get ensures that each and every character of yours is fully fleshed out and worth having been created. Were there a post qualifier, as you've asked for, people would be able to produce characters much quicker. This would result in a huge overabundance of characters. One of the main reasons we moved to a new site was because the old one was absolute chaos. A huge reason why that was, was because there was no limit at all to characters. People made characters left and right and had dozens of ongoing topics. No one could remember which characters belonged to who, and who was in what topic doing what. It was horrible. Moving sites, we've killed that problem entirely.

WIP POST, HAD TO LEAVE

Fuck this, i'm getting sick of this. HERE:

I think Poke is a better system because of the following reasons(First grader partial thesis statement ftw):

Sense of Accomplishment
When I made Proteus, a shiny magikarp that had costed 10000 poke, I was damn proud of it and I enjoy him more than I probably would have if I had gotten something for free. You value things more if you work for them. Like a laptop, would you value it more if you bought it yourself or if you were given to it for free and guaranteed to get free laptops for life if you just waited a few months or so? I would certainly value the fuck out of it and put it in Styrofoam package wherever I go(a bit exaggeration there but you get my point)

Easier to Filter
If we did your suggestion through posts people could easily start a topic that's easy to speak about and debate. Like if you were to start a topic about who's the best pokemon, it would probably explode in spam disguised as arguments. Poke pretty much IS the posts, just in the form of currency so we can filter out whether you've actually participated in the site's main purpose or not.

Sure as Hell Easier
For posts(like Acti has said in the Cbox) you can't help a friend out. You can't get more from missions. You can't win them or sell/buy with them. nuff said. Also if you're diligent about posting with an active partner then BOOM you're good and should get it in about a month.

Make sure you enjoy your character dammit!
"about exploring a character, the concepts behind them, and how they interact with others." That's what you said. If you have to work for it, it forces you to think about it. I've had about several character ideas i thought i wanted to do, but then later i decided "nah" and moved on to a different topic. Gogoat and Tyrunt are two characters i'm sure i want because i've wanted them ever since they were revealed as other characters died out within a week or so. If there hadn't been a posting system, there would have been about 20 more characters in the archives made by me. While you're waiting for your next character, you can explore your old one at the same time. True I grew bored with some characters, Kira at first but then I continued rping with her and she ended up being kidnapped, which gave me the idea for a plot line of her's. The story of this is Yes, characters can get boring. When they do, give them another plot to follow. Like something to change their character(for example, Acro is becoming less stuttery and skittish, actually he's massively done so, and is become somewhat more confident. His story is progressing at an extremely slow pace imo but that's called character development. You can't just suddenly have one character go from shy and reclusive to outgoing. Okay i'm getting side tracked. The point is as stated, if you get bored while waiting, do other things with your current character. Make plots, have fun, and be patient.

Sigh… After some discussion with a few people regarding on how far this has come, I have decided that this should probably be put to a stop. I could argue these points above, but the greater security of the site itself seems to be at risk and I wish to preserve what we have.

Besides that fact, some of the people who put their names on the petition seemed satisfied with the increased poke concession. I understand fully that this was a group effort, and without the group, I don't have the support to suggest a change. If this is a group issue, the others should speak up their concerns as well. I apologize to those who wanted what they believed should have belonged to them by right. Perhaps another time guys.

Regardless of that, I did find this to be a rather enlightening experience. It is nice to know where our leadership stands.