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SteelEagle

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Blog Entries posted by SteelEagle

  1. SteelEagle
    Hello and welcome to the most important blog you will ever read. After this, your life will never be the same. or maybe it will. In any case, what follows are my rankings for June. The system is simple: Number of posts multiplied by the general quality of your posts. These are my own ratings so feel free to think otherwise.
    RP Multipliers:
    0.0 - 0.9 = In general these posts are below average. Not necessarily bad, just a bit underwhelming by my own definition.
    1.0 = Solid posts, considered average. Not necessarily good or below average, but the lifeblood of the RP.
    1.1 - 1.4 = Very good posts that are above average. If you have an RP of this quality, you'll know it.
    1.5 - 1.74= A cut above.
    1.75-1.99= Very high quality.
    2.0= The best that can be reasonably expected.
    Onto the ranks. They are composed of some people I thought of as well as those who wanted to be tossed in. You can ask to be checked for July until the end of the month. If you are not counted below but wish to be, drop me a line.
    July Ranks:
    1. SteelEagle- 65 x 1.4 = 85. (Apple domination leads the way.)
    2. River- 42 x 1.5= 63. (Comes in at second right ahead of Lux- Apple domination continues.)
    3. Lux- 52 x 1.2 = 62. (Another active and fun month!)
    4. Bellosh- 40 x 1.3 = 52. (Active and engaging- everypony's favorite Randy-sun!)
    T. 5th- Rarity- 24 x 2= 48. (Needs more Snowfall and Rarity.)
    T. 5th- Moonshinethelolcat- 24 x 2 = 48. (Talk about an active OC!)
    7th. Zeig- 18 x 2 = 36. (Dat OC!)
    8th. McDerp- 11 x 2 = 22. (Another high quality month.)
    9th. Rackenhammer- 14 x 1.5 = 21. (Onwards, Blueblood!)
    10th. QuickLime- 18 x 1.1 = 20. (Solid July preparing for a fun August!)
    11th. Slazer- 13 x 1.4 = 18. (Positioned for a great August.)
    12th. Firefoxx- 16 x 1 = 16. (Good characters are in position for a grand August!)
    13th. Gerrard- 12 x 1.1= 13. (A stable of good characters with a bad month of timing. Should be right as rain for August!)
    Most Active WoE Cast: (10 posts and above)
    1- CC Applejack, SteelEagle. (21)
    2- WoE Apple Bloom, Steel Eagle. (20)
    3- WoE Applejack, Riverhippo. (14)
    T-4th WoE Twilight Sparkle, SteelEagle. (11)
    T-4th WoE Scootaloo, Scootalux. (11)
    T-6th WoE Princess Luna, Riverhippo. (10)
    T-6th Prince Blueblood, Rackenhammer. (10)
    T-6th CC Rainbow Dash, Firefoxx. (10)
    OC OF THE MONTH:
    Java, from Moonshine! Take a bow, fella.
  2. SteelEagle
    Hello and welcome to the most important blog you will ever read. After this, your life will never be the same. or maybe it will. In any case, what follows are my rankings for June. The system is simple: Number of posts multiplied by the general quality of your posts. These are my own ratings so feel free to think otherwise.
    RP Multipliers:
    0.0 - 0.9 = In general these posts are below average. Not necessarily bad, just a bit underwhelming by my own definition.
    1.0 = Solid posts, considered average. Not necessarily good or below average, but the lifeblood of the RP.
    1.1 - 1.4 = Very good posts that are above average. If you have an RP of this quality, you'll know it.
    1.5 - 1.74= A cut above.
    1.75-1.99= Very high quality.
    2.0= The best that can be reasonably expected.
    Onto the ranks. They are composed of some people I thought of as well as those who wanted to be tossed in. You can ask to be checked for July until the end of the month.
    June Ranks:
    1.ScootaLux- 72 x 1.1= 80. (The most active roleplayer in our history continues his reign of non-terror.)
    2. Bellosh101- 60 x 1.25= 75. (He has his hooves in EVERY pie.)
    3. SteelEagle- 43 x 1.75= 75. (Good times. Need more Pathfinder.)
    4. Rarity- 27 x 2.0= 54. (The shipping will never end with Phil around!)
    5. Zeig- 27 x 2.0= 54. (Inkbrand's quality and quantity is above and beyond any OC in our history.)
    6. Riverhippo- 35 x 1.50= 53. (He has so many Apples that even sometimes I find it hard to argue with him!)
    7. Mojo- 54 x 0.8 = 43 (SO many posts with multiple characters each, hard to track. I love ya Mojo! )
    8. Brianblackberry- 21 x 2.0 = 42. (Between his epic quality posts and what he does for the forum with his art, probably the best member we have!)
    9. Gerrad- 27 x 1.0= 27. (So much Griffy action)
    10. StaticPink- 13 x 2.0= 26. (Kid is gonna be big, I tells ya!)
    11. McDerp- 8 x 2.0= 16. (Love the posts!)
    12. Firefoxx- 10 x 1 = 10. (Generally a very fun roleplayer who needs to get up and GO GO GO!)
    13. QuickLime- 9 x 1 = 9. (Social life and bad timing; I expect a big July.)
    Most Active WoE Cast:
    1- Twilight Sparkle, SteelEagle. (12)
    T-2- Applejack, Riverhippo. (11)
    T-2- Carrot Top, Lux. (11)
    3- Scootaloo, Lux. (10)
    4- Princess Luna, Riverhippo. (9)
    T-5- Apple Bloom, SteelEagle. (7)
    T-5- Shining Armor, Riverhippo. (7)
    T-5- Zecora, Lux (7)
    OC OF THE MONTH:
    Inkbrand, EASILY. Very active with very high quality posts.
    So, there is the report. What should do I next time when I do these rankings?
  3. SteelEagle
    There are a great many guides and opinions that inform you of good characterization or storytelling. And I'm here to tell you that while that is of great importance, it matters little next to the power of the Golden Triangle. The greatest characters fade away when you don't understand it. The best stories die without it. The greatest of relationships with other players is meaningless if poorly utilized. The Golden Triangle is the device that lays at the heart of the roleplay mechanism that churns and keeps your threads alive and this forum vibrant. I'm not one for dragging things along without need so let me hop into it:
    The First Point of the Triangle: Quality
    It is the mechanical construction of the post including spelling, grammar, and structure. This is the easiest of all roleplay related items to work on as there are hard and fast rules. Of course, rules are often meant to be broken. You can play with these things as an aspect of the character or storytelling but it must be done very well or as a consistent part of the character or situation. Inconsistency shatters the illusion of quality and thus can quickly turn into a disaster. The second part of quality is the interest generated through your word choice or mannerisms in writing. A flat but mechanically correct post can still fail if it languishes behind creativity. There is a diagram where characterization, improvisation, and plot meet. Imagination holds all three down and an active imagination tied in with solid construction allows the post to shine.
    The Second Point of the Triangle: Quantity
    Quantity is not the amount of posts. It is the amount of content in a post. Some posts can be far too short and very rarely, if ever, does a single line roleplay post do anything for anyone. At the same time, a seventeen page missive as a roleplay post is both intimidating and often completely unrequired. There is a happy medium for everyone and it is where one must prosper. It can also be a function of the thread. Unlike quality, quantity has little hard and fast rules beyond the extremes already noted. Some threads may require twenty to thirty lines a post. Others may be better off with just ten, and if something requires just a single paragraph then so be it. The important part of quantity is realizing how much is needed where and with whom. It can therefore be a difficult animal to tame as until you settle in to a groove with others will you find the right amount and even then it can vary. That variance makes it a difficult factor to nail down. But doing so is of paramount importance.
    The Third Point of the Triangle: Pace
    Pace is the speed at which you roleplay with others as well as when and how frequently the posts come in. Once again, there are extremes. making someone wait a month or more for a post is rarely acceptable and can destroy roleplays. I have yet to see here a single roleplay with such a long absence remain viable. On the other end, posting multiple times a day may lead to much quicker burnout. These are extreme examples. The important part of pace is understanding who the other players are and what they want to do. Some prefer fast, quick posts so your pace needs to match their own. Others want to wait a week to post again and so your pace must match so you don't put the pressure on them. Once again, this is something that is up to who you are playing with and what thread it is.
    Which one is most important? None. They are all just as important as one another. You can have the most well written post of all time, but if it is short and took a month or four then it is a bad post. It could be the most well written post and have good length but if it took a few months it is a bad post. It could be well written, come in at a good clip, but if it is a novel or a three liner it is a bad post. The variations are endless but the point at which they converge is the same: Dominating one aspect at the exclusion of others is almost as bad as being awful as all three.
    Success in a roleplay environment requires you to master the concept of the Golden Triangle. I say the concept because no one has ever nor will ever master all three. It constantly shifts and is often impossible to predict long term. But if you can nail down a good quality post, be able to deliver the appropriate amount of content to your fellow players, and move well enough for your friends, then your thread stands a much better chance of success than others that do not.
    Could say more but won't as my daughter is trying to help us bake a cake. Golden Triangle: Master it or fail like Robi.
  4. SteelEagle
    Chrysalis/Cadence-
    Twilight Crystal Slave-
    Velvet/Crescent go for it again-
    Big Mac's Day at the Spa. AKA: Big Mac's Secret Love of Spas-
    The Crazy One
    Entry #3 is open. The machine asks that you don't ask for anything quite as insane as last time.
  5. SteelEagle
    Hello and welcome to the Canon Machine. I was fooling around in Skype when people started throwing out all sorts of silliness- ships, how Pinchy conquers the world, etc- when Riverhippo suggested I make this thread. So here it is.
    What is the Canon Machine?
    I can pump canons out pretty fast. I did them as they came up in chat, but it would be somewhat lame if I just responded to every request individually with a blog. So I'll do the same, but post them only twice a week. These Results Blogs will hopefully respond to multiple canon requests. If there us is not enough to satisfy a blog, I will hold off for another few days. The Canon produced by the machine is not going to be a foolproof show canon style arrangement. Details will be missing, nuggets of information looked over. This is because the Canon Machine likes to leave you with a working chassis with which to build on. It may give out a basic who, what, when why, and where or even leave out one of them, but it will be functional canon with which to work with.
    What won't it do?
    Anything illegal.
    Philosophy?
    All ships can work because love isn't a puzzle with a logical solution so arguing about who fits with whom the best is inherently a red herring. Any canon can happen. It's just about getting the framework down and letting details sort themselves out.
    The first set of requests are open. This blog will be closed a few hours before the Results Blog is posted. The Results Blog will also open up requests. The Request Blog may be posted any time between tomorrow night and friday, depending on number of requests.
  6. SteelEagle
    Once I walked a fine beach and thought to myself, "is a man the sum of his experience, or are his experiences the sum of a man?"
    Is life your accumulated reaction to stimuli or are you responsible for the stimuli's very existence by the nature of the emotional, some might say spiritual, power you invest in events?
  7. SteelEagle
    During a cast check, you may get a ping. Stop freaking out or being defensive. A ping is good. Under certain interpretations of the rules, if you receive a ping, you should receive a warning. You don't because it isn't fair. A ping doesn't do jack to you. It's a reminder. Maybe you hate being reminded, but that's all it is. The fact that I receive more replies and back speech regarding character pings than I do actual warnings is telling.
    A ping means you failed some portion of the cast check, but you don't warrant a warning. Maybe you haven't posted in a while. Maybe your threads have died. Whatever it is- Pings are friendly reminders. Welcome them!
    Questions about pings?
  8. SteelEagle
    These are my personal thoughts on cast characters here at Canterlot, and in no way reflect the stance of staff or administration.
    So, you play cast or want to play cast, eh? Can't blame you, it's a lot of fun!
    It's also a heavy responsibility in many aspects. You are the beacon that shines the brightest to attract those with the willingness to RP. Original Characters are the lifeblood of the Roleplay, but those charged with playing cast are what gets the ball rolling. When someone looks for a Pony roleplay, they look to who plays what character, how well that character is played, and how active that character is. When all works out, you have people excited by the prospects of playing with their favorite ponies. And once they get in and discover that, heck, THEY could play as their favorite ponies?
    Their tiny little hearts practically explode in their beating breasts.
    Then they read the rules and app guidelines and their excitement, fueled initially by cast, helps them get over the hurdle that getting into the World of Equestria RP is a process with some heartache to it.
    Is Cast the only reason? Heck no. But it is a big part of the appeal, that we have active, high quality, high access cast. You'd be shocked how many people know Canterlot for that reason. It's rarer than you'd think!
    So, playing cast is a big honor. However, as you could guess, there is a responsibility. Guests look at your posts and use that, among others, as a barometer for the forum. In other words, cast characters are a form of advertisement and your role is important. With that established, consider the following if you play cast or want to play cast(also, none of the following are rules, so follow them as well):
    1- Play characters you think you can play well-
    This should go without saying, but you shouldn't try to play characters that you don't have much of an idea for. This is often taken as meaning don't go out of your comfort zone, but it isn't. Take that leap, but take that leap with a solid idea of how you want to play the character. This will come through in the highest quality posts you can put out and as interesting a character as you can manage. If you don't do this, characters come across as slap-dash and uninteresting, or rule-breaking and weird.
    2- Play characters for the right reasons.
    Make sure you play characters because you love the character or the idea you have the character, you want to see them shine in the RP, and you want to use our setting to see them develop accordingly. Don't play a character because you like the name, colour combination, want to hoard, or want to save a character from others ad that is your main drive. Your motivation comes across in your posts and when there is a lack of motivation or drive, posts seem hollow. If you play for the right reasons, the motivation comes across just as well and posts seem to take on a certain energy all their own.
    3- Play characters you can keep active and engaged
    Along with motivation and quality, activity is vital. So vital that we have rules governing cast activity. Yet just because you pass by the rules doesn't mean your activity and engagement are a bonus to the RP. Active and engaged characters that keep the RP world a thumpin' are the lifeblood of the RP. Slow or inactive characters can kill threads and turn off swathes of roleplayers more effectively than poor quality ever could. Being able to look for a character and see that he or he is active and able to be found reasonably in the RP world is a huge bonus for us. Being unable to do so hurts us.
    So, should you keep your characters/apply for one? Ask yourself the following:
    1- Do I really want to play this character?
    Different from, "Do I like this character?" as playing entails taking a significant amount of energy and devotion and putting it into a single character. Playing isn't always easy but part of the cast responsibility is that even when your energy is low, your creative mind floundering, tired and a cat is biting your ear, you have to push through eventually and get it done. It isn't always easy.
    2- Do I have the time?
    Whether it is real life or you have a thousand characters already, this is a vital question. If you don't have the time to get a character involved in the RP, then you really shouldn't try applying or keep playing that character. Not only does it just stress you out, but it hurts the RP and the site's advertisement.
    So, the end is this: Are you willing to accept the responsibility of cast, not just per the rules, but the duty it implies for you as a member of the forum?
    I hope so.
    (Note- Some things have been left out, either for use in a future blog or because I'm tired.)
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