Rosewind Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 Dear Canterlot Users, As the site moves forward and our complex roleplay relaxes to a slow simmer, we have needed to reevaluate how the game we've designed can better serve our community. January 1st, the following changes will take place to help us achieve our goal of a welcoming, active, and fun site roleplay:Canterlot Chronicles, the Gatherum and World of Equestria will merge together.Free for All will remain the same.We will simplify the sub-forums for World of Equestria into the following sections: Mainland, Outlands, Out of Character, Applications, Cast Applications, Original Character Applications.Cast characters will no longer be exclusive to a single player. They will be available to all users, playable with an appropriate approved application.Applications for cast will now be posted in public for all to see, give feedback, and cheer for.There will no longer be any limit to the cast characters one can be approved for, nor will we force a posting requirement. Users that previously gave up cast characters, with an approved application, are now welcome to play them again.Lore will follow an Alternate Universe (AU) paradigm. That means that the rules for your thread and canon will be exclusive to the thread. (Please place this information in the OP of the thread or in an appropriate OoC topic for your thread.) Older Lore will be publicly archived, and still available for use.Maps will still be considered empirical canon for roleplay structure purposes.Canon-extended (and FiM appropriate) species will now be accepted, such as giraffes, deer, etc.After a lot of consideration and feedback, alicorn OCs will not be accepted in this roleplay. ***Please make personal backups of any content you wish to save! Although we keep frequent site backups, saving your personal work is always a very good idea!*** As always, we may make additional tweaks as we troubleshoot and figure things out, so please use the above list as a baseline of what we intend to do. I understand a lot of you will have questions, so please feel free to field them here and we will answer them as time permits. Thank you! ~ Dio and Rose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ciraxis Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 So...should we merge our WoE and Chronicles character applications? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFinestSorcerer Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 While some things in here are rather convenient, is it a good idea to make specific Cast Characters available to everypony(potentially)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubstep Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 While some things in here are rather convenient, is it a good idea to make specific Cast Characters available to everypony(potentially)? I do kind of agree. On one hand, it'd be difficult and a touch unfair to go from having Two different versions (CC and WoE) to just one for the combined. But, having it open like that seems a bit much. Makes it feel a little less special compared when you would win the slot. The whole 'When everyone's super, no one will be!' line seems to come to mind. I do understand that it's likely they would be held to the same standard as Cast apps are now, but. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosewind Posted December 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 Dio and I did a lot of thinking about this. We decided that it was unfair for a small handful of (mostly inactive) players to sit on popular characters. Back then it made more sense to keep things exclusive. Now, it doesn't. You still need to apply for the character and be approved for them. We think this will eliminate a lot of problems and open up more options for people who want to play certain characters in a structured setting. Your CC and WoE applications for the same character don't need to be merged. You can use either version of your character for your roleplay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueblood Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 (Ninja'd by Rosie, but didn't want to scrap the post) So...should we merge our WoE and Chronicles character applications? That shouldn't be necessary; most of the merging will be on the staff end. We'll be using the Chronicles guidelines for acceptability in apps in the new merged boards. While some things in here are rather convenient, is it a good idea to make specific Cast Characters available to everypony(potentially)? I do kind of agree. On one hand, it'd be difficult and a touch unfair to go from having Two different versions (CC and WoE) to just one for the combined. But, having it open like that seems a bit much. Makes it feel a little less special compared when you would win the slot. The whole 'When everyone's super, no one will be!' line seems to come to mind. I do understand that it's likely they would be held to the same standard as Cast apps are now, but. We had a couple of things in mind when we were discussing these changes. First was the fact that there were often more people who wanted to play alongside cast characters than some players could realistically service. Second was the fact that the current cast application process tended to be discouraging to those who would "lose" the slot. Often, we had perfectly good apps that were just not quite as good as some others submitted by more experienced RP'ers. This ended up leading to a third problem, in which cast characters would accumulate to certain players, giving an impression of "elite" status (not to mention, making it even harder for other players to play alongside the cast characters). With this new system, we wanted to encourage the normally shy, and increase the transparency of our process. The "specialness" to the few players is ultimately not as important as benefitting this RP community as a whole (I speak as one who has exclusively played a cast character for a couple of years now, so I'm putting my money where my mouth is). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelEagle Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 As someone who has a million cast characters and is as active as possible, I am more than okay with these changes. It won't effect how or what I do, but it will allow others to toss their hats and hooves into the ring regarding their favorite characters. If you don't like the way someone is RPing a character? No problem, there are definitely others out there for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dio Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 So...should we merge our WoE and Chronicles character applications?Existing characters with WOE and CC versions can use either or; we will not be deleting any already approved characters or forcing changes/mergers of any kind. But as a matter of courtesy please remember to link the appropriate version of the character in the OP of the thread or the OOC discussion for it to remove any confusion. After January 1st, we will be using the CC form as the standard application as Rackenhammer said. We will be updating our documentation accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubstep Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 Certainly a fair set of answers! Thanks!Another question I have, with the inclusion of Canon-extended races, such as giraffes and deer and what have you. Does that extend to Canon-extended areas as well? Like say for example, would someone be able to work up Trotsylvania or Shireland for their stuff. Or does that apply only to the races? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelEagle Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 The map remains in play, so be careful with that. I know I'd be okay if someone came up with some small podunk fishing town or other place that wouldn't deserve a name on a national map, but that would be just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ciraxis Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 Alright then, what about the event threads? Leaving them with others would make things messy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosewind Posted December 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 Like old event threads? We'll keep them organized with the other old event threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeig Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 It's pretty awesome being a part of a forum that makes active changes to the way its RP works in response to the changes it sees in its players, activity, and everything else. So many RP forums get stagnant because they never change to reflect their current situation, so thank you staff for this. I think I understand most of these changes, but I'm kinda of confused about the AU paradigm rule for threads. Are the new rules saying that there will no longer be a unified lore for all threads/characters, meaning nothing (or everything?) will be considered "forum canon" anymore? You mention that Older Lore is going to be archived and available for use, but from the way I understand it, they won't necessarily be applicable unless someone chooses to use them for their specific thread? So for example, say someone has a character from Kastrot who is a Unicorn and part of a ruling family (in current Lore, Unicorns in Kastrot are considered superior to other races. All the ruling families of Kastrot are Unicorns, and other creatures are held in low esteem and may be discriminated against). Someone else makes a thread based in Kastrot, but in their thread, all races live and are treated equally, with no ruling classes but only a democracy made of different creatures. They participate with a character of theirs, who experiences Kastrot very differently from the first character. Would both of those those characters be considered canon? Neither of them? If those two characters were to participate in a sponsored event thread together, which character would be "right" in their experiences in Kastrot? If canon is going to confined to only a singular thread, how can characters participate in other threads while still keeping their characterization, development, and experiences from a thread that is an AU? (Or is the current lore we currently have on the site going to be considered "forum canon", and act more like the default lore for event or sponsored threads?) I hope I'm explaining my question clearly, I don't know quite how else to explain it. Thanks for any clarification you can give me! tl;dr If canon is going to confined to only a singular thread, how can characters participate in other threads while still keeping their characterization, development, and experiences from a thread that is an AU? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RarityDash Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 The AU paradigm is not intended to limit continuity. We encourage users to build their continuity through roleplay, it's one of the best parts of the game. Rather it is designed to allow certain ideas that wouldn't have been allowed in WoE before. With threads able to have their own set rules, players can have things like RPs set in the Equestria Girls universe or in the alternate timelines seen in the season 5 finale (in addition to simple things like just establishing whether a more CC or WoE-esque ruleset would be followed for the thread). So, yes, it is possible someone will create a character from a world where Kastrot is wildly different. There, should, however, be no danger of conflict. As Rose said, the rules a thread is following will be established in the OP or OOC thread for every RP. As long as you play in and create threads where the rules are to adhere to the traditional canon and lore, nothing should change. And if you are interested in threads that might follow a different order, you're welcome to envision a new version of your character as they might be in this other world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightMask Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 I can see freeing up the cast characters for the purposes of running different RP scenarios being highly beneficial for anyone who wants to include certain characters from a GM type stand point. Is that something possible? Or perhaps even a GM/Scenario App detailing characters and their use rather than specific characters to play?Ex) Twilight comes across a prophecy with some vague poem that she susses out to be gathering together a group of ponies with specific cutie marks for some great purpose, but employs the Mane 6 to gather them and figure out which ponies, who are then sent to Yak Yakistan where a wedding to a bison princess is about to be disrupted by a new changeling plot (6+ applications for all the NPCs).Not that I would want to handle this nightmare of a plot to juggle, but you know, I would like to know what is possible as I do like to provide ponies with adventures to go on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeig Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 I'm talking more about continuity between multiple threads for one character. The big difference between FFA and everything else, for me, has always been a clear cut as to what is "canon" and what isn't. I didn't want to get involved in RPs that wouldn't be considered canon for my character, because I couldn't use those RPs to develop my character at all, so I just didn't RP in FFA. From what you said, it sounds like RP is basically going to be broken down into two groups within the main RP area - traditional lore RPs, and AU RPs. The latter sounds like it's almost going to be FFA in nature, except for the fact that apps are still required. So I'm basically trying to figure out where that "canon" line is now. So is all RP that takes place in the main RP section (the combined WoE, CC, Gatherum) going to be considered canon for the characters? IE if one of my traditional lore characters participates in an Equestria Girls RP, will it be okay for me to reference that adventure in other, traditional RPs? (Because though I'm sure I'll probably be sticking to traditional lore RPs, I'm also sure there'll be some AUs I'll find interesting and want to join or make). Our characters can claim that they literally visited an alternate dimension at some point? I see what you mean about re-imagining characters for certain AUs, but I'm pretty sure I won't do that because they wouldn't be the same character. I'm talking more about having the exact character I apped and sticking them into various traditional and AU RPs. Are all (non-FFA) RPs that character participates in going to be considered canon development for that specific character? (Sorry if I sound nit-picky, really not my intent. But I want to make sure I understand this concept. Referencing past RPs is something I do very frequently in my RPing). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zealot Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 Hmm, interesting. A lot of this I was advocating for ages ago. Less rules and more roleplay is always good. After all, that's what a site like this should be about. I'm a little confused on one or two points though. What will the overarching canon be, the empirical canon? Are we going to have to use Canterlot's Lore for that? Also, is there going to be a section for MLP canon roleplay if that's the case. Or are we going to have to specify that in our individual threads? Is MLP canon going to be empirical canon with the extended canon having it's own separate area? I'm also slightly confused on the whole alicorn front. If each thread is it's own continuity, being able for us to take bits and pieces from one RP to another or not. Why not allow alicorns? Granted, they shouldn't be allowed into a thread operating on a timeline where they are rare (i.e the princesses are the only ones or whatever) but if each thread is it's own continuity, does that matter? I sort of would like to know the thoughts that went into that decision. One last question, will this open up a way to have other large sections for different universes? Fallout Equestria for example, or the Sombra-verse. An intriguing possibility, especially as such sections might lead on to a year round world plot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosewind Posted December 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 A hallmark of good roleplaying is flexibility, fluidity, and collaborating with other players in any given thread. Halting roleplay to examine exacting continuity in a text-based RP is counter-intuitive. Communication is the key here, as well as being flexible with others. The aforementioned Kastrot example could play out any number of ways. For example, it's a place that has probably evolved over time, so it's entirely possible both characters shared a different experience there at a different time. The universe is not a binary. Places change. People change. One skill of mastering good roleplay is creatively working things out in the game itself. If you have an approved application for the character (and no other same character is in the thread), you may use them from a meta-perspective to push the plot forward. Steel does this all the time; I'm in a thread with him where he's playing not only my husband, but his daughter as well. (That sounds very weird, I know!) If you do this, make sure other players in your thread understand that you're playing more than one character to push the thread plot forward. Empirical canon means there are concrete, unchangeable, universally accepted facts about the roleplay. Unicorns have horns. The sky is blue. Canterlot Castle is found in Canterlot. Twilight Sparkle has a brother named Shining Armor. The map is still the main structure point of this roleplay, as it originally was when this game started. If you want to use this standard canon, just make the thread and roleplay FiM-based roleplay. If anything is different, then it's important to communicate this to other players. ("In this roleplay, Celestia has decreed use of the letter 'e' is forbidden!") No alicorns, unless it's a cast alicorn. We've gone on about this particular issue for years and we've decided they will not add anything to the game except a headache, AU or not. We're looking at alternate universes of FiM here, not different universes. I think this is a very important key point. Fallout Equestria is based on an entirely different franchise. Sombraverse is actually an AU that exists. In this example, Fallout Equestria would need to be an FFA thing; Sombraverse would be accepted in WoE with proper notations of what it is and how it affects the thread(s) in question so other players can decide if they want to play in this thread or not. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zealot Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 Alright, thanks for clearing that up. I was a little confused. It's an important distinction though, the standard is 'this is the assumptions we're making based on what has been seen' and then any other lore on top of that instead of just 'let's make all this up even if it hasn't been mentioned, this is now the canon'. I like that, it's quite freeing, but not so free as to make things hard to manage. Given that I now understand the position on alicorns much more. It's the 'what if' rather than, 'let's do something wildly different' heh. Good good, glad this could be cleared up. Maybe in the future though we'll see other sections for vastly different universes. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosewind Posted December 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 You're quite welcome! The idea behind this change is "less is more." More sections might seem like a good idea in theory, but in practice they make the forum messy, harder to navigate, and ultimately dilute content. As always, FFA remains a bastion of creativity where different universes and roleplays within them are welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeig Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 Ah...so basically it'll be up to the players in the thread to decide whether that thread is canon for their characters or not. Alrighty, think I understand now. Thanks for clarifying for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeLand Posted December 18, 2015 Report Share Posted December 18, 2015 So when the site change comes will there be some kind of post that will explain the more vague stuff? Like exactly how many new races will be considered acceptable for RP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lux Posted December 18, 2015 Report Share Posted December 18, 2015 For races, we will be using the species list from Here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosewind Posted December 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2015 Right now there's a lot of grey area and "what ifs" to consider with species. I'm going to be a bit general and say "if you can find it in a public zoo, you can probably RP it here." I wouldn't hold that as a hard-fast rule, tho. Players are great at throwing us character design curveballs that will take careful consideration before we can allow (or disallow) them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeLand Posted December 19, 2015 Report Share Posted December 19, 2015 Alrighty, thanks for the clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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