Ambrosia Software Web Board: The Missing Sorceress (TS discussion topic) - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Ohhhhh, I forgot all about that.

I was a little confused when you first intro'd the segment, because I had no idea what was going on or how it tied in to the TS. After asking around and reading back on your writing I was able to get a better grip on who the characters were and what it meant, though still it did seem a little out of place.

Perhaps the blip chrons would be better placed in the tavern, unless future segments dealt, even in an abstract way, with the events of the TS?

Yeah, the Tavern might be a better venue. It would be quite difficult to tie the events on Aria together with what's happening in a TS, unless the TS happens to touch on Wolmark's search for a way to get them home. Right, all blips to the Tavern, then.

I'm in a bit of a hurry right now, so I'll probably come back and edit this. I had one or two quick things to say.

Why Tavara's teleportation trick: I could've have had him teleport them to some place nearby, but then Selax (and others) would only race right back to the Stronghold to try to stop Rapierian from escaping. Hence, I had to send them far enough away that that was not an option, so I sent them to Cademia. Thus, Tavara just sent them back to wherever they had come from out of annoyance. (He could have done so earlier but wanted to play with and to kill them then.) Kitran was powerful enough to resist this.

In regards to a "no planning rule," I don't know if it'd help much: I think the real problem is when people don't advance the plot. (It might also hinder some plots and subplots that have been brewing for some time.) The artifact's introduction may have slowed this TS down (although I admit to being somewhat puzzled how: it added another goal to the story and few TSs ever go without doing that), but I think stagnation of the plot (and school for me) played a role. It seems that a slowing point comes in almost all TSs.


Ok, my thoughts on next TS: the basic gist of it is Rapierian has the artifact.

I am uncertain exactly what to do: there are several possible variations. I think that I shall list only two. (I might think of more later, although I think this has been something of a loose idea for some time.)

First, we could do the simple undead army approach, which branches off into several alternatives. One of which is that Rapierian succeeds in forcing Alaric to give him all of the land south of the Pnyx-Cademia Road, creating a second kingdom on the island; two or three TSs could then be dedicated to destroying that kingdom.

Second, the group has to stop Rapierian from using the artifact and raising the full army. (One possible explanation could be that the artifact was damaged in the battle with Tavara, and Rapierian and Kitran seek to repair it.) This could entail a journey around Cythera to both the cities, in-game locations, and other dark areas. (One idea that I had recently conceived for this could be that in the process of the story Rapierian goes to Catamarca and wipes out most of his family, House Strymon.)

Either could work with Ragnar0k's idea of assassinations (although the NL can't appear until he's been fixed) and either could be dark.

Comments? Suggestions on how to improve either of these?

This post has been edited by Selax: 08 March 2007 - 12:59 AM

Selax, on Mar 8 2007, 05:19 PM, said:

That's a symptom, not a problem. It comes back to the fear of 'stepping on someone's toes' - if it looks like someone's got a plan in mind, either for the story as a whole, or even just a small part of it, then creativity gets a little stifled. I reacted much the same as you the first time a TS with a 'no planning' rule was proposed, but believe it or not, it does actually seem to help.

Selax, on Mar 8 2007, 05:19 PM, said:

I think subplots should be secondary to people feeling free to enjoy themselves, let their imaginations run wild, and post what they want to for their characters. If someone can insert or advance part of a subplot without interfering with that, then great; but they shouldn't dominate a story.

Selax, on Mar 8 2007, 05:19 PM, said:

And that's one part of how it can slow things down: it diverts attention from the central premise. Another part goes back to the 'stepping on toes' thing. This was an element that was specifically related to your own subplot, and people get reluctant to interfere with things like that. There's no reason not to introduce such elements, but it needs to be done carefully, so that it supports the central story and doesn't distract from it.

Selax, on Mar 8 2007, 05:19 PM, said:

If it was an out and out undead invasion, I'd prefer to wait until I could bring the whole weight of the Ronin to bear on it; but as stated, establishing a long-term threat that lasts until the missing three get back from Aria might actually fit in better for me.

Selax, on Mar 8 2007, 05:19 PM, said:

Not at this point, no.

While I have your attention...

WHERE ARE YOU PEOPLE??

I've been checking the IRC for days now and have seen neither hide nor hair of Argent, BreadWorldMercy, or Selax. What happened, where are you guys?

Selax, on Mar 8 2007, 12:19 AM, said:

I understand that Tavara is quite powerful, but insta-porting people just seems way too overpowered to me, like having a death spell (a spell that just makes your target die). Aside from the fact that Selax and Rythan should have been able to resist the spell anyway. Selax by virtue of power, Rythan through his heavy resistance to magic.

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I'm very curious and interested to know about how the assassination theme would fit in there. Perhaps it would be best if I finished my Chron first, though that may still be a few days off. 8 pages so far and she's just starting up

This post has been edited by Ragnar0k: 08 March 2007 - 07:59 AM

Ragnar0k, on Mar 8 2007, 07:54 AM, said:

I'm so happy to be missed ^_^ I'm having a no-chatting week (I'll be back on Monday), and I can only assume that the others heard about this and decided not to bother hanging out there because it's no fun without me ^_~

BreadWorldMercy453, on Mar 8 2007, 09:27 AM, said:

A no-chatting week? Like a whole week? Well... blah...

I'm signing off of IRC now, no point when no one is there, but at least I know why now. ^^ when people are missng I always have to remember to blame Nummy

BreadWorldMercy453, on Mar 8 2007, 06:27 AM, said:

Well, usually the week after a story ends is the most active week, because everyone gets together to toss around ideas for the next story in real time. (Hi Selax, where are you?)

Avatara, on Mar 8 2007, 11:36 AM, said:

Well, I've been rather busy of late because of tests and such. Actually, I have classes again today, a paper to write tomorrow, and another test on Monday (however, this one's open-book, open-note, open-reading journal, open-reaction papers, etc. so I hopefully won't have to spend too much time studying for it), so I doubt that I'll be on much but in the evenings on those days (including today). However, I should be able to return to a more active status Tuesday or Wednesday. (In addition, I've been trying to find some time to play Freespace 2.)

Perhaps, we should attempt on irc conference sometime next week to discuss the next TS?


453: I bet Zaphod will be gone again by Monday. (Actually, I don't know, but it'd be funny, I think.)

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Hmm, I've probably been reading too many books with such characters...I'd forgotten about Rythan. (Actually, Selax has very little magic and is highly susceptible to it, although I don't about resistance to telepathy because it involves willpower. However, that could make him more powerful than he already is.)

Any suggestions on how I could improve that? Perhaps, Kitran and Rapierian helped because they too wanted to be rid of the group?

This post has been edited by Selax: 08 March 2007 - 04:09 PM

Selax, on Mar 8 2007, 05:04 PM, said:

Nah, it's not really an issue now, as it has happened and I don't think we need to revisit it, just in the future I'd like to stay away from that kind of thing. Steering clear of instant win spells altogether and staying true to the abilities of the characters.

Ragnar0k, on Mar 8 2007, 08:33 AM, said:

Well, Koy did it not long ago, and then Kat did... I wanted to have a go @_@ I thought it would help with my homework! It's not, but I am learning how to live in solitude and it's also taking more willpower than I thought I had, so I think it's beneficial ^_^

Blame me? Blame? Rather you should thank me for being so awesome most of the time :P

BreadWorldMercy453, on Mar 8 2007, 07:23 PM, said:

Hey, when koy and Kat did it the IRC didn't completely die like it has now, I mean -I- did it and I'm pretty sure it flowed smoothly while I was gone.

You have created a Rift in the fabric of the IRC 0.o!

The IRC has returned to normal while 453 is gone.

The IRC had been slowing down a lot, especially after you left. So I blame you :P

Actually, I blame everyone. Sely's obsessed with school, Wizzy's barely been around since school started, Shorty got a job, Kat's basically abandoned us, Tyry hasn't been through much (but I don't blame him, because he's our beloved moderator), I can't remember the last time I saw Kme, Illy never stays longer than five minutes, it seems some of our channel-mates have been banned, Koy's always doing homework, and I don't even know what Crazy's excuse is.

BreadWorldMercy453, on Mar 8 2007, 08:16 PM, said:

Ok, so Sely has school, I buy that.

Wizzy, also with the school, I can see that too.

Shorty... Well he had a job earlier right, and he was still around, what's up with that man?

Kat abandoned us? Yea that works.

Tyry always has a good excuse, since he has to moderate these boards for us.

Kme, well I've never seen em around much to really miss em.

I see Illy on a lot, he just doesn't talk very much, but then again, I don't see many people screaming for his attention so I don't blame him.

Crazy is where? Hmmms... Well, maybe she has a good excuse. I dunno.

And, ummm... Who is Koy again? I keep forgeting who that is... My bad.

Most us are students. I can accept that school is really important to some people, but more important than friends? Hmm :/

Shorty's been on a couple of hours in the evening, and also weird times on the weekend. Do you mean just this week? I, of course, don't know what's been going on this week.

I want to point out that I still love Kat and I'm not mad <3

Kme = kickme, if that's not obvious. But his times might be messed up because he's a kiwi @_@

If we're screaming for anyone's attention, it's Illy's, heehee.

I'll give Crazy the default-kiwi-time-difference excuse, but that's not much... :P

Koy is Dark Jet on the boards.

actually, according to someone, i've abandoned myself.

*Huggles Kat* We love you.

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/me bows, but says nothing

This post has been edited by Jehezekel: 08 March 2007 - 08:59 PM

Oh, that's who Koy is. Yea he's been on, he's on like right now. And Argent was on for a while just a minute ago, but I had to do something and I'm not sure what happened.

Crazy is a Kiwi? heh heh

And hey, Kat's alive. Good to know ^^

Aww, I miss this ;_;

I'd respond to Jehezekel's bow, but then I'd have to tell everyone the Latin word for wood, and explain why I'm trying to imitate the sound of bones, and that would be just too much trouble to get into.

BreadWorldMercy453, on Mar 8 2007, 10:05 PM, said:

Aww, This misses you ^^.

Valy, do you study how to make girls feel good? *grinz*

pobrecita Nummy!
/me sends happy thoughts