Morganatri

Forgive me for my absence. Hopefully I am not too late (I had been absent from PC until now), but yes! Of course! I am still interested in the roleplay (:

Yeah, I'm available, just not that often since school stuff.

Yay! The quests look lovely~

I'd be on board with a Discord for us btw! I think it's much easier to build a little community and keep everyone in the loop when messages are more instant/can push notifications.

Aw yay that's really good! Seven or more would be ideal imo but wow I'm glad people have responded so quickly!

Yeah I am, and I have time I'm currently working on a new post, but I need to see what other people write in case I need to make changes overall I'm still down for this roleplay

I'll give it a chance.

I am definitely interested in reviving it. I actually had my first post typed up but then life happened and I never got it posted. Then I saw that unfortunately nobody else had posted so I didn't bother. However I'll definitely get posts up this time around if you revive it.

Sure, I'll still be in it. It still looks fun, and I'm curious to see this soft reboot.

I'd be down to give it another shot, sure. :3

I think a graduation speech would be a great way to present things, yeah!

If we just do like a mini-profile for a few teachers that would be enough to go on probably! There's probably wilderness survival classes and ecology and general Pokémon care kinda things too. Or we can wing it if the cast comes up with smthn else!

I might be! May make a different character for it tho~

I think playing some NPCs will be enough to satisfy me! :D

As for objectives, I think even these introductory ones- maybe especially these introductory ones- should be flavored by the overarching themes. Here are a few ideas:

• Talk to Wisteria! She will give each cast member a short quest to get them started. Each quest is something along the lines of "scan five of these specific Pokémon" or "find x amt of Pokémon in (location)." There's potential for bonding with starters and training them up a bit, and a little introduction to how the characters solve problems. Also, maybe a reward from the Professor when you see her again in Nashimity?
• Battle a rival! It can be an NPC classmate, someone in town that the character has history with, or another player. Does this battle have any consequences for the characters involved, or any bystanders? (Is Bellatrix interested in this?)
• Say farewell to the teachers. What are they going to do now? The cast is the last group to graduate. There's no need for them here anymore. Are they moving to another region? Changing jobs? Potential for seeing how characters relate to NPCs here. Maybe a parting gift from a teacher.

And the obvious:
• Get onto Rt 301
• Catch a Pokémon

Perhaps objectives isn't even the right word here, haha. More like... possibilities for exploration. Depending on what the cast does, further opportunities arise. Like, if you battle a rival, maybe that's how they get an interaction with Bellatrix? Over time I think paths can divert a bit more depending on where/what they choose. Take them on an adventure~

Ok so-- I really think we've got a solid vision at this point! Our major points and themes, anyway. I'll probably make a doc for plot things soon just so we have it all laid out nicely. At this point, we can probably start hittin' everyone up for an interest check. We'll have time to plot out specific events as we go, but we should get the cast started too! Let them know they have a week to respond and if they don't reply with an affirmation then they're automatically dropped. (If you want me to come in and be the hardass I can do that lol I don't mind enforcing!)

Once we get confirmation of interest, we can update them on any minor changes we need to address, like a post schedule and little worldbuilding things (give them some kind of "trainers are the cause of environmental collapse" blurb bc that's what they know as members of this society). Ask them why their characters are invested in training and to really think about how they're going to promote battling etc. If they need to make some SU edits that's fine! But we should be able to really get going in a week or two.

I do have to note I'm going out of the country Nov 9-21 but we should be fine to work through that; I can prep some things if need be and anyway there's two of us now! :D

I feel like in canon the 'dex is given to trainers as an equal exchange, almost- the Professor is like "I give you a Pokémon and help you start out; you return the favor with data collection." It makes sense that Wisteria would be essentially doing the same, though with a focus on sighting rather than capturing. Perhaps the cast's "job" during their journey is to use the Pokédex to scan a certain amount of Pokémon per area? It doesn't need to be something that the cast writes out at all, just something that their characters are doing every day along the way. As basic as walking, eating, or using the bathroom, and as necessary to mention as any of those. Although perhaps if a player makes the choice to actively ignore that job, Wisteria might Do Something. Actions have consequences!

Team Phantom causing a severe imbalance in the environment via mass capture (for what reason? To keep for themselves? To sell? To cull Pokémon that are interfering with their businesses? All of the above?) can be a significant point here. That behavior would absolutely result in tighter capture regulations (implementing licenses, restricting PokéBall sales), because of course the blame would go to trainers- they're the only ones who capture a significant amount of Pokémon (ties in to "you can only capture one Pokémon per area). Maybe this is why Wisteria is at the forefront of this trainer program, too- she's here to educate on the importance of preserving and rehabilitating biodiversity in the region, and how to do that even as a professional trainer. Sounds a bit like she may have been a Ranger in the past if we go that route, haha. Not that that's a problem~

If we're taking a more realistic/political approach to an evil team, the usual goal for organizations is... money. Just straight up money. Perhaps, at the highest level, money to do Big Things (invest in wild technology, influence a country to a personal agenda), but the main motivator is still that sweet sweet cash. Capturing Pokémon to sell is much easier without interference from pesky trainers. And once Kinyo started to regulate PokéBall sales Phantom probably just started buying from other regions. It isn't worth it for shopkeepers to keep stocking all these goods if nobody is buying, after all. And if shops aren't ordering them, manufacturers aren't going to focus on selling to Kinyo. And if they aren't concerned with selling to Kinyo, Kinyo loses out on the kind of good deals that make buying the goods worth it. Anyway, Phantom might've stated manufacturing their own (extremely cheaply made) PokéBalls to corner the market in Kinyo exclusively. Adds profits while also making it so people still have trouble capturing- their PokéBalls probably have a worse catch rate than standard ones. Woohoo, economics! (I'm uh... business-minded, haha. It's interesting!)

I think Mahono Town/Rt 301/Nashimity Town should be enough to get people into the flow of the RP- about three posts per person tends to settle people into their characters. Plot can start dropping in Nashimity Town- at least hints of how Phantom is influencing the region and how the League is essentially falling apart. Bigger events will turn up as they go, but presenting plot-relevant ideas should start sooner rather than later. I think we've got something good with focusing on the decline of training and battling, plus Phantom being a major antagonist! We just need to like, decide and schedule specific plot points.

By the way, do you have any docs you could share with me? I usually use Google docs for RP planning. Might help to have all the information in one place!

I like the idea of really pushing the fact that the trainer journey is Not a Thing anymore. But in doing that, I think we also have to answer questions. GM questions like "why has battling declined so much? What can be done about it? Why should something be done about it?" and Cast questions like "why are you becoming a trainer when the profession is on the decline? How are you going to convince the people of Kinyo that the League (and battling in general) is worth something?" Making that the overarching plot of the RP is completely doable and probably more interesting than the usual edgy grimdark things that people tend to do. And it's completely fine to tell the cast "hey, I'm not going to force you into anything in particular, but your character must be aiming to revitalize battling and they must have some sort of angle via which they will do that." Because that's the point of this.

It's also feasible to incorporate Team Phantom into that main theme- maybe they're a big part of the reason that journeying and battling is declining. Have they made it unsafe for trainers to be on their own? Have they influenced politics in ways to quash trainers, so there are fewer people who have the strength to get in their way? Maybe both and more than that! The Yakuza have have their eggs in many baskets, after all. What big goals do they have? Why are they working in Kinyo? Are they looking to control all of Kinyo, or are they aiming to branch out into the larger world?

I'd like to have a basic rundown of what the League staff (gym trainers, gym leaders, champion, etc) are doing- at least on the back end, between us. I'm sure some are mourning the impending loss of the League, others are putting more time into other jobs... maybe there's one who's just a gym trainer that got promoted when the leader dipped, because they couldn't be bothered to find a proper replacement. And there's surely a few that are fighting to promote and save the League, same as the cast. We're going to have to remember that there aren't many trainers anymore, too. The main cast will have to actively convince most people to battle them. There should be ways (that the GMs know in advance) that they can convince our more important NPCs to battle. And if they turn the NPC's opinion on trainers/battling to a more favorable stance, the group gains an ally that may be helpful later.

I think when we get a more streamlined view of the overall plot, then the exploration is easy to let happen. You've got a good idea of the map and areas you want to show them! It's just about knowing what plot points you want to present to the players at approximately what time.

I'm so up for working on plot :D Do you have any themes/important character arcs/events in mind? If you've got a few things already, it's probably easy to tie them together and flesh them out into a Big Plot. Even picking out cool locations in Kinyo and saying "what can happen here? How will it affect the rest of the region? What's the reason for it? Who benefits?" is a fun place to spin from. The big question, of course, is "what are the characters here for?" As in, how are they going to be the heroes of this story?

Railroading isn't great, that's for sure, but I think forum/text-based roleplayers are far more likely to take hints, sniff out clues, and run with the intended plot than tabletop players. Tabletop players seem to like to throw off the GM, whereas text-based players want to know what you have waiting for them. Avoiding railroading is all about GM flexibility, really. It's easy to shift plot points around- instead of "they have to go to [location] and speak to [person]" to advance the plot, have them able to find the key info or items in a few different places. They could talk to this NPC, but they could also read about it in a newspaper. They could stealth mission into a hideout to steal an important item... or they could make friends with someone who can let them in. Essentially, you tell the players "you know this information. What do you want to do with it?" And on the back end, you are like "I want them to get [information or item]. Here are a few ways they can do so." If they take an option you don't expect, well, now it's improv. You can usually modify your plans pretty easily if you already know what you want them to get out of a situation.

The cast is likely to end up in groups along the way, too, which is very useful. That means you don't have to shove everyone through the same plot point. Or they can call each other up- these folks are acquainted with each other at the very least, and should have each other's contact information. A group chat, even. They're some of the last of their kind in a way; they should rely on and look out for each other. I think that might be a good thing to state explicitly, actually- so many journeys end up with characters hardly interacting. Let's not do that! Lots of the fun of RP is interaction.

What uhh... category of limits are you thinking about here? In terms of game mechanics or like, restrictions on the characters?

I totally get that, the disappointment about our RP section. It's... pervasive lol. Sometimes I think we've made our rules and aspirations too grand and we can't follow through on 'em. Actually, I frequently think that. But also like, what else are we going to do? More casual RPs will inevitably be hosted on discord or somewhere else rather than such a formal place, I think. I dunno haha.

Oh man you just gotta. Crack down on your cast if you wanna get anywhere. Especially at the beginning tbh! Once things get rolling and people get invested, loosening up should be alright. As for reviving vs starting anew, I think reviving this one in particular could be worth it. You have a world built out and some people already signed up properly. It hasn't been very long since signups in the grand scheme of things, and PC's RP section is slow. People who were interested then are either still interested or busy with life (rather than other RP).

But with that, I think a bit of plot has to be built up. I feel like so many journey RPs die because they don't motivate the players to explore. There has to be leads/hooks/reasons. And maybe it's not even an overarching plot, that's actually fine! A conspiracy in a city, a weird feud between towns, a sketchy gym leader, any "sidequest" kind of plot is still something that fleshes out the world and makes people want to do stuff. (But like, an overarching plot? Always amazing if you can make one.) And none of this really has to be super serious, either. There's wacky junk that goes on in every aspect of the franchise- why not do it here too? I've got really fond memories of what we did to gimmepie's Journey Optional. It's a fun read imo if you wanna check it all out, but some key points are: a PC threw an NPC in a river. Two other PCs found the NPC dead and fought over reporting rights. A player ran the heck away with a gym leader's characterization and made him a druggie operating a massive ring. We put another gym leader in jail for domestic terrorism. A PC went on a two-month binge and got their organs harvested. It was SO WILD. And... the only thing gimmepie wanted us to do was battle eight gym leaders. There was nothing else to it. And we pulled so much shit.

....Anyway, I think good solutions are a) strict posting times b) some plot c) encourage going absolutely HAM. :P

It's a bit of a struggle to keep RPs going tbh and especially over the start of the school year. I've had to do this kinda thing before!

My usual strategy is to ping everyone to check in and gague interest/ability to participate. I let them know too that anyone who doesn't respond within a week is automatically dropped. My philosophy is that speed keeps interest- one IC post a week is ideal, though more is better. If someone can't do a post that week, they need to check in. If they miss the deadline without checking in twice, talks need to be had. It might seem a bit strict, but that's how we get things done! Waiting and extending times to try and keep the players just lets people slack off and lose interest. I've been on both sides of it haha!

I love to see RPs succeed and I know this one can, you just gotta find the people who are going to let it. Snipping people now before it really gets going is easiest, but there are always ways to integrate more people even as the story progresses.

Hey there, I've been reading the OOC for your Kinyo RP and I was first wondering if I could play, but then I saw that you might need a co-GM? And like, no big promises, but I'm pretty good at worldbuilding and helping plot things out. I also make a point to check in on PC and discord at least once a day. So, if you wanna chat and see if we'd work well together let me know! Here is fine, or I'm on discord anna#8500 :)

Nice! Did you also see the questions I had about your SU?