Plugin or not plugin?

[Kakita Mitsouko]

Well, I did it endless times, but nevermind: If you don't understand something I tried to say, ask me and I'll try to say it with other words. My English is not the best around, I know it. Please forgive my lack of finesse expressing myself in a foreign language.
Also, I put this subject in General Discussion else than in EE2 Thread because I'm pretty sure all guests can easily see it here.

Well, just putting some thoughts together…
Like many others, I think we definitely could do it again. I mean, keep doing the storytelling. Though, after listening to a lot of people, and some former players that are still a bit closer to me than others, I need to agree with a generalized opinion that, EE MUST HAVE a competitive engine which glues all the storytelling together.
It means, to me:

Stats
XP
Currency

In Jay's Original, beloved, simplistic yet comprehensive Emerald Empire game, we had koku and items which were needed in order to perform some actions. We also had stats, which allowed us or not, to perform actions.
I think we could manage to get a similar system using plugins (considering they will really work seamlessly together).

Items:

I have (in fact, we all have) to think how to create items ( Meaning names, values, usability and so on) with a plugin like the following:

The Gold Shop
www.proboards.com/library/plugins/item/288

This plugin also uses a currency system which can be used to earn money/koku with actions as posting, threading, and also by mod's discretion. It states that the board will count with a "bank" (in fact, up to 15, then this feature can be clan-wise). I admit I didn't read all the documentation, but it sounds promising, since I can see it can be used to fund a "clan monetary power". Samurai do earn salaries, depending on their rank, so people could be granted with an amount of money monthly, besides what they earn joining threads, and so on. This idea also needs to be worked on, but it is a sketch of what I can see being done with such tool.

Monetary System
support.proboards.com/thread/429762/monetary-system-updated-2013-money

Awards

In order to define a rank and other titles a character could earn (you know, we love contests, titles and a bit of glamour here in Rokugan), an Awards system would display if you are a attested Sadane Master, The Emerald Champion, a daimyo, or a Despicable Minion of…well, nevermind. Noting that it would/could alter the amount of money you can earn monthly.

Awards System
support.proboards.com/thread/437466/awards-system

Of course, Stats are the key of our rules. There is a simple plugin that promises to make it possible.

Simple RPG Stats
support.proboards.com/thread/448412/simple-rpg-stats-updated-2013

XP

Thinking about XP, I realized that we could value the quality of the storytelling while giving XP. Letting people vote for karma points, later converted in XP points, would be a way of stimulate people to read other threads their characters are not in, and also improve the writer responsibility in doing his/her best.

support.proboards.com/thread/444238/karma-system

And, finally, we could have dice! Needless to say how it can be used into the threads:

Dice:
support.proboards.com/thread/446262/vdice-dice-rolling-proboards-v5

Again, I didn't test any of these myself, though I'm hoping we could transform all these tools in something clever,reliable, with simple rules, and have fun with EE once again.

I am aware of a couple of facts or more, however:

1. I am just registered as Crane Clan MOD, some of the plugins need the super key only the ADMIN possess. I am ONLY SUGGESTING alternatives.
2. Any alter in the code must be discussed, then approved, and finally implanted by the admin.
3. Any decision about new rules/system should be discussed by the player base that is active. If it was a new forum, the admin could decide everything by him/herself, though it's an already established (yet diminished) community.


Personal notes regarding my likes and dislikes: Regardless the decision the player base and staff will take about the forums, I'd like to play a sequel of Emerald Empire Setting, as created by Jay. No matter if 1 year, 30 years or 100 years later from the final events we played here, I wouldn't like to play any other scenario. And that's why I think people are still here. Else, it would be easier create another forum, another unrelated storyline, and invite friends.
That's my 2 cents about a revival and possibly, a revamp of EE forums.

[Kakita Sojiro]

We're looking over this now, along with the possibility of creating a new forum and importing all the info here. Why? Because we don't have the Admin access to this forum anymore to add these plugins. Shoju thinks he can import everything to a new forum, but he doesn't have the permissions to add plugins.

[Kakita Mitsouko]

Uhn, I see. With an import, all the database moved/duplicated... yes, it can work. Though I guess it would not include a redirect, right?

[Shoju]

Well, If we do go this way, and setup a new forum, I can make this place a huge giant redirect to a new place, in one way shape or form.

I REALLY like the idea of a forum based game, taking advantage of the plugins that we could use to make it a great experience.

A couple of people have mentioned wanting to be involved. I'll all for more people being involved. I'm sadly a pretty busy guy anymore, and would love to help in any way that I can, but I'm probably not the guy to head up the project.

I'm more than willing to help in whatever manner I can, and what is needed.

[Saiko]

I think if you can get the transfer done, we who remain are more than willing to take it from there. Especially considering everything you've already done for this community, man. But I'm all about the forum plugin system, just from what little I've gathered from Mitsu's explanations and my own brief research.

[Asahina Yukihime]

Did anyone talked to Rob about it? If I got things right from my brief talk to him back on the jurassic he has some coding skills.

My only concern about the new forum is that people who doesn't stop by as often as we do may get lost and won't be able to track the new place. All the coding stuff only makes sense for a large player base, if it is going to be like 5 ou 6 guys playing along we can have regular character sheets and dices and not much more will be needed, in my humble opinion.

[Kakita Mitsouko]

I'm here to support , help, suggest, anything you need. You can count on me. I do support Shoju as admin, if he is comfortable with the idea. Also, Saiko, and Sojiro have my total vote as admin/co-admin if you guys are willing to grab this responsability.
This said, I'm not averse to step down the "Crane mod thing" (and all the WOW...POWER the title grants me ), since it seems a bit odd right now. I completely agree too much "chefs in the kitchen" is a really bad thing.

[Kakita Sojiro]

Did you just promote me while I wasn't paying attention AGAIN!?

[Utaku Mai]

The idea of possibly combining 'the game' and 'the forum' into one entity really appeals to me, as there was always the game-only or forum-only crowd which seemed to contribute to population entropy from both ends. Doing such with the plugins will probably need quite a bit of play testing to work out the kinks, but when it's all working properly, it could go out for 'general release' and just have a facebook page associated with it so's people can still use facebook to get updates and stuff and interact OOC.

Storywise: I do like the stories that we had here, though I'd also be fine with picking and choosing some kind of "best-of" canon -- there was such a rush at the end of the EE game that things never really got resolved, and I guess it never sat well with me having Kaneka go after the Emerald Champ while there was huge evil badness going down at the wall. I also vote for a bit of a time warp, maybe as much as a decade or so of in-game time -- enough distance behind for people to start fresh (I'll be honest, that's what I'd want to do, as I'm pretty much done with Mai character-wise, but if people still want to play as older versions of their EE characters they can still do that).

Bad guys: how do we want to deal with this? I'm not opposed to villains by any means, they make the game fun, but any kind of vote that pits spider clan members against anyone else means they will pretty much always lose. Should they be a playable faction, or more of a product of the GM analog?

About that thing I just said: should there be some kind of GM/voice ofthe emperor/story guide type person? this forum was rather unique for not having it, and I've personally seen both the best and worst of such an open playground style of RP, but it could be a very light hand (like how Jay's story in EE informed to forum in a few ways), with one or two moderators to make sure things didn't get out of hand with god-modding.

[Kakita Sojiro]

The fatal flaw with the Spider in the clickey game was that they weren't as powerful as they should be. The Spider are supposed to be the enemy of the other clans, but they are also supposed to be wicked strong as opposed to "just as strong as the other players". I mean, there's a reason that it takes seven thunders to stop them when they get uppity - a seven-on-one battle is even. The Spider are supposed to be that strong.

[Kakita Mitsouko]

Sojiro, lol!

I don't know, you are already a Global Mod, not really a Crane Mod. But game-wise, Mitsu would do it again and again!
Like Mai, I think Mitsu had her time, few things left behind. I am heavily inclined to a time spam of at least a generation, but of course, if people wish to play with their old chars, it works to me as well.
Ah, yes, Shoju mentioned (in CBox) about a total restart regarding banned people. It sounds ok to me.
Would be interesting if 1, 2 or even a really small team of GM-mods could create a storyline. In fact, Mai said it better in her last paragraph.
I do not like people being able to have Spider characters. They were a cool group, but the narrative loses a lot with them as players and not as NPC villains.

[Utaku Mai]

It's been a year, I'm fine with starting over re: bans. Fresh start and all that.

I think the Spider players were killed more than anything by being out in the open, so with a forum-based game it becomes much more about subterfuge and secrets. The AEG winter court forum had secret areas that most people didn't even know were there, and those locations housed their own private forums only accessible to those in the know. In the long history of L5R there's plenty of secret societies that aren't even necessarily tainted, such as the Kolat, but the spider can work within this framework as well (knowing the current state of the empire in the card game, I almost think the worst thing to happen to the Spider Clan was gaining legitimacy -- it just made them the empire's whipping dogs).

[Isawa Mitsuru]

I'm willing to help out with figuring out plug-ins and such. I'd also be happy to help out with GMing the general storyline.

concerning Spider players: I was once on an RP forum where certain groups were required to prove they could be decent role-players before being allowed to join said group. the group was also very closely guarded so that it didn't get very big. IF we were to allow Spider players I think it could work as a select group of people who have proven that they are able to work with the story and role-play proper like. Just a thought.

Also: I would be in favor of giving the forum a face lift. I might just know a guy who has some graphic design skills and could do that sort of thing. He happens to live in this mirror I'm holding.

[Kakita Sojiro]

Welcome to the rebirth of Rokugan, Mitsuru. Glad you could make it

[Shoju]

Here are my thoughts, observations, and what not:

Plugins: I do not have the authority to install plugins on the board. That is a power reserved for "THE Admin" account, as in the original admin account.

Moving the board: I thought I could. I can't. I just checked. Those options are off limits to me.

So, if we want to stay here, We need Rob to either come back and be involved, or grant his account to the team putting this together.

If we want to move and save the content, and start from scratch: We'll need Rob to help with that in the same manner.

Storyline: I would like to advance the current storyline a little ways into the future. 12 months sounds pretty good

Spider / Shadowlands players I think that there should be some Spider Player presence. I'm not sure if we should limit it. Maybe we should, maybe we shouldn't. What killed the Spider players in the game, was numbers. Which has me leaning towards not allowing "Spider Clan" players. I think Jay got a lot of things right in EE. The Spider players feeling like they were anything but a worn out chew toy that the dog has eaten, beaten, and thrown in the corner is not one of them. Honestly, in the end, I had more fun RPing and writing here than I did in the click game, because there was NOTHING I could do. I was doomed to fail. Winning wasn't even an option, and this may sound a little controversial, but I feel like the final showdown ended up being rigged in favor of the empire to ensure that nothing bad happened. You may not agree, and I respect your opinion, but from my side of the Great Wall, it certainly was a losing battle. I don't know if I would want to put players in that position, in any gaming system we put into place.

Myself as an Admin I'm honored that you guys feel that way, and if that is the general consensus, I'm more than happy to be an Admin. I will tell you, that I will probably be a little less hands on than before. I'll also tell you that the "power structure" of the board will be a little different if I'm an admin. Looking back at the board, I think that there were too many cooks in the kitchen, too many chiefs, not enough indians, whatever metaphor that you want to use to describe it. That would change moving forward. From a board management side, I would probably envision a "power structure" accordingly.

1 Admin
2-3 Moderators
Clan Champions equal to the number of Clans, Plus 1 Ronin "Champion" This champion would be in charge of the private Clan Area. They would have mod powers only in that board, to make sure that things are running smoothly. Clan Champion would be a "real" position. You would be tasked with running your clan on the forums.

Story Positions
Emerald Champion, Jade Champion, Topaz Champion, etc... I am leaning towards keeping them "out of player hands", because it makes for easier storytelling, but I would be open to discussing allow players to achieve these titles, in some way that isn't "RAWR! I'M THE CHAMPEEN OF THIS THING!"

"My idea"

I even have interesting ways to introduce new champions into the story of the game. In the aftermath of a civil war, The Emperor has called upon the clans to attend a Reunification festival in Toshi Ranbo. He has called the Champions, Daimyos, and greatest heroes of the clans to join him.

In an effort to reunite the Empire, The Emperor has called for all the Champions of the Empire to lay down their positions in an effort to build an empire that is united, and can stand against darkness that rises from the Shadowlands. The Brother's War nearly cost the Empire everything. Champions have the following options:

Seppuku
Retirement
Or to enter the tournament.

A tournament will be held, just as the Kami held their own tournament, and new leaderhsip for every clan will be established by the end of the festival in Toshi Ranbo.

"end of idea"

This gives people the ability to play their old character in an RP sense, but gives us the ability to start fresh, and build a new empire.

Just my initial thought.