Miracle Girls: Out of Order, A Dark Magic Girl Adventure

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@Wolfsbane706 @chaosheart13 @Sailor Moon @Craftsdwarf @Crow And anyone else who wants to leave feedback.

So, now that a good number of people are here, I wanted to hear opinions about a few of the options for this RP.

First consideration, do you want these girls to be a different age? I picked 10 arbitrarily, but as far as what I have planned goes, they could probably be as old as 14.

Second consideration, do you want these girls to be sexually mature? I'm not saying that this would be a mature RP, but I'm aware that often magic girl stories have yuri themes. If these are popular, I want to allow people to have little romances. But also, I want to know how many people might be scared off by the idea of young girls hooking up with each other (even if they were once adults).

Third consideration, I wrote the demigod so that he could potentially be played by another player. That is why he was left unnamed and only key characteristics were described. Would you feel comfortable with a non-GM having a character like this? Would you want to play the demigod?

Final consideration, what should be the weekly expectation for posting? I originally wanted to do this RP as a small group so I could request a fairly quick pace. I can imagine myself wanting to post here three times a week, but I'd be willing to go down to as little as one a week. Regardless, a major change from my usual method, this RP is going to be an asynchronous phased turn system. In other words, you get to post as often as you like, but once I post the beginning of the next phase, everything in the previous phase gets wrapped up.

Then to conclude, I have some questions for everyone that will help me finish out my design.

1. How much do you enjoy character design?
2. How self-directed are you? Do you like it better when others make all the events for your characters to respond to, or do you prefer being the master of your own destiny merely running ideas by me to make sure they fit in the context of the narrative?
3. If you had to pick one thing, what is the most attractive part of this RP?
4. Are you prepared to be extremely active with your castmates? I think a major theme of my style of RPing is that it is very much a social event. Talking about the plot, our plans, the characters, and the larger importance of what is happening is critical to getting the full experience. We will be writing several collaborative works, so this is your chance to tell me if all this makes you uncomfortable.
5. Is there anything you think I should know that hasn't yet been said that would help me improve this RP?
If you think it's needed, sure we could have a player set themselves up as the demigod. Personally, though, I think it'd be more interesting to have them as a sort of off-screen figure that the girls don't often interact with?

For the questions,
  1. I like designing new characters, but I'm running out of names to use.
  2. My style hasn't changed all that much since Elite and Bloomfield, but I can be proactive if I need to be.
  3. Magical girls stories tend to get my attention unless there's something weird with the mechanics. The rest is just icing on the cake.
  4. Oh yeah. Definitely.
  5. Not that I can think of off the top of my head.
 
@Wolfsbane706 @chaosheart13 @Sailor Moon @Craftsdwarf @Crow @Chrysanthemum @Razilin

So, from all this feedback, I'm detecting a few patterns. I'm just going to share my observations and explain how they are affecting my plans for the RP.

First off, I'm happy that everyone here seems to enjoy character design since this is going to be a major factor in who will enjoy this RP over the long term. The character sheet for this RP is going to be seriously detailed since we are effectively going to use it to track the changes that our characters undergo, and then you will maintain it with interesting character changes throughout the RP. If this process wasn't fun, I wouldn't know how to fix it.

Secondly, there is a small divide in the age consideration. Most people are neutral towards the age, while some would like a bit more flexibility on the ages. In addition, some people think that the age being elementary school level makes the concept feel unique. On this point, I'm going to be sticking with the current age. While I'd like to respect everyone's wishes by making a range of ages, part of the reason it was specifically 10 before was because that was the age of the demigod. I didn't mind adjusting his age as a correction but making it a range would make the regression seem arbitrary when it is actually a critical component. Considering that most of the objections seemed mild, I'm hoping that it doesn't turn off anyone from the RP.

For the demigod, while most people didn't mind the character being played by a Non-GM, nobody seemed particularly excited to play him. The demigod needs to be played by someone who I can count on sticking through the RP since he is a critical role. Since I don't want someone to pick him up out of obligation rather than fun, I will be playing the character unless someone appears who would like this role specifically.

Average posting seems to be about 2-3 posts per week.

An extremely important characteristic of this current pool of writers is that we have a strong leaning towards passive play. We tend to wait for something to happen rather than make something happen ourselves. What this tells me is that I will need to put forth effort to ensuring that there is something interesting for our characters to be doing at all times in order to make sure everyone is having fun.

Additionally, most people here are comfortable with an active OOC, but aren't necessarily outspoken. In order to make this work, I'm going to be posting prompts in the OOC for the group to discuss. These sorts of prompts will probably look like something you've seen in English class. I'm going to be asking questions about the story's symbolism, what people are excited for, what they think has stood out in the story thus far, and various related questions. I'm doing this because I'd like this to be a fairly adept story where people are thinking about the greater meaning. I want people to be excited about writing excellently. Of course, since I operate on a philosophy of fun, this is always optional, but I just want to give everyone an avenue to get excited about the story with the whole playerbase.

On a final note, I designed this as a niche target since I was expecting a small group. I was actually taken aback that so many people so quickly wanted to join an RP that unites the lighthearted magic girl slice of life with deep philosophical questions about what it means to have a place in the world. Seeing its popularity, I want to do my best to make this story a reality, but I have a dilemma. College is going to make me really busy. Normally, I'm able to put my heart and soul into making an RP vibrant, fun, and alive. I'm not going to be able to do that this time. I'm worried that I won't always be able to even keep up with basic duties like keeping the story moving, which historically is a major cause of an RP dying. I don't know if I'm fully up to the task of running this all by myself, simply because my goal with any RP is to create a memorable experience that won't leave you for a long time. I think I need help. If anyone is interested in helping, please send me a PM.

Thank you all for expressing interest. I'm going to be working on a character sheet skeleton, planning the plot, writing the demigod's CS, adding world detail, drafting the OOC, and preparing to do a one on one interview with everyone interested in joining the RP.
 
As long as I get to use the line "Why am I a goddamn fifth grader?!"
 
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@Wolfsbane706 @chaosheart13 @Sailor Moon @Craftsdwarf @Crow @Chrysanthemum @Razilin

So, from all this feedback, I'm detecting a few patterns. I'm just going to share my observations and explain how they are affecting my plans for the RP.

First off, I'm happy that everyone here seems to enjoy character design since this is going to be a major factor in who will enjoy this RP over the long term. The character sheet for this RP is going to be seriously detailed since we are effectively going to use it to track the changes that our characters undergo, and then you will maintain it with interesting character changes throughout the RP. If this process wasn't fun, I wouldn't know how to fix it.

Secondly, there is a small divide in the age consideration. Most people are neutral towards the age, while some would like a bit more flexibility on the ages. In addition, some people think that the age being elementary school level makes the concept feel unique. On this point, I'm going to be sticking with the current age. While I'd like to respect everyone's wishes by making a range of ages, part of the reason it was specifically 10 before was because that was the age of the demigod. I didn't mind adjusting his age as a correction but making it a range would make the regression seem arbitrary when it is actually a critical component. Considering that most of the objections seemed mild, I'm hoping that it doesn't turn off anyone from the RP.

For the demigod, while most people didn't mind the character being played by a Non-GM, nobody seemed particularly excited to play him. The demigod needs to be played by someone who I can count on sticking through the RP since he is a critical role. Since I don't want someone to pick him up out of obligation rather than fun, I will be playing the character unless someone appears who would like this role specifically.

Average posting seems to be about 2-3 posts per week.

An extremely important characteristic of this current pool of writers is that we have a strong leaning towards passive play. We tend to wait for something to happen rather than make something happen ourselves. What this tells me is that I will need to put forth effort to ensuring that there is something interesting for our characters to be doing at all times in order to make sure everyone is having fun.

Additionally, most people here are comfortable with an active OOC, but aren't necessarily outspoken. In order to make this work, I'm going to be posting prompts in the OOC for the group to discuss. These sorts of prompts will probably look like something you've seen in English class. I'm going to be asking questions about the story's symbolism, what people are excited for, what they think has stood out in the story thus far, and various related questions. I'm doing this because I'd like this to be a fairly adept story where people are thinking about the greater meaning. I want people to be excited about writing excellently. Of course, since I operate on a philosophy of fun, this is always optional, but I just want to give everyone an avenue to get excited about the story with the whole playerbase.

On a final note, I designed this as a niche target since I was expecting a small group. I was actually taken aback that so many people so quickly wanted to join an RP that unites the lighthearted magic girl slice of life with deep philosophical questions about what it means to have a place in the world. Seeing its popularity, I want to do my best to make this story a reality, but I have a dilemma. College is going to make me really busy. Normally, I'm able to put my heart and soul into making an RP vibrant, fun, and alive. I'm not going to be able to do that this time. I'm worried that I won't always be able to even keep up with basic duties like keeping the story moving, which historically is a major cause of an RP dying. I don't know if I'm fully up to the task of running this all by myself, simply because my goal with any RP is to create a memorable experience that won't leave you for a long time. I think I need help. If anyone is interested in helping, please send me a PM.

Thank you all for expressing interest. I'm going to be working on a character sheet skeleton, planning the plot, writing the demigod's CS, adding world detail, drafting the OOC, and preparing to do a one on one interview with everyone interested in joining the RP.



if other committments make it difficult to juggle GMing directly, try having a group this large split into Cast Herds

a group this large will likely gravitate into smaller groups of 3-4 friends anyway. give each smaller group its own plotline that eventually intersects with the others.

the individual plotlines can be run by the smaller groups autonomously; as the GM, your main responsibility would be regulatory oversight rather than directly managerial -- which frees you up immensely. then you can just focus on big metaplot events instead of micromanging 8-10 players at once.
 
if other committments make it difficult to juggle GMing directly, try having a group this large split into Cast Herds

a group this large will likely gravitate into smaller groups of 3-4 friends anyway. give each smaller group its own plotline that eventually intersects with the others.

the individual plotlines can be run by the smaller groups autonomously; as the GM, your main responsibility would be regulatory oversight rather than directly managerial -- which frees you up immensely. then you can just focus on big metaplot events instead of micromanging 8-10 players at once.
I actually tried this method on my previous RP, and doing so taught me a valuable lesson about RP management. Splitting up for an extended period kills RPs, especially in a cast of passive players. I don't doubt that people aren't always going stick to the "main group", but the ability to rejoin with the main group on demand is a critical feature of an RP.

I think that I will definitely take advantage of any self-direction introduced to the RP, but I won't shirk my duty to keep things interesting and fun. However, thank you for the suggestion. I'll keep this in mind.
 
Dark magical girl RPs are generally pretty popular, so such numbers shouldn't be THAT much of a surprise.

So hey, have another for the slaughter.
 
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I actually tried this method on my previous RP, and doing so taught me a valuable lesson about RP management. Splitting up for an extended period kills RPs, especially in a cast of passive players. I don't doubt that people aren't always going stick to the "main group", but the ability to rejoin with the main group on demand is a critical feature of an RP.

I think that I will definitely take advantage of any self-direction introduced to the RP, but I won't shirk my duty to keep things interesting and fun. However, thank you for the suggestion. I'll keep this in mind.
i've ONLY used this method, but my group tended to be more assertive rather than passive anyways, so it worked out fine; in your situation, you may just need to vet out a good co-GM like you mentioned previously
 
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i've ONLY used this method, but my group tended to be more assertive rather than passive anyways, so it worked out fine; in your situation, you may just need to vet out a good co-GM like you mentioned previously
*giggles*, I'll have to go look at your work for reference sometime. I'm always looking for new tricks.
 
Personally, when I find an OOC topic is getting a little stagnant, I drop in little mind exercises, like whether or not a character has a middle name, what that middle name is, and if anyone has subplot ideas. Something to get the players posting and thinking.
 
Would it be alright if a friend joined, if I did?
 
Would it be alright if a friend joined, if I did?
Of course. Anyone is still free to join. They should make themselves known however since I intend to do a 1 on 1 interview with everyone who expressed interest in a first come first served fashion. I just added a snippet about the way the world's communities have generally been affected by the influence of chaos, and now I'm adding the character skeleton. After that, I'm going to start the interview process, so make sure they throw their hat in relatively quickly.
 
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@saberwolf said she is thinking about it, she's just busy right now, so she asked me to drop her name for you. :)
 
@saberwolf said she is thinking about it, she's just busy right now, so she asked me to drop her name for you. :)
Oh, I haven't gotten a chance to RP with your girlfriend yet. This should be a lot of fun.
 
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Right, a little late to the party, but I might as well answer those questions while I have time to burn.

Consideration 1: I prefer adolescents rather than straight-up kids. Makes picture-searching for it a metric ton less awkward, and also makes more sense in regards to the whole chaos thing, imo. How puberty makes errybody go crazy and all.

Consideration 2: I don't really care about yuri, as long as it doesn't turn into some sort of massive yuri-shipping fest. That's pretty much it. Of course, I was also the person that got fairly salty when Chrono and Yuuno were literally written off the Nanoha-verse, so...eh.

Consideration 3: Demi-god laifu sounds boring. Either that, or it sounds too powerful of a plot-device to hand over to a player.

Consideration 4: I can totally go for daily posts, but three posts per week from everyone should totally be achievable, even without sacrificing quality and quantity of posts.
---
Question 1: Character design is ok. Though I used to enjoy planning out a whole bunch of things in regards to my character, as well as making super detailed backstories with family/friend NPCs and all that, now, I'm more about just making something simple and chill. I can totally pull off detailed characters though. Just more of a 'develop in the IC' sort of person.

Question 2: Honestly, I like surprises. I like letting someone else bring up a plot and making badass shit happen with twists and stuff. That's the fun of being a player rather than a GM, after all. Getting those surprises. But if it comes down to it, I'm totally down for thinking up ways of screwing over characters and generating friction between these heroes of justice.

Question 3: The people involved. I'm already in a dark magical girl RP (though it's slowing down), so the main draw is being able to RP with people that I haven't got m/any chances to RP with before.

Question 4: I'm fine with chilling in the OOC and doing collabs, but I don't really like planning out tons of future events before they happen. So yeah, that's pretty much it. Also, Skype is nice for random social shenanigans.

Question 5: lolnoidea.
 
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I prefer adolescents rather than straight-up kids. Makes picture-searching for it a metric ton less awkward, and also makes more sense in regards to the whole chaos thing, imo. How puberty makes errybody go crazy and all.
Honestly, this CS is going to be so detailed, pictures might not even be necessary. There is a reason I wasn't able to get it up right away.
 
When I said I liked character design I was being honest, but I sort of hate filling out lengthy CSes. That doesn't mean I don't care about the roleplay, or the character, but to me it kills character development IC wise, so that may be the one thing stopping me from joining the roleplay...unfortunately.
 
When I said I liked character design I was being honest, but I sort of hate filling out lengthy CSes. That doesn't mean I don't care about the roleplay, or the character, but to me it kills character development IC wise, so that may be the one thing stopping me from joining the roleplay...unfortunately.
I think it will be more tolerable than you'd think. Wait for me to get up the CS and the explanation of how it is going to work before you make a decision about joining.
 
@Wolfsbane706 @chaosheart13 @Sailor Moon @Craftsdwarf @Crow @Chrysanthemum [USER=9598]@Razilin @ERode

So, in the process of trying to make this CS, I've had Sailor's comment in the back of my mind, and it made me come to a realization. First up, making characters is fun, but the process of writing CSs is work. Since I operate on a philosophy of fun, I've started tinkering with ideas to make the process of making a CS fun. That is when it hit me, people have more fun developing characters midstory. Therefore, I'm going to be using the 1 on 1 interview period to RP with everyone how their character met the Demigod. In order to begin, I'm only going to ask that you have a rough idea of what your character is going to be like, and we will fill up a custom character sheet as we discover the finer details of the character. I'm hoping that giving a story element to meeting the character will make the process of building a lengthy CS more fun. For the sake of expedience, I'll try to take on 3 of these at a time. As mentioned before, I will doing these first come first serve.[/USER]
 
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