A Pleasure to Make Your Acquaintance

[Luxlorica]

What do you call yourself?
Feel free to call me Lux or Lorica or “Hey, You”, maybe not Lori until you know me that way.

How'd you find Star Army?
Stalking through the internet in a desperate search for a forum based role-playing experience. It took some work but eventually Google gave you up.

You weren't the first on the list. There was a whole menagerie of cloney, hard to fathom sites that crowded up to the screen but when I saw this one, I knew I had to take a longer look. Its really nice and well put together, attractive and informative. Definitely a cut above.

What interested you in joining?
I have to admit, the first (attempted) read through was daunting. It is still a bit daunting, pages and pages of lore, linked back stories, interconnected history and political events leading into and out of events and plots full of players and NPC's alike.

Its like drinking from a fire hose. I was barley into the Iromakuanhe before I realized I had twelve tabs open.

But I did spot something I really wanted to get into and explore a bit. I will need to trade some texts with a certain wicked-prolific content creator to get started but I am quite looking forward to it.

Ever done this text-based roleplaying thing before?
I have indeed, on several sites from general modern life style forums to super heroes to horror to fantasy extravaganzas.

I much prefer it over something like chat or voice. I need a little time to think about things. I want to put it together well, I want to be able to plan my part of the scene. It might just take a few minutes, super awkward in a chat but perfectly acceptable when putting together a forum post.

So I get to turn my chat weakness into forum strength, and I am okay with that.

Any previous experiences you want to share?
Not really. I have seen a fair amount of drama, admin breakups, fallout and restructurings. It all feels like kiss and tell. I'm not about drama. I want to write compelling stories and watch other writers shine as well as getting my own chance and I am looking forward that that very thing.

Now for the questionnaire!

Do you prefer:

• Playing male, female, or other-gendered characters?
  I usually write male but I can write anything. I not about judgment though. No matter what YOU write as, I am happy to have you in a thread and pleased to write opposite you. I will definitely try to keep up.
  
  
• Spontaneous or planned RP?
  I think there is something to be said for both of those. Spontaneous can be really special when you have multiple minds creating at once, happy accidents and surprises occurring left, right and center. It can be fantastic.
  
  Full disclosure though: I am a structuralist. Left to my own devices, I make outlines, character sketches and put together cookie collections. Its not as cute in collaborative writing as it is in solo projects but I am definitely a planner.
  
  That doesn't mean that I can't get in there and improv with the rest of the gardeners.
  
  
• Military or civilian characters?
  It seems like the Military would offer more opportunities for plots and interactions what with all the wars and conflicts in which the military plays a part (give or take a Firefly)
  
  I don't really have a principled preference but I will very likely be starting military just to have an easier in road. Time may reveal other opportunities though and I am open to that.
  
  
• Humans, androids, anthros, or aliens?
  I think it comes down to what you want to explore, there is so much. I am pretty sure I could write with any of these as vehicles or through them. I am probably less familiar with anthros but part of the joys of collaborative writing is that I don't have to think of everything. I am really looking forward to seeing what others bring to the page in these categories.
  
  
• Being on a starship or being on a planet?
  I think this one does make a difference (but I could be acceptably wrong). It seems that starship play is more directed. It benefits from having a shot caller and then everyone gets to play off of that input. Planet play seems more sandbox, more wide open. It benefits from taking advantage of the nearly unlimited space, the biomes, the the situations that arise from them.
  
  I could certainly enjoy the collaboration that seems inherent to a starship. Planet play looks more like something that could be solo, journaled and captured in flashbacks or introspective flash fiction.
  
  I look forward to seeing if any of that has any credence or there is much more nuance to it. I have come to understand that one should always factor for nuance. I think its going to be great.
  
  
• Roleplay via forum posts or in real-time?
  Ohh on this one I do have to have a definite preference. We already talked about my penchant for forum posting. I am just more of a traditional writer and less of a conversationalist. My wit and wisdom comes slowly over a few edits rather than leaping fully formed from the old man's brow.

On a scale of 1 to 3, what's your preferred level of these in your RP:

A note here: I am rating what I tend to do. But do not let that be a judgment on what YOU do. I am happy to write with any number on this scale. And for violence and sexuality, I will happily adapt to any position thereof. These are just my own resting values. As for language, well there is no need to meet anywhere. I have a style and other's can have their own style. There is plenty of room.

• Language: 1-2 My characters seldom curse and its almost never a character trait
• Violence: 2-3 I try to write elegantly about violence rather than savagely or brutally. Not interested in gore or pain but bad things do happen and I try to do that justice without necessarily reveling in it.
• Sexuality: 2-3 I think that temporal beings discover temporal delights and that's part of what makes them real and relatable.

What's something cool you'd love to RP?
It might be interesting to play a solipsistic hacker/engineer who can access and modify the thinking portion of sapient machines, androids and syths through conversation targeted at those regular and fundamental substrates needed to produce a sapient intelligence. Such issues of ethics and post-humanism.

Also

A freespacer traveler monk doing a Jack Keruac act in this plot or that one. Unbound and unfettered, there for the run and then onward to the next and writing it all down.

Or

Something dichotomous, like a Tröll grunt in the lines or the in the drop. War stories and what it is like to interact with a society that expects so little of you beyond the strength of your back. But also being a thinking thing capable of insight and understanding even if it was shaped in the cold fires of a hard world. An exploration of being an 8'10'' blind spot in a world of screens and holos.

Having come to the end of this I find myself with a question:

I have noticed that everything is very centered on plots (and understandably so). Do players tend to make characters as throw away vehicles for a one plot or another, use them for the run and then thank you we are done. One plot gone, new character ahoy and moving on?

Or do players make characters that they expect to keep and grow across many plots, journals, solo excursions, 1 on 1 adventures and exploratory side stories or flashbacks?

I suppose I am asking about the zeitgeist of the site. What are your thoughts?

Do you have any other questions for me?

Thanks for reading all this way, you are a champ.

 

[Ametheliana]

I'm open to "trade some texts" just hop into DMs!

The answer to your question about how people make characters: They're usually made for one plot with the intent to be a "forever" character, but may be moved out of the plot as the player moves on from the plot itself or left in the hands of the GM as a NPC-able character, or left to fade into the background. Or they may be dropped altogether when the player decides they, for lack of a better term, don't like the character as much as they thought they would, which is sad but I have characters I don't like playing as much as other characters of mine. Hope I answered your question~!

 

[club24]

Welcome to the site, nice to have you ^^

I don't have any fancy titles but im around for usually 18 hours a day on discord and run a couple of little plots, and a lot of people just call me clubbo, hope to see you on discord and chat up a storm in the future you seem cool and interesting to chat with.

 

[Kyle]

Welcome to the @Luxlorica , the name is Kyle. I am the faction manager for the Kingdom of Neshaten and the game master for their flagship plot.

Looking at your ratings, the violence, language, and sexual, I'd like to invite you to join the Neshaten. This faction is different from most others in that they are not straight up humans, but rather, are a combination of three separate races that all work together to live in harmony (as much as possible anyway!)

If you are interested in hearing more, you may contact me on Discord, my name is 'Mr Stabby(Kyle)'

 

[Luxlorica]

Thank you so much for the replies so far. I appreciate the answers, advice and offers. It is very kind of you all to stop by and say hello.

 

[Ethereal]

Welcome, Welcome!

I'm Ethereal, I blunder around the site doing all sorts of things and run Task Force Inquisition, a many-player spaceship-and-ground planetary capture plot. We could use a Tröll or two to help bust some forts and tear down doors if that interests you.

I'm also the guy currently making the new Agartha subfaction (think werewolves and crusaders lol) so I guess I'm a subfaction manager haha

You can spot me on the Discord since I'm the only Moderator lol, if you have any questions feel free to hit me up ^^

 

[Charmaylarg Dufrain]

Hey-Hey! Join us on the discord sometime! Plenty of people to help you with picking a faction, Making a character, Learning lore, Helping you navigate our massive wiki, And generally giving you a good direction to go!

 

[Wes]

I apologize for not greeting you sooner. I've just got home from my dreadfully-short summer vacation yesterday evening,

I have noticed that everything is very centered on plots (and understandably so). Do players tend to make characters as throw away vehicles for a one plot or another, use them for the run and then thank you we are done. One plot gone, new character ahoy and moving on?

Or do players make characters that they expect to keep and grow across many plots, journals, solo excursions, 1 on 1 adventures and exploratory side stories or flashbacks?

I suppose I am asking about the zeitgeist of the site. What are your thoughts?

Do you have any other questions for me?

Yes, some stuff you should know is that Game Masters and Faction Managers are just dudes who run plots or factions and their banners are labels of responsibility, not some sort of staff/power position. Anyone can become a GM or FM, including you.

Characters can be moved from plot to plot as circumstances require. This can be really useful if one plot dies out (maybe the GM has to leave, and no one wants to step up to replace them) because there's often multiple active ships in the Star Army of Yamatai and other factions which gives your character a safety net or backup plan.

With this is mind, characters are often made for long-term use. Even when they're submitted as a plot character and built to be useful in a particular plot/RP, they're often able to transcend that plot when it closes and enter another one. In the Star Army, experience is often translated to rank and characters over time can enter high ranks by simply going around and doing a lot of stuff in the RP.

Your character is not restricted to any particular plot or RP and you can use them in any way that makes chronological sense.

I was wondering if you're interested in opening RPs for people to join - again, anyone can do this, you just need to post an interest check and get a couple sign-ups for an Open RP (which can later "graduate" to an RP with a dedicated subforum if you like).

 

[Legix]

Heyo, FM of Nepleslia and resident busy-daddo here. I also run many plots.

I can confirm what Wes just pointed out; one of my characters - Ronin - is one such example of a character who isn't "throwaway" and has been in more than one plot. The reason most characters end up appearing as throw-away is because of how easy it is to sometimes just make new ones so most people do. Or people end up leaving.

Either way, SARP is a great place for long-term development; many of its characters that are prolific have survived more than two or so plots over the years.

If you're ever looking for an RP, I recommend you check out the Nepleslian branch of stuff; many of our plots are listed as 18+ to simply cover any potential legality being raised if they get too graphic or something, but we also have plots that are good starting bases for new players to the setting such as Inquiry and the soon-to-be-starting plot run by @club24.

If there's any questions you may have or ideas you'd like to bounce around, it's super easy to contact me on the forums or Discord; I'm also a content facilitator and always am looking to help new members who are interested in their longer-term stays and goals to make really cool stuff.

=3=/