The Energon Pub

[Luciferus]

I agree with the rest of you concerning the give-outs of updgrades etc. Such things should only happen in very very rare occassions and it shouldn't make the character more powerful than before either.

[Darth Vegeta]

Did we reset yet again?

Nope. We'll continue where we left off.

Aah okay thanks. So all has just been put on hold for a rules discussion?

[sumowrestler]

I have one comment on the stat upgrade. There was a time when Superion took a stat degrade but it was in part a punishment by Cry for what I done. For those who were around when I first started, you should remember a certain nucler attack on Metro City involving Superion. While I was apart of the old RPG, I tried to reinstate the original value of the stat that got dropped which as far as I know never happen. Hopefully things like this will not happen either unless someone is being right out stupid like I was when I was a noob.

[Marcus Rush]

As the biggest proponent of Stats upgrades for canons last round I will grant my total support to the cause of NOT HAVING CANONS GIVEN STAT BOOSTS. Sorry to say this but canon stat boosts ruined some of the great rivalries inherent to several combiners, including the one between the Technobots and the Terrorcons. Abominus was put soo far out of reach that not even the intellectual counter of Computron was able to hold up. Brawl should be stupid, its what makes his character and that of the Combaticons so realistic... I mean nearly every military series I've seen from hollywood has that one grunt that loves to fight, argue with the commander and then get way over his head during the battle, Brawl is no different.

As far as Fanons go, I have no problems with the idea of status upgrade IF the technology is changed with in the character. Stats such as Melee and Technical Skills should be the ones that are easier to boost than the structural ones such as Strength and Firepower. Melee and Tech Skills are trained stats that can be boosted through experience, but even these should have a ceiling.

[HardHead]

As the biggest proponent of Stats upgrades for canons last round I will grant my total support to the cause of NOT HAVING CANONS GIVEN STAT BOOSTS. Sorry to say this but canon stat boosts ruined some of the great rivalries inherent to several combiners, including the one between the Technobots and the Terrorcons. Abominus was put soo far out of reach that not even the intellectual counter of Computron was able to hold up. Brawl should be stupid, its what makes his character and that of the Combaticons so realistic... I mean nearly every military series I've seen from hollywood has that one grunt that loves to fight, argue with the commander and then get way over his head during the battle, Brawl is no different.

As far as Fanons go, I have no problems with the idea of status upgrade IF the technology is changed with in the character. Stats such as Melee and Technical Skills should be the ones that are easier to boost than the structural ones such as Strength and Firepower. Melee and Tech Skills are trained stats that can be boosted through experience, but even these should have a ceiling.

Agreed for the most part. I also believe to perhaps counter the inherant 'superboosting' of such characters, perhaps key weaknesses should be added once upgrading has gone beyond a certain point. For example, if for example a character's melee skill is increased over a period of a few months from 5 to, say, 9, i would say that to compensate his accuracy (lack of time spent using ranged weapons) be reduced by at least 1, if not 2. Perhaps an increase in endurance should come at a cost of speed etc, perhaps a reduction for every two points of upgrades?

In terms of NO adaptations of canons however, i believe that in rare cases it should be possible. I mean i had plans for Hardhead in the last incarnation to desert and find his way to earth, where through various activities gets a terran tank mode (Challenger II), with an equivilent change in his stats (less firepower, more endurance). If there's good plot reasons, instead of 'lets just upgrade them for the sake of it', i beleive it should be allowed, but ONLY with heavy mod influence

[DeathCaller]

Hmmm... I can understand the concept about not wanting to bring up canon stats. Surely no one really wants to change what a canon can already do. Taking such a step would make a much larger difference than most would imagine. Personally, I don't think their stats should be changed. Fanons, however, should have the right.

Fanons are only allowed a certain amount of stats when being approved, so why not allow status growth? I'm all for it. And I'm all for the keeping canons as they were, but there should be some way to allow some type of growth in them. Emotional or some other type?

No sigs in RPG forums please -Devastron

[Phasewing]

-edit-

Ignore this, cause my post isn't worth it.

[Ember]

The answer to the "stat" issue was handled already. J has already put a end to that matter; so let's get off the subject.

[Phasewing]

The answer to the "stat" issue was handled already. J has already put a end to that matter; so let's get off the subject.

=_= I wanted to get my say in, sorry if it seems rather late for it.

The best that can be done is to ignore my post, then. ~.~

.................. ;_; *sniffles..*

[Conveyus Prime]

Here now, no need to get all huffy and nasty in here. Irregardless of if J actually settled the matter or not, people were still talking about possible applications for it. Therefore, it is only reasonable for one to assume that the matter had NOT been settled.

*shrugs* But what do I know, eh?

*patpats ES* It's alright. I would've liked to've seen your idea, though.

[Gatkowski]

People, cool down a little. There's no need to get snappy at each other. I know waiting for the game to get up and running again can be a little frustrating. Sorry for the delay, but we're working on some slight changes to implement and make the game more fluent.

Still, I'd like to quote myself from earlier: "There won't be any stat upgrades, period." This is a board message-based roleplaying game. Stats have far less to do with the gameplay itself than in traditional, paper-and-dice RPGs. Stats won't automatically grant you anything, if you don't play the character right.

Why is it so important to boost the characters anyway? What will you achieve by it? And what if the character reaches top-notch level? Any answer to these questions won't make you a better roleplayer, and certainly won't give you a better understanding of your character.

Every character has a place in the story, regardless of their stats. Apart from being able to beat more folks in battle, Shockwave is pretty much the same as any other character. Has his place and needs to be played right to make the game fun. Sometimes, he has to win, sometimes he has to lose. Sometimes he is right and sometimes he is wrong. And it doesn't really depend on his stats.

The only stat that can be "upgraded" in the game is rank.

[DeathCaller]

Good Lord... I leave my own thoughts on a subject, and I return to find other members on the verge of a new war! Heh, well, I'm glad to see that J got everything worked out. And like Conveyus said, what's wrong with continuing the discussion? Maybe someone has a better idea to aid the RPG. I don't want to add wood to the fire with this post, just wanted to make my point. I'll leave now. XD

No sigs in RPG forums please -Devastron

[HardHead]

Hey Gat, any word on a possible ETA for the RPG to start up again?

[Nico]

NO!NO!NO!Stat boost will cause too much havoc!!

No sigs in RPG forums please -Devastron

[Luciferus]

BTW... could we have weather and day/night changes on Earth and other planets? Could be fun having something else than sunny daylight all the time

Also would be nice to see the leading figures of both sides be more active in combat-situations. In all the time I've been here (3 years or so?) I can't remember Prime and Megs duking it out

[DeathCaller]

Good idea on the weather changing. I'm inspired to have that on the RPG now. And yes, it would be nice to have Megatron and Optimus fight more often, too. I mean, in my fanfics, they fight each time I have a battle. XD (They're also the most descriptive. lol)

No sigs in RPG forums please -Devastron

[WithoutMorals]

But the problem with Optimus and Megatron personally fighting is that in this RPG, they're way too important to risk their necks on the frontlines unless there's a damn good reason.

I mean, in the original cartoon they were the most recognisable members of their faction so of course they had to fight a lot. In the comics, again they had to have them meet and fight personally quite often because of their recognisability. Here, we know who they are and how they're their faction leaders.

That'd be like having Churchill and Hitler fighting it out. Heck, even generals would almost never meet face-to-face in battle. Could you imagine if Rommel had ever encountered Montgomery personally back in Africa?

I like the daylight thing, but the only problem would be how to organise it. Remember, some people post much slower than others.

No sigs in RPG forums please -Devastron

[Luciferus]

Julius Caesar was on the frontlines all the time despite being consul of the roman empire. Megatron and Optimus are like him in many aspects. And I don't only mean those 2, but also the rest of the command staff.

And transformer armies aren't like human armies... the ranks are a bit blurry in the TF universe and you see high ranked fight side by side with low-ranked on equal terms.

The weather and/or day-cyclus... it could be changed from 'scene' to 'scene', if you get what I mean?

[DeathCaller]

Actually, now that you mention it, the weather would be hard to keep up with since the rythm of people posting is quite unstable. Besides, as I was reading I realised something... Does Cybertron even HAVE weather changes(rain, snow, etc.)?

No sigs in RPG forums please -Devastron

[WithoutMorals]

Well, yeah, I do know there are plenty of generals who were on the front lines and often fought alongside their troops. Alexander the Great comes to mind, as well as Chinese generals from the Three Kingdoms period like Guan Yu and the Muslim general Khalid-ibn-Al-Walid.

A thought just occured to me in favour of Optimus and Megatron fighting on the front more often. Unlike a human general, who is just as frail (if not better armoured) than his men, the chances of a Transformer general being killed by a stray shot are pretty low. Guys with high ranks tend to be much, much tougher than the average TF, so they could probably get into more scrapes and come out in more or less one piece.

The cycle thing could work, but it wouldn't solve the problem of unstable posting times. For example, even though I check in on Seibertron at least once a day, I don't necessarily have time to write a post. Meanwhile, two or three others could've already started and finished a conversation.

And as far as I know, Cybertron doesn't have weather changes. I believe Luciferus was talking about Earth and other planets.

No sigs in RPG forums please -Devastron

[Blackstreak]

I don't seem to recall Megs and Optimus feeling too important to jump in on a good shin dig. Every once in a while one of the subordinates wouldn't allow Prime to get involved for that very reason. I want to see them duke it out like in the comics and cartoons. Besides, whats CR for if you don't use it?
Personally, what could be more inspiring than to see the big dogs get on with it?

No sigs in RPG forums please -Devastron

[Luciferus]

Yes, was talking about exo-planets, even though Cybertron does have an atmosphere since humans can breath there. Theoretically the planet could have some sort of atypical weather, but it's not something that is written anywhere as far as I know. Doesn't matter much though.

I don't meant conversation when I wrote 'scene'. Just used the word for lack of a more appropiate one. Maybe 'chapter' would be a better word.

At least 95% of the time there's always plenty of characters in the same region, regardless of what planet they're on, and the 'scene' or 'chapter' there often takes a week or two to 'finish'. Meh, I'm poor at putting my thoughts on paper (or web). I can just hope you guys get what I try to explain

Anyway, weather-effects in the RPG could make some interesting roleplaying.

Oh and Blackstreak... siggy

[AxiomScion]

Any ideas for a story arc for other locations than Polyhex?

Earth could deal with Dinobots and Jetfire viewing humans and deciding were they are on the food chain while the insecticons could do the same. It would be more of an observational arc that need not end with a climactic battle. It could though set the tone for TF interactions on Earth.

I think the heart of Autobot's activities and it's Decepticon counter part should have a few warroom councils on events from the various story arcs and have the leaders asses the factions standing. A few lower ranking mechs on guard duty could even give the grunts point of view. This could also make those plot summaries easier or even a thing of the past!

So TF Rpers what's the plan?

[Marcus Rush]

I'd say start getting things active, then expand. The storyline in Altihex needs some more refinement, Earth however is a story in itself and should be relaunched by some one who is involved with that story arc. Give it its own unique name like "Ancient Rivalries Reborn" or something like that, people follow similar deals while posting in local threads but every location involved in said story is contained with in a single thread. May take a bit of time to get used to, specially with only one forum to work with. Once that comes up we move from there, eventually we reignite various other stories and create new ones to replace faultered ones. Hopefully after Polyhex is completed I will have all the pieces I require to launch a fairly complex time stream arc sending bots and cons to a different adventure side of the main flow of the planet storyline. But that can't happen till Polyhex is completed and activity returns to normal.

[Devastron]

Unless something incredible happens soon, you can stick a fork in this game, because its done.