Coile

STF did not get done, but such is life. I go out with 537 badges and I guess that's plenty. Thanks to all who were along for the ride!

I posted my farewell on Roleplaying section, Union RP banter thread, so no need to repeat all the things here. My account expires today and as far as I can see now that's it for me.

Union was a good server. Thanks for the company everyone I teamed with, raided with, badged with or had an IC talk with. I enjoyed my time a lot.

Rock on, Heroes!

They must come to an end, don't they?

So has happened to my time in CoH. Today my account expires.

The enjoyment of the IC situations went into decline that only grew steeper and reached a point where I did not fancy getting involved again. No bad feelings from me, I hope there none from no one else either.

I always said I'm bad with alts. Stratocaster was fun but not "alive". In SWG it took me several months to get an alt (with the main gone) really going. I'm not up for that. Coile gone equals me gone.

I acquired 537 badges and wrote about 25 stories. I met a lot of nice players and exciting characters. I had very intense moments and enjoyed the stories, maybe on top being the clone saga of Sword of Truth. I consider this a good run and time very well spent.

[u]Fate of characters[u]

Coile will be written off. His father (Zirgei) and mother (ND) will leave to travel the world, and Andrea will go with them (Coila is leaving the game as well). Whether or not Andrew will go with them depends on Ammon.

Winter Heart stays in Paragon City living on her own. Not that anyone cares seeing how Winter was out and about several months ago.

Freja Torsdotter continues to serve in the ranks of the Apache Longbow unit. If you see a well-rounded girl with an attitude kicking in the teeth of some trolls, it's probably Freja.

Erinella Dusk tells Aesc that her book is done. Now she has to find a publisher and for that she needs to be out of the Freehold. She'll pack her things and go.

Jane Bright was always an NPC to support Diana's story. Jane is now released back to @Rhino.

Michel Sanders and Mr. Marocco will stay in jail. Other Hand of Andros survivors like Sparks Blackbeard and Magnus Strong will decrease their visibility and keep at small time activity, hardly worthy of attention of any justice seeker.

Stratocaster will go to Europe with Genemi to enjoy the local rock scene.

[u]Fate of plots[u]

There will be a story and some IC communications wrapping up Coile's situation. Maybe I should have wrapped things up before and be in-game for fallout but when I noticed the account expiration being Dec 24th I had the perfect final tale to be told.

The remaining members of Silent Tempest should choose a new leader. I made Coila's character Getilla a "Leader" in Tempest so that you can appoint someone on the highest status. Getilla will leave after that. Try to sort it out in due time because Coila's account is likely to run out sometime mid-January.

With me out Blackdove isn't likely to return either but we prefer to see Fourth Wall keeping going even after us. The club has been handed over to Loup Garou. I don't claim to know the player. At all. But I've seen the enthusiasm with which he undertakes projects, small and large, and keeps things rolling. Loup is now in charge of the place and has the freedom to alter the rules or the decorations if he so decides. Of the IC staff Genemi will leave as well but Purple Turkey's character Half Moon aka Ernest remains. Pay him a decent wage, Loup!

The imprisoned members of Hand of Andros will remain imprisoned. If someone wants to interact with them I'm reachable through Tempest forum and MSN. Nightingale remains at large so if someone wants to bring her in, get in touch. The more peaceful members will vanish from the sight. There will be no further trouble from any of them.

The plot I had in mind about clearing up the origins of the so called Tempest Virus will remain unsolved unless someone wants to run the plot. I can give the details that I had in mind.

I will do two more updates on Union Wiki for the featured characters but after that it's up to someone else. I hope you enjoyed my brief stint on that prominent feature.

[u]After CoH[u]

I know there's scarce few other things that are inevitable beside death and taxes and it's safest to say "never" but for now I do not expect to come back to this game. I may but it's best not to wait or bet money on it.

Currently I don't think I'll be going directly to another game. WoW could not interest me less. Lotro is the same, even if I liked the books (and mocked the movies). SWG is my first MMO love but the cursed NGE is still in effect and I recently read a compilation of "all the lies that SOE told us" and it was a harsh reminder never to hand a cent to that company again. I've heard good things about EVE but never tried it. Maybe I will.

I have a respectable back log of tv series and movies from the last few years and also several hundred unread SF books in my shelves. May be I tackle those. Or write the book that I have had floating in my head for years, do it in my native language and see if I can put a good 'new weird' spin on it. Who knows, it might even sell.

I hope this clears most / all of the questions that some of you might have had regarding unfinished matters.

Have fun out there saving the lives and look good while doing it! As Strato says, "ROCK ON, HEROES!"

Thank you, again. This time for the Sewers Trial. Previously unseen content to me and three badges to celebrate it with.

I'll see if I can find tonight people who want to do a STF run.

I will do my best about Saturday. IRL may intervene.

Thanks for the thorough guidance to Warburg missile run. I was a but queasy about soloing it but completed seven more runs today before getting assassin-struck to next Wednesday. Two more and the badge is mine!

If anyone's running STF tonight (say, from 8 PM English time onward) I'd appreciate a spot.

The missile thingy that awards a badge (after 5 missiles?) is what I mean, indeed. I know I could buy something related to this from WW but I don't know howe much they'd help.

I don't currently have anyone to organize the Sewer Trial, no. I do not wish to impose at all, but if you are interested in doing this, I'd be grateful for the opportunity to bag three badges from this.

My online time depends on family matters, especially when and how peacefully zerglings go to sleep. I still very much expect to be on at 8 PM English time, perhaps even earlier. Global is @Coile

Hello.

I'd be interested in doing these shindigs in the near future: Statesman's TF, SSTFs 1, 3 and 4, and the Sewer Trial.

Before X-mas I will be on tonight, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. And from 8 PM English time onward.

As I lack the experience about these (sans a few failed STFs due to team mates bailing before the end) I'd be happy to tag along with someone else running the show and calling the shots.

Does anyone have these planned, or feel now tempted to run these?

Yes, I am a badger. Someone who knows what's what showing the Warburg run would be spiffy too.

New week, new featured characters.

Hero! Dee Dee Diablo

Villain! Sitania Matriarch

Go get 'em while they last.

Huge, loud, standing ovation!

That is one badge I hope to have but one that I do not expect. Only way it'll happen is if I get invited to a superb team like yours.

The plus side would be gaining five badges at the same time. So far we've had turncoat traitors who have buggered off before the main cadre of AVs leaving a partial team to tackle the big names.

In other news, featured hero is Jessica Raven and featured villain is Prophet Mu'Remar.

Oh yeah, a post to here as well.

Featured goons & goonettes have been once more updated. Check out Keening Banshee and Fionn O'Sullivan!

(( We meet again, Ghostwind. You and Echo were perhaps the first villains that I met, way back when.

And welcome back from those desert sands that were never the same since the great cities of Smugglers Keep, Be-Serat Slaret and Khor-Angar fell. Embrace the spandex and spank the Crey. They deserve it. ))

A channel has been created for 4th Wall use. The name is simply 4th. It's open to join. While the channel, as well as the club, does allow adult themes, again moderation and consideration are expected.

IC profanities have more leeway than OOC ones.

Is it just me or do the different 'levels' of information show with the same font size with the new skin?

I mean this:

=A heading=

==Subheading 1==

==Subheading 2==

In the original look the headings were displayed with different font sizes which made it easier to spot the structure of the information. Now I can't tell the difference, tho it might be just so minuscule that I miss it.

If this is a functionality that was lost, it's something I'd like to see added back.

(( To get into the Fourth Wall SG you need me online, and present. I'll invite characters to the SG or SGs into coalitions. I may assign helpers and announce their globals.

These days I have a habit of afking in-game a lot so a tell to @Coile might be delivered but if the connection breaks before I have a chance to see it, it's lost. Evening time I should be present (except Fridays).

Gaining a membership does not have to be played out. I'll just ask OOCly if the rules are clear. If they are, invitation can happen.

Once your character is a member, please add the name to the list in wiki entry.

I'm hoping the age limits will not become a major issue, regardless of what they are. ))

[ QUOTE ]
((sounds like a great idea Coile What are the IC rules regarding minors, drinking and general entrance?))

[/ QUOTE ]

(( Excellent question and one that needs an answer with some creative fudge applied to it. ))

Any legally independent person or a person with a standing hero license may enter the premises. Buying alcohol is governed by state and city laws.

(( Age is a tricky thing. It's sanely measurable only with 'regular humans'. There's your clones, replicas, AIs, gynoids, demons and aliens with whom the how many times Earth has rotated around its sun since they came into being has little to do with maturity. Earth laws use age as a criteria but in CoX universe age is not as clear cut.

I am making some basic assumptions: Regular folks have their IDs and can prove their age. Some people look old enough so no one would ask. With some critters it's really hard to tell and the answer would not provide usable information and there is no point in asking.

The only problem area left is human looking heroes who are legally underage. Paragon City has through its history shown to cater to heroes and I'm taking advantage f it. Fourth Wall has made a deal with Paragon City that anyone with a hero license may enter the club that is aimed for just their kind. The city already has vested them with authority similar to the police and sends them to fight criminals. Surely they must think them to be adults enough in some respect.

If someone has no license, is underage and does not wish to lie, then there is a problem, but it's one that I can't right now work around.

Drinking alcohol is another issue. Serving minors would be illegal. Then again there's usually no staff. And an adult can get a drink and hand it to a minor. A minor with a secret identity can pass as an adult. There's loopholes aplenty. It's not too hard to device a situation where a minor ends up with a glass of beer.

I wish to apply common sense here. IC-wise the management is not too fuzzed about this. They expect the clientèle to know what's what by themselves.

The GM-ship expects everyone to have a reasonable reasoning as to how they got their drink. Adults are handled by IDs. Someone who looks like an adult is good to go. A big demon spewing brimstone is hardly denied a shot of Jack Daniels. If the character is of legal age in some faery kingdom or is a time traveler with an adult mindset, they probably could make their case to a living staff member. If no reasonable proof can be given but another hero (the more respected the better) vouches for the young looking person stating that they should be served it goes.

In short, use some sensibility OOCly. Don't break the suspension of disbelief by claiming that a 12 year old street urchin is allowed to drink themselves into oblivion. Lots of characters would not let this slide and would have to intervene. What we don't want is situation where other heroes or the club management have to intervene. It will be done if necessary, though.

Summa summarum: enter the club if you can reason how it happens. Buy a drink if you can explain it. Don't stretch the believability too far. The name of the game is having an RP location, not carding everyone and their guardian angel before they are allowed to breath the air.

If anyone finds this unreasonable, please speak up. I'd like a set of rules / conventions / practices that allows maximum of people to enjoy RP with minimum fuzz. ))

Character: Stratocaster (Sonic/Sonic defender, level 16 and rising)
Server: Union
Global: @Coile
Current plot: Fourth Wall (RP location)

(( OOC side of things

Premise

Fourth Wall is privately owned technomagical club that is targeted for metahumans and people interested in the hero culture in Paragon City. There is no hard requirements for membership, but recommendation from a current member is preferred.

The idea and concept for the club comes from @Blackdove aka Wild Thyme who has also designed the interior (with the kind help of Doctor Temporis). The club is currently managed, IC and OOC, by @Coile aka Stratocaster.

Purpose

The club is intended to be an RP venue for those who agree to the rules below and wish to contribute to a good and interesting social environment. We want to have a place where discussions and other roleplaying can go on at its own pace without needless interruptions.

Definite unambiguous limits about anything are hard to draw. Here is a brief description what the club is not about or what is not wanted.

1. Acts that force the totality of the other attendants to pay attention and get involved with the situation are not welcomed. Having a shout match is ok. Climbing to the stage to say something is ok. Threatening to blow the whole place up is not. Sometimes IC is IC and a situation develops naturally. It is asked that such situations are taken outside at the first possible convenience.

2. The flipside is that people should try to seek reasons for their characters to not hear something that they see in local chat and which irritates them. Just missing something said in two tables away is a neat option.

3. Physical fights are not welcomed. IC the location is for relaxation. OOC you can have the tussle happen in Steel Canyon or in the arena. IC the people are asked to take their fights outside. One punch in the heat of an argument is reasonable but the rest should happen elsewhere.

4. Silliness in reasonable amounts is fine. Silliness for its own sake or because the player is simply bored is not. Keep the madness under moderation or take it to places more suited for it. If your character is unable to do so please do not attend with that character to begin with.

5. Pay some attention to spelling and grammar. Not everyone is a native speaker of English and perfect language is not expected. Basic effort is.

6. Keep OOC out of local chat. Group with the people you're playing with and use the group chat. Use Fourth Wall global channel. Use tells. A simple announcement of an (( AFK )) is not a problem but lengthier chats are. Use other means for them.

7. lolspeek irritates most people. Smileys amidst IC lines are frowned upon. Check Zortel's excellent guide for roleplaying basics on official forums in Roleplaying section.

8. Use your common sense. You are in the club having fun. So is everyone else. Little consideration goes a long way.

The management may assign some plot purposes for the club. If this happens an announcement about it will be made.

The club

The Fourth Wall club has been fitted with technomagical means which take care of the automatic functions, like bartending, if the staff is not present. While IC tampering with the systems might work it will hardly go unnoticed. If you decide to risk it, let the Fourth Wall GMs know about it (currently active GM is @Coile, PM on official forum preferred).

The club is always open but a bartender is present only at specific times (rarely). Other times the bar works on self-service and the bill goes to the member's tab. See IC rules.

There is surveillance by the entrance and by the bars. No audio recordings are made. Only cases where the security records are important are if disturbances occur. It is hoped that they never will be needed.

The club is hooked on the city's teleportation grid and members can access it from any of the normal base teleport locations. There is also street entrance from Steel Canyon near the Blyde Square.

In general expect things just to work out without knowing the specifics. Club knows what you drink, club knows who came in with whom. We hope it does not become necessary to start defining how it all works. Try to maintain this suspension of disbelief, please.

Membership

Club's membership can be attributed to either a civilian name or a hero license name. In case of secret identities both identities may be members. [u]Note:[u] If you have a secret identity, it's a good idea to remind your mates to consider which name they call you by depending on what you're wearing.

IC membership is just an IC agreement between the character and the Fourth Wall management. By game mechanics there are three options how this is represented. Please see "IC access" below for details.

Members may bring guests but IC and OOC they are responsible for them. If someone has been banned from the club they may not enter even as guests. If someone frequents as a guests it is wished that they will become members.

IC access

All characters who IC are members of the club have access to the bar. In practice this means three options.

1. The character belongs to Fourth Wall SG and has IC membership (or is a guest).

2. The character is in an SG that is in coalition with the Fourth Wall SG and has IC membership (or is a guest).

3. The character is in group with a Fourth Wall SG member as a leader and has IC membership (or is a guest).

Please be mindful that sometimes the "base kick bug" interferes. In those occasions the character cannot enter the base even if the group leader belongs to the SG and the base is set to accept such visitors. This is an issue only with characters who belong to an SG that is not in coalition with the SG whose base is being entered to. This bug does not affect SG-less characters.

One rather laborious fix is to create a look-alike alt for the member character and join the Fourth Wall SG with that alt.

OOC access

The Fourth Wall will be coalitioned with other supergroups to allow the members of those supergroups to enter the base. The game sets a hard limit of 10 possible coalitions which has to be worked around. In practice a few SGs will be kept permanently on coalition list while others will be rotated on a need basis. We are aware that this will be an inconvenience but one that game mechanics prohibit to work around.

SGs that are coalitioned with the Fourth Wall SG may apply for an IC group membership. In practice the membership is granted to all members of that SG. Each member is required to read and agree to the IC rules of the club, and each player is required to read and agree to the OOC rules. Agreement is considered to be automatic and SG leaders bear the responsibility to acquaintance their members with the IC and OOC rules.

Members of the Fourth Wall SG are NOT allowed to use other bases without permission from that particular SG. Breaches of this rule will be taken very seriously and may result in expulsion from the Fourth Wall SG. If you enter the wrong base by mistake, leave immediately.

OOC members of the Fourth Wall SG will not be permitted to enter the base / club without IC permission. They require either membership of their own (making them IC members rather than OOC members) or being accompanied by another member, same as anyone else.

Fourth Wall SG members

Gaining prestige for the SG is not an IC contribution, but OOCly we are thankful for any and all help that we can get in this are. More prestige means new rooms for the club, and possibly some basic functionality.

People are free to join the SG as OOC members if they so wish. They are also quite free to just remove those characters at any given time without prior notice. A good scenario is a roleplayer finding a nice SG while talking in Fourth Wall and hooking up for more fun with them.

The fourth wall

Yes, we know what 'fourth wall' means. The reference is made in-character. What for? Ask IC if interested. ))

Membership rules

To become a member an applicant has to agree to these rules.

1. You are free to enter the premises at any given time unless the club has been closed down for maintenance.

2. You may bring guests with you but you are responsible for their actions in the premises during their stay. Guests have to be aware of the rule and agree to abide by them.

3. If you are asked to leave by a member of the staff do so immediately and without quarrel.

4. The management reserves the right to terminate any membership at any time if they deem it necessary. Probations are also possible.

5. If you get a drink while no service staff is around place your glass on the bar counter for billing purposes. Your tab will be deducted from your account at the end of each month. Hosts are responsible for beverages of their guests.

6. Take fights outside. While Fourth Wall does not employ such means as Pocket D does it is strongly wished that no fights occur inside the club. Breach of this no violence policy may result in a ban from the club, pending management review of the case.

7. Maintain general order. People come to the club to relax from the hassle outside. Respect that.

(( These flyers appeared today (November 26th) across Paragon City plastered on the walls. Graphical version is coming. Timezone used is English time. 9 PM for Central Europe, 10 PM for Eastern Europe. ))

*********************

Opening a new, fashionable club for metahumans and people who are interested in the hero culture in Paragon City.

FOURTH WALL

Grand opening November 27th from 8 PM onwards

Entrances: physical one in Steel Canyon, Blyde Square. The club is also connected to the base teleport network.

Opening is for all. For other times a club membership is required.


On behalf of Fourth Wall's owner and manager Wild Thyme,

Stratocaster, herald of the new weird, consumer all things rock and fun-loving deputy manager of Fourth Wall

Ammon has a good point. This thread serves its function now, but by the nature of the forum mechanics it will get old, it will be outdated and in two month's time the information value will be minimal if no integrity checks are made.

However, until then this thread works well. It showcases certain points, it brings people together. It's a banner to rally under. In two months time this banner will be obsolete but it served its purpose.

By that time, in my opinion, the fluff recording should be done and dusted with. Wiki page and chat channel are for that. I admit to only done cursory reading but I think this may have been Ammon's point - trusting only this thread to float all necessary aspects of this project would backfire in due time.

I'm sorry to say that I have no channel slots for this and I already need to kick Union OOC for a project channel that will be needed since tonight. Unless I rely on badgehunters for mothership raid info, which might work.

EDIT: I'm good for Coile being mentioned in some black book.

Update!

Due to non-serious but time consuming zergling health issues all during the past week the effort to concentrate happened only this morning.

Featured hero is Restora.
Featured villain is Iron Alligator.

Do you people have a preference as to when the featured characters are updated? I seem to slip from the Saturday evening slot more than I hit it, and Monday morning seems to be when things get done. Would it feel out of place to switch to Monday updates?

Just in case the limit has not yet bitten your bottom - there's a hard limit of 5 global channels that your account can be on at any given time. While it is a very good idea to enhance communication between people and chat channels are excellent for that, there are likely to be people who just can't add one more.

Would be nice to get an increase for this. Would be nice to be able to have more coalitions than between 10 supergroups.

Wiki: It's a rather static data storage. It could be more, it could be used for a lot of other things, but alas, it is not. Currently I don't see it becoming much more than it is now. These forums are the main communication channel for us roleplayers and any and all threads that manage to target the crowd that it's aiming for are needed for that little extra boost.

Keep 'em rolling, Netherwitch! Your initiatives are one reason for me to start developing and realizing some floating concepts just to answer the call.

Zergling duties beckon, so shortly:

Militia has IC reformed. They have brand spanking new website and forum at http://www.themilitia.org.uk/.

Silent Tempest has also 'reformed'. It was long and tasking process and led to a leaner group, but with stronger and more uniform ethical stance. Charter is linked to in joining guidelines. IC is IC as ever, but shadier acts will no longer be tolerated to the extent they once were.

I'd use community plot. Tho, as I have previously suggested, in Union Wiki I'd just slap all plots under one banner anyhoo.

My play style more or less concurs with what is talked about here. Except drama is a part of what goes on. Things happen, like it or not, and there's reactions. A lot of it interaction between people as they define and redefine their relationships as situations change.

I have also a bigger plot in my head, have had it for a few months now. I just need to work on it more. It could encompass all those who wish to take part, while providing reasoning for others to stay away, if they like it that way.

There's also an RP locale in the works, also something that has been circling around for months. Maybe I'll launch it. Fits for whomever feels it's their cup of tea.

Then again, I might call it a day and go read books.

Global is @Coile.

Featured people updated! Crimson Archer and Kassie are up and running!

However with the new skin the link color is still borked beyond endurance. I'd like to see those styles changed to same that other pages use now as well, namely dark background and white text. I'd try and fiddle with that myself but I dislike editing code that I didn't write and doesn't have documentation. Pious and Zortel, how about it?

It was also noted some time ago that the categories are at the bottom with the normal scheme and that is not optimal. Will this change? If the answer is no I know people will be disappointed but an answer would at least do away with the uncertainty.

With my resolution (1280 x 960) the last button (The Roleplayers) jumps to a second row while viewing a character page. On the main page the navigation row looks ok.