Virtue Universe Meet Union

Now that roleplayers of the Union server and American roleplayers of the Virtue server share the same roleplaying forum, how shall we address the issue of, well, the different universes. Take for example the very famous Paragon University Open Roleplay. I assume this exists for characters on the Virtue server. So the question is, do we contain forum roleplay events to its native server/universe or somehow amalgamate all forum-based roleplaying to one existence/world?

Nope, Paragon University is open to all servers, not just Virtue.

....didn't we already have a thread for this?

For what it's worth though, US RPers don't tend to have forum RP impact directly on ingame events. Nor do we have ingame events impact on forum RP. The two are typically held somewhat seperate - different stories using the same characters. Mostly because not all of us play on virtue. Hell, personally I have at least three characters in forum RPs that don't exist at all ingame.

So yeah, if you want to join us then go for it. We don't bite, really.

Thanks for the clarification. I've never considered forum roleplay being totally separate to the in-game world. I'm not sure I'd enjoy it like that. Kind of used to forum stories being an advancement of what happens in-game and vice versa. Character development and all that.

No, both sets of events have impact on the characters. We just don't tend to have one story ingame and the same story on the forums, as you seem to.

It's more like the "Wolverine Effect".

Wolverine can be in one storyline in the Avengers, another in X-Men, and still have solo adventures in his own book. The storylines may never mention each other, but they all still "count" for his character.

Yeah, that.

I confess, my stories are all part of character development and events that will affect my characters, period. So if I conceive of a thread as being unsuitable, I would not participate in it.

I suppose that, as with many other things (including location) I am an exception in the American servers. Perhaps it's the European mentality filtering through?

on the Union server i can think of many examples of Characters being stuck on hold and not in active play as they are waiting the out come of Forum RP , the link between the two is that strong , also the forum RP will be the basis for in game RP social chatter , with debate , and forming part of the Forum Rp .

I can also recall long heated debates in game about how much you can add to you Toon in forum RP, for example super hearing , or tracking by smell , how powerful you toon really is even though its a level 3 RP bot .

Given these levels of difference it appears the phrase "forum RP " does not mean the same on either side of the pond , maybe we should look to find a clear labeling system to avoid confusion.

Here we go again...

It all comes down to a culture clash.

The North American forums basically had the forums and the game as different but linked universes. They had the same sort of things happening, the similar background and history, but events in one did not necessarily correlate to the other. *BIG* events were identical (basically the cannon events like Statesman drinking from the Well of Furies) but little events might not be (my character ordering orange juice instead of a vodka cruiser in a bar)

The European forums basically had the forums and the game as being one and the same. Events in game spilled into the forums and vise versa.

Now that we all have the one pool to play in, there is confusion and tension.

My vote: Three verses: American servers, Forum, European servers. Keep everything separate. Disclaimer: This is the easiest for me, as I am already following this, my forum characters are mere reflections of the characters on the American servers and are completely separate. What affects one does not affect the other.

((Semi-Closed RP)) = invite only. Ask for an invite.
((Closed RP)) = invite only.

Labels are already established.

The only problem I can see happening is Euro threads won't allow NA players in because they can't participate in the Union server events. Some Euro players won't participate in NA threads because there are no server events.

We're (North American server RPers) just spread too thin for server events. So we treat the forum like cowman said. Much less hassle. Much less stress. Much more creative breathing room. We still have plenty of character development too, thank you very much for that little comment!

Also with character development, the passage of time in both forum rp and in-game rp can be too slow for some authors. My main, Gray Huntress, was created September '05, and while she only has 4 years of in-game history, her story has expanded twelve years post-creation (or what would be 2017).

On a side note, her brief involvement in forum rp has had no affect on my main Gray arc, even though there were some major events worth noting. I see this like how the servers are broken into 'shards'( alternate realities, much like how Marvel has thousands of versions of Earth); rp-events have just occured in a universe different from Gray's main universe (where Paragon City is utterly destroyed in 2013).

Okay so we've identified the problem. We have our two RP worlds now occupying these forums, Unionverse and what I guess I might call Forumverse. The differences are obvious. Union has a strong server/forum character link. Whereas the other is solely forum-based. Question is, do we embrace these differences and continue the way we are or agree to somehow amalgamate the Unionverse into this Forumverse, perhaps, to allow an even bigger creative bubble. Personally, I would vote for retaining our traditions and somehow keep the Unionverse threads clearly marked and separate from the Forumverse.

And I would then have to ask again, why have a merged forum at all if we're going to seperate into EU and NA players anyway? Just to save Paragon Studios the hassle of maintaining two forums?

Pretty much, I mean it's not like we were all clamouring for a forum merge.

EU RP has always had things from the forums go into the game. Threads like IC Rumours and Stories let people do the side stories and creative writing without being tied into anything, while the IC threads either take people out of play or are rather unspecific about when exactly they happen. Occasionly a thread gets ignored if it die or goesfruit loop crazy, but otherwise some of my characters even started on the forums!

I think it would be confusing to bring it all together and might break continuity. The two RP worlds have already been fully established, separately. Having said that, I would like to merge, but only if done properly and I can't see everyone agreeing to amalgamate Union and Virtue (or Forum, whatever).

Okay, bear in mind that I've been a dedicated Union RPer since about May 2006, and I very much enjoy "the way things have always been".

There are a few groups of players who need to be considered, here, as I see it:

The Unionverse players, who all try (very hard) to maintain an internal consistency on things that happen in the Unionverse, so forum threads about events in the Unionverse tend to follow closely, or merge well with, other events that are ongoing. The Unionverse operates in RealTime, meaning that since today is 21 August 2009, then RP that happens in-game today, is happening on 21 August 2009. RP that happens on the forum tends to be either undated or occuring on the date the thread was started.

The Virtuverse players, whom I know very little about, but I presume from comments made around here are a little more flexible about their universe and the timelines of events that happen there.

The Otherverse players (who I'm lumping together, but may constitute greater numbers than the two semi-official RP servers) who enjoy RPing.

In amongst these, there will be people who have different feelings and opinions about what "really" happens and what doesnt.

I would suggest clear tagging of threads, in the thread title, with clear definitions of basic terms, so something like:

"Union" - this tag indicates an event that occurs in the Unionverse, and should be considered canon for that universe (unless other tags indicate otherwise) and the characters involved.

"Virtue" - likewise for the Virtueverse.

"Open World" - come one, come all, to the monkey-dance ball! A thread tagged for this is non-canon for particular universe, but individual players may consider events happening in the thread to have happened to their character, for character development purposes. A mature approach may be needed when other characters in the thread occupy your character's universe - if you meet them again, decide between yourselves if the events were "real".

"Open RP" - any person from an applicable 'verse may become involved.

"Closed RP" - RP by invite only.

"Semi-closed RP" - initially invite only, may change - contact thread creator if you'd like to be involved.

If anyone can think of any other tags that might be suitable, or a redefinition of those above, then that would be good - better to get everyone on the same page as far as this is concerned.

One interesting thing regarding this tagging system - in no way should it prevent someone from the US servers joining in an Open Unionverse forum RP thread - or vice versa - as their character is just as valid as any other, but if everyone agrees that the events are real for the appropriate 'verse, then everyone is able to agree "what happened where".

That works for me, Shadowe.

I'd rather have a degree of seperation from the other RP'ers for all sides involved (Such as Virture only RP threads, or so forth) than just an insane clusterbomb of madness and the inevitable fallout. Changing our style and way of RPing on the boards after four and a half years doesn't seem very merge-like to me, more assimiliation-like. Just saying.

Oh, absolutely! The last thing anyone wants is to step on anyone else's toes. I guess it's just a case of saying "we reserve the right to preserve our 'verse and our way of doing things, just like you do, and let's make it clear to everyone when that's relevant".

I agree with Shadowe, a tagging system like that would be excellent to identify what universe the events are open to. I recall a couple years when I visited the Paragon University thread, the roleplayers there were so kind and welcoming. Especially that Cowman. I brought with me a little plot where my main villain Pistol, a fugitive at the time, fled from the Unionverse, across to Virtue, tracked her dimensional counterpart's children to the school, hoping to hi-jack their mother's more peaceful existence. When she was outed, she went insane and killed her would-be kids. Her attack on the school was thwarted by authorities, the student adventurers helped out and were awarded with a medal. Pistol was incinerated on the school grounds but was magically reborn months later. This very brief plot has been a pivotal point in my villain's character development ever since. Her mutant powers died with her but she now exists as a lesser magical being, a soulless, vampiric monster. We can have more of this, collaborative, cross-universe RP, just needs to be done well. Tagging system like that is good.

Haven't gotten too involved with the RP on the forums or in game yet (mainly due to writing my mains story and, well, learning/playing the game as well as just not stumbling across Rp much since I have tended to be on mission maps mostly) but I'm thinking I like Union's way better... If I'm going to involve my main in something I'd going to adapt it both on the forums and in game.

But then again, I think virtue's way allows a certain amount of freedom (and possibilities for just good old fun) that Union doesn't since one can go off the wall on the forums but keep their in game RP "straight laced" for lack of a better phrase.

All in all, I suppose one I do jump into the RP with more than Alpha's backstory I'd probably adopt the Union way for my mains that I take seriously and opt for Virtue's stance with my more "throwaway" toons.

Wow. Guys, no offense, but I think yalls're making this a lot more complicated then it needs to be. Seriously.

If you wanna take something as canon for your character, do so. If not, don't. It really is that simple. Heck, my main, the skinny green dude in my avatar, exists on no less than three servers - and he's the same guy on each, not three different versions of the same person existing in three different universes. Even though the AT differs from server to server, they hold the same personality, the same life experiences, and the same general theme, so I don't even bother separating people he meets on those different servers according to 'met person A in universe Q and person B in universe P'. I just say 'met A and B' and leave it at that. Nice and simple.

The same applies to the forums. The 'otherverse', I guess. He takes part in the threads that fit him and if the thread concludes (meaning it doesn't die or blow up; or even if it does and I just feel like it) I'll take what happened in it as canon for my character. Remember, KISS. I mean, if yalls want to make this complex and divide it up like yalls suggest, feel free to. But I'm stickin' to my guns. They're nice and simple, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.