Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

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BadgeAddict
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by BadgeAddict » Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:40 am

Please don't take anything I say as highly offensives I just seem to have that effect on words. But are we to respond to what you wrote. Other than one person running off I didn't notice the scene changing that much. Though I suppose you mentioned the newbs digging in to the meat. Perhaps this is all I will need. When I wake up in roughly 5-6 hours I will write a response.

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Mereneth
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by Mereneth » Sun Jun 23, 2013 1:05 am

I am now very confused as to when I took offense to anything.

I am also confused as to how the scene hasn't changed enough. If all you see in that is one person running off isn't much, but another acting on his guilt means newbs eating the meat and nothing else in the scene, perhaps you should re read the post after you wake up before you respond and let it soak in over night.

I'm just going to hold my tongue for the moment, though. While i'm not offended necessarily, my mind is boggled by what you said and I am making strange faces at my screen as I type and delete lines that don't fit the bill to respond to this post.

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kurik
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by kurik » Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:22 am

I was going to go with the "think I'm dead" angle, but then I remembered that I'm basically playing myself and I don't do the whole afterlife thing.(Besides, who has to eat and pee when they're dead?) So I decided to go with "Think I'm dreaming before realizing either it's real of I've gone crazy. Please let me have gone crazy. Crap, I'm not crazy. Am I?"

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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by Mereneth » Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:27 am

I love that angle. 'Crap... i'm not crazy, am I?'

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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by kurik » Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:42 am

"Comma am I" works to. :lol:

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GathersIngredients
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by GathersIngredients » Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:42 am

Thanks for this OOC thread.

First of all I wanted to say that I find what was written so far extremely enjoyable. We seem to have a lot of decent to brilliant writers here come together in this RP, and the theme is really fascinating, so I predict this is going to be grand. (Or maybe not, because I may just have jinxed it. :P )

A few questions:
@ GM: are we supposed to make ONE post per "update" post you make, or would it be ok, if we posted multiple times - e.g. to react to what the other players wrote in the meantime - provided that we happen to be around in time to do so?
(because I would have loved to react to both Terrence's (if I interpret jibjib's post right) and Alex' attempted interaction with Lauren and maybe get some "chatting" going on between the chars. OTOH I can imagine that there should be "room/time" left for the NPCs to react to the PC's actions, too, so they don't get left out too much, while the PC interact a lot with each other.

Also, could you all please tag the raptors you are (inter)acting with a bit better? I am often confused as to who is the target of certain actions, and in case of the GM also sometimes as to who is actually DOING things.
I know that in game we don't know each others names yet, but for the reader it can be extremely confusing, if you just describe the one you try to interact with vaguely.

E.g. jibjib described that Terrence saw another raptor stand up and then fall down again and a little later another raptor calling out in distress. BadgeAddict has described Alex standing up and trying to come to grips with his raptor body, which at first resulted in him tumbling to the ground again before, and I described Lauren calling out loud (though I pictured her more annoyed to angry/confused than distressed). Yet it wasn't clear if jibjib was referring to those other posts, because there was no way to identify the observed raptors.
While with Sam, it was clear at least from the context, that his char was addressing Lauren, because he quoted her cries, and then describe that he tried to comfort the utterer of those words.

In the update post, I am not entirely sure if it was Niyazaki who tore out a piece of meat from his kill and carried it over to someone else, and I see no indication at all who could be the one he is carrying it to. (some raptor that is still lying down, ok. But that could be Theis' char, who is playing dead atm, or someone else I am not aware of).

I hope you don't perceive this as nagging, I just try to offer some feedback to make this story with great potential as amazing and enjoyable to read as possible. :)
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by kurik » Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:53 am

GathersIngredients wrote:We seem to have a lot of decent to brilliant writers here come together in this RP,
And I'm here to! :D
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by nikohl » Sun Jun 23, 2013 3:01 am

Agh! Woke up to two pages of OOC! Damn timezones :) gonna go read me some posts now.

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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by Mereneth » Sun Jun 23, 2013 3:43 am

I don't perceive this as nagging at all! Better details makes for a better story!

As far as posts go, You can make more than one post an update. I don't see a reason for there to be a maximum. Even my minimum is subjective. I started the response post when 6 of you had made your first posts, for example. Not to put a spotlight on him/her, but Beandip mentioned they were disappointed with their own post and if memory serves felt rushed, despite it still being the first day. Could another day to mull it over have helped? Possibly so! Of course, only Bean could realistically answer that, so i'll leave that there. All that in mind, I wouldn't have been against sitting back and waiting that extra day. There isn't a turn based thing going on, either, so don't feel like you have to wait for someone specific to post unless its the person you're interacting with!

Having the players and party conversing, even if with the NPCs, isn't a bad thing at all. I won't let it go on forever, mind; not because I dislike it [love seeing the interaction!] but because of the "time sensitive nature" of things. You won't have forever to talk in some situations, as you'll discover as things move on. At this point, everyone is having to get acquainted with not just each other, but their new selves. Time will still progress, though I don't intend to press that with every post. Converse, learn, acclimate! I'll keep the NPCs chatty and interactive in more than just update posts; you can count on that. If none of the PCs are interacting with them, they'll likely interact with each other and build their characters that way as well and not just through player interaction.

The only reason things seem to be moving so fast at this point is the story telling vantage. You'll have a little time to talk, but the progression for this initial portion is staged to happen while the whole lot of PCs are still a little off balance. As soon as that settles, though, you'll have much more effective chat time.

I'll pm you with more if you'd like, strictly because the more detail on some of this I go into, the less impact the content, my responses and the game itself will end up having as you'll end up predicting it [last paragraph before this one, for example. While you all know someone will die, that reveals a more specific when]. I understand the need to understand but at the same time I want to make sure I can give the best game possible for my first shot at it.

I'm going to do my best to make sure everyone has a good time and a good read while staying on their toes.

---

Anyhow, second question. The raptor Niyazaki interacts with is depicted shortly after he pulls off the meat in this "made a bee-line for the burnt orange raptor that seemed to be trying to hide in plain sight" as none of the NPCs know any character names yet. I'm fairly certain that every raptor, even the NPCs, have unique coloration and pattern described.

What do you mean, though that you're not sure if it was Niyazaki who tore the meat and brought it over?

If you'd like, I could literally refer to each character they're interacting with but exclude that from NPC knowledge until they actually learn it. That might help?

If there really are any big issues, though, do let me know! I've said it already in this post alone, but this is my first time doing something like this. I don't have the experience to back me up so that I catch myself out on things that others might clue into with more time in their belt. I have a lot to learn yet, I imagine.

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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by RidcullyJack » Sun Jun 23, 2013 3:47 am

BeanDip wrote:
BadgeAddict wrote:As mereneth said. There should be some initial and perhaps long lasting resistance between the human emotions and the raptors instincts.
Well, that goes into the debate of emotions versus instincts. I found this to be helpful: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1413480?seq=1

I think that a better way of phrasing it would be learned human culture and individual personality versus animal instinct and pack behaviour.
Nice article, but hard to read -- old academic papers are really short on headings and paragraphs. Bullet points are my friend :)
How much research do you do for your writing?

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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by nikohl » Sun Jun 23, 2013 4:31 am

Sorry in advance if I change tense quite a lot - I tend to try and stay in Past, "Brigitte walked--" but I often find myself wandering into Present while I type, "Brigitte walks--" - hopefully it won't spoil anyone's enjoyment of reading the game :D

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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by Mereneth » Sun Jun 23, 2013 4:36 am

Considering how tired I am, consider it a miracle i'm responding well at all. I should sleep for an hour or two >.< I'll give you another response later after I respond to kurik's Brock. I'll use ----- to split up the posts.

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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by BadgeAddict » Sun Jun 23, 2013 4:40 am

It seems that I should refrain from typing when I suddenly wake up in the middle of the night. :)

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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by BeanDip » Sun Jun 23, 2013 5:23 am

RidcullyJack wrote:
BeanDip wrote:
BadgeAddict wrote:As mereneth said. There should be some initial and perhaps long lasting resistance between the human emotions and the raptors instincts.
Well, that goes into the debate of emotions versus instincts. I found this to be helpful: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1413480?seq=1

I think that a better way of phrasing it would be learned human culture and individual personality versus animal instinct and pack behaviour.
Nice article, but hard to read -- old academic papers are really short on headings and paragraphs. Bullet points are my friend :)
How much research do you do for your writing?
I research on an as needed basis unless it's a subject I am very fond of. Like right now I'm studying the dynamics of pack animals and pack hunting. It gives me a good amount of knowledge to work from, that I can acquire quickly and use effectively rather than trying to learn everything about the subject. Why learn what people ate inside a 16th Century Abbey if food is never mentioned in your story? If you need to know what people ate though because the food has been poisoned then you should know what grains were available at that time of year in that part of Europe, what kinds of fruit were available, maybe even favourite recipes of the time because these sort of details give the writing realism and never doubt that the reader is smarter than you and will call you out when a mistake is made.

Research can be fun and I love learning but it can also be a method of procrastination or distraction when writing, at least for me. It can also result in infodumps or random passages of text disconnected from your story as you try to awkwardly squeeze in every neat detail you discovered as you researched.
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by BadgeAddict » Sun Jun 23, 2013 5:29 am

I actually tend to pull from my brain and link things together, if and when i want to include more knowledge, i will then at that point do a research lite, (limited research) and when i find the right wording introduce it, but only after rewording it so that it fits my story but gives the information. I have what i can the ability to see and feel the "flow", others may call it fung shui. basically the ability, to, (unless lacking sleep apparently :) ) see the flow of words.

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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by BeanDip » Sun Jun 23, 2013 5:32 am

Oh yeah. And never be afraid to fudge it a little and call it "Artistic Liberties" ;)

I have to usually pull myself away from research otherwise I spend way too much learning and not enough writing.
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by nikohl » Sun Jun 23, 2013 7:25 am

I am loving this game >:o

Seriously, I'm really looking forward to seeing how it unravels. I like all the games I'm in, I miss all the games I was in that have faded out, and I'm excited for the few that are on the horizon, but I'm really intrigued/successfully hooked by this one. I think it's partly because it's quite different to what we normally play here, or indeed anything I've seen before (aside from Anonymous Rex, I've not read much Dino-People fiction), partly because we're all getting to flex our typing muscles, and partly because it's quite detailed/realistic.

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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by BeanDip » Sun Jun 23, 2013 7:48 am

Since we have velociraptors and triceratops so I'm assuming that this takes place in the Late Cretaceous, right?
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by GathersIngredients » Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:17 am

BeanDip wrote:Since we have velociraptors and triceratops so I'm assuming that this takes place in the Late Cretaceous, right?
Mereneth wrote:Do you have what it takes to survive in a hostile world, stuck in a body that is at the same time yours, yet not?

Dangers abound and the learning curve for survival is steep as you step into the pack life of Raptor at Heart. Strangers from around the world suddenly find themselves torn from their lives, timeline and bodies and slammed, together, into the midst of the ancient Cretaceous period, assuming their new lives as velociraptors. Each member of the pack of confused, lost predators retains their personality, intelligence and mind from the life they held before. The instincts of the velociraptor lie buried beneath them, sometimes lurking to the surface and slowly melding into the very personalities of the 'chosen'.
Mereneth actually said so in the recruitment thread. Though I am not entirely sure if ancient Cretaceous and late Cretaceous are the same.


Mereneth wrote:What do you mean, though that you're not sure if it was Niyazaki who tore the meat and brought it over?
Well I think you interjected a piece of how Anoki was seeing/reacting to Niyazaki's actions, and I got a bit confused.
Sometimes, when there is a lot of talk done with only pronouns instead of explicitly spelling out the names, and possibly involving more than one "reference person", I can get unsure of whom it was the (last) sentence was/is talking about.
I'm not sure if this is a language thing, a personal impairment, or if this has something to do with the weather being rather hot lately (around 100┬░F for at least four days in a row) and my brains are slowly frying.

I tried to use name tags (in braces) whenever I brought a new character into my narration, so it was clear to the reader who I meant. That doesn't mean that Lauren actually does know their names, but I'm sure it helps readability a bit. Especially until we have learned each other's (and the NPCs) typical colorings/markings, character traits, etc.
nikohl wrote:I am loving this game >:o

Seriously, I'm really looking forward to seeing how it unravels.
Seconding this, to the letter.
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by BeanDip » Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:25 am

GathersIngredients wrote:
BeanDip wrote:Since we have velociraptors and triceratops so I'm assuming that this takes place in the Late Cretaceous, right?
Mereneth wrote:Do you have what it takes to survive in a hostile world, stuck in a body that is at the same time yours, yet not?

Dangers abound and the learning curve for survival is steep as you step into the pack life of Raptor at Heart. Strangers from around the world suddenly find themselves torn from their lives, timeline and bodies and slammed, together, into the midst of the ancient Cretaceous period, assuming their new lives as velociraptors. Each member of the pack of confused, lost predators retains their personality, intelligence and mind from the life they held before. The instincts of the velociraptor lie buried beneath them, sometimes lurking to the surface and slowly melding into the very personalities of the 'chosen'.
Mereneth actually said so in the recruitment thread. Though I am not entirely sure if ancient Cretaceous and late Cretaceous are the same.

Whoops. Forgot that. :oops:

On an aside, I think Hoff and Doug will get along pretty well from initial impressions.
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by RidcullyJack » Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:30 pm

BeanDip wrote:Research can be fun and I love learning but it can also be a method of procrastination or distraction when writing, at least for me. It can also result in infodumps or random passages of text disconnected from your story as you try to awkwardly squeeze in every neat detail you discovered as you researched.
Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children series (Clan of the Cave Bear etc) has the infodump thing going on. I think she tried to squeeze every fact about mammoths (and everything else remotely connected to the plot) into those books. On the plus side, I got a lot of general knowledge about, mammoths, but on the minus side, there was only really enough plot in the whole series for about 3 books, and the rest was intriguing filler.

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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by Mereneth » Sun Jun 23, 2013 4:18 pm

BeanDip wrote:Since we have velociraptors and triceratops so I'm assuming that this takes place in the Late Cretaceous, right?
If you want to get literal, yes, though I was debating making it a more general 'age of the dinosaurs' so I could use dinos from other era. I did make sure that our currently introduced dinosaurs are all Cretaceous based thus far; Mind, i'm not 100% sure whether a given species existed in significant number at the same time in a given era.

I would love to bring a stego and others into the picture on down the road, for example, but to do so I would need to dive into the jurassic!

edit: My use of ancient cretaceous was a generalization in relation to both our irl and character selves in time and existence.

As to artistic liberties, take your depictions for example. Lord knows raptors most likely didn't come in such displays of color, etc.

On research - its great for making your posts more in depth etc, but be wary of how much of that info your character itself gets.

@Gathers

Ah, sorry, that was a character transition and I had to place where the NPC was and how she was reacting amidst all that had happened during and after her interaction.

Whether it is a language thing, me making poor character transitions or what have you, i'll try to make posts more clear on who is talking and doing what to whom.

@Bean Quite possibly. War worn vets with the only difference being their human side age and the battles they participated in. If its alright with everyone, for the sake of Bean and Doug's story stuff, would anyone mind if we flubbed up the conflicts they were present for vs using IRL exacts?

@Jack Frankly, while the book itself seemed good the infodump made it [Clan of the Cavebear, specifically] a book i didn't finish in one go. Usually I tear through a good fiction novel in no time at all, while I had to set it aside to do something interesting before picking it back up months later.

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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by BeanDip » Sun Jun 23, 2013 5:24 pm

Merenth wrote:@Bean Quite possibly. War worn vets with the only difference being their human side age and the battles they participated in. If its alright with everyone, for the sake of Bean and Doug's story stuff, would anyone mind if we flubbed up the conflicts they were present for vs using IRL exacts?
I don't mind. I looked up the battalion to make sure it fit within my timeline and story but I don't mind at all if we flub it.

Go ahead and throw in all the dinosaurs in, realism be damned. Dinosaurs are wicked cool like that. I like the idea. Stegos are one of my favourite dinos anyway.

I'm not letting him metagame but I as the player have to be aware of what his animal instincts will pull him to do and how to behave. He's still going to rail against them.
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by GathersIngredients » Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:25 am

I don't mind if you mash the conflicts together, but wouldn't that make a consistency problem, because Doug was 92 or something and Nathan much younger? (I looked it up and his age was 38...) So even if Nathan had been in the conflict back when he was recruit-able age (I think that's 18, so that would be 20 years ago), Doug would have had to participate at a time in his life (72) that I highly doubt any military would still send him into battle. :?

I am also for using any dinosaurs you want to, no matter which time period they are from. But it would be pretty educational if you could make a tag with their correct time periods the first time they appear, if you know about it. :thumbsup:
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Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Post by kurik » Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:16 am

I think they mean using fictional battles/groups rather than ones that had actually happened/existed, not them both having served at the same time. At least that's how I read it.

Of course, I'm barely sobering up right now, so I could be wrong.

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