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Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:57 am
by Mereneth
Simple out of character thread for the Raptor at Heart players and anyone who happens to be reading our story.

Cleaned up the post and will update as things move along with the reboot. Page 18 marks the OOC content for Lost with the Wilds.

Player list:
  • Nikohl (FF4000)
    ► Show Spoiler
    Raptor Appearance:
    ► Show Spoiler
  • Gathersingredients(008000)
    ► Show Spoiler
    Raptor Appearance:
    ► Show Spoiler
  • Arch Lich Burns (FF00FF)
    ► Show Spoiler
    Raptor Appearance:
    ► Show Spoiler
  • BadgeAddict
    ► Show Spoiler
    Raptor Appearance:
    ► Show Spoiler
  • Samwiser(0040FF)
    ► Show Spoiler
    Raptor Appearance:
    ► Show Spoiler
  • Feytala [#000040]
    ► Show Spoiler
    Raptor Appearance:
    ► Show Spoiler
NPCs
► Show Spoiler
What can my raptor self do?
► Show Spoiler

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:05 am
by BadgeAddict
I really like what I've read so far...I didn't mean to use background in character interaction, but it does make it a better read when you can see the movements or actions of other characters through different eyes. It's all very exciting. I'm gonna proceed to give a brief sample of who Alex is, and some of his personality that i hope to stay true to.

As for a brief summary of Alex: Newly graduated university student who somehow got accepted onto an archeology dig site. He has no family to speak of, his parents both died when he was young, so he grew up alone. Lea, was the light of his life and when she left him he had nothing left. It's hard to grow up with no friends and no love, then find a friend and a love only to have it run away (she died) from you. Thus, Alex decided to end it, he was(is) depressed.

Personality: Most would think of Alex as shy, but what he is, is cautious. Having had his parents and then his girlfriend die (leave him as he sees it) he is cautious about creating new friendships as he fears that he is cursed in such a way that people who get close to him die.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:06 am
by Mereneth
In regards to concerns about large posts, i'm not expecting everyone to make massive posts at a time; just try to limit/shy away from very short posts/one liners. I am glad that the intro posts from everyone were done so well and had supporting length to them, including their last moments as humans, though.

Mind, most of my posts will be huge, as i'll be responding to several people at a go, roleplaying the npcs and offering story as well as keeping you on your toes in general.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 11:42 am
by nikohl
How often (ish) are we expecting updates, Mereneth? I check the forums most days but I make an extra effort to pop on when I know the game might be waiting on me to move along.

As for character summaries: A lot of mine is right there in the sign-ups thread, she's an illegal immigrant whose family gave up most of what they had to get her into America to try and make a better life for her, but with no papers and no experience and no friends in the country she ended up on the streets straight away. She's got on pretty well, for a given value of well - she has her "home" and a few friends on the streets, she rarely goes too hungry or too cold. But she's still making her living as a thief and a beggar, and that didn't look like it was going to change any time soon. Before she woke up as a raptor, she'd been attacked near her home but didn't know who by. Personality wise, she's essentially a kind and good person at heart, but she's very cynical about everything and rarely trusts anyone enough to let that side of her show. She's family-oriented, or she would be if she considered anyone her family. She's probably set to be a pretty good "pack mate" but it's going to take a while for her to let her guard down beyond 'sticking together for survival and nothing else.'

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:41 pm
by LooksAndSmiles
So far I like the story going, aswell as everyone's rping. It's almost making me sign up, but I have to set the next minesweepers on track first, so yeah, just (not so) silent lurking for me, now.

By the way, I think that being able to "raptor talk" makes communication kind of easy, no? Well, I don't mean that it is too easy now, but it certainly alleviates the hardness of getting the hang of it. I've been curious how would you handle interacting with each other, this simple solution might even work nicely. :)

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:27 pm
by Mereneth
If nothing else, you can expect a new post every three days or so. However, if you guys are getting really into it and responding frequently, i'll try to respond as much as every day. The next content post is already being typed up, in fact. I'd have had it more or less done the day before if not for the virus finishing its course.

Mind, if you're not responding a lot [current exception is Theis2, who has informed me why he might have a lull between posts] you stand a very real risk of dying or suffering injury. Now, I don't mean that you must feel obligated to respond to every single post I make; you could be interacting with your fellow players and get stuck waiting on them or something. Just don't expect long, unannounced absences to leave you unscathed. [If the case of such absence turns out to be a very serious thing, such as your mom in the hospital or what have you and I 'take action' before being informed, i'll undo and rewrite whatever i need to.]

@Looks-

I'd considered it during sign ups to make it something they have to break into; as they knew a language before they were transported, it wouldn't be far fetched for it to be possible to acclimate. If you refer to the recruitment page, communication was one of the first things to be asked about. I ended up just going with it being something that just came automatically for a couple reasons. It seemed like something that would add a type of flavor to the game since the players could discuss their past at some point, as well as making npc interaction much easier overall.

----

@Players

Deciding the remaining npcs deaths is being based partially around your earlier votes, partially on the rp itself.

Two of the current [starting] npcs are evil, to a degree, and will cause your group harm [possibly significant harm] as well as good.

You have already condemned one of the pure hearted npcs to death.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:59 pm
by BeanDip
Woot! Finally got my post up even though I'm really disappointed in how it turned out and I'm sorry to everyone that it took so long.

I feel bad for the NPC we've killed but just because they're pure-hearted doesn't mean they'll be useful to the pack's survival. A raptor's gotta be ruthless and if someone's just a mouth to feed then good riddance. We need to survive, not coddle others. <-- I know it's an OOC thread but Hoff pretty much wrote that.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:17 pm
by Mereneth
The definition of good and evil, insofar as the NPCs go, is not constrained to their moral values. All of the npcs have something unique to bring to the table, but only the pure hearted of the group don't pose a risk to your survival later on.

I will make every decision count. >:D

A good tea must be properly brewed. This takes time.

edit: also, np bean on the late post. RP has barely been open 24 hours anyhow!

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:27 pm
by BeanDip
It felt much longer due to stress and writer's block and being behind pretty much everyone else. I rewrote the thing three times, one of which was completed and ready for posting before I decided I hated it and started from scratch. I want this to move fast cause it's exciting and fun. RP! RP! RP!

and couldn't a pure-hearted person be just as dangerous through their sympathy? Predators prey on sympathy. Say we meet a "rival group" of raptors and the pure-hearts bring them into the fold out of kindness but the rival raptors (rivtors? no that's awful.) steal our kill in the middle of the night or hurt us or something. Raptors, even our animal side or the animal side of others, should display at least some emotions such as sympathy. Empathy, grief, sympathy and similar emotions have been observed in Corvids and is thought to be important to the survival of a species. Since dinosaurs were the precursors of birds I don't believe it unreasonable to assume that even a fully animalistic raptor would be capable of emotions such as sympathy, even just a primitive version of it. And if these dinosaurs have those emotions then they can in theory, learn to prey on the emotions of others leaving our pure-hearts to be a liability to our group as well.

am I over thinking this?

and how do we communicate with other raptors that are not former humans? They will understand us, right? Probably have a very different world-view though.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:50 pm
by Mereneth
A little, though to try to sum it up better while keeping the previously mentioned stuff in mind:

Pure - Will try to avoid causing the pack problems.

Evil - Will not try much to avoid causing problems. Will intentionally cause harm.

Also, Bean, i'd write circles around you guys if i didn't stop to revise the piss out of what I type. OF course, my material would be so full of blargh that i'd probably give someone an aneurism when they tried to process it. Hell, I revised this post alone several times. Nothing is wrong with revising and wanting your post to sound right as that is how you can get the most effect out of your words.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:51 pm
by Mereneth
Whoa, you edited stuff. xD Hang on for better response lol

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:55 pm
by Mereneth
BeanDip wrote:It felt much longer due to stress and writer's block and being behind pretty much everyone else. I rewrote the thing three times, one of which was completed and ready for posting before I decided I hated it and started from scratch. I want this to move fast cause it's exciting and fun. RP! RP! RP!

and couldn't a pure-hearted person be just as dangerous through their sympathy? Predators prey on sympathy. Say we meet a "rival group" of raptors and the pure-hearts bring them into the fold out of kindness but the rival raptors (rivtors? no that's awful.) steal our kill in the middle of the night or hurt us or something. Raptors, even our animal side or the animal side of others, should display at least some emotions such as sympathy. Empathy, grief, sympathy and similar emotions have been observed in Corvids and is thought to be important to the survival of a species. Since dinosaurs were the precursors of birds I don't believe it unreasonable to assume that even a fully animalistic raptor would be capable of emotions such as sympathy, even just a primitive version of it. And if these dinosaurs have those emotions then they can in theory, learn to prey on the emotions of others leaving our pure-hearts to be a liability to our group as well.

am I over thinking this?

and how do we communicate with other raptors that are not former humans? They will understand us, right? Probably have a very different world-view though.
In slight opposition to my original post with the edited one, no you're not over thinking it too much. I want you to think and second guess yourself and dread decisions you were unsure of. The re-summarized pure/evil bit still plays a part, though.

You would understand and communicate with other raptors in the same fashion as each other. You might even understand other dinosaurs as time goes along.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:55 pm
by BeanDip
Just wanted to better explain myself. I do it a lot with my posts around the forums. I'll post something then realize I should explain my opinion better or more clearly or I should've said it differently or I could have said it better or have been funnier and then I try to frantically edit my post before anyone responds or reads it >_>

Okay. That definition of Pure and Evil clicks better with me. I understand that.
Mereneth wrote:You might even understand other dinosaurs as time goes along.
Cool. This totally opens up the possibility of convincing a T-rex to let me ride him like a horse. I will be unstoppable! :evillaugh:

:P

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:09 pm
by SamWiser
So we have two people who think they are high, and a few people that think this might be heaven. That should be fun explaining this to them. :roll:

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:15 pm
by BeanDip
Well what the heck would you assume in this situation? :P

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:25 pm
by BadgeAddict
As mereneth said. There should be some initial and perhaps longlasting resistence between the human emotions and the raptors instincts.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:28 pm
by SamWiser
It makes perfect sense from a roleplaying standpoint, but it also makes it a little more frustrating. If people think they are high/dead, then they might make stupid decisions. Especially when being chased by a giant dinosaur.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:31 pm
by BadgeAddict
I see your point. On the other hand, perhaps allysa's death will be a wake up call to how real this really is. Another good reason for an initial death.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:54 pm
by BeanDip
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.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:57 pm
by BadgeAddict
Thanks, but I find no pleasure in reading documents about people try to explain hard things that are hard to explain.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:03 pm
by Mereneth
BadgeAddict wrote:I see your point. On the other hand, perhaps allysa's death will be a wake up call to how real this really is. Another good reason for an initial death.
Alyssa dies?

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:04 pm
by BeanDip
Yeah. I found it to be a thick read too but fascinating and fun to learn. YAY LEARNING!

This RP has already given me a lot to research. I love it.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:06 am
by Mereneth
New content post.

So, contemplating 'keeping track of days' using the thread title, though at the same time the disorientation of not doing so would possibly add an interesting affect on how you guys post later on down the road.

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:28 am
by Mereneth
In other news, my 'title' has mysteriously changed to 'likes puppies' which leaves me very confused since it is obviously not the next transition in the 'chat frequency'

I can only assume this is somehow a custom title and wonder if the one who granted it to me thought my little critter in my icon was a weird puppy, and not a sentient alien species of my own creation called Draskhala. They're more like this as adults: Draskhala [Riarkraa] with a human companion

Re: Raptor at Heart - OoC discussion/chat

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:30 am
by Mereneth
Or perhaps it is a secret transition point as a joke about 101 dalmatians that i completely missed.