Dante's Abyss 2011

[Victoria]

Alright so, yes, it's being discussed. We don't know when and we don't know how, but that's what this is for! We want to see what the members would like to see for DA2011.

Please vote on which Dante's Abyss you would like to participate in this year. If you have opinions or ideas, feel free to post! Keep in mind, our member-numbers are low, so if you have friends or know people who might like to join this site please pass the word around. The more people we have the more of a success this will be.

Thanks.

[Jonathan Meer]

Wouldn't mind seeing a fleshed-out description of the four types listed above. I wasn't even aware Ander directed one.

[Dehan]

Voted for something new. The old ones never appealed to me and plus we're all waiting for changes so maybe we can have the new DA with the new things that will be implemented.

Or not if they don't come in still have something fresh.

[Jonathan Meer]

I declare a rule for this topic: You can't vote for 'A complete new DA' without providing a suggestion as to what the new DA might look like.

[Sophia]

Ander's saga was a lot like the old ones, so the option was taken out.

Basically, it did not have a grid, but it was divided into quadrants, each with a different type of terrain. The players would roleplay entering a quadrant, and if they wanted to move into a different one, they would add a tag at the end of their post stating so. At the end of a round, their locations would freeze and pairings for fights would be randomly determined (with "Do not kill" and "do not fight" lists affecting the process). Sometimes players would be chosen for a coliseum fight, which lasted two rounds instead of one, and always ended in a player death.

That's the basic gist of it--it's all in the legends forum at the bottom of the main page if you want more specificity.

Also, we don't even have a new concept for DA yet. If people want the old kind, they want the old kind. We're not going to come up with something different only to have it become useless or irrelevant. That said, yes, suggestions are welcome, but if you just "want something new" without specifics, just say so.

[John Doe]

I'll explain the ones Reb hosted.

DA 06-08 were all in the style of the book Battle Royale. After players join, they are given a collar that tracks their movement and contains a bomb. All the players scattered on an island. The island is broken off into "squares," and every 6 hours (4 days OOC), 3 squares become "danger zones." Players move about by PMing the space they want to move to. If you're caught in a "danger zone," your collar explodes and you are killed. Players are given packs that come with food, water, a map, compass, etc. Each pack also comes with a random "weapon," which ranges from shotguns and ki blades to frying pans, video cameras, and spoons. While the saga starts off as a free for all, players were welcome to create alliances. In the end, there can only be one.

Edit: I should mention that during encounters, players don't actually RP fighting. The host takes care of that.

[Piper Juunanagou]

Grids and weapons and an island. That's what I think of when I think of Chubbs, and hey, if we're trying to strengthen a connection to pre-Turnover Chubbs 'history,' that sounds pretty cool.

[Jonathan Meer]

Yeah, I'm sticking with grid-DA.

[Sigfried Hunin]

Well, I dunno about how much I like not being able to RP a fight... It just kinda sounds like "Movement On Squares and Also You Might Die: The Saga".

I'm withholding my vote until these are explained bit more.

[Jonathan Meer]

It isn't at all random, if that's what you mean. You do a lot of roleplaying in between the fights. A LOT.

And there's a lot to write about. And it's fucking frenetic.

As for not-roleplaying-the-fights, I'm not completely sure about that. I remember roleplaying at least part of a fight in the DA shortly after I joined (beginning of 2005).

[Jarka]

Well, I dunno about how much I like not being able to RP a fight... It just kinda sounds like "Movement On Squares and Also You Might Die: The Saga".

I'm withholding my vote until these are explained bit more.

Agreed. Perhaps a change where every encounter would require the involved characters to write a 300-500 word fight with no clear victor, and the host would write the conclusion? Or at least a little more clarification as to how it works. Is there any warning given as to what might be a danger square?

Otherwise, I really enjoy the idea of a tight grid system and the random weapons. I think that DA sounds more challenging and strategic in that means.

ETA: Meer answered my questions. Opinion still stands.

[Jonathan Meer]

Danger Squares (in terms of 'enter this square and you 'splode) are listed, and made known.

Squares that are dangerous in terms of enemies that might be in them are not made known. Unless you have a scanner (pretty sure there was a scanner?). Or Ki Sense 3.

Which of course doesn't exist anymore.

[John Doe]

Well, I dunno about how much I like not being able to RP a fight... It just kinda sounds like "Movement On Squares and Also You Might Die: The Saga".

I'm withholding my vote until these are explained bit more.

Ok, I'd get a bit more detailed. When the saga starts, everyone is randomly placed on the island. Here's a picture for an example.



As you can see, the map is split into squares. Every 6 IC hours (4 OOC days), a couple of squares are announced as "danger zones," and will become these "danger zones" after another 6 IC hours. Players were allowed to move 3 times. Movement takes place by PMing the specific squares you wish to move to (ex: Doe moves from C2 > C3 > D3 > D4). As I said before, if you move into a "danger zone" you die. Actual death.

When two or more players move to the same spot on the map that are not aligned, they fight. Reb posted all the fights himself. As Meer said, lots of RPing happen in between fights. Weapon assignments are random. Based on previous posts the players made, and their weapons, a victor would be decided. Fights did not necessarily result in death, but sometimes "injuries," which would also make a difference in future encounters. All death was fake, except when dying to a collar explosion.

Dunno what else I can say.

[Piper Juunanagou]

There were weapons you could start out with that were utility items (like bionoculars and a GPS) that gave you no advantage in combat but let you see where people were located.

I enjoyed not having to roleplay fights. I mean, that means you're not stuck roleplaying combat incessently, and it means not waiting for two people to write.

Plus it shifts the focus to your character's thoughts and motivations and opinions of the Abyss, rather than strong-arming you into having to write a small fights over and over again. In the grid DA, you could get into several fights and escape with injuries (which would then feed back into character-driven plot). Unless, of course, you're a bunch of out-classed (power-up wise) kids fighting the entirety of Ragnarok Black... In that case, well...I hope you have a medkit XD

[Sophia]

If it makes a difference, here's how grading would go:

Becca and I will be grading whichever system we choose from a post-by-post basis and averaging the result. Example:

Kaden posts.
I give it a 10.
Becca gives it an 8.
The final score for that post is a 9.

The winner of each fight will ultimately be determined by a running point total. If we do the new system, which it looks like we might, weapons would have a point total that would add to the score (though the members likely wouldn't know).

[Jonathan Meer]

I remember the DA in 2005 being a 'if you die, you actually die' type affair.

I'd prefer that sort of scenario.

Or, alternately, we could have 'dead' and 'obliterated,' where, if you die, you are simply 'reconstituted' (or whatever) at the end of the competition, but if you are obliterated (think, destroying Cell or Buu such that they cannot regenerate), then you cannot be reconstituted, and you simply remain dead.

EDIT: I know we need to keep things moving for people, and I know the afterlife has a reputation (I think, unfairly) as an activity-stifler, but I don't like downplaying the significance of death.

[Geeli Ou]

The DA05 one and DA:C you roleplayed fights (or large scale battles). DA 06 through DA08 You played the grid game. It was very strategic with fights being determined by quality of RPing between fights, as well as advantages/disadvantages (outnumbered, injuries, etc.).

DA09 was Ander's Quadrant game where you had to move around at least once every four days and people would be paired for battles with those in the same sector as they were. This became very strategic because people would try and plan where and who they would land with, which didn't always work out. Also DA09 featured coliseum fights, which occurred, I believe, when certain quadrants were empty and fights could not be properly paired, so they were forced into the coliseum. This occurred once. Survival was determined in the game by a point system, starting with your entry RP score and then growing or decreasing based on performances in fights.

What made Ander's saga so successful, in my opinion, was the backstory that occurred before and during the saga. Dante's Abyss is more successful in general with a good backstory. (The Takeover Saga DA, and Ander's were, in my opinion, the most successful). Though I believe Ander's style of game was more reliant on the story, and should be avoided if a good storyline to mesh with the saga cannot be produced.

[Alexander Trafford]

You can scratch Sid's vote. I will not be participating in future Dante's Abysses.

[Sophia]

Okay.

[Jonathan Meer]

Why so, comrade?