Added Sub Account Feature for RP Characters

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I just added a new feature that lets you add subaccounts for your characters! You do this by going in to your profile page and find the link that says "Sub Accounts" in the settings section. When you create a subaccount be sure to include a password, otherwise you wont be able to log in to them.

These subaccounts are actual accounts, however they are under your main account. For instance, click on Fcgfyv's profile and go to his page and you'll see a sidebar that has his subaccounts listed there. Each subaccount can have its own member title (so you could put a little character description such as "Goron Warrior" or whatever else) along with its own avatar and signature.

Another feature along with this is the ability to post as your subaccount without logging in to them. If you are logged in on your main account, you can chose to post as your subaccount when making a post. There is a drop down box that you should see when posting, so try that out!

So what do you guys think? Good addition? Let me know!

(As a small side note, I also added in another block to the sidebar that shows who has been online within the last 24 hours.)

Thanks for using me as a subject Toko.

Anyways, I love it!

Yes, you are the example. Always.

And let me stress again. Even though it says passwords are optional for your subaccounts, GIVE THEM PASSWORDS!!! Otherwise you will not be able to change their information including their avatar and member title.

Another side note, there has been a joinable user group created named simply "Character", which has it's own user group image which you need to join on your character subaccounts. You do this much like you create a subaccount, which is by selecting on "Joinable Usergroups" on the sidebar under Settings in your profile page. When you go in there, you should see the group "Character" and on the right side should be "Join User Group".

Do not join as your main account though, as your main account is not your character. It is probable that having subaccounts for characters becomes mandatory, so look for that to happen along with more detailed information coming soon.

Is this really going to be mandatory? I prefer to write my characters under my main account so that I don't have to check eightteen different accounts for messages and watched threads, and so that people know who they're talking to. Additionally, some people have characters such as Horus and Luna, who belong together; how do I write those in one post if I have to write them under two different account names? On that note, what happens if a character is retired/archived? I have at least three retired characters that I no longer use. Does that account sit around until the end of the forum? It seems like a very convoluted thing to do, especially for people like Tsu, UD, Squishy and myself who have huge rosters, and if it really becomes mandatory for the Hyrule RP, can I at least keep it out of Ylisse?

Edit: The point of this wall of text, I guess, is that I see more complications with this than it's worth. Truth be told, I don't see what this ADDS to the RPing experience either; what is the point? Why did the mods feel this function was necessary? I see more trouble than benefit.

Maybe it's not my place, but I feel the need to add my two cents and say I agree with bp here. It might be a cool idea to give every character their own little personality in this way, but it honestly sounds like making them mandatory for rping would be more hassle than it's worth. I don't want to switch accounts every two seconds because I'm running a few different dungeons or quests at once. Besides that, I know that I've already grown accustomed to talking to people on their main account and it'd probably just confuse me to have to sift through the characters forum just to figure out who made what character and who I should contact.

I do not usually voice my opinions here when things happen, but I want to know why? Why is this needed? All I can see this doing is making it very annoying for people with many characters or people like me at the moment (the hard drive on my good laptop is fifteen different kinds of fail and I am back on my dinosaur until it gets fixed) who have their speed cut it is annoying enough to try to log in once for me. >.> But back to the point I don't really see why this was needed or why it is needed. If someone can please explain this to me that would ba appriceated.
-Ultra5

I'm going to be joining the bandwagon and say while this could potentially be interesting... no. All it does is over complicate things. Everyone else expressed their thoughts and kind of summed up how I feel already. I will be joining them in saying this isn't a good idea, and if it must be there it should be optional. It honestly just seems like more trouble than it's worth.

So you can add me to the list of people in opposition I guess.

I don't think you guys understand how it will work. Point one, you should NEVER have to log in to your character accounts to post as them, you can do that from your main account and select which character you choose from a drop down list. This means all correspondence out of character would be done on your main accounts, and the only postings you do with your characters are in the RP's themselves which becomes very easy because you're still doing it on your main account all that is happening is the post is done by your character's name. PM's and the like should never be done through subaccounts, neither should posting in the discussion and RP business forums.

Secondly, for things like BP's two character Scenario, make one account for both! Thats not too hard. I feel you guys are overcomplicating it before trying it out, and I said it was PROBABLE not set in stone that it would be mandatory, we want to try it out is all.

But Toko... if we're still posting from our main accounts and all messages still go to our main account, then what's the point of the sub-accounts? We have profile sheets that must be linked to in our sigs. All information anyone would need on the characters is in those, or can be provided through a Conversation. I simply don't see what the sub-accounts change.

What I'm saying is: sell this concept to me. Tell me WHY I should make subaccounts for my characters, what benefits there are to it, what the advantage is to having these subaccounts as opposed to using one account instead of nineteen. Because I don't see anything broken about using my main account for everything, and I feel safe to say the same goes for many of the others that have posted.

Toko's enlisted my help here a little bit, so let me see if I can help the situation.

You guys have made really good points, so let me do my best to tackle those and then deal with the larger picture. I would ask you though to keep in mind that when Toko posted this he was simply naming a new feature and hadn't yet felt the need to defend it, because we didn't know what the site's whole response would be. That said, BP's request for us to essentially "sell" it to you is a good request, and we'll do our best.

Let me deal with some of the issues that have been brought up, though. I know some of this is being discussed in the shoutbox, but for official purposes deferring to the thread would be nice as it's a little less chaotic.

1) Parent accounts. If you guys are worried that identifying an RP character connected to their parent account will be an issue, this can be easily fixed by simply requiring a link to their account in their signature, much like a character would be, or by even adding a field by their profile like we did with the 3DS codes. This whole system is a work in progress, like Xenforo as a whole, but consider this an issue that will be taken care of.

2) Switching accounts. As Toko pointed out, you shouldn't need to switch accounts ever. Logging into that account doesn't need to happen more than a couple of times ever, so really all you're going to be doing is selecting something from a dropbox after you post. For some this might be a bigger box than others, but it shouldn't be much of an inconvenience at all.

3) Editing posts. This is the one issue we are not sure we can fix yet. Currently the only way to edit a sub-account's post is if you log into them properly. This is frustrating but I don't think it's a deal-breaker. People should be proofing their posts in an RP anyway--which is when you'll be using a sub-account--and if something slips through the cracks there it should be rare. This is one of the things we'd ask you just to bear with us on.

4) Multiple characters. If you frequently pair to characters, make a joint account for both of them. If you infrequently pair characters, then just pick one for the RP thread, rotate between them, or do whatever you would like. As we use the system more we should be able to get a better feel for what works and what doesn't, like we have been with Xenforo in general.

5) Tracking threads. When you post in a thread, even if you're using the drop-down to post as a sub-account, you can check the box that says "follow this thread" and you will still get updates for it as usual. Think of your main account as a central control station where you monitor everything that goes on.

6) "It's complicated." You guys are all really bright people and I know this isn't beyond your figuring out. Like with any function or policy switch on the site, there are going to be growing pains. Instead of looking at it from the perspective that the next two weeks might be really crazy as you try and figure it out, consider it from the perspective of what it can look like a year from now, or what it would look if we'd simply always used the system. The problem is not the system, it's going to be the transition, but I know you can handle it, and the staff will be here to help.


Okay, so why are we talking about sub-accounts? Is it worth it? What does it really add? Should we fix what may not have been broken?

From a roleplay perspective, there's more to be gained than simply adding a blip of immersion to the thread. This isn't like just changing your avatar on the cbox or getting a name change on the forums because you feel like changing it up, it's something different. Roleplay, at its heart, has always been about removing yourself from the OOC and planting yourself in a new world with new characters. Indeed, one of the greatest hindrances is that it can be difficult to remove yourself from thinking about everything in an OOC perspectives. While it may seem like a small thing, sub-accounts can offer a greater remedy to this and more strictly separate the lines between OOC and IC. Being able to do that is one of the most important things in an RP for a lot of reasons.

From an organizational standpoint, it also gives a lot of benefits. This will allow someone to more easily track how much a character is being used, for one. More than that, it allows characters to have their own avatar, own signature, and really their own life. It will allow someone to walk into an RP thread and know exactly what they're getting at, who they're dealing with, and what kinds of things they can expect. These are really valuable things to be able to add, especially since we feel the cost is not terribly high, once people are acquainted with how it works.

From a moderation standpoint, this allows the staff a greater level of precision on the forum. We can get a better feel for the characters that are there and what they're doing on the site, which allows us to better plan things like site events, new systems, and all the rest. Furthermore, it can also allow us to tailor-make things specifically for character groups. Characters can have their own titles, their own trophy system, and more. It just gives us a lot of flexibility on what we can do, and we think that's one of the things that makes this "worth it."

I know the way this was all brought up might have felt sudden, like impending doom, and definitely overwhelming, but I would humbly ask you guys to just take a minute, step back, and try and view it from more than just one perspective.

You guys are awesome--your cooperation is very much appreciated.

I'm not sold on it, but as long as the option exists to just post from your main account and I can ask others to do the same, I see no reason to oppose the implemention.

After reading over everything that's been said, my opinion comes down to this. I don't see myself wanting to use it, though I see why some people would. Don't make it mandatory, and I won't oppose it. I don't want to com back from a semi-hiatus just to have to fill out more damn paperwork so that I'm allowed to RP. Between the profiles, and Links to the profiles, we already have enough to keep track of as is, and that's good enough for me. I don't need to post AS a character to immerse myself in the role. I can already do that mentally on my own.

EXACTLY! Encourage it, but don't make it mandatory. That way most people use them, and the few who don't won't have to. I'd probably even use them myself if I decided I liked it after trying it, but don't make it required for people who really don't want to.

The simple fact remains that this decision will affect more than just you on an individual level, it affects the site as a whole.

The problem with only a partial implementation is that it basically denies any of the gains outlined in my previous post. Only when half the people are using it would it become confusing who is IC and who is OOC, who controls which character and who is on a main account. If everyone uses the same system, it puts everything on the same level and we can work with it much easier. The reality is that it is not so simple as a personal preference or a playstyle, it's the whole system at large. We have plenty of examples of this on the site already; it's for reasons like this that everyone has been required to post their characters in their signature, they've been required to use the quest system, they've been required to go through treasure and character creation, because the system only works when it's complete.

However, the decision has not yet been made, but when it does it will be made by the staff. They will listen intently to the input, to solve problems and avoid issues, but at the end of the day they are the ones responsible for the decisions of the site and community. I will say this, though: the staff has put in countless hours to serve this site, to make it run well, to deal with issues, to promote ideas, to take it to a better place--the argument that it would be too much hassle to to set up a few characters is just simply not compelling to me or the rest of the staff.

As always though, we do appreciate your bearing with us, providing input, and playing a role in making the site a great place.

Okay, tell you what. I've put some more thought into this and I suppose that the extra room in my sig to detail my characters' treasures, current RPs, etcetera, could come in useful. I wish to ask one thing, though:

Can you guys suggest sites, methods, or the like to get fitting portraits for all my characters? I'm saving up money for Super Smash Bros. and even if I could pay them, I don't want to overwork the resident artists. Not sarcastic or trying to undermine you, by the way, I'm dead serious.

Thanks for the cooperation, BP. :)

I used Dream Selfy for Marcus and Loft. I'll put up a test post in a sec to show you. The selfy is full-size, but I cropped it to just their faces, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

This is Marcus

And this is Loft