Okay, so as some of the people who are on AIM will tell you, I've been angry at the system for a while and I'm just now deciding to vocalize it. I suppose the first thing you should know is that I support the idea behind it; the ability to make run-of-the-mill or limited characters is sound and good. It's more the process that is ticking me off. The first and most glaring problem being that it comes across as, "If you make Hylian Honor characters then those are automatically better." Which, really, is insulting and should ideally never happen. I understand that this may not have been the intention, but really, when you give it a name like this, then give it ranks, then throw around words like quality or prestige, right in the explanation, you're kind of asking for people to start being jerks about it. I realize that I have not run afoul of this type of person on HC, but still. It's like an open door for people like that. For the record, I don't see why we have to deliberately lower ourselves as the only way to use "human" or "realistic" characters; despite the abilities and powers that PCs possess they're still supposed to be human, with real flaws. Midna could turn into a giant spider thing, warp around at will, and help him do things he otherwise couldn't, but she still had a backstory, and was a selfish imp until Link met her. Ganon/Gannondorf is the most powerful force in most Zelda games but he still can be tricked and thrown off the trail by Zelda giving the Ocarina to Link. Which sort of brings me to point two; the ranks. Some of the requirements seem redundant or don't make much sense to me. For one I figured that Mary Sues were not to be allowed, period, and that most characters in general are supposed to be faulted, in some way or another. Moreover, I know that backstory is also a stumbling point for some of the people I rp with, myself included, which leads directly into the "special snowflake" rule. How exactly are we supposed to know what passes for "normal" in the Zeldaverse, or in HC for that matter? For example, in Link's Awakening an ordinary shopkeeper could kill Link in one hit if he tried to steal and come back, and Compaction Pouches are stated to be among the more common treasures in their description despite being expensive for any PWC score and pretty much as expensive as a major treasure for any HH character. Going back to backstory, it seems like you are asking for completely vanilla characters; and, it's rather hard to piece together a backstory in which nothing significant happened. Finally, even in the three only accepted HH characters, I'm seeing a lot more commentary and interest than in other profiles, which dare I say, looks a lot like the favoritism issue I brought up above. I'm not saying to abolish the system, I'm saying I would like it to seem a little less snooty. Tl;dr version: I like the idea, I don't like the execution. While I doubt it'll make a difference what I say I would like it to seem a little less like "If you don't make a HH character then you're below those who do."
Personally I don't really see the point anyway. You should be able to make a weaker character without jumping through hoops to do it. I really don't see a point in the system and see it more as a measurement contest of who is better. I feel like if we are going to do something like this we might as well reward the better writers not handicap them. If we gave people more benefits when creating character sheets they would improve. Think about it. The quality of our writing improves over time in the overworld roleplay because we are all striving to get to that next rank whether it be regular or veteran. We have a lot of great character sheets(and by the same token we have some horrible ones me included). But why does it matter how well I write it? It is something I'll never look at again, all it should have is enough information for my fellow roleplayers to understand. If you wish people to strive to improve their character sheets, which I assume is the point of this Hylian Honors thing, I think my was would be more optimal. Furthermore I feel like putting these limitations on a character aren't gonna really make them as fun to use. I write so I can escape the world and go into a fantasy realm that I love. If I am roleplaying as someone normal(i.e. me) then what is the point. Realistically it isn't effecting me in the slightest so I don't care if it stays, I just don't agree with the system and I feel like it sounds kinda snooty.
This is exactly what I was saying in the staff form. Use words like "underdog" instead of "honored." It was worse in the idea's original incantation, and the ranks themselves have received better nomenclature, but overall it still haves that subtle undertone of flaunting how honored characters are better... I mean, really, they're even called "honored." =/ Exactly. One of my characters literally almost died fighting a normal, lone Chuchu he could see from a distance. This is normal for him. But I don't want to be forced to remake Gustav and weaken his attributes just to meet some rank of 'honor'... I mean, I don't have anything against someone who wants to do that, but it seems silly to me. (Then again, a lot of things seem silly to me.) In all fairness, I am pretty sure a shopkeeper whom fired massive bolts of black lightning from his hands is not a "normal" shopkeeper even in Zelda terms. (Also, the compaction pouch should admittedly be made cheaper, but, yeah.) Now that I somewhat disagree with. These characters are intended to meet much more strict requirements, so they would under most circumstances warrant more "commentary"... especially when it's still trying to be figured out precisely when and how a character qualifies for the different ranks. That's not to mention, it seems you're basically telling staff what they can and can't comment on, which seems to be to be very worthy. Anyway, I otherwise agree with the rest of the above. The system as it is now seems like it could use a few tweaks... Hopefully the rest of the staff will agree. ...Yeah, that attitude is really starting to annoy me. Next time I see a post from you saying that, I'll be sure to follow your apparent wishes by ignoring it. EDIT: Also, I completely agree with everything Premium Chaos said, and that sentiment is what I've been tried to portray towards Bitoko and Rib Steak I said how I felt it was pointless, but figured someone would want to use it just because... and for that I assumed (and still do asusme) it wasn't worth trying adamantly to stop it. A few tweaks to it would still be nice, however. Tl;dr - What they said.
First, I'd like to say, thank you for the input, and I wish you'd come forth sooner. That said, we'll take what all of you say into consideration, and we may or may not make changes to the system once we've weighed the pros and cons of making said changes. The whole point of the introduction of the Hylian Honor system was to push people to strive towards higher quality characters, and a different mindset when it comes to character creation and roleplaying. While this does indeed suggest that Hylian Honor characters are, by default, better than a regular character, it should not be interpreted this way. Generally, yes, a Hylian Honor character really is better, if only because it has set requirements that need to be met before it passes. The system is very different from the rules that govern standard character grading, and because it's something different, we'd hoped that it would bring something new to the table. In doing this, it had been our intention that, in adapting to this new sort of roleplaying and character creation, the roleplayers of HC would be pushed to improve on certain aspects of their roleplaying if they chose to do so. I'd like to address this point specifically: We're not saying that characters not using the HH system aren't realistic or human. Characters who fall in either the devoted or ascetic category simply have that as a requirement; people are more than welcome to create unique characters outside of the system, that are, or are not, a realistic portrayal of real-life people. I've seen plenty of non-HH characters that are "realistic", and conversely I've seen many of them that aren't, and many of them are good solid characters, from both categories. BP brought up a similar point; when the system was initially introduced, she was worried that the Hylian Honor system might affect our member ranking system. It had been her worry that HH would somehow become a requirement to become promoted to Veteran; in answer to both these concerns, I'd like to say that, while characters may receive extra attention (since they have more requirements), members will be treated impartially, in terms of whether or not they use this system. Promotions (in terms of member ranks) are ultimately up to the members (though historically, staff usually puts up people's promotion threads), and even staff will be promoting people on a non-biased basis. While it is true that, if someone is able to meet the requirements of HH, it usually indicates that a person meets some of the standards needed for being promoted, people will not be promoted simply on that principal. Personally, if someone makes an HH character simply for the purposes of being promoted (or for "bragging" rights), I will personally fail the character and deliver a swift kick to the groin. While it was possible, before Hylian Honor, for people to opt out of using all their PWC points or creation rupees, it wasn't something that occurred to many, if any people at all. Personally, I found the idea intriguing, hence my support of the system. It seemed like a good idea to put this possibility of sacrificing statistically out there, and the HH system seemed a good way of doing this. Something that we also wanted to promote was the creation of solid characters that people are emotionally invested in, straight out of creation. By having a system that had our members invest a lot of time into their characters, we wanted to not only improve character standards, but to also prevent the creation of half-baked characters whom someone might never actually use, post creation. As for the ranks themselves, we used rank names to mostly indicate the intensity to which a member was willing to use the HH system. But we also had the problem of having any sort of incentive to use the system, aside from "Oh, using it will help your creativity in certain aspects of roleplay." The ranks were designed to be something to strive for, and the names were chosen to specifically not sound elitist or pretentious. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have come across that way. Like PC seems to point out, the Hylian Honor system has a large flaw in its incentive system. Currently, it seems only to be powered by self-motivation, since, as you said, "I have not run afoul of [a douchey, pretentious] type of person on HC". This is something that we'd like to improve on in the future, but we're a little at a loss as how to go about this; many members would perceive rewards for Devoted/Ascetic characters as being both counter intuitive, and hypocritical, and in many cases it would be. If any of you have any thoughts/ideas on this, I'd LOVE to hear them. Significant things happen to people all the time; while our lives might not seem terribly exciting when compared to the life of some heroic, larger-than-life character, all of us have events in our lives that have defined us as people. As I'd said before, the HH system is a new way of going about character creation, and this is a great part of it. Many of us, myself included, are used to making characters who are realistic in terms of how they are shaped by their backstory, but not necessarily the cause of those events. Allow me to illustrate; my main character, Dante (and by far my favorite), was once an honorable Deku, who is scarred because he killed his own family and recently lost his adoptive son to Ganon's invasion. While he acts appropriately given his past, I can't say that these are common occurrences in people's lives. On the other hand, my recent ascetic character, Rellitt, is a boy who inherited polio from his father, who'd contracted it from a woman just before a battle against Ganon's forces when he was young. While this certainly is not something that occurs in first world countries very often, if at all, polio is an incredibly common disease throughout the rest of the world, as are many other STDs. By taking a perfectly common disease, I strove to create a character whose history might be considered "normal", in comparison to the rest of my characters. In terms of difficulty, at first, writing such a backstory might be difficult, but I don't believe that it's because of any problem with creativity, or some other mechanical problem. I think the difficult is generated by most of us simply not being used to creating such characters, but I think that once people get the hang of it, it comes rather easily. I think Guy answered this pretty well. PC also said the same thing, that he would like it to seem less snooty. While we had intended it not to seem this way, please take into consideration that we, as staff, are nowhere near being perfect. But, since posts are so easily edited, it's not like we can't continue to improve on the wording of the system, and that's something I'd like to personally handle. This was a concern that Guy had voiced before we released the system. And yes, it is distinctly possible that many members won't find any enjoyment out of roleplaying a "normal" character. However, let me phrase it this way; isn't it more immersive if you roleplay a character who is "normal", just as we are, trying to exist in a fantasy world? I hate to sound like I have some kind of weird-ass roleplaying fetish, but it makes me tingly to think of the possibilities of this point of view. There are so many what ifs to be explored, that it makes me very excited! But anyways, the HH system was meant to encourage this sort of roleplaying, but we're not forcing any of you to use it. You are more than welcome, if not encouraged, to make characters like this using the regular character creation rules. This system is out there for those that might not normally make a character like this, if the HH system didn't exist. This really seems to be the most outstanding problem that everyone has with the HH system. However, I'd like to stress that the thing to take away from the HH system is not the mechanical restraints that have been put on it, but the unique backstories that are required. All mechanical aspects are meant to augment this idea of "normalcy", and to further encourage the building of a proper character for the system. Characters under the HH system are generally better thought out than regular characters, due to their requirements, but they are not intrinsically better than all characters. It really seems to me that people are interpreting this system in the wrong way; rather than look at it as being something that encourages elitism and a "better-than-thou" attitude, I honestly feel that it's really just meant to be a system that encourages people to try something new, and in doing trying something different, that those people will improve some aspects of their characters/roleplaying. This idea of "newness" isn't something that should be limited just to character creation, but to all aspects of roleplay; for example, the entire HH system was inspiration for my Academy of Sages idea, which I don't think would have ever dawned on me had the system not pushed me in that direction. Now, I'm not saying that inspiration isn't something that can't happen outside of a system like HH, but for some of us, it's a unique opportunity that we might not find elsewhere. You've already had two staff members look over your thread, give their opinions, and agree with you on certain things. I'm pretty sure that's a difference. As I told BP before, I value the opinions of every member of HC, and I will personally make sure those opinions are made apparent to the other staff members, if they aren't already.
I kinda thought it was a pointless addition personally when I first read it, but it's kind of reminiscent of Hylian Shield's old character grading system, so I thought it might be kinda cool. My biggest problem (and most should take what I say lightly since I obviously don't actually use any of these systems very often) is the same one that most others have. It seems really dumb to hinder people for putting more work into their character profiles. Like, it already makes me not even want to bother with it. I feel like I'm kind of beating a dead horse though since it seems the general consensus is already on fixing the system. BUT YOU ALL KNOW I NEED TO COMMENT ANYWAY. Anyway, I actually don't mind the idea of making a normal character honestly, part of the fun of seeing a character grow is how they change from being 'normal' to legendary. I mean, Reu for example was a pretty normal Deku scrub, just trying to live his life when I first made him, but over the course of his existence he's transformed into a healing prophet of Nayru for the Protectors of the Kokiri Forest. So, I totally get that...if I'm understanding the purpose of HH correctly. Because really, if the point of HH is to create a normal character that stays normal and flat..well that's just no fun at all. I'll be done saying things now .-.
Personally I just see it as a big circle-jerk for people to prove they don't write Mary-Sues, because that is the worst problem in the world. Really, I've looked the system over, even designed a character for it. Granted, for no other reason to say "See CJ, you can make this kind of crap." because I don't really don't want to subject other sane human beings to the kind of stuff that I myself find boring to read. In the end, Ranald was just a Greengrocer, a simple Hylian widower who works his stall because it's all he really has to look forward to anymore. A mere NPC in the pool of people I create in my exploits in D&D. I'm sure only the crazy people with potent allergies to Mary-Sue-ism would be interested in Ranald past an "oh neat your NPC has a life" reaction anyways. tl:dr - I dun care for it.
Thanks for posting here Nolan and CJ, good to have as many opinions as we can on this. But, to me, it seems as if both of you guys are not really seeing the potential of the system. If you haven't already, you should take a look over the already existent HH characters. Once you do, you'll notice that they are solid characters who are far from boring; their lives are simply more normal, in comparison to many of the other characters on HC that don't use the HH system. These characters have a large amount of room for growth and development in the future, and will ultimately be pleasurable to roleplay for the roleplayers (hopefully). As I said before: "This system is out there for those that might not normally make a character like this, if the HH system didn't exist.". And it's certainly more than counter intuitive to make (or even consider making) a character for HH simply to prove to (whom?) that you can do it. If you didn't fully read my above post, since it was pretty damn long, I'll summarize it this way: The HH system was created to provide a new and interesting opportunity in both the character creation and roleplaying aspects of HC, that should be used by those that are interested in this kind of roleplay, not by those who are simply seeking titles or prestige.
Okay, I was at first hesitant to post because there's not much I can add to what Will has said in his post, but seeing that people have kinda ignored a bit of it warrants a response. The first thing I'll say is that elitism would only be an issue if the forum was comprised of a bunch of assholes. From how I view it, this isn't the case, with a kind community. The people on here are nice and anyone who upsets how things are should be dealt with accordingly. That said, my other point is actually directed at you, CJ. I won't lie, your post really rubbed me the wrong way entirely. It may sound strange for me to say it, but you showed zero discretion for the opinions of others when you said that. Even just the first sentence: "Personally I just see it as a big circle-jerk for people to prove they don't write Mary-Sues, because that is the worst problem in the world." Now you're assuming something based purely on everyone here being assholes and writing these characters just to show off or something. This isn't just insulting to the staff that put the system together, but also to everyone who's made a character with the HH system, myself included. While I may be only recently added to the vets, I'll be blunt right now and say that lack of subtlety is NOT what's expected of the vets. Try to think about using a bit of tactfulness and not intentionally pissing off am entire group of people. You can have your own opinion, that's fine, but when you phrase a few people making characters with a different system as "Circle jerking", it makes me question exactly how much I should take your opinion into account, as it shows very little maturity. I'm sorry for hurting any feelings, and I have no ill intentions in this post, I just feel that needed to be said.
I by no means considering it a title I want applied to myself, hence why I haven't even bothered submitting one, nor do I think it a title worth seeking out. Also, I've looked at the HH characters so far, and all I can say is that I find them, well, about the same as any other character, if not a little plain and boring. You know who is a good character? Dante. Dante Silvaros is a fun and interesting character that is fun to read and is worth remembering. Relitt? Heck, had to look his name up again, but the main point is, I really don't want to read about Relitt. No offense, I mean, still a good character, but he doesn't have anything catching about him, he just comes off as a bit generic. In the end, I'm not going to stop anyone from making said characters, but I find the whole system for it excessive when it could just be outlined that it was optional for people to make such reductions in their PWC/Treasures if they so wished to make more indepth characters. I guess I'm just a guy who finds someone like Dante interesting while Relitt is *randomly shoulder roll with a half-shrug while making some 'eh'-like sound* is best I could put to words. Dante > Relitt. ADDITION, as it caught me mid-post: "I'm sorry for hurting any feelings, and I have no ill intentions in this post, I just feel that needed to be said." Why should you be sorry if it needed to be said? You had the intention of making it clear you disliked something, and that you feel strongly about it. Don't need to be apologetic if you wanted to call me an ass, just call me as such. I just stated my opinion, clear and simple, and ment no harm in the long run. I mean, last time I said that exact phrase to dear old Will, he just continued the joke. I try my best to not assume assholery from people unless they go out of their way to make themselves an asshole to me, but so far that hasn't happened. I merely was focusing the blunt of that on my overall disdain of "people fearing Mary Sues" when taken to the extremes, which I see the HH system of doing, because I find devoiding all interest from a concept just as bad as making Super-Gohan-Cloud-Man with the +24 Katana of Laser Slaying. Sure, I could of sugar-coated it some more, it was blunt, but then I'd be doing what I myself dislike, and that is sugar-bathing dislike of a subject.
I really don't the big issue here, I've looked at the system and the worst it does is waste your time reading it. I mean I doubt the mods would've rejected a character that forfeited PWC points and/or starting rupees before this system was made. So at worst, it's just kinda useless. Although perhaps it's sole intentions are: 1) to give a label to approximately how powerful a starting character is, so that you can gather characters together without them either being all extremely experienced or prodigies; or having the characters within a quest have unbalanced usefulness and thus leave little for some characters. 2) Create a character that's easier to project onto; after all we're closer to the "ya, I'm average or a little bit better" than "BOW BEFORE ME MINIONS OF THIS WORLD'S SATAN!". So it gives players more enjoyment, watching a version of themselves move from average shmuck to unstoppable hero given enough time, as opposed to moving hero to greater hero.
CJ: Choice of words, boy. You're not the only person on HC. There are people who actually DO like the HH system and you're not being very considerate towards them. Your post there rivals the rage-fueled one I made that shook half the forum in question. And that's not a good thing. Otherwise: As Will pointed out, I have my own concerns about the HH system. While my concerns about 'have an HH character or veterancy is out of the question' have been alleviated since that's apparently not what the mods had in mind at the time, but I'm still worried about elitism amongst the people who DO have HH characters. I know we currently don't have (m)any members like that, but there is no guarantee that we won't GET them. Additionally, the notion that HH characters are 'better' leaves a very, very bitter taste in my mouth. And I don't like bitter food. As you all well know, or can at least tell from my sig, I have quite a number of characters not using the system. Are they all bad characters, despite the time and planning put into them? Are they inferior just because they have a full PWC, a full wallet, and lack a 'honor' label in their profile? Not to me- while some of my characters are definitely better than others, I make it a point to not make them Mary Sues. Horus may have his heart in the right place, but he's a Jerk with capitalized J. His partner character Luna is a freaking autist, despite my requiring experience in writing that. The only reason they are not HH is because I want them to have a full PWC, they are Ikanans and therefor 'special snowflakes' (and they were made before the HH system came to be). Yet one could say that they are bad characters because they exist in the regular system. If the system was to give people the idea to write 'normal,' mundane characters, rather than to promote discrimination, would it not have been better to add a paragraph or so to the Character Creation thread outlining the option to start with less PWC and rupees (I never knew that could be done until this thread) or one with the possiblity to make mundane people for those RPers who have trouble coming up with character ideas? I don't think UD has said it here, but he has said it to me: Those who want to make good, non-sue characters are already doing so. And those who don't want to, will not.
As I said before, HH characters have more stringent requirements than regular characters, and will, by nature, be better than just a normal character. However this does not mean that a normal character cannot be better than an HH character, as UD said "Those who want to make good, non-sue characters are already doing so. And those who don't want to, will not.". As I've said, the HH system is for those people that want to sacrifice PWC points and Rupees, and have it be written into the system. The reason we chose to create its own system, rather than adding another paragraph to the Character Creation, is because we do want to create "rewards" for the system in the future. This may take awhile, as most typical rewards would be rupees, PWC, or treasures, and this would make the system redundant and pointless. I cannot stress enough that the intention of the system was not to create an elitist group on HC, and that anyone attempting to make it so should simply be ignored. I rather like Raz's description of what the system should be, ideally: "It gives players more enjoyment, watching a version of themselves move from average shmuck to unstoppable hero given enough time, as opposed to moving hero to greater hero." I feel that this sort of development is exactly what we as roleplayers crave (though not necessarily starting as an average shmuck), and the HH system is simply another way to go about this. For example, I myself have made plans to change my Ascetic character to a regular character in the future, as time passes and he develops into a more heroic (or villainous) figure.
Will, you've gotta start using your best parts of the argument first, not later :P Oh, and did I miss something BP? "Your post there rivals the rage-fueled one I made that shook half the forum in question." Which post would this be? I think I missed it, and my natural curiousity dictates me to wonder what you could be refering to. The main point stands, I have less beef with the HH system if it does lead to an actual reward system, though at that point I just think people should suck it up and use the Pass/Good/Excellent system of HS, despite what Will might think :P , I'm sure people wouldn't rage THAT bad if they didn't get Excellent.
I don't care much for the system myself, and I've just chosen to ignore its existence. At its worst, it was a waste of time that the staff coulda used to finish or better more important things (Yeti ) but its not going to ruin my day. And if someone chooses to be a dick because they have a HH character, well then I guess I have one less person I need to be friends with. And Will, you definitely need to find a better word than "better" to describe HH characters. I know what you mean by it, its like IB learners honestly receive a "better" education, but the way it comes across makes it sound really pretentious and makes me wanna punch you in the face. Finally, over the last little bit, I've really started to notice the furor people are responding with. And I'd like to point out that, often when a person reacts so strongly to something someone says, others will usually immediately assume that the person that is reacting has taken the comment to heart because they DO like the idea of being better or that the comment being reacted to does have some merit and people are already feeling elitist. It kinda makes the people that react so strongly look foolishand are basically shooting themselves in tje foot. The community here has never been known for sugar coating shit. We're all very opinionated, and just because we may possinly hurt a persons feelings doesn't mean we're going to sit by and not give our input. Its life guys. People really need to stop getting their panties in such a bunch. No one is attacking anyone, so people need to stop victimizing themselves. Now, lets all get along, yes?
CJ: I'm trying to answer people's concerns as they come up, so my thoughts aren't exactly the most organized. >.< Jarin: Alright, then if you can find a better word, then humor me. But let's be honest, if we had a new roleplayer who joined HC tomorrow, and he looked at the rules for HH characters, and then for regular characters, what would happen if he decided to try making a character for each system? It seems pretty logical that, with the structure of the HH system, this new person would naturally make a better thought out character, with more thought put into it, for the HH system. Now, I'm not saying this is the case with everyone, nor even would it be the case with just any person starting to RP. But the situation I presented seems the natural outcome of using the system. If it sounds pretentious, then that's your choice to perceive it as such.
Man, it's getting so dramatic up in here lately. Not that I'm a saint, but when did everyone else start getting so butthurt over nothing? I mean, I love suggestions. Suggestions give me something productive to do without actually having to get off my lazy ass and grade stuff. What makes myself and presumably other staffers frustrated is... shall we say... the tone used.... Anyway, for some reason Will is being a ridiculously good guy by defending a system he had--if I remember correctly--nearly nothing to do with, while the two who were pushing it out are rather inconveniently on a leave of absence. So, forgive my paraphrasing, but the apparent three main trains of thought seem to be: A: "Stop making it sound so haughty and pushing weaker characters as intrinsically better (because they aren't), or just abolish the system completely. Someone can make better characters without meeting these silly requirements..." B: "Why should I bother making weaker characters for these silly requirements for no actual gain?" To answer B right off the bat, it's the same reason you play video games on a harder difficulty, or do something differently for the heck of it: because you can. Although I agree it's silly, no one has to use the system. No one's forcing that. To answer A, I completely agree. I probably should have spoken up when Bitoko ran the final draft by me, but I'm pretty sure I was too busy playing video games or something. Maybe it's because I'm so sick and malnourished right now that I can't think straight, but I understand why we have this system about as much as I understand why Will is dutifully defending it. That said, it isn't doing anyone any harm as it is, and it isn't going to change until Bitoko and Rib Steak get back here long enough for there to be discussion over it... ...Anyway, I'm going to either go lay down before I pass out, or play Skyrim until I vomit. Remember kids, don't overdose on sodium and vitamin C, while being ridiculously stressed out over nothing while depriving your body of sleep, while exercising every day to the point of exhaustion, while working almost every day at a job you hate smiling in the face's of spoiled rotten brats even when all you want to do is punt them into the lake, while the majority of your diet consists of instant ramen and artificial caffeine! <3
As Guy said, I have had a rather hectic week and am on a sort of "leave of absence", however things are getting crazy here and I thought I should post. This is true. I love suggestions, all of the staff love suggestions, it what drives HC to be better, but a lot of the time the tone of all of us (sometimes I'm included in this, I know lol) really hinders any progress. We shouldn't have to go to fists when we want to discuss something, lol. LETS BE CIVIL PEOPLE! What I hear a lot about this whole HH system is that "well all its really doing is making it so that you can do something you've already been able to do, make a weak useless character". I agree with this, it is true that it was completely possible before, however, how many were actually done this way? I'd say its probably pretty few. Most of the characters here are all paragon characters, heros, which is awesome and frankly, a Zelda RP should have this element to it. What some of the staff and I wanted, however, was a little diversity. Its more to call awareness to the fact that there are normal people in Hyrule as well as heros, and that RPing a down right normal guy, can actually be really interesting. I only bring this up because I've experienced it, and to me its incredibly more interesting than RPing a hero straight out of the gate. Think of how much more attatched to your character you could become if you did start out with nothing and was able to make your character great. Think of Link, (I'll use OoT as an example) he started out as a hated little awkward kokiri kid, and over time found a sword, as shield, grew stronger and older, got a bunch of epic items, and ended up as the Hero of Time. A lot of the characters here aready start out as a great warrior or a proficient mage, but wouldn't it be worthwhile in also exploring the side of becoming that through role play? Again, yes, you could have already done that, but it wasn't really on the forefront of many peoples minds. HH is calling awareness to it for those that want to participate in it. Now, as for it being "better" than the normal characters. This is not true in the sense that any of you are using it, and we as staff don't want it to be viewed this way. A character created normally can be VASTLY better than one in HH if enough effort is put into it, however the HH characters overall, as Will suggested, may have a more consistent level of quality simply because they are inspected more harshly. There have been characters in the past that look like it took the person maybe 10 minutes to complete, while when you look at Guy's characters, the backstory itself would work well as a novel lol. With HH we want ALL of the characters to have an immense amount of thought and heart put into them. We are not the type to reject normal characters just because we feel they are not "up to snuff", thats being fairly elitist in my opinion and I believe that RPers of any type, newbies to RP, or people that have RPed for years, should be welcomed here. I am sorry if it came off as "HH characters are 'better' than all the others", because it wasn't intended. Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter, lets try and keep things calmer, its easier to take suggestions and improve things if the suggestions are not presented in a manner that has become a growing trend recently.
Basically, the HH system requires you to take your backstory and do it all in the Roleplay, instead of doing it all behind the scenes at creation. You know, "Show, don't tell". Like, Nicholas is already part of the guard when I created him (cause that was his Origin :D and Guard seems fun), but I could of just made a younger Nicholas who wasn't battle-trained and stuck him just signing up for the guard, an insomniac farm boy with a desire to live out a romantic fantasy novel while dealing with his trouble with following rules. For the interest of time though, I merely paraphrased that in his backstory and focused on his post-training adventures, as I wanted to adventure in Hyrule like an impatient fusionpenguin. ... sometimes I feel like my posts Flippy-floppy, mainly because I see people word phrases that I can then understand and break down, .
I haven't RP'd on this site for too long, but I have been RPing for the past eight years almost, and writing short stories and acting for two years. So please bear with me as I spill my opinion. To me, the Hylian Honor system is neat, but altogether unnecessary almost. This system seems to be placing a lot of weight on the character creation itself, which is certainly an important part of the roleplay, but is ultimately not the focus, nor should it be the focus. Creating a "better" character or a character with harsher grading requirements really matters little in the end. It's all about how that character interacts with other characters, and so long as that character has the potential and versatility to interact with many different characters, then I say great. It's not so much the character that I'm concerned with, it's the interactions. That's the important part of the role play. If I just wanted to create a cool character, I could have just written my own fanfic, and my goal would have been accomplished. But I didn't come here just to create a good, cool character or write a fanfic. I came to this site to roleplay in the Zelda universe. I wanted to interact with other like-minded individuals who share the same love for roleplaying and Zelda. Creating a good character should be its own reward, but I (personally) believe that nothing is more rewarding than seeing how your character develops in relation to other characters. Ultimately, a character is like a tool, but no matter how well or poorly that tool is crafted, the roleplayer is the one who needs to use it correctly. Left in the best hands, even the worst characters can find a creative way to integrate themselves into the roleplay. I have nothing but the utmost respect for this intention, but I am a little wary on the practicality of it all. Diversity is great and all and creating your average joe-shmoe is very conducive to that, considering that most characters on this site have above-average abilities. But what is the point of creating the average joe-shmoe when he/she can't interact with all the other characters in the site. Even worse, what's the point if the only characters they can interact with are the other joe-shmoes? The point is that the character's destiny and growth really relies on the roleplayer, not the character itself. In a nutshell, I think rewarding "better" characters is completely unnecessary. Who cares if your character is "good" or has "realistic flaws" if the roleplayer can't even use the character well? Rewarding good roleplayers gives good results. Rewarding good roleplays gives good results. Rewarding good characters accomplishes nothing.
