Post by Colin Arascain on Mar 22, 2014 14:35:13 GMT -5
One of the more important facets of Bleach Gotei is that we offer a cohesive world truly driven by player impact. All of the great stories on our site have come from the actions players have had on the world and that, rather than staff-motivated plots or NPC-heavy solos, is what we encourage and hope to see continue. Our site's mechanics are what unify us; everyone is on a level playing field, everyone has the power they have earned, and no one is untouchable. No one exists in their own universe and no actions--unless it's you on top of that totem pole--are free from repercussion. Should they have the mechanical power to back it up, anyone can enforce their will on the world.
To this end I'd like to identify and address a problem.
Thus far we have used mechanics as an optional feature, as well as a dispute resolution process; only truly being relevant when one character is seeking to kill another. However, we recognize that there are many times in our world where important events are decided by combat without death being a goal, and while we have allowed, and will continue to allow, players to ignore or fudge the mechanical system to further a story or whenever they are in agreement, keeping this policy as open-ended as we have has harmed that cohesiveness that makes this site a living, breathing fictional world rather than people writing separate disconnected stories. We've seen time and time again when players have been challenged but not had the mechanics to face those challenges, and stories have slowed to a crawl as a consequence.
Because of this, people who have reached Prestige class, or anyone holding a position of in-character power such as Captain or Espada, will now be required to try to maintain functional mechanics so they can adequately face such a challenge should one arise.
This requirement is relaxed on those treasured few who have had the persistence and quality of writing and storytelling to attain Post-Prestige or Transcendant class--especially Transcendants--as they have already gained the trust of the Approvals department to have power that breaks the bounds of our world and fits poorly at best into our mechanical system. However, should they choose to remain in a position of in-character power, they will still need to be able to adequately meet any challengers that they may face.
We understand that our mechanics system is frequently changed and updated, so please understand that this is not directed at people who have simply fallen a patch or two behind and haven't found the time to update, but at those who subvert or ignore the system entirely and have drastically overpowered unapproved mechanics or even no mechanics at all. To a casual observer, your character must appear as if they can be challenged. Out of character concerns should not ever allow people to keep positions they might otherwise lose.
Additionally, a note to anyone with unapproved mechanics who doesn't fall into the one of the above categories; if you add anything to the first couple of posts in your mechanics thread that has not gone through the approvals process, please clearly indicate that it is unapproved, and keep in mind that you may be asked to remove or change it by a mechanical liaison should it prove too far outside of our guidelines to allow.
Thanks, and happy writing.
To this end I'd like to identify and address a problem.
Thus far we have used mechanics as an optional feature, as well as a dispute resolution process; only truly being relevant when one character is seeking to kill another. However, we recognize that there are many times in our world where important events are decided by combat without death being a goal, and while we have allowed, and will continue to allow, players to ignore or fudge the mechanical system to further a story or whenever they are in agreement, keeping this policy as open-ended as we have has harmed that cohesiveness that makes this site a living, breathing fictional world rather than people writing separate disconnected stories. We've seen time and time again when players have been challenged but not had the mechanics to face those challenges, and stories have slowed to a crawl as a consequence.
Because of this, people who have reached Prestige class, or anyone holding a position of in-character power such as Captain or Espada, will now be required to try to maintain functional mechanics so they can adequately face such a challenge should one arise.
This requirement is relaxed on those treasured few who have had the persistence and quality of writing and storytelling to attain Post-Prestige or Transcendant class--especially Transcendants--as they have already gained the trust of the Approvals department to have power that breaks the bounds of our world and fits poorly at best into our mechanical system. However, should they choose to remain in a position of in-character power, they will still need to be able to adequately meet any challengers that they may face.
We understand that our mechanics system is frequently changed and updated, so please understand that this is not directed at people who have simply fallen a patch or two behind and haven't found the time to update, but at those who subvert or ignore the system entirely and have drastically overpowered unapproved mechanics or even no mechanics at all. To a casual observer, your character must appear as if they can be challenged. Out of character concerns should not ever allow people to keep positions they might otherwise lose.
Additionally, a note to anyone with unapproved mechanics who doesn't fall into the one of the above categories; if you add anything to the first couple of posts in your mechanics thread that has not gone through the approvals process, please clearly indicate that it is unapproved, and keep in mind that you may be asked to remove or change it by a mechanical liaison should it prove too far outside of our guidelines to allow.
Thanks, and happy writing.