Character Life-Cycle Update - 2/5/2016

FOREWORD:
Members of Bleach-Gotei,

Last fall I set out on a mission to reconcile the biggest problems that I encountered in the course of giving players feedback, grading Milestone, evaluating Masteries, and overall fulfilling the role of a member of staff who wants to encourage improvement in our playerbase.  I want you all armed to take on the world!  I identified several issues, and the rest of the team identified more still, and this is our combined effort to resolve these problems.  First, let me make a special acknowledgment to the people who have contributed ideas, thoughts, feedback, and their blood and sweat into the discussions that have created this change.  Your efforts have benefited us all, so let me offer a sincere 'thank you' for everything that you have done.  Now then, off to the change log!


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Key Terms:
GP - Growth Points
BGP - Base Growth Points (Awards like Apps and Milestones)
Non-Base - Growth Points earned through other means, such as word count
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Past Updates
These changes have already been made to the rules and should have been applied prior to this announcement.  No action is required by any character that was created after November 1st, per this topic.  You may notice that some of these rules mentioned are 'older', however in the interests of making this as comprehensive and clear as possible, they have been included.

Starting GP
-All Characters begin play with 1,500 GP as 'Base'
-Players may ask to receive a grade looking to award exceptional applications.  This can award up to an additional 1,500 GP as Non-base, totaling a maximum of 3,000.
-Any character that existed prior to this change should adjust their BGP to reflect the distance of their original application from 1,500.

Character End
-Retirement has been extended to any character that has achieved the rank of Prestige or better.
-Transcendent rank characters may retire at any time, at their discretion
-Broken Transcendent rank characters and Prestige rank characters may file a short request detailing their character's curtain call
-Retired characters may contribute up to 40% of their Total GP to a retirement pool to spend on their other characters.
-Character Death now grants 20% Total GP refund (This is down from 30%)
-GP from character end is transferred to a pool that may be spent on other characters.  The transferred amount plus that character's starting GP award may not exceed 7,000.
-Character who receive transferred GP have their Base GP adjusted to half the new total.  (e.g. if the new total is 5,000 GP, the character's Base will be 2,500, and Non-Base will be 2,500)

New Site and Character Retrieval
-Any character not yet claimed by its original owner after the site migration can be retrieved by contacting a member of staff.  The password self-service feature will not respond for any character that is still unclaimed.

Rank-Up GP Bonuses
-The +500 BGP bonus for achieving Prestige no longer counts towards BGP, and is instead credited to Non-Base.
-The topics from a Prestige request are now no longer automatically considered a milestone.
-The +1,000 BGP bonus from achieving Post-Prestige no longer counts towards BGP, and is instead credited towards Non-Base.
-The topics from a Post-Prestige request are now no longer automatically considered a milestone.
-Players making any rank up request (Second Power, Prestige, Post-Prestige) may ask in their request that the topic be graded as if they were a milestone.  Awards given in this fashion add to BGP like a normal milestone, in addition to any other bonus.

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Character Lifecycle
These are the core changes.  These will have no impact on the way characters behave post to post or in combat, and have been made to improve writer understanding of not only how Staff grades and regards requests, but how players can better understand how and when to take advantage of the rewards that are out there for their efforts.  There is a lot of information, but most of it can be regarded one piece at a time.

The core principal is to offer some kind of expectation, written down for all to see, as to what we 'look for' characters to be doing at each level of BGP.  In this way, players can look to complete arcs more succinctly and with greater focus than ever before.  This will also help to temper when players might want to work on a Mastery, or look into ranking up, so they do not fall behind in power versus characters at similar levels unless by design.  And most importantly; none of these guidelines are mandatory - they merely frame what we typically see, as well as offer you, the player, a guide-rope in your journey to the top.

I offer one final disclaimer.  Many of the guide-points for this Lifecycle will be framed in the context of a Shinigami and the ranks of the Gotei.  This has been chosen because, as a military organization, there are clearly defined ranks that have come to normalize levels of character power.  Any person familiar with Bleach will have at least some reference when you say, 'A Captain level character', and a set of expectations based on things they might be familiar with from canon.  The same cannot be said for other races on Bleach-Gotei, at least from top to bottom.  This choice of language is deliberate however it was not done to slight other races.

Recruit
1,500 BGP
-This is the starting point from which all Characters begin
-Characters of this level are little more than a list of traits and physical characteristics, and are in the process of becoming more.
-We expect a Character is transitioning from what is essentially an NPC and into a dynamic force in our game.
-At this level, we would see Academy Students and various Unseated Shinigami.

Soldier
1,600 - 2,000 BGP
Average 0-1 Masteries
-We expect to see the rudimentary creation of relationships.
-Characters should be seeking out to prove some of the things they claimed in their Application; show us that the traits you claimed to have, that the psychology and motives you described is how this character actually works in practice.
-This may often include stepping into basic roles in their organization; essentially 'doing what you said you would'.
-While perhaps ambitious, pursuit of a first Mastery may fit the right type of character.
-At this level, we may still have Unseated Shinigami, but Seated Officers begin to make their appearance.

Unseated Officer
2,100 - 2,500 BGP
Average 0-1 Masteries
-Relationships begin to expand and offer additional connections and depth.
-Characters should be fully 'alive' and begin to see their ideals challenged.
-The introduction of antagonistic figures, or becoming one for someone else.
-The formation of 'the first major hurdle' in your character's development
-While definitely ambitious, this range may include the pursuit of Second Power.
-At this level, we would see primarily Unseated Shinigami

Low-Seated Officer
2,600 - 3,000 BGP
Average 1-2 Masteries
-Additional relationships and the growth of existing ones.
-Characters should have a handful of allies and/or antagonists.
-Crystallizing your character emotionally and mentally in the face of their first major hurdle; this may include pursuit of Second Power.
-The major conflict and theme of the characters early life is likely present, if only subconsciously.

High-Seated Officer
3,100 - 3,500 BGP
Average 2-3 Masteries
-We expect tangible progress towards the conflicts and goals that occur in your characters life.
-Existing relationships continue to deepen, possibly exposing one or two true, allies or antagonists.
-While not necessary, we may see the conflict present in your character transition from the subconscious theme it had been, to a very real awareness.
-Should already be armed with a Second Power, although some characters may have been delayed.

Lieutenant
3,600 - 4,000 BGP
Average 3-4 Masteries
-The introduction and setup for your character's fundamental crisis; this is essentially the footwork for Prestige.
-Many of the investments from earlier relationships are beginning to pay significant dividends, and your character will be able to gauge their own growth in the context of other growing characters.
-A true sense of identity should be evident; your character is now a significant 'distance' from what was on their application.
-Characters may also be learning that what they wanted, and what they need, may not overlap.
-While ambitious, this is an area that may include the leap to Prestige.

Captain
4,100 - 5,000 BGP
Average 4-5 Masteries
-A fundamental change is on the horizon for your character and their story is heading towards a conflict that should be readily apparent.
-Relationships are becoming recurring, and are yielding a 'second generation' of contacts that will help challenge your character.
-This is a common area to make the leap to Prestige.

Captain Commander
5,100 - 6,000 BGP
Prestige level character, 5-7 Masteries
-Characters have faced the fundamental conflict that has guided them this far.
-The original Application is nothing but a fond memory; they are a different person in most facets of their personality.
-The 'fundamental question' of a character, as the only true test left for them to face, and it begins to bubble to the surface.
-While not necessary, the culmination of the character's story towards either their breaking point, or their inner peace, takes shape.
-There will be obscure aspects of a character's personality, morality, and emotional well-being that now become the focus rather than broad details.

And Beyond
6,000+ BGP
While we have no actual cap for BGP, there is simply very little left for characters to do in order to tackle their final personal problems at this point.  This might be a place where you wound find a Broken Transcendent who is wrapping up there story, or looking to cure or be damned by their Broken state.  In general, the only major hurdle we 'expect' at this level is to tackle that character's fundamental question; that one, underlying thing that had plagued them their entire lives at one level or another.  But, if resolving that is not in the cards, or if the player simply wishes to save it for another time, you can continue requesting additional BGP for the arcs that you are able to complete.  Just be warned!  Nothing at this level could even be remotely viewed as 'easy GP'.


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Skill Ranks
-Multiple Skill Ranks are being renamed to better reflect a journey towards Mastery, and to eliminate the confusion between Basic and Beginner and that pesky double B.
-Transcendent Rank now costs 1,200 GP (This change was made some time ago but is being recorded here)
-There is no change to the function of Skill Ranks

Rank 0: None
Rank 1: Beginner (50 GP)
Rank 2: Novice (Previously Basic, 100 GP)
Rank 3: Journeyman (Previously Intermediate, 200 GP)
Rank 4: Expert (Previously Advanced, 400 GP)
Rank 5: Master (600 GP)
Rank 6: Grandmaster (800 GP)
Rank 7: Transcendent (1200 GP)

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Stat Costs
-The '50 Free Reiatsu' at character creation has been removed.

We now have 3 classes of GP purchase, rather than the 6 we had previously.
-All Stats from 1 Reiatsu to 300 Reiatsu now cost 20 GP per point of Reiatsu
-All Stats from 301 Reiatsu to 400 Reiatsu cost 60 GP per point of Reiatsu (This is unchanged)
-All Stats from 401 Reiatsu and above cost 100 GP per point of Reiatsu (This is up from 80)

-300 Reiatsu still costs 6,000 GP.
-400 Reiatsu still costs 12,000 GP.
-A full table has been included for calculating your new stats based on 'old' values.


Can you explain this change?
Some time ago, we moved to adjust the cost of Stats to be slightly higher to more accurately reflect the real use of GP.  We shifted costs centered around 300 Reiatsu, which is the 'tipping point' that divides a 'Normal' class character from a 'Prestige' one.  300 Reiatsu costs 6,000 GP.  Originally, everyone was given their first 50 Reiatsu for free as a way of allowing mechanics to align with an increased cost in stats, and which we broke up 50 to 300 into several sub-categories.  Now that everything is being more clearly defined, we have better ways to distinguish character growth using Milestones and Base GP than anything we can gain by manipulating numbers to fit with those previous mechanical principals.  Your investment can now be made purely from the perspective of character story.

So, for many character below that 300 waterline, we will see a general 'drop' in their current Reiatsu.  Characters will lag a little bit longer below 100, but you also see that you will enjoy a significantly more accelerated climb from 200 to 300 than you otherwise would have as GP in that range costs half as much as it used to.  The curve has be smoothed out without being either shortened or lengthened.

Many people strongly tie the idea of their Reiatsu to the 'rank' they should have.  This is a natural condition given the examples on the site but it turns out poorly in practice; people breeze up to 200 and then stay in that neighborhood for a long time as they grow into that level of power.  In a sense, their numbers get ahead of their character.  While there is some correlation between Reiatsu and Rank, it is critical to understand that anyone can be named to Lieutenant (or a similar rank) at the discretion of whomever makes the appointment.  Very weak characters can be named LT.  Very strong characters can remain LT (or less) under even stronger ones.  The tie here is to the story, not the numbers, as there are a finite amount of ranks.  So, with no reason to tie the two together, we have broken that connection.

Additionally, moving to a linear scale removes some of the confusion regarding what the gaps in power actually mean.  Is 210 vs 200 the same sort of gap as 80 vs 70?  When Reiatsu costs were broke up into many different categories, that answer was not apparent.  Now, the gaps in power are accentuated by more clear distinctions, such as Masteries and Releases, as it always should have been.  In short; we wanted to eliminate weird, variable interpretations that depended on the eye of the beholder.  You should be able to consider the philosophical battle between two characters, not lament mechanics.

Below you will find a table that highlights what your new Reiatsu will be based on your 'pre-change' amount.  You can absolutely invest GP to remain at the same (or a similar) amount of Reiatsu, provided you have it available to spend.  In order to calculate costs under the new system, just take the total Reiatsu and multiply by 20.

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Example GP Price Table