RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Writer's Block Talk Thread for Episode 10

Well played, and thank you for setting up a few new plot devices and witty catch phrases. Credit this man with an assist!

Finally able to post!!! Wooooooooooooo!

:)

Mxy, you're a son of a bitch.

You just hit me with a hell of a set up for the next post I gotta make.

And I love you for it.

Hopefully I'll get to it in the next day or so (got a play opening this week that I'm stage manging, so my apologies if I'm a little absent... but damn, I can't go without following up the set-up Mxy gave me...)

Heh!

You know, I was gonna solve the whole thing in an easy way and get Mxy back helping against the hurricane, but then I realized I didn't have time to end the post, so I just typed the last line to avoid leaving the post hanging in the middle of a conversation...

Great post, Sonhaven. Really well done. Glad to see you posting again. I was afraid you had run off after the last one. Keep up the good work.

Okay, for those of you who have read my post, please don't try to rescue Phil or do anything about the giant wave, okay? I'll handle it tomorrow. It's too late to mess with this stuff tonight!

[ 10-29-2002, 01:17 AM: Message edited by: Captain Sammitch ]

Can someone please explain to me why in a world where there are fallen angels, werewolves, spirits of vengeance, superlucky guys, where a guy that popped out of nowhere to kill another guy is instantly hired to work next to the same guy, an UFO should be a cheesy plot device?

[ 10-29-2002, 06:55 AM: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]

It's because it's YOURS, dammit!

Just kidding. I just wanted to see your reaction.

By the way, I was surprised more by Grimm's comment than by your. You are a newby, and don't know what the UFO is about. Grimm knows the whole story. :)

Bring on the cheese...I say:D

Euro, it's the character's point of view. He's still very much in a street-level type of mentality, and is not quite used to all the going ons. Actually seeing the UFO for the first time, his comment was one of surprise.

You know, I would usually refuse to do this, but, I guess I had better.

I would like to ask a favor from all of those writing in the stories. I have a considerable plot-point for some of my ideas that hinges on Perdita's volcanoe. I would just like to ask, as the only favor I've ever asked you people, to, if at all possible, please NOT fuck with the volcanoe until I can get back in. This doesn't mean that you have to ignore it. It just means that I have a decent vision for an exploration of it, and would like to be the one to do so.

I have no real problem with the UFO being parked in it. Just know that, come the end of the semester, if it is still there, I may have to eliminate it. Or move it.

So, will you all agree to this for me?

I would usually say nothing, and just write around, or, alter-retcon certain perspectives previously dealing with the subject at hand. But, rather than blantantly shitting on someone elses idea, I thought that I might ask permission from the group.

Mark it on your fucking walls.

Also, a question: When democracy fails, who is considered to have the definitive ability to okay or veto anything dealing with these stories? I know that, in TOMB, Chewy had the understood seniority. And in the original MBL, it was a Dan/Gooz combo that made up the heirarchy of those stories. Is there a defining presence here besides Gob himself?

Well, check the first post of the HR 0 to see who started this all...

About the UFO, I will remove it, but when is the end of the semester?

Another question: seeing that Kristogar is boycotting the board for the cancellation of the G'Nort sanctuary, I officially ask to start the next story, the "mission" I was talking about earlier.

[ 10-30-2002, 06:17 PM: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]

Euro: I personally can't wait to see the team on another actual mission. Your idea has been in the works for several months now, and mentioned several times already before any of the other ideas, so I think you pretty much have free reign to begin the next story.

Pro: I'm just glad you're still thinking about the "Hero Revolution Universe" so much that you have an idea for La Perdita's volcano. The only thing I've established about it myself back in the "Selling Out" story was that the native Carib tribes have small villages/settlements around the volcano. They're a small and relatively poor part of Perdita's mostly international population, and because of this they try to keep up their own traditions and culture as much as possible in an effort to not be completely absorbed into the European cultures that dominate. They make much of their income from selling tropical fruits in the markets as well as selling hand-crafted items that tourists like to buy.

"Comrade, she is having large tits"

Grimm, I see great potential for Hurricane. That kid's going places.

All the way to the world title, Mxy.

www.shanehelms.com

Go for it Euro.
Expect Ameristar to pop any time now.
I´m still having problems with my internet provider concerning security codes...but my email will soon be available again.

Mxy...your man Mr Smith...would you like to write him in my story?

Gooz, Blackwulf, I think it's time to kick the story into high gear.

I just wrote the longest peice I have ever written on this board...it was a great bundle of fun...expect to see this character soon. http://www.robkamphausen.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=25;t=000147

[ 11-01-2002, 02:58 PM: Message edited by: T5 ]

Grimm...I loved the scene where the man got sucked in to the storm...hilarious :lol: :lol:

Thanks. I wasn't sure if the humor came across like I wanted it to. Glad it worked for ya. Click on the link in my above post for what the guy actually looks like.

:lol: Fits the description exactly :lol:

thank ya.

Nice post, Sonhaven.

Just wanted to say hi. This is the first time I've even read this thread. I'm usually so busy I just read the story and post.

Wow... forget I asked nicely not to do anything with the wave. Next time I'll just have to tie up all my plot devices in one post. And we wonder why continuity suffers...

Well, anyway, T5, you did a nice job in your post. We would love to see more of these characters in future posts - as soon as my plot devices are out of the way!

Off to save continuity...

[ 11-02-2002, 01:44 AM: Message edited by: Captain Sammitch ]

You said not to interfere with your character...or did I misunderstand that?
I thought the wave was free to play with.
Sorry about that.
But I must confess it´s easier if we let everyone continue the story...therein lies the challenge....go with the flow and see what happens...

"I dunno, Phil mused, but it must have shot continuity all to hell."

I´m sorry Sam...but my post didn´t do that...it continued the story it didn´t change contiuity..

[ 11-02-2002, 04:50 AM: Message edited by: T5 ]

The level of bickering (is this the right word?) is reaching alarming level. Once upon a time, it was only me and Chewy, now everybody complains.

Maybe it would be good to write down a little set of rules, don't you think?

In the old Universe we had a few rules (very few) and I think it would be good to have a few here, also.

Things like how many characters can one introduce, how many he can keeps exclusive rights on, things about plots, when and how they can be reserved....

On my part, I believe that in the main story, the one where everybody plays, events should be open to the writings of everyone. But I see this kind of writing more as a RPG game than a collective writing, and I feel that I am minority now.

It would be good if everyone explain his point of view on the subject.

The one thing am sure of, is that while the quality of writing and storytelling has incresead incredibly in the last year, since the retcon, the fun, on my part, now is almost totally gone. It could be just the rest of my life to make me feel it, but since four years ago and until a few months ago the first thing I was doing in the morning after waking up was to connect to the internet and reading the last posts in the story, while right now there are days when I totally forget to check it.

Maybe I am just getting old...

Aaww Euro don´t say that.
We will make it fun again I promise.

But I think I see what you mean...should we concentrate on using one character each and see where the story goes?

Eurostar, I know I'm new. But it seems to me that this is a writing exersise. It's role playing in the fact that we are not ourselves but without a GM we have so much control I don't see how you can make it a true RPG. As far as the bickering goes....your right, but you can't control others actions or reactions. I don't think I understand why your not having fun, man. If I'm not posting the way the board is used to. Let me know how I can change :)

No, Sonhaven, I am not complaining about you oranyone in particular. I would have no right to do so, and in any case I don't want to do.

But about the RPG, I don't think so. Long ago, it was a RPG. Sure, we had no GM, nor dice to throw, but everyone "was" his character, and nobody knew what would happen the next day, just like in our true lives.

Now peoples reserves his own plot, his own piece of land, his own part of the future, his mystical land and such.

I KNOW that brings easier storitelling, less contraddictions, cancels the need for any retcon, and we all see how the writing has improved since the days of the original MBL, and also from TOMB.

But for me, the FUN is gone. Not always, for example in the last story I had at last three entertaining moments. But before, I counted the moments that were NOT entertaing, now it's the reverse.

The problem, for me, lies exclusively in the freedom of writing. Before, the rule was to be extremely careful about the previous continuity (where continuity means "internal consistency of the story", not consistency of the whole Multiverse). Now, we have to be extremely careful about the FUTURE of the story.

I can't do anything with the wave, because it's reserved for Phil.
I can't do anything to the volcano, because Pro want to use it two months from now.
I can't do anything with aliens in general, they are reserved for Chewy.
I can't foreshadow anything, because the future will be retconned to prevent it.
I can't write for mistake a word with a capital C without unleashing the rage of Pro (I'm joking, ehe) .

All fair and acceptable, but what's the result? I am not touching this story with a ten foot pole.
I don't know what to write.
If an idea come, I fear that it will step over someone else toe, so, to avoid any problem, I don't post, or post little, or post interludes.

And that is not only my problem, it's easy to see. One year ago, when we were a lot less writers, there were a lot of post every day, now there aren't even one at a day. I know that more or less we are all busy, but we are a lot more than one year ago, too.

This is only to answer to Sonhaven and to better explain my rant three or four post above. I believe that the story is a clear mirror of what the writers want to go. It's easy to see that the goal, now, it's good writing, and the fun of it, and not the fun of thinking of being superheroes, even if only for the time of writing our post and reading the others'.

I don't want that anyone thinks I want to change it. I'll go where the majority of the writers want to go.

Just, I have never felt nostalgy for the old days of the MBL like in these days...

T5, it's all good. I probably didn't phrase it properly. Everyone's entitled to at least one misunderstanding. My posts are flavored with occasional continuity jokes simply because they happen to be amusing. That and I love seeing what reactions I can get out of Euro and TTT! :lol: I'm sure that sooner or later little inconsistencies will pop up. And I did take a bit too long to follow up to my last post. So don't worry about it too much.

Euro - Do you need a hug? Rules are good; the only problem is that they require at least three people to agree on something, which is pretty near impossible. But don't worry about it. It'll all work itself out eventually.

Ok. I see what your saying now. It does make sense. The whole reserving thing does limit what can happen. And I can see why you don't want to touch the story.

And I see how in a story you can save things for yourself, like is happening, and if we adressed it as a RPG its more a response to what is happening. That would be more fun. However, if people have cool ideas in mind and they want to save situations for themselves....whatever. Its a big pretend world.

Anyway, I see your point.

Thanks Sam... :)
Okay people...let´s only reserve things that have to do with a characters development...all other subjects are free to write as we please...the challenge lays in how to handle the plot twists.
Is this an okay compromise?