Valucre: The Final Frontier

These are the writings of a collection of role-players, dedicated to the pursuit of quality role-play.

Their ongoing mission: To explore new plots, to build upon and evolve existing canon, to boldly go where no role-play has ever gone before!

Welcome to another edition of the Valucre blog, one more than willing to flaunt the use of a split infinitive in the interest of flavorful introductions. Grammatical lessons aside, let me say thank you for reading these wonderful editions- I enjoy writing them, but it's soooo much more satisfying when you know that at least one person is taking time to read them. Now, with the shameless posterior osculations out of the way, let's get on with this blog! =D

What's Happening Valucre?

Honor Among Thieves- Taken directly from a submission:

Have a penchant for pilfering pockets? Can you con a crowd out of their hard-earned cash? Does a lock practically pick itself to let you lift its loot?

If yes, then the Thieves Guild might be right up your alley. Running out of the cellar of the Cloak and Dagger, a tailor shop in Patia, con-artists, crooks and all-around ne'er-do-wells will be gathered into an elite force of organized burglary. The goal? Grab all the loot you can carry, and don't get caught. There will be a variety of marked theft missions, as well as free-range robbery challenges. Let all of Valucre fear the Thieves Guild-- your riches are soon to be ours.

For Honor and Riches, Click Me!

New Quests in Genesaris- The Hummingbird has heard her regular role-players loud and clear: they want to see more quests. In pursuit of giving the people what they want, The Hummingbird has been hard at work developing new quests and rewards for adventurers to seek. Many more have been added and more are yet to come, with a variety of missions available to suit any need or fancy. Some offer plentiful VB awards, some rare and unique items, and a couple even offer vessels. If you are seeking some role-play opportunities and the easiest way to have an impact on canon, then come check out the new quests. 

Seek your glory, Click Me!

Genesaris Board Event: A Dark Festival- Have a taste for the macabre, a penchant for darkness? Well then, this event is certainly for you. Headed up by myself (Acies), with the support of many Genesaris contributors, we are putting together an opportunity to get involved in a massive RP event, meeting new characters, participating in risky games, and the chance to win great prizes. Strange attractions, places to socialize and two different contests await. What does it take to be involved? A 15vb admission fee and perhaps a fistful of tickets (1vb each). You can easily earn this back via posting, and possibly more with the prizes that away. Let's look at some details:

Murder Mystery: A regular has been murdered, and the owners have narrowed it down to 10 suspects. Given their busy schedules, they have decided to let some of the fair goers get to the bottom of this mystery. The first person to successfully identify the murderer takes 25% of all Vb made during the events- so what you see on The Master of Ceremonies hand, you get 1/4 of that take. The larger it grows, the better your take. Only, there is a twist- the sleuths can hinder each other! Steal clues to get ahead, or murder the competition (NOT PERMANENT CHARACTER DEATH) and take all their stuff. You get items to help you in this, but the question is- do you play like a cutthroat, or work with a trusted friend and split the prize? You decide.

Costume Contest: Hey, another party setting for your characters, this a big dance bash that only requires a costume to get in. Go into detail about the look of your costume (provide pics if you wish) and at the end of events, we'll pick out the three coolest ones and put it up for vote from all Festival participants. 1st place gets 30vb, while the runner's up get 10vb. Not a great deal, but a little extra for no work at all. What will you where?

The Midway: Here is where you blow the tickets. Various games take place, including spook houses, guessing games, games based entirely on luck and even a Whack a Zombie. Some are based on entertainment- like getting your fortune told! Prize tickets are later cashed in for prizes or VB reimbursement. Some games carry risk, so beware!

The Attractions: These events are all free, and a place for characters to visit and react. Less about social interaction and more focused on giving characters a chance for reactions, introspection, and conversation among others in relation to the things scene. We've got an execution tent- complete with a splash section! (ew). We have an undead petting zoo, and the weirdest damn circus and magic show you will ever see. Check it out, hope you aren't prone to nightmares. 

Alright, I admit, I totally just abused my position to advertise this, but all proceeds go towards Genesaris quests, and  a lot of work went into this. 0.o

The Living Caverns- Late entry, but this request came in a few minutes ago, and I didn't want the person to have to wait another week for this to get exposure. This is a fantasy based... well, not survival, but more like, slow death RP, where all characters joining this event, save one, will die. You will be playing someone who was part of a legion of soldiers whose luck went a bit awry, when they ended up inside the maw of some strange creature, forced to explore its innards while fending off various undead. Only the final person shall survive, but this RP is certainly a unique one and one that could end up being a great deal of fun- think of it as focusing not on the surviving or winning, but producing some good characterization while playing someone doomed to die.

You can find the write up here: A Lovecraftian Horror

Question of the Week!

Hey, we had a better turn out this week. I received six responses to the question:

"If you could meet any one character from Valucre (other than your own), who would you want to meet, and why?"

The answers given were:

1. Randy or Michael Tullin. (Brothers)- "Hands down. I mean people swim with sharks just for the thrill, because of the feeling of danger and the rush they get from it. Could you imagine standing toe to toe with a Tullin, completely incapable of doing anything to stop them if they whimsically decided to off you? Now that is a rush."

2. Roen. "I haven't RP'd with him too much, but he seems like a very complex dude with a well-thought out and potentially engaging back story. Evil, maybe? But not completely? I don't know. So I'd like to meet him and find out. Seems like the kind of guy you could have a martini with, under the right circumstances."

3. Raspberry DuGrace. "She has a childish humor to her that's pleasantly infectious, and is adorably innocent and curious."

4. Herbie the Sage. "I'd ask for some tricks and words of wisdom from one of the greatest men in Terrenus. He is history and lore, and legend."

5. Odin Haze (Present Odin, not Past). I want to meet Odin because he's a very good, kind, enlightening person, basically Valucre's version of Jesus. In the past he was cruel, but I want to meet him as he is now, not what he was. Not that he's a complete pacifist  he'll still protect his people and land, but that just makes him more likable. 

6. Jericho. He's very friendly, and because of all he's been through, I'd love to just chill with him and listen to all his stories. Plus I would love to pet the golden retriever and the horse whom hang around him occasionally.

And the winner?

Drum roll......................................................... 

Ayden! Congrats, 50vb coming your way upon publication. 

Now, my personal answer (for any who might care :P )- Chivika. After role-playing with that guy, I am just cannot help but laugh at his perpetually happy attitude and ability to make anyone smile. Seriously, the guy is happier and more cheerful than someone who swallowed an entire bottle of Prozac. Some cheerful people get to be a bit much, but he has this way of rubbing on ya. ^_^

If you want to see the effects of excessive Prozac consumption, I present the following exhibit for your consideration.

This Week's Question: Alright, I am doing a bit of a... different sort of question, to see if we get some interest- and because it seems like fun. 

Think of one of your favorite past RPs- one that either made it to completion or at least went for a decent length of time (had plenty of content). If that role-play became a motion picture (movie, TV episode, etc), what would be its soundtrack?

Let's shoot for 3-12 song range (Minimum to have an actual list, a max to keep the blog from becoming an hour long read lol).

The prize: Random winner once again, but this week, you get a choice of prizes:

50vb as usual
or
120 tickets to the Carnival (a 100vb value!)- see how hard I am pushing that? :P

Say Hello to Our New and Returning Friends!

Well, I saw no old friends drop a thread saying they have returned, so I have no one to greet. Let's get to our new friends, shall we?

Welcome, Dyiah

Welcome, Ir3x

Welcome, WhisperSound

Welcome, StrikerDown

Welcome, Hawkeye

Welcome, Nariatheberzerker

Welcome, Archer1191

Welcome, Clay

Welcome, Jenavampire

Welcome, Uurwerk

Welcome, Perascamin

Welcome, Solace Graves

Another week, another batch of a dozen new folks. Welcome one and all, I hope each of you find a place in our cozy little home. 

Other Highlights? 

Seriously, I am running out of things to cover here. Pretty soon, I am going to have to repeat myself, and that is going to make me feel guilty. Is that what you want, to make the editor feel guilty? Yeah, what I thought. Here's your highlights. =(

Valucre the World- Hey, we have lore pages for each of the lands, which are pretty damn cool and helpful, but what of the world of Valucre itself? Ever wonder how large it is, or where the lands are in relation to each other? Well, we have a page just for that. Check out this lore page, which has many answers to those many questions you might have: Valucre the World.

FAQs- So, you might have some questions that have yet to be answered. If you've been on the site more than a year, chances are- you'll know all the frequently asked questions, but for those of you who haven't made it around the block yet, we have a page that answers some of those common questions. If you want some answers about the role-play forum, check out this page here. On the bottom, there is some info on using your blogs, as well as some info that might not be so relevant to you, but if you like reading- feel free, by all means. :P

Closing Thoughts?

If you've read more than a few of these, you'll notice a theme: I often write a closing thought based on something I've seen going on inside Valucre- good or bad. 

This week, I want to tackle the label 'Literate'.

Literate: 

1. a : educated, cultured

    b : able to read and write

2. a : versed in literature or creative writing : literary

    b : lucid, polished <a literate essay>

    c : having knowledge or competence <computer-literate> <politically literate>

As you can see, the very first definition of literate is that someone has had an education sufficient enough to teach them how to read and write. Anyone who has at least made it to high school should have the framework for literacy- you can pick up documents and read them, and you can write with all the basic writing principals. It can also mean someone who has read or studied literature, and has the ability to polish up there work- anyone who has made it at least through the first half of high school should have some degree of ability in that. We learn how to write up our work and then revise it- it's all part of the normal process. 

Therefore, if you have had an education, you are literate.

Yet, sometimes we have people who transplant from one role-play site to ours, and they carry with them the terms 'Literate', Semi-literate', and 'Illiterate'. They use these labels to identify who typically writes paragraph style role-plays, those who write about a paragraph of content and those who do what are sometimes called- "One Liners"- short role-play posts with only one to two sentences. All three of these formats involve some form of writing, and the ability to put together a cohesive sentence that anyone can read and understand is in and of itself- literacy. It does not matter if the work is a long and expressive masterpiece, or a short addition to a fast paced role-play. Sure, one has more substance than the other, but none of these styles makes someone illiterate. 

Now that we've established that literate vs illiterate is poor terminology, let's take this another step forward: 

Why use labels?

Labels can be useful, in that we can group things together for the purposes of organization or similarities, but I find that most often, when we apply labels to people, it does more harm than good. Identifying yourself as an illiterate cheapens the value of your writing and the contributions you could make, and calling someone literate might appear to be putting someone on a pedestal, which can cause feelings of resentment from those who are not labeled that way, and a lack of desire to improve and grow as a writer for someone who is known as being literate. When you've earned the label that defines you as the best there can be, it really detracts from the motivation to improve. When you carry the label that marks you as someone on the bottom, it can make it really hard to even try. 

Forget labels! Labels hurt, they poorly identify people, and they do little to no good- let's not define ourselves based on the quantity we write or the 'level of skill' we have in our writing- let's realize that we are all:

People who are members of a great site

People interested in Role-play

People who role-play through writing

People who create through our writing and contributions

Hey, notice a common word up there?

PEOPLE

We are all people. We are all members. We are not literates, semi-literates and illiterates- NO! We are all people with similar interests and pursuits. Toss out these identifiers that separate us and embrace what makes us common. We all have unique things about us, sure, but that uniqueness makes another person interesting, not different. In the end, we are all people pursuing a mutual hobby, with similar goals. Yes, we are all people, and we are all Valucreans. :)

I hate labels, let's focus on what we are as individuals and as fellow members, not silly identifiers. Anyone on the site can read and write- and even though the level of talent varies, we all have room to grow, and no one is too good or too poor a writer to be beyond improvement.

That's my closing thoughts, I'll see you all next week-

~Acies

“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.” 

~ Martin Luther