Man I'm Pretty...

Hey There Pretty Mamas, Check This Blog's Pecks!

I think we missed our
chance for a cock joke here. 

Definitely have to issue out some increase in cool factor if you know the references I just made. Obviously, the Valucre Blog is a gorgeous specimen, one that we already established would hit on your mother, so be sure to keep her clear of it. In the meantime, you can bask in its glory, selfishly keeping it for yourself- or not, if you like to share. Hell, the blog likes to be shared, so perhaps you should do that. And I have no idea where I was going with this, so moving on!

As always, Valucre has great stuff going on and plenty to keep you satisfied. Rather than letting me keep babbling, let’s kick this thing off. Right after I go eat something, because I think half of this nonsense is fueled by my low blood sugar…

What's Happening Valucre?

Dammit! Who forgot to unplug the coffee maker?!

Genesaris is about to get HOT- An event forged in the fires of a volcano (literally), presented to you by the overlord of penguins herself. Something strange happened in the lonely mountain of the Genesaris desert, and now things are getting warmer- uncomfortably so in fact! Not only are temperatures reaching record highs, fire elementals keep showing up in the cities and cause all kinds of trouble. Go ahead, include fire elementals in your plots, venture out into the desert and see if you can cut through the waves that are flowing into the other lands. Should you do that, you might as well go on to defeat the elementals leader Infernalis who is causing all the trouble. Rumor has it that some awesome loot is there for the taking. Just don’t get burned!

Wait... where's the fame and glory?

A Maiden Voyage into the Dordado Plains- An opportunity to go and explore the uncharted territory of the Dorado Plains, all in the name of fame, glory, goods, and of course adventure! The “eccentric” leader of the Toaughath Merchantry Company invites competent adventurers to come join him on this endeavor. Go read the letter your character must have received!

You sure this doctor is legit?

Becoming the Proxies- This is a different sort of idea, and I got to admit, I’m digging it. Taking some of those old stories called “ Creepypastas” (a horror version of “copypastas”), you play a character who ends up becoming another one of the mysterious others who go out and claim more victims. Write about your descent into the darkness, or give a thrilling account of a noteworthy demise. Looks like this new member is open to a lot of things, so go see if the exposition provided gets your pulse going.

Plague Doctors: Because being creepy is a cureall.

The Rebirth- The legendary King of Flames tricked a dragon and his rider into coming to his aid, hoping to entice them into giving aid in his quest to regain his lost body. He promised great power and more, but the man and his dragon refused to help this King, and so they paid dearly. Beholden to a curse that affects everyone but themselves directly, all who come near the pair grow ill with a quickly spreading plague, one that kills its victims in a slow and excruciatingly painful way. Upon realizing what they had wrought upon the world, they underwent a process that ended the curse as well as their lives. However, the plague remains, and now they say only one kingdom is free of the disease. You must find a way to get to that city, or if you are already there, you can choose to take part in one of two factions—those who work to keep it out, or those who work to cure it. Fight the sickness!

What is in his burgers?

The Mission Pyramid: A Tournament of Truly Talented Tacticians!- A race of teams on teams, to determine who among you is the best tactician and most capable of defeating your task. Up to nine participants may enter (three teams of three), who may either pick their teammates or go up for random assignment. You will be pitted against each other in increasingly difficult tasks, the last one to complete the task the loser. After three rounds, should you win in that final round, you will be recognized for your amazing prowess and receive awesome prizes to boot. There are prizes for each win and even for those who lose, assuming they still manage to finish. The prize for round one as well as the missions is already posted. What are you waiting for, show them what you are capable of.

Good RPs should throw themselves at you, with hugs

Featured RP of the Month-Future Promises
A Snapshot: This RP takes place in Blaidd’s Barony, a new region in Terrenus. A princess of the Cold South comes to this new land to extend the offer of ‘friendship’. The conversation itself displays pleasantries that test boundaries, the tension of two parties unsure of how to measure each other meeting for the first time. As of the time of this post, a theme of guarded tension drives the thread.   
Why the Feature: Where to begin. Both participants open the thread with their initial posts with a balanced description that paints a picture both poetic and striking, keeping the balance between conservative and purple prose. Both role-players engage in conversation with many layers of subtext that grab your attention and pull you through the thread. Differing cultures display prominently, adding more character to the entirety of the thread. Add in how one uses a clever way to convey a different language, and you’ll see why I chose this thread.
Who: Give a big shoutout to Aleskei & Nogusta. Wonderful read!

A Goodbye :(- Vintage (also known as Nette) is moving on in life, going on to awesome things (a new career, marriage, and other awesome things). She can’t drag herself away from our community completely, because- hey, we’re that awesome, but she has acknowledged that she is too busy to keep up with RP and Staff duties. As such, she requested that Iselyr be retired (archived) and she will be stepping away from PR&M duties. Iselyr served as the “Sword and Sorcery” setting of Valucre, producing some great RP and fun times (Ask her about my Bard sometime), but (I’m gonna be cliché here, which is ironic, considering this week’s closing thoughts) all good things must come to an end. Nette, we’re glad you’re going to hang around and still be a part of the community, but we will definitely miss your contributions to PR&M, Role-play, and the site as a whole. Enjoy life and keep writing!

They live in a Big-Brother World, can you tell?

New Members!  

Much better turnout this week- I had five responses. Five new members for you to get to know, pretty cool stuff right there. Without further rambling, here they are!

1.What brought you to Valucre? How did you find us?
I was actually linked over by Eizoryu from one of the other RP sites we frequent. However, that site is kind of tanking, as well as taking advantage of its users (figure out which one it is yet? xD ), plus all the other friends and regulars we knew all up and left... I'm getting off-track.

2. What got you into role-play? What are your favorite types (genre, style, etc) of role-play?

I liked the idea of RP'ing, but never really tried until about 3 years ago. Really is was just being able to tell a story through combined efforts that really interested me, plus my writing needed work, since I'm an aspiring author. I LOVE slice-of-life and romance, but I'm up for any genre, really. My characters are all adaptable for each one, so jumping into a new one isn't that hard. As for style, third-person narrative is great. It allows for so much creativity and every post I make is a step towards improvement.

3. Do you have any long-term goals related to role-play and/or writing? If so, what are they?

Not really for RP'ing, I just enjoy it immensely. As for writing, I do want to write a novel at some point, or at least a graphic novel. My art skills are still rather amateur-ish, but I enjoy it and that's really want counts, right?

4. What are some of your other hobbies and/or interests? What is one interesting thing about you that others might not expect when they first meet you?

Drawing, like I mentioned, plus video games (play them rarely, though. Family comes first!). I don't have too many hobbies, honestly, I'm kinda boring. x'D Well... it IS interesting (to me), but I kind of like to wait before telling anyone until I know them halfway decently. It's a big part of my life, but not everyone understands it. I hate to risk possibly losing a friend just because of one thing about me. :3

5. How has your Valucre experience been so far? What do you like, and is there anything we can do to help you (as staff or fellow members)?

It's been GREAT. Within a week I was already in my first RP on the site, invited into an RP group, and just having a lot of fun. The fact that this site is not based on fandom is, I feel, a big reason why everyone is so friendly. There's just so much freedom here, even with rules in place!

1. What brought you to Valucre? How did you find us?

Frankly, I did a google search. I actively rp on another forum, and while I love the characters I've made and some of the stuff I'm doing there, not to mention some absolutely awesome writers, branching out and getting influence/experience from more sources is good. I want to continually grow myself as a writer and as a person, and hopefully author some books one day. The level of friendliness and freedom within Valucre's parameters is something I like to see, allowing creativity and practical posting, and it jumped out at me from the other search results because of that.

2. What got you into role-play? What are your favorite types (genre, style, etc) of role-play?

I'm an introverted, intellectual type of individual, if you meet me in person. I'm very quiet and pensive, prone to brooding or zoning out on ideas and concepts I constantly brew in the back of my mind. When I was younger, I'd develop stories with action figures or legos and even make up plotlines, generally influenced by my latest videogame, comic book, or novel. Over time, I started forming my own plots and game concepts, like any kid does sometimes, but mine tended to stick with me, evolve, get better. I'd be three years down the line and keep refining an idea, scrawling little diagrams and maps to think through stuff other kids mostly didn't. I rarely shared these ideas, but took in things I heard and saw and wondered how I might learn from it. By the time I'd graduated high school, I'd gotten involved on an RP forum, and though I still had a long ways to go, I was finally able to put down some of my ideas in writing, where others could see them and give feedback. That was when I discovered how much I loved making stories and building things collaboratively with people. It's been an intensely rewarding outlet for my creativity ever since, one of my most enjoyed pastimes, the one thing I'd continue doing if I had to give up everything else I used a computer for. For me, that's saying something pretty big.

3. Do you have any long-term goals related to role-play and/or writing? If so, what are they?

Other than growing myself as a person, and as a writer, I have few actual goals other than the occasional plan I might come up with for a character's eventual turning points. But the first rule of making plans is to be adaptable and change the plan if needed, so those goals often undergo tremendous re-writing and change as I rethink them or they go through various experiences in RPs. I have a noble girl that when she was first made, was going to become queen of her country. Thankfully, that corny, cliche plan was scrapped, and currently she's likely to marry an honest knight that brings out the best in her, eschewing her position and power for the things that really matter, like happiness and virtues.

I mean, again, hopefully, someday, I'd like to write a book, but for now, roleplaying has taught me more than I can say in the space of this newsletter, and I'm more than happy to continue learning and collaborating as I have a blast.

4. What are some of your other hobbies and/or interests? What is one interesting thing about you that others might not expect when they first meet you?

I'm a professional information security specialist and IT repairman, I like to tinker on and fix computers, it's what I study and do for a living.

I'm an avid gamer, though recently I haven't had a strong enough internet connection for multiplayer, so back to old-school JRPGs it's been for me. Love Chrono Trigger, FFVI, Radiant Historia, all them singleplayer classics.

I-I-I I work oouuuut. And do Jiu-Jitsu. I like engaging in physical sports and activities that balance out my mental hobbies to keep me refreshed and prevent burnout.

Uhm something they would not expect. Um... I'm religious? Or maybe that I... roleplay... online... with other people...

<.<

>.>

xD

5. How has your Valucre experience been so far? What do you like, and is there anything we can do to help you (as staff or fellow members)?

You guys have been really friendly and accepting, it's been a real treat to start getting involved here. I can't say enough how well-written the greeting letter is, and how positive the reception area for newbies is. On that end, keep up the good work and you'll keep getting more people.

The only thing I'd ask is that some of the lore pages actually get filled out so that newcomers can find an area that suites their tastes without having to ask a ton of questions via PM. Bigger continents like Terrenus and Genesaris are very detailed and easy to study up on, but subforums or smaller lands are more hit-or-miss. I've been told certain lands were more geared toward straight medieval or traditional fantasy settings, only to find zero information detailing the land and culture. I know some are in-progress and such, but it still helps when you click on a link, expecting a page of at least brief summarizing information, and there's more than just a Work In Progress sign, or only a list of storytellers and mods. I'm lucky some friendly folks plunged me head-first into an RP with hardly any time to think, or I might still be deliberating on the best place to start.

Other than that, I can't say I've noticed much amiss, the color scheme is easier on the eyes than many, many forums, and even the subforums are organized well enough to be navigable by an inexperienced noob. Gj!

1. What brought you to Valucre? How did you find us?

I was looking for a new RP site because the one I've been on for years has become less and less active. I actually found this as a recommendation to someone else who was looking for a good RP site.

2. What got you into role-play? What are your favorite types (genre, style, etc) of role-play?

I got into RPing when I was about eleven because I loved the Harry Potter books so much I spent a lot of time looking for Harry Potter related things. And I found a RP site strictly for Harry Potter. I'd say I really enjoy RPing romance and am a huge vampire fanatic, so I strictly RP vampires.

3. Do you have any long-term goals related to role-play and/or writing? If so, what are they?

Not really. It's just fun for me and a good way to keep my writing skills sort of sharp. Though I'd say I'm only a mediocre writer.

4. What are some of your other hobbies and/or interests? What is one interesting thing about you that others might not expect when they first meet you?

Other hobbies? I love riding horses and crocheting. I study a lot, though, and spend a lot of time drawing as well. And I don't really know what people wouldn't expect about me.

5. How has your Valucre experience been so far? What do you like, and is there anything we can do to help you (as staff or fellow members)?

My Valucre experience has been pretty good so far. Though, I have to admit, I wasn't expecting such an adventure-based RP community. Still, everyone is really nice and the site is fairly active, which is always nice. To be honest, learning about the different regions is actually difficult first coming in, though. None of the information sections for the different regions are the same and it makes it hard to navigate with all the different formats. If recommend a sort of universal template to make it easier because there is an overwhelming amount of knowledge to learn coming into this site.

1. What brought you to Valucre? How did you find us?

I craved for a good role-play. Accidentally stumbled upon it while browsing a list of the best role-playing sites. 

2. What got you into role-play? What are your favorite types (genre, style, etc) of role-play?

My love towards writing and creating character. My favorite genres are almost everything dark-themed, mystery, horror, vampire centered role-plays and the most loved of all, sword and magic.

3. Do you have any long-term goals related to role-play and/or writing? If so, what are they?

No, I don't. I write/role-play just because I enjoy it, without planning. 

4. What are some of your other hobbies and/or interests? What is one interesting thing about you that others might not expect when they first meet you?

My hobbies are writing, role-playing, collecting knives, playing cards and studying foreign languages. One interesting thing people don't expect: I'm a pretty decent fencer.

5. How has your Valucre experience been so far? What do you like, and is there anything we can do to help you (as staff or fellow members)?

It has been great. What I like are the activity and the kindness of its members.

1. What brought you to Valucre? How did you find us?

I found Valucre via a several-years old Yahoo!Questions topic searching for decent RP communities. I hail from GaiaOnline, whose RP community was... Just not what I wanted to be a part of [anymore]. Not that I was much a part of it to begin with, but it seemed that I could just never find Players of my own skill level and dedication. Being tired of GO's shenanigans was what brought me here. 

2. What got you into role-play? What are your favorite types (genre, style, etc) of role-play?

Not so much "what" as "who". My husband, who I was only starting to date at the time, introduced me to roleplay in high school. Before that, I was writing creatively after being inspired by the likes of Tolkien and Rowling, and the success story of Paolini (whose work I'm not so fond of anymore).

My favorite genres tend towards fantasy of any sort: High fantasy, D&D/Pathfinder-esque swords-n-sorcery, modern, science, urban, supernatural... Lots of things, really. As far as styles, I'm not really sure what that's asking. *chuckle* Third person narrative styled, I suppose?

3. Do you have any long-term goals related to role-play and/or writing? If so, what are they?

The only real long-term goals I have are to have fun, and develop interesting characters along the way that people find just as intriguing as I do. No dreams of publishing since I've grown out of the phase where I was sure I was hot stuff (teenaged dreams!).

4. What are some of your other hobbies and/or interests? What is one interesting thing about you that others might not expect when they first meet you?

I'm also an artist (hobbyist, digital, anthro and animal), a not-quite-casual-but-not-hardcore gamer, pony fan (not Brony; I make the distinction for reasons), Disney child, and general nerd of the Internet age. 
As far as something interesting about me that's kind of unexpected... Um... I like foreign metal, like Alestorm, Wintersun, Ensiferum, Lunatica, and Equilibrium. I don't look like a metalhead to any degree; I probably look more like a New-Age or Broadway-musical-loving type.

5. How has your Valucre experience been so far? What do you like, and is there anything we can do to help you (as staff or fellow members)?

I unfortunately have been unable to delve into the community's roleplaying itself yet due to IRL circumstances. But the people here have been nothing if not wonderfully welcoming and able/willing/eager to help a new arrival into the community, without being pushy in any aspect (which is something that has turned me off from other RP communities before). I love the fact that the admin and staff are so involved with the community's goings-on. And that's super-refreshing after all the other sites I've tried that are either cliquish, dead, or dying, with virtually no sight nor hide nor hair of admins or mods. Pretty much the only thing folks here can do is not change.

Give a warm welcome to all these folks and make sure they get a chance to find some quality RP. :D

What is content squared?

Other Highlights?

FAQs:  You want to know stuff, right? Getting around the site sure is easier when you know stuff. Well, what better place to go find stuff than heading over to the FAQ section of the site, amirite? You can find it along the header.

Did You Know-  That we have a world bestiary? Yep, we sure do, full of interesting things you can go slay. Some are found all over the world, some others are exclusive to a land, so be sure to double check that before using them in a canon RP. Check it out here. While you are at it, read the rest of the Did You Knows too. 

Closing Thoughts?

Revenge for family/community/love interest

Putting together a role-play, while not exactly the same as writing, shares some similar elements. We build up characters we (usually) plan to use for a long haul, inserting them into some kind of plot that at some point should reach a climax and resolution. In general, there is some kind of background information; though how much depends on the RP itself. You will have a setting for this “play” to take place in (may be one room or an expansive locale). Obviously, role-plays have a lot in common with writing a story, even if some of the execution is different. Just as role-play shares qualities of construction, it shares some flaws as well. Today, let’s address “clichés”.

What kind of clichés you ask? Well, I put together a list of 10 elements that have to do with plot and characters. I am sure many, many more could be derived, including things that have to do with how a plot is resolved or the setting itself, but I am limiting myself to this for today—perhaps we’ll run a sequel (*gasp*, is that another one?) in the future. In no particular order, here are ten things that should be limited, or outright stricken.

1. Descriptions of the character while they look in a mirror, or when someone else is looking at them.
This is taking the easy way out on trying to describe a character. Rather than slip a couple details here and there as the story goes along, someone decides to do the info dump, but instead of just being straight up about it, the package it up and try to make it look like a valid way to share that information—no, just no. Not only is this still an info dump, you’re now doing it in a way that almost seems like it’s meant to be deceiving. Also, it is a really boring way to start things out and it’s unrealistic! Who stands in front of the mirror describing themselves, or going over every detail of their body? Sure, insecure adolescents might focus on one or two areas, but they are not going over every detail. Same goes for having someone else do it- who stands there analyzing someone’s entire profile? If you or someone you know is doing it, please look into obsessive-compulsive disorder.

2. “The Chosen One”
Before I get any one scoffing at me, don’t take this to mean you cannot ever use it, just be aware that it is a common cliché—it gets used a lot. If you can put a new spin on the old story and make something interesting and new, go for it! However, if your story starts to resemble something that has been done forty times in the last year… well, that story has been done forty times in the last year, try something different.

3. Conveniently Occupied
You know who is among the biggest offenders for this? Dragon Ball Z. Seriously, ever notice that Goku just so happens to be too busy to come help the rest of the Z fighters, because he is somewhere else, or stuck doing something different, or just happens to be incapacitated, but way- he gets there just in time! This can be done intelligently and in subtle ways, but it also can be done where it’s obvious that you were either at a loss for a good idea or just plain lazy. Try to not use this if you can, unless you have a fresh take on it—and you probably don’t, just sayin. ;)

4. Old Mentor
Yeah, it gets used a lot, and sometimes the use is fine. Where people get into trouble with this one is when the mentor is just a rehash of the mentor seen in every story, and that mentor has a knack for showing up and saving the protagonist’s butt. If you need a mentor in your story, make them different and not always available. Don’t fall into the trap of using the mentor as a deux ex machina.

5. Over the Top Fighting
Probably one of the biggest sins in role-playing, and I am sure I have been guilty of this to an extent myself. Sometimes, you just want to write an epic scene that tells others how cool your character is. Sometimes it is just getting carried away with the writing and forgetting that even a badass can only do so much. Try to increase tension by making the fight difficult, or have some consequences—long lasting injuries that create problems, etc. And if you just want to indulge yourself to indulge yourself- go for it. Just don’t do it in 90% of your RP threads. ;)

6. Cliché Characters
Going over what is a cliché character would take up the entirety of this closing thought and probably three more as well. I will leave it to you fine folks to go find some clichés in character writing (or just direct you to the Mary Sue Litmus Test) and then work your best to minimize them. I added this section mainly to remind people to take these into consideration as you put together a character or NPC.

7. Cliché Villains
Just like the above, this one definitely could be expanded into its own closing thoughts, so this is more of a reminder to tread carefully here. Villains probably shouldn’t kill henchmen just to make a point. They also should listen to trusted advisors, avoid monologues, and often work better when they are motivated by something. This last one isn’t necessarily always the case though- the Joker from the Dark Knight is just pure evil, and look how awesome he was for a villain. 0_o Go look up the Evil Overlord Rules.

8. Over Used Openings
Look: Though shall not use “Once a upon a time”, “In a land far, far away”, “It was a dark and stormy night” or other ridiculously overused openings. Just don’t. Please. Unless you’re being facetious. That’s okay ;)

9. The Evil Relative
Okay, sometimes family is bad, but this gets used a lot, especially the “Evil Twin” thing, so avoid it as much as you can. Sure, someone could have had a shitty childhood and so there is that relative who wronged you or that you avoid- all well and good. As the main villain though? Ehhhhh

10. The Revenge/Avenge Plot
Not to say that you should never do this, but one would be best served by avoiding it, or if using it, make sure to add some flavorful, unique story elements that makes the story interesting otherwise, because on its own, this can be an eye-roller. You see that the hero’s family was killed, or that someone framed him, or that one time at band camp… we’ll not go in that direction. Anyway, this can be done well, I’ve read some good books that use it, but they add a lot of other elements to flesh the story out. I will also admit that I have been guilty of this one, but I was younger and I still did my best to make it more of a unique tale. Maybe it wasn’t, who could say; I came up with that one when I was sixteen and new to online RP.

Anyway, there is 10 for you all. Sorry this got rushed at the end, but I had work stuff come up that interrupted me and I had to come back to this and get it out in a mad rush- this is late as it is!

This is your blog update for the week, next week is the skip, so I will see you all in August!

-          Acies   

"It is a cliche that most cliches are true, but then like most cliches, that cliche is untrue. ~ Stephen Fry