Tangled -- 8 / 10

| Title - Tangled
| Maker - Disney
| Rating - G, most likely
| Synopsis - It's the story of Rapunzel, all over again. With an interesting twist that she's been grounded for ... oh, life. Evil "mother" finds a flower that extends her life if she sings to it, and the Queen of the land is dying -- out of fear for his unborn child and wife, the King cries out and the town goes to work searching for a miraculous golden flower that has healing powers. Evil mother tries to hide it, fails miserably, and thus -- the family is saved, but then the daughter is stolen! OhSnap!

Who knew that if you healed the wife, the kid would get awesome ever-growing hair that could never be cut and was so strong, she could use it like a bull whip, swing from stuff, and even tie people up! Right, how many little girls aren't going to cut their hair now... poor parents.


| Pros - Disney has finally found it's way back to the original classics, having floundered for SO long without their Disney Princess/Kids movie careers in check. After that evil crap they pulled with that voodoo creepster movie (it's currently 5:57am and I can't remember the title - their last film out that was animated), they haven't been on par with Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, or even close to epics like Sword in the Stone and Fox and the Hound.
This movie had it all. Humor. Cutesy-ness. Amusement. AND -- sing a longs that we all loved and enjoyed as kids. Finally, a Disney flick worth taking your kids to.

| Cons - It seemed to drag on a bit, but maintained the Disney short-and-sweet experience, even still. I know how I am, and with a mild case of insanity and A.D.D., this film had be sitting on my hands, for fear of staring at my watch. Although ... I am old. Lol. /le shrug/

| Exciting Note - The horse is awesome! I want one.

| Zenith's Approval Rating - A solid 8 / 10

Writing With Eachother - A Template for Successful Roleplay

As one of the official Chosen Tournament judges, I've overseen a fair share of T1 matches. One of the most difficult things to do when issuing a judgment is trying to figure out what's actually going on. This is due to the contradictions and paradoxes that occur when two players are writing against each other, something I'll get into in a moment. Because of the difficulty in understanding fights, we often ask the participants to supply us with a detailed list of actions that have occurred up to the contested point. Oftentimes, we find that the timelines don't even match. Why is this and what is going wrong?

This doesn't just happen in T1. A trend I've noticed among certain roleplayers is that they tend to write against each other as opposed to with. This, I think, is due to two reasons:

1. Ego - players want to be at the center of plots, so they're constantly fighting to be the center of attention. This also leads to a lack of accommodation, which can cause a clash of style.
2. Minimal Communication - This is especially noticeable in T1 matches. Players who frequently communicate seem to have the best synergy. If you know where the plot is headed and have a good idea of everything that is going on, you can make your post better integrate with the plot.

I know many people pride themselves on their writing and look at roleplay as a sort of writing exercise. This is good and a sentiment that should be facilitated and supported by the community. The problem lies in the fact that most threads read like a broken mash-up of events that seem to make little or no sense.

How is it fixed?

I don't have a sure-fire way to address the problem presented above, but I do have a few tips that may help those that wish to improve their literary relationship with other writers.

My first recommendation is to obviously drop the ego and communicate with your partners more. This should come as no surprise given the fact that I mentioned both of this issues above.

My second recommendation is to agree on the flow of time between posts with your partner. My intention here is to address the several temporal paradoxes that seem to arise when players fail to take time into consideration. If you're not involved in competitive roleplaying, it is advisable to give each player a certain amount of "IC" time with which they can play. Their post should be focused on their character's actions, but it can also address certain things that your character is doing.

The final idea I wanted to share has to do with the distribution of responsibilities. What I mean by this is that, in any given thread, you'll often find that a certain player takes on the responsibility of painting the setting, while another might describe major non-player actions. I feel that, for the flow of the thread, that it's important to share these responsibilities. The first post should always set the scene, but there is always more that can be described. Additionally, players can take turns controlling NPCs so to optimize the flow of dialogue and action. This, in my opinion, will provide the largest increase in synergy.

Leave some comments and tell me what you think!

Merger + 100K break

Paragon, a roleplay forum owned and administrated by the user Sorano on Valucre, has joined the fray! Come and celebrate the successful merger of Paragon and Valucre. Also, thanks to the merger of Paragon and Valucre, we have tipped over the 100K post line. Celebrate that too!

Valucre's merger with Paragon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

While this is a little late, I was personally busy with the holiday and family, so you get a post-update of the holidays, but something that I think is important enough to share with others. As this is the season for holidays, a lot of people have truly forgotten what it means to just enjoy friends, family, and be thankful for what you have.

I am thankful for my family. That I have a roof over my head. A wife that loves me. A God who cares. And I am thankful for every day that I am allowed to breath. To smile. To laugh. To enjoy humor. I am thankful for the soldiers who fight for my freedom. I am thankful to be American. (As random of a blessing as this is, lol.) I am thankful to have a place to relax and write with great friends. [Shameless Valucre-self Promotion]

Give thanks!
Enjoy life!
Be blessed!

Happy Holidays!

From the Valucre Staff! <3

Valucre Newsletter: November 21st, 2010

Valucre Newsletter, November 21st 2010.

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