GenShinigami's public thoughts page

Administrator

So guys, I know there's some discussion going on regarding what will happen to the site. I've actually been brainstorming like crazy into a topic in the Admin forum board. But since people like to have solid evidence of this sort of thing, and it doesn't hurt to have some extra input on my own thoughts. Everything that I'll put in here will be censored and more fully explained, compared to my three word posts elsewhere.

I'll try and post here at the absolute minimum of once a week. Ideally this will turn into almost a "Developer's Blog" and I'll be posting once a day when I can, as new ideas come to my head, either from my own efforts or because someone else shared one. The public is welcome to comment on this topic, and I promise I'll read their posts. But understand that a lot of this stuff isn't concrete, so much as musings.

Administrator

So: For my first post, here goes.

The problem with plot
My first thought with the plot was to just do a timeskip, throw everything and everyone into the future. This means we don't have to worry about our own canon so much anymore, and we can scavenge what we want to keep. However someone brought up the big problem of technology. As time progresses, so does technology. So anything more than a minor timeskip would be a little tricky to properly work. So this lends us three other simple options:
Option A: We do a hard reboot, say none of our canon has happened, and just play from the beginning however we want. This idea is appealing because everyone gets a fresh start. But at the same time it requires a full rewrite of a history, plot, and world in general. This is time consuming, and a pain in the ass that I don't think ANYONE wants to have to do that.
Second: A short time skip to tie in some new plot device could work too. Perhaps some new countries or something? Even villages could work. I don't like this one so much because, frankly, things hit a standstill with our last plot as it was. Just trying to continue it (Or drag it out) strikes me as folly.
3: A minor rewind, plot twist, and then time skip. Sort of a combination of the first two, plus something extra. I'm very strongly leaning towards this particular option, because I liked where our world was set when I joined, and yet with this I can still make the changes I feel necessary. I'm looking at rewinding to right before the Akatsuki were introduced under one of our previous members. From there a Kitai destruction event will happen, and a time skip (~1-5 years) to give time for villages to form. A few members will be given Kage characters and are expected to take their village and run it to success.

------End Thought------

------New Thought------
Create a new rank. SS rank specifically. Right now we cap off at S rank, which is fine and dandy. But to me, S rank is just a default Kage. Once you've truly trained and trained, mastered all sorts of little tricks and such, you're a notch above the rest. S rank is too small a field to properly envelop all of the ranges of power in the upper scale of ninja. So SS rank. There will be no SS rank jutsu, the SS rank ninja is only an increase in SC, basic stats (Speed, strength, chakra levels) and perhaps there will be SS rank SC allowed, but that's something I haven't put much thought into. It will be a while before anyone hits SS rank anyways. But I like the idea.

------End Thought------

------New Thought------
Here's a concrete change I will be adding: A "Trigger" field for all Genjutsu. As it stands, there are Canon Genjutsu that are listed which it doesn't specifically describe what the trigger is. This Trigger field would make it much easier to know how much chakra to pay, rather than just trying to figure it out otherwise.
I will also be adding a "Cost" field to ALL jutsu to specifically explain how much a jutsu costs. There will be a "default cost" which people can use, or set it as higher or lower if the jutsu is particularly strong or weak for some reason. It's just something to make everything that much clearer for members, especially new ones.

------End Thought------

------New Thought------
Fix the blasted Chakra system. Right now the numbers don't correlate clearly across ranks. The easiest example of this being a Genin uses 6% of his chakra for an E rank expenditure and 13% for a D rank. A Chuunin uses 3% of his chakra (Half of the Genin cost) for an E rank payment and 5% of his chakra pool (Almost 1/3 of the Genin cost) for a D rank chakra use. Doesn't make sense!

Instead I'm looking very seriously at overlapping. Creating a "Chakra Points" system (Essentially mana points) that looks like this:

Quote :: E rank costs 6 CP
D rank costs 13 CP
C rank costs 25 CP
B rank costs 50 CP
A rank costs 150 CP
S rank costs 375 CP

Genin starts with 100 CP (Chakra Points).
Chuunin starts with 250 CP.
Jounin starts with 500 CP.
S rank starts with 1250 CP.
SS rank starts with 2000 CP.

I'll still keep the percentage examples, but everything will be in points to clarify. Basically allowing people to learn how it works in two ways.

------End Thought------

So that's my first post of thoughts. Look forward to feedback guys!

Veteran

Get a staff first or none of these ideas will come to life.

Administrator

Today's topic is on the subject of Special Characteristics and my stance on them as they are now, as well as some ideas of what I'm looking at doing to fix them.

So, first, let me talk at you about how I feel the SC system works right now and its strengths and limitations. With the current rules you can have 5 SC at S rank, 6 if you don't have a KKG. At S rank it can boost up to 25% in an area. This means that (Assuming no KKG) you get a total of 150% in passive boosts, if you're doing nothing but percentage boosts. This isn't a bad amount. It definitely puts you on a much higher scale than the lower ranks.
However we run into the problem, at all ranks, of SC that don't have a defined percentage boost. Things like reaction time, or quick thinking, or being smarter. These are all vague, no matter what rank you use them for. Frankly we have no way to clarify them though. So they get picked up at low ranks, and little to no effort is put into increasing them because they're so vague. So what can we do to fix this issue?

Simple. Begin requiring them. Please, don't jump on me and say "You can't require them if they're going to take one of my precious SC slots!" I mean that certain jutsu will require these kind of SC. For example, canonically the Chidori makes you move faster, to the point that you can't react in time because of your speed. Sharingan is regularly needed to make Chidori viable in a real battle by increasing the reaction time of the user. So why not require an A rank reaction speed SC for someone using Chidori? In fact, why not create a chart that explains "When you have this much of a speed boost, you are REQUIRED to have an SC or KKG that boosts your reaction time by this much" to help balance it?
I rather like that idea. Two birds with one stone as far as I'm concerned, seeing as I have my own complaints about the current jutsu boosting numbers. (But that's for another time) So if you're moving too fast, you can't react in time, and you may have free actions taken against you. Certain jutsu will also require these SC to be used, though which ones remains to be seen.

The SC system right now allows for some reasonable personalization, though I still feel it falls short. There just aren't enough SC slots available, even for an S rank with no KKG, for me to feel like I'm actually "personalizing" them. Especially when you add on the fact that some pre-made SC are just too good to pass up. (I'm a big fan of Chakra Control, among other things, personally.) So how do we balance that? Three things that I'm planning on doing will help, I hope.

1) All members will have the chance to get more SC slots. Whether through competition, a quest reward, or special event, more SC slots will be made available. The biggest way to get more is that every set amount of time (I'm looking at two months) you gain the option to do a WC topic to gain an new SC slot. Probably something like 800 words, nothing too bad, and that is of course before your new SC word count. When this is implemented (I intend to implement it, it is mostly the numbers and fine details that are being decided on) everyone will have the chance to get half of their bonus SC slots for free, to distribute across their characters as they see fit.

2) Career SCs will be created, and while not required, will be very important. Essentially career SC will replace certain specialities, as well as fill in a few gaps we didn't have. Examples of this would be an ANBU SC, a Medic SC, a Scout SC, and things like that. You can have more than one career SC, but they'll start to cost a whole lot. The way that these SC will be viable is that they will allow access to certain jutsu, which you MUST have the career to learn without having someone that already knows them teach you IC. Yeah, sounds interesting doesn't it? The details on this one are still being worked out and I'm waiting on a write up from a certain member who is helping.

3) Clarifying SC considerably. Right now we don't have any particular guidelines for non-percentage based boosting SC. We play it by ear. I'll be having guidelines created. While they obviously won't cover all possibilities, it will certainly help give some idea of what is expected and allowed from SC rather than just some numbers to make you more powerful.

So, hopefully that will give you an idea of what kind of changes you can look forward to, as well as something to mull over.

If you have any questions or input of your own, please post! I'd love to respond to feedback.

Veteran

the new plot i like the idea #3. I liked the area of time we were in when koto was building up Joki. However, you would need to only start with like 2 villages (3 if you feel ballsy) and then build those up with a good and active leader, then start feeding members to them. in a semi even way, not like with joki being top dog by far, but that was also partially because of suna's inactive-ness. Also, as it showed in Joki, going non canon on names and stuff is good. So maybe mix things up with new ideas and what not.

The SS rank was done before, and it is debatable on whether or not it should be done. I feel that the SS rank is cool, because it still has that bit of desire for a kage to do something instead of just be S rank and now be top dog. However, it is just a weird concept for the SS rank. I dont have too many thoughts on it.

The genjutsu thing sounds fricking awesome. do it.

Chakra cost change seems much more simple and easy for members to understand. go for it.

so far i like the changes. i skimmed the SC thing you talked about and it seems cool. i like the changes going on and keep them up.

Administrator

So, new thought time!

First, lemme throw you a sneak peek at some of the new career SC that we have coming. These aren't ALL of them, but should give you a feel for the direction I'm hoping to go in.

Instructor, Courier, Elementalist, Kage, ANBU, Specialist, Interrogator, and Surgeon.

Courier: can encode and decode documents (effectively making them theft proof since you can't read them without a courier to decode them)
Courier's big big catch is that they have no wait time after travel topics (which usually have a player wait a certain number of hours before posting in the destination)
On the down side, to hold onto the career you have to do at least 1 courier mission each month of your rank.

I'm looking at mixing in the concept of "Scout" with this career. It will probably provide speed boosts and maybe reaction speeds.

Elementalist: this career explicitly focuses on the primary element of the character. Depending upon their primary element they receive a specialization in that element (Magnetism [raiton], Ink [suiton], Mud [doton], Sound [Fuuton], and Cold Flame [Katon]) which allows for some pretty interesting concepts.

Kage and ANBU are obviously "You're a badass, grab some restricted jutsu" (silent homicide, death soul seal, etc) plus some shiny permissions perks. Jutsu in these careers will be considerably more powerful, though likely at an increased cost of some sort. Kage will require admin/staff permission to attain, and ANBU can only be assigned by a Kage or someone who has specifically been given permission by the Kage. (Usually the ANBU head)

Specialist turns a character into Rock Lee. (only a single specialty BUT you get to use them at 1 rank above your own with your current chakra pool) Will also likely provide some enhanced bonuses related to your specialties. This creates an interesting element where you gain power while losing versatility.

Interrogators get some cool jutsu and the ability to detect lies. Things like mind reading and high pain/low damage jutsu will be made available to these characters. I'm thinking they may very well also be made into more discreet spy type characters who can infiltrate other places with easy. A bit in the air.

Surgeons get to do all the implants, splicing, and kkg transfers. This career will replace the Medical(Eijutsu) speciality.

Other things I'm looking at doing with these career SC changes include:
Replacing Sensor specialty with a career.
Changing Bukijutsu into an advanced version of Kenjutsu, or the reverse.

As an addition, I'm strongly considering increasing the number of SC that are given automatically. This new list would look like this:

C Rank: 1 SC
B Rank: 3 SC
A Rank: 6 SC
S Rank: 9 SC
SS Rank: 14 SC

I'm looking at this change because SC will become much more focused. Certain high ranking items and techniques will require SC to make use of. Quest required jutsu are a great example of this. Jinchuuriki, users of the Seven Swords, and these sort of things will also require SC for access. This ties into my other plan to allow more SC as people are active members longer. Numbers aren't finalized, but they're certainly looking likely.

So that was really just one large thought that covered a whole lot of things, and I welcome any input on them. So give a shout!

Veteran

I completely disagree in removing the Eijutsu specialty. Absolutely. Without a doubt.

That potentially allows everyone to be a medic, and I can't abide by that.

Veteran

I agree with Lofwyr. I like Eijutsu as a specialty. If your talkin about taking aways Sensors too, I think that shouldnt be done as well. But I do LOVE the idea of Elementalist and Specialist. They are unique characteristics that nobody seems to add into the systems. lol

Administrator

I understand your concerns, and when you present them that way I do agree with them. My biggest qualm though is that technically medical jutsu is a branch off of ninjutsu. This genuinely bothers me, and I feel that people should be allowed use of medical ninjutsu even without specifically specializing in it. You guys are right though. I'll have to find some happy middle ground for that.

As for Sensory, I'm really not feeling like it is getting appropriate appreciation. It either needs to be largely reworked, or presented differently. I'm not yet sure how I intend to do this either, but I'm open to suggestions and ideas.

Veteran

"Changing Bukijutsu into an advanced version of Kenjutsu, or the reverse."

I'd suggest doing the opposite: Making Kenjutsu an advanced Bukijutsu. So when a shinobi reaches say chuunin, they can specialise. They start as a genin with Main/Sub: Bukijutsu but at chuunin it becomes Main/Sub: Bukijutsu: *whatever weaponry type you are wishing to specialise in*

This means that, instead of Kenjutsu, chuunin could also specialise in other weaponry types (maybe Ranged Weapons, Polearms, etc)

Another idea was, if that character then reaches jounin, they can (if they want to) get even more specific, being able to go from Kenjutsu to Katanas, or Bastard Sword, specific types of their specialisation. This could make Ranged weapons go from Ranged to Archer, or Kunai specialist.

Obviously specialising would give you a buff to that weapon (I was thinking for chuunin and jounin specialisations, they get to make a weapon of their spec one rank above their current highest level, and for jounin itself making jutsu using that weapon cost less?)

Just a few ideas on how to work the weaponry system, hope it helps and makes sense. If not, feel free to Skype me and I'll explain it further

Administrator

To me at least, Bukijutsu is actually an advanced version of Kenjutsu, with a dash of Fuuinjutsu thrown in for the taste. The idea of making Kenjutsu an advanced version of Bukijutsu strikes me as somewhat backwards. A Bukijutsu user can use a blade to a similar level as a Kenjutsu user, they just tend to use large masses of weapons instead of a single tool.

Your idea of using an even more specific weapon can be expressed fairly well through an SC. However that isn't really something that I have seen much interest in since being here.

Veteran

I love that idea. You can choose Bukijutsu, and as a SC you can choose a main focus while still being skilled with other weapons. Sounds interesting and new.

Veteran

Thanks Dengen, it could be you can only use un-specialised weapons up to your own rank, (Max being A or whatever the second highest jutsu rank is) and you can use specialised jutsu up to one rank higher than normal, as well as you get your higher ranked weapon.

Gen: I see Bukijutsu as being all weapons used equally well, whereas my idea would be becoming stronger at one while losing strength with others. I don't think I'd make is compulsory to spec, you can stay "Jack-of-all-trades" if you want, this is just an idea for those people that have ideas for what they are best with wielding.

"A Bukijutsu user can use a blade to a similar level as a Kenjutsu user, they just tend to use large masses of weapons instead of a single tool." I'm suggesting making it, once you specialise, you get the weapon one rank above and can use it to a higher level than an average Bukijutsu user.

If not many people like this idea, we don't have to go through with it, making it optional means it's there if someone wants to go through with it, but you don't necessarily have to. (It would also make it cool if your village had a division of masters in each art of weaponry, similar to the original White Lotus in Avatar : Legend of Aang, with a Fire Master, Water Master, Earth Master and Swords master)

Veteran

Don't bring specialties above the norm, lower the outliers below the norm.

Member

I will need to rework my bio cause of this, meh, np. Smile

Administrator

Hello again folks! Time for another round, and let me apologize to all of you for this incredible delay. This post actually won't be my "thoughts" so much as what I've done yesterday and today, decisions that will sculpt the site to continue.

The first decision was the release of our new plot! That information can be found right here if you're interested. It tells you what has happened since we last left off and gives you some general information about who is getting to handle what. That is a very important step towards resuming out adventures, seeing as without a universe and plot, where would we be?

The next big thing was when I remembered just how much I hate "ban" lists. They're rather limiting and just irk me honestly. So I had an idea. Why not just label them something different? So our own Kinjutsu list appears. Kinjutsu can be used by anyone of any specialty, but require staff (And usually Admin) permission to learn in the first place. Plus most are going to require an SC to be tied to them.

I also posted some Site Rules for everyone to read. Please go for it, and if you have a problem or suggestion, post it here! I hope to change the general tone of the site to something more welcoming for new members and veterans alike. Hopefully this will change things up.

All of the old characters were archived in the appropriate area (I promise I'll try to make sure this one isn't deleted.) if you're looking for your old profile. You are of course welcome to use your old character, but you'll want to rewrite them first!

I've decided to settle on my SC numbers, though not quite the ones I decided on earlier. Here's our new default numbers!

Quote :: C Rank: 1 SC
B Rank: 3 SC
A Rank: 6 SC
S Rank: 10 SC
SS Rank: 15 SC

I know, I know, this seems like a whole lot. But as the new SC are released (Some of which will take multiple SC slots) hopefully things will become clearer.
As an additional note, summons will no longer require that whole "Quest" system. Instead you will have to take an SC of the rank of your summon (Obviously not higher than your own) to be able to use it. If you are the contract owner you must use TWO SC slots instead, but you get the wonderful ability to remove people from the contract if you desire.
Stacking SC will not be allowed however, unless an exception is specifically made. This removes the possibility of stacking, for example, chakra reduction SC to get 100% chakra reduction.
Finally, for every two months that you are active (Myself or another staff member will be posting an activity check each month) you will receive a free SC slot. As a special event, for the first month of our official reboot (I'll post when this event officially starts and ends) everyone will receive half the SC that their account would have earned, rounding up. So, if your account is 30 months old, then you get a whopping 8 extra SC on top of of your rank's allotted amount!

We will no longer be using the PAC system. The idea was nice, but the implementation was a pain for everyone. First you had to post in the PAC area and make sure everything was just right. Then you had to wait for a staff member to have time to read a topic (A long process for some adventures) and then they had to use a fairly arbitrary grading system. Then they had to update the logbook, which was just more busywork.
Our new method actually automates almost everything. It is called "Skill Points" or SP for short and will be using a (mostly) automated system. Every post you make in certain areas will net you points (Default of 5 points) which then adds towards your own totals. Here's a list of how much everything will cost.

Quote :: (jutsu/weapons/SC/Etc)
E-D= 10 points (2 post)
C= 25 points (5 post)
B= 50 points (10 post)
A= 75 points (15 post)
S= 100 points (20 post)

B rank = 200 points (40 post)
A rank = 300 points (60 posts)
S rank = 400 points (80 posts)
SS rank = 500 points (100 posts)

The difference between SP and PAC though is that when you spend SP it is gone. Think of it more like money. This means that it is up to the players to decide on a balance between saving up for a new rank, and spending it it on some awesome new jutsu or tools. SP can also be earned through missions and site events.
I know some people won't like this idea. I have my own reservations already, since it promotes quantity over quality. However to help limit abuse of this system there is a requirement of 250 words or more. People who intentionally abuse this system will be warned, and double what they earned will be taken from their new total, setting them back for what they got.
This is obviously a big step but I hope that by automating things a bit it will clear it up.

Also, sometime in the future, ask me about Sponsor Points(SpP) if you're feeling excited.

All jutsu will now be required to have a "Cost" listed, and if they are Genjutsu they will also need to have a "Trigger" added. These fields will be put into the appropriate forms soon. The default I'm looking at is something to the effect of "Utility is cost two ranks below jutsu, combat is one rank below the jutsu, particularly powerful or unique jutsu will be cost same rank" and (Since our new Chakra Pool system will be getting added to the current percentage one soon) if you're feeling REALLY dangerous, you can even make it cost one rank higher for experimental or particularly amazing effects. But that's up to people to figure out!

Finally, to go along with my promise to use a transparent leadership style to keep everyone informed, I had the unfortunate task of banning a certain member today. Many of you know him as Elendril. He was banned because after I posted in the Just Dropping This here topic, he ignored my demand that people be civil in there. He went and posted a rather inflammatory response which I deleted along with an uncivil post by another member and then Elendril threw what I considered a major fit in the Chatbox in front of myself and other members. I know some of you considered him a friend, and I'm sorry if you feel he didn't deserve to be banned. However I would be a poor excuse of a leader if I laid down the rules and let people ignore them. Below are enclosed his post in the topic, for those who are interested, as well as the logs from the Chatbox. They both contain considerable language, so please consider yourself warned if you're easily offended.

Logs of Elendril:

Elendril's Post:

Spoiler:

If anyone has a problem with any of my decisions (Be them systems updates or removal of members) feel free to post here! So long as everything remains civil and reasonable, I'm happy to answer concerns to curiosities.

So I'll see you all soon! Looking forward to those characters, new and old!

Member

Elendri = Koto?

Veteran

No, Elen is a half vet (I refuse to put myself in his league) who is pretty much ignored by everyone. Todd didn't like him, feuer didn't like him, Oahizzle didn't like him. I can't speak for Steph.

He's got his heart in the right place but his head on backwards. Poor guy, I wish him the best of luck.

Veteran

Wait... Manami... How did you confuse me with Elendril? O.o

Member

Koto, baby!

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