Suggestions?

Shiolar · Post by **Shiolar** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 1:43 pm

Yeah, that is the trouble with long due dates. I've got two whole plots for Mirus as a whole that I can't do until certain characters have bonded. And until I've finished those plots, I can't move on to the next ones. And I can't write other characters in the storyline until the previous ones have bonded, because their dragons are meant to be a part of the story too. So now I'm just writing fillers until those characters have bonded. Not that they're bad fillers... my 'fillers' still have a story in their own right. It's just not the earth-shattering epic-ness that I'd like to be writing.

Astra · Post by **Astra** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 1:51 pm

Yeah and I have a lot of characters who know each other in-story ... so I have one candidate go off someplace and wait to bond but then I write someone else's story and I really want the first person to be in the second person's story because they're friends, but they can't, because they're off waiting to bond. This was especially a problem with Leora, who had all sorts of stuff happen to her on Cyrna while she was in Treval. I made some lame excuse that she found a portal or something :shrugs:

Shiolar · Post by **Shiolar** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:05 pm

That's pretty much my motivation behind the time fractures on Mius, so that a Candidate I write today can be talking to one I wrote yesterday who won't bond until tomorrow. And I'm still struggling to make it work, even with time fractures...

Cacopheny · Post by **Cacopheny** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:07 pm

... Myrror, no one's forcing anyone to do anything :: blinks :: This is for all those people who like to write, and want more time to do so in, or want more events to do so for, or whatever. I don't know where you got the whole "forcing" thing from.

Xenoqueen · Post by **Xenoqueen** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:10 pm

On some reflection, I don't really think there's anything to be done to "refresh" or "renew" the Nexus. Everybody works differently and has their own preferences on things... and it's not like the Nexus is actually dying. Sure, its rhythm has gotten a little weird, but people are still around and still enjoying whatever aspects of it call to them, right?

Me, I love a little bit of everything. I jump happily on giveaways and gleefit whenever I'm lucky in a draw, and don't even get me started on how I've skyrocketed through the FAP ranks at the EverRealm.

But I also enjoy a good candidate now and then, and feel very proud of myself when I pull off a story the way it was in my head, and get a dragon to show for it in the end.

And I still love running the Destiny. Look at the way my Synths tend to take multiple parents--it's not that hard to tell I'm one of the folks that loves breeding wild and unusual critters! And I'd like to think my rules are laid-back enough that casual writers can get in and get something (all I require is some simple dragoning-related content, rather than length or shortness of any kind), but people who go all-out and really put their heart into something can get rewarded, too--like that 15-header of JKat's.

And I do what I can to surprise people! Come on, I bet none of you saw the group-image triplets from Synth 09 coming, didja? Didja?

So sure, sometimes I think the dragon supply is more than the demand (not that people don't WANT them--candidates just don't get churned out the way they used to), but I don't think the Nexus is in any sort of danger. It's just... mellowing with age, perhaps.

Not that people that want to introduce things like contests and RPs shouldn't go for it, if that's what they want!

Timelines... ugh, not gonna go there. Myrror and Gayle can vouch for me and my insistence on "fluid" and unspecified time, because trying to coordinate time across agencies and candidates is impossible. XD It only causes headaches.

Cacopheny · Post by **Cacopheny** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:15 pm

Well, yeah, timelines not as in what happens ICly when, but timelines as in, you need one character to be bonded before you can write anything with the next character.... XD

And you do have a point. It's not as if the Nexus is dying off or anything ^^ It's just growing-- into things, out of things, with things.... Nothing ever stays completely the same, or then it's stagnating and in need of help. I don't really see that here. If someone is unhappy with how things are going, that's not really the fault of the Nexus as a whole. Just find a different niche to fit into-- it's certainly there, and if it's not, just make it! XD

Shiolar · Post by **Shiolar** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:16 pm

Heh, mebbe I'll toss my next epic Candidate over to the Destiny, then, if you don't mind reading long stuff?

Myrror · Post by **Myrror** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:19 pm

Xenoqueen wrote: Timelines... ugh, not gonna go there. Myrror and Gayle can vouch for me and my insistence on "fluid" and unspecified time, because trying to coordinate time across agencies and candidates is impossible. XD It only causes headaches.

Exactly. There should be no reason that all the agencies should conform to one timeline. We all work at different speeds, adopters and agency operators both. The *quote* Problem *unquote* would likely just get worse, with a feeling of 'I have to do it this way--it's no fun anymore'

Though I have gotten the vibe that giveaway dragons are worthless when it comes to breeding. My answer to that--make them not worthless. Send them as candidates, so you can write about them. Write about them anyway. Just because you didn't "work" for it, doesn't mean it should be unaccepted.

Bah, I don't know what I'm saying...

Cacopheny · Post by **Cacopheny** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:26 pm

That isn't what I meant at all ^^' I just meant, if one agency is gonna start having a two-month space of time before a due date, maybe other agencies could be nice and not have a two-week space of time before a due date... that's all. Nothing IC between agencies was even implied, I thought.

And I haven't noticed that kind of discrimination, myself o.o I mean, October is a giveaway, and he's bred aaaaaaall over the place XD And Begug is a giveaway, and he's got six chapters worth of story and has adopted twice, going on three times ^^ I might be looking in the wrong places, or something, I suppose....

Xenoqueen · Post by **Xenoqueen** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:30 pm

Heh, mebbe I'll toss my next epic Candidate over to the Destiny, then, if you don't mind reading long stuff?

Long, short, epic, snippet... I take pretty much everthing. My rules page might be long, but it boils down to simple stuff in the end. :3

Though I have gotten the vibe that giveaway dragons are worthless when it comes to breeding. My answer to that--make them not worthless. Send them as candidates, so you can write about them. Write about them anyway. Just because you didn't "work" for it, doesn't mean it should be unaccepted.

Amen to that! Lots of my favorite characters started out as freebies.

Myrror · Post by **Myrror** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:36 pm

Cacopheny wrote:That isn't what I meant at all ^^' I just meant, if one agency is gonna start having a two-month space of time before a due date, maybe other agencies could be nice and not have a two-week space of time before a due date... that's all. Nothing IC between agencies was even implied, I thought.

And I haven't noticed that kind of discrimination, myself o.o I mean, October is a giveaway, and he's bred aaaaaaall over the place XD And Begug is a giveaway, and he's got six chapters worth of story and has adopted twice, going on three times ^^ I might be looking in the wrong places, or something, I suppose....

October is bred all over the place because

1) You SEND him all over the place, and
2) he's JKat art. JKat art=lovelovelove ^.^

And Begug--well, that's because YOU did something about it. You decided 'ooo, he'd make a cool character' and accually did something. He's not someone you'd send out to breed, he's someone you've decided to make a candidate--which is what I said. Instead of people saying 'I have a bunch of dragons that are useless to me' make them not useless. Like you did with Begug.

As for the agencies and timelines--people work at different speeds. That's one reason I shut down Shadowpeak, it was WAY TOO SLOW for me.

Cacopheny · Post by **Cacopheny** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:39 pm

Ah, sorry, thought you meant people other than the owners of giveaway dragons were doing the discriminating >.> Well, not much to be done about making people write for their own images, really : P If they don't want to, well, their loss, right? ^^'

Myrror · Post by **Myrror** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:53 pm

I've seen both, accually, around here.

Perhaps I'm more attuned to it because of the fact my entire agency is nothing more than one giant giveaway.

As for people using their 'giveaway' critters--you're right, you can't make them write for them. That's not exactly what I'm saying..I'm saying instead of saying 'I didn't work for this, so it's useless to me' either make it not useless, or just stick it on a stat page somewhere and forget about it, and concentrate on more useful stuff. I certainly don't except anyone to make something 'useful' out of everything I give them, that would be absolutely insane.

Shiolar · Post by **Shiolar** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 3:02 pm

I still love all my giveaways, and given the setting of Mirus, they're all useful even if I don't do anything specific with them. Usually, when writing a character and I need a dragon to turn up for some reason or other, I just pick one at random. So in the long run, all my giveaways see some action. Ultimately, though, I want to write stories for them all. Yet another reason to stop doing clutches for a while...

Cacopheny · Post by **Cacopheny** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 3:05 pm

:: tries to imagine DF trying to write a story for every critter she's gotten from the EverRealms.... XD :: Yeah, that'd be hard.

I don't think anybody's intentionally putting down giveaways or agencies which don't require stats or stories-- they're still awfully popular, after all! But there is something satisfying in writing a good story and getting a reward for that, as well. That's all people are saying, I think-- not that their giveaway critters are useless, just that they like being rewarded for effort, as well. There's nothing that says the two forms of adoption can't be enjoyable side by side ^^

Astra · Post by **Astra** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 3:12 pm

I never said all giveaway critters are useless, merely that I do have some dragons that I am never going to do anything with. These I got from both giveaways and from actual clutches, but I just have no inspiration to write for them whatsoever because no inspiration went into aquiring them, for whatever reason. I have plenty of characters I couldn't care less about and I still wrote for them and they got dragons but in the end they didn't mean the same thing to me as characters I really cared about, you know?

Although some people DO have prejudices against giveaway dragons, for instance, Sherra didn't want giveaway dragons in her bipedra event, and i am sure there are other examples.

hksherra · Post by **hksherra** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 3:53 pm

Astra wrote:I never said all giveaway critters are useless, merely that I do have some dragons that I am never going to do anything with. These I got from both giveaways and from actual clutches, but I just have no inspiration to write for them whatsoever because no inspiration went into aquiring them, for whatever reason. I have plenty of characters I couldn't care less about and I still wrote for them and they got dragons but in the end they didn't mean the same thing to me as characters I really cared about, you know?

Although some people DO have prejudices against giveaway dragons, for instance, Sherra didn't want giveaway dragons in her bipedra event, and i am sure there are other examples.

I was just gonna read this thread and not reply, just because I've been feeling kinda wonky about the whole situation in general... but since it was brought up, I'll at least give my rationale on this point.

I didn't want so many giveaways because one of the things I'm really interested in is bloodlines. I absolutely adore knowing who is related to who and feel like that is an important part of dragoning for me. If a clutch has a cool pedigree then I'll take an interest in it. With the giveaways, they generally don't have pedigrees and oftentimes are just images and stats... And I don't mean to offend anyone, especially not anyone who gives out giveaway-based critters, but I kinda feel like the people who put a little more effort into the acquisition and upkeep of their critters should get preference in an event where I can't take in as many dragons as I may want to.

On that note, that is just Cy... which is kinda sluggish right now anyways. I'm not demanding that other people follow my lead or anything... I'm just trying to run Cy how I most enjoy!

Post by **DragonFlight** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 4:26 pm

Cacopheny wrote::: tries to imagine DF trying to write a story for every critter she's gotten from the EverRealms.... XD ::

Um....oh man.....uh......

I think I'd die of old age before I could do that. ^^;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Kitsuneko · Post by **Kitsuneko** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 4:37 pm

Like Shiolar, I'm satisfied if I can just get stats up with a basic personality for all of mine so that, if I WANT to use them later on, I have at least a basic outline.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way things are. I'm flexible. ^^

Yakima · Post by **Yakima** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 4:45 pm

I'm happy with the way things are, too, in truth. I know I have a tendancy to revamp things a lot which tends to distract me from paging dragons and such. I'm pleased if I get stats up for most of mine, too! I just need to finish fiddling with the format of the pages and then I can go pretty fast with paging them with basic stats (if they are known - not all the gifts and such I get have info with them so I don't know half the things I list...YAKIMA LIKES INFO!

)

I know Falas/Pern isn't as popular anymore so Falas will always stuggle. I also have a rather strict timeline for Falas Weyr but Treval is just kinda out there. LSI also has a timeline, I know, though I don't think anyone that has an Alskyrian site decided what year we're in...heh. Oh well. But as I don't get to my Pernese riders pages often, that hadn't limited me yet. I only made a timeline to figure out just how old everyone was! Considering I was writting J'tha to be in his 40's or 50's when he was in his early 20's when he died...yeah...needed some sturcture!

I'll be happy with whatever happens.

*goes to work on Treval stuff so she can get Gen5 out*

Myrror · Post by **Myrror** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 5:14 pm

...which is why it absolutely floored me you when I saw an 'unpedegreed' giveaway whorling accepted to the bipedra

hksherra · Post by **hksherra** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 5:19 pm

^^ I accepted a whorling and several other unpedigreed critters because.... I like 'em! The giveaway-type thingamabobs allow for a lot more random creativity than most clutches, so they produce some dang neat stuff. While I want most of the blood at Cy from more "classic" sources, sometimes things are too neat to pass up.

*shrug* It's just the way I like running my agency... Some people like accepting only humans, and I like mostly classically adopted dragons!

Post by **Dray** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 7:51 pm

So, people would like:

- more 1-on-1-or-so RP (preferred to group RP) for writing stories
- slightly longer deadlines for agencies that tend to give things out in under a couple of weeks in order to even out the rate of hatchings across the board, if at all possible.
- more of a surprise with clutches--and more friendly competition.
- availability of said competition's links
- respect for giveaways!
- looser timelines(?)

And.. um... XD Prod me with any others that I missed? I'm very tired from packing and moving and unpacking again, so I think I've missed a good wad of stuff, there.

Myrror · Post by **Myrror** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 8:02 pm

Well, I'm not in it for the competition--one tends to come away disappointed more often than not--but I would like seeing the other candidates stories. I like reading them. Just a candidate listing.

Of course--don't most agencies already do that?

Post by **Dray** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 8:09 pm

I'm sure they do. I'm just slow on the uptake with the BWR. (Also, because I always found it to be /such/ a hassle to update the damn thing at Star City. >_>") I wonder if updating all of the candidates on a page once it closes is alright, or if people are hoping to see them before they write their own, in order to better compete? (Though I know that wouldn't apply to you, since you're not in it for that. xD That's a more general comment!)

hksherra · Post by **hksherra** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 8:10 pm

If it is a competitive clutch, I definitely like to see the candidates as they come in, to see how I size up/see what I'm up against!

X3 I really do love competitive clutches... it gives me a real drive to get better...

Myrror · Post by **Myrror** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 8:18 pm

Of course, your BWR is more of a half giveaway, half accual send in stuff thing. And it goes so fast--I personally don't see where you'd have time to update a candidate list.

Post by **Dray** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 8:36 pm

I'm thinking of extending deadlines, and maybe even changing it so that there's a varying number of eggs, and depending on how many get sent in, that's how many dragonets go out. That would mean that I'd have to revamp the whole system of clutch-previews (which people don't seem to like that much, anyhow... >_>) but if I give it longer, and more people get in on it... then hey, that's always good! X3 I might make people list some things that they want out of it, and then give them the next-closest thing if, say, they ask for pink and there's only red, etc. Then again, that could lead to hurt feelings where people think I've spited them intentionally or something....
XD People are right, you really can't please everyone, huh?
Anyways, in short: switching out clutch-preview pages for candidate's-submitted pages. Or something like that.

On a completely different note, Gail, what do you mean by further-event sorts of things? Can you give an example? (you mean like cyborware and stuff, right? o.o) So... dragon-template-altering events?

What about setting up a system so that templates can be altered by various agencies, depending upon if everyone's given the OK on it? Would that be something neat to try, or would that end up in lots of mangry?

Myrror · Post by **Myrror** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 8:49 pm

'Altering' anything of mine would require me to draw an entirely new template/outline. Mind you, I do this for older (ie, scary-crappy) images, but that's about it. I'm not good with the extras.

That's just my agency, however, my images.

So, are you going to total stories only with the BWR clutches?

Skysong · Post by **Skysong** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 9:12 pm

Dray wrote:... would that end up in lots of mangry?

..I totally read that as 'mangy' XD XD Go brain go!

So for this template-altering idea, are you talking about agencies altering their own images, or giving everyone (or certain people) permission to edit their images for them? I think it'd be neat to see some of that going on.. I've actually been planning something along those lines for Samanayrs, although altering hand-drawn images usually means having to draw a whole image, at least for me XD