But I'm around. After connecting today and seeing that numbers have grown since I last connected, I'm hopeful that I can finally find some more rp with folks, Carnival or otherwise! Percy is a carnie, so he'll be available for any Carnival type rp anyone might be seeking. =D

What's staff's availability to NPC members of the Carnival? What Carnival NPCs are available even?

Emily - Hanging out at the Carnival. The last time we saw her, she was there trying to 'get clean' as it were. Maybe with Joseph's help, something can be done with her.

Alexandra - Still chugging along, 'staus quo' and what have you. Nothing out of the ordinary here, except maybe the ability to prey on the doubts planted in her head while in custody about a year ago.

Adam - Disappeared back into the shadowy underbelly of NYC crime and cash. With the Yakuza plots more or less on hold or dead, this FC can really go in any plot direction.

Domino - Seldom-seen and seldom-used, built for Evo plots but with the founder of the company gone, she's basically on her own and living it up with company cash.

Those are the quick and dirty summaries of what I've got going on. I haven't really thought super much about what I want to have happen with each of them.

As far as what I think we should be doing… I get the sense that things would be good if we sort of formed more of a team mentality. Driving people together on some kind of scale would be good, since there are few of us. If we can get a decent amount of people working together it might be easier to deal with something more drastic. Having something that drives a small group of people together seems to be a good idea to me, but I'm game for a lot of options. Really, something dramatic happening seems to be the key factor.

A lot of the point of Humanity could — should — etc, be exploring what makes your own character! Makes them a person, a hero, a family. No one knows better plots for your own character than you. Everything is new territory, because it's yours! I don't think that there does have to be something huge, as long as it moves your character on a personal level.

But if the goal is to get some outside influence in, I do have plotlines that were designed around the time of the role-call, so based on who responded to that. I'll be honest, though; I work a baffling work schedule that allows me to actually be logged on frequently, and able to chat occasionally, but rarely allowed to formulate a pose. It's greatly crippled my ability to run anything dependably. Hours include the weekend, and oftentimes with little prior warning. It's the kind of thing that would require patience, since events would not be happening super-fast.

However, if that's not your game, then I will just try to pipe in with ideas whenever I can~

Basically, what I think we need is more opportunity for people to be heroes. Because, hey, that's the name of the game.

As for what makes us unique, we could become the season that never was.

Maybe it takes something like that to increase participation? Maybe holding more to the show, more to "plausible" or "safe" scenarios - stuff that we could and might and have seen in the show - is constraining. I understand the DF and nightmares and all that are fun because people have a carte blanche to do whatever they want, but something that deviates from the safe topics of the show could be fun.

What we need, I think, is an identity. Chapter Five: Humanity, right? A time to define ourselves, to discover what makes our characters…so why not apply that to the game? What makes our game special and unique and makes people want to play here? Are we a show-clone? Are we striking out into new territory? How much freedom and story-bending do we want to leave in our, the players,' hands?

I think that's probably something to address first, and when that settles - are we moving in a dark direction? Are we moving in a direction to reveal evolved? Where are we going? - we can really start moving the entire game in that direction through concerted RP across all our alts.

Another of our problems is probably a lack of Heroes on TV to inspire people. We can't really do anything about that directly, but what we can do is do our own version of the final season-ending cliffhanger. Have the Evolved be revealed to the world in full, and do our own version of what happens next.

To start with, we'd really only need one scene and maybe a couple of news bbposts to get things going. Then staff could sit back and wait to see how many people bite before having to put a lot of effort into things. Primarily because it's the kind of thing we can all RP around ourselves.

Anyway, this is just an idea. There's probably tons of other things we could do for the same effect of getting things going. :)

What are people interested in seeing with their characters? What are they wanting with their character(s)?

Where can we take the game, collectively, to generate more interest? Are there any plot arcs you wizards out there are looking to put into play? How can we help build plot like that with you guys?

We've lost a lot of people lately do to inactivity which is making people leave which is leading to inactivity so, you can see the vicious cycle.

So…yeah. Just chat!

8 - Off at 8pm cst
9 - Off at 6pm cst
10 - Off
11 & 12 - working 4pm-8pm cst
13 & 14 - Off at 8pm cst
15 & 16 - Off
17 & 18 - Off at 8pm cst
19 & 20 - Off
21 - working 4pm-8pm cst
22 - Off at 8pm cst

Now… Speaking of the flight…

I need to know the best time to set this baby up. So… between the dates of… May 8th - 22nd, what does everyone's schedule looks like. I know it's a 2 week period, but I want to make sure that everyone gets a chance to be there. It's the first big scene!!

Let me know! And make sure times are posted with PST EST and so on that way I can calculate.

And don't forget the adventure will be kept on a special page:
http://heroesmush.wikidot.com/the-amazon

So you can link it to your page if you want! :D

Randall: The carnival is very much what he's been looking for - maybe too much, in the long run - but at least at first, he'll jump at the chance to hire on in whatever role they feel would work.

George: It's an election year (no he's not pursuing Nathan's Senate seat, that thing is cursed!) so I think it'd be funny to have Timmy Crane or his son run against him. And he can continue to play straight man to the wacky hijinks of Hallis and company.

Matt: Needs a partner (needs to meet Maggie and Laurie too, but don't want to just glom on and feel like a third wheel). Janice is around. Junior is around, and IIRC his ability hasn't been explored yet. Maury may also cross his path later.

Carl: Still leaning toward "abilities are mostly dangerous", which seems like a good fit for the Company. Could be dragged out from behind his desk and pressed into service as a field agent, despite reluctance and learning curve.

Hot.

Babes.

Now for the part about me!

Something is going to happen this week that will impact Sarissa rather greatly. The end of Volume Four will end a lot of other things too. I'm not sure what I want to do with Sarissa in Volume Five. Ever since Novak showed up to whisk Elisabetha away, however many IC years ago, things in Sarissa's life have been uncertain and chaotic. She doesn't know what to expect anymore, and she is generally someone who prefers to be in control. When the Grand Finale is over, and the dust has settled, Sarissa is not going to be in control of much at all. So I see her trying to regain some degree of mastery over her life. Whether that means returning to the "normalcy" of being a wife, mother, and manipulator of others, or if she is going to try to start over in a setting where she has control from the very beginning, or maybe reinvent herself and try something completely new — regardless of what winds up happening, I'd like to be involved with more people on the MUSH, rather than just a select few.

If anyone thinks they could establish a connection to a distraught but still rich and powerful woman who is looking for some meaning to her life… Let me know! Also post if you have ideas for your characters that need a position filled.

Thanks!

Thanks so far guys, some good thoughts for sure!

Not sure what surprises are in store, but I'd also kind of like to see a more public belief in the evolved, even if it's just at the fringes. (Like belief in ghosts.) With the Company not having been around to keep everything secret the last few months, there have to be a lot more witnesses of Evolved activity out there, if nothing else. (Not to mention Jamie's video. I'm sure *some* people believed it.)

And this is where you can let us know what you might like to see as far as upcoming plots and themes go.

This isn't the venue to talk about SPECIFIC details, certain characters, plots you'd like to run yourself, or to critique anything. But if you're thinking, "It would be really cool to see <suchandsuchatheme> like <example>", or "Please bring in the Carnival!" this is the place to do it. Chances are, we might already have some of these ideas too — or not! Who knows! Just throw stuff out there and it'll get added to the pool.

Your input is mucho appreciated. You guys do make the game, after all!

Jo: Working for the navy in R and D. Based out of the US but really could be anywhere depending on her research.

Sydney: In New York finishing her PhD research, teaching one class at NYU/semester, therapy…

Nathan: Currently Brayden. Being a smuggler/thief/ruffian in Ireland for awhile… in the summer will be in California as a Buddhist monk.

Micah: Niagara Falls. Being awesome.

Hallis: I haven't decided whether she should just be starting her trial or just coming off jail time… Decisions Decisions. I should have made them ahead of time.

Cody: Between the Middle East and Europe, could be anywhere in that area. If you'd like to get in on my specific "DANGER!! WILL ROBINSON DANGER!!" scenes just let me know.

Sandra: On the run with the rest of the Bennets… So I could really do anything there.

Emily: In LA…socializing, clubbing…ostensibly enrolled at school to 'earn' a degree. Could jetset just about anywhere!

Alexandra: Pretty much firmly in Texas at grad school, hitting the books. May travel home to New Orleans at holidays.

Adam: In Japan, doing Yakuza stuff under the pseudonym Takezo Kensei, after the great warrior. Can be pretty much anywhere in the world as needed, but operating out of Tokyo.

Randall: Starts working at the pawn shop, then the crazy former owner dies and leaves him in charge.

George: Gets elected, hires the present-day members of Special Projects, is a jerk to Sierra on at least one occasion. Significant time in Washington DC, if you want your PC to have been there.

Matt: No idea! Maybe investigating Daphne's thefts. Any hooks involving Janice would also be cool.

Carl: Somewhere overseas working for the CIA, if you want your PC to have been there.

I won't have my 360 until Wednesday, (though I admit I'm hoping they get it here even earlier, since it's already been processed at a postal facility just an hour and a half away from me, I'm not holding my breath), I do already have a Games for Windows Live account I'm hoping I can use on the 360. If I am able to, my gamertag is Fobok.

If you have a character design you weren't sure how to get involved in the game, this is a start in that direction.

For his own part, Tyson has come across one person he does not know how to explain. They look like his mother, Sarah Keller, but in no way do they act like her. They are cruel and what's more is that they have the power to replicate. There is definitely more than meets the eye to this woman as even Tyson's father, Alexander Harris, has explained in her initial departure. If only he were around to help his poor son deal with a woman on her way to New York to cause havoc in the name of Marcus Greyboldt.

These are playable characters that can be applied for with their own dynamicism being reason enough to want them on the grid. Except for Marcus because he is a very bad man. <.<

How does this game connect to the canon of the Heroes show? (To mention the canon cutoff, and so on.)

I'll keep trying to think up more. :)

We should scheme for sure. (…when I'm slightly more awake.)

But if anyone wants to let her in on what they do off camera in the next year, or has ideas for Sophie, I'd love the ideas.

Questions can be about theme, RP, the wiki, policies, code, Mr. Muggles, anything!

AND/OR someone should totally app her own personal Castle. >.>

Anyway, more police in general would be good times.

Like whoa.

Micah has serious potential to become awesome and get into plots like crazy, if someone were to really have some initiative S3 style! The family situation might be changed one year later, too; I'll have more on that with a post later, probably.

Monica totally needs to become St. Joan.

I have no idea about Jamie, except that she should meet fellow water girl Aspen some time in the future because that would be weird.

Monica - Yeah, Cam and Monica didn't get along that great ICly, but OOCly I'd love to see someone playing her again.

And now, to the more open-ended section. I, so far, have little idea what I want to do with Jamie in the jump ahead. I figure the court case for her father will be finished by then, but I haven't even figured out how that'll go yet. So, anybody that would like to be connected to Jamie somehow, feel free to let me know. :)

(Even though I'm still waiting for the $5.)

Though to be fair it's just the name of the post.

MAD PROPS TO SOME COMIC BOOK CLASSABLANCA.

(<3)

Okay, carry on.

Props to the Token. Hmph.

:P

Now, on to your conversations.

Given the discussion, +poll results and various discussions (player/player, player/staff, staff/staff…), we feel that we've come to the happiest meduim we can find! Rather than doing anything to time travel or alter the past to change the present, we're going with a Jump Forward: by hopping from 2008 and picking up in 2009 a year later, the game can experience the revitalization a time jump brings, give characters some space to work with and provides lots of fun plot opportunities, while still keeping our history intact!

We're looking at officially starting Volume Four, and thus the leap ahead, in mid-to-late September (coincidentally coinciding with when Heroes starts airing its new season… curious) to give you a chance to wrap up and/or go through with any plots you wanted to finish this Volume, as well as think about where you want your character to be in a year, and to plan with your fellow players if you like.

With no huge dramas involving people with abilities hitting people in the year's break, it's up to you how subtle or dramatic the change is, as people carry on with their not-so-normal lives in this seemingly normal world.

… That is, until September.

Feel free to offer helpful suggestions and talk about the leap forward here!

Thanks for all of your opinions and suggestions, everyone! I hope this is the start of more game-wide communication and brainstorming in the future. :) We all want the same thing: fun RP!

(R.I.P.)

You've already seen the Lee Jones Plot Invention Method at work in your laundry, whitening and brightening your clothes, I mean giving you lots of cool plots for your characters, but now there's a NEW method out there, the last one told you how to make plots without staff, this one tells you how to make plots without /having any friends!/

The key to this kind of plot is this:

You must decide what about your character you want to change or show off.

This can be a power, it can be a relationship, it can be a belief or conviction, it can be a duty or occupation or skill. We'll call that your character trait.

1. Decide whether you want to change the trait or just show it off.
2. Either way, you need to put pressure on that trait.

BUT HOW YOU SAY?

It is very simple.

You have to screw things up.

- Relationships, just do something stupid, everyone does. Or ask the other person if they want to!
- Skills, you try to do something with your skill and you blow it, now you have to fix it.
- Belief, your belief puts you in trouble or does something terrible
- Duty, just FAIL

The plot is fixing your screwup!

3. Finally, once you have fixed your screwup, reaffirm the trait or how it has changed in a new scene.

ITS THAT SIMPLE

So "where do you want your character to go?" is the same question as "how do you want your character to screw up?"

If the opinions and votes had leaned in a negative direction, we probably wouldn't even be talking about it anymore. We're not going to do somethig the majority of the playerbase isn't behind. This was presented two weeks ago (ish) and the post about the poll closing soon was just a reminder for people who haven't "officially" voted yet, giving them several, not one, days to add their input.

When we've presented pros to cons, we're just trying to present ideas in different lights to give everyone a chance to look at options from different angles. If we wanted to "push" the change, we probably wouldn't have presented it to y'all to talk about and decide. Everyone is obviously entitled to their opinions — hence the discussion! :)

As I've mentioned before in a post, no matter what happens, there'll be plots and such to keep us goin' — that's the alternative, business as usual but using new plotstuff planned for all options. The big plot stuff won't be announced until we get this decision out of the way so it can be fine-tuned, but we're also not going to lay out every plot from beginning to end before it happens every time.

Note: "Six Months Ago" scenes can't happen without the reset or jump forward because we already know what happened six months ago. Just sayin'. ;)

It's always the player's choice what ultimately happens to their character. Their direction is up to their player. No one's going to force you to take a direction you don't want to. A change is only as drastic as you want it to be.

P.S. Classablanca, we totally need a bigger bribe than five dollars. COME ON, MAN. PAY UP. ;)

HeroesMUSH: One Year Later.

I think of all of it as an opportunity to tell stories and explore characters in a new light rather than turning it into a "new game" which it absolutely wouldn't be.

No matter what happens (time travel reset, jump forward, nothing at all), there'll be a "big", broad plot with the intent Cam talked about. For sure! We definitely need that either way. I think part of the appeal of a change beforehand is to give the new plot a fresher place to leap off of, rather than having the characters (those who were involved in previous plots like Pinehearst) weighed down with what they've just gone through and then be propelled into new dramas. Basically: what Cam said exactly in his second-to-last paragraph!

We will also be trying to run more scenes, more smaller plots in addition to the big arc and all around have more organized plot stuff. That could go into a whole other thread, though, so I won't ramble right here and now! ;)

On the subject of RP-provoking, I'll elaborate on what's in my head. I think there are some people who either haven't been that involved in plots (staff run or otherwise) or were half-involved and never quite got the ball rolling on things but still want to RP, or just don't have ideas with the present game landscape. Is there always a way around this to spark RP and plot anyway? Yes! But it's not everyone's thing to think up and execute stories for their own characters — and that's okay! Kickstarts are good. A shift like this could give some players more freedom and the mindset of, "Yes! This is just the opportunity I needed to get back in the game." That's just the impression I've been getting both before this post and after, with some people's reactions (on and off the forum).

That said, would a jump ahead give the same momentum boost as a time reset? Lee brings up an interesting point. I guess it depends on individual players. In some cases, a year of space might be just enough; leaving loose ends behind, being able to "move on" but still keep all of that past that's been RPed. I agree about character development being important and skipping it seeming questionable at first, but it would really be up to the player to determine how much development the character had and where to pick up with it. The point would be that they're living somewhat normal lives (with less crazy stuff that = major character developments) during that time, so it would work for people who want to move their character in a new direction and also for people who don't know where they want to go with their character, because at least they're in slightly new environs which can spark directions naturally.

I also want to point out for perspective's sake that various forms of fiction, from books to film and TV, most notably Heroes, do make little jumps in time for story purposes. Heroes takes "breaks" between Volumes, leaving off at the end of a season one month and picking up some time later in the next. Granted, not as long as a year, but another interesting plus is that it would give us the opportunity to explore things like "Six Months Ago…" style scenes and other flashbacks, which I think would be a blast.

To answer your question, Cam, you're absolutely right. We don't have a set date to announce "DECISION TIME!" yet, but we don't want it to drag on too long and create too much limbo. ;) (Unless it's the party game, in which case feel free to limbo all you want.) So get your opinions and votes in if you haven't! :)

I think, whatever happens, we need something big as a plot. Something like a Fugitives-level (as in very major and epic) plot that affects everybody. It should also be something that can bring people together. Something that can put the focus on the OCs to solve. There should be regular public scenes, not the very occasional ones we've been having lately. Public stuff gives conversation and development fodder for RP. There should also be a couple of minor plotlines going at the same time, to give variety and to give fodder for more public scenes, and to let more people feel useful. (They don't need to be staff-run, of course. Things like Lee's school drug ring plot would work out great.) That, I think, is the key.

The Pinehearst stuff was cool, but in the end it bogged down. It took so much work, over months, trying to bring everybody together, people started to lose interest, which I think set things up so we had to have the sudden ending. That added to the fact that only Sylar and Peter were powerful enough to take on Arthur. In the end, instead of using every player involved to an advantage, giving everybody a chance to feel *useful*, it came down to one (though really fun) scene in two locations, and in one of those locations, again, there was the lack of feeling useful.

This isn't meant in any way to be a slight against the staff. I've run MUSHes, I've staffed specifically in the role of storyteller before. It's *hard* to make plots that make everybody feel useful, even when you don't have FCs to deal with. When you have a characters like Peter and Sylar, it's even harder, because they can fill just about every niche, power-wise.

Now, I think the history-changing event could be something that'll help set things up, make it easier to run a major plot like I mention above. So, I have to go back to the original idea and say, yes, I think it would be good. It has to be backed up with something, though, to make more people feel useful, be they FCs or OCs. And, if the votes go towards not doing the change, I think activity can be restored by doing the same thing, I think it just might be harder to accomplish.

Now, I have a question. How much longer until the poll closes and the decision is made? If the change is happening, as mentioned before you do need to give people time to close up stuff and prepare, but at the same time you don't want to stretch it on too long or those who have little to finish up might stop logging on, and fail to start again once the change happens. I've seen stuff like that happen too.

And really, doing a time shift based around changing a big past event in one of the FCs lives is probably going to make the FCs more, not less, central to what is going on. I was kinda being flip and a jerk in my first post up above, but Sylar's life has virtually no impact on Lee's (unless I posit a step-on-a-butterfly ripple effect), and that's intentional on my part, by design of Lee. I also think you'll find that's true of most OCs. With the exception of a few (Cam is a standout example, Kory to a slightly lesser degree) that have really dealt themselves in to the FCs lives, most are doing their own things. So I don't think it will achieve the goal of putting FCs and OCs more on an equal level, plot-wise. It wouldn't make things worse or better either way.

As for shedding baggage, again, I don't see what baggage needs to be shed exactly, so I don't get this one at all. Is this the "character no longer being played" thing? Because if so, why not have them hit by a bus offscreen or move to Schenectady for a few months or something? That's what I did with Nima when her player moved on. I just said she was in Philly and did what I needed to do with Lee as a result of that. If she comes back she can come back from Philly. Or is there some other baggage people are talking about here?

The "jump time forward" thing is okay, but to be honest, if people have a clear idea of where they want their character to be in a year, I am pretty sure those people are not going to have a hard time thinking up/provoking RP, because they have a goal in mind for where their character is headed. I think the issue is not that people don't feel they have "permission" to take their character where they want to go, I think the issue is that a lot of people (many times this includes me) don't know where they want to go. I don't think a skip-ahead would solve that. A "time-resetting" situation would let you essentially rebuild the starting point of the character and go in a new direction with hopefully new momentum. But skipping ahead a year, to my mind, just skips "the good stuff" about seeing a character change.

As an example, the whole appeal of Dark Future (to me, I guess I should add, since my contributions to the Dark Future were, apparently, terrible) was that you got a glimpse of where the character was going - then back in the real world, you could begin to show those traits that were so surprising there in their full bloom. That's what I did with Lee. In the Dark Future he was very concerned with justice, protecting people, and was able to set aside his own comfort to do that. At the time, exactly none of those things were true in the present day. Then we went back to the present day timeline and I started showing glimpses of that, putting Lee in situations where he was put to the test in those areas. So it's very different from a skip-ahead sort of thing.