[Meta thread] Iron's PokeRole Adventure: The Skull Ruins

[Dragonstrike]

It'd be less of a thing also if we all would be closer to one another as group members. Gifts can still be given, just more moderately and if there's a certain bond or liking: For example, Shiva would barely hesitate to hand something to Ventus if she'd come across something he can put into good use. Same with Spira I guess because he's her senpai.

...and that's the million dollar reason why I'm tired of this 'who owes who' system we have in place.

Maybe it's just the shock from the recent events concerning the Sword talking, but damnit, I've stayed quiet about this long enough. I've been trying my darndest to have Nathan be friendly with everyone in the group for a loooooonnnnngggg time now, and yet it rarely ever feels like I make progress with Shiva, if any. She's STILL the only character that Nathan has no idea how to approach most of the time.

And even as a group of people who have been traveling together for a couple months (or have happened to get along really well for one reason or another), we often times still don't seem to act like it. It's just...*sigh*...

...doesn't help that the item in question this time is super duper important and high priority on my wishlist because it's for Nathan's closest companion, or that Lunapup* is the encounter I wanted to do originally, but that's besides the point. *sigh*

If the item in question were something that you might have a use for beyond selling it, I'd honestly think trading for it would be more appropriate/justified.

[Spiritmon]

Haha was there something by that name in the other campaign? We can rename it if you think of a better name.

To put in short in Celadon City, Balm Mushrooms was used as a potent drug by one of the Gym Leaders. One of the goals in the campaign was us to get a Gym Leader to join in the side of Team Rocket.

Was dark, but hey, Celadon City is awesome too.

[Dragonstrike]

So, I did a few comparisons to canon Mega Stones and ones in Uranium, and here's what I cane up with.

White with green, pink, and brown swirls (brown being the least prominent color):

Galladite (confirmed)

White, purple and black:

???

Not sure yet.  Didn't find anything that immediately matched.

Black, Purple, and Red:

???

I did not find any matches among the canon mega stones or Uranium's.

If I have to burn another encounter so Nathan can get a proper look at the unknown ones, so be it.

[Spiritmon]

So, I did a few comparisons to canon Mega Stones and ones in Uranium, and here's what I cane up with.

White with green, pink, and brown swirls (brown being the least prominent color):

Galladite (confirmed)

White, purple and black:


Black, Purple, and Red:

???

I did not find any matches among the canon mega stones or Uranium's.  If I have to burn another encounter so Nathan can get a proper look at it, so be it.

Could be a new kind of Mega Stone? I very curious. Maybe Heart could help. The Mega Stones is made of Pokemon energy, in other words, solid Earthpower. Maybe Heart could help Nathan. This could be a great opportunity to Nathan finally talk with Heart and resolve their problems.

You and I are in great terms, but there still problems to take care IC.

[Dragonstrike]

Could be a new kind of Mega Stone? I very curious. Maybe Heart could help. The Mega Stones is made of Pokemon energy, in other words, solid Earthpower. Maybe Heart could help Nathan. This could be a great opportunity to Nathan finally talk with Heart and resolve their problems.

You and I are in great terms, but there still problems to take care IC.

I have a guess what the third one might be, but Nathan would need to confirm it IC.  Not sure about the second, but again, maybe Nathan might be able to identify it with his Lore specialty. That can't happen if he doesn't see it himself, though. (Well, Shiva describing them might suffice, but I still kinda want to investigate it myself)

Well, let's work on that sooner rather than later once an opportunity arises.

[Iron]

Get through any IC interactions you need to do, and I'll try to get the Encounter List up before or after D&D tomorrow. Also let me know if the party is going to spend the next encounter slot here, or just Nathan. This area is active enough that new Pokemon can appear with ease, and there are more explorable minarets nearby that aren't directly on the way to the Helm but could still have good Encounters inside. If that affects your decision at all.

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

...and that's the million dollar reason why I'm tired of this 'who owes who' system we have in place.

(...)

And even as a group of people who have been traveling together for a couple months (or have happened to get along really well for one reason or another), we often times still don't seem to act like it.  It's just...*sigh*...

(...)

If the item in question were something that you might have a use for beyond selling it, I'd honestly think trading for it would be more appropriate/justified.

Well, it seems like a bit of drama cropped up while I was enjoying my Saturday with my dad. Not a particularly bad strain of it, but still notable.


Eh.....personally, I'm content with the current system of favors we have in place, as it does allow for more leeway with Encounters or Events with each other without either going for an XP War, bowing out of something to avoid trouble, or just avoiding lengthy discussion as to who gets what. That, and favors are always nice to have around, either as an easy form of 'currency' we can freely spend between ourselves or just stockpiling what we get as a 'rainy day' fund of sorts. Sure, favors and arrangements can cause problems (As typified by The Sword Bid War), but they can also enable spirited and nice discussions between ourselves that ultimately lead to greater player interaction and immersion/enjoyment of the experience. Heck, the outcome of favors OOC can and often are turned into great story moments, such Ven's Lilith Deals he made with Nathan, or Spirit helping me out with Sari, or or Terra feeling more willing to help out everyone after flaking on them during the Kadabra Fights, etc..

I'm not opposed to the idea of us just starting to give each other stuff freely, though, or creating an 'Open Inventory' for all our characters to pool our stuff in to share among ourselves. I just don't think such idea are going to be so easy to execute in practice on a general basis, and even if it is for the former the act of giving and receiving a gift sorta creates a unofficial favor dynamic between gifter and giftee regardless of the intent behind said gift giving (As both parties want to reward/give back to the other for the gift) .

The problem with only doing trades for Items a person might find useful is that in most cases said person wouldn't want to trade it in the first place unless they got an overwhelmingly good deal for their desired Item, and Items they don[t get use out of they would want to in some way profit off them, so they wouldn't want to freely give it away unless they felt either generous or indebted. Of course, exceptions do exist to this (Mega Stones and Fossil would probably be more suited to being freely given away to those than need/want them most, for example), and it's not like we can't make the conscientious decision to start freely donating Items around (no matter how hard doing so may be). 

Addressing our character's group dynamic.....that's a topic I feel that I'm under equipped to handle now. Maybe after I think more about it I can offer some valuable insight and critciism on the matter.

[Lord Windos]

Get through any IC interactions you need to do, and I'll try to get the Encounter List up before or after D&D tomorrow. Also let me know if the party is going to spend the next encounter slot here, or just Nathan. This area is active enough that new Pokemon can appear with ease, and there are more explorable minarets nearby that aren't directly on the way to the Helm but could still have good Encounters inside. If that affects your decision at all.

If Nathan/Dragonstrike want to stick around to get the rest of the Mega Stones from Lunapup and promptly investigate them, then I and Terra would be more than happy to wait and even help out there! Mega Stones are stuff that can't be simply overlooked or foreshaken, so I don't care HOW much time it takes or what measures we have to resort to, but those Items will be ours.

Also, speaking of which, @Dragonstrike,  I believe Terra requested if Nathan would teach Escavalier ROCK SMASH in order to get him to lead the way to The Helm. Just wanted to know if you'd forgotten about it, or have abstained from replying to it for one reason or another.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

@everyone, I'm somewhat disappointed that none of you bar me is interested in that trapdoor Spira came across that might lead down the Throne Room, that is said to contain the most amazing things humanity has ever built. If some of the KeyStones King Sarimanok owned are still around, I suspect them there, and if it's feasible, me/Shiva would rather obtain one that way by getting one from the League.

@Iron, related to that, maybe it's been accidently missed, but I was asking whether it's possible that we can return to this trapdoor in particular after having obtained the helm here (the uncolored section) - is it? If it's something you cannot tell because it'd be spoilery, that's okay, I just don't want to just leave this possible entrance behind and miss out on a chance to enter this Throne Room somehow to see this place and loot anything I can safely take along.


@Lord Windos, no, I don't really like the idea of an 'Open Inventory' that everyone of the group would share. It's noble and nice, but, I dunno, me and Shiva rather keep their stuff with herself. Stuff can still be loaned if useful in a particular scenario like those Baashaun Boots as a prominent example, but then she wants it to be returned to her because it's well, hers.


@Dragonstrike, you're coming off still unthankful towards me, which I don't appreciate. You're aware that I could just go 'Nope' and leave all the Megastones behind plus not telling any other character about it, are you? I've been so nice to inquire more about the stones because you asked - or rather, not 'asked' but rather 'soft-urged' me to do so - when I actually didn't care about them in the first place, and that comes in return is more complaining. That's...not really nice, and I've warned that I don't tolerate impoliteness towards me more than once before. 

Of course I want something in return for this Megastone for Gallade, you please have to accept that, alright? I'm giving away something nice that Shiva would keep as a gift from this moondoggo - honestly, she got enough worthy stuff to sell so keeping this figurine isn't needed - and that's worth 5.000$Poke if sold, and Nathan and Shiva aren't sharing such a close bond that she'd hand it as a gift. Keeping the Nevermelt-Ice for Primal Espeon to hold is my suggestion, but you are free to propose more. Doesn't have to be now though! It shall just not be forgotten.


If I'm feeling mean enough to go 'F#ck y'all' now and not tell about a Lunapup hoarding treasures, that'd bring things from outta-chara to in-chara however, which I don't want to. So, alright, I'll have Shiva inform the others briefly, and you can spent as many Encounters negotiating with him as you like. HOWEVER, she herself will not come along = not spend any Encounter, BUT she will 1. take the word from everyone to not harm nor catch Lunapup and 2. let Raphael accompany whoever visits Lunapup to make sure of that/protect him if needed. Yes, this Lunapup is special and for-certain worthy, but Shiva in-chara just doesn't want anyone to capture this nice puppy with force when it's clear that being in the care of a human doesn't do him any good.

I hope this sounds okay for everyone involved in this issue.

Possible spoilery addition

If one of these stones is the Megastone for Delta Houndoom, please never-ever tell Shiva as otherwise she'll heavily regret being so nice to tell about Lunapup and his treasures, as well as a increase the distance towards Nathan out of that regret and fear of that dog, regardless whether he's obediant and a good boy.

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

@everyone, I'm somewhat disappointed that none of you bar me is interested in that trapdoor Spira came across that might lead down the Throne Room, that is said to contain the most amazing things humanity has ever built. If some of the KeyStones King Sarimanok owned are still around, I suspect them there, and if it's feasible, me/Shiva would rather obtain one that way by getting one from the League.

@Iron, related to that, maybe it's been accidently missed, but I was asking whether it's possible that we can return to this trapdoor in particular after having obtained the helm here (the uncolored section) - is it? If it's something you cannot tell because it'd be spoilery, that's okay, I just don't want to just leave this possible entrance behind and miss out on a chance to enter this Throne Room somehow to see this place and loot anything I can safely take along.


@Lord Windos, no, I don't really like the idea of an 'Open Inventory' that everyone of the group would share. It's noble and nice, but, I dunno, me and Shiva rather keep their stuff with herself. Stuff can still be loaned if useful in a particular scenario like those Baashaun Boots as a prominent example, but then she wants it to be returned to her because it's well, hers.


@Dragonstrike, you're coming off still unthankful towards me, which I don't appreciate. You're aware that I could just go 'Nope' and leave all the Megastones behind plus not telling any other character about it, are you? I've been so nice to inquire more about the stones because you asked - or rather, not 'asked' but rather 'soft-urged' me to do so - when I actually didn't care about them in the first place, and that comes in return is more complaining. That's...not really nice, and I've warned that I don't tolerate impoliteness towards me more than once before. 

Of course I want something in return for this Megastone for Gallade, you please have to accept that, alright? I'm giving away something nice that Shiva would keep as a gift from this moondoggo - honestly, she got enough worthy stuff to sell so keeping this figurine isn't needed - and that's worth 5.000$Poke if sold, and Nathan and Shiva aren't sharing such a close bond that she'd hand it as a gift. Keeping the Nevermelt-Ice for Primal Espeon to hold is my suggestion, but you are free to propose more. Doesn't have to be now though! It shall just not be forgotten.


If I'm feeling mean enough to go 'F#ck y'all' now and not tell about a Lunapup hoarding treasures, that'd bring things from outta-chara to in-chara however, which I don't want to. So, alright, I'll have Shiva inform the others briefly, and you can spent as many Encounters negotiating with him as you like. HOWEVER, she herself will not come along = not spend any Encounter, BUT she will 1. take the word from everyone to not harm nor catch Lunapup and 2. let Raphael accompany whoever visits Lunapup to make sure of that/protect him if needed. Yes, this Lunapup is special and for-certain worthy, but Shiva in-chara just doesn't want anyone to capture this nice puppy with force when it's clear that being in the care of a human doesn't do him any good.

I hope this sounds okay for everyone involved in this issue.


If one of these stones is the Megastone for Delta Houndoom, please never-ever tell Shiva as otherwise she'll heavily regret being so nice to tell about Lunapup and his treasures, as well as a increase the distance towards Nathan out of that regret and fear of that dog, regardless whether he's obediant and a good boy.