Rough halfway point; discussion

[Anastasia]

See title. Really, go read it. It's important and titley and useful. Right, good. We're on the same page now. As I think we're kind of at a half way point so far, I think it's a good time to do some discussion and general commentary. This is obviously open to all the PCs and anyone in the peanut gallery that's been paying attention. Feel free to comment on any of my points, or make your own digressions.

The Good:

The PCs. As a broad statement, I feel the players have done a fairly good job at building character traits and quirks thus far, making a good base personality. I won't go into great depth in this post(I will if you wish, I just don't want to get onto a long derail about every single fine point about each girl in this particular post.), but to be reasonably brief? Eb's doing a good job with Usagi overall. He's capturing a fair deal of her anime personality, albiet slightly more mature by circumstance, and that the RP situation isn't as verdantly ripe as animation for showing her ditziness at times.

Bean's doing a good show with Makoto as well. He's pinned down her open, brash nature well, as wella s managing to show some of her kinder depth. He's really hit the nail on the head, though I can't quite explain how. I do know that means he's gotten it right, though. I'll say about the same fundamentally about Hotaru, though I feel that she hasn't gotten quite enough screen time yet. More on that below, however. Ami's alright - I though he played her a little angry at one point, though it also reminds me that Ami is a hard character to get down just right.

Even Minako has been good, in the two scene's she's been in for. Oi.

Arieta. While I felt she was somewhat uneven and I never got to go into her powers and ghost like abilities, she did exactly what I hoped she would, and had a good effect overall.

Misuki. As evil as the dice have been, it's amazing what a defensive oriented fighter can do once in awhile. She's going well thus far, and I have to appreciate someone who has tangled with the Senshi twice now and not even gotten a paper cut. It's respectable. 'course, she's not finished by any means yet, so we shall see.

Usagi going for forgiveness. 'Nuff said.

The Middling:

Nior. Well, to be fair, he's partially incomplete at the moment, and a misunderstanding with Ami has lead to tension in that quarter. He didn't threaten her mother, merely noted it was her, but Ami saw it otherwise. It's not an unfair interpreation. So it goes, and it's never come up IC in a way that's commentable.  Anyway, it's funny, since the eh parts have gotten a chance to show through more early, so I gave him a break to intro some other stuff.

The Bad:

Times. My goodness, the time conflicts so far have been epic bordering on insane. I'm not blaming anyone here, but we should all be aware of the headaches this has caused. Moreso from my end, since I swear I've managed to rip out my hair a few times when a gear gets thrown into the already dicey scheduling.

Kensuke. Pretty much failed from what I had planned, and never really focused. He was pretty much a generic first bad guy, and a few things I had in mind never worked out. I blame myself in this case, as I just felt uninspired as far as he went.  Oh well, at least he's out of the way.

Mamoru. I don't know why, but I never feel quite right when I RP him half the time. Is it just me, or does this show at all?

The future...as for that, it's mainly starting to get to brass tacks. Gaia, Jadeite, some of the hinted at weapons(Yes, Hotaru, I know. I feel for you.), Tux, and so on are really starting to get ripe and ready. Let's hope they all end up kicking ass.

---

This is a brief overview, feel free to add more, comment, or whatever. Feedback is good, after all.

[Ebiris]

Firstly, consider yourself asked to go into more detail on all the PCs. That stuff is always interesting.

As for myself, I'll give my thoughts on stuff in a more or less random order.

Firstly, Usagi, since that's where I'm most knowledgable. I think critting her first youma was something that largely defines Usagi, even now. It cemented in her the opinion that senshi stuff is easy - no matter how tough things get, she'll always remain confident in herself as Sailor Moon thanks to her first impression of being a senshi. This does create an unfortunate disparity with her usual crybaby persona, which can be a bit jarring at times. I think Makoto was right when she criticised my reaction of Usagi banging her nose on the floor, considering she'd just had her legs stabbed with nary a fuss.

I'd honestly disagree that she's more mature. She just happens to be more assertive in her opinions when it comes to senshi business. Whether that assertiveness is justified is something Hotaru would likely take issue with.

Speaking of Miss Tomoe, she's also a good bit more assertive than her anime self. I guess we're all loudmouths. Which is a shame because of the friction it can generate, but at least we're true to ourselves. If anything, I think Hotaru needs to be more willing to come up with solutions rather than just pointing out flaws. I guess because of that, I prefer seeing her away from the monster fighting - she makes a good 'straight man' to some of the more outspoken characters in social situations (Usagi included, but I'm mostly thinking of her interactions with the supernatural club).

As for Makoto, I think she's a shoe-in for the dice-bot bitch award when we do them. And it's really shown on the poor girl IC - her struggles with self-doubt aren't 'fun' but they do make for quality RPing. Aside from that, she often seems to be the closest thing to a voice of reason that we have.

Ami does seem to be a bit quicker to anger than I'd expect - I'd have pegged her as more likely to occupy the voice of reason slot than Makoto, but so it goes. It fits, in a way, since she doesn't wear it on her sleeve, just seeming placid enough until the correct buttons are pressed. Still, she was almost alarmingly vicious in her fight with Nior. But as she'd felt her family threatened, I can respect that.

Um... Minako was cute in her few scenes, I guess... It's hard to remember, honestly... I really hope Plushie's work calms down, but it seems pretty futile, nowadays. Pity, since I think his Minako would be a breath of fresh air for our sometimes snippy senshi.

As for the NPCs, I'll just pick a few who've made an impression.

Mamoru - you're right, he has seemed off, lately. I honestly don't know what to make of him. On one hand, he keeps his cards close to his chest, on the other, he does broadcast pretty clearly that he's bothered of late. And, well... he seems a bit too flirty at times, like when he was driving Ami and Usagi to meet Motoki and Reika. It's just a bit odd, I guess.

Nior is someone who'd I have accused of being too quiet, but the recent scene with Janna helped dispel that a good deal. I'm hoping he'll be expanded on even more as we get to know Janna as well.

Misuki is a fun nemesis. If she did a bit more damage, she'd seem stupidly out of our league, but as is, she works well for being a sneaky ninja. For all that, she hasn't actually beaten us yet, either. Should be interesting to see what she comes up with as she becomes increasingly desperate from the pressure Jadeite's putting on her...

I hope to see a lot more of Rei, in future. Besides the fact that she's my favourite senshi in the anime, having her as an NPC makes her useful for padding out the team when timing interferes with PC availability.

Setsuna. Sure, we've never seen her, but you've dropped enough hints! Please either use her or drop her. She's been drawn out enough to be irritating.

And as for what the future holds...

I'm expecting our trip to Gaia will be a bit like the trip to Shadow Tokyo in the last game. I'm hoping with Nior, Janna, and any other youma we convert, we'll have enough of a ready-made support to fall back on once we arrive there (youma have families, too) that we can wage an effective guerilla campaign against Jadeite. Hopefully it won't take too long, though, since they'll be able to attack Earth with little opposition while we're there...

But first we need to figure out an effective means of getting to the damn place.

[Anastasia]

Firstly, consider yourself asked to go into more detail on all the PCs. That stuff is always interesting.

Alright, I thought someone would say that. I'll get to it in the next post, as I want to address the remainder of this post seperately.

Firstly, Usagi, since that's where I'm most knowledgable. I think critting her first youma was something that largely defines Usagi, even now. It cemented in her the opinion that senshi stuff is easy - no matter how tough things get, she'll always remain confident in herself as Sailor Moon thanks to her first impression of being a senshi. This does create an unfortunate disparity with her usual crybaby persona, which can be a bit jarring at times. I think Makoto was right when she criticised my reaction of Usagi banging her nose on the floor, considering she'd just had her legs stabbed with nary a fuss.

I'd honestly disagree that she's more mature. She just happens to be more assertive in her opinions when it comes to senshi business. Whether that assertiveness is justified is something Hotaru would likely take issue with.

Mmm. I think the above makes sense, as far as that critical goes. It was rather surprising, as Luna and Artemis were giving you a tutorial of sorts to begin with. But you just up and go and smash the baddie, not even leaving anything for Tuxedo Kamen or the cats to help you with. That does seem easy and definitive in that way. The second part is the more relevant part, as I think I agree with Makoto. It's somewhat jarring. Either way it goes, I'd personally prefer it to be more consistant, barring for comedic purposes.

Speaking of Miss Tomoe, she's also a good bit more assertive than her anime self. I guess we're all loudmouths. Which is a shame because of the friction it can generate, but at least we're true to ourselves. If anything, I think Hotaru needs to be more willing to come up with solutions rather than just pointing out flaws. I guess because of that, I prefer seeing her away from the monster fighting - she makes a good 'straight man' to some of the more outspoken characters in social situations (Usagi included, but I'm mostly thinking of her interactions with the supernatural club).

Heh, heh, heh. That might be it, as far as you all being loudmouths. <_<

Anyway, that said, mm. I suspect that might be some of the reason for a slight bit of IC tension between Usagi and Makoto/Hotaru in that case...well, that, tactics and probably if Mamoru goes better in or out of a tuxedo.

I'll wholly second the straight man comment, I thought her Supernatural Club events have really shined so far. To be honest, it's one of the reasons I had Kotono show up to meet the other girls, since Usagi or Makoto might be an interesting added element.

As for Makoto, I think she's a shoe-in for the dice-bot bitch award when we do them. And it's really shown on the poor girl IC - her struggles with self-doubt aren't 'fun' but they do make for quality RPing. Aside from that, she often seems to be the closest thing to a voice of reason that we have.

I think someone said Mako and Usagi had dicing luck mixed up for this game, and the might be right. I do wholeheartidly approve of Mako reflecting this in character and using it to further develop Makoto. This is something I feel deserves appaluse, and hopes that she won't keep rolling the dreaded 11.  

As for the voice of reason? Mmm. No comment? <_< Or honesty, I'm just not quite sure how I want to reply to that right yet.

Ami does seem to be a bit quicker to anger than I'd expect - I'd have pegged her as more likely to occupy the voice of reason slot than Makoto, but so it goes. It fits, in a way, since she doesn't wear it on her sleeve, just seeming placid enough until the correct buttons are pressed. Still, she was almost alarmingly vicious in her fight with Nior. But as she'd felt her family threatened, I can respect that.

Mmm. I thought her anger was slightly jarring in a few instances, though I suppose the lioness protecting her den metaphor might apply. I didn't really see or plan for that one coming to nearly that degree. I think it's also why the Umino story arc there faltered somewhat, as I didn't quite expect actions to that effect. Is this a bad thing? Not really, though it's a good reason to quietly revise and modify my later ideas for scenes with her.

Um... Minako was cute in her few scenes, I guess... It's hard to remember, honestly... I really hope Plushie's work calms down, but it seems pretty futile, nowadays. Pity, since I think his Minako would be a breath of fresh air for our sometimes snippy senshi.

I agree completely. I'd love it if Minako managed to make the scene, though I doubt it for various factors, now. It's a damn shame, between Minako and Setsuna not making it in as PCs.

Mamoru - you're right, he has seemed off, lately. I honestly don't know what to make of him. On one hand, he keeps his cards close to his chest, on the other, he does broadcast pretty clearly that he's bothered of late. And, well... he seems a bit too flirty at times, like when he was driving Ami and Usagi to meet Motoki and Reika. It's just a bit odd, I guess.

Yeah. I got the feeling I might be overadjusting there, though I'll admit I played up his personal distress somewhat to give me latitutude if I had issues with unevenness with him. I see this may have been a wise move, as I can't quite pin down the style I want with him.

Oi. Usagi and Mako, are you sure I can't just give you both a toy and call it even? <_<

Nior is someone who'd I have accused of being too quiet, but the recent scene with Janna helped dispel that a good deal. I'm hoping he'll be expanded on even more as we get to know Janna as well.

Yeah. As alluded to, I shelved his story for a little bit for various reasons. Ami's reactions are one, and the fact that I thought things didn't quite strike right at the time. It gave me some time to tweak and set things up, and I think it's working out reasonably well. He's not a writeoff, for dozens of what I hope are obvious reasons. <_<

Misuki is a fun nemesis. If she did a bit more damage, she'd seem stupidly out of our league, but as is, she works well for being a sneaky ninja. For all that, she hasn't actually beaten us yet, either. Should be interesting to see what she comes up with as she becomes increasingly desperate from the pressure Jadeite's putting on her...

Agreed. If she even had five or ten more points of damage, she'd own you so horridly that it wouldn't be funny, or if her ACV was higher. As is, she's a different take - it's a bitch to damage her, on the other hand, she won't kill you with raw damage, either. She'll find other ways, I'm certain.

I hope to see a lot more of Rei, in future. Besides the fact that she's my favourite senshi in the anime, having her as an NPC makes her useful for padding out the team when timing interferes with PC availability.

Mmm, yes. I pushed back some of her points coming up to get Nior back into the story. I want to at least do one temple episode, and probably some other things as well. Once I find my feet with her, anyways, as I'm still wading into the pool. 'sides, Eb's Rei is a hard act to follow.

Setsuna. Sure, we've never seen her, but you've dropped enough hints! Please either use her or drop her. She's been drawn out enough to be irritating.

She's due, yeah. Is it starting to show that my timeline was slightly moved back due to some internal rearrainging now? <_<

And as for what the future holds...

I'm expecting our trip to Gaia will be a bit like the trip to Shadow Tokyo in the last game. I'm hoping with Nior, Janna, and any other youma we convert, we'll have enough of a ready-made support to fall back on once we arrive there (youma have families, too) that we can wage an effective guerilla campaign against Jadeite. Hopefully it won't take too long, though, since they'll be able to attack Earth with little opposition while we're there...

But first we need to figure out an effective means of getting to the damn place.

Heh. I obviously won't comment deeply here, though the story elements are starting to move.

[Anastasia]

I'll start with Usagi.

As we mentioned, that opening critical really put a spin on her character. Not only hitting but scoring a massive offensive on her first enemy set the tone. I suppose I could have hedged it so that the youma survived, but a surprise attack critical? That would cheapen the effects a great deal, I felt, and I figured the reactions from the cat gallery would be amusing. It also undercut a lot of the normal 'Oh Usagi, why can't you not suck' undercurrent early. It certainly is still there, though it's also clear that you have respect, I think. It was worthwhile to play that up when you were gifted with the Lunar Staff, which helped cement that further.

Mmm. I like Usagi's family interactions, though I wouldn't call them anything special. They're just nicely done, though I need to get back to that Shingo and his girlfriend storyline at some point. I'm also playing her mother as a bit of a taskmistress, as I wanted to get away from the mostly sweet and understanding mother from last game. At least somewhat, one specific incident notwithstanding. It's another reason to get Luna back there, as I want her to get to play around some there as well.

The school stuff is funny. Half of the good and interesting bits from Usagi's school life have been in omakes, and it seems that I haven't done that much there with her class and friends. Part of this is on purpose, as Eb wanted a distance from a lot of that group, and I wasn't inclined to disagree.  About all I can say is that I want to use Miss Haruna more, but haven't quite procured a good chance to. Yet.

For the Senshi interactions? I'm ambivient to the disagreements internally, as so far as it causes friction. They're interesting, though I hope they don't get out of hand.

---

Luna and Artemis.

Okay, they aren't technically senshi. But I didn't mention them above, and I want to go into some discussion. Mainly, I feel like I'm really starting to hit my stride with those two, especially Luna, after a shaky start. Playing up the cat elements instead of the human elements has made it easier to focus, I feel, and I'm finally feeling happy with my Luna.

Mmm, more later after I have some more time to think.

[Anastasia]

In random order, the next girl, Hotaru.

I think she's doing a good job of playing a shy, reserved girl. That's exactly what she is in many ways, somewhat hesitant at first, but the sort that opens up once she is comfortable. It's pretty well done on the whole - I like how she treats people at first, but relaxes as she gets to know them. Makoto and Kotono are the two most obvious examples, her interaction with the latter today sticking in my mind. Maybe I'm a sucker for quiet girls, but I like it. I like it a lot, and enjoy watching her RP. I wish I could say this more eloquently, but I simply like her and most of her playing by and large, without a focal pont or two to focus on.

The Supernatural club has turned out rather well so far. I considered it a potential one shot pending how it worked out, and it's made it's way back in a few times over now. Why? Two good foils for Hotaru right off the bat, ones that I think she shines off of, even if they're slightly aggrivating to the poor girl. The first trip out was designed very deliberately, albiet a thread for later, perhaps. The ending was nicely ironic, and a sequel felt right. From there...well...>_>

The only other point that strikes me right now is the Silence Glaive. To be honest, this has probably had more build up OOC than Setsuna or anything else. It's coming in time, albiet a very very slow burn up to this point. I won't stiff you, so you can put the bazooka down. <_<

[Bean Bandit]

Hmm...Ok.

PC overview:

Usagi: Mostly good. The personality is canon-like, and for the most part, she's loveable, if a little aggravating. >_> It's kind of interesting to watch her interact with Hotaru...the slightly condescending, yet still friendly manner is consistent with how an Older girl might treat a younger. Usagi and Ami... in that, I don't really see a theme in the interaction. Maybe it comes off more real because of it? I dunno.

And...to the crux of the matter, or at least the source of the conflict between the rabbit and I...Utter fearlessness combined with a track record of not thinking things out very well is not an impressive combination. Makoto can respect bravery, but she's not sure which side of the bold/foolish line Usagi is on most of the time, which leads to a somewhat uncharacteristically conservative approach to tactics.

She finds having to reign Usagi in vexing, as well as ironic, because she's usually the one unafraid to back down from a fight. Hence her rather testy behavior during battles. Outside of senshi life, though, Usagi is simply a bubbly friend, who's more amusing than annoying.

Ami:...Honestly, I don't find her anger an issue at all, really. She's shown the capacity for anger in the anime. What I will say is that her attitude toward confrontation is what I find a bit off. From my view, Ami isn't all that shy, but she's reluctant to directly confront or contradict others, unless she feels pushed into it. Honestly, from that POV Merc's Ami hasn't been too bad, in places, but her eagerness to fight, or to do crazy things sometimes is a bit startling. Other than that Merc's Ami is spot on, in my view.

Hotaru: It's really hard to put her up against canon, as so much of her backstory has been changed. She seems a little bit more cynical than she should, maybe.

But as for that, she and I have sort of been shoehorned into the 'moderates' of the group, and I can relate to the slightly exasperated tone.

As for that...the only other issue I have is time. It'd be nice to advance more frequently, but on the other hand, this means we're not rushing headlong to game end.

Ooh. One other thought. Mamoru. >_> He's...really hot and cold, which is why Makoto is interested, but not even trying to make a move. I'd like to nail down some consistent interaction with him so that I have a clue what direction to go with. I swear, it's like dealing with a woman. >_> <_<

[Merc]

I like seeing Usagi in action, even if she is a bit impulsive when it comes to youmas. Actually, maybe I like seeing her in action because of this impulsiveness. That first victory had an interesting effect on her, and one wonders if it'll take a near death experience to curve some of that off. Hopefully not, as Makoto is trying to keep just that from happening.

Makoto counteracts some of Usagi's impulsiveness, and her frustration with Usagi for it is nice. I did find it odd how she reacted to Tuxedo Kamen, though that was probably mostly from Usagi rushing right in to try to help him.

Hotaru serves similar to Makoto, but as mentioned, more with a cynical tone to Makoto's frustration. I do still find myself a bit bored by the whole tactical planning/speaking at times, and sometimes those explanations feel a bit forced, but it's also nice to see Hotaru as a more active character than her canon self.

Ami...I find it more difficult to play her than I thought I would. I don't know, I felt she was pretty frustrated by her first fight, which unlike Usagi's first, did -not- go well. She really wants to help, but feels she's not doing enough. Then, the frustrations with Nior in her home and not having any way to really fight back...

I don't know, I do agree that she's coming off a bit more battle hungry and angry than she should regardless. I'll try to control that a bit more. I do still think she had a right to be angry with Nior and assuming he was threatening her mother, but though I felt it was alright then, looking back, trashtalking him about his youma was pretty nasty...

Npcs -
I like Misuki the silent ninja, and Janna amuses me with her denseness. I hope to see more of both. ^_^

Nior...bothers me. I feel like he's just going to grunt and shrug or grunt and nod to anything and he just feels kinda pathetic in a kicked puppy sort of way.

I'd almost say Ami is more annoyed with him now because people -keep asking- her if she'll be okay with him despite her assurances, rather than her mistaken belief that he threatened her mother.

Mamoru, for the most part doesn't affect me in any way. The only thing of note there was that his flirting with Usagi and Ami felt odd.

[Anastasia]

Ami...I find it more difficult to play her than I thought I would. I don't know, I felt she was pretty frustrated by her first fight, which unlike Usagi's first, did -not- go well. She really wants to help, but feels she's not doing enough. Then, the frustrations with Nior in her home and not having any way to really fight back...

I don't know, I do agree that she's coming off a bit more battle hungry and angry than she should regardless. I'll try to control that a bit more. I do still think she had a right to be angry with Nior and assuming he was threatening her mother, but though I felt it was alright then, looking back, trashtalking him about his youma was pretty nasty...

Mmm.

That went sourly from the getgo. I think Ami was spooked to see Nior there, and reacted as such. To the actual line about her mother, I won't dig it up as this isn't meant to be an argument at all. I don't recall the exact words, but I made a point to phrase it loosely enough to not seem a threat - simply a 'Oh. To that is...I see.' sort of thing. Thinking on it, I don't really blame Ami under the circumstances IC, though OOC, I have to ask. Did you feel it was an outright threat, or more implied, or what? This is purely just curiosity here, mind.

As for the trashtalking, live and learn. I thought that was over the line, personally, but at worst, live and learn from a mistake. I'm not saying Ami was wrong to feel threatened under the circumstances, either. Just...oi. I'll just say it got messy.

[Merc]

I don't recall the exact words, but I made a point to phrase it loosely enough to not seem a threat - simply a 'Oh. To that is...I see.' sort of thing. Thinking on it, I don't really blame Ami under the circumstances IC, though OOC, I have to ask. Did you feel it was an outright threat, or more implied, or what? This is purely just curiosity here, mind.

It had a subtle threat feel to me, even if it was just musings. Ami at that point was very panicky and paranoid, which didn't help things. I mean, the first time she meets Nior is in a dark alley without any powers and he basically looms over her, speaking in the same sort of tone then as when he goes "Your mother? Coincidence, or..." before stepping towards her, in of all places, her home, where she should feel safest.

If it had been, like, at the public baths and he'd made the same observation, I think Ami -might- not have been as paranoid, or maybe I might have asked over PM. As it was, I had felt it justifiable enough to assume it was a threat.

[Liddo-kun]

*sniffle sniffle*

*goes back to being buried under work*

;_;

[Anastasia]

Good luck, noble Liddo. May you slay the demons of work forthwith.

As for Makoto:

Mmm. I can start easily by saying that Makoto is deep. That's a good start, and it highlights one of the things Bean is doing well, giving Makoto depth and flavor. It's Bean's strong point with RPing, and it's showing well. Makoto has a good range of NPCs to work with, a strong personality, and is amusing stuck as an outspoken middle man in the Senshi dynamic. Mako works welle enough, and generally has good and solid interactions.

One thing I like is how she's integrated her bad dicing luck to her character, and saw that as a need to improve her skills. It's a fine idea, and one I approve of completely. Taking an estoric yet vital aspect of the gaming experience and using it as grist for the character development mill is inspired.