Post by godsdeejay on Dec 19, 2016 21:05:40 GMT -5
Non-canon Civil War Arc [REVIEW]
Chapter 1:
[The Premise]
Our characters, mostly if not all students, head to the city of Vale for hangout time, resteraunt quality food, and shopping.
---------------
[Bad News]
A few minutes in, and every television in every store is set to a Vale news channel explaining that Vale's Council has split in half, and the Kingdom is being poorly governed as a whole due to inevitable civil war.
Criminal organizations get away with doing nefarious deeds in Vale's Downtown section and in broad daylight because the VPD are in shambles, probably due to being: Under-staffed, under-equipped, and split in half by a political divide.
[Political Partying]
One party is Pro-Peacekeeping: They believe in keeping the Hunters free, and having a small military backed by civilian & village militias.
They do not want large outside interference from Atlas, or any other kingdoms.
On the other hand, the Pro-Militaristic side is dedicated to building a strong army under strict rules and regulations, forging a tough & loyal kingdom to combat Grimm, crime, and any kingdoms that try to take advantage of them, like Atlas.
[Flash Mobbing]
All of television sets turn off as what the narrator describes as two mobs of people approach, one from each side of the street.
Pro-Military and Pro-Peacekeeping, the narrator says they are made up entirely of Hunters, and end up engaging each other in combat.
According to the sound effects used from a Transformers movie we can assume over twenty Hunters were dedicated to beating each other up.
The fighting stops long enough for the leaders to be introduced, and the students are encouraged to either:
[Choices, and Hitting Each Other]
1.Pick the left side. 2.Pick the right side. 3.Run away!
Most of the students go Pro-Peacekeeping, and the fighting commences. Mostly it is close combat, but two Pro-Peaces sneak up behind the PM lines and deal some damage before pulling out.
One of the leaders calls for a stop in the fighting and makes a tree fall inbetween the two factions. It expands until neither side can get a clear shot.
Both sides leave for their respective hideouts. End of Chapter 1.
-------------------------------------------------------
[The Good]
Explaining that Vale was in a POLITICAL divide, instead of merely tossing two groups of people at each other because CIVIL WAR.
Also gave students a chance to fight en-masse outside of the ampitheatre.
[The Bad]
There could have been more backstory for this:
Two professors could have given their views on the situation, a headmaster's speech would have been fitting.
Beacon Academy could have been ruled neutral ground for the time being, and students would be asked to not get involved, due to the high possibility of death and the hurt that comes with taking human/faunus life.
I understand that the Academy does end up belonging to a single faction, I think? But starting out with it as neutral ground and providing some premise there would have been nice, AND:
PROVIDED students with a means to interact more. Discuss what this would mean for them, for Vale, and for Remnant. Instead, students were cornered by two mobs and they had minutes to join or run away. It's assumed that they've already made up their minds based on previous events or discussions, but we never get to actually experience those, do we?
Now let's talk about the mobs:
The Transformers sound effects imply that there's two large groups of Hunters attacking each other but this does not affect the students. They can fight each other and only each other, they did not seem to include those NPCs in the RP themselves, or take them into account.
Furthermore, these are HUNTERS. If they actually want to fight, they'll use powerful weapons and Semblances. Professors Pond, Basayan, Vermillion, Glynda, any members ranked staff or Hunter who were not present, likely have the means to tear that section of Vale apart. But none of their powerful semblances made any narrated appearance or difference in combat besides 'two mobs of Hunters clashing'. Did they agree to use only short range firearms and melee weapons beforehand?
Back to the students side of things:
Combat was up close, and personal. Nobody with rifles or mortars wanted to shoot from a distance, or if they did, like my character Harvey Hemlock, they wouldn't get noticed. I'm seeing a problem in that many people seem to pay attention to the bubble chat, but not the primary chat. They went what's close to them and nothing else. I've taken both chats into account since I first joined Beacon Academy several years ago, so I find this odd.
Back to the story:
Why the retreat? 'Enough blood has been shed today.' Did Hunters or students die? Civilians caught in the crossfire? The only collateral damage I saw were some trees and From Dust Til Dawn, which exploded and caused little or no damage to anybody.
It's very hard to retreat for peaceful reasons when you've accomplished next to nothing. Was that why it was actually called? To regroup, plan, and do some real damage? Huh.
I forgot to mention that a month passes, and the students get a very small amount of time to chat before they're teleported to a base camp for eithe rof the two sides. While timeskips can be essential, they also rule out coping with having severely hurt people you have spent from a week to four years with.
And if you picked neutral in that fight, I hope each faction allows you to remain unassailed and doesn't put up wanted posters, or else you'll have to sneak into every basecamp or battleground just to get in on the RP! Because being neutral, you get next to nothing! Surviving in a harsh military & political landscape where both sides look at you with distaste or try to convince you to rethink your choice? Nopenopenope!
Finally, I will comment on student habits/attitudes:
My character, due to having a military background, joined the Pro-Military side. When the fighting ended, the brief couple minutes intermission occured, and the timeskip happened, I approached the other side OOC to basically say: 'Guys, can you please pay attention to both chats? I was shooting mortars at your side, and nothing happened!'
But a student went up to me and my speaking OOC and said 'Dude. There's been a timeskip and we're not even here.'
Maybe he got the message wrong, but the rest of the students ignored me. I WAS USING CAPITALS.
[Conclusion]
This roleplay arc will be fun for some people, but maybe not for others. I will simply keep my distance.
Chapter 1:
[The Premise]
Our characters, mostly if not all students, head to the city of Vale for hangout time, resteraunt quality food, and shopping.
---------------
[Bad News]
A few minutes in, and every television in every store is set to a Vale news channel explaining that Vale's Council has split in half, and the Kingdom is being poorly governed as a whole due to inevitable civil war.
Criminal organizations get away with doing nefarious deeds in Vale's Downtown section and in broad daylight because the VPD are in shambles, probably due to being: Under-staffed, under-equipped, and split in half by a political divide.
[Political Partying]
One party is Pro-Peacekeeping: They believe in keeping the Hunters free, and having a small military backed by civilian & village militias.
They do not want large outside interference from Atlas, or any other kingdoms.
On the other hand, the Pro-Militaristic side is dedicated to building a strong army under strict rules and regulations, forging a tough & loyal kingdom to combat Grimm, crime, and any kingdoms that try to take advantage of them, like Atlas.
[Flash Mobbing]
All of television sets turn off as what the narrator describes as two mobs of people approach, one from each side of the street.
Pro-Military and Pro-Peacekeeping, the narrator says they are made up entirely of Hunters, and end up engaging each other in combat.
According to the sound effects used from a Transformers movie we can assume over twenty Hunters were dedicated to beating each other up.
The fighting stops long enough for the leaders to be introduced, and the students are encouraged to either:
[Choices, and Hitting Each Other]
1.Pick the left side. 2.Pick the right side. 3.Run away!
Most of the students go Pro-Peacekeeping, and the fighting commences. Mostly it is close combat, but two Pro-Peaces sneak up behind the PM lines and deal some damage before pulling out.
One of the leaders calls for a stop in the fighting and makes a tree fall inbetween the two factions. It expands until neither side can get a clear shot.
Both sides leave for their respective hideouts. End of Chapter 1.
-------------------------------------------------------
[The Good]
Explaining that Vale was in a POLITICAL divide, instead of merely tossing two groups of people at each other because CIVIL WAR.
Also gave students a chance to fight en-masse outside of the ampitheatre.
[The Bad]
There could have been more backstory for this:
Two professors could have given their views on the situation, a headmaster's speech would have been fitting.
Beacon Academy could have been ruled neutral ground for the time being, and students would be asked to not get involved, due to the high possibility of death and the hurt that comes with taking human/faunus life.
I understand that the Academy does end up belonging to a single faction, I think? But starting out with it as neutral ground and providing some premise there would have been nice, AND:
PROVIDED students with a means to interact more. Discuss what this would mean for them, for Vale, and for Remnant. Instead, students were cornered by two mobs and they had minutes to join or run away. It's assumed that they've already made up their minds based on previous events or discussions, but we never get to actually experience those, do we?
Now let's talk about the mobs:
The Transformers sound effects imply that there's two large groups of Hunters attacking each other but this does not affect the students. They can fight each other and only each other, they did not seem to include those NPCs in the RP themselves, or take them into account.
Furthermore, these are HUNTERS. If they actually want to fight, they'll use powerful weapons and Semblances. Professors Pond, Basayan, Vermillion, Glynda, any members ranked staff or Hunter who were not present, likely have the means to tear that section of Vale apart. But none of their powerful semblances made any narrated appearance or difference in combat besides 'two mobs of Hunters clashing'. Did they agree to use only short range firearms and melee weapons beforehand?
Back to the students side of things:
Combat was up close, and personal. Nobody with rifles or mortars wanted to shoot from a distance, or if they did, like my character Harvey Hemlock, they wouldn't get noticed. I'm seeing a problem in that many people seem to pay attention to the bubble chat, but not the primary chat. They went what's close to them and nothing else. I've taken both chats into account since I first joined Beacon Academy several years ago, so I find this odd.
Back to the story:
Why the retreat? 'Enough blood has been shed today.' Did Hunters or students die? Civilians caught in the crossfire? The only collateral damage I saw were some trees and From Dust Til Dawn, which exploded and caused little or no damage to anybody.
It's very hard to retreat for peaceful reasons when you've accomplished next to nothing. Was that why it was actually called? To regroup, plan, and do some real damage? Huh.
I forgot to mention that a month passes, and the students get a very small amount of time to chat before they're teleported to a base camp for eithe rof the two sides. While timeskips can be essential, they also rule out coping with having severely hurt people you have spent from a week to four years with.
And if you picked neutral in that fight, I hope each faction allows you to remain unassailed and doesn't put up wanted posters, or else you'll have to sneak into every basecamp or battleground just to get in on the RP! Because being neutral, you get next to nothing! Surviving in a harsh military & political landscape where both sides look at you with distaste or try to convince you to rethink your choice? Nopenopenope!
Finally, I will comment on student habits/attitudes:
My character, due to having a military background, joined the Pro-Military side. When the fighting ended, the brief couple minutes intermission occured, and the timeskip happened, I approached the other side OOC to basically say: 'Guys, can you please pay attention to both chats? I was shooting mortars at your side, and nothing happened!'
But a student went up to me and my speaking OOC and said 'Dude. There's been a timeskip and we're not even here.'
Maybe he got the message wrong, but the rest of the students ignored me. I WAS USING CAPITALS.
[Conclusion]
This roleplay arc will be fun for some people, but maybe not for others. I will simply keep my distance.