Drago
29th July 2008, 12:22 AM
Alright, so Roy's topic made me feel nostalgic. Back in my day, I used to frequent the RPG forum a fair bit; I know y'all have had a lot more experience than me, but I still did at least a fair amount of RPing. So in my infinite wisdom, I thought I'd take a look at all the RPGs of my past, but moreso, a look at all the characters I've played over the years. The order is a tad ecclectic for the most part, and there's bound to be a couple mistakes here and there (doing most of this just from memory), but still, it's not too bad for the most part. You'll have to excuse me in the times when I'm being brutally honest, I don't want to upset anyone, I just thought it best to give you a proper look back that isn't sugar-coated or anything.
So let's see what all y'all have got! Watch now as people unravel their list of 80+ RPing personalities, discuss their successes and failures, and have a good old fashioned reminiscing session! ...Well, ideally. Otherwise, just humour me a little.
Team Rocket: Revolution Now
Forrest Galanof
My first foray in RPing came in the form of my very introduction to TPM itself. Knowing now what I do about the complexity of RPing, of well-structured character personalities and dialogue, intense plot twists and, most of all, interaction with other player characters, I must have seemed an absolute joke.
In a time when folks like Ginger Cat and my old idol Bear were fabricating wonderful pieces, a daft young thirteen year old bumbling onto the scene was not a pretty sight, particularly when the RPG in question wasn’t exactly one for the rookies. My first post as Frost, a high-ranking member of the malicious Nebulas, detailed the character killing people and stealing an Azumarill. Lord above. To top it off, I thought the icons were pretty neat, so words like Azumarill :184: and Pokeball :pokeball: were needlessly illustrated.
I love Forrest as a character. These days he has great depth and personality. But back in 2001, he was shallow as a wading pool. He was just kinda badass and mean. But as I would later do myself in other RPGs, the other players were able to carry Frost along and keep him involved. Along the way I’d throw in my own bits and pieces that, though entirely disinteresting, added my own moments into the story. The most beneficial time for Frost was my month-long absence, in which he engaged in some serious conflict, changed factions, and developed a relationship with Morgan, handled by midnightangel. I couldn’t have possibly handled this progression without ruining it, so on my return all the pieces were in place for me to cast along easily until the RPG’s completion (remarkable how one of the only RPGs I’ve ever been in that reached an ending was my very first).
About the only redeeming feature of my involvement was the curious addition of Reik Parrish, an enigmatic character I inserted as Frost’s ‘spiritual advisor’ of sorts. And though there were no ambitious plans at the time, it was ambiguous enough for me to now play it in different ways, possibly even as a figment of Frost’s imagination.
Unown: The Power of Evil
Draco
Though short-lived and uneventful, this RPG allowed for the development of Draco the Dragonite, my most prolific character to date. Initially introduced in Revolution Now as one of Frost’s elite team, he along with nearly all of Frost’s other Pokemon are let free, and I felt this PRG would be an appropriate destination for the orange powerhouse.
He too lacked depth, though there was a lovable innocence and bravery to him that made him more tolerable, plus I wasn’t shouldered with the load of trying to comprehend mature content.
Again I fell into the poor story-telling clichés of my youth (my last-ditch effort to save the RPG was to insert an oncoming flock of angry Spearows), but to my credit, I did have a rather interesting intention of Draco undertaking meditative training that would allow him to forego the recharging phase after a Hyper Beam, as well as giving him the capability to produce various powders by flapping his wings rapidly. The RPG died before these events took place, but any subsequent appearance by Draco would act as though they had happened regardless.
The Trainer Quest
Ant
This would no doubt be the first definitively bad RPG I’d been involved in, a trainer RPG with the only condition that the Pokemon each trainer possessed had to be a baby Pokemon. I played the role of ‘Ant’ (my self-representation, I was too afraid of the dangers of the Internet to use my full name of Anthony), a generic wide-eyed trainer with a generic disobedient Pokemon in the form of a Magby cleverly named Mag. As none of the participants were seasoned veterans of RPing, I became a fairly prominent figure and others just kind of followed my lead (everyone seemed to want to join my rapidly growing party). We arrived at the first gym, I’m fairly sure Ant and Mag got whooped and then that was pretty much it.
As is often the case, nowadays I’ve assigned Ant an incredibly complicated new story to make him less boring; after a couple of poor decisions in his youth, he went down a dark path and is now a 20-something assassin whose full name is Anteros Colvin. How in the hell did that happen anyway?
Pokemen in Black
Draco/Agent D
Draco returns in what turned out to be my favourite RPG of all, Pokemen in Black. After two quick failures in the RPG world, PIB was a rich, fun little tale that allowed me to change the character in an incredibly big way.
Though lumped with a razor-thin profile (about the only personality trait I remember listing was that he was poor at following orders, a quality that I don’t think I ever really followed through on), I was once again helped along by those around me. Having mysteriously completed that meditative training I alluded to earlier despite it never occurring (paradox??), Draco was now on a quest to reunite with the other members of Frost’s old team of Pokemon. It was nice to have a character with an actual goal other than ‘be powerful’ or ‘be evil’ or ‘shut up everyone GigaShock wants to rassle’.
I started up early (second post of the RPG I think?), and as such was quickly taken under the proverbial and literal wing of Agent A, an Articuno played by Arctic A, whose username at the time escapes me. I was fortunate to play Will Smith to A’s Tommy Lee Jones; partnered with a seasoned RPing veteran meant I just had to follow the basic framework set before me. One need only look through the posts the two of us had, I was basically set in a direction and just reacted with whatever I felt appropriate. Made for some pretty good storylines along the way, if memory serves.
Actually allowed to play around with Draco for a prolonged period of time, I was able to instill some crucial elements into his character; a fondness of jewels, an uncertainty of his surroundings and a strong drive to find his lost friends. I even threw in an amusing little concept of an emerald lodged in his chest that would force him into combat for unrealised reasons. Another RPer (my mind wants to say darktyranitar, but I can’t quite remember) incorporated Draco into their own character Tyranno’s history, wherein the two had been stars in monster movies. It was a fun twist that didn’t really conflict with anything I had in mind, so I just assimilated it into Draco’s timeline before the events of The Power of Evil had occurred.
With my role as A’s buddy, there was a sort of controlled freedom to my creativity, and it was crucial not only in Draco’s development but my own as an RPer. The fact that the events of the RPG actually shaped who he became as a character, as opposed to him just being a random entity in a random environment would suggest that it was quite beneficial.
Final Fantasy/Star Wars/Lord of the Rings Crossover
Antco Mubac
This certainly wasn’t the RPG for me; I like Star Wars and LotR, but I wouldn’t call myself a fan of either, to the point where I could actually portray the lore, and I haven’t been able to get into any Final Fantasy other than VII. So playing a Jedi knight in an overly convoluted crossover would not prove fruitful.
I found the first few posts so confusing that I couldn’t come up with a point of entry, and I’m fairly certain I never actually did make a post as Antco Mubac. Which is just as well, because rest assured, he would’ve just been another set of clichés, only this time of the ‘quiet hero’ variety.
The Rainbow League
Character forgotten, possibly Ant?
Another trainer fic that promised something like 40+ gyms and an elite rainbow league to challenge. I made one post that might have actually been kind of okay, and then it all went dark. Was it truly Ant making a return? Well I can’t find any other character in my archived list who fits the bill, so for now, we’ll just assume that it was indeed.
Pokemon Wrestling Federation
Zeus & GigaShock
I was so enamored with the concept of a Pokemon-themed wrestling federation that, shortly after everyone had signed up (a rather robust number of participants, at that), I went about editing sprites so that they would look like the wrestlers. I recall putting a mask on a Heracross, a scar on a Scizor and darkened black eyes on a Nidoqueen. Ideally, this would have been a fantastic RPG that I would have learnt a lot from, but what it actually turned out to be was nothing short of hilarious. There was certainly a lot of activity, but every single post was of someone cutting a promo. In other words, everyone was talking and threatening the rest of the federation, but nobody was ever actually wrestling. I even made a desperate post as GigaShock essentially telling every character to ‘shut the hell up and fight’, but it fell on deaf ears. I guess Pokemon Wrestling Federation sounded nicer than Pokemon Talking Federation.
To this degree, Zeus the Raichu and GigaShock the Ampharos really had no room to develop in any way. They were potentially going to be a kickass tagteam, Zeus filling the role of speedy cruiserweight while GigaShock contended for the heavyweight title, but nothing ever occurred. So what of the characters? To the best of my recollection, Zeus was the level-headed leader, while GigaShock was mildly impatient. Sort of hard to really do much for characters that never had a chance to do anything. If anyone happens to care, Zeus and GigaShock’s entering themes were ‘I’m Shady’ and ‘As the World Turns’ respectively, both by Eminem. The latter doesn’t actually suit a wrestler in any sense.
Pokeball Z
Raku
If a Pokemon wrestling federation wasn’t your thing, perhaps Pokemon-styled Dragonball Z would be? Though Raku the Raichu is something of a forgotten entity in my mind, he actually holds the honour of being my first character to be original in any way. Whilst everyone around me was manning characters of mass destruction, capable of blinding speed, eye-popping transformations and planet-destroying Kamehameha’s (or however you spell it), I made Raku to be absolutely pathetic and weak.
Evidently he had undergone some form of training when the RPG began, and suddenly thought he was undefeatable. After a rather amusing post where his energy blast fails to destroy a butterfly, another participant commandeered him for a friendly spar, and that’s all.
Raku was admirable in the sense I was willing to sacrifice the allure of incredible power to play the role of comic relief, though secretly I intended for him to gradually gain power to become one of those roided up superheroes, too. But hey, he’s much more interesting as the lovably arrogant stooge, so we’ll just leave it that way.
Star Fox Academy
Fink
Unfortunately, the purpose of this RPG didn’t quite hit me at the time. When I joined it, I had been reading Toasty’s fanfic Nintendo High, an anime-styled tale of Nintendo characters in their high school days, and for some reason, I wanted to inject that sort of thing into what I did here. What was actually intended was for the academy to be a boot camp, and no doubt my freewheeling posts of high school-style shenanigans must have been infuriating to the RPG’s creator.
Anyhow, what we had in Fink was a character designed to be auxiliary in every sense, an upbeat young marksman with a knack for machines. He was clumsy, unassuming and wore a cute little cap. Yes, I made a Slippy Toad without ever even intending it.
So I made a couple kitschy posts where Fink did a couple little things here or there, and then everything ended, possibly because people were fed up with the direction I was taking the RPG. It’s arrogant to claim that I single-handedly destroyed an RPG, but somehow I don’t think it’s entirely out of the realm of possibility.
On a side note, as I had for PWF I did lovely little sprites for all the characters, though admirably in this case, all of them had to be done from scratch. Tragically these sprites no longer exist, but I can remain proud that I am likely the only person in existence to have made an artistic interpretation of Shex the shark.
TITLE FORGOTTEN – RPG Tournament thingamee
DragoKnight (self)
An event that attracted the best players from the forum (plus DragoKnight!), pitting participants against each other to duke it out. The rules were simple; you played yourself, capable of transforming into a Pokemon (in my case, a Dragonite) and accompanied by a partner Pokemon (the Venusaur Leaves; not of Minty Thrill fame but his mother of the same name). You were matched up against an opponent, and you each had to detail your battle. Whoever’s was judged to be superior was the winner.
I’ve never been very good at making fight scenes, so entering a tournament wherein the entire thing was a battle was perhaps a bad idea, but to my credit, I made a valiant effort against superior competition, and I even got past BananaPancake to the second round. The fact that I have no idea who BananaPancake is suggests that they weren’t quite in the league of Bulbasaur4 or Bear, but hey, I was still better. …I was handily defeated shortly thereafter.
TITLE FORGOTTEN – More or less ‘The Mole with Pokemon’
Ifrit
An RPG/game hybrid? How exciting!
In this RPG based on The Mole, participants had to partake in challenges, while one member was assigned the role of the mole, secretly trying to thwart the teams’ attempts at success. With it, came Ifrit the Flareon, a fantastically fun character to play, simply because he’s just so mean.
I came into playing Ifrit without a lot in mind, I just thought I’d see how well I could handle playing a jerk and, lo and behold, I was rather good at it. No doubt Ifrit would have become a prominent figure in the RPG and widely suspected mole, but an unexpected issue occurred; when members of the RPG were split into two groups, and one would have to accomplish their task before the others, it seemed that all the active members were lumped into the second group. Being in group two was like being tied to a rock, you could have done a lot to help, but until that rock got moving you were stuck. The rock never moved. The RPG never got past task one. Ifrit never had post number two.
SPOILER ALERT: Ifrit was not the mole.
Eeveelutions 8
Ifrit
I’m biting my tongue here, I’m tempted to say I played Ifrit in Eeveelutions #8, but I’m not entirely sure. There were a whole slew of those things, and unfortunately I never became important enough in this iteration to warrant much attention.
I was hoping that Eeveelutions would do for Ifrit what PIB did for Draco, take my character framework and develop it into a flourishing character, and I was excited to see what would happen in this case; Eeveelutions was like a character development goldmine; the previous adventures and characters were so revered one of the members had bothered to make a website about them (Angelfire FTW!)
The problem was, I was playing with the best here. Whilst I was certainly getting better as an RPer, I was no Bulbasaur4. And as such, when I was actually RPing with Bulbasaur4, I went to great lengths to imitate her style. It was a wonderful failure on my part, trying to throw in complexities that I wasn’t even ready for, and no doubt made Ifrit an awkward character to interact with. It was like when your parents say something is ‘cool’. The word is familiar, but the delivery is all wrong and you don’t know what exactly they’re trying to accomplish.
In time, I could have done better, perhaps it was just a rocky start, and I was fortunate enough to have been assimilated into a little team again with other, better players, but somehow that turn to success never came to be. The RPG didn’t get too far, and all I managed to do was tone Ifrit’s anger down a little, make him a wee bit crazy and give him the backstory of once being owned by a sailor and having been born a Flareon. That last one was fairly stupid and I’ve pretty much removed it from his mythos, but I do like the past occurrence I had come up with of him falling into the water at a young age, having been horribly damaged by it and now possessing aquaphobia. Additionally, I have a lot of hope that, should he resurface (pun not intended), I can take that insanity he displayed to a new level.
You know what really was the best part of this RPG? Lavaelus. I don’t even know if I’m spelling it right and tragically I can’t remember who played him, but I love that scruffy, eccentric Jolteon. Sure wish I had come up with him.
Eeveelutions 9
Ifrit
Again, until I can conclude which edition of Eeveelutions I had participated in, this number is also ambiguous. Particularly since all I had managed to do was sign up. Curiously, I never did come upon the actual RPG itself. So help me out. Was Eeveelutions 9 (number pending) just scrapped before commencing, or did it actually occur and I just didn’t see it? Lord knows I was certainly looking for it, and I even feared that it had begun somewhere else in secret, simply to exclude me. RPG conspiracies? A thrilling concept, particularly when I felt so segregated by the idea.
WWF RPG
Lance Storm
Hoorah! A chance to take the reins of my all-time favourite wrestler, Lance Storm. When that RPG actually does start, be sure to let me know.
WWE RPG
Bronze
Take two: This time under my backyard wrestling guise of Bronze (now defunct in favour of the much sharper sounding Tony King), I would once again enter the nutty foray of a wrestling RPG.
In this case, the creator also played the role of commissioner who would determine the winner of the match based on whose post was superior like the earlier RPG Tournament, an element that PWF lacked and obviously would have benefited from, but there was a problem; many of the participants didn’t like the way matches were booked. They felt that there were other directions they wanted to take things, and their discontent was notably voiced.
In my case, my first match was a one on one match for the hardcore championship against a wrestler styled after Bubba Ray Dudley. And though I don’t remember a whole lot about it, I threw out a rather exciting match that took ages to come up with, and ended with a narrowly avoided piledriver off the turnbuckles through a table on the floor below. One of my favourite things about this was that it apparently did the opponent’s character great justice, as he gave kudos and didn’t even offer a counter match. Of course, he didn’t even want to pursue the hardcore title so it was easier for him that way, but I still like getting complimented for handling the characters of others. Besides, since the RPG didn’t live to see a second match, Bronze remains the undisputed hardcore champion after all these years. Boo-yeah.
TITLE FORGOTTEN – Zelda RPG w/subtitle
Bramble
Reaching deep into my bag of tricks, for this RPG, where the basic plot revolved around an assembly of heroes to defend Hyrule, I created a rather delightful little character who differentiated enough from the others to have potentially made him great fun to work with.
In this case, Bramble, a brave Deku Scrub knight, is summoned to save the kingdom. As he is preparing his things, his twin brother Barb, a coward and a wuss, is playing around with his sword. Barb inadvertently wounds (kills? I don’t remember) Bramble and, panicking that injuring someone on such an important mission will land him in significant trouble, he grabs Bramble’s gear and sets out under his name.
Where 'Bramble' could’ve gone from there is anyone’s guess, he certainly had potential, but as per usual the first post was the only one, and he didn’t even get a chance to interact with anyone. Quite a waste, actually.
Team Rocket: Rise of the NeoRockets
Forrest Galanof
Old Frosty returns, no doubt wildly invigorated to have a chance at being a calmer, reflective and interesting character. Gone were my random antics of old, replaced now by an ability to follow the plot. Though strangely, I’m having a great deal of trouble actually recalling what it was he got up to. Personally I didn’t feel ready for a sequel, and apparently others felt the same, because this one sorely lacked the lastability of the first.
Forrest’s relationship with Morgan, now his wife, was handled tactfully by midnightangel, but I was still rather uncertain myself as to how two people in love would realistically interact. For this reason, plus the short duration of the RPG, I never really got the chance to flesh Forrest out much further.
First Supervillains to Save Disneyland EVER!
Koopa Troopa
In an RPG where it would have made a lot more sense to have manned Bowser, I felt more desperate than anything else for an opportunity to play my beloved little turtle. But let’s be terribly blunt here, I was lost, and so were several others, so it came as no surprise that after one sloppy attempt to enter the storyline, I had nothing else to do. Another RPG to quickly die off, but for me, a blessing. I obviously wasn’t in the right mindset for the random antics that laid ahead anyway.
Pokemen in Black 2
Agent D
The ezboard ushered in an era of ugly layouts, viral advertising in a literal sense and an infuriating stint in which I had to dub the moniker ‘TOAO DragoKnight’ to declare myself the one and only, but also delivered a much anticipated sequel in Pokemen in Black 2. The last one had ended on something of a sour note, being domineered in its final stages by three players, to the point where we were more or less told to back off, but I was older, wiser and uglier now. I could tackle this new storyline without overwhelming it.
Draco (now fully fledged Agent D) was playing the rookie role to an all new extent, having still had a little fire and defiance in him in the last iteration. Now that he had his place in the organization, he was eager to impress and rather tactless in his methods, to the point where he was almost bumbling. I would also get a new perspective from a different partner, with things shaping up to be a pairing of D with R the Raikou, handled by the RPG’s creator, Marill.
For the most part, things were going pretty smoothly. The story was getting interesting, I was contributing healthily and it was a lot of fun, but for one reason or another when the shift was made to the vBulletin board, Marill seemed to disappear off the face of the earth.
Whereas other uncompleted RPGs merely died, PIB2 just seemed to have been lost. For all intents and purposes I guess all that needed to be done was make a new thread myself, but that’s a moot point now, when nearly everyone involved is long gone.
TITLE FORGOTTEN – Sonic the Hedgehog RPG
Dark Chao
Of all the forgotten RPGs, this one ranks pretty high in the mediocrity department. I played Dark Chao. I did not like Hero Chao. About a page worth of nothing posts were made, and everyone went on their way.
Poke-baby Adventures
Sun
Though the title seems to just scream gimmicky RPG that will fold within pages, Bugsy managed to present an RPG here that held serious staying power. Loved by its members for being a fun adventure with a vibrant, thriving roster, hated by non-participants for various reasons, one of them being the players stuffing the ballot in the awards ceremony. I do like Sun, but he obviously shouldn’t have won the award for most tortured character. I can buy into the nomination, but not the win.
Remarkably, Sun the Bulbasaur became one of the most oft-mentioned members of the troupe, simply because he was the grouchy voice of disapproval. That wasn’t exactly my intention; Ginger had created a pessimistic Houndour right before I made Sun, but my take was just intended to be rather sad and tragic. Ginger’s Houndour never did surface (possibly foreseeing how Sun would quickly shift to a carbon copy?), so less through my actions, more through how others interpreted him, Sun became the bitchy one.
I contested it at first, trying to emphasise that he wasn’t supposed to be a jerk, just kind of emo, but it was unavoidable. At least he was being noticed.
So while I could certainly be involved in the events that transpired, what I most definitely could not do was shift the plot in any way. It was noted that the RPG seemed to follow a rather strict storyline that you basically had to follow; this was rather evident in the way any curveballs thrown by the players were hastily discarded by those playing the leads. Sun began inexplicably choking all of a sudden… never mind, it was just an apple. There’s a tribe of Charizards that one of the members would like to get revenge on… nah, forget that, too risky.
Basically, there was a flow that you had to follow. When it was ‘decided’ that Sun would evolve, I basically made a screw you response by having his body evolve into an Ivysaur, but his bulb remained closed, more or less making him an overgrown Bulbasaur freak, just to have some creative control in the process.
Yeah, it was fun, and it is the second (and last) of RPGs that I’ve seen through to the end, but it definitely wasn’t a chance to go nuts in the imagination department. Additionally, the problem with being in such a wildly popular RPG was that there were a fair few characters you could best describe as ‘shovelware’; uniform and boring. Really, the cast was practically too big at one point. A unique problem I’ve never encountered since (though it would certainly be a blessing in today’s TPM!)
** .Enter//log.tysuka **
DragoKnight (self)
12.02.03 – 09.03.03
It really isn’t easy to play yourself. You know your personality and mannerisms, but can you accurately say how you would react in a crisis? In this case, being sucked into a digital world would obviously be a smidgen upsetting, so I played that card. I wasn’t a happy young man. So I guess you could say I was realistic, but certainly not very interesting. In fact, most people had the same idea, so it was a group of largely upset and frightened people trapped together. There were a couple oddballs, but not enough for there to have been a wide spectrum of personalities to mention. Again, there wasn’t enough time for anything important to ever happen, so it’s a moot point.
The Legend of Zelda; Vengeance III
Iggy McFlan
21.01.04 – 17.02.04
It’ll be hard to say much for such a short-lived RPG, but I will say this; Iggy McFlan has just about the best profile in all existence. He was an Irish buffoon who went around wielding a gigantic warhammer. Plus, I mentioned that his favourite food is cheese. What’s not to love about that?
Anyhow, there were several aspects of the character that went unexplored, but I have to say in my defense, I admitted that I was having trouble getting to grips with things and nobody threw me a bone. I could’ve had some great stuff to churn out, but I needed help. Sure, I guess you could say it was my fault for not being able to sustain myself as a player, but interaction is key in RPGs.
To my credit, my first post was pretty damn good. It was clever and gave you a good feel for what to expect from Iggy. Well that is, what to expect other than loneliness.
A ‘Tail’ of two Species
Lorga
29.01.04 – 09.03.04
After the shallow fun of Pokebabies, it was nice to get a chance to really sink my teeth into the concept of creative freedom. Feeling rather informed on how one of Frieza’s henchmen in this Dragonball Z prequel would act, I created one of my finest characters in Lorga. As I had done in Pokeball Z all those years ago, I bucked the trend of uber-strong characters and took on the part of conniving little slimeball. With his fantastic back-story (former prince of his race, betrayed his people to show his allegiance to Frieza) and wide vocabulary, Lorga was definitely a ball to play around with. I paid homage to familiar series’ clichés and could practically visualize Lorga in my head as I wrote (alright, he looked just the same as Guldo, but that was just because it was easier that way).
My main flaw is that, though I had created a good character, I really couldn’t come up with anything for him to do. He just kinda dithered around as I waited for someone else to give him a task or two. Certainly not RPing expertise on my part, but I really thought the RPG would last long enough for me to find his niche. Asi left shortly after, and that was the final nail in the coffin. As Lorga’s Makneni kind no doubt felt when he had left them, we futile players were left without our fearless leader. Lorga’s planet got blown up. Two Species just kinda sat there quietly and slowly rusted.
Pokebabies 2
Tiki
Now here’s a bitter little chapter in my RPing history. Pokebabies 2 was all the bad things that the first one was, without any of its redeeming qualities. The authoritarian storytelling was back (don’t you DARE leave this cave – it goes against our plot!!), and what it eventually became was (shudder) a shipping topic. Sound like an exaggeration? Hardly. Ten pages were spent milling around a ranch where all the characters got to play with each other and discuss matters. It was just a step off of *I offer you my hand* *I giggle sweetly* *WE CYBER NOW*
Anyway, Tiki the Wooper was an alright little gaffer himself; pretty much the polar opposite to Sun; goofy, cheery and optimistic. His main limitation was my own frustration with the way the RPG was going; I wanted him to be this tragically happy figure in this dark, scary world (logical considering he lost his home and his parents in a fire), but instead he was just an also-ran in a traveling band of lovable critters. When I wanted Animals of Farthing Wood, I got ghosts of Archaic in the shipping prom. Seriously, I was half a beat off having Tiki unload some heavy artillery on everyone in near proximity just to have something happen.
This was one of the only RPGs that I actually left, but it died soon afterwards anyway.
Rain After Dusk ~ A Journey Worth Living
Julius Vilma
10.12.05 – 20.01.06
If anyone doubts me as an RPer, I point to Julius Vilma as being indication that, if nothing else, I was kind of okay. I doubt I’ve made a more multifaceted character, and though he still pales in comparison to what superior players have made, I still honestly think he’s pretty good.
A middle-aged vampire whose only companion is his Sandshrew Edgar, Julius is a queer kind of character, charming and manipulative, with an insatiable boredom that he attempts to cure by toying with his victims and, my favourite part, he considers himself a connoisseur, both as a hobby and a profession.
Such a pompous yet ruthless character finally sounds like the creation of deep thought and consideration as opposed to my skeleton schemes of yesteryear – plus he talked to Edgar and then pretended Edgar would talk back. That’s pretty damn cool in anyone’s book.
The problem is, whereas I had historically taken too many risks in the past, these days my main flaw was that I played things far too safely. I didn’t take any great risks in plot progression or interaction, and most of all, I did what the wrestling business calls ‘putting someone over’. Ie., I made Julius get thrashed in order to make someone else look good. In an early confrontation, Julius gets his thumb lopped off and his pride battered, which is certainly a big risk for a character so arrogant and egotistical. I made a smooth recovery though, and in three posts, I had managed to articulate more deeply and passionately than I had in several previous RPGs combined. It was practically unfair on Julius how the RPG died. He deserved more.
The RPG Christmas Party of 2005
Draco Tucker, Sr.
12.12.05 – 23.12.05
Though there’s an important chapter in the life of Draco (former Agent D) that I haven’t yet explored, I’m so incredibly fond of how I envisaged him after his retirement. Now, he’s a tubby alcoholic slob in a Hawaiian shirt, suddenly sporting an Australian accent. That’s just perfect.
Since it wasn’t so much an actual RPG as just an oldschool kind of get-together (the kind that used to be spammy, and the kind that is borderline shipping if some people have their way), I decided to play with it as much as possible. And good lord it was fun. I pretty much just disregarded whatever I didn’t like from others, and had Draco react by being boorish and obnoxious. It was my chance to have fun with my best character, and I loved it.
You need look no further than the first post I made to get an idea…
Draco arrives at the party, 13.12.05
I blinked a couple times as I trudged through the snow toward my destination. If I couldn't find the place soon, I planned on giving up and just crashing at whoever's house was closest. They were bound to let me in, for the holiday's spirit! Recalling that the invitation was in my large hand, I squinted and tried to read it.
Maybe I shouldn't have had that booze up this afternoon...
Regardless, I couldn't turn down a party. Free food, free drinks, free chance for me to pick up a lovely lady, perhaps. Hopefully they wouldn't realise that I wasn't supposed to be here; Tony had given the invitation to that goody-two-shoes little mongoose Fink, and I had to bash the little blighter along the way.
"And you didn't even have the decency to call!" I bellowed at my no-good creator, and was inexplicably whalloped over the head with a 2x4 in response.
"Crikey!" I grunted, rubbing my head.
Off in the distance, I spotted a large mansion. Was this the place? If not, it was where I was going to spend the night anyway. I flapped my wings a couple times, hoping to fly the rest of the way, but it was no use. These old wings were like Hawthorn. Bloody useless.
I could barely make out a person (Though the image was kind of blurry... Could've been a tree for all I knew) at the front door waiting.
"Makes sense," I muttered, and took another look at the invitation. Seems alcohol wasn't permitted, and I didn't want to cause a fuss, so I buried my precious rum in the snow, ready for me when I left. "I'm such a genius, me mum should've named me Clever..."
When I got to the front door, I found that the person waiting was a pretty-looking broad. Seemed alright, though that tail was a bit of a worry...
"Hello there, lovely." I said with a grin on my face, and was met with a glare colder than the snow around us. I doubt she understood what I had said, and assumed that she really didn't care, either.
I looked back at the door and frowned.
"Let us in!!" I bellowed, "We're bloody freezing out here!!"
I hoped that someone inside would understand, or at very least think it was a roar intimidating enough to obey. If not, this chick had a keg, I could just as easily party out here...
Sonic Zeroes: Fragments of Time
Pie Piper
22.12.06
An RPG that Fai had great enthusiasm for, just never got started. I don’t think I’m terribly fond of Pie as a character (an annoying little magpie kid? Probably would’ve gotten old fast), who knows? It might have been fun to play the Scrappy Doo-style character that gets into all sorts of trouble and gets on everyone’s nerves. I’ve had characters that have been annoying in their mean natures, but never one that was just genuinely a pain in the ass.
Jesus Island
Mortimer Ainsley
11.9.07 – 01.11.07
This was one I still can’t figure out. I can appreciate RPGs dying quickly because it’s not going very well, but this one died after only three posts. No way you could judge its progression in such a short time, what in the hell happened to everyone??
Anyhow, Mortimer was another unique character with potential, simply because he was just so freakin’ weird. A non-conformist instigator with an odd fascination with death? I guess I realised along the way that the best way to get a character noticed was to make them unlikable to everyone else in the cast. And if there’s one thing Mort was, it was unlikable. Unfortunately the little rich kid and his brilliantly named Shroomish (all hail Lord Trung!!) never had a chance to shine, because, as you may have gathered, three posts doesn’t exactly make for a deep interesting RPG. I made the last post, just waiting for someone to respond… That response isn’t going to be coming, I gathered.
Pokemon School: Recaptured Youth
Stu Rockman
11.09.08 - 13.10.08
So a year had passed since Jesus Island began (using the term began in the broadest possible sense). Surely there's no harm in trying my luck again, dipping my big toe into the chilly, daunting pool of RPing and seeing how it goes, right? Although no physical harm has (as of this time) occurred, I must state that the worst form of bruising is to that of my expectations.
A 20-something lad still obsessed with Pokemon wishes himself and his friends (who are actually just random people at school who hardly knew him) back into their youth, and into the Pokemon world, and the others basically have to figure out what's going on. It's an utterly fantastic premise; the plot was interesting, and having the main character a non-player entity? It drew me forth from the shadows, manning the role of Stu(pid) Rockman, a jock who knew nothing about Pokemon. Studious historians might note similarities between Stu and Iggy McFlan of years gone by; they're both muscle-bound men who aren't that bright, but with a heart of gold. I hadn't picked up on it at the time (or indeed until starting that sentence), but I guess I do fall into some of the same clichés I used to all those years ago.
Mr. Rockman's foundation as a character was a wee bit rocky in itself, so I hoped that the rather robust cast of familiar RPing names would help me ease him in a serviceable direction as auxiliary character - it's what I do, I play the supporting cast! - but wouldn't you know it? Not even a page goes by, and it's one and done. Well, two and done in my case, as I made one last desperation post, the kind I often throw out there that insinuates that I still want to keep things going, but I don't do anything risky or unexpected. I'll leave that to whosoever picks up the pieces, and keeps this RPG going... or Jesus Island... or Rain After Dusk... or Pokemen in Black 2, while we're at it... *quietly mutters as he wanders off back into the shadows*
Brimstone
Olagg Steinhelm
17.03.09
Oh Bulbie, you cheeky thing! Brimstone was one of your fantasy-typed adventures that usually works so well for an RPG, but she resigned as mod soon after posting the sign-up form, and not too long after, departed entirely.
As such, the ‘date of commencement’ in this case is merely the date that I created my dwarven contribution, Steinhelm. I dared not tread any new ground after so many years of inactivity, so my dwarf was a rude, boorish drunk. You know, the kind that I always love playing.
In my mind, I would create a parallel character on World of Warcraft, allowing me to flesh out the character’s personality and back-story in two different realms. Theoretically, this would lead to an unending development that would make Steinhelm my RPing magnum opus; a character fleshed out over years, without the flawed, childish beginning stages of Frost or Draco.
Instead, it never happened. The RPG never began, and some bastard had already taken the names ‘Olagg’ and ‘Steinhelm’ on WoW. I was crushed.
On the plus side, Steinhelm was blessed with the excellent character theme of ‘The Celts’ by Enya. Lucky!
TITLE FORGOTTEN - Team Rocket-themed RPG
Madam Ruby
Right, so I'm really scratching my head on this one. There was a thread that I distinctly remember signing up for, but I can't find anything during thorough searches of TPM's archives, and even in my memory, the exact details are spotty. But regardless, there was definitely an RPG that I entered as Madam Ruby the Vulpix, also my first (and obviously unsuccessful) attempt at a female character.
In case you're curious, Madam Ruby was a Vulpix who had been turned to darkness under the hands of Team Rocket; a Vulpix once known as Kindle, the daughter of one of Draco's old teammates. Alas, nothing came of it, but I'm sure I'll dust her off again sometime in the future should an appropriate storyline surface.
Pokemon: Rise of Ghetsis
Jevon Simms
24.04.12 - 12.08.12
I'm still resolute in my belief in the notion that this RPG will make its return. It's scary to know that it's been almost three years since it commenced, and how little I've achieved in life since. Anyhow, the quality of the story and the length of the player roster was a throwback to the glory days of TPM, and Jevon definitely had his place within its lore.
In the aftermath of the chaos from Pokemon B/W, Unova was in a state of turmoil. Enter former Team Magma member and ex-con, Jevon Simms, a drunken busker who seeks opportunities wherever they lie, but is not a bad guy, really. He had depth to begin with, but no doubt putting him through the veritable melting pot that is an RPG would allow him to grow.
...And grow he shall! For this story will be necromanced in the same way that I have for several threads from yesteryear... Necromanced, I tells you!
Anomaly
Yumiko Honda
04.02.15 - 17.03.15
As per usual, I take a rather peripheral view on a familiar concept to offer a supporting character that feels both different and useful in a storytelling context. I do love my bit parts, you know. A meteorite lands in 1999 that heightens brain function in particular people, leading to government classification and involvement that targets these people as dangerous. My character, an 88-year old Japanese woman nicknamed Nanna Yu, gained the power of perception: that is to say, she can judge situations in a split-second and react accordingly, allowing her to handle any situation or threat in the fastest, most accurate possible manner. She's also a cheeky little minx, quirky and brutally honest, with a fondness for games of chance and flowers (but not roses!!). She did her bit, and that was it.
So let's see what all y'all have got! Watch now as people unravel their list of 80+ RPing personalities, discuss their successes and failures, and have a good old fashioned reminiscing session! ...Well, ideally. Otherwise, just humour me a little.
Team Rocket: Revolution Now
Forrest Galanof
My first foray in RPing came in the form of my very introduction to TPM itself. Knowing now what I do about the complexity of RPing, of well-structured character personalities and dialogue, intense plot twists and, most of all, interaction with other player characters, I must have seemed an absolute joke.
In a time when folks like Ginger Cat and my old idol Bear were fabricating wonderful pieces, a daft young thirteen year old bumbling onto the scene was not a pretty sight, particularly when the RPG in question wasn’t exactly one for the rookies. My first post as Frost, a high-ranking member of the malicious Nebulas, detailed the character killing people and stealing an Azumarill. Lord above. To top it off, I thought the icons were pretty neat, so words like Azumarill :184: and Pokeball :pokeball: were needlessly illustrated.
I love Forrest as a character. These days he has great depth and personality. But back in 2001, he was shallow as a wading pool. He was just kinda badass and mean. But as I would later do myself in other RPGs, the other players were able to carry Frost along and keep him involved. Along the way I’d throw in my own bits and pieces that, though entirely disinteresting, added my own moments into the story. The most beneficial time for Frost was my month-long absence, in which he engaged in some serious conflict, changed factions, and developed a relationship with Morgan, handled by midnightangel. I couldn’t have possibly handled this progression without ruining it, so on my return all the pieces were in place for me to cast along easily until the RPG’s completion (remarkable how one of the only RPGs I’ve ever been in that reached an ending was my very first).
About the only redeeming feature of my involvement was the curious addition of Reik Parrish, an enigmatic character I inserted as Frost’s ‘spiritual advisor’ of sorts. And though there were no ambitious plans at the time, it was ambiguous enough for me to now play it in different ways, possibly even as a figment of Frost’s imagination.
Unown: The Power of Evil
Draco
Though short-lived and uneventful, this RPG allowed for the development of Draco the Dragonite, my most prolific character to date. Initially introduced in Revolution Now as one of Frost’s elite team, he along with nearly all of Frost’s other Pokemon are let free, and I felt this PRG would be an appropriate destination for the orange powerhouse.
He too lacked depth, though there was a lovable innocence and bravery to him that made him more tolerable, plus I wasn’t shouldered with the load of trying to comprehend mature content.
Again I fell into the poor story-telling clichés of my youth (my last-ditch effort to save the RPG was to insert an oncoming flock of angry Spearows), but to my credit, I did have a rather interesting intention of Draco undertaking meditative training that would allow him to forego the recharging phase after a Hyper Beam, as well as giving him the capability to produce various powders by flapping his wings rapidly. The RPG died before these events took place, but any subsequent appearance by Draco would act as though they had happened regardless.
The Trainer Quest
Ant
This would no doubt be the first definitively bad RPG I’d been involved in, a trainer RPG with the only condition that the Pokemon each trainer possessed had to be a baby Pokemon. I played the role of ‘Ant’ (my self-representation, I was too afraid of the dangers of the Internet to use my full name of Anthony), a generic wide-eyed trainer with a generic disobedient Pokemon in the form of a Magby cleverly named Mag. As none of the participants were seasoned veterans of RPing, I became a fairly prominent figure and others just kind of followed my lead (everyone seemed to want to join my rapidly growing party). We arrived at the first gym, I’m fairly sure Ant and Mag got whooped and then that was pretty much it.
As is often the case, nowadays I’ve assigned Ant an incredibly complicated new story to make him less boring; after a couple of poor decisions in his youth, he went down a dark path and is now a 20-something assassin whose full name is Anteros Colvin. How in the hell did that happen anyway?
Pokemen in Black
Draco/Agent D
Draco returns in what turned out to be my favourite RPG of all, Pokemen in Black. After two quick failures in the RPG world, PIB was a rich, fun little tale that allowed me to change the character in an incredibly big way.
Though lumped with a razor-thin profile (about the only personality trait I remember listing was that he was poor at following orders, a quality that I don’t think I ever really followed through on), I was once again helped along by those around me. Having mysteriously completed that meditative training I alluded to earlier despite it never occurring (paradox??), Draco was now on a quest to reunite with the other members of Frost’s old team of Pokemon. It was nice to have a character with an actual goal other than ‘be powerful’ or ‘be evil’ or ‘shut up everyone GigaShock wants to rassle’.
I started up early (second post of the RPG I think?), and as such was quickly taken under the proverbial and literal wing of Agent A, an Articuno played by Arctic A, whose username at the time escapes me. I was fortunate to play Will Smith to A’s Tommy Lee Jones; partnered with a seasoned RPing veteran meant I just had to follow the basic framework set before me. One need only look through the posts the two of us had, I was basically set in a direction and just reacted with whatever I felt appropriate. Made for some pretty good storylines along the way, if memory serves.
Actually allowed to play around with Draco for a prolonged period of time, I was able to instill some crucial elements into his character; a fondness of jewels, an uncertainty of his surroundings and a strong drive to find his lost friends. I even threw in an amusing little concept of an emerald lodged in his chest that would force him into combat for unrealised reasons. Another RPer (my mind wants to say darktyranitar, but I can’t quite remember) incorporated Draco into their own character Tyranno’s history, wherein the two had been stars in monster movies. It was a fun twist that didn’t really conflict with anything I had in mind, so I just assimilated it into Draco’s timeline before the events of The Power of Evil had occurred.
With my role as A’s buddy, there was a sort of controlled freedom to my creativity, and it was crucial not only in Draco’s development but my own as an RPer. The fact that the events of the RPG actually shaped who he became as a character, as opposed to him just being a random entity in a random environment would suggest that it was quite beneficial.
Final Fantasy/Star Wars/Lord of the Rings Crossover
Antco Mubac
This certainly wasn’t the RPG for me; I like Star Wars and LotR, but I wouldn’t call myself a fan of either, to the point where I could actually portray the lore, and I haven’t been able to get into any Final Fantasy other than VII. So playing a Jedi knight in an overly convoluted crossover would not prove fruitful.
I found the first few posts so confusing that I couldn’t come up with a point of entry, and I’m fairly certain I never actually did make a post as Antco Mubac. Which is just as well, because rest assured, he would’ve just been another set of clichés, only this time of the ‘quiet hero’ variety.
The Rainbow League
Character forgotten, possibly Ant?
Another trainer fic that promised something like 40+ gyms and an elite rainbow league to challenge. I made one post that might have actually been kind of okay, and then it all went dark. Was it truly Ant making a return? Well I can’t find any other character in my archived list who fits the bill, so for now, we’ll just assume that it was indeed.
Pokemon Wrestling Federation
Zeus & GigaShock
I was so enamored with the concept of a Pokemon-themed wrestling federation that, shortly after everyone had signed up (a rather robust number of participants, at that), I went about editing sprites so that they would look like the wrestlers. I recall putting a mask on a Heracross, a scar on a Scizor and darkened black eyes on a Nidoqueen. Ideally, this would have been a fantastic RPG that I would have learnt a lot from, but what it actually turned out to be was nothing short of hilarious. There was certainly a lot of activity, but every single post was of someone cutting a promo. In other words, everyone was talking and threatening the rest of the federation, but nobody was ever actually wrestling. I even made a desperate post as GigaShock essentially telling every character to ‘shut the hell up and fight’, but it fell on deaf ears. I guess Pokemon Wrestling Federation sounded nicer than Pokemon Talking Federation.
To this degree, Zeus the Raichu and GigaShock the Ampharos really had no room to develop in any way. They were potentially going to be a kickass tagteam, Zeus filling the role of speedy cruiserweight while GigaShock contended for the heavyweight title, but nothing ever occurred. So what of the characters? To the best of my recollection, Zeus was the level-headed leader, while GigaShock was mildly impatient. Sort of hard to really do much for characters that never had a chance to do anything. If anyone happens to care, Zeus and GigaShock’s entering themes were ‘I’m Shady’ and ‘As the World Turns’ respectively, both by Eminem. The latter doesn’t actually suit a wrestler in any sense.
Pokeball Z
Raku
If a Pokemon wrestling federation wasn’t your thing, perhaps Pokemon-styled Dragonball Z would be? Though Raku the Raichu is something of a forgotten entity in my mind, he actually holds the honour of being my first character to be original in any way. Whilst everyone around me was manning characters of mass destruction, capable of blinding speed, eye-popping transformations and planet-destroying Kamehameha’s (or however you spell it), I made Raku to be absolutely pathetic and weak.
Evidently he had undergone some form of training when the RPG began, and suddenly thought he was undefeatable. After a rather amusing post where his energy blast fails to destroy a butterfly, another participant commandeered him for a friendly spar, and that’s all.
Raku was admirable in the sense I was willing to sacrifice the allure of incredible power to play the role of comic relief, though secretly I intended for him to gradually gain power to become one of those roided up superheroes, too. But hey, he’s much more interesting as the lovably arrogant stooge, so we’ll just leave it that way.
Star Fox Academy
Fink
Unfortunately, the purpose of this RPG didn’t quite hit me at the time. When I joined it, I had been reading Toasty’s fanfic Nintendo High, an anime-styled tale of Nintendo characters in their high school days, and for some reason, I wanted to inject that sort of thing into what I did here. What was actually intended was for the academy to be a boot camp, and no doubt my freewheeling posts of high school-style shenanigans must have been infuriating to the RPG’s creator.
Anyhow, what we had in Fink was a character designed to be auxiliary in every sense, an upbeat young marksman with a knack for machines. He was clumsy, unassuming and wore a cute little cap. Yes, I made a Slippy Toad without ever even intending it.
So I made a couple kitschy posts where Fink did a couple little things here or there, and then everything ended, possibly because people were fed up with the direction I was taking the RPG. It’s arrogant to claim that I single-handedly destroyed an RPG, but somehow I don’t think it’s entirely out of the realm of possibility.
On a side note, as I had for PWF I did lovely little sprites for all the characters, though admirably in this case, all of them had to be done from scratch. Tragically these sprites no longer exist, but I can remain proud that I am likely the only person in existence to have made an artistic interpretation of Shex the shark.
TITLE FORGOTTEN – RPG Tournament thingamee
DragoKnight (self)
An event that attracted the best players from the forum (plus DragoKnight!), pitting participants against each other to duke it out. The rules were simple; you played yourself, capable of transforming into a Pokemon (in my case, a Dragonite) and accompanied by a partner Pokemon (the Venusaur Leaves; not of Minty Thrill fame but his mother of the same name). You were matched up against an opponent, and you each had to detail your battle. Whoever’s was judged to be superior was the winner.
I’ve never been very good at making fight scenes, so entering a tournament wherein the entire thing was a battle was perhaps a bad idea, but to my credit, I made a valiant effort against superior competition, and I even got past BananaPancake to the second round. The fact that I have no idea who BananaPancake is suggests that they weren’t quite in the league of Bulbasaur4 or Bear, but hey, I was still better. …I was handily defeated shortly thereafter.
TITLE FORGOTTEN – More or less ‘The Mole with Pokemon’
Ifrit
An RPG/game hybrid? How exciting!
In this RPG based on The Mole, participants had to partake in challenges, while one member was assigned the role of the mole, secretly trying to thwart the teams’ attempts at success. With it, came Ifrit the Flareon, a fantastically fun character to play, simply because he’s just so mean.
I came into playing Ifrit without a lot in mind, I just thought I’d see how well I could handle playing a jerk and, lo and behold, I was rather good at it. No doubt Ifrit would have become a prominent figure in the RPG and widely suspected mole, but an unexpected issue occurred; when members of the RPG were split into two groups, and one would have to accomplish their task before the others, it seemed that all the active members were lumped into the second group. Being in group two was like being tied to a rock, you could have done a lot to help, but until that rock got moving you were stuck. The rock never moved. The RPG never got past task one. Ifrit never had post number two.
SPOILER ALERT: Ifrit was not the mole.
Eeveelutions 8
Ifrit
I’m biting my tongue here, I’m tempted to say I played Ifrit in Eeveelutions #8, but I’m not entirely sure. There were a whole slew of those things, and unfortunately I never became important enough in this iteration to warrant much attention.
I was hoping that Eeveelutions would do for Ifrit what PIB did for Draco, take my character framework and develop it into a flourishing character, and I was excited to see what would happen in this case; Eeveelutions was like a character development goldmine; the previous adventures and characters were so revered one of the members had bothered to make a website about them (Angelfire FTW!)
The problem was, I was playing with the best here. Whilst I was certainly getting better as an RPer, I was no Bulbasaur4. And as such, when I was actually RPing with Bulbasaur4, I went to great lengths to imitate her style. It was a wonderful failure on my part, trying to throw in complexities that I wasn’t even ready for, and no doubt made Ifrit an awkward character to interact with. It was like when your parents say something is ‘cool’. The word is familiar, but the delivery is all wrong and you don’t know what exactly they’re trying to accomplish.
In time, I could have done better, perhaps it was just a rocky start, and I was fortunate enough to have been assimilated into a little team again with other, better players, but somehow that turn to success never came to be. The RPG didn’t get too far, and all I managed to do was tone Ifrit’s anger down a little, make him a wee bit crazy and give him the backstory of once being owned by a sailor and having been born a Flareon. That last one was fairly stupid and I’ve pretty much removed it from his mythos, but I do like the past occurrence I had come up with of him falling into the water at a young age, having been horribly damaged by it and now possessing aquaphobia. Additionally, I have a lot of hope that, should he resurface (pun not intended), I can take that insanity he displayed to a new level.
You know what really was the best part of this RPG? Lavaelus. I don’t even know if I’m spelling it right and tragically I can’t remember who played him, but I love that scruffy, eccentric Jolteon. Sure wish I had come up with him.
Eeveelutions 9
Ifrit
Again, until I can conclude which edition of Eeveelutions I had participated in, this number is also ambiguous. Particularly since all I had managed to do was sign up. Curiously, I never did come upon the actual RPG itself. So help me out. Was Eeveelutions 9 (number pending) just scrapped before commencing, or did it actually occur and I just didn’t see it? Lord knows I was certainly looking for it, and I even feared that it had begun somewhere else in secret, simply to exclude me. RPG conspiracies? A thrilling concept, particularly when I felt so segregated by the idea.
WWF RPG
Lance Storm
Hoorah! A chance to take the reins of my all-time favourite wrestler, Lance Storm. When that RPG actually does start, be sure to let me know.
WWE RPG
Bronze
Take two: This time under my backyard wrestling guise of Bronze (now defunct in favour of the much sharper sounding Tony King), I would once again enter the nutty foray of a wrestling RPG.
In this case, the creator also played the role of commissioner who would determine the winner of the match based on whose post was superior like the earlier RPG Tournament, an element that PWF lacked and obviously would have benefited from, but there was a problem; many of the participants didn’t like the way matches were booked. They felt that there were other directions they wanted to take things, and their discontent was notably voiced.
In my case, my first match was a one on one match for the hardcore championship against a wrestler styled after Bubba Ray Dudley. And though I don’t remember a whole lot about it, I threw out a rather exciting match that took ages to come up with, and ended with a narrowly avoided piledriver off the turnbuckles through a table on the floor below. One of my favourite things about this was that it apparently did the opponent’s character great justice, as he gave kudos and didn’t even offer a counter match. Of course, he didn’t even want to pursue the hardcore title so it was easier for him that way, but I still like getting complimented for handling the characters of others. Besides, since the RPG didn’t live to see a second match, Bronze remains the undisputed hardcore champion after all these years. Boo-yeah.
TITLE FORGOTTEN – Zelda RPG w/subtitle
Bramble
Reaching deep into my bag of tricks, for this RPG, where the basic plot revolved around an assembly of heroes to defend Hyrule, I created a rather delightful little character who differentiated enough from the others to have potentially made him great fun to work with.
In this case, Bramble, a brave Deku Scrub knight, is summoned to save the kingdom. As he is preparing his things, his twin brother Barb, a coward and a wuss, is playing around with his sword. Barb inadvertently wounds (kills? I don’t remember) Bramble and, panicking that injuring someone on such an important mission will land him in significant trouble, he grabs Bramble’s gear and sets out under his name.
Where 'Bramble' could’ve gone from there is anyone’s guess, he certainly had potential, but as per usual the first post was the only one, and he didn’t even get a chance to interact with anyone. Quite a waste, actually.
Team Rocket: Rise of the NeoRockets
Forrest Galanof
Old Frosty returns, no doubt wildly invigorated to have a chance at being a calmer, reflective and interesting character. Gone were my random antics of old, replaced now by an ability to follow the plot. Though strangely, I’m having a great deal of trouble actually recalling what it was he got up to. Personally I didn’t feel ready for a sequel, and apparently others felt the same, because this one sorely lacked the lastability of the first.
Forrest’s relationship with Morgan, now his wife, was handled tactfully by midnightangel, but I was still rather uncertain myself as to how two people in love would realistically interact. For this reason, plus the short duration of the RPG, I never really got the chance to flesh Forrest out much further.
First Supervillains to Save Disneyland EVER!
Koopa Troopa
In an RPG where it would have made a lot more sense to have manned Bowser, I felt more desperate than anything else for an opportunity to play my beloved little turtle. But let’s be terribly blunt here, I was lost, and so were several others, so it came as no surprise that after one sloppy attempt to enter the storyline, I had nothing else to do. Another RPG to quickly die off, but for me, a blessing. I obviously wasn’t in the right mindset for the random antics that laid ahead anyway.
Pokemen in Black 2
Agent D
The ezboard ushered in an era of ugly layouts, viral advertising in a literal sense and an infuriating stint in which I had to dub the moniker ‘TOAO DragoKnight’ to declare myself the one and only, but also delivered a much anticipated sequel in Pokemen in Black 2. The last one had ended on something of a sour note, being domineered in its final stages by three players, to the point where we were more or less told to back off, but I was older, wiser and uglier now. I could tackle this new storyline without overwhelming it.
Draco (now fully fledged Agent D) was playing the rookie role to an all new extent, having still had a little fire and defiance in him in the last iteration. Now that he had his place in the organization, he was eager to impress and rather tactless in his methods, to the point where he was almost bumbling. I would also get a new perspective from a different partner, with things shaping up to be a pairing of D with R the Raikou, handled by the RPG’s creator, Marill.
For the most part, things were going pretty smoothly. The story was getting interesting, I was contributing healthily and it was a lot of fun, but for one reason or another when the shift was made to the vBulletin board, Marill seemed to disappear off the face of the earth.
Whereas other uncompleted RPGs merely died, PIB2 just seemed to have been lost. For all intents and purposes I guess all that needed to be done was make a new thread myself, but that’s a moot point now, when nearly everyone involved is long gone.
TITLE FORGOTTEN – Sonic the Hedgehog RPG
Dark Chao
Of all the forgotten RPGs, this one ranks pretty high in the mediocrity department. I played Dark Chao. I did not like Hero Chao. About a page worth of nothing posts were made, and everyone went on their way.
Poke-baby Adventures
Sun
Though the title seems to just scream gimmicky RPG that will fold within pages, Bugsy managed to present an RPG here that held serious staying power. Loved by its members for being a fun adventure with a vibrant, thriving roster, hated by non-participants for various reasons, one of them being the players stuffing the ballot in the awards ceremony. I do like Sun, but he obviously shouldn’t have won the award for most tortured character. I can buy into the nomination, but not the win.
Remarkably, Sun the Bulbasaur became one of the most oft-mentioned members of the troupe, simply because he was the grouchy voice of disapproval. That wasn’t exactly my intention; Ginger had created a pessimistic Houndour right before I made Sun, but my take was just intended to be rather sad and tragic. Ginger’s Houndour never did surface (possibly foreseeing how Sun would quickly shift to a carbon copy?), so less through my actions, more through how others interpreted him, Sun became the bitchy one.
I contested it at first, trying to emphasise that he wasn’t supposed to be a jerk, just kind of emo, but it was unavoidable. At least he was being noticed.
So while I could certainly be involved in the events that transpired, what I most definitely could not do was shift the plot in any way. It was noted that the RPG seemed to follow a rather strict storyline that you basically had to follow; this was rather evident in the way any curveballs thrown by the players were hastily discarded by those playing the leads. Sun began inexplicably choking all of a sudden… never mind, it was just an apple. There’s a tribe of Charizards that one of the members would like to get revenge on… nah, forget that, too risky.
Basically, there was a flow that you had to follow. When it was ‘decided’ that Sun would evolve, I basically made a screw you response by having his body evolve into an Ivysaur, but his bulb remained closed, more or less making him an overgrown Bulbasaur freak, just to have some creative control in the process.
Yeah, it was fun, and it is the second (and last) of RPGs that I’ve seen through to the end, but it definitely wasn’t a chance to go nuts in the imagination department. Additionally, the problem with being in such a wildly popular RPG was that there were a fair few characters you could best describe as ‘shovelware’; uniform and boring. Really, the cast was practically too big at one point. A unique problem I’ve never encountered since (though it would certainly be a blessing in today’s TPM!)
** .Enter//log.tysuka **
DragoKnight (self)
12.02.03 – 09.03.03
It really isn’t easy to play yourself. You know your personality and mannerisms, but can you accurately say how you would react in a crisis? In this case, being sucked into a digital world would obviously be a smidgen upsetting, so I played that card. I wasn’t a happy young man. So I guess you could say I was realistic, but certainly not very interesting. In fact, most people had the same idea, so it was a group of largely upset and frightened people trapped together. There were a couple oddballs, but not enough for there to have been a wide spectrum of personalities to mention. Again, there wasn’t enough time for anything important to ever happen, so it’s a moot point.
The Legend of Zelda; Vengeance III
Iggy McFlan
21.01.04 – 17.02.04
It’ll be hard to say much for such a short-lived RPG, but I will say this; Iggy McFlan has just about the best profile in all existence. He was an Irish buffoon who went around wielding a gigantic warhammer. Plus, I mentioned that his favourite food is cheese. What’s not to love about that?
Anyhow, there were several aspects of the character that went unexplored, but I have to say in my defense, I admitted that I was having trouble getting to grips with things and nobody threw me a bone. I could’ve had some great stuff to churn out, but I needed help. Sure, I guess you could say it was my fault for not being able to sustain myself as a player, but interaction is key in RPGs.
To my credit, my first post was pretty damn good. It was clever and gave you a good feel for what to expect from Iggy. Well that is, what to expect other than loneliness.
A ‘Tail’ of two Species
Lorga
29.01.04 – 09.03.04
After the shallow fun of Pokebabies, it was nice to get a chance to really sink my teeth into the concept of creative freedom. Feeling rather informed on how one of Frieza’s henchmen in this Dragonball Z prequel would act, I created one of my finest characters in Lorga. As I had done in Pokeball Z all those years ago, I bucked the trend of uber-strong characters and took on the part of conniving little slimeball. With his fantastic back-story (former prince of his race, betrayed his people to show his allegiance to Frieza) and wide vocabulary, Lorga was definitely a ball to play around with. I paid homage to familiar series’ clichés and could practically visualize Lorga in my head as I wrote (alright, he looked just the same as Guldo, but that was just because it was easier that way).
My main flaw is that, though I had created a good character, I really couldn’t come up with anything for him to do. He just kinda dithered around as I waited for someone else to give him a task or two. Certainly not RPing expertise on my part, but I really thought the RPG would last long enough for me to find his niche. Asi left shortly after, and that was the final nail in the coffin. As Lorga’s Makneni kind no doubt felt when he had left them, we futile players were left without our fearless leader. Lorga’s planet got blown up. Two Species just kinda sat there quietly and slowly rusted.
Pokebabies 2
Tiki
Now here’s a bitter little chapter in my RPing history. Pokebabies 2 was all the bad things that the first one was, without any of its redeeming qualities. The authoritarian storytelling was back (don’t you DARE leave this cave – it goes against our plot!!), and what it eventually became was (shudder) a shipping topic. Sound like an exaggeration? Hardly. Ten pages were spent milling around a ranch where all the characters got to play with each other and discuss matters. It was just a step off of *I offer you my hand* *I giggle sweetly* *WE CYBER NOW*
Anyway, Tiki the Wooper was an alright little gaffer himself; pretty much the polar opposite to Sun; goofy, cheery and optimistic. His main limitation was my own frustration with the way the RPG was going; I wanted him to be this tragically happy figure in this dark, scary world (logical considering he lost his home and his parents in a fire), but instead he was just an also-ran in a traveling band of lovable critters. When I wanted Animals of Farthing Wood, I got ghosts of Archaic in the shipping prom. Seriously, I was half a beat off having Tiki unload some heavy artillery on everyone in near proximity just to have something happen.
This was one of the only RPGs that I actually left, but it died soon afterwards anyway.
Rain After Dusk ~ A Journey Worth Living
Julius Vilma
10.12.05 – 20.01.06
If anyone doubts me as an RPer, I point to Julius Vilma as being indication that, if nothing else, I was kind of okay. I doubt I’ve made a more multifaceted character, and though he still pales in comparison to what superior players have made, I still honestly think he’s pretty good.
A middle-aged vampire whose only companion is his Sandshrew Edgar, Julius is a queer kind of character, charming and manipulative, with an insatiable boredom that he attempts to cure by toying with his victims and, my favourite part, he considers himself a connoisseur, both as a hobby and a profession.
Such a pompous yet ruthless character finally sounds like the creation of deep thought and consideration as opposed to my skeleton schemes of yesteryear – plus he talked to Edgar and then pretended Edgar would talk back. That’s pretty damn cool in anyone’s book.
The problem is, whereas I had historically taken too many risks in the past, these days my main flaw was that I played things far too safely. I didn’t take any great risks in plot progression or interaction, and most of all, I did what the wrestling business calls ‘putting someone over’. Ie., I made Julius get thrashed in order to make someone else look good. In an early confrontation, Julius gets his thumb lopped off and his pride battered, which is certainly a big risk for a character so arrogant and egotistical. I made a smooth recovery though, and in three posts, I had managed to articulate more deeply and passionately than I had in several previous RPGs combined. It was practically unfair on Julius how the RPG died. He deserved more.
The RPG Christmas Party of 2005
Draco Tucker, Sr.
12.12.05 – 23.12.05
Though there’s an important chapter in the life of Draco (former Agent D) that I haven’t yet explored, I’m so incredibly fond of how I envisaged him after his retirement. Now, he’s a tubby alcoholic slob in a Hawaiian shirt, suddenly sporting an Australian accent. That’s just perfect.
Since it wasn’t so much an actual RPG as just an oldschool kind of get-together (the kind that used to be spammy, and the kind that is borderline shipping if some people have their way), I decided to play with it as much as possible. And good lord it was fun. I pretty much just disregarded whatever I didn’t like from others, and had Draco react by being boorish and obnoxious. It was my chance to have fun with my best character, and I loved it.
You need look no further than the first post I made to get an idea…
Draco arrives at the party, 13.12.05
I blinked a couple times as I trudged through the snow toward my destination. If I couldn't find the place soon, I planned on giving up and just crashing at whoever's house was closest. They were bound to let me in, for the holiday's spirit! Recalling that the invitation was in my large hand, I squinted and tried to read it.
Maybe I shouldn't have had that booze up this afternoon...
Regardless, I couldn't turn down a party. Free food, free drinks, free chance for me to pick up a lovely lady, perhaps. Hopefully they wouldn't realise that I wasn't supposed to be here; Tony had given the invitation to that goody-two-shoes little mongoose Fink, and I had to bash the little blighter along the way.
"And you didn't even have the decency to call!" I bellowed at my no-good creator, and was inexplicably whalloped over the head with a 2x4 in response.
"Crikey!" I grunted, rubbing my head.
Off in the distance, I spotted a large mansion. Was this the place? If not, it was where I was going to spend the night anyway. I flapped my wings a couple times, hoping to fly the rest of the way, but it was no use. These old wings were like Hawthorn. Bloody useless.
I could barely make out a person (Though the image was kind of blurry... Could've been a tree for all I knew) at the front door waiting.
"Makes sense," I muttered, and took another look at the invitation. Seems alcohol wasn't permitted, and I didn't want to cause a fuss, so I buried my precious rum in the snow, ready for me when I left. "I'm such a genius, me mum should've named me Clever..."
When I got to the front door, I found that the person waiting was a pretty-looking broad. Seemed alright, though that tail was a bit of a worry...
"Hello there, lovely." I said with a grin on my face, and was met with a glare colder than the snow around us. I doubt she understood what I had said, and assumed that she really didn't care, either.
I looked back at the door and frowned.
"Let us in!!" I bellowed, "We're bloody freezing out here!!"
I hoped that someone inside would understand, or at very least think it was a roar intimidating enough to obey. If not, this chick had a keg, I could just as easily party out here...
Sonic Zeroes: Fragments of Time
Pie Piper
22.12.06
An RPG that Fai had great enthusiasm for, just never got started. I don’t think I’m terribly fond of Pie as a character (an annoying little magpie kid? Probably would’ve gotten old fast), who knows? It might have been fun to play the Scrappy Doo-style character that gets into all sorts of trouble and gets on everyone’s nerves. I’ve had characters that have been annoying in their mean natures, but never one that was just genuinely a pain in the ass.
Jesus Island
Mortimer Ainsley
11.9.07 – 01.11.07
This was one I still can’t figure out. I can appreciate RPGs dying quickly because it’s not going very well, but this one died after only three posts. No way you could judge its progression in such a short time, what in the hell happened to everyone??
Anyhow, Mortimer was another unique character with potential, simply because he was just so freakin’ weird. A non-conformist instigator with an odd fascination with death? I guess I realised along the way that the best way to get a character noticed was to make them unlikable to everyone else in the cast. And if there’s one thing Mort was, it was unlikable. Unfortunately the little rich kid and his brilliantly named Shroomish (all hail Lord Trung!!) never had a chance to shine, because, as you may have gathered, three posts doesn’t exactly make for a deep interesting RPG. I made the last post, just waiting for someone to respond… That response isn’t going to be coming, I gathered.
Pokemon School: Recaptured Youth
Stu Rockman
11.09.08 - 13.10.08
So a year had passed since Jesus Island began (using the term began in the broadest possible sense). Surely there's no harm in trying my luck again, dipping my big toe into the chilly, daunting pool of RPing and seeing how it goes, right? Although no physical harm has (as of this time) occurred, I must state that the worst form of bruising is to that of my expectations.
A 20-something lad still obsessed with Pokemon wishes himself and his friends (who are actually just random people at school who hardly knew him) back into their youth, and into the Pokemon world, and the others basically have to figure out what's going on. It's an utterly fantastic premise; the plot was interesting, and having the main character a non-player entity? It drew me forth from the shadows, manning the role of Stu(pid) Rockman, a jock who knew nothing about Pokemon. Studious historians might note similarities between Stu and Iggy McFlan of years gone by; they're both muscle-bound men who aren't that bright, but with a heart of gold. I hadn't picked up on it at the time (or indeed until starting that sentence), but I guess I do fall into some of the same clichés I used to all those years ago.
Mr. Rockman's foundation as a character was a wee bit rocky in itself, so I hoped that the rather robust cast of familiar RPing names would help me ease him in a serviceable direction as auxiliary character - it's what I do, I play the supporting cast! - but wouldn't you know it? Not even a page goes by, and it's one and done. Well, two and done in my case, as I made one last desperation post, the kind I often throw out there that insinuates that I still want to keep things going, but I don't do anything risky or unexpected. I'll leave that to whosoever picks up the pieces, and keeps this RPG going... or Jesus Island... or Rain After Dusk... or Pokemen in Black 2, while we're at it... *quietly mutters as he wanders off back into the shadows*
Brimstone
Olagg Steinhelm
17.03.09
Oh Bulbie, you cheeky thing! Brimstone was one of your fantasy-typed adventures that usually works so well for an RPG, but she resigned as mod soon after posting the sign-up form, and not too long after, departed entirely.
As such, the ‘date of commencement’ in this case is merely the date that I created my dwarven contribution, Steinhelm. I dared not tread any new ground after so many years of inactivity, so my dwarf was a rude, boorish drunk. You know, the kind that I always love playing.
In my mind, I would create a parallel character on World of Warcraft, allowing me to flesh out the character’s personality and back-story in two different realms. Theoretically, this would lead to an unending development that would make Steinhelm my RPing magnum opus; a character fleshed out over years, without the flawed, childish beginning stages of Frost or Draco.
Instead, it never happened. The RPG never began, and some bastard had already taken the names ‘Olagg’ and ‘Steinhelm’ on WoW. I was crushed.
On the plus side, Steinhelm was blessed with the excellent character theme of ‘The Celts’ by Enya. Lucky!
TITLE FORGOTTEN - Team Rocket-themed RPG
Madam Ruby
Right, so I'm really scratching my head on this one. There was a thread that I distinctly remember signing up for, but I can't find anything during thorough searches of TPM's archives, and even in my memory, the exact details are spotty. But regardless, there was definitely an RPG that I entered as Madam Ruby the Vulpix, also my first (and obviously unsuccessful) attempt at a female character.
In case you're curious, Madam Ruby was a Vulpix who had been turned to darkness under the hands of Team Rocket; a Vulpix once known as Kindle, the daughter of one of Draco's old teammates. Alas, nothing came of it, but I'm sure I'll dust her off again sometime in the future should an appropriate storyline surface.
Pokemon: Rise of Ghetsis
Jevon Simms
24.04.12 - 12.08.12
I'm still resolute in my belief in the notion that this RPG will make its return. It's scary to know that it's been almost three years since it commenced, and how little I've achieved in life since. Anyhow, the quality of the story and the length of the player roster was a throwback to the glory days of TPM, and Jevon definitely had his place within its lore.
In the aftermath of the chaos from Pokemon B/W, Unova was in a state of turmoil. Enter former Team Magma member and ex-con, Jevon Simms, a drunken busker who seeks opportunities wherever they lie, but is not a bad guy, really. He had depth to begin with, but no doubt putting him through the veritable melting pot that is an RPG would allow him to grow.
...And grow he shall! For this story will be necromanced in the same way that I have for several threads from yesteryear... Necromanced, I tells you!
Anomaly
Yumiko Honda
04.02.15 - 17.03.15
As per usual, I take a rather peripheral view on a familiar concept to offer a supporting character that feels both different and useful in a storytelling context. I do love my bit parts, you know. A meteorite lands in 1999 that heightens brain function in particular people, leading to government classification and involvement that targets these people as dangerous. My character, an 88-year old Japanese woman nicknamed Nanna Yu, gained the power of perception: that is to say, she can judge situations in a split-second and react accordingly, allowing her to handle any situation or threat in the fastest, most accurate possible manner. She's also a cheeky little minx, quirky and brutally honest, with a fondness for games of chance and flowers (but not roses!!). She did her bit, and that was it.