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I'm glad anon started this because I have big concerns about your plots and it dovetails into your characters.
The big problem with your plots is that they're the same: boring fight fests that can't be ended by a random player doing something different/sensible/nice, but by Zetta/Rainbow Dash/Morgan/whomever. This, in turn, makes your characters Boring Invincible Heroes. There's nothing wrong with being the hero. There's everything wrong with trying to shut out everyone else so you can feel special, and that's what you're doing. I also feel this fuels your Rainbow Dash's "NO POWERS" rants - not because of sensible concerns (Great Power, Great Responsibility), but because you're afraid of not being "special".
Rainbow Dash's "NO POWERS EVAR" rants does come off as annoying both ICly and OOCly. The first time I could understand due to Hayate seemingly offering free powers to ponies but the last one made me side-eye a little. I get Rainbow Dash can be stubborn and may take a little to learn a lesson but it felt like she didn't learn a thing from that huge IC backlash when she made that post talking down on ponies with powers (especially those gained from the dungeon) and in a way coming off as, well, a bitch. I don't know if that was your intention but that's what it felt like to me at least.
Honestly, it just made her more stubborn about it, and that has obscured the message she has been trying to convey a great deal. She is failing to be articulate about the point she truly intends, which is that power shouldn't be given out freely, but that you should work hard to acquire it. I said below that there's a certain amount of entitlement to her position, and that she's screwing up her message bad.
Rainbow Dash is, in many ways, more of a jerk than her canon counterpart when it comes to arguing. That's because she spent a year being friends with Ed Elric, and the arguments they had made her interactions here look like hugfests. It is definitely not a positive quality but it is definitely my intention that her much greater stubbornness and obstinacy come across in her arguments. It is something that can (and probably should) be addressed ICly, but when it comes to 'learning a lesson' from the arguments she's had, that won't work. She just digs in more, believing she is right and everyone else just wants Big Powers For Free, even when it bites them it the butt. LyrTwi did manage to talk her down by appealing to friendship and trust, in the most recent one.
It does seem like a problem she does have. I suggest that perhaps it would be a good idea to try to work on that. To have her realize that she's been entitled and jerkish about powers. I'm not entirely sure how you could get her to realize this ICly other than suggesting her getting her powers taken away or get her butt kicked when she used her powers. And even then I'm not sure that would work.
The funny thing is, Rainbow Dash has barely used her powers since Nightmare Night way back when. She's also very strongly opinionated on the idea that powers won't solve the problem, that they need to rely on true pony strengths like friendship and compassion instead of strength. So... she has actually learned a very good lesson and is using it to support some bad behavior.
I am honestly not certain how to address her problems given all of that, but OOCly I am downplaying her attitude a lot and keeping her from going down that path as much as possible to avoid the 'not again!' reactions, until I can figure out a way to handle it.
I'm honestly sorry Rainbow ever developed that tendency, because even back when I first expressed it, people seemed to take it personally. I'm going to say this bluntly now: Rainbow Dash's opinion is not my own.
Her opinion came from spending a year offworld being put through a rigorous academic program in Balamb Garden in Witches' Reign. In that respect, her opinion has an unfair quality of entitlement to it, yes, but not for the power so much as the effort it takes to acquire and learn the power. That is built on her own history as an athlete in canon, where she works and trains hard to perfect her routines and improve her skills to be the best flyer in Equestria. Except now, instead of collapsing from stage fright when someone (Rarity) is handed skill that seems to match hers or put it to shame, she gets angry because she thinks it's undeserved. At her core, Rainbow Dash has what I think is a legitimate point about responsibility and some sensible concerns behind it, but if she managed to communicate a complicated and nuanced point coherently when she's angry, I don't think I'd be playing the character right.
That said, I honestly do not understand where some of your criticism is coming from. Morgan and Dust have been sitting out most plotlines or doing very little, despite them being my most martially-oriented characters in general; they haven't ever saved the day. Rainbow Dash, I can understand your criticism there, but the last thing she ever did was that Nightmare Night plot -- which, as noted was planned by Riki and I ahead of time. Since then she's participated in some of the other plots, but never in a front-and-center capacity. Zecora is, well, Zecora.
So that leaves Zetta, and I want to provide some counter-examples, plotlines where violence wasn't the answer. Zetta kidnapped Rarity; the kidnapping was spoiled by Pinkie Pie and Honeycomb tagging along and making him look ridicolous. Zetta challenged ponies to a roleplaying game, no violence was involved. Zetta dropped the Trueberry Bomb on Ponyville, forcing everyone to tell the truth for a week. Zetta fakes the whole Frozen Flame of Friendship thing; while one third of the log was a battle, there were two other options for exploring and tricking Zetta's minions. Nemesis/Antithesis, which was entirely about Zetta completely failing to solve the problem by being powerful, and his actual participation in the battle at the end was dropping like a sack of potatoes before it even properly started. And then the Tirek plotline had to end as it did because it was his alicorn plotline so ending it in some other way just didn't make sense, but even that was Zetta doing absolutely nothing to fight Tirek and instead giving his power away.
I would go so far to say that Zetta's entire character arc has been people solving the problem of the Overlord precisely by being different, sensible, and nice. His entire point is learning that power isn't everything; it is, in fact, downright nothing compared to the people you care about. In that respect, if you look at the long game, it's been two years of Equestria trying to redeem a villain and succeeding.
All that being said, I have no more plotlines in mind in the near future, but with Zetta's new position it's unlikely that there will be more fighting against him even when I come up with more.
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mylittleooc2015-04-13 08:29 am
Re: Dragon
The big problem with your plots is that they're the same: boring fight fests that can't be ended by a random player doing something different/sensible/nice, but by Zetta/Rainbow Dash/Morgan/whomever. This, in turn, makes your characters Boring Invincible Heroes. There's nothing wrong with being the hero. There's everything wrong with trying to shut out everyone else so you can feel special, and that's what you're doing. I also feel this fuels your Rainbow Dash's "NO POWERS" rants - not because of sensible concerns (Great Power, Great Responsibility), but because you're afraid of not being "special".
+ 1
no subject
Rainbow Dash is, in many ways, more of a jerk than her canon counterpart when it comes to arguing. That's because she spent a year being friends with Ed Elric, and the arguments they had made her interactions here look like hugfests. It is definitely not a positive quality but it is definitely my intention that her much greater stubbornness and obstinacy come across in her arguments. It is something that can (and probably should) be addressed ICly, but when it comes to 'learning a lesson' from the arguments she's had, that won't work. She just digs in more, believing she is right and everyone else just wants Big Powers For Free, even when it bites them it the butt. LyrTwi did manage to talk her down by appealing to friendship and trust, in the most recent one.
no subject
no subject
I am honestly not certain how to address her problems given all of that, but OOCly I am downplaying her attitude a lot and keeping her from going down that path as much as possible to avoid the 'not again!' reactions, until I can figure out a way to handle it.
no subject
Her opinion came from spending a year offworld being put through a rigorous academic program in Balamb Garden in Witches' Reign. In that respect, her opinion has an unfair quality of entitlement to it, yes, but not for the power so much as the effort it takes to acquire and learn the power. That is built on her own history as an athlete in canon, where she works and trains hard to perfect her routines and improve her skills to be the best flyer in Equestria. Except now, instead of collapsing from stage fright when someone (Rarity) is handed skill that seems to match hers or put it to shame, she gets angry because she thinks it's undeserved. At her core, Rainbow Dash has what I think is a legitimate point about responsibility and some sensible concerns behind it, but if she managed to communicate a complicated and nuanced point coherently when she's angry, I don't think I'd be playing the character right.
That said, I honestly do not understand where some of your criticism is coming from. Morgan and Dust have been sitting out most plotlines or doing very little, despite them being my most martially-oriented characters in general; they haven't ever saved the day. Rainbow Dash, I can understand your criticism there, but the last thing she ever did was that Nightmare Night plot -- which, as noted was planned by Riki and I ahead of time. Since then she's participated in some of the other plots, but never in a front-and-center capacity. Zecora is, well, Zecora.
So that leaves Zetta, and I want to provide some counter-examples, plotlines where violence wasn't the answer. Zetta kidnapped Rarity; the kidnapping was spoiled by Pinkie Pie and Honeycomb tagging along and making him look ridicolous. Zetta challenged ponies to a roleplaying game, no violence was involved. Zetta dropped the Trueberry Bomb on Ponyville, forcing everyone to tell the truth for a week. Zetta fakes the whole Frozen Flame of Friendship thing; while one third of the log was a battle, there were two other options for exploring and tricking Zetta's minions. Nemesis/Antithesis, which was entirely about Zetta completely failing to solve the problem by being powerful, and his actual participation in the battle at the end was dropping like a sack of potatoes before it even properly started. And then the Tirek plotline had to end as it did because it was his alicorn plotline so ending it in some other way just didn't make sense, but even that was Zetta doing absolutely nothing to fight Tirek and instead giving his power away.
I would go so far to say that Zetta's entire character arc has been people solving the problem of the Overlord precisely by being different, sensible, and nice. His entire point is learning that power isn't everything; it is, in fact, downright nothing compared to the people you care about. In that respect, if you look at the long game, it's been two years of Equestria trying to redeem a villain and succeeding.
All that being said, I have no more plotlines in mind in the near future, but with Zetta's new position it's unlikely that there will be more fighting against him even when I come up with more.