Melodies of Life Moderators (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
melodiesmods) wrote2014-05-27 08:45 pm
melodiesmods) wrote2014-05-27 08:45 pm
FAQ
What exactly is Melodies of Life? Melodies of Life is a panfandom RP based on the Final Fantasy series. It is a mix between original elements and elements borrowed from various Final Fantasy games. Themes and story-lines explored in the game are meant to be reminiscent of what can be found in your average Final Fantasy game. The game also takes inspiration from other video games series, mostly RPGs published by Square-Enix. Melodies of Life is meant to be an adventure/exploration game with a focus on plot, but there are also some slice of life elements for those who enjoy them, with a development similar to that of a Final Fantasy game. Because they come from another world, the characters possess Crystals and can switch between Jobs. Because of this, they are considered to be the legendary "Heroes of Light". They are expected to save this world from the disasters that are currently affecting it. So how does it all work? The Queen of Crystallis mysteriously disappeared exactly one week before the arrival of the first batch of Heroes. However, she left instructions to Biggs, Wedge, Jessie and Artemicion. She asked Artemicion to assign one Moogle to each hero who would wake up in Aqures Ixen. Meanwhile, she asked Biggs, Wedge and Jessie to take care of the Kingdom and help the Heroes in any possible way. The idea is simple. The people of Aqures Ixen hope the heroes who will somehow save their world. In return for the heroes' help, they give them everything they need to live-- Housing, foods and weapons. They will also regularly give missions to the heroes. Sometimes these missions will be about helping the people of Crystallis, sometimes about finding clues as to how and why they were summoned to this world. But the Heroes do not have to wait for the government of Aqures Ixen to tell them to go and explore. They can do it on their own, of course. What if my character does not care about saving this world? They don't have to! But they may care about going home someday, and to do so they'll have to pierce the secrets of the Crystals. That, and if the legends are to be believed, should it destroy Crystallis, the world-eating calamity could very well move on to their homeworld next. Maybe protecting Crystallis is the only way characters have to protect their own worlds. What is the time scale in this game? We follow real time, so 1:1. It's to say, one IC day for one OOC day. What about Crystallis? Crystallis is a large world with many cities and mysteries to uncover-- This world has two moons, the largest one is blue and the smallest one is red. Once a year, there is a dual full moon, when both moons are full at the same time. This event will be mentioned in a mod-post when it'll happen. Events and missions will progressively lead characters to unveil the mysteries of this world, but using the basic information on the location map, characters are free to explore on their own during player plots if they so wish. This world is big, how is my character supposed to explore it without spending weeks walking around? There are plenty of transport means available in the world of Crystallis. Airship is by far the fastest and most efficient transport means. An Airship leaves from Aqures Ixen every other day (Airship departure dates are written in the monthly information post) and stop at most major city in the world, save for plot-locked locations. When a specific event happens in a specific point on the world map, NPCs will arrange for an airship to take characters there, from the military airport in Aqures Ixen. What about non-city location? Then you've got Chocobos. It will be offered very early on for characters to capture and raise their own Chocobos. Additionally, Chocobos can be taken onto Airships. With Chocobos and Airships, any location in Crystallis is easily accessible in a matter of days, even for neophytes. What does neophyte mean? Beginner, novice. You'd know it if you had played Birth by Sleep. Why does this game have Mognet and not a regular Network? Two reasons. First of all, this game is meant to have a focus on Logs versus Network, and regular networks tend to detract from logs. As explained on the Mognet information page, Mognet is a very efficient mail service and can be used, to an extent, to communicate as you would with a normal network. It only takes some time for replies to be received and sent. Second, whilst in a few Final Fantasy game characters do have cellphones or some efficient networks, in the vast majority of the Final Fantasy series, communication is a problem. To stay true to the series, this game hence opts for a communication method that isn't perfect, but good enough for characters to keep in touch and converse. When do reservations and applications open? Reservations open the last week of every month and stay open for one week, whereas applications open the first week of every month and last for one week as well. Can I challenge reserves or applications? Sorry, but no. If you want to app a character who's been reserved, you may try once the reserve expires or if the character has not been app'd yet. Can I app a character after his/her death? Of course. Your character will be alive and healthy upon waking up in Crystallis. What kind of characters can I app? Canon characters, original characters, game transplants and fandom alternate universe can all be app'd to this game. What about alternate version of the same character within a canon? If an alternate, separate version of the same character exists within canon, both can be app'd. For example, let's take the Mirror Universe from Star Trek. In the one hand you have James T. Kirk, Captain at Starfleet who got his position fair and square. On the other hand, you have James T. Kirk, Captain at the Terran Empire who got his position by killing his superior officers. In spite of both being James T. Kirk, they exist separately from each other and are altogether different characters. As such, both can be app'd into the game. However, now let's take a Final Fantasy IV example. Rydia as a child and Rydia as an adult differ a lot and do not appear at the same time. Yet, in spite of differences, they are the exact same character, only at different canon points. As such, only one of them can be app'd into the game. What about the same character who exists in different games? It depends if they're exactly the same, or an alternate self. For example, Squall in Kingdom Hearts is a different character from Squall in Final Fantasy VIII, and as such both can be app'd into the game. However, Squall from Dissidia and Squall from Final Fantasy VIII are the same character. Hence, only one of them can be app'd to the game. If you want to app Squall from Dissidia, you will have to app his FFVIII self and pick a Dissidia canon point. What about Fandom AUs? They are allowed within reason. Applications requirements will be stricter and the AU characters have to be recognizable as a version of themselves. For example, you can app an AU where Riku and Sora from Kingdom Hearts swapped roles, with Riku now the the Hero of the story. This, however, is not an excuse to rewrite Riku's and Sora's personalities to your liking and ignore the core of what they are. Changes ought to be present, but they both should retain traits of the original character and be recognizable as a version of said character. If they differ too much from the original character in such a way that they might as well be an OC, the app will be rejected. Likewise, if they barely differ from the original character, the app might be rejected as well. AUs are not to be used as excuses to app already taken canon characters. So, there can be two versions of the same character? That's right. One slot is reserved for the character from the original canon, the other is reserved for the Fandom AU or Game Transplant version. Taking the earlier Kirk example, there could be an exponential multiplication of Kirks in no time thanks to canon alternate universes. However, mods reserve the right to put a cap on how many version of a character can be app'd should a specific character threatens to take over the game. We love Kirk, but not that much. What about Game Transplants? Game Transplants will count toward the AU Slot. Game transplant are expected to have gone through some character development at their previous game, and as such we expect them to be different from their canon selves, even though they should still be recognizable as a version of the original character. Like for Fandom AUs, game transplants are not to be used as an excuse to app an already taken canon character. Mods reserve the right to reject an app if it is used as such. So there cannot be an AU and Game Transplant of the same character at once? Correct. Because both count toward the same AU slot, if a game transplant of say, Cloud, is app'd into the game and accepted, an AU of Cloud cannot be app'd at the same time. Are Canon OCs allowed? Yes and No. No in that, you cannot create character out of anywhere and insert them into a canon.For example, you cannot app a student from Hogwarts who doesn't have his own existence in the books, nor can you app a resident of Midgar who doesn't exist as an established character in FFVII. Yes in that you can app MMORPG player characters (WoW, FFXI, FFXIV...). Furthermore, characters from a series who exist and got some screen time, enough to justify being app'd, but not enough to write a proper application, can be applied as canon OCs. Characters with so little screen time should always be app'd as AUs. How many characters can I app into the game? The current limit is four characters by player. You can reserve up to two characters for an app round, and apply for two characters as well. A fifth and sixth can be applied for; however, you will need to provide double AC proof for all four of your characters prior to applying. You cannot have more than six characters in the game. What do the Crystals look like? The shape of the Crystals varies depending on the characters. They can look like regular Crystals, whereas they can take on a shapes that hold significance to the characters. They are always of a size where characters can hold them without any problems. All Crystals are Red at the beginning, but as time passes, they become violet and then blue. It takes one year for the Crystal to become entirely blue, only six months if a character participates actively in events. We leave it to player's discretion to choose how fast their crystal change in colors, within the time limits mentioned here. Dying at least once will instantly turn the Crystal blue. With each subsequent death, the Crystal will take on a darker shade of blue, until becoming pitch black upon reaching five deaths. A character who never dies will never have his/her Crystal darken. Why do the Crystals change colors? Who knows? It's probably not important, don't worry about it. What if my character loses his/her Crystal? It will materialize back to their side after a few days or instantly if they consciously call it back. My character got a disease and needs a treatment. What can I do? Your character does not need a treatment any more. Whatever diseases characters had back in their homeworld, they are gone. Remember, without Jobs, characters are at a blank slate and are "normal" humans. All their powers are gone, and diseases along with them. Of course, their diseases may return in the context of certain events, but that is another story. My character is handicapped, can I still app him/her Of course, and we let it to players' discretion to choose whether they will still be handicapped, or if their handicap will be gone upon awakening in Crystallis. Can my character have a pet from home? Yes, so long as it is not too big of a pet (see, a dog). The pet will awaken alongside them in Crystallis. Death, Hiatus and Drop rules apply the same way to pets as they do to characters. However, pets do not have their own Crystal. It is possible for a pet to not fall in Crystal Stasis even if its owner does. In this case, the pet can be kept by another character. Larger pets may be regained during events, or characters may try and ask Jessie if she can bring the pet to Crystallis. Why would Jessie be able to bring a pet to Crystallis? Not only pets, but items as well. The Crystals are the links between the homeworlds and Crystallis. By manipulating the Crystals, Jessie may be able to draw into Crystallis things that were (or will be) attached to the characters, such as possessions and pets. Other sentient people cannot be brought this way, however, nor can too large items. Can I smash the fourth-wall? It is on an individual basis. Make sure to always ask for the other players' permissions before breaking the fourth-wall. As far as the game itself is concerned, all knowledge of the Final Fantasy series, and of any RPG series published by Square-Enix (Dragon Quest, Star Ocean, etc) is banned. As such, characters cannot realize they are within a setting based on Final Fantasy. Can I app characters from the Final Fantasy series? Of course. The only characters from the series who cannot be app'd are Gilgamesh (any incarnation), Artemicion (any incarnation) and the Summons. Everyone else is free game! What about language barrier? Thanks to the Crystals, everything is auto-translated. Characters can understand each other and read texts written in foreign language without problems. This includes the languages spoken by people in Crystallis. There is one exception to this rule, and it is when a character purposefully speaks in another language. In this case, other characters will not be able to understand what is being said unless they know of this language. The language of the Ancients isn't translated either. However, these problems can be palliated with the final skill of the Scholar Job. What is Magitek? In the world of Crystallis, Magitek is a word used to designate Ancient technology revived thanks to modern magic. It is a recent discovery and it has drastically improved the level of life in Crystallis. Magitek is present mostly in the form of Airships. The two greatest research centers can be found in Aqures Ixen and the Imperial City of Hera. Whilst Magitek is only at its infancy, the Heran Empire has built an entire city based on it. I find the lack of information regarding this "Heran Empire" disturbing. So do we! And, that was not a question. But information about the Empire will be revealed as the plot progresses, as most of the plot revolves around the Empire's doings. I can't do AC this month too! May I ask for a third chance or go on Hiatus two months in a row? Normally, no. However, please contact the moderators if you plan on missing AC for two consecutive months and have a legit excuse. If you really are going through some major problems and think you may come back after the second missed AC, we'll work something out. What happens when my character dies? A character who dies will be incapacitated for an entire week. As for the process-- The dead character will crystallize ten minutes after the time of death (if there is a body left), in a state called Crystal Stasis. After a couple seconds, the crystallized character will fade away along with their Crystal, only to re-appear in the vicinity of the Crystal of Fire in Aqures Ixen after one day. Six days after that, they will exit Crystal Stasis completely healed and healthy, and their Crystal will re-appear at their side. The final skill of the White Mage job can revive a character before they fall into Crystal Stasis. What happens during Hiatus? Your character will fall into Crystal Stasis. Upon falling into Crystal Stasis, characters will automatically disappear and reappear next to the Crystal of Fire. There, they will be taken to the hospital. Doctors will take care of them alongside all dead or dropped characters. This can be avoided by putting a character on auto-pilot. Wait, what is that about dropped characters? All dropped characters fall into Crystal Stasis and are kept in the hospital, same than if they were on Hiatus. No one knows why some characters fall into Crystal Stasis, as normally it happens only when a character dies. Characters in-game can visit dropped characters any time. This also means that as far as in-game characters are concerned, dropped characters are still there and haven't returned to their homeworlds, they're simply in Crystal Stasis. What if I app an android or an otherwise artificial lifeform? They're now humans! Isn't that exciting? Their external appearances will be identical to that of their android selves, but the inside is now flesh and blood. Computer Programs or otherwise immaterial (Tron, Matrix characters, etc) beings will be given a human body upon arriving in Crystallis. What if I app a gigantic character? They will be scaled down to human size, which means a giant may be anywhere from six to nine foot tall in Crystallis. When can I app from a new canon? You can app characters from a new canon two months after the official release of the source material. How does Canon Update works? It works similarly to hiatus and drops in that characters will fall in Crystal Stasis for a total of seven days. Upon waking up, characters will have been updated to their new canon point. Physical appearance will be updated accordingly. They will feel however as though they never really left Crystallis, and are now simply remembering something that had already happened, rather than living something new. If you want to canon update, please post a notice in a Hiatus post about it, and warn your fellow players through an OOC Post. Additionally, you can chose to downgrade your character's canon point: it works the same as a canon update. What about Pokemons? Characters from the Pokemon world will be able to have two Pokemons with them upon waking up. They will not be stored in Pokeball, and they will have to be small Pokemons. Bigger Pokemons will have to be regained the same way than bigger pets can be regained. Furthermore, Pokemons will have whatsoever no power or abilities beyond that of dogs and cats. However, a Limit Break may involve calling upon a Pokemon's real powers. What about Limit Breaks? The Limit Break is when your character is at death's doorstep, or at the very least extremely weakened. It is generally an overpowered attack, beyond the powers given by Jobs, and it can only be used once a week. It doesn't have to be an attack, it can be a healing spell, a defensive spell, etc. It can and should be overpowered compared to normal attacks, but not so overpowered that it is game breaking. Characters who had powers in their homeworlds will be able to use one of their powers during the limit break. Powerless characters are free to make up from scratch a fitting limit break. What are the Crystals? There are many different kind of Crystals. The Four Great Crystals are thought to be the source of life in Crystallis and the pillars that maintain the world. The Crystals held by the Heroes are a mystery, but the legends say they contain the power to defeat the Calamity from the Skies. Aside from these special crystals, there are countless smaller, less significant Crystals all over the world. They are the source of magic, and they are infused into young men and women at the age of eighteen when they have chosen which Job they want to develop. On top of that, Crystals are now fundamental in the development of Magitek, as the magic power they contain is used to activate Ancient technologies. Does technology function? Yes, but there is no electricity, so you won't be able to recharge your technological stuff unless you build something that converts energy from regular Crystals into electricity. It is possible and it is a project that can be undertaken by players any time. Jessie will lend characters her data on Crystal Energy if they so desire. Isn't trying to convert Crystals into electricity a bad idea? Probably, but so long as characters do it only to power up their cellphones and not entire cities, there is probably very little risk of seeing this going wrong. Oh, and if they do power up their cellphones or laptops-- Wireless communications will not work, thanks to interference from the Crystals. Every other functions will work normally. Do characters age? Absolutely, at a regular rate. And if your character couldn't age in their homeworld because they were Immortal-- Well, they're no longer immortal, so aging is totally a thing for them now. I messaged a mod ten minutes ago and I still don't have a reply. What can I do? Waiting is your best option here. Moderators will always do their best to reply in the briefest delays, but sometimes these pesky things named "lives" may get in the way. If after one week you don't hear of us, you may start kicking and screaming, rightfully so. Until then, patience is mother of all virtues. What is Blitzball? Blitzball, aside from being the single best sport in existence, is an imaginary sport taken straight from Final Fantasy X. It is played in a gigantic sphere of water and is similar to all sports ending with -ball. In short, you gotta score as often as possible. People desiring to play Blitzball will be given a special potion enabling them to breath underwater for the duration of the game. It is an extremely popular sport in Crystallis. Moderators will most likely not use Blitzball in events (okay, maybe we will at least once). This is mostly a feature for players to use if they so wish. If you want extra details on how this game is played, you will find everything you need here. Are there any other activities of note? Triple Triad is a popular card game in the world of Crystallis. There are hundreds of different cards-- Which the players will have the possibility to find or make themselves. Triple Triad activities will not be moderated (Blitzball and Triple Triad could be a RP on their own). Wait, could my character get a card with his/her face on it? Of course! The Queen of Cards lives in Balicea. If asked, she will be more than happy to craft a card with your character's face on it. What about Jobs? Jobs are cast unto the characters when they first awaken in Crystallis. Jobs all specialize in something, and characters can equip up to two at the same time. They can switch every two weeks. To do so, they have to ask their assigned Moogle, as only Moogles know how to change Jobs. They cannot do it during events or missions. New Jobs will be acquired throughout events. Characters who missed the event will be able to get new Jobs through Jessie. And there are plenty of combinations to try. Job Combinations? Yes. Someone equipping a Dragoon and a Monk, with the jumps and agility of the dragoons combined to the martial arts of the Monk, could pull off a combat style a la Matrix. Likewise, someone equipping Thief and Dragoon could essentially have the speed of an assassin. There are plenty of options, try them out! What about clothing? Upon awakening in Crystallis, characters will don the default clothes of the Job they're wielding. These clothes may vary from the pictures on the Job page, but you get the idea. If your character got similar Jobs back in their homeworld, they may be wearing the clothes they would for this Job back home. Characters can ask their Moogles to magically swap clothes-- In an instant, they can switch between the default clothes for either of their Job, or the Freelancer clothes: it's to say the clothes they were wearing back in their homeworlds. Of course, they can also get out and buy or make some new clothes if they don't like any of those choices. My characters got Ifrit as a summon back home. Can they summon Ifrit from their world? Yes and no. They can summon an Ifrit that will share the likeness of the Ifrit they are familiar with, but the size and attacks will be that of Crystallis' Ifrit. In short, they can, but the changes will be aesthetic only. Same goes for all summons. What is the currency and how can my character make some money? The currency in Crystallis are the Gils. Gils can be obtained by working, it will be offered at a later point for Heroes to take on Employment. They can also be obtained by defeating monsters. Because handling money is doomed to fail, Moderators will not be looking after every characters' wallets. That's something for you to handle or handwave yourself as necessary. Feel free to ask your questions here! |
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