A Few Options (Important Stuff Inside)

[Aether]

Yes, I think we have all noticed a steep decline in RPs around here and just a decline of member attendance as well. With summer around the corner for some of us and others having already begun their vacation, now would seem like the best chance to get some RPing in. But, as stated in another thread, many things come up in the summer as well; jobs (I have one), summer school, extra-curricular activities, and just social lives with friends and family in general. I know there are still some of us who wish to RP, and others who have decided to move on to other things, and that's perfectly alright. For those of us who have decided to remain, we have some decisions to make which will ultimately decide the fate of PA. As the head admin, I've contemplated on several options that we have, though they may not be all the options available.

First off though, I would like to get a head count if possible. I'd like to find out how many of us are still around PA.

There is still the option of moving to the ZetaBoards site if there are those interested. I believe the majority of the profiles have already been transferred, leaving a couple straggling profiles and the RPs we wish to continue or archive. So there's the moving option. I'm fond of this idea simply because Zetaboards just feels a bit cleaner and is much easier to work with.

Another outlet that came to mind was possibly starting out fresh with a new start. Keep or let go of our current characters and start a new PA, like brand new. We're suppose to start a new PA with the current saga story as it is, but I'm talking about a brand new PA with revamped locations and layout and a new story. Work on new RPs and character relations and possibly begin a new saga or work on the current saga with everyone in it. (The current saga has potential, but we've kinda hit a block with everyone who was in it leaving, with the exception of a handful of people. But the gaps with many of the players missing is too great to make a story, at least a good one.) So there's the fresh start option, which can take place here or at the Zetaboards site.

I said I would include all the possibilities I could think of, and that sadly includes admitting that perhaps the site has reached its time. Grant it, I wouldn't want to see the site closed down, but sometimes, sites just die out. I think that we can still save PA, but we do have other options should worse come to worse. Elemental Academia (who has been one of our affiliates since MSN Groups, back when they were known as Twilight Emblaze Pokemon Academy [TEPA]) Has just finished some revamping of their site and is about to open up again. I'd highly recommend this site to people interested in Pokemon-related RPs, as the site is clean, well-managed, and is filled with great members and staff alike.

I'm willing to try different approaches to bring the site back up, but there are our options right there, though there may be some that I have over-looked. Now congregate and discuss! We need the opinions of the members and staff alike.

[Sjha]

I have to say, I compleatly agree with many of the things you just mentioned. One of the reasons i'v not been around is because life desided to wack me with a stick a few tims, and broke my legs when I tried to run back here (XD) You can, sad enough, tell when people are on vacation; it's theonly real time theres activity.

As for the zetaboard idea; i'm not that great of a fan of it. Personally, I think a better idea would be useing Webs; it's free, easy to use, and can be set up in such a way to give it the old, classic feel of MSN PA.

I'm also fond of the idea of makeing a -compleatly- new school, rather then carry it on. like you said; sites die,and I think this one is getting close to that time. So, rather then focus on prolonging the life of a old an dieing parent, why not foster a new, growing child?

My idea is this: We use the school as a base, and keep some characters, but a compleatly new generation, sort of like 10-20 years in the future; The current student could be the teachers, or something of the like, or there children, the next generation, could be the students. it provideds a rich amount of room for growth of stories, character creation and develoment, and plot creation. It could also be fun to see what our characters are doing, or did, with there lives. It also allowsroom for even more things; origional ideas for the develoment of the Poke-World. We could design our own tech, ites, species, etc., and impliment then into the site, giveing it a unique look and feel.

But if we do want to tend to the dead rather then foster the new, then we need to clean up the site and getit better staffed, better managed, and better organized(No offence to the staff! o.o). Nut really; it's only after we do such things will it really be considered presentable to new members; then we can look for new ones.

[hieisorcerer]

I agree with both of you, I don't really like the idea of moving anymore, though if that's the majority rule, then I'll move. But we need to revamp it, new characters, or children of characters. Old characters either be rare, or be teachers. But as it has been said, most of us are moving on. I myself have been getting ready to move to a new city, though I'll be back on in a steady manner soon enough. So, we need to find a decent way to attract new members. My suggestion for that would simply be, have every member able go to every site we can and start posting. I can post on a busy one at any point. Add to that the Proboards forum, we could post there every few days if we wanted.

So there are my ideas, not as much as I would have liked to provide, though if we do them right probably very effective.

[Izzy Hindle <3]

I haven't gotten the chance to see Zetaboards yet so I'm not sure whether we should go there or not.

As much as I hate the idea of letting go of my characters, it's probably a good idea, but I'm rather fond of Sjha's too.

I'll always be here for PA and I refuse to let the site die or join another. I grew up with you guys and I'm sure we all know how hard it is to let old friends go. I was very upset to find that a lot of my old friends from MSN aren't active members here, and some that I can find on Facebook seem to not want to talk to me. I'll stick with you guys no matter what

[Sjha]

In my opinion, we -need- to 'get rid' of most ofthe current characters one the site, or have them around as staff, or rare appearances. Why? Take a look; if there's a student from a few yaers back still here, who particapated in only 25% of the events, and the sagas, there basically 'Gods in Mortal Shells'. In years i'v been here it went from 'Pokemon Battles' to 'Gods of War IV'; which can confuse shy away new members makeing new characters. Why? A new character will have limited 'powers' and if the members tries to catch up, they get flamed to death as a god modder. For the ones who don't, there's an extream unballance in power.

((Pure examples, not real))
Normal battle between a newer and older member.
"I send out Hoppip!Use Splash!"
"I send out Lugia, use Sky Attack!"
((Optional))
"((Edit: I ment Ho-Ho, not hoppip!))"
"((Hey, thats power play!))"

Battle between two older members:
"Go, Mew! Use psychic!"
"Go, Rayquazia!"

If we do make a new site,or school, we -have to- prevent something along those lines from happening Dx

[Aether]

Personally, I don't see what's wrong with using older characters, so long as they're "new" in the sense that they're new to the school and not exact copies of their previous selves. Yes, I plan on still using Aiden, only a revamped Aiden that I have tweaked with in my mind. This doesn't mean that he'll be over-powering or anything, and I plan on him having some of his pokemon back as well, such as Fenrir.

All of us here have RPed with each other at one point in time, so it's not as if we don't know what we can expect from each others' characters. It would be a new school, which means there would be new beginnings. And who says that the new school has to be set in the future of this one? Some students, as I will use Aiden for example, came here when a lot of other students had already been students for a while. It's not like we can;t use our old characters and give them new starts at the same time, or maybe even a bit further down the line. I think we instantly locked our minds on the time-skipping idea when it doesn't have to be. Plus, a new environment, new staff, and new opportunities would change our characters as well, right?

Zetaboards is free as well, and one thing that I enjoy about it besides being easier to use than Proboards is that you can assign a forum multiple skins, and the individual member can choose which skin they enjoy the most for their computer.

Here is the site for the backup Starfall at Zetaboards. No, you don't have to join and we have not made a decision yet on moving. You guys can look around and get a feel of what Zetaboards is like before making a decision on whether or not you would like to move.

My main point of this post is this: I plan on using Aiden, Fenrir, and a couple other characters on the new site. And so help me I will find a place to use these antagonists for the current saga, whether it be in a new saga, saga compilation, or...somewhere!

[Imp]

Well I haven't RPed on this site for a very very long time but I was planning on returning this summer since I've been with this school since the start, I've had the same character since I joined up so I wouldn't want to get rid of her but I do like the idea of making the school new, I would like to revamp my old character to make her new to the school again. I don't think moving to Zetaboards will make any difference to be honest it might just make managing the school easier, if that's the case then I say go for it.
Personally I enjoyed the schools enviroment when it just started because everyone was new at the time and everyone was equal. It was very exciting when the school was completely new.

[Sjha]

I'm just going to say this: I spent hours typeing up a good RP to start on here, planed everything out, even picked a location and started the post; but, when I hovered over the 'Post' butten, I realised that it would probally never get replied to, or get two replies in before it dies, so I just chanceled the post and deleted it...

-.-

[David's Reaching Out]

I say, for what it's worth, that the site should be revamped. Move, don't move, I don't care. But a completely new Starfall/PA is probably the best option.

Here's an idea for retconning everything that's happened thus far story-wise...

It was all a book.
A really strange, and grammatically incorrect, book.

Said book is closed by some character (one of the admins' [Tim, care to do the honors?]) who turns and leaves with some classic line... like... 'that sucked,' or somethin'. Not the best of ideas, but hey, if you guys do decide to write everything off, why not get a chuckle out of it?

[ref]

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I still come around every so often to read new posts about the site. I agree with Sjha in the sense that it'd be great to have a new set of characters. I've come to hate Rose anyway (I tried something different with her by having her anti-social, but it really worked against me by putting her off as unfriendly, which I'm really not xD), so I'd like to start over myself. It'll take a ton of imagination to pull off a new school, new species, and new characters, and believe me, I have plenty of imagination If a collaborative effort is made, I truly believe that a site we (including newbies like me ) can all enjoy can be created.
As for the move itself... I wouldn't mind staying, but I wouldn't mind moving either. It's my honest opinion that a move would be nice.

((I'm sorry if I offended anyone by suddenly jumping in, but I assumed because I'm not too biased...))

[hieisorcerer]

You know David, that does sound really cool. Kinda cheesey, but awesome none the less. And these are all great ideas. And Ref, it's great that you're pitching in ideas. We need ideas from everyone, every little bit helps.

[Aether]

I kinda like that idea too, and we appreciate all the input anyone has to offer. It help shows how many people are still interested in the site and will stay around to see it brought back.

Back to David's idea for a moment, I figured maybe we could make an RP that involves everyone. The members and staff would RP as themselves and take the site and RPs as a type of project that they have read over some period of time. Then they would get together and discuss the project, what they liked and didn't like and what they may change. Upon further conversation, we would decide that we could do a better job on the project and decide to make our own project (a renewal of the site). This way, we could discuss how to make the new site, what to add or take away and everything else, only in the form of an RP. Figured that might be appropriate for an RP site, ya know?

It's just an idea though. We could always just discuss things like this if we wanted to.

[Sjha]

I personally like that idea, Tim..Like it alot.

[hieisorcerer]

You know what we could do? We could all get together on here, MSN, where ever and write a trailer for the site. Use the idea of everything that's happened as a basis and we all write a trailer until we all like it. We could end it all with something like, "If that was a story, what's about to happen?" Or we could take highlights from the RP, if we do one, and use that as the trailer to PA. Just a thought. That's one thing we don't have, that a lot of other places do, a trailer or a plot summary of what we have going on.

[David's Reaching Out]

It's kind of exciting to see all these posts in a twenty-four hour period, in a weird way. The neighbors return to rebuild desolation row... I like, I like!

Tim, your version sounds fantastic! Though, I would like to submit one thing for thought. Maybe instead of RPing themselves/ourselves, we should RP the new characters and jump straight into this 'new' Starfall. That way there's a little less jumping around from perspective to perspective, ya know? Perhaps still RPing ourselves, if we wished to just use ourselves as characters (if that's anyones cup o' tea). But, with the old Starfall being rewritten as a story (if that is indeed the road we go down), then maybe we should leave the story behind in some way (Hiei's idea, though it would be incredibly hard to pull off would work, and I know for a fact we have some folks with video editing skills who happen to have stuck around) and just move on to the new one directly.

I dunno, just a thought, but it seems to me that it would be somewhat easier.

Also, and I can't believe I missed this the first time around, but Sjha's right - we probably need to clean ourselves of our current characters and start anew.