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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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Shrooms said:
I feel like with combat (and i suppose politics if you're under pressure) specifically, the mentality part of it is such a big part of your performance in a way that doesn't really apply to something like programming. World's best crackshot is going underperform if he hasn't cultivated the proper mindset for the battlefield, which you can't really get outside of the real deal (or, I suppose in mfd, very specifically created genjutsu :V)


Like with this example, I would look at it the other way around. Street brawlers who are accustomed to real scraps and the fear of actual danger are going to be performing closer to their best than a guy who's never thrown a punch outside of a dojo getting mugged in the alley.


That's actually how the system works! You will still have an xp rate, it just decreases slightly over time if you don't get field experience often enough. This isn't a huge deal unless you are minmaxers like us who fret over the smallest decrease in xp income.

no comment on testing in principle but I can agree with any criticism of the US education system
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Cultivating the proper mindset for the battlefield or underperforming in battle because you're unblooded is something entirely separate from require deadly combat to improve, and is a problem that goes away once one's a combat veteran anyway.

Incidentally with all the combat that has happened over the course of the quest, combat veterans is something the members of team uplift definitely classify as.

"Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" for instance defintely showed us that Hazou does not at all suffer from performance issues in combat.


Also calling a xp rate decrease of up to 90% a slight decrease is positively ludicrous.
 
cog-nito said:
Also calling a xp rate decrease of up to 90% a slight decrease is positively ludicrous.
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It takes 9 updates to reach that point though, each of which can last weeks. I was referring to the 10% portion as 'slight'


cog-nito said:
Cultivating the proper mindset for the battlefield or underperforming in battle because you're unblooded is something entirely separate from require deadly combat to improve, and is a problem that goes away once one's a combat veteran anyway.

Incidentally with all the combat that has happened over the course of the quest, combat veterans is something the members of team uplift definitely classify as.
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I'd imagine that any de-rusting trips are to refresh this mindset, since it's not like any particular state of mind is permanent.

I don't imagine these kinds of refresher outings are expected to be nearly as frequent as y'all are imagining but I guess we'll have to see. It is a trial period after all.
 
cog-nito said:
I feel like that might be a bit uncharitable, but then again I suppose that as far as I know the US school system might very well be far worse then the dutch one so fair enough.
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Probably some of column A and some of column B - I'm sure that I'm being at least slightly uncharitable to traditional schooling methods due to my varied educational experiences (I did Montessori until 6th grade and then traditional schooling through college), but I also know that the American educational system is not, broadly speaking, designed for education, but rather for encouraging conformity to better establish an obedient working class.
 
The new system for rust makes sense to me. I might disagree with it applying to Hazou at this exact moment, but that's quibbles that I'm not really interested in going into. (Especially since it encourages us to do something I wanted to do anyway :V)
 
I had the weird thought about letting your skills rust in favor of other things, mechanically choosing to lose levels in the related skills to dodge the XP penalty.

Just a thought.
 
[X] Continue the plan

Lysbeth Succubus said:
I quite enjoyed it and even felt sad upon reaching the end, for there tautologically was no more. I found a great deal of emotion in it, many interesting original ideas, and efficient as well as intriguing characterisation. Rest assured most readers' critical eye isn't nearly as scathing as a story's own writer's, and this one indeed does not find itself tainted, yet rather inspired by the experience.
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This is everything I wanted to say about it, but said better.

eaglejarl said:
Original idea: n. An idea where no one knows where you stole it from. :>
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That's...actually great. I'm gonna steal that.
 
PONWOG, not vetted with other QMs:

Folks, please assume that your QMs are not out to screw you. We're not going to be triggering stagnancy that often. We're not going to intentionally choose update in-universe time lengths that will harm you without giving you a chance to respond. We're going to do our best to be reasonable about what counts as undoing stagnancy. Roll with it for a bit, see if it is actually a problem. If it is, we can work together to fix it. We're all here to have a good time.
 
I hadn't realized the tone of the discussion had become tinged with that sort of doubt. Yeah, the QMs have always seriously considered the playerbase's perspective and addressed the points that we raise with grace and courtesy.

The stagnation mechanic will be a bit odd at first, and a bit awkward to predict (until time enough passes that precedent and patterns are set), but I'm pretty hopeful. As much as Vel likes to play the role of the "QM who tortures your favorite characters," and EJ likes to ape at being a "mischievous genie of a QM," neither of them are malicious QMs. I'd say that they're more charitable and generous than we, perhaps, often acknowledge.

They aren't trying to actively mess with us, they're trying to introduce a mechanic that helps the rules better conform to the narrative of the quest. I'll admit, I'm not quite sure what the results of this experiment will be, but let's give it a good-faith effort. This community is such that we can politely discuss whatever concerns that might crop up as the experiment progresses.
 
eaglejarl said:
PONWOG, not vetted with other QMs:

Folks, please assume that your QMs are not out to screw you. We're not going to be triggering stagnancy that often. We're not going to intentionally choose update in-universe time lengths that will harm you without giving you a chance to respond. We're going to do our best to be reasonable about what counts as undoing stagnancy. Roll with it for a bit, see if it is actually a problem. If it is, we can work together to fix it. We're all here to have a good time.
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If there's anything I've learned from playing TTRPGs, it's that the DM/GM/QM is your enemy and the point of the game is to beat them, not have fun and tell a story together /s
 
Different people have different honest opinions about what counts as screwing others. So it is difficult to make future predictions from that general statement.
The specific statement of QM plans for stagnancy length is informative though.
 
Would anybody be interested in doing an art (TM) for me (paid commission of course), of Hazou? I can explain specifics in personal messages. And of course we'll show the final product to the thread.

(I hope this of allowed by the rules of the thread?)
 
Hey @Velorien and @eaglejarl, have we heard anything about Noda?

Prototype answers:
  • You'd need to put it in a plan to find out. It could happen offscreen: between Mari and Kei you're very well-connected and finding out would be trivial but you don't know anything off the top of your head.
  • She died one of the many recent conflicts.
  • She joined the KEI. They helped her sober up and get out of debt. You don't know if she's hacking or not.
  • She was adopted by [clan]. They helped her sober up and get out of debt. You don't know if she's hacking or not but it's likely that was a condition of her adoption.
 
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FaintlySorcerous said:
Hey @Velorien and @eaglejarl, have we heard anything about Noda?

Prototype answers:
  • You'd need to put it in a plan to find out. It could happen offscreen: between Mari and Kei you're very well-connected and finding out would be trivial but you don't know anything off the top of your head.
  • She died one of the many recent conflicts.
  • She joined the KEI. They helped her sober up and get out of debt. You don't know if she's hacking or not.
  • She was adopted by [clan]. They helped her sober up and get out of debt. You don't know if she's hacking or not but it's likely that was a condition of her adoption.
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  • You occasionally hear her drunken muttering coming from inside your walls.
 
  • Mari has engaged Noda in unconventional physical therapy, and Noda is "on call." When asked for clarification, Mari simply smiles.
 
Noda more like Nodalive more like Nomore more like 'welcome to the funeral do you Noda deceased'

(She is actually fine and confused by these remarks)
 
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Velorien said:
I think the right-hand gauntlet says "ketsui", "determination", but I can't figure out the left-hand one.
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OliWhail said:
Pointedly ignoring him, Keiko knelt down next to Hazou. "Pandaa and I worked together on this, so it is from him as well."

This box was outwardly simple. Hazou opened the clasps and found his eyebrows climbing up his forehead. Inside were a pair of metal gauntlets cut with a pattern like Pangolin scales. Each had a single solid segment with straps to go around his forearm. The segments for covering the backs of his hands bore kanji reading 'protect' and 'resolve', as well as a series of wickedly curved blades extending out over each knuckle like a Pangolin's claws.

"Ah-he-he-hmmm," Pandaa intoned, standing up. "These are replicas of weapons favored by the previous Pangolin Summoner, Ui Isas. His said 'rip' and 'tear' - we figured these might be somewhat more appropriate for someone as loyal and determined as you." His formal manner deflated somewhat, and he began tapping his claws together. "Um. And happy birthday, Hazou. You're a really cool guy."
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Protect and Resolve (thanks to @faflec for giving me all of the little references and touches required to comm this pic!)

Translator subreddit eventually helped me decide that the best way to write these for this context would be
Resolve: 決意 (noun)
Protect: 守る (verb)

edit: though I don't know how well the request to write those actually translated into JP, considering I know basically none
 
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