[RESOURCE] Management Q&A

[Daekie]

Has the idea of reordering the subforums ever been considered? Having Application Quests and Accepted Quests several entries apart from each other, instead of right next to each other, has tripped me up several times -- and the same with the active Events forum not being next to Past Events.

In an ideal world, this would be amazing and is something we would readily do if Gaia had the options available for us to do so. However, because Gaia will not let us rearrange subforums, the only way for us to do this would be to rename the existing subforums and move every single thread out of one subforum and into another. This would require moving hundreds, if not thousands, of threads.

If we ever have enough free time that we could commit to this project, or if Gaia ever updates guild functions to let us move subforums, we would love to organize them in a more cohesive and organized method.  

[Shanyume]

With the release of Deep Space Senshi, humanoid characters with non-human traits, I had read that they are able to power down and maintain their actual features (discouraged but still an option) and must seek out a mauvian to obtain an item for indefinite glamour.

I'm curious, what prevents half-youma, who are also humanoid characters with non-human traits, from powering down? It seems to reason that mechanically they would work similarly; that they would be able to power down, out of their uniform and into a comfortable set of clothes while still maintaining their half-youma appearance.

Additionally, it's common for Senshi/ Knights/ Agents to make a mention that if their uniforms are damaged it will be repaired when they power up again. But if a half-youma can't power down, how do their uniforms get repaired?

When a Deep Space Senshi powers down, they are a civilian with no energy signature, even though they do not look like humans. Mauvians can create an item to change their appearance, but not to change their energy signature. Because Half-Youma are permanently powered due to the fusion with a youma, they would not only need an item to change their appearance but also hide their energy signature. To do this effectively, it would mean that we had to introduce an item into gameplay that could conceal up to a third stage energy signature. If a Chaos Mauvian can create an item to do this, it doesn’t make sense that they wouldn’t be mass producing them for their agents to hide them, thus creating an immense change in gameplay.

Half Youma cannot power down because they are not like other powered characters; they are an abnormal fusion of human and youma. They no longer have the same mechanics as humans and are more comparable to youma and Mauvians, who are permanently powered characters. Like youma and Mauvians, they are able to temporarily take on a human glamour to allow access to more RP options, but choosing to half-youmafy a character means you are abandoning any chance they have for a normal civilian life in exchange for their new abilities. The mutation of the starseed, either from consuming too many starseeds or fusing with a youma, disrupts the barrier between civilian and powered, locking them into a powered state.

They may choose to remove aspects of their uniform to make themselves more comfortable while engaging in leisure activities, but they must keep at least the base part of their uniform/lowest part of their uniform to adhere to the rules about removing powered garments. Their uniforms may naturally repair themselves when they power into their temporary faux-civilian form and then back into their natural powered self, or by just spending time in Negaspace. This is somewhat up to player’s preference because they may choose to have a damaged uniform for a duration of time in Negaspace, but it would always eventually restore itself.  

[Daekie]

Is the existence & allyship of the Velencians known to most members of the Negaverse, even those who weren't active during the meta / haven't directly interacted with one? I could see it not being information given to fresh recruits, but what about higher-ranked officers who were inactive during that time?

Yes; all members of the Negaverse should be aware that the Velencians are on Earth and their leader Lyndin has tasked them with searching for Caedus. Caedus is considered an enemy and to be apprehended if at all possible. While the Negaverse is aware that some members of the Vanguard may have defected to join the White Moon or Caedus, Lyndin's alliance with the Negaverse is known and intended to secure the safety of the Vanguardians. Even new members of the Negaverse should know that the Vanguard has a temporary alliance and is aiding them.

If a member of the Vanguard becomes hostile, they are to treat them as such and can engage in combat; but they should not initiate hostilities. The Negaverse knows that the Vanguard intends to leave, and for as long as they are on Earth, Lyndin's alliance secures them information and resources not previously available to them.

While the general Negaverse populace is not entirely aware of what Lyndin is providing the Negaverse, Laurelite has been public that as long as they are useful to the Negaverse, they are free to operate within Destiny City. This is known to be a temporary arrangement, as the Vanguardian's goal is to recover Caedus' starseed and leave.  

[cibarium]

Does Destiny City have an airport?

Yes; Destiny City is a major city that has at least one large airport, and several smaller or privately operated ones.

Also, what happens to a youma's star seed when they're dusted permanently?

When a youma is permanently dusted, all traces of them disappear; there would be no way to recover a dusted starseed or pieces of it, so it is ICly assumed that they simply cease to exist.  

[Bronze Coffee]

This is kind of playing off Shan's questions, but very specific to me:

We know Quail Eye's energy signature is abnormal. Is he also a normal civilian or is he considered always powered? I've always assumed it was very similar to senshi and when he's Kazuo he's a normal civilian, but checking isn't bad.

Kazuo should be treated as a normal civilian! Quail's Eye is not considered always powered and can access his civilian form in the same way that a Senshi would be able to, alternating between powered or civilian form at will.  

[cibarium]

Can the Order database be used to share information about Vanguardians?

Yes! While the Order Database is organized in such a way that primarily focuses on how to categorize and respond to Chaos characters, Order characters can also submit entries on Vanguardians. When making these posts, players just need to figure out which tag best categorizes their characters (such as if the Vanguardian they encounter might be a Prospective Powered Ally or if they might be a a High Level Powered Threat.)

The Negaverse Database can also have Vanguardian entries! These would just be sorted with the most appropriate tag as well.  

[Seiana_ZI]

Should a character report to the respective database if they know someone has purified or corrupted, or will that be automatically updated?

(Say, for example, a former Order senshi reported in the Negaverse Database has corrupted, so now the information is no longer accurate.)

When a character corrupts to the Negaverse, any entries made about them should ICly be be moved to the Internal Affairs section by a General Sovereign (usually the corrupting officer) and would no longer be accessible to the general public without IC permission! We don't always remember to check player plots to see who has corrupted and move them in the database, so if you have a character that has corrupted into the Negaverse, please PM the Space Cauldron so we can get that fixed!  

[Daekie]

Given the six month cooldown on receiving alt art, would it be acceptable to obtain MYO alt art for a sideswap/major change in state while the cooldown was still active, and officially purchase it via crown tokens for use as official MYO shop alt art once the cooldown was finished? If so, what procedure would this need to go through -- the normal MYO approval process with the added asterisk of 'this cannot be used as shop art yet, but WILL be once my cooldown is up'?

I assume it would still not be viable for use within the shop until it was officially purchased within the context of the shop as MYO alt art (i.e. it could not be posted in a sideswap RP to reveal the character's new look, as that's normally something official shop art was used for) regardless.

MYO Alt Art has no cooldown! Templated alt art cooldowns have been reduced to three months. You can buy an unlimited amount of MYO alt art without worrying about cooldowns; if you are on a templated alt art cooldown you can still get MYO alt art without having to wait!

Players can commission unofficial artwork of their characters to be used as a reference even if it isn't used as shop official artwork, but if it doesn't go through the approval process, the art may not meet uniform guidelines. This may result in inconsistencies in the fanart and future official art for the shop, and the shop may ask that the player make a small note in any roleplay where the art is used to indicate that it is fanart, just to avoid any potential confusion!  

[Daekie]

If a character gains an Enhancement & then has a change in state that means they are no longer eligible for their original Enhancement, do they gain a new one as a replacement?

I.E.: General Exampleite has the Enchanted Weapon Enhancement. Exampleite transforms into a half-youma, which cannot receive this Enhancement. Does Exampleite now have the Enchanted Weapon Enhancement applied to whatever youma abilities he has gained, or does he lose Enchanted Weapon & have it replaced with one of the Enhancements a half-youma can receive (Passive Ability, Forgotten Spell, Mutation)? If it's the latter, does the new Enhancement need to be similar to the original in some way?

Enhancements meant for other factions typically do not translate directly, but there are some instances where they might! How this manifests post side-swap may differ from character to character so the best option would be to PM the mule with specific details and and we can work with you; if a character has a faction-specific Enhancement that is not available to their new faction, they will be able to swap it out for one of the Enhancements relevant to the character's new faction.

Some Enhancements may need to be revised or tweaked if there is a side swap just to balance things out, but in most cases if the Enhancement is available to original and swapped faction they will be able to keep it as is.  

[Daekie]

How was Senshidom determined pre-the fall of the Silver Millenium? Did a world's Senshi need to be born there and/or did they simply need to have some blood relation to that world? Could a potential Senshi have been born offworld and moved to that world; if so, could they have been Awakened pre-move?

If a Silmil-era family had a variety of children, would it have been possible for multiple children to awaken as unrelated Senshi similarly to how they can in the modern era, or only one child, or a third answer?

A world’s senshi should have been born on the world they were destined to protect due to the relation between the world and the reincarnating starseed, but there are situations where this might not have been the case.

In some instances, the senshi might have come from a strong bloodline of the world, so even without being on the world when they were born, the starseed could still find their way to them. It also would have been possible for a visitor with no blood relation to anyone on the world to give birth to the world’s senshi and leave with them without ever knowing that their child had inherited such power. However this would be incredibly unlikely because the starseed would typically gravitate towards someone with a greater connection to the world than someone only passing through.

Senshi do not need to be on their world to awaken; a Mauvian could sense that they had an unawakened starseed as soon as they were ready to awaken regardless of where they were at the time.

If a Silmil-era family gave birth to children while on other worlds, there could be Senshi siblings of different worlds! This happening often is very unlikely but not impossible! The starseed can be acquired when the fetus has reached viability, so it would not happen specifically at birth on the world, but rather at the point in time when the child could survive if born. It would be more likely for someone without a blood relation to the world (on either parent's side) to inherit the Senshi starseed if they spent significant time on the world during their gestation period.  

[Daekie]

Is Transcendence a phenomenon that's only popped up in the modern day with Senshi and Knights all being reborn on Earth, or did it happen during the Past Life era?

Transcendence is a new phenomenon and has only been unlocked during the present timeline!

Editing this to say that the answer was amended and clarified here!