While We Wait: Writer's Block & Other Lame Excuses

[qoou]

As long as if it's after 7:30 EST.

 

[flyingchicken]

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[pre] <+FC> guh nobody's on
<+FC> oh thane you're here, great
<+FC> so, about that GASTLY
<%Thane> Oh, so you've FINALLY become a Pokemon Trainer huh?
<%Thane> Pokémon*
<+FC> yeah it's great
<+FC> the prof gave me a CHIKORITA
<%Thane> &#9792; or &#9794;
<%Thane> ?
<+FC> &#9792;
<%Thane> Lol nice, &#9794; CHIKORITA is so gay.
<+FC> that's homophobic
You have been kicked from #nes by Thane (gaaayyy).[/pre].
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[pre]The topic for #nes is: gay
<%Thane> Wb.
<+FC> fag
<%Thane> Lol.
<%Thane> Well, I can't back down on a promise.
<+FC> yesss
<%Thane> But I spent sooo long playing Voltorb Flip to get Thunderbolt for it.
<+FC> whatcha trying to say
<%Thane> I'm saying, let's ask moltres.
<%Thane> Moltres, oh moooltreeesss!
<+FC> ...
<+FC> lol fine, it's a favor anyway :p
<%Thane> That's the spirit!
<%Thane> !8ball Should I give FC this GASTLY I found in Sprout Tower?
***FC crosses his fingers[/pre].
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[pre]<+moltres> Thane: Outlook good
<+FC> OH YEAH
<%Thane> Lol fine, you can have my GASTLY. :D
<%Thane> Just go to New Bark Town Pokémon Center--
<%Thane> --and head to the Wireless Club; I'll see you in the Union Room.
<+FC> ... new bark doesn't have a PC
<%Thane> Lolwut? What happens to injured Pokémon in your backwater town?
<+FC> prof elm has one of those healing machines
<%Thane> Healing station.
<+FC> thanks
<+FC> cherrygrove has a PC afaik
<%Thane> Well, message me then.
<%Thane> Wait, do you have your second Pokémon yet?
<+FC> no
<%Thane> Lol. Catch one first. League rules man.
<+FC> I knowww
<%Thane> Good luck! Get a RATTATA or something and message me THEN.
<+FC> right, right
<+FC> thanks man, I'll owe you one
<%Thane> Np, np; the more Trainers there are in the world, the better!
<%Thane> Maybe one day we could BATTLE.
<+FC> wouldn't that be awkward for your GASTLY?
<%Thane> Bahaha.
You have been kicked from #nes by Thane (move your ass).[/pre]

Well, that was productive.

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Time to see this Mr. Pokémon. *snicker*

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Meanwhile...

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*Click*

*Click-click*

*Tap tap tap*

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*Tap tap tap-tap-tap tap*

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[pre] <%Thane> !roll 1d2
<+moltres> Thane: 1
<%Thane> Aha!
<%kris> aw man!
<%kris> !8ball is Thane a big ol' meanie mean pants?
<+moltres> kris: Reply hazy, try again
<%Thane> Lol.
<%kris> oooh! >_<[/pre].
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[...]

[...]

[Please stop looking over my shoulder.]

[I can't pretend to understand your hobbies.]

[Everyone's got something.]

[Right.]

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[flyingchicken]

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Here, I'll give you my number&#8212;oh wait, right, you don't have your phone...

Oh, it just so happens that my Pokégear came in from the repair shop.

Hah, how convenient!

FC registered Professor Elm in the Pokégear!

So... how's your intern?

He's fine now. Nothing a Poké tranquilizer gun can't handle.

Oh man, those things are so cool. You actually have one of those?

Of course! I can't imagine how a Pokémon lab could survive without one.

Rampaging interns a usual problem?

... Hm, more common that you'd think, actually.

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Well FC, good luck. I'll call you if anything comes up.

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Man, they really let these Routes go ever since people realized they could just Fly to places.

I mean look at this, tall grass everywhere, you can't even see most of the path anymore.

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A wild PIDGEY appeared!

Not to mention the wild Pokémon that just ambush children on the way to the next town.

What if I didn't have Pokémon of my own?

The wild PIDGEY used Tackle!

Maybe I could take a PIDGEY, but what about WEEDLEs? Those things are POISON!

CHIKORITA used Tackle!

The wild PIDGEY fainted!

And you don't know where a RATTATA or a&#8212;or a SENTRET's been!

Sigh... Oh yeah, good job CHIKORITA, I guess.

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Well, come on girl, we have a bit of a walk ahead of us.

Chiko-chi! Chiko-ri!

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(And I thought ~frolicking~ in our front yard was bad...)

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[flyingchicken]

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Oh, what's this?

Well I really don't know what to do with an Apricorn Tree.

Besides, I don't think I could uproot it, much less fit it in my bag.

... What am I thinking? Taking a tree, really?

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Well, you know what they say CHIKORITA...

"Life without risk is not worth living."

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Oomph!

Hiyah!

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Phew!

Heh, that wasn't so bad...

Hey look, we're here!

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(Creepy old man alert! Just smile and nod...)

That's OK! Everyone is a rookie at some point!

If you'd like, I can teach you a few things.

(Just smile and nod... Wait, no!)

Ok, then! Follow me!

(He zoomed on ahead... I hope he's senile or something...)

(... Nope.)

Ohh... I'm sorry.

I forgot that you weren't wearing the Running Shoes!

I'll try to go as slow as possible, so try keeping up!

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(I guess I should humor him... at least until I can lose him...)

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(What have I gotten myself into?)

(Worst comes to worst, I can probably outrun him.)

(Or I could sic my CHIKORITA on him.)

*Gulp*

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[flyingchicken]

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You'll be relying on them a lot, so you better learn about them.

(It also has the Wireless Club and free computer access.)

(That reminds me, I should get some Poké Balls soon...)

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(Yes, this is my chance!)

(... No, it's not. And he's right, I can't run in these shoes.)

(Might as well see this through.)

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This is a Pokémon Mart.

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Trainers will be battling their Pokémon there.

If you go a little farther, you'll see Mr. Pokémon's House.

(Oh? It must be that house just beyond the ledge; thanks gramps, that's actually useful!)

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Ah ha haaa...

Some Pokémon are found only in water.

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For your effort keeping up with me, I'll give you my Running Shoes! They're still warm!

(Just smile and nod...)

Got you, didn't I? Don't worry, these are brand new!

FC received the Running Shoes from Guide Gent!

(... Hey, these are pretty nice actually.)

(But giving gifts to a ten year old? Come on; it's the sex offender registry for you, bub.)

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The instructions read, "Touch the Sprint Button on the Touch Screen to sprint."

It also says, "Hold the B Button down to sprint."

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*SLAM!*

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... How abrupt. Huh.

(I guess he wasn't looking to Harden his METAPOD. Explore my Diglett's Cave. Get a SQUIRTLE for a MACHOKE. Coerce me into sex acts.)

(Maybe he was just a nice, strange old man.)

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(... Best to err on the side of caution, though.)

*Click!*

(Oh goddammit.)

(The repair shop wiped my phone book! How am I going to call child protection? Or the police at least?)

(Ok, how about emergency services...)

*Beep boop beep*

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(What's this?)

("The Silph Co. Pokémon Gear is not a traditional telephone service or a replacement for your primary telephone service. The Silph Co. Pokémon Gear does not allow you to make emergency calls to emergency services. You must make alternative communications arrangements to ensure that you can make emergency calls if needed.")

(Oh this is lame.)

(Fine, I give up. I'm too young to be worried about performing my civic duty anyway.)

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(... Those idiots wiped my phone book!)

(Maybe it was the Soda Pop?)

(I have to blame someone other than myself!)

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[qoou]

DD self update. Won't be able to make it until 11 EST, which probably means not at all since that's fairly late for everyone else. Apologies.

 

[Birdjaguar]

FC: please spoiler the Pokemon if you are going to post them one after another. Thanks.

 

[Kraznaya]

[20:13] <@Dachs> go commit suicide or something

 

[flyingchicken]

well I don't want to be a bother so im cping everything to this thread and post updates there instead

actually Birdjaguar is there a way for a mod to insert a post into that thread (as first post)? I really really need it as an index...

 

[qoou]

My internet will be very sparse over the next day as I fly, and continue to be sparse to some degree over the next 2.5 weeks as I Europe.

 

[Terrance888]

I wish to post an open question for the NESing community.

What is the average quality of Orders for NESing? What is YOUR average quality of Orders for NESing? What should be the minimum quality for quick updating?

Why I ask this? It is because of growing experience with moderator discontent with the quality of orders. In NukeNES one of the reasons that Nuke put forth for shelving it is both player consistency and the quality of orders for the great powers. I have talked to various other moderators, and nearly all of them professed difficulty resolving vague, confusing, or skimpy ordersets. Even myself I find most of my orders of dubious quality, which are although workable, slows down my updating rate considerably whenever they (very oftenly) appear. As Crezth said, a mod should not "have to play 20 Questions with myself to find out what you meant to do."

Therefore, this open question to all of you. What do you (especially the Mods) feel the average quality of orders are- sufficient? Excellent? Not enough? (yes, I understand there are many order-writing styles). What should be the minimum quality for quick updating?

For me, I have very very very low minimums. Spending in one spot and distinctively labeled in some way, Foreign Policy outlined (bonus for hyperlinks), Military Policy has specific numbers and destinations. Descriptions are entirely auxiliary. Unfortunately, even with these minimums MOST of the orders for TerraNES failed (especially for the Spending and Foreign Policy parts).

For sending orders, as can be seen in the Show Me Your Orders thread, I tend to outline Spending/Foreign/Domestic/Military/Projects/Contingencies/Other. For each event I have a title, a quick description and note of resources and goals put towards that event, and then spoiler in depth notes and tactics I thought about throughout the week before sending. As an example: my Norman Ordersets for CIEN. Best among them (i.e. the ones I was able to put most time formating on) are 1837 and 1841, but I almost always keep my basic structure in mind.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

I have posted a sample of orders from almost every NES I'm currently in.

I typically like clear, simple orders, with storylike, flavourful things posted in the thread instead. Of course, I often am guilty of writing stories in my orders, but I work to put that in the thread as well, so that everyone gets to learn what's going on if they are interested.

 

[Dachs]

Yeah, as a mod, I would not be interested in slogging through stories and flavor at the wee hours of the morning while trying to convert orders into an update. Clear and concise orders are the best.

I have to say that, discounting the three-line orders that I've gotten from players who were both disinterested and unqualified, the worst set of orders I've ever received was from somebody who thought it was necessary to write his orders PM as a story, and concealed his spending orders and the like in a conversation by his emperor. It didn't help that his plans generally sucked and were made without a clear understanding of the setting.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Yeah, that's why I have started writing summaries at the end of my orders- mods can skip the middle section if they want to, and get the core important stuff by looking at the bottom.

Actually, it might be better if I put my summary at the top, next to my spending.

 

[Terrance888]

Looking at Iggy's orders, I see many similarities (except that, feeling safe with spoilers, mine tend to be longer winded under the hood.)

Thank you Iggy and Dachs for responding.

 

[Dachs]

Usually I summarize at the beginning of a section and go into detail later.

These days, I don't even go into that much detail, because of the problems with NESing and temporal resolution.

 

[Imago]

I like getting a range of long, short, organized, and freestyle orders. As long as everything&#8217;s intelligible, the differences keep things interesting. The only distinct order segment I really appreciate is spending (and haven&#8217;t had too much trouble with that, thankfully). Military locations are sometimes very useful and sometimes not so much depending on the situation. Military vectors are almost always useful, but without specifics, I can always write about a grand offensive.

For longer orders, that summary idea of Iggy&#8217;s sounds like something that could be useful.

For clarification on foreign policy, I usually crawl the thread for the latest, but that is a bit of a headache.

 

[Dachs]

Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, if a foreign policy initiative is in the thread, but not in orders, it didn't happen.

 

[Luckymoose]

My orders tend towards being a few perfect lines.

 

[Terrance888]

Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, if a foreign policy initiative is in the thread, but not in orders, it didn't happen.

I would like to implement this, but then most wars, or peace treaties, or trade agreements or religious pacts or much anything ever happened.