So How About This?

[Leroy]

So today I realized that I forgot to put up the group morph mission for November (It's up now, even though it may not even be necessary. Don't worry, keep reading. ) Anyway, it got my brain thinking.

It probably isn't a shock to anyone reading this that the site is sort of struggling at the moment. Most likely because of real world stuff, but the reasons don't really change the result. But despite the struggling state of the site, some of you have managed to stick around, and I'm grateful for that. And here is where my November Group Morph Mission-inspired idea comes in.

When I was getting ready to put the group morph announcement on the calendar, I realized something. It seemed kind of silly to restrict the morphs for the (real life) people who are still active on this site. I think I trust all of the people here enough not to abuse the freedom I am considering to allow on this site. So here is what I am suggesting.

I am suggesting that we temporarily remove the restrictions for acquiring morphs. The only conditions are (1) that people don't go on a total acquiring spree, acquiring every animal in sight, etc. (I'll have to keep an especially close eye on myself for that one. ) (2) That you still keep it reasonably realistic. So still no suicidal polar bear petting unless it somehow fits your character's personality. (3) Make sure you still follow the Morphing Rules.

So what do you guys think? Do you like the idea? Hate it? Do you think we can control ourselves? Questions, comments, concerns? Any feedback would be helpful.

Oh, and if we put this idea into effect, the change would only stay for as long as it works. Whether that be two hours or two years. I'll PM everyone when a decision is made one way or the other.

[belnoah]

i understand the first rule pretty clearly. and the second rule makes a lot of sense, but would it be possible for us to open up a thread in whatever faction we may be in that resembles what the animorphs were doing in the first book? where they went to the gardens and got most of their first battle morphs (maybe restrict the number of morphs people can get on this trip?)?

[Leroy]

Oh, yeah, that is totally possible. Sorry, I probably should have clarified what I meant better. So I'll try to do that now!

When I said, "Keep it realistic. No suicidal polar bear petting. Blah, blah, blah," I did not mean that you shouldn't acquire things like polar bears. Just have a reasonable excuse for doing so. Maybe I should give some examples.

Example One: Fred the animorph could use a good water morph, for no particular reason. He goes to the aquarium after closing time and sneaks into one of the buildings then heads to the Great White Shark tank. He climbs past all the safety fences and warning signs and crouches down over the water. A shark rises out of the water and nearly bites off Fred's hand. Apparently fearless Fred realizes that he won't be able to acquire the animal without getting into the water, so the next time the shark swims by, Fred leaps onto it's back and tries to acquire it.

Example Two: Fred is at the aquarium with his boss, Midge, who runs the place. Midge leads Fred to the shark tank where some scientists are doing some tests on the great white. They have it in some sort of holding area so that the scientists can get at it without being torn to shreds. Fred asks if he can touch it since he would probably never get the opportunity again (lets face it, who wouldn't want to touch that shark if it were safe?). His boss agrees and Fred discretely acquires it without anyone even realizing it.

Example Three: Fred is out in the ocean on a shark-watching boat. There is a diver in a cage and everyone is throwing bits of meat into the water and watching the local sharks gobble it up. Fred slips and goes into the water. A shark goes after him and start to rip him apart. Fred acquires it in order to put it into a trance and give him enough time to escape.

Example Four: Fred is out in the ocean on a shark-watching boat. There is a diver in a cage and everyone is throwing bits of meat into the water and watching the local sharks gobble it up. Fred "slips" and goes into the water. A shark goes after him and start to rip him apart. Fred acquires it in order to put it into a trance and give him enough time to escape.

In my mind, examples one and for wouldn't be very realistic, but examples two and three are conceivable. So pretty much you can acquire any animal you want, but you just have to figure out the right way to do it. Remember, in the first book when the wen to the Gardens, Jake and Marco only went into the tiger pen because they didn't know what was in there and their only other option had a rhinoceros in it. They probably would have turned themselves in to the security guards if they knew there were tigers behind that door.

[Jamilan]

I'm still here, and always will be unless I lose my Internet privileges, which probably won't happen. It's sad, though, that this site has lost activity, but that doesn't mean we can't get more people to join. In fact, I am going to invite a good friend of mine who had a character in an Animorphs RP that she really misses.

I'm a realist, and that is one of the main reasons I fully support this. There are opportunities when Jamilan or Leopold could have, and would have (according to personality or situation) acquired something, but I wanted to conserve my morphs (I always liked having one free in case I needed it).

I also think that if you implement this, plot-making will be easier, thus leading to an even more enjoyable RP. I like the idea of having to RP it out to acquire it, or at least having a very reasonable explanation either placed into your character profile or described in a post. In fact, I have an idea about listing morphs that I will suggest once I have the chance to think it out.

Both the rules - no morphing sprees, and no unrealistic acquisitions - make perfect sense. I think most people are mature enough to follow those rules. In fact, on every Animorphs site I've been a part of, no-one has gone on a morph acquiring spree when there was freedom of morph acquiring.

Thanks for being open to this, Leroy. Here's to the survival of this site, and fun, engaging plots!

[Johnny]

The rules make prefect sense, as well as the reasoning behind 'em. The only thing that I think you should add is a limit on the amount of battle-type morphs a character can have. Even if a character has flawless reasons and ways of getting such morphs, I'm not so sure we should be able to do that. Like the Animorphs only had one or two morphs they used in battle even until the end of the series (despite the fact that, by then, most of them could morph a cheetah, rhino/elephant, and polar bear). Besides, acquiring tons of really dangerous morphs wouldn't be very realistic, unless they're a big game hunter or something.

Just my 1.5 cents.

[Leroy]

Nov 12, 2009 18:25:58 GMT -5 Johnny said:

The rules make prefect sense, as well as the reasoning behind 'em. The only thing that I think you should add is a limit on the amount of battle-type morphs a character can have. Even if a character has flawless reasons and ways of getting such morphs, I'm not so sure we should be able to do that. Like the Animorphs only had one or two morphs they used in battle even until the end of the series (despite the fact that, by then, most of them could morph a cheetah, rhino/elephant, and polar bear). Besides, acquiring tons of really dangerous morphs wouldn't be very realistic, unless they're a big game hunter or something.

Just my 1.5 cents.

That is definitely a valid concern, but I don't think I'll make a restriction unless it becomes a problem. I've got two reasons. One: If they have flawless reasons for getting those morphs, then they have flawless reasons for getting those morphs. Two: Congratulations, you can still only use one at a time.

I know that having a lot of 'powerful' morphs might seem a bit excessive, but then again in my opinion so might having a lot of different bug morphs, or dog morphs, or water morphs. I think this concern would mostly be handled by the 'no acquiring sprees' guideline anyway. We know Cassie never went on one, and she practically lived in an animal DNA buffet.

[Johnny]

I think there's another thing to think about, one that I think Jamilan touched on: How will we list the morphs? If there is no limit on getting morphs, I think our signature boxes might get filled up pretty rapidly. Maybe we can have each charater make a thread and list all of their morphs there?

[Leroy]

Hmm, that's a good point. Well, we already have a list of morphs for everyone. Perhaps we should just keep it up to date.