Transitioning away from ability apps

[Tristam]

Im happy. Apps have always been so 2010. It's outdated, biased, unnecessary, subjective and gatekeepy. There's always been alternative ways to reward things being unique and roleplaying other than the manual proccess and I am glad this is finally being seen by this team.

The game by itself already has means of automatically tracking progress and roleplay and it's more objective than a public vote system. It's fair. Still, perhaps 30K is a bit too little for Masters.

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To answer to Velkor :
Just wanted to be sure officially if the app option for masters/exalted were still an option ! This is a roleplaying game and I am sure some characters could have stories to tell on how they acquire such ability.
Like the freebie at rpl230 before, it was a nice alternative way !

I forgot though two negative points.

First of all, I am getting worried if that will encourage people to play for getting signatures, instead of letting their characters "become" the signature through their narrative story.
Secondly : if signatures become more accessible, I am also worried that some magics become less interesting, or become weaker, because they do not have respective "endgame" spells. Which, can push away diversity in builds. For example, Ether and Metamagic and their subtrees have so many signatures. Elemental magic and bio have a decent amount too, but their subtrees are lacking in options.
For example, there is no "nature" signature or "crystal" signature that could match with the others in strength.

And this is why the narrative app option could still be present. Harmonic Attunement is normally a Holy Aura upgrade that you need to have. But I still managed to get it through another mean by explaining my narrative, my learnings and my technique on why I could use such ability, reflavored to not get holy but nature instead.

The Custom Stance for Master signatures at least is a wildcard that fits all.

I am sorry to remind you that people already play for signatures. Do not trick yourself with the false veil of deving. It's a lie that people tell themselves to pretend they're roleplayong and not Powergaming.

I've lost the count of how many people at age 10 have made their characters initially and already had a signature to dev in mind. Have you ever lost an Rpb, got an injury and was asked "(what are you deving?" People ALREADY do this. But they pretend and go towards their goal to metagame and get their cool trophy. It's always been the case, few, veery few applications in the archieve section of this forum are truly ORGANIC.

Besides, a good roleplayer will dev their way throught their things by the simple encouragement that Roleplaying is fun. You don't need to show your progress to others and have subjectivity of others to this proccess, first because it taints the purity of the author's narrative and personal views and second because it's but a proof you're doing it to get what you want and not because you enjoy your writting.

Specially for highly flexible things like most of this game's signatures. It's whole deal for Mythics that work much more like ranks and lore solidifed things. But Sigs? Just give people more freedom to write them out. And if not, even if you don't agree or think someone's writting is meeting whatever subjective standard you set, let them be rewarded for putting as much effort in the game as you in the form of many hours of their life.

I have never seen anything like someone asking "what are you deving for" after losing a fight. Except for perms where players sometimes have preferences.

Personally, a signature is not a goal to achieve, but an identity you become. At age 10 I think there are other concerns to take care of instead of thinking about signatures. I have seen people make a character for the sole purpose of getting a signature/hidden/class and be disappointed when they were denied and had no goals, directions, or ambitions to play towards. They weren't living their character, and it's a bit sad if some people can't play their character in their beginnings instead of focusing on their endgame.

I personally have never stuggled with the ability form, as I was able to tell an organic developpement and narration to achieve such. I only apped, when I felt like the character had enough maturity. If in 30 minutes of writing you could explain in a pleasant story why your character can practice such ability, how they have achieved such and what would be their plans in the future with it, then you had an organic developpement to show.

I am fine with the ability form as an app method. The only thing I dislike in apps, is log diving. This is the real homework, that if you don't have the good practice to immediately save them, it can slow your motivation and makes it feel like a chore.
So I am VERY glad the ability form doesn't require logs at all. Just a narration written in the same duration as a biography post.

That's what I meant by you don't earn a signature,  you "become" the signature. The signature represents a story, an unique/important characteristic of your character.

I think this sets for Mythic Signatures at least. As Mythic Signatures are often attached to specific lore points, be it cultural, religious, regional, sciences, and universal laws and magics.
For example Wayfinding as a whole could be a mythic with how much lore is already set in it.

So yes.
I was  always told that signatures were a rare thing for to achieve, and that we should play our best with the options we currently have or seek the mentors able to teach such. Because if Signatures become more common and accessible through gameplay means (exp and influence), that makes it less impressive as more people become more commonly "exceptional". On top of that people who really struggle to fight but still remain active enough, will face the same wall as the opponent also has the same odds of getting their master/exalted signature as them.

I still remember during my battle in Aphros plaza against a demon, people were LOOC excited when I revealed my spectral sight.

At that point, this almost feels like trying to gain a third or fourth mastery token you can unlock a new spell with in a menu.
So. Perhapsmore mythics signature will be added to the list to help those struggling to still have a bit of a boost.