Playerbase poll! pretend this is a modjournal, okay

[implying]

Hello, Exsilium! Just a quick poll, here. We're considering a revision to the rule that disallows doubles of characters in game. Here's the phrasing as it stands now:

Only one incarnation of a fandom character can exist in Exsilium at a given time. For example, if someone were to play a canon AU version of a character (say, Communist Superman from Red Son), then the place for Superman would be taken and could not be applied for by another Superman.

Essentially, this means that there are no doubles of existing fictional characters, although exceptions are made for well-known characters in literature, such as fairy tales, gods in mythology, and most recently, various incarnations of Sherlock Holmes.

The proposed change would be to allow any and all canon AUs (not including characters from different points on the same timeline). That would allow things like Tony Stark of Marvel 616 playable alongside our current MCU Tony Stark, as well as Star Trek TOS Captain Kirk alongside our current 2009 Captain Kirk. Note: there would be no cap on the multiples allowed, here. If a canon has 4 fleshed out and appable versions of a character (to use Tony as an example again: 616, Ultimates, MCU, Noirverse, that one universe where everyone is a zombie, etc…), then we could potentially have all 4 in game.

Please only vote once/with one journal! The poll will be open for a week, until May 31st, and results will apply to this coming app round.

Poll #13505

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 91

View Respondents

Should we change the rule to allow multiples of characters, or keep it the same?

View Answers

Change it!
57 (62.6%)

Keep everything as it is!
34 (37.4%)

Comments

[fe_male]

yeah baby you use tony as an example oh baby get on it

[implying]

apps zombie tony

[shelkethetransparent]

Where would CRAUs fall into this particular mesh?

And while the idea of changing the rule seems good, I think you may still want to put a cap on how *many* AUs of a character you can have. I only say this because I was in a game with four Dave Striders and that is a lot of freakin' Dave Strider.

Too much Dave Strider, one might say.

(This was just an example, Dave Strider is cool and was not harmed in the making of this example.)

[implying]

Since CRAUs originate from a canon version, they would take up the slot of that canon version.

And for now, we're going to go with no cap on the multiples allowed. But remember that it comes with the caveat that the canon AU must be fleshed-out enough to be apped as a full character!

[fantasticforcefields]

I love doubles shenanigans, but you are probably going to want to cap the number of duplicates, or you run the risk of a couple media that have a lot of canon AUs (coughcomicscough) overrunning the game.

[implying]

For now, there won't be a cap in place. We'll revise that if it does turn into an issue.

[commentboxtroll]

My preference is to keep it as it is.

I admit that I'm just not a fan of multiples of the same character in a game, even if they are from canon AUs, especially without a cap, though my biggest concern about it is the increased chances of the casts with so many canon AUs becoming overwhelmed and unintentionally closed off from the rest of the game due to it.

[revolutionized]

I would like to keep it as-is, because of aforementioned concerns about large casts with tons of multiples overwhelming the game. I don't really care for games that allow multiples either.

[raisedbybirds]

Given Exsilium's theme of time-traveling, I think it would be perfectly suitable to see various incarnations of the same character.

[hostage]

This is my feeling on it, too. Then again, I'd also be pretty excited about multiples from different timelines even if they aren't necessarily from AUs. I JUST LOVE MULTIPLES.......

[khajidont]

Personally, I think that playing with doubles can be a lot of fun. But considering not everyone is cool with that and that would make it really awkward should the person playing one of the doubles isn't a fan... Is it possible to allow doubles with the stipulation that the existing player(s) have to be cool with it?

[implying]

If the vote passes this rule and anyone is uncomfortable having a double of their character, since they apped in while it wasn't allowed, we would be perfectly okay with indicating that their character can only have one version around. However, future applicants wouldn't get the same deal, as they apped in while it was an established rule.

[wilder]

Question! say a canon such as a video game has multiple endings for particular characters in which their lives drastically change based on different circumstances. Would characters from different ending paths in those cases count as canon AU's or no?

[implying]

Yes, that would count! And a protagonist of a game like Dragon Age, with different versions/backstories of the Warden, would also be considered appable.

[atailoftwoworlds]

I think this multiple versions is a great idea! Although with this idea you might want to have a cap on the number of taken characters per fandom - eg. Maybe limit the number of appable characters per fandom to IDK 30 or 40. This would be because of fandoms that often get characters being apped like Homestuck, Madoka Magica, Kingdom Hearts, etc. I'm in towerofanimus and it now allows one canon version and 2 AU versions but has some sort of cap because of cast explosions.

[salvagedsoul]

I vote for the possible 3rd option, allow AUs but put a cap on the number of multiples (if I could wave a magic wand and have my personal preference be the rule, it would be 2).

+1

[accidentalrebellion]

I actually voted for the change on the poll, but this would be my vote if the option were there. I'm all for allowing AUs, but it'd probably be good, imo, to put a cap on it.

[biwinning]

Ironically, I'm more in favor of keeping it as it is, rather than allowing AUs. But since it seems in the polls, AUs are still winning, it would really be important to add a cap for reasons others have said about certain fandoms that favor canon AUs dominating the game.

[pixieboots]

I have to admit doubles in games is not something I’m super comfortable with, if only because I think it can lead to overly bloated casts or a big influx of one or two popular characters, which can then be hard to deal with ICly especially if you play someone who would have issues seeing another version (or lol five) of themselves around hanging out with their in-game friends, etc. It can make it harder to build traction if you're the new dude or find meaningful CR if you have to step over someone else's pre-existing stuff to get there, unless everyone involved makes a really big effort to be on the same page and/or the doubles are just really really that unrecognizably different if that makes sense. And obviously part of the deal of RP is that most people drop characters eventually and new muns pick them up and CR has to rebuild continuously, but I feel like that process might be harder to play through if new versions of one character are able to just keep cycling through while all the others are still in game, even.

THAT SAID THOUGH i think with some safeguards in place to facilitate ooc communication between affected muns it could really work and be fun even though for now i going to go ahead and vote to keep things as they are and wow I’m really tired I apologize if this is incoherent

[oncearanger]

I lean toward allowing it, but my feelings are mixed and I haven't voted yet.

I don't currently play characters that have major canon AUs running around, but I used to. I'll give the example of Sailor Venus from Sailor Moon. She's different in all her incarnations, perhaps more than any other Sailor Moon character (besides maybe Mars).

If I apped...say, solemn, serious, and cold live action Venus into a Sailor Moon anime cast expecting the bubbly and happy anime Venus and the slot was taken up per the current rule, things could get really awkward really fast. But if canon AUs were allowed and the cast resolved things by having an anime Venus app in too, they could freeze out the live action Venus and there could be intense competition.

As far as personal experience, I used to play cartoon Starfire in a game that had a primarily comics DC cast. Dick was still nice to her, but the situation was awkward and fun. The game allowed AUs so his Kory could've apped in at any time, and we were fine with that since the two are pretty different and mostly share a name and a few key traits.

On the other hand, this is an all or nothing rule, and a lot of canon AUs are so similar that they could feel like they're competing against each other. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter don't change much between versions of Sailor Moon, for example, and that could be awkward too.

I just don't know. There are a lot of pitfalls that you can't really write rules for.

[moirailcompass]

whoops, i voted with the wrong journal herp derp. hearnoevil is me

[speakveryclearly]

I voted for "Keep everything as it is!" but I think either outcome could be made to work with the tone of the game. Changing this rule would fit better with the multiple timelines and multiple worlds that define Exsilium. However, it does pose the question, "Why didn't the transportation machine work this way to begin with?" The change would probably harm Initiative-Transport Relations right when we're all working so hard to better them. And then there's the issue of how to tag posts (especially when, as we flirt with 500 characters in game, tag space is really at a premium).

Finally (and this is what decided my vote) this increases the maximum size of a cast and generates discrepancies between the players within it. I can say from personal experience that it is very hard to coordinate the actions of a large cast in this game already.

[anothercoldwar]

I'm a little biased because I've played in games and had multiples played against my characters and enjoyed it a lot, but I think it's worth a shot! Because, for example, 616!Magneto and XMFC!Magneto are pretty different characters, and it seems silly to block one because a different one is in game already.

The only issue I can potentially see is perhaps with some anime/manga series, where someone will say 'hey, the anime isn't the manga, I can totally app X here even though they're in the game already!' without there really being much difference between the two other than one is animated and one is on paper. But that would be up to the mods to work through, I suppose.

[dawningsun]

Everyone should app Thassarian so we have have 50 of him.

so..Loki

[highfrequency]

I will preface this by saying I am happy to go with whatever the majority decides on! Hence, I am not voting.

I do want to express the one major concern I have and that's the issue of characters like Loki. Loki, in all incarnations, is very popular across the RPsphere and it would be easy to end up with 616, Ultimates, MCU, Serrure, etc all in the game fairly quickly. Normally this might not be a problem but Loki (all Lokis) is a dedicated shit-stirrer and having that many of him could dramatically alter the landscape of the game because they would all end up playing wargames with each other. Serrure is the only one that's not a supervillain.

If people are okay with this, I am too, I am not saying I want to be our only Loki. I just wouldn't feel right not bringing this up now if it might cause complications later, you know?

Re: so..Loki

[oldsoldiersneverdie]

I like to think that players are smart enough not to app in major disturbers. Or that the mods are smart enough to talk to the player if it becomes a problem. I know Loki is a potential because he's fandom-popular but I can think of a few characters from the X-Men side of things that would be potentially game-breaking (hi Apocalypse). That risk is always there with villains.

[fintastic]

I have to agree with pixieboots and commentboxtroll, and I would definitely be in favor of a cap as others have mentioned.

[bloodyashes]

I know a bunch of people are concerned about massive duplicating for certain characters, so I'd just like to slip in here and say that that doesn't really happen. I'm another Tower of Animus player - for those of you who aren't aware, they allow player created AUs and up to three versions of a character (up from two as of a few months ago).

As far as I know, there is only one character at that three version cap, Dave Strider from Homestuck. The only other character I know of this being an issue with in the past is Link from Legend of Zelda - since Animus took each LoZ game as its own canon until the recent rule change, we did at one point (prior to my play) have four of them running around. That's still not nearly the "overwhelming number of versions" you guys are worried about.

So just chill. It's not going to affect the game that badly. //reassuringly pets playerbase

+1

[wilder]

Echoing this. I'm not at Animus, but I've been part of Paradisa for six years where we've had the canon AU rule the entire time and...well, it's honestly never been a problem. We've never had even more than two versions of certain characters at a time. And a lot of the time? They came from canons that already knew that alternate realities could exist (like in many comics), so it was far from earth shattering. The others were like "wow that's weird!" but learned to cope with it and got awesome CR from it.

So yeah, that's my own experience. It doesn't happen to most characters because they don't have canon AUs, and if it does? Well honestly it tends to work out more positively than negatively with getting CR or having an interesting time.

[lar]

I voted to keep things as they are, as I'm not overly fond of AUs...but it's ultimately what people decide, right? I do like the fact it's a canonical different version of the character, and not a made up AU, because those usually tend to look a lot more different to make sense of. I might or might not consider apping someone that might have alternates at some point though, and I honestly don't know how I would feel if someone apped another version of it.

On the other hand, yeah, I think people in this game are pretty cool and level headed so it shouldn't get out of hand, I guess. I just have feelings about it.

[ai]

Commenting to inform you I voted with my main journal instead of my in-game journal by accident (marbled), sorry about that.