Cilla

Sword Art Online is a perma-death game that kills you IRL when you die in-game.

As we are all well aware, these forums are cautiously maintaining a sense of balance and understanding of canon when it come to implementing new skills, weapons, items, and systems. One of these mechanics that are absolutely kept as a rule is the permanence of death, which means that your character is forever and ultimately dead (with the exception of threads you had active at the time of death). This is one of the most interesting and nerve-wracking points of both the series and this RP forum, making it both a fun and scary experience, knowing that anyone can die at anytime. Keeping true to this one key rule is something I do not wish to change, lest we lose the feeling of magnitude towards risk vs reward.

What is the point of restarting once all is said and done? I've lost everything.

With this being an RP forums, people spend a lot of time and effort investing in their characters. They create these characters and, generally, put in a lot of their soul into them, raising them from the ground up, and usually becoming attached to them. Admittedly, characters that I have heavily RPed with in the past in previous RP sites that have died off, be it for plot or battle, have left me emotionally distraught as well as others. These players were all under the same condition of having spent anywhere from one to four years on these characters and, after such a tragic event has occurred, they tend to lose all interest in picking back up from the beginning. They have virtually lost everything, from their virtual friends to their rewards.

How can we prevent losing loyal players and encourage long term commitment to the site?

In one of the more recent websites that I had RPed on, there was a system in place that allowed players to put themselves out in more plot-relevant that allowed their characters to further develop, even at the cost of more riskier adventures. As I've said before, throwing in so much effort and time into creating, developing, and becoming a character just to have them slayed off can be a heart wrenching encounter. To make up for such a massive loss, we had a system in place called "Character Harvesting" that allowed players to create a new character that harvested the sources of a previous character. In a much smaller scale, that is essentially what I would like to suggest to you all today.

Well, what sort of mechanics would such a system have?

Here, I have laid out a small, concise format of what harvesting a character would entail:

1. When your character dies, you are no longer able to make or join any new threads as mentioned in other rules.
   1. Any threads that you are currently in may and are encouraged to be completed. These can be referred to as "flashback" events as it the memory of a dead player.
   2. Any threads you complete after your character's death will still reward the appropriate SP.
2. The rewards you have earned at the time of death for a character or after having finished the flashbacks of a character, you may "harvest" their resources.
   1. The only rewards that a player may harvest is their SP earned.
   2. They will lose the following resources:
      1. Earned Skills (ie. Martial Arts, Katana, Unique Skills)
      2. Grandmastered Skills (to Grandmaster a skill, you must complete a Grandmaster thread)
      3. Quests
      4. Items
      5. Equipment
      6. Materials
      7. Col
3. You can not remake your character ever again, they are permanently dead and archived in the history of SAO.
4. You can only harvest a dead character once every three months ^{(length of time up for discussion)} in real life time. Yes, three months.
   1. If your have a character that dies within three months of a harvest, then yes, you must wait until that allotted time has passed.
5. Players caught griefing others (ie. murdering/rampages without IC reason) will be dealt with accordingly.
   1. Players also caught abusing this system in other ways will be dealt with accordingly.

Of course, this is all up to you, as players, to discuss. Please do discuss things you feel should be added and/or removed to create a more fair system. I feel the only thing that should be able to be reaped is the SP earned as all other items and Col (including housing and guild halls (can anyone correct me on that)?) are passed on to the player that kills them, passed on to their living partner, or are permanently removed from the game otherwise.

"That is all well and good, I'm quite aware of what you meant." She let out a little sigh as she was slightly disappointed the player had missed out on her obviously inquisitive demeanor, "Well, it's been nice meeting you Kroshma." She wasn't going to excuse herself just yet as she didn't have much else to do at this time, but if this individual wasn't willing to be a little more communicative in terms of being social, then there was simply nothing she could do besides bid adieu.

In a most peaceful manner, Priscilla had been minding her own business, even if her own business revolved around the business of others. There didn't seem to be too much to be too eager about as many players were obviously preoccupied in their ventures, be it quests or quick visits to some of the shops in town. It caught her a little by surprise when a player sat down beside her at the bench and questioned her as if she had showed up afterwards, bringing a little bit of light to what had started off as a rather dull day, "Salutations, yourself." It was her usual greeting, but she treated his question as if it was a greeting of his own, "I've been here for a good minute, a bit before you broke away from the crowd. You must be rather focused to have not seen me, in a bit of a pickle or just lost in thought?"

Fortunately for Zelrius, it did not matter too significantly whether or not he told her the truth. However, it would turn out to be far less of a hassle for him because of his honesty. She was a tad surprised that this big bad ~wolf~ player was into such a fixation, at least that's what Priscilla could only assume, in which he desired to pet players after growing animal ears and accompanying tail. While it was certainly an obession many people had in the real world, she hadn't encountered a single soul showing any sign of affiliation, but Priscilla thought it was cute, if a little funny, "Well, I most definitely did not expect you to be into that of all things, but-" She pretended to ponder it as if the thought of having pointy ears and a long fluffy tail wasn't absolutely the most adorable thing besides her soon-to-be familiar, "If it gives you good sensations, I'll give it a shot." She swirled the potion around in its container while he commented on how odd of a familiar she was pursuing, holding back from reminding him of his equally odd request, "Just wait until you see it, it's almost as adorable as me." Giggling at her bit of hubris, she popped the lid off the potion and tilted the glass, "Bottoms up!" In no more than a few seconds later, the expected results would soon bear their fruit, revealing Priscilla's new features.

Priscilla had woken up quite later than what she was planning, but as always, today was another easy day with little planned. Of course, she wouldn't have the luxuries of lying around or wasting the day around once she got her shop fully up and running, much less after she carried through with her plans from the get-go. However, there was no reason not to enjoy such simple pleasantries in the meantime. She hopped out of bed, changed into her usual uniform, then made her way outside of the inn after doing some early stretches to nimble herself up for the day. Almost without putting any thought into the act whatsoever, she set upon a route that would take her to the nearest restaurant, in which she would grab a simple cup of orange juice and buttered toast. She didn't intend to stay long, wondering what today might lead to, crunching into the warmth of the fresh slice of bread.

Reserved

Ranks

Admiral:

Cilla

The founder and original (current) leader of the <<spoiler>>.

Vice Admiral:

Rosie

Deputized to serve as leader during the Admiral's absence, supervising the guild's actions.

Captains:

N/A

A council of up to five players that discuss and make decisions for guild actions.

Commanders:

N/A

Exceedingly powerful members, capable of supporting other high-level guilds during boss expeditions.

Lieutenants:

N/A

Elite members that serve as the core force of training, exploring, and clearing along with fellow Officers.

Officers:

N/A

Players that have proven themselves as a member of the <<spoiler>> over time or through notable actions.

Ensigns:

N/A

Generally comprised of new recruits or players that are marked as inactive.

Guild Objective

We are a support guild designed around a player base of low to mid level players that are looking to one day fight along with higher level guilds on the front lines against bosses and whatever else may come along the way. Striving to train these players as well as providing for them the proper resources and information for increased chances of survival, they know they can safely rely on us in their greatest times of need. We are also willing to extend our hands to those that are not currently members of our guilds, be it players or guilds alike, if the need arises. While we will not initially make our mark on the frontier of clearing bosses, we will provide the option for those that can keep up pace with the higher level guilds that do not wish to move on from this guild. Ultimately, we encourage players to strive to move forwards and forever upwards, meaning that we welcome when the time comes for you to join a higher level guild. We know you'll do the guild proud and wish you luck in your endeavors.

Guild History

Officially founded on the date of Month xx, 2016.

Founded by the two players with the usernames of Cilla and Rosie, the concept of creating a guild for similarly lower leveled players like themselves has become a fruitful endeavor. While they did not initially create any attention, the duo intended to create a supply of items and equipment that would (1) allow new members be properly prepared for endeavors into the wilderness and (2) generate some talk about this up and coming guild. After their first marketing campaign, held in front of the \\cafe\\ on Floor 3, the players x,x,x would find interest and become official members of the guild.

Guild Info

Affiliated with:

x

x

x

Headquarters:

x

Resources:

Col - 0

Materials - 0

Armory - ^{See Spoiler}

Hello, this thread is a work in progress and, in the meantime, please do not post here.

Thank you!

Reserved

It wasn't often that a player really clicked with Priscilla, having quite a few difficulties in the past in previous games whenever she made anyone a little too uncomfortable. However, this wasn't just a game where she could joke around, hop offline, or ignore people if they got upset over it. This was virtually the real world, ironically enough, and everything she did here had consequences that would pursue her, good or bad. Fortunately for her, Zelrius seemed to have little trouble opening up to Priscilla and her meddlesome manners, even taking on the opportunity at teasing her as well. On the offhand though, she hadn't been intentionally teasing him as much as she had thought so the quick-witted comment plastered a stupid, wide grin upon her face, "I.. heh... appreciate the compliment, but you give the floor a run for its col yourself." While it wasn't something that he had probably heard before, considering it was a situational and on-the-spur quip, she hoped it would be enough to get him back for catching her off-guard like that. Almost without flaw, he brought a bit more embarrassment to herself after he claimed he had witnessed her struggle from the get-go, "Oh, sheesh... I feel like I tried a little too hard to get that one guy to tag along, ^{even though he was a little rooood.}" She muttered the last bit too herself, then her mind instantly wrapped itself around how long he had been watching before nonchalantly volunteering to join her on her venture, "Oooooh, I see..." She giggled once again, thinking full and well she had caught on, "You were playing hard to get weren't you?" Knowing he was more than capable of taking her strongest punch without flinching, she gave him a light, joking jab in the arm as she called him out in jest, "You fiend."

Amusingly, he was quite into the formality and still wished to refer to her in such a manner. It had a nice ring to it and, while she had no intentions of forcing other players to do so, would likely welcome it if Zelrius introduced her as such. He seemed quite friendly and excessively confident in his capabilities, which she had no doubts in due to his absurd level, informing her that none of the quest bosses concerned him. Long as he didn't expect any form of compensation, unless it was something that the boss gave as a reward and he desired it, she was more than happy to deliver her end of the bargain, "This should be easy peasy then, considering we both excel in our respective fields." She giggled and did so even more when he pulled his collar a bit, "It is pretty hot on this floor isn't it, even a little more than what I was comfortable with back home." While it wasn't something she had discussed with anyone, much less something anyone had discussed with her either, it felt a little weird referring to the real world now that this had completely replaced it so she avoided talking about it for the time being. However, while they began walking towards the ever expansive desert, she did want to bring up a question that began to dig into her train of thought, "Soooo, how long were you watching me make a fool of myself in town?" She was referring to her failed attempts to gather anyone to join her along the quest, including the joke of an attempt to persuade the guy that laughed her offer off.

It was nice to hear that Zelrius got a bit of enjoyment out of their last endeavor, even if it was a bit more intense than Cilla would have imagined, but at least she wasn't alone in assuming this trip was going to be far more peaceful. She caught a hold of the potion that he tossed her, leaving her a little confused as to what it was as she peered it over, "Oh, what is this then?" Priscilla wasn't very hesitant in trusting Zelrius, which meant he could claim it to be anything he wanted, but he would have to deal with the consequences, good or bad, once the effects of the potion kicked in. After waiting for his response, she would take the lead and march onwards as he kindly let her go first, but would quickly return to a more comfortable pace walking nearly shoulder to shoulder, "Well, now that we're out here, we have to look for this creature." Obviously, this player probably knew about this quest, but it wouldn't hurt to go back over the details out loud and include what sort of creature they were looking for, "It's the cutest darned thing you'll ever see; it's a half cat and half ladybug hybrid... thing." She brought her hands together near her chest, shaking her fists in excitement, "Just remember, I have dibs on it so if you want one, you'll have to wait until next time!"

While it was a little more formal than she had expected of Zelrius, she certainly wasn't going to argue against the use of such a respectable prefix like this. Uncertain as to whether or not to refer to him as Sir or something similar, she felt it was a little too formal for her liking and had always preferred the simplicity and cordiality of only using a person's first name. Priscilla nodded her head, "You're more than welcome to call me that, but it isn't necessary," leaving the option to his whimsy. Luckily for her, Zelrius had previously done the same quest previously with someone even lower leveled than herself which brought her hopes up as his dialogue went on. Receiving the party invite and his affirmation that he was willing to do the legwork, she gleefully thanked him for his assistance, "Thank you so much, I really do appreciate it!" She quickly removed her arm from behind Zelrius so that she could hop up without bothering him and, in the process, came within inches of knocking down both of the swords, "I'll certainly try to keep this entertaining, but do let me know if I become much of a nuisance. I can..." She shrugged her shoulders, knowing that she might as well admit to the truth, "... be a little overbearing for some people, though you seem to be quite like my type." While she didn't mean it in the manner of attraction, it likely could have been taken out of the friendly context in which she was referring to, which happened to be their similarity in behavior.

Priscilla had made it to the gate just moments before receiving the responding message from Zelrius, leaving her quite delighted to know that he would soon be here to accompany her. She considered sending a message back, thanking him or an emoticon as a simple response, but neither seemed right or appropriate. Coming to a solution, she figured she wouldn't respond whatsoever, seeing as they had plenty of time for chatter during this quest. Without having to wait too long, she would soon be met by the familiar face from two floors above, "Salutations!" She waved to him as he came in sight and greeted him once he was within earshot, but when he neared, it appeared as if he wasn't too content with the invitation's message wording. Priscilla gleamed, putting one hand on her hip and using the other to pull up the menu interface, "Why do you ask so inquisitively? Well, it's another quest..." Continuing the answer, she would make sure to finish what she was saying as to not make him worry about having to carry her through a second quest, "but(!) it's the Feeding the Enemy quest so I can do it on my own..." Pausing once more for a moment, she invited him to her party through the menu and awaited his acceptance, "but I had fun on the last quest and thought it would be nice to have you tag along. Is that alright?"

Priscilla had wandered onto the third floor, absolutely loving the scenery of Delilah Village, but she didn't have time like usual to just explore or people watch. She had already spoken with an NPC on a previous floor to begin a quest by the name of "Feeding the Enemy," which unlike the other quests she had departed on, wasn't restricted to a certain floor. While it was an unexplored floor for her, she came to this floor specifically for an adorable creature that she had only heard about in rumours. Of course, she knew that this wasn't a dangerous quest per say, but she most certainly would appreciate a bit of help with the hunt if it was indeed a rare creature, especially if she got to spend the time with someone fun. Pulling up the messaging menu, she sent off a quick message to the most recent addition to her friend's list, Zelrius, before making her way to the town gates where the flowers grew in abundance.

Having dropped all the way from Floor 5 to the starting floor, Priscilla was quite content with how populated the floor was in comparison to the others. Not to mention, the weather was considerably more fair than the extremities of the fourth's harsh cold and the fifth's overbearing warmth. She wasn't here to do much in terms of business, beyond working towards increasing her social circle, especially among those at or around her level. She was in the center of the town, quite near the start of the quest in which players can pursue a profession of their own liking. She wasn't going to start engaging with random players here in town unless they showed some sort of interest in grouping up or they happened to be doing something that piqued her interest. Taking a deep breath in, then looking around at the nearby players, she would make her way over to the nearest bench and people watch until something happened.

"Great minds think alike," she thought to herself as he too admitted to using these floors as an escape from the harsh cold. Fast forwarding to the response of the other player after Priscilla's questions of doubt, it turned out to be something a little more special than she understood. She wasn't going to pry more into the details nor how he could possibly be the only one capable of wielding multiple weapons at the same time as it didn't sound very typical to games like these, letting the following introduction take her mind over completely. While both the name of the player nor the guild wasn't ones that she recognized or had heard of, she was more captivated at the concept of the play- Zelrius being level 52. She quickly picked up where he had left off, properly introducing herself as she had failed to do so earlier while sending him a Friend Request, "Pardon my manners, I'm Cilla. Nice to meet you, Zelrius." Playing right into his trap card, luckily not being sent to the shadow realm in the process as the Aincrad veteran had good intentions, she leaned closer towards him and extended her arm across the length of the top of the bench behind him, "I hate to ask you a favor so soon after meeting you, but I really don't have anyone else to turn to." Her voice had become noticeably softer at this point and unless someone was standing directly in the immediate vicinity of the bench, they would not be able to pick up what she was saying, "I'm trying to do this quest called Butcher of the Sands, though nobody else wants to take it because..." She started to say the reason why, stopped herself short, then went on to say it anyways since she might as well be truthful while she was ahead, ^{"... because I'm level 2... "}

It was pretty nice to know that there was two floors that she could always run to in case the other floors were too chilly for her liking, especially if the other floors ever reached the discomforting cold of Floor 5. While she could feel goosebumps at the thought of returning to the tundra, the warmth of this floor kept them from staying for too long, "Oh, least there's a floor or two I can always rely on for short vacations. That's nice." However, she was a tad surprised when she laughed at her advise about the rules regarding weaponry as well as the bit about her not recognizing him, but kept quiet about that in case he was someone she should have known by now. She was most certainly going to try and call him out on being able to equip a secondary weapon though, silently thanking Mack for handing out freebies to inexperienced players like herself. "Oh, really?" She grinned with sarcasm in her voice as she pulled up her inventory, not having to scroll due to her lacking number of possessions, then clicked on her starter weapon, "See he-" She paused for a moment, uncertain as to why her scimitars were swapped instead of having both equipped, considering she was currently only using two of her three equipment slots. She clicked on the new scimitar once again, making sure not to equip the starter one before doing so, but failed to create the solution she desired, "But... if that isn't..." Priscilla looked up at the newcomer, raising an eyebrow, "Is this some kind of trick? Did you do some kind of quest or are you actually an NPC?"

Priscilla wasn't sure how long it was going to take to find someone, but she was a player that had more than a decent amount of determination so it was only a matter of time. A majority of the players that were lingering around were the same audience that had witnessed her spectacle with the other player as well as her prominent performance in recruiting just minutes prior to the failure, which meant there wasn't much use in Priscilla trying again until a bit of time had passed. In the meantime, however, she was soon joined upon the bench by a player whom had two swords equipped, leaving her amused, "Poor guy, doesn't even know that you can only use one weapon at a time." She watched as he placed them against the bench and began whistling, to which she would interrupt, "Salutations; weather's pretty harsh today, isn't it?" Normally she would introduce herself by name, but she was trying to find a quick way to start up conversation so she could inform him of the details regarding battle ready inventory and what could be equipped. After he responded, she would follow up, "I don't mean to be too impeding, but you can only use one weapon at a time. Sorry for the bad news, it would be pretty nifty though!"

She had finally captured a player with a little interest in the idea of joining in on the quest, "Yes, from what I've heard, it's just a single field boss. We should be able to take care of it without a problem!" The player, while quite pleased at the thought of such an easy sounding quest, did need a few more details, "Ehh, how much HP it got? 'Sides, what's yo level?" While she was more than okay with telling him the truth, she knew what was soon to come, "It's got 350 HP if the rumors are true, it's not that bad." He narrowed his eyes as she avoided the latter question, "And?" She looked away and muttered just audible enough for him to hear her, ^{"I'm Level 2."} He laughed as if he was featured on some Aincrad spin-off of Punk'd, instantly resulting in him walking off without another word while the girl pleaded with him, "Come on! Pretty please...?" He continued on, catching up to a few other players and Priscilla let out a huff of steam as she flumped down on a nearby bench. She never knew it would be this difficult to get someone to go along with her on a quest like this, but oh boy was it frustrating, "Maybe I'll get someone to tag along by the time we hit floor 50..."

Taking this quest with Zelrius. :)

Sadly, it appeared as if Manta was beginning to get irritated by Priscilla's presence and she knew she should just let things be. Besides, the last thing she wanted to do out here in the lack of safe zone was upset a player, "Well, I do wish you luck in gathering materials. I'll let you off on your way, perhaps I'll find your shop sometime." While she would give a moment for the player to inform Priscilla of where the shop is, she would make sure to give a simple, "Farewell," once Manta had decided to depart. She would remain sitting while watching some of the passing mobs and occasional players, contently relaxing with the thought of actually getting something down continuously knocked at the back of her mind.

While she wasn't the poster child for manner and proper etiquette, there were a few rules that should never be broken, albeit sometimes a self-made rule. When it came to snacks, the age old tradition of tea with an appropriate side was absolutely necessary. Not only because it was tradition, but it was by far, one of the greatest and diverse drinks in existence. She kept her tongue bit though, not wanting to correct them as she barely knew them or their culture, "Oh no, it's nothing. It just caught me a little off guard with how good this tea is, first time trying it in game and it's better than most stores in the real world." Having now snapped out of her little diversion, she directly answered the likely rhetorical question  Pyroth asked, "It's Chai tea; a lovely, warm combination of cinnamon and a hint of spice. I'd highly recommend it sometime if you've never tried it." While she was at the heart of the conversation, she carried on before Gorou could mention what he was up to, "Well, just taking a bit of a break before I go do a bit of scouting in the wilderness. What about the the two of you?"

Thankfully, the player was understanding of the situation and fully believed Priscilla even though the culprit was nowhere in sight. While there wasn't much of anything he could have done even if he didn't believe her, it was always nice when situations such as this went by without any trouble. He did make some jokes about the height of the player that knocked them down, though Priscilla wasn't quite sure if it was a double-edged sword also aiming to make jokes about her height. Regardless, she was happy to see him finally introduce himself, "You say 'head in the clouds,' but it looked like you were a bit aloof yourself. Got a lot on your mind?" She meant it in curiosity rather than prodding him, but it wasn't like she had much else to do today.

Diving in for another sip before indulging herself in the steamy bundle of perfection, she would be cut short before she could commit to grabbing her silverware to cut into the delicacy, "Oh." She blinked four times, not in a particularly expeditious manner, while maintaining eye contact with the player. Her mind, slowly unwrapping itself from the sole attraction and focus of the snack in front of her, would eventually find its way back to social awareness and proper etiquette. Had she been expecting company or even something as simple as a greeting, this would have played out much easier, but with a second player now approaching, she would have to snap out of it. Bowing her head a bit, partially as a form of respect, but mostly as a method of hiding her shame, she spoke to the two players alike, "Salutations, both of you are more than welcome to take a seat." Priscilla might have come off a little strange to the first player, but at least the second one hadn't witnessed her blunder, "I'm Cilla, by the by. The two of you here for an afternoon tea brea-?" By now, she had noticed that both of the players were complacent with nothing more than bread... bread... Her right eye twitched suddenly as if somewhere, deep down inside, a small cog within her heart had fallen off track, completely and solely broken at the thought of someone having little respect or even no knowledge for the concept of the ever glorious tea time.

Not much to her surprise, it appeared as if she wasn't the only one the blind giant had pummeled out of the way as another player knelt down to assist her up, "Why thank you, at least there are still gentlemen among the simpletons." She was tempted to say it loud enough to catch the attention of those in the nearby area, but the player that had knocked them down had went well out of earshot by now and she didn't want to annoy the lone player kind enough to give a hand, "No, but the one who did already rounded the corner. Are you alright?" While this certainly was a safe area which prevented players from harming one another in any way, at least to Priscilla's knowledge, it was a habit for her to ask such questions regardless of whether they came off as rhetorical or meaningless. She dusted off her skirt and realized that she had not gotten the name of the player, "Oh, pardon my manners. I'm Cilla; salutations."