- Joined
- Apr 28, 2015
- Messages
- 1,516
- Reaction score
- 1,086
@Malon
So I was informed by @Sreeya that I should discuss my concerns with you on this. I'll leave out any opinion (try to, anyway) and I'm not going to ask for anything to be changed, because I know nobody really cares (which is fair, you know what they say about opinions) and decisions are almost never repealed. So I'll just address this as-is and in-spoiler so anyone else can just skip it.
Time's ticking, Jedi side will get on things. Also @Autumn's Firefly , so sorry to hear about your dad. My older brother had a really bad seizure just a month ago, so I can imagine what that's like. Take all the time you need, RL comes first.
EDIT: Quick fix-up
So I was informed by @Sreeya that I should discuss my concerns with you on this. I'll leave out any opinion (try to, anyway) and I'm not going to ask for anything to be changed, because I know nobody really cares (which is fair, you know what they say about opinions) and decisions are almost never repealed. So I'll just address this as-is and in-spoiler so anyone else can just skip it.
It has come to my understanding that the way Force Light was to be interpreted appears to have been considerably different from how it has historically been depicted by other users on the site. A situation like this is not unheard of, nor is it unreasonable; Admins aren't all-seeing, so some stuff will fall through the cracks. What I'm questioning here, however, is accountability.
The first matter I'll address is the most simple;
I had never heard of Force Light being used offensively being an especially taxing ability. According to the Lore writeup, manifesting Force Light 'offensively' required an immense understanding of the Light Side [See 'Known Applications' paragraph 3], not immense power in the Force; ie, it was a power that required a Master's (or level 3 Jedi's) wisdom and knowledge to use. That is not to say Force Light cannot be draining, because there is a form that is explicitly stated as being so. Force Light when cast with the purpose cleanse a large area (ie, purging a Dark Side nexus) was hugely taxing.
Understandably, this is a bit of unknown ground, since this does not appear to frequently happen. Thankfully, we have an active example of it right now. Here, Force Light is being utilized by multiple Jedi to jointly perform a Wall of Light, and it fits the criteria of the manifestion of Force Light that is explicitly stated as being extremely exhausting. However, this power is being used on a grand scale over multiple rounds with an Administrator DMing the opposition. In those circumstances, this would seemingly be exactly the sort of scenario that would not pass. What is more, the idea for this thread would theoretically even be impossible, as it would be too taxing for Jedi to do unless they were, perhaps, all at level 4. However, this is not brought up (the plot of which also had to go through an administrator).
In addition, there are multiple examples of other members of the staff, both Administrators and Moderators, using Force Light in this way. The best and most widespread examples are in the Tython Reclamation plot, and the thread Malon and @Nightfall096 cited are perfect examples. @Loco [seen here], @Plebometer [see here] and @Deviant [see here] (successive thread) all use Force Light as a blast of ambient energy against multiple opponents without overly strenuous effect. The only exception to this was Jinlo, in where it was noted as being an effect of her inexperience (level 2 at the time) with the ability, not the power-demand. This is reinforced in that she was again in fighting shape some moments later, when the final battle thread began.
Next issue is the nature of the attack itself, which in a way is closely related to the first. According to Malon, Force Light discharges spherical-esque bolts toward an opponent. I had neither seen nor read a description like that anywhere; not in the write up nor from characters (although as a disclaimer; Malon himself treated it this way). From the imagery on the Force Light lore page, its description and subsequent displays of the power, Force Light had been utilized as directed ambient light, almost like a flashlight effect. While mechanically very different, it functioned very similar in representation to a hallmark telekinetic 'push' or 'burst'. This is reinforced not only by examples from Admins and Mods (previously mentioned examples show this), but was also treated as such by the opposition, where not only had the effects of Force Light been permitted to be cast over an immense area in that particular fashion [see here], but the depiction of the effects of Force Light were reiterated by the DM opposition, with the effects being said of "wash[ing] over the battlefield" [see here].
It was my understanding via the rules that causality had to be explicit; the strenghts, the weaknesses, the drawbacks, the specific effects; nothing could be vague. There was no indication on the Force Light submission that using it offensively was hugely taxing, no indication or implication that it took a projectile, spherical form, and no enforcement of apparent wanton misuse of the ability, which had been effectively going on for months now (with some partisans being staff members themselves). AGAIN, this is not some unthinkable scenario, stuff slips through the cracks all the time, and of course staff members can make mistakes. All of us can, that is not the issue.
The problem at hand is this; the misinterpretation of Force Light, from the nature of how it functions to arduous effects of using it in the first place, should have not only been stated, but made explicitly clear when the power itself was being reviewed. As it stands, it evidently appears that the power has been almost entirely misused on the site. The responsibility of making sure 1) that proper and clear lines of balancing and causality are explicit and evident in the first place, thereby avoiding situations like this in the first place, 2) ensuring that improper displays of RP elements do not go unchecked, unmoderated, or in the event of open disreguard, unenforced, and 3) correcting and/or modifying articles when needed.
None of these things had happened, which is effectively the administration's problem. Instead, my own character is being penalized by the staff team's mistake; I am charged for neglecting to follow a rule that, in a literary capacity, did not exist, upon using a power, the now-accepted depiction of which differed in that it did not appear as such in the approved submission, that has mechanically been clarified only now, in a situation that would have immediate negative impacts on said character who is in their own opposition. Further implication of the latter is that, instead of this acknowledged widespread apparent-misunderstanding of Force Light's functionality being corrected (ie, being told 'change that, it's wrong and/or that's not allowed or correct'), it was reinterpreted retroactively and intently capitalized upon so as to force a 'lock-in' scenario.
Of course, that is not innately a wrongdoing, but it casts the integrity of how this is being handled into question. In theory, any Force Power that does not an explicit threshold (and many of them do not) can suddenly be given one, thereby crippling one side or another. Some Force Powers widely used one particular way can (especially in want of streamlined description otherwise) suddenly be redefined completely in the middle of a fight, acting as a detriment, who would then be quickly exploited by being 'locked-in'. Things like misused and misapplied powers can and do happen, and it is a good thing for them to be caught. But this appears more akin to the actions of an opportunist.
The first matter I'll address is the most simple;
I had never heard of Force Light being used offensively being an especially taxing ability. According to the Lore writeup, manifesting Force Light 'offensively' required an immense understanding of the Light Side [See 'Known Applications' paragraph 3], not immense power in the Force; ie, it was a power that required a Master's (or level 3 Jedi's) wisdom and knowledge to use. That is not to say Force Light cannot be draining, because there is a form that is explicitly stated as being so. Force Light when cast with the purpose cleanse a large area (ie, purging a Dark Side nexus) was hugely taxing.
Understandably, this is a bit of unknown ground, since this does not appear to frequently happen. Thankfully, we have an active example of it right now. Here, Force Light is being utilized by multiple Jedi to jointly perform a Wall of Light, and it fits the criteria of the manifestion of Force Light that is explicitly stated as being extremely exhausting. However, this power is being used on a grand scale over multiple rounds with an Administrator DMing the opposition. In those circumstances, this would seemingly be exactly the sort of scenario that would not pass. What is more, the idea for this thread would theoretically even be impossible, as it would be too taxing for Jedi to do unless they were, perhaps, all at level 4. However, this is not brought up (the plot of which also had to go through an administrator).
In addition, there are multiple examples of other members of the staff, both Administrators and Moderators, using Force Light in this way. The best and most widespread examples are in the Tython Reclamation plot, and the thread Malon and @Nightfall096 cited are perfect examples. @Loco [seen here], @Plebometer [see here] and @Deviant [see here] (successive thread) all use Force Light as a blast of ambient energy against multiple opponents without overly strenuous effect. The only exception to this was Jinlo, in where it was noted as being an effect of her inexperience (level 2 at the time) with the ability, not the power-demand. This is reinforced in that she was again in fighting shape some moments later, when the final battle thread began.
Next issue is the nature of the attack itself, which in a way is closely related to the first. According to Malon, Force Light discharges spherical-esque bolts toward an opponent. I had neither seen nor read a description like that anywhere; not in the write up nor from characters (although as a disclaimer; Malon himself treated it this way). From the imagery on the Force Light lore page, its description and subsequent displays of the power, Force Light had been utilized as directed ambient light, almost like a flashlight effect. While mechanically very different, it functioned very similar in representation to a hallmark telekinetic 'push' or 'burst'. This is reinforced not only by examples from Admins and Mods (previously mentioned examples show this), but was also treated as such by the opposition, where not only had the effects of Force Light been permitted to be cast over an immense area in that particular fashion [see here], but the depiction of the effects of Force Light were reiterated by the DM opposition, with the effects being said of "wash[ing] over the battlefield" [see here].
It was my understanding via the rules that causality had to be explicit; the strenghts, the weaknesses, the drawbacks, the specific effects; nothing could be vague. There was no indication on the Force Light submission that using it offensively was hugely taxing, no indication or implication that it took a projectile, spherical form, and no enforcement of apparent wanton misuse of the ability, which had been effectively going on for months now (with some partisans being staff members themselves). AGAIN, this is not some unthinkable scenario, stuff slips through the cracks all the time, and of course staff members can make mistakes. All of us can, that is not the issue.
The problem at hand is this; the misinterpretation of Force Light, from the nature of how it functions to arduous effects of using it in the first place, should have not only been stated, but made explicitly clear when the power itself was being reviewed. As it stands, it evidently appears that the power has been almost entirely misused on the site. The responsibility of making sure 1) that proper and clear lines of balancing and causality are explicit and evident in the first place, thereby avoiding situations like this in the first place, 2) ensuring that improper displays of RP elements do not go unchecked, unmoderated, or in the event of open disreguard, unenforced, and 3) correcting and/or modifying articles when needed.
None of these things had happened, which is effectively the administration's problem. Instead, my own character is being penalized by the staff team's mistake; I am charged for neglecting to follow a rule that, in a literary capacity, did not exist, upon using a power, the now-accepted depiction of which differed in that it did not appear as such in the approved submission, that has mechanically been clarified only now, in a situation that would have immediate negative impacts on said character who is in their own opposition. Further implication of the latter is that, instead of this acknowledged widespread apparent-misunderstanding of Force Light's functionality being corrected (ie, being told 'change that, it's wrong and/or that's not allowed or correct'), it was reinterpreted retroactively and intently capitalized upon so as to force a 'lock-in' scenario.
Of course, that is not innately a wrongdoing, but it casts the integrity of how this is being handled into question. In theory, any Force Power that does not an explicit threshold (and many of them do not) can suddenly be given one, thereby crippling one side or another. Some Force Powers widely used one particular way can (especially in want of streamlined description otherwise) suddenly be redefined completely in the middle of a fight, acting as a detriment, who would then be quickly exploited by being 'locked-in'. Things like misused and misapplied powers can and do happen, and it is a good thing for them to be caught. But this appears more akin to the actions of an opportunist.
Time's ticking, Jedi side will get on things. Also @Autumn's Firefly , so sorry to hear about your dad. My older brother had a really bad seizure just a month ago, so I can imagine what that's like. Take all the time you need, RL comes first.
EDIT: Quick fix-up
