• [link=0, tournament]The Tournament Continues![/link]
  
• [link=0, add]Shiny Time[/link]
  
• [link=0, champ]Zeralis's New Champ[/link]
  
• [link=0, comm]Community Spotlight[/link]
  
• [link=0, ipb]Operation Invison: Q&A[/link]
  
• [link=0, cost]Operation Invision: The Costs[/link]
  
• [link=0, weather]Weather/Swarms[/link]

• Trainer X
  
• Novoni
  
• TheMusicMan
  
• Roxas
  
  
  
  

Luna's New Team

Quote:

 

Scizordoom: I would like to know what will happen to the GridDex, Chat and the World Map in the move.
What makes you think anything would happen to them? The coding can all be transferred over almost completely in tact. We'd just have to change the links to make sure everything changes over OK.

Scizordoom: How long are we looking at before we move to IPB?
We really don't have a set timeframe. It could take two weeks, or ten months. We're willing to work on it however long it takes to make it perfect. If I had to give a guess… I'd say sometime over the summer? But really, we don't have any idea yet.

Ragingprimeape: Will the move mean a longer wait for Amaya?
Operation Invision and Amaya will be worked on entirely separately. Amaya is being mostly headed by Novoni, while I'll be heading most of the stuff relating to the IPB. And besides, Amaya is closer to completion than you might think

Black Temple Gaurdian: What about the Topaz regions?
Caldera and Kirant are largely being put together by ImmunityBow alone. Aside from progress on moveset conversions, progress on them will be largely unaffected by anything IPB-related.

Winterbane: How much is it going to cost?
That's actually a very good question. Which leads us to the next section…

• [link=0, tournament]The Tournament of Ishmadal[/link]
  
• [link=0, add]Random Additions[/link]
  
• [link=0, icon]February Icon?![/link]
  
• [link=0, ipb]Operation: Invision[/link]
  
• [link=0, weather]Weather/Swarms[/link]
  
• [link=0, epic]???[/link]

• Trainer X
  
• Novoni
  
• TheMusicMan
  
  
  
  

Quote:

 

Over the past year or so since players started making it to Pummelo to challenge the Elite Four, I've noticed that the way we conduct battles there leaves something to be desired. I've conferred with the Elite Panel of Invincible Competitors (or EPIC), and we have decided to completely revamp the E4 system. Here's a rundown:

• Each player will have two mods assigned to them for the entirety of their challenge (or just for one of the E4 members maybe, it's up to the mod). One of them will volunteer/be selected from our list of Battle Mods, and will be the person controlling the E4 trainer. The other mod will be the one who updates the battle (and can be any mod).
  
• Instead of posting their move in their thread, both the player and the Battle Mod will PM their moves to the Updating Mod (or exactly like a closed command battle in Pummelo Stadium would work).
  
• In addition, players will have the option to turn on the 'Competitive Clause' from the Pummelo Stadium (which means switching and attacking in the same turn is banned) during their challenge, but must use the same style for the whole challenge.

• Watch This Topic – This feature allows you to select topics (threads) that you would like to watch. When new posts are made in these topics, they will show up in a box in the collapsable sidebar on the forum index. So instead of having to go all the way to whatever area you're in to check to see if you've gotten an update, you'll be able to see right on the board index! You can also use it to follow your friends' adventures, or an art topic you like, or a forum game you're participating in, or more!
  
  
• Topic and Post Rating – Like an adventure, or a specific RPG post? Just hit a button and show off your love! This would be perfect for future Golden Orange Awards, and for your own (already bloated) self-esteem.
  
  
• Customizable Profiles – Profiles are very customizable on IPB. You can add an 'about you' section, post status updates like on Facebook (more on that later), and even add a custom background to your profile page! There's also a little pop-up mini-profile that can be brought up wherever someone's username is linked to!
  
  
• Ridiculously Awesome PM System – The PM system on IPB is like having your own private topic with someone; it looks just like a regular forum topic! Even more awesome, you can have a group PM. If you realize you forgot to include someone, you can invite them later–and kick them out when they're done!
  
  
• Social Integration – It's not a big deal for many of us, but quite a few of you enjoy using social networking sites such as FaceBook and Twitter. Well, IPB supports full integration! Not only can you post the links to posts on the forums on Twitter, FaceBook, and more with the simple press of a button, but you can even link your forum account with your Twitter or FaceBook! Status updates you make on either of them will automatically be sent to the forums as well. Additionally, IPB supports RSS feeds as well, if you're into that sort of thing.
  
  
• Various Little Things – There's also a lot of little things that makes IPB a huge improvement over ZB. A lot of those have to do with customizability, so they'll probably more influential on the administrative side, rather than what you'll see directly. However, a number of things, such as MultiQuote, a Rich Text Editor (the post box basically acts like Microsoft Word; no need for BBCode!), Friendly URLs (URLs are more than just random numbers; they have to do with the topic or forum title!), and others just make for an easier and better forum experience.
  
  
• IPB Over vB – vBulletin is a great piece of software, no doubt about it. But its new owners, a company called Internet Brands, is one of those 'money first, customers second' type of companies, as proven by the new vB4, which has too many errors to count (there were over 250 bug fixes in the last maintenance release!). Additionally, it costs a lot more–and for a lot less. IPB is also advancing and innovating at a much faster pace than vB, and not only that, but they're doing it well. Most importantly, IPB is very similar to the software we're already using while adding a ton of new functionality, while vB is a far more drastic jump interface wise but not so much functionality wise. At the end of the day, it's a smarter, both feature-wise and financially, to go with IPB.

• IP.Content – This is the only one that I can guarantee we're getting. Basically, this add-on acts as a website builder. We can build webpages using the forum wrapper (like the custom webpages here), or they can be skinned from scratch. Additionally, they can use blocks that draw information from the main board (member/post counts, whether or not you have any new PMs, etc.) for even more customizability. We plan to use this to make the OI website, and to fully integrate it with the board. Trust me when I tell you that it will be awesome.
  
  
• IP.Gallery – This is probably the next most likely that we'll buy, and it has no ZB equivalent. Using this add-on, you can essentially host your own gallery on the forum! Upload pictures and videos, make albums, have users comment and rate them, and more! This is perfect for the many aspiring artists here (no wonder this is Novi's favorite add-on!).
  
  
• IP.Blog – We may or may not buy this one, depending on what you guys say you want and how much money we end up raising. Although ZB has a blog feature, it's not very exploited or visible. Every user in IPB, however, has a link to their blog (and their gallery) in their mini-profile (that's the thing that shows up next to each post). You can add your own custom banner for your blog, and add custom content blocks (a calendar, for example). If you have an external blog, you can even set it up to automatically post those blog entries here as well! Additionally, you can set up a group blog (one blog that multiple users can post in). If we do get this add-on, we might use the group blog feature for a developer's blog or something like that.
  
  
• IP. Chat – As awesome as this add-on is (and it is awesome), this is probably the least likely one that we'll purchase (other than IP.Download, which we have no use for) due purely to cost limitations. This add-on adds a chatbox similar to the one we have to the board. However, it is fully integrated; you only need one account, all permissions are shared (so if you're a mod on the board, you'll be a mod there), and you can even use our emoticons on there! The only downside is that it is sold based on maximum users in the shoutbox, and because the shoutbox is hosted on IPS servers, it has to be renewed annually (so it costs $20 a year to have a maximum of 20 online users in the shoutbox at once; $30 boosts that to 50). If the shoutbox is full, and you try to sign on, you will be told to try again later when someone has left. We rarely hit 20 users as it is, so that's not really a big deal.

• Expansion – As we continue to grow, we continue to test the limitations of the ZB software. It's time that we upgraded to meet the needs of our ever-growing community. And it'll be a lot easier to move now, when we only have 100,000 or so posts, than in another year, when we could possibly have more than double that.
  
  
• Security – With self-hosting, we'd be in control of making backups for our board (although a good host would hopefully make backups every now and then as well). Remember a year and a half ago, when we lost six months of information due to a ZB server crash? If the server crashed on a self-hosted forum, we'd be able to restore from our latest backup, which we can download whenever. So maybe we'd only lose a week of data instead! Essentially, our data would be much more secure in our own hands.
  
  
• Improvement – We're always trying to improve the experience here, but there's only so much we can do in a remotely-hosted forum environment like this. We have so many ideas for the future (in fact, we have one project already completed that we can't do anything with because we have nowhere to host it), but we need more control over our forums in order to make them work.

• [link=0, event]The Event Concludes![/link]
  
• [link=0, tournament]Tournament of Ishmadal[/link]
  
• [link=0, mods]The Revolving Door[/link]
  
• [link=0, light]Just My Type[/link]
  
• [link=0, icons]Icons Galore[/link]
  
• [link=0, art]The Art Returns[/link]
  
• [link=0, weather]Weather/Swarms[/link]

• Trainer X
  
• Novoni
  
• Chaos Shadow
  
• TheMusicMan
  
  
  
  

• [link=0, credits]Opening Credits[/link]
  
• [link=0, year]A Year in Review[/link]
  
• [link=0, art]Anniversary Art Extravaganza![/link]
  
• [link=0, promo]Just 24 Hours![/link]
  
• [link=0, griddex]Griddex Awesomeness![/link]
  
• [link=0, follow]A New RPG Mechanic![/link]
  
• [link=0, apps]RPG Mod Application Results[/link]
  
• [link=0, weather]Weather/Swarms[/link]

• Trainer X
  
• Novoni
  
• TheMusicMan
  
• Tyreximus
  
• Chaos Shadow
  
  
  
  

Inevitable

 

Follower Pokémon

Introduction:

What with the impending release of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver we have decided it’d be a nice idea if one of the new features of these games was implemented in the OITRPG. Now, as you may already know, you can write your RPG stories with Pokémon out of their pokeballs if you wish to, just like in HGSS and, indeed, Yellow. However, this mechanic intends on creating an official version, with advantages and disadvantages.

NOTE: You will still be able to have Pokémon follow you around in a story sense, though these will not benefit from this mechanic.

Mechanic Overview:

At the end of every battle when you have a follower Pokémon selected, it has a chance of randomly picking up an item from a pre-prepared list. These items include berries, special pokeballs, hold items and TMs, not to mention the rarest of all: The Shining Leaf.

Rules:

1. The mechanic cannot be used until you’ve defeated your rival for the first time. Furthermore, you will also only gain berries until you reach Valencia Island.

2. At the start of a new adventure thread, you can specify that you wish to assign one of your party Pokémon follower status. This must be done before anything else. You cannot pick one at any other point in the thread. You also cannot change your choice or deposit the chosen Pokémon. You have to stick with it all the way.
2. a) If you are returning to a previous thread, you can make a choice in your first new post of that thread. Attempting to exploit this system will result in punishment.

Try and keep this clear. Something along the lines of “I would like my Swablu to be a Follower Pokémon” rather than “John sent out his Swablu to stretch its wings.”

3. Each wild Pokémon battle you engage in must start with the follower Pokémon being sent out. You may immediately withdraw it if you wish, but that first round must have it being sent out.
3. a) When in towns, trainer battles not related to the story must also start with the follower Pokémon. This is only in town, on the routes, trainer battles can be started with any Pokémon. This means that Gym/Rival battles or Team event battles are exempt from this rule.

4. At the end of each battle you must tell the mod you have a follower Pokémon. Staff are not required to check. They will then check to see if you get an item, and if so what item, and include it in a reply. If you forget to do this, it is not the staff’s fault, it is yours.
4. a) Some may take this to meaning staff won’t check certain things, and therefore try to exploit the system and not start battles with the follower Pokémon when they should. If you are caught doing this, you will be punished.

In Short:

Pros:

Chance of getting free items.

Cons:

Can’t change the Pokémon.
Can’t deposit the Pokémon.
The Pokémon must be used first in wild Pokémon battles [on routes].
The Pokémon must be used first in non-story trainer battles [in towns].

Quote:

 

Well, let's examine the pantheons:

The Egyptian pantheon is technically composed of a single multi-faceted god who would express different identities for different purposes, but all the gods were, in fact, a single supernatural entity, a lone god commanding all of creation by expressing itself in different manners, and as such is its own mother.
(Yeah, this is true. Religious Studies was NOT a wasted class!)
Yo Momma jokes, as a rule, become incredibly awkward when Yo Momma is actually present. I learned this the hard way.

The Greek Gods, however, are many and various and much more human than the supergod that the Egyptians worshiped. They had more flaws and more vices, and as such are probably much better at coming up with Yo Momma jokes to begin with. Some of those, however, can be touchy subjects and result in the ranks of the gods dropping out of the competition early, given that about three goddesses were the mothers of about everybody else, and Zeus was the mother of everybody whom they weren't the mothers of.

So all considered, who would win?

Neither of them.

I mean really now. Even if we accept the existence of two pantheons -- which is paradoxical in and of itself, due to the fact that if one pantheon is the truth then the other must inherently not be the truth, and therefore not exist -- these two pantheons would be incapable of communicating with one another. The Egyptians, of course, spoke in, well, Egyptian, while the Greek gods spoke Greek (or, after assimilation and transmutation into the Roman pantheon, Latin), neither of which is remotely compatible with the other. To break the language barrier would require a masterful translator, which would inherently ruin a lot of the inflection of the joke as he has to transliterate between languages. What began as a simple slight:
"You Momma so fat that she casts shade on the Sphinx!"
It would be translated as:
"Your mother is so thoroughly endowed that she is capable of casting umbrage on the large cat-bodied monument over the horizon."

Not a very good Yo Momma battle.

But if they persevered despite the poor translation attempts, they would ultimately come to a standstill. Many of the Greek gods would grow bored after the third decade of exchanged insults (Zeus himself would have left within about twenty minutes in order to go rape somebody), but the more stalwart -- poor Hephaestus, no doubt, accompanied by Athena -- would stand and continue slinging insults as best they could unto the deaths of their respective civilizations.

Ultimately, both of them would have to give up just by virtue of the fact that nobody who actually believes in them exists anymore (or until there exists nobody who speaks Ancient Greek, Latin, and ancient Egyptian fluently), but these would truly be the final lines:





What does that mean? Hell if I know.

Quote:

 

When a girl and a boy love each other very much… They both die LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL. This was before that, and that, and even that. Before the Watermelonhubbabubbasaurus, before TMM nommed upon his first twinkie, before people started mocking me for using the word, “Upon”. There was nothing but a computer, logged on to Chatango under the name “bob”. Then one day, when the dark wallowing hole of empty depression and broken dreams that was the universe was especially happy sunshiny and cheery, it posted LOL. Then in a puff of magenta purple smoke, there was Chuck Norris and a roll of duck tape. Chuck arched an eyebrow. The duck tape exploded and created the big bang, which in turn, formed the spaghetti.

Quote:

 

They keep the lawyers away. No, seriously. The French words for lawyer and avocado are the exact same (l'avocat, in case you were wondering. Useless facts from French class are fun). So, if you're eating the lawyers, the rest of them are much less likely to come anywhere near you, right? Plus you get a big pat on the back. The best possible use they could be put to is getting you some protein and vitamins. Sometimes cannibalism is worth it. So remember to always eat your avocados, kids! You're saving the human race!

Quote:

 

Wait, no:



Oh damn it! I'm just gonna guess!

FONZIE!

Quote:

 

My answer to this was pretty bad-ass, but unfortunately some moron over at Publishing seemed to think much of the material was copyrighted to the Orange Islands Slavedrivers' Guild, so I can't post it here on risk of being thrown into handcuffs instead of into the traditional slave bonds. Damn legislation.

• [link=0, event]Tri-Event Updates[/link]
  
• [link=0, updates]Various Site Updates[/link]
  
• [link=0, art]Even More Art![/link]
  
• [link=0, apps]: O : O : O[/link]
  
• [link=0, anniversary]Anniversary Foreshadowing![/link]
  
• [link=0, weather]Weather/Swarms[/link]

• Trainer X
  
• Novoni
  
• TheMusicMan
  
• Riceeman
  
• Winterbane
  
• Sin

• Only a few months late, but we've finally updated our sprites to Heart Gold/Soul Silver sprites! By general consensus, Blastoise, Pinsir, Jolteon, and Mewtwo were left with their Platinum sprites, and Entei was left on Novoni's sprite. And the best part is, you don't need to do anything to use the new sprites! All old sprites in profiles and adventures were automatically updated, so it's a pretty sweet deal. Thanks to Amerac, Noir, Chaos Shadow, Phoenixsong, Sin, Dragonfire, and Angels & Insects for helping to upload them!
  
  
• Thanks to Sin, the routes and towns of Hoenn and Sinnoh finally have flavor text (for those curious, it's sort of a strawberryish lemon).
  
  
• Following our cleanout of the staff groups last week, we were quickly greeted with the return of Riceeman! He got straight to work upon arrival, finishing up the long-overdue Hoenn region map for the announcement box!
  
  
• For a long time now, we've had sprites for the OI badges, both big and small. And now, finally, the other regions have their badges set as emoticons! All except for Zeralis, but that will come eventually. Thanks goes to Winterbane for helping to get that set up! For those of you who have already earned some R2R badges, they should now be showing up in your profile as well, thanks to Roxas and shadow_rukario.
  
  
• You may or may not have been aware, but there are a series of unlockable member titles based on your post count. And, up until a few days ago, the list was pretty generic. So now, it's been revamped, with a new rank mixed in as well! Do you have what it takes to be a Pokémon Master?

The Creed to Lead

 

So, you want to be an RPG moderator? Good for you! But be warned, there are some requirements. And maybe a rule or two... or seven. But they're not that hard to follow, if you're actually applying because you want the job.

Still there? Good. Now let's get started.

• We're only looking for the best of the best, and that includes activity. We look for a bare minimum of thirty updates a week and an hour of updating activity a day from each staff member, barring holidays, family emergencies, Armageddon, and the like. This equates to at least five a day (with a day off!). If you can't manage that, don't bother reading further.
  
  
• We only want honest Joes on our staff team, not jerks. If you're caught abusing your newfound superpowers (exclusively updating certain people, beefing up your/other profiles, rigging battles, etc.), be prepared to take the heat. All 10000şC of it.
  
  
• If you're thinking about applying because staff members get pretty colored names and neat badges next to their posts, stop thinking about it. You'll be off the staff team before you can say 'eep?'.
  
  
• NOT NEW BUT STILL IMPORTANT: If you think school's going to be seriously dragging you down, do yourself a favor and wait until the next round of applications to apply. The occasional tidal wave of schoolwork is fine, but people who are constantly drowning under it aren't the people we're looking for.

The Application

 

Part 1: Happy Meal
1. Time-Zone:
2. Why do you want to be an RPG moderator?
3. About how much free time do you have a day? Take into account schoolwork, social lives, after-school activities, etc. Remember weekends as well.
4. Why should you be promoted above anyone else?
5. Do you have any previous experience in the field? If so, do any of the experiences make you a better choice for the staff team, and how?
6. If you could add/change one thing and remove one thing from the RPG, what would they be and why?
7. Anything else interesting/special/neat that we should know that might make you an awesometastic member of the staff team?

Part Beta: The Whopper
1. In ancient mythology, stories are told of clashes and rivalries between the gods, who resided in a mountain that towered above the world. If the Greek gods and Egyptian gods were to get into a 'Yo Momma' battle, who would win (feel free to pick a specific god), why would they win, and what would be their finishing line?

2. Explain the Birth of Chuck Norris (also known as the Epicification). Include plenty of details!

3. If apples keep the doctor away, and oranges keep you cold-free, then what are avocados for?

4. What is the square root of negative Awesome (√-A!)? Make sure to show all of your work.

5. ©

Parte de Final: The Grande Meal
For this part of the application, you're going to be writing a battle based on one (and only one) of the proses below. You'll need to type out between two and three turns of the battle in question, in as much detail and awesomeness as you can muster. Note that this doesn't have to be like a normal RPG battle. Go in depth as you want, develop your characters, and even give one a shotgun for personality! You won't even need that section with damage and statuses and Pokémon sprites. And remember, grammar and tl;dr are good things!

1. An epic clash between Miss Meg and the LadiesMan Formerly Known as Ace. The former is using her Ho-oh, and the guy who will now be referred to as Ace is using his Lugia (hey, an HGSS reference!).

vs.

2. A long-overdue showdown between TheMusicMan and Trainer X (TX: hey, I'm in one of the proses!). TMM is using his Ferazon, and TX is using his Solidra.

vs.

3. A completely awesome matchup between the original global moderators, Dragonfire and shadow_rukario. DF is using his Mewthree, and shadow_rukario is using his Missingno.

vs.

Bonus (Not Mandatory/Can Be Done In Addition to Another Prose): A duel of the millennium between global moderators Reznal and thedude27. Reznal is using his Magikarp and Flish, and thedude27 is using his Feebas and Borin. All four Pokémon know only Splash.

+ vs. +

• [link=0, znb]Zathyus News Awards[/link]
  
• [link=0, event]Astrelleo and the Chamber of Mysteries[/link]
  
• [link=0, staff]Staff Cleanout[/link]
  
• [link=0, art]The Art Returns![/link]
  
• [link=0, anniversary]OI Anniversary Stuffs[/link]
  
• [link=0, weather]Weather/Swarms[/link]

• Trainer X
  
• Novoni
  
• TheMusicMan
  
• Chaos Shadow
  
• Artemis
  
  

Quote:

 

Deep within the Ishmadal Castle, something clicked. A pulley spun, a rope was pulled, and gears were thrown into motion for the first time in years. With a creak, a large, brass door began to swing open. Through the new opening floated a small pink Pokémon, with feline-like features and a long tail. The expression it wore on its face was hard to place, but could best be described as expectant.

It glanced inside the newly opened chamber, understood what it had to do, and teleported away in a flash of light. Reappearing in the welcome booth outside the castle, it noticed a single employee standing near a microphone for announcements. The pink Pokémon's eyes lit up bright blue, and, after a moment, so did the employee's.

The employee stood motionless for a moment, and picked up the microphone.

"Attention all visitors to the Castle, " he began, his voice monotonic and steady. "A new chamber has been discovered in the center of the castle. In it are a number of rather… interesting paintings. The chamber is also said to hold the key to the Mirror of Wisdom, an artifact that was lost within the castle walls many years ago. The only clues to its whereabouts, however, are said to have been hidden within the paintings themselves. All trainers exploring the castle are encouraged to investigate this chamber."

The employee's eyes returned to their normal color, and the employee collapsed to the ground, momentarily unconscious. The floating Pokémon glanced around, made sure that nobody had seen, and vanished in a flash of light.

Across the seas, deep underneath the surface of Zeralis, at the end of a huge and winding labyrinth, something rose to its feet.

It sensed something coming.