route_29 | GET OUT YOUR PARTY HATS

Hey, Routers! It's getting toward the holiday season, and because it's essentially Route tradition to have some kind of event in the period around Christmas, we on the modteam are here tonight to bring you some news about what we've got planned for the rest of the month!

Though in the past our events have usually been themed around Christmas, we've decided to shake things up a bit this year and schedule our festivities for New Year's Eve, instead! So your characters can feel free to go ahead and make Christmas plans on their own; we won't be interrupting them any with mod events.

What we do have planned, however, is an optional New Year's Eve party event! So if you're interested, read on for more details!

FIRST THINGS FIRST: WHERE AND WHEN IS THIS PARTY THING GOING DOWN?

As the name suggests, this optional party event will be taking place on New Year's Eve (December 31, 2014) and continuing through New Year's Day (January 1, 2015). As for where it's taking place, this kickass year-ending celebration will be hosted at the Hotel Richissime in scenic Lumiose City, Kalos.

...ARE YOU SAYING YOU'RE SERIOUSLY GOING TO FIELD-TRIP US TO KALOS?

That is pretty much exactly what we're saying, yes.

I'M IN. HOW ARE MY CHARACTERS SUPPOSED TO GET THERE FOR THE PARTY?

Getting yourself invited will work like this:

ICly, characters will receive an invitation and a request to RSVP for the party on December 26. This invitation will be electronically mailed to all registered Gears in the Johto/Kanto region; thus, if you own more than one Gear for any reason, your character may receive more than one invitation. When your character sends the RSVP back (this will be handwaved), they'll be asked to designate one of the region's cities as their requested pickup location; come the morning of the 31st (and we do mean morning, we're talking like 3 AM local time), some super classy Lysandre Jets will be arriving to pick you up and ferry you to Kalos for the duration of the mini-plot.

WHAT IF MY CHARACTER WOULDN'T BE INTERESTED IN A PARTY?

That's fine! Unlike Prom, which tends to be a major "everything goes on hold for the duration" kind of event, this little event is entirely optional. If you can't figure out a way to send your characters on it, or if they're not the type to be interested, they're definitely welcome to have their own New Year's celebrations around Johto/Kanto while this event is going on elsewhere.

CAN I BRING MY POKEMON TO THE PARTY?

You can! Here are the standards that will be in place with regards to your Pokemon while in the hotel:

• Because there are PCs available in the hotel lobby, we will not be mandating an "only the six Pokemon you bring on your belt" policy. However, the long-distance connection to the Johto/Kanto PC network is both time-consuming and incredibly expensive, so don't do it too often.

• You may have one walkaround Pokemon of human size or smaller with you in all areas of the hotel. You may carry an additional five on your belt during those times.

• In areas designated with Pokemon-friendly spaces (the pool, the spa, etc), you may have up to six of your Pokemon out of their balls, all of which must be human-size or smaller.

• The only area with no size restriction for Pokemon out of their balls is the Spa-Fari Zone. This is because they are the only area with facilities built for and equipped to handle Pokemon of any size.

• If you have any questions about whether a Pokemon meets or exceeds the size restriction, feel free to ask us for clarification!

SO TELL ME ABOUT THE VENUE!

Sure thing! As mentioned, participating characters will be flown to Lumiose City and brought to the Hotel Richissime for the duration. A four-star luxury hotel known across the region as a classy place devoted to giving its guests the best vacation experience of their lives, the Hotel Richissime has been tapped to be your home away from home for the end of this year and the beginning of the next!

Though participating guests will not be allowed to leave the hotel for security and liability reasons, there's still plenty to do and see within the boundaries of the Hotel Richissime, both on the formal agenda and otherwise!

AWESOME! WHAT DOES THIS PLACE LOOK LIKE?

The hotel is comprised of two public floors, plus several other levels of guest rooms above those. Understandably, most of the pre-planned activities will be taking place on the public floors, which look like this:

☆ GROUND FLOOR ☆

AREAS OF INTEREST — GROUND FLOOR:

• LOBBY — The main area of the hotel, where you'll check in to receive your rooming assignments and card keys, and also where you can find maps and little pamphlet guides to everything the hotel has to offer! This also serves as the main connection between all major areas of the ground floor, and there are NPCs stationed around to help you out if there anything you need assistance with!

• BALLROOM — Where the majority of the evening's festivities will take place. Complete with a live orchestra, a small stage, and big plate glass windows offering a beautiful view of scenic Lumiose City, this glamorous room is where "anyone who's anyone" is likely to be found for the duration of the gala.

• GARDEN OBSERVATORY — A breath of fresh air amidst the modern stylings of the hotel; during the dinner hours, there will be dozens of tables set up in here to accommodate the visiting guests, but afterward they'll be taken down again to allow room for mingling and contemplation. There are also big plate glass windows in here to let in sunlight and afford a view of the hotel's surrounding areas!

• RESTAURANT — Gulpin, of Kalos; the region-renowned (and highly award-winning) fine dining establishment that will be providing dinner for the event and its assembled guests. Be careful if you decide to get curious and poke your head in here at any other time of the day, though; it's the sort of place that books its reservations months in advance, and sees no need to list prices on its menu.

• ARCADE/CASINO — Looking for a little more flash and noise? Head on over and check out the selection of games and activities in the arcade! They've got a wide variety of traditional arcade-style electronic games, as well as an assortment of your more traditional ones — pool tables, air hockey tables, and etc. For the high-rollers in the audience, toward the back of the arcade is a tucked-away casino area with card tables, roulette, dice, and slot machines. All the games in the arcade, and the slot machines in the casino, are playable using your hotel room keycard. Casino high-rollers must bring their own cash and buy in on their own.

• POKEMON CARE — An area dedicated to saving hotel guests the inconvenience of visiting the city's Pokemon Center proper. Though this area is not staffed by a Nurse Joy, it does have facilities for treating minor Pokemon emergencies, refreshing tired Pokemon, and other such necessities that may arise in the course of a stay at the hotel. For major emergencies, there is also a hotline to the local Pokemon Center, with an excellent response time from the staff over there.

• POOL AREA — Precisely what it says on the tin. Here you'll find deck chairs for lounging, tables for holding books and beverages, the main pool, a kid's pool, a couple of hot tubs and whirlpools, and plenty of staff on hand to deliver beverages to patrons upon request.

• GIFT SHOPS — Forgot your bathing suit or swim goggles? Need a pack of hair ties in a hurry? Or maybe you just want a fun little souvenir of this exciting trip! Regardless of what brings you here, the Ground Floor Gift Shops are open for business to supply you with whatever little odds and ends you may need to make your stay at the Hotel Richissime complete.

• ELEVATORS — Operated by a swipe of your hotel room keycard, these elevators are the primary way of getting around from floor to floor in the hotel.

* * * * *

☆ UPSTAIRS FLOOR ☆

AREAS OF INTEREST — UPPER FLOOR:

• TOPAZ OBSERVATORY — A room given its name for the gemstones in its chandeliers, the Topaz Observatory is one of the hotel's all-purpose rooms, which can pull impromptu duty as a backup ballroom, a conference room, a convention center, or a mingling area with a lovely view of the Lumiose skyline at night. This is where a breakfast buffet will be made available for the guests on the morning of the 1st!

• UPSCALE GIFT SHOP — For the souvenir shopper looking for something a little more classy than hats and T-shirts; this gift shop on the second floor boasts some finer items for purchase, including jewelry, men's watches, high-quality articles of clothing, and hand-crafted pieces of artwork and sculpture from the region.

• PASTRY HAVEN — A charming in-house patisserie stocked full of treats and delights. Here you can sample baked goods ranging from the upscale to the rustic, as well as chocolates, teas, and candies of all kinds. There's also a small area with tables and chairs where patrons can settle in to relax and unwind with a snack, surrounded by cases filled with delicious delights that might just be tempting them to take one home when they leave.

• SPA-FARI ZONE — A massive spa area for both humans and Pokemon, filled with pretty much everything you'd expect to find in a spa. Massages, aromatic soaks, mud baths, manicures, pedicures, facials, hairstyling; if you can dream it, they've probably got it! There are changing rooms and lockers where guests can store their personal effects while they're making use of the facilities, as well as an area specially designated to cater to a Pokemon clientele as well. If you're looking to get your Furfrou groomed or work on your affection with a recalcitrant Pokemon, this is definitely the place to go.

• ELEVATORS — Operated by a swipe of your hotel room keycard, these elevators are the primary way of getting around from floor to floor in the hotel.

SO I CAN DO PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING I WANT AT THIS THING?

Yes, to a certain extent! You're more than welcome to go play in the casino or arcade or to go shopping, but if you'd like a little more structure to your visit, your host for the evening has come up with a schedule for the evening that hopefully, all party goers will enjoy!

OKAY, WHAT'S THE SCHEDULE?

From 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM, guests'll be arriving and mingling and all that other fun stuff. Get to know your fellow party goers, enjoy the refreshments, go explore the hotel, just have fun!

Then, at 6:00 PM dinner will be served in the Garden Observatory, prepared by the chefs of Gulpin, of Kalos, rated five Basculin Stars by the Basculin Guide. And of course, that includes vegetarian options and dessert as well! So enjoy the food, but please try to remember your manners. This is a classy New Year's Party after all.

After dinner, there'll be dancing for those who want to dance, and a professional photographer on hand to take commemorative photos of the evening until 11:30 PM. This is a great way to get a souvenir of the evening instead of looting your host's home, like some people did to poor Lance.

And of course, since this is a New Year's Party, there will be some festivities to ring in the new year that will run from a little before midnight until a little after, including a very special hologram demonstration courtesy of Lysandre Labs and also a fireworks show! These events will be followed by more mingling, drinks, and all the other stuff that basically went on before and after dinner, but in a brand new year! Exciting!

YOU MENTIONED "RECEIVING ROOM ASSIGNMENTS". HOW DOES THAT WORK?

Good question! In the interests of fun and shenanigans on an OOC scale, guests will be ICly asked to pair up and share hotel rooms for the duration, for the sake of keeping expenses manageable and not taking up every single room in the place. This pairing up can occur in a number of ways and is entirely optional OOCly; we're only including it for the sake of keeping things a little lively.

If you would like to assume your character is pairing up with a member of their CR to room with or want to make arrangements on your own, that's perfectly fine! We're not requiring that anybody officially check in to let us know who's going to be where.

However, if you'd like to be a part of our OOC Rooming Roulette, post your name and your character's name in a comment to this thread, and we will roll to assign you a random partner to room with for the plot! We'll shoot to do the roll on December 26, so the cutoff for sign-ups will be 9:00 PM EST on December 25. That should leave plenty of time for us to notify participants of their new roomies and give the roomies in question some time to get in touch and figure out shenanigans, if any.

Again, the Rooming Roulette is entirely optional; we're including it simply as a way of giving people an excuse to make new friends and meet new CR thanks to the IC premise of having to stay together. Room assignments are also not set in stone, and you are welcome to move around, swap, and crash on other people's floors as you see fit, provided everyone concerned is aware and agreeable to it.

WHAT DO THESE ROOMS LOOK LIKE, ANYWAY?

They'll be laid out something like this! Your standard two-queen-bed room, with TV, bathroom, writing desk, comfortable chair, and all the usual accoutrements that tend to come with it.

CAN I HAVE AN HOUR-BY-HOUR CHECKLIST OF THAT EVENT ITINERARY?

Sure! It's as follows:

DECEMBER 31, 2014:
• 3:00 AM: Board Lysandre Jets™ in Johto/Kanto and take off for Kalos
• 1:00 PM: Arrival at the Hotel Richissime
• 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Free Mingle Time
• 6:00 PM: Call to Dinner
• 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM: Dinner served in the Garden Observatory
• 8:00 PM: Dancing begins in the Ballroom
• 8:00 PM - 11:30 PM: Dancing, Photos, and Free Mingling Time
• 11:30 PM - 11:59 PM: Hologram demonstration by Lysandre Labs

JANUARY 1, 2015:
• 12:00 AM - 12:30 AM: Happy New Year fireworks show
• 12:30 AM - 2:00 AM: New Year's Late-Night Mingling
• 2:00 AM: All nonessential facilities close for the night
• 2:00 AM - 1:00 PM: Free Time
• 1:00 PM: Board Lysandre Jets™ in Kalos and depart for Johto/Kanto
• 11:00 PM: Arrive in Johto/Kanto

I'M A ROCKET AND/OR OTHERWISE EVIL PERSONAGE. CAN I ATTACK THIS EVENT?

We're willing to entertain suggestions for player plots and other small shenanigans taking place during the party! However, there will be no massive attacks or huge displays of chaos this time around. ICly, an event of this magnitude is going to have hefty security to go along with it, so the premises will be under some pretty tight surveillance with excellent security detail response time for anything that looks as though it might get out of hand. OOCly, we're enforcing mandatory consequences for people who do start trouble, so while we're not outright banning Rocket shenanigans on a small and unobtrusive scale, we won't be allowing massive party-disrupting things, either.

I'M A HOOLIGAN WHO WOULD DEFINITELY DESTROY MY HOTEL ROOM. CAN I DO THAT?

Please go to church.

...In seriousness, though, if you want to cause property damage or get up to some kind of shenanigans, please hit us up and give us some advance notice of it so that we can let you know if you're likely to face any IC consequences (or if we'd prefer you not do the thing outright).

WHAT FORMAT ARE WE GOING TO BE USING FOR THIS EVENT?

Much like our other big-scale events lately, we'll be using a mod-hosted log that players can tag into as they see fit! Unlike at prom, we will not be using an OOC directory with subthreads, mostly because of how many unique locations we're cramming into this setting. We recommend that players list clearly in their top-levels where their characters are going to be, so as to make things easier on their fellow characters who might be tagging in!

NOTE: in the event that things go a little too nuts for donuts and it becomes apparent that an OOC directory is needed, we may set one up and link it around for player convenience; we'll be flexible in responding to the demands of the event as it unfolds!

...SO IF THIS ISN'T PROM, DOES THAT MAKE IT A "POKÉ BALL"?

We do not deny it.

WHAT OTHER EVENT DETAILS DO I NEED TO KNOW?

• We're reserving this space for answers to questions that people might ask that we think are relevant to the event as a whole; we suggest checking back here every once in a while to see if it's been updated!

I HAVE A QUESTION THAT YOU DIDN'T ANSWER YET!

No problem! Just ask us in this thread here. Operators will be standing by to take your call. o/

QUICK LINKS:
EVENT QUESTIONS THREAD | ROOM ASSIGNMENT ROULETTE SIGNUPS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Got a question we haven't answered yet? Ask us here!

Will things like the spa be free, or will we have to bring our own cash for that?

Spa stuff is on the house! You'll use your room card for that and it'll effectively be charged to your room, which you're not paying for anyway.

Gift shops, the casino, and food not provided as part of the event are predominantly the things you'll have to use your own money for; the rest of the facilities are fair game. If you're not sure about anything else, though, feel free to ask and we'll clarify it!

Hey there! Will underage characters be allowed into the casino?

THIS IS KIND OF LATE sob holidays but uh. if a character of legal drinking age were to go stock up on champagne and host something of a room party and fail to check IDs on those who stop by, would anything likely happen?

If you would like to throw one of your characters into the pool for Room Assignment Roulette, please fill out this form and comment to this thread with it, one comment per character. For players with more than one character entered, we'll do our best to keep you from getting paired up with yourself!

NOTE: If you're signing up for the roulette, please do so willing to cooperate with whoever you may be paired up with!

THE FORM: