Important announcements!

[these_balls]

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYBODY!
Happy holidays, Routesters! With Christmas approaching at great speeds, we'd like to give you guys a heads up as to what you can expect:

- each character will receive one (1) non-transferable reusable TM from any generation. Yes, that's basically a TM that acts like an HM, except it cannot be shared. (HMs are not applicable.)
- each character will receive a care package consisting of: a bag of mixed berries for the pokemon, about a pound of mixed chocolates, a full selection of -Heals, along with a Full Restore and five Revives. Have fun carrying that around!
- there will be an item drop in the care package: any item from your character's home is fair game except for transportation, non-pokemon animals, and weapons.
- the pokemon limit has been increased by 18 slots, for a total of 54 pokemon per trainer: 6 on-hand and 48 in the PC.
- BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: courtesy of one of our lovely muns, there's already mistletoe all over Goldenrod--however, due to an incident with a whole busload of mistletoe, some seriously upset Butterfree (don't ask...) and a barrage of Sweet Scent, that mistletoe won't stay innocent very long. Furthermore, shipments of this new, poke-catnip mistletoe are being sent everywhere, including Kanto, so have fun with your 101 Dalmantians-esque smooching.

Yes, we know, no eggs this Christmas. You're probably wondering why! Well, firstly, all of the mods are extremely busy this holiday season, and didn't want to add to our workload when we're already trying to push out the FAQ and Kanto updates. Secondly, from an IC perspective, we wanted to keep the characters on their toes. Thirdly...well, keep your eyes peeled, we've got plans for the coming year. :)

SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS: APP CYCLES!
Several of you came to us at the HMD regarding a desire to see monthly or biweekly app cycles. We listened! We'd just like to say that all of us mods, personally and 'professionally', so to speak, really didn't like the idea of monthly app cycles. Apps have slowed down considerably since finals in November, but we have no doubt they'll pick up again, leaving us with potentially huge workloads in the middle/beginning/end of the month, depending on when we implemented them.

However, we would be open to biweekly app cycles, if our players wanted them! So we thought we'd set up a poll so that people who haven't visited the HMD could also give us their thoughts.

We'd like you to bear in mind that having biweekly app cycles would logistically change how the apps would be processed; with a double load of apps to bear, we'd be closing apps on Friday in order to give ourselves the whole weekend to process. Hence we'd have five days of open app submission followed by two days of judging, then seven days of closed submissions. Rinse and repeat.

[Poll #1804343]

Comments

[pluckapetal.livejournal.com]

Why not how gargleblasted does it? They keep apps open for two weeks, and then on friday at midnight they say that any apps past this point will be checked two weeks from now.

[these_balls]

Sounds like a possible plan! Thanks!

Miyu here lazy to switch

[sanctusvotum.livejournal.com]

Is there any limit to the size of said item...? Does a cat count as an item...

[these_balls]

As long as they can carry it, it should be fine. A piano might be a bit inconvenient to lug around. And no non-pokemon animals, sorry.

[ex_cashcow493]

Do items have to be powerless or will they become so once they're here?

For example: a shield that can create a giant barrier of light that can't be penetrated or a scarf that can move at it's owner's will?

[these_balls]

They would remain powerless as per Route's no-powers rule, sadly.

[rideonmyharley]

Seconding the wondering if pets are okay. In Kia's case, it's just a German shepherd -- nothing magical or huge.

[these_balls]

Sorry, no non-pokemon animals! Ack, I should have specified. YOU HAVE ALL MY APOLOGIES.

[herosheroine]

This is Koree, sorry guys, voted with the wrong account! :P;;

Also: SO EXCITED FOR THESE CHANGES AND GIFTS OMG! (YAY)

[alpha_stigma.livejournal.com]

...Man how do I even pick what TM to give him.

...Also man how do I even pick what item to give him it's not like he even owns all that much of importance back home.

Clearly this is something I'll have to think about over the coming week.

[king-of-flames.livejournal.com]

Can the item be something they used to have, but don't have at their current canon point?

[these_balls]

Shouldn't be a problem!

[strideways]

If Marceline wanted her axe back — a literal axe converted to a bass guitar; still usable as an axe, but primarily used as a guitar — would that still count as a weapon, or... ?

Similarly, could I give Dave a sword that's so unspeakably shitty, he almost can't even hold onto it, much less cut anything with it? (It's a canon item called the Sord.)

[these_balls]

If it's still usable as an axe, it'd count as a weapon, sadly, but if you were okay with irreparably blunting the egdes...

The Sord..... sounds like an acceptable solution!

[a-walking-pun.livejournal.com]

The only thing I can think of, for Jesus' random item thing, is his laptop.

Is it OK for him to have that back? It woudnl't have Internet connection, obviously, but he would get his downloaded TV shows back <3

[these_balls]

Yep! :Db YOU HAVE MY BLESSING.

[bullieve.livejournal.com]

I think this might fall under the classification of non-Pokemon animals sorta, but--what about Fiduspawn (http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Fiduspawn) stuff? It's kinda like Pokemon on Alternia only hideous and with terrible beasts bursting out of stuffed animals.

... 8| on second thought maybe I should just veto this idea and stick with the stuffed tinkerbull.

[these_balls]

............eeeergh I mean. That stuffed Tinkerbull sounds nice.

[serpensrex.livejournal.com]

The care package present is an awesome idea!

...now to think of something for this guy since no weapons removes most of my options.

[these_balls]

Yeah, 'no weapons' pretty much removes all of my options for Leon and Nero, so. Glad you like it, though!

[getthehorns]

... Man, giant alien robots do not have a lot to their names. /PONDERS

SO Cliffjumper lost a horn off his head in a fight in the show. If he were to get the broken horn, is it okay if it's scaled down to a reasonable size so he can carry it around as a human, or would it still be giant-robot-sized?

[these_balls]

It can be scaled down!

[show_my_cannons]

Can it be an item present in canon, but they didn't personally own?

Like, a NEST uniform for Ironhide? He was part of the organization, but... being a robot... couldn't wear clothes.

[these_balls]

A NEST uniform is fine.

[usedslam.livejournal.com]

The only thing Shooter canonly owns is a set of small pins (resembling kind you'd wear on clothing) and the device used to eject and control them, used for a minigame called Tin Pin Slammer. It's more or less just a Beyblade ripoff that Shooter is obsessed with, in which you see which spinning pin will knock the other out of bounds first, though you can make them hop etc with the little controller-- is it alright for him to get back his whole set of pins? Since they're such small/insignificant objects, and all. He already has a few that were in his pocket when he came to Route.

Operation TEACH POKEMON TO PLAY TIN PIN begins now. The lack of opposable thumbs will not stand in his way.

[these_balls]

Yes, he can have his set of pins!

[used-glare.livejournal.com]

Since swords and magical items are out, would Nanao be able to regain an entire outfit, or just parts of it?

Barring that, what about salves and bandages for humans?

[these_balls]

Salves and bandages are fine, as are the clothes. Only one of those, though.

[killer-sweets.livejournal.com]

I was thinking of giving Killua his skateboard, could he use that inside of a bike for certain terrain?

[these_balls]

Skateboards are already on sale at the dept. store, so that's fine! Unlike a bike, though, a skateboard can only be used on flat terrain, like paved city roads.

[explosivecombat]

This is possibly a stupid question, given I think it would be okay, but I just wanted to make sure I'm understanding this correctly. The Philosopher's Stones Kimblee had with him back in Amestris - they don't...do anything to make them weapons in their own right, and are only useful if one is using alchemy, so I think they'd be okay given that there's both no alchemy and a depowering rule in effect. Basically, if he were to be allowed to have them, they would essentially just be, uh, kind of pretty rocks, albeit kind of pretty rocks made out of souls, right?

[these_balls]

Pretty soulrocks are fine! o/

[usedreturn.livejournal.com]

What about a sonic screwdriver (http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_screwdriver)? I mean it's really not a weapon, and I could easily nerf it to the most basic and not-at-all omfghax abilities.

[usedreturn.livejournal.com]

Oh, another question. 'Any generation' includes Gen V TMs, right?

[paladinlost]

Reusable Return! MWAHAHAHAHAHA-*cough*

[these_balls]

Return is already available for sale, though! That said, it's up to you.

[newberktown.livejournal.com]

The only thing I'd like to add if the app cycles do go biweekly is that those under 'PENDING' should get checked before the next cycle if the proper edits are made. I realize that may be a little hectic then, but I know that waiting a whole week was fairly stressful/worry for me (I have anxiety issues, yay)and two weeks would be even more so--and it could cause someone to lose interest in the game because of the waiting time.

As for the item from home, I was wondering about Hiccup's helmet. It does have horns on it, but it's not meant at all for a weapon. If he can't have it, though, then I'll just have him get his note/sketchbook back.

[these_balls]

We'd definitely think of something so that the people with pendings don't have to wait a full two weeks, because I definitely agree that that's too long. We'd probably enact something where pendings are checked the weekend after? So you'd keep the one-week wait we currently have.

[parkour]

A theoretical question here.

Would receiving the head of another character in a jar be plausible for one to get if it's in their possession in canon...?

[these_balls]

Since the character whose head it is is appable, we're gonna have to say no to this one--he can get the jar, but no head inside. :|b

[meatysoviet.livejournal.com]

I still like the idea of monthly apps, if only because then it's only one lot of junk dates and one lot or adding and removing, as well having a month to see if you can handle the character or not.

I agree with Hiccup up there though- considering my idea is go monthly perhaps go through apps on the the third week and give any members that are pending until the end of the month to retouch their applications, then do the Junkdates and add/removes on the first day/week of the next month?

I dunno if I'm making sense or not, but it sounds like a good idea in my head.

[these_balls]

For reasons we stated in the post, we pretty much unanimously decided against monthly apps, not because the idea of only one batch of stuff isn't appealing, but mainly because the sheer size of that single batch (come late winter/ early springtime when things pick up again) would be painful. We do appreciate the ideas, though! We definitely wouldn't want the people with pending notices to wait two weeks.

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

Would John's Remote Ghost Gauntlets (http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Remote_Ghost_Gauntlets) be regainable? Though they can be used in conjunction with a weapon, they themselves are not. All they let him do is pick up stuff that he can't reach or that would be too heavy for him to pick up on his own. Or would this be too futuristic/hax?

I just really love the ghost gauntlets but never get a chance to play with them in any of my games lkfjslajdf

[these_balls]

Yes, but the super-strength they have in canon would get nerfed by the no-powers rule. They'd be as strong as his regular arms!

[youngforhisage.livejournal.com]

NOW THAT I'VE FINALLY COME UP WITH OPTIONS FOR ITEMS FROM HOME I have a few questions!

1. For Carona: would it be okay if she got an item that, in canon, she has yet to gain possession of? It's kind of a powerful artifact that allows world destruction/dimension hopping that would obviously be completely blocked in Johto, but it seems amusing to taunt her with this.

Otherwise, since any item able to be picked up (which includes most things such as books, weapons, loaves of bread, trees, etc.) can be used as a weapon in her game... can I assume that she could get any of these back with the understanding that she won't be using them as a weapon here? So like, a potted plant, or something that would normally be used for house decorations. They also would not have any of the abilities that items tend to gain after being used as a weapon for a while... sob Phantom Brave why so weird.

2. For Wataru! Would it be okay for him to get a Gameboy Color back along with a game? And... instead of possibly 4th walling potential appers, could that game be Pokémon Red?

[these_balls]

1) She can have that item, and yes those other options would be acceptable. (How do you use...bread...as a weapon.........wait don't answer that)

2) Yes, and--oh gods, poor kid. yes. (Why not, say, pokemon pinball?)

[tower-trapped.livejournal.com]

...Would it be okay for Rapunzel to get her frying pan? >> I mean, it's not a weapon, technically. It's used for cooking. And baking.

8D?