First Steps Guide
Sept 2, 2019 21:46:49 GMT -5
Post by Atom on Sept 2, 2019 21:46:49 GMT -5
With how the site has been recently, I've got to put it bluntly. It's dying. As far as I can tell, new people just aren't joining. I've seen that we have plenty of guests, but rarely do they ever join. I can only assume that they either don't feel like they can accomplish anything that hasn't already been done, or that they just don't want to take the time to learn about the site. I hope to rectify the latter with this. With this thread, I believe I'll be able to show anybody who visits this site that it's not as complicated as it sounds. To do so, I'll go over the basics of this site, explain some rules that I know can seem confusing if you haven't been on this site for very long, and generally try to give some kind of understanding to those who don't want to go through the rules and try to decipher them. So, without further ado, let's get started with the first thing anybody should do.
Character Creation
Moderator Shiragariyonaka (// ;シラ), otherwise known as Shira, has already made a very comprehensive character creation guide. I will link it here. I'll go over the main points.
Subject Name: This is just you putting your name down. Nothing more, nothing less. You will put it again when you get to the Name line.
Race: Most people who join this site put themselves as human, but some have gotten creative with their race.
Personality: Don't even bother just putting something like 'shy' or 'smart yet dumb'. Those don't cut it when it comes to this site. We are primarily an RP site, after all. Brawling might be fun, but it's only fun in context. Add some flavor to your character's personality. 'I'm smart, but I can't approach people very well.' is far better than just saying 'Smart and Shy'. In the words of Keto, 'A human personality cannot be summed up in a sentence.'
Character Traits: This is your good side and your bad side, your best self and your worst self. Arrogance is a Negative Trait usually, while Book Smart is a positive trait. Can't get simpler than that.
Strengths and Weaknesses: Is your character capable of performing under pressure, or do they fall to pieces when confronted with danger? That's the kind of stuff you put here. If you're quick of tongue and sharp of wit, you'll be an excellent talker. But on the other side, if you're flakey and weak-willed, you'll likely run away more often than not or get convinced to do something you know you shouldn't.
Character Story: Where did you come from? Who are you? Why are you the way you are? These three questions should be answered in this section. If any of these are left unanswered, then you need to add more.
Starter Bakugan/Cards: This is really simple. Pick three Bakugan from the Bakugan List, 4 Ability Cards from the ones you're given to select, and 3 Gate Cards from the list of cards given. And don't just take the same card all 4 times. There are limits to what you can do with one card, after all.
The Rules
Now that your character is made, it's time for the next step, and the one that most people dread the most. It's time to talk about the rules of the site. Some are self explanatory, such as No Spamming and No pornographic media. However, some, specifically those in the Battle Rules, can get kinda confusing when you first read them. I'll go over some of the most confusing ones here.
Battle Rules 2 and 9: Here we go with the first set of seemingly conflicting rules. Battle Rule 2 states that you may use up to 3 Bakugan per brawl, but no limitation on Gates and Abilities. Battle Rule 9 then states that Each player is allowed to use 4 Ability Cards, 1 Special Card, and 1 Fusion Ability per round/battle. So, the first time you see them, you're likely to scratch your head. This one is easy to explain. They don't conflict. It's all about the wording. A Brawl is a collection of rounds/battles in the same posting thread. In essence, assuming nobody loses all of their Life Points, the battle can continue on infinitely, and each player can use any number of unique abilities throughout it. But, in each individual round, each player can activate a limited number of cards. Thus, they seem in conflict, but they actually aren't.
Battle Rule 10: This may seem to conflict what I just stated, but it doesn't. Remember, a Brawl is made up of a number of rounds/battles. So at the end on every round, you'll regain all of the cards you used, along with any restricted effects.
Battle Rule 12: Here's a doozy of a rule. It seems very complex when you first read it, and your brain just kinda slows down when you do. It's incredibly simple. Until a you say that you don't counter a card, you can say that you counter it and play a card that allows you to counter it, assuming you haven't exhausted your limited effects! Let's set up this scenario:
Player 1 plays a prevention ability to keep player 2 from playing Normal Abilities.
Player 2 plays a Negation that's a Normal Ability to stop the prevention from taking place.
Because Player 2 countered it, it never went into effect, thus allowing Player 2 to cancel it. However, if it went like this:
Player 1 plays a negation ability to stop player 2 from gaining a fifth Normal Ability slot with their last card.
Player 2 plays a negation ability using the extra slot to counter the effect.
This throws up a huge red flag to everybody playing because it's an illegal move. Player 2 does not have the Normal Ability slot to play the negation, thus they cannot negate. It's that simple.
Creations
So, you have your character, and you've read the rules. You're now ready to make your own Bakguan and cards. However, I will warn you away from trying to make stuff that sounds really complicated, which really only raises your power by 200 Gs. Don't do that. It got one of my friends on this site into a lot of trouble with staff and essentially made them quit because of it. If you are using a paragraph to explain your effect, you're doing too much. Only in specific circumstances, such as with exceptionally powerful cards, do you need more than a sentence or two for the effects. And no, until you have a very firm grasp of how card creation works, you should not experiment too much with overpowered effects. Keto's specially named cards may be appealing, but they are not for new people to try and make. This goes double for Copyrighted effects. They're fancy and flashy, but they do not denote a good brawler. Instead, focus on your basic effects. G-Power Gains, G-Power Decreases, Advantage, Protection, Prevention, Negation. Those 6 will be your lifeblood on this site. I believe I only need to explain Advantage, Protection and Prevention. The other 3 are explained within the starter cards you are given.
Advantage: You are considered winning even if you have a lower power level. This can be a very critical effect that can turn the tides of battle in an instant. Instead of your opponent beating you by 2000 Gs, you are now beating them by that amount, requiring your opponent to give immediate action lest they lose.
Protection: You can throw anything you want at this. G-Power decreases, preventions, you name it. It will all bounce off and take no effect for as long as protection is active. Protection can be as open ended as 'I now have protection' to 'I have protection from any G-Power change as long as we are not the same attribute, I have a higher power level, and I have advantage.' Naturally, the more open ended the better, but if your opponent has a knack for winning one way, it's possible you can literally overwhelm them with a more specified protection. This can, however, be negated by a negation effect at any time, so use it wisely.
Prevention: You want to keep your opponent from gaining any more Gs, right? A Prevention does just that. You specify what's prevented, and it gets prevented. You want to prevent Pyrus Abilities? Boom, you have a card. You want to prevent the activation of normal abilities? You got it! It's an incredibly simple effect that can profoundly affect the battle.
Battles
You have your cards and your Bakugan. You feel like you understand the rules, and your character has been approved. You're now ready for what the majority of people who used to use this site always did. You are ready to brawl. Now, before you go proclaiming yourself the most powerful brawler ever, take a step back and enter the Gym. Post that you would like to have your first battle, set your Gate Card, and brawl in. State your G-Power, and wait. Somebody will come to battle you eventually. It might take a few seconds, it might take a day, but someone will respond. I'll list some of the more active members of this site and how they will brawl against you.
Atom (Me): If I don't see others around, I'll likely take you on myself to make sure you have the basics down pat and teach you a few tips and tricks I've picked up over my time on this site. Now, you may think it unfair that someone several ranks above yourself battles you, and you're not wrong. It'll usually be that way. However, I take pride in my self-given title as 'Teacher of Beginning Brawlers'. I will not use anything above what you can get yourself unless you specifically request it or it seems like you're more than ready for more advanced cards than the shop cards. You tell me the battle you want, and I'll likely be able to cater your experience accordingly. Just don't ask for a throw-away battle that you can win easily. That'll get you a full force, 100% battle from me. No holds barred.
Keto (aegis): Keto will likely be able to teach you further than a majority of people on this site, but his strengths aren't advanced battle strategy and outwitting the opponent with carefully laid traps. Usually, Keto will just be able to bombard you with his own powerful abilities that he can seemingly pull forever. His list of copyrighted effects is likely longer than this entire beginning steps guide! However, just like me, you could probably ask him for a sparring battle rather than a full out slaughter. Just keep in mind that Keto is an admin. Additionally, the person who currently uses the Keto account has decided to quit the site, so asking them to battle via PMs will likely give you a bunch of nothing. But, if you can catch him when he's on in any one of his numerous accounts, you might be able to get an answer out of him one way or the other.
Kane Ultio (kane): Kane, also known as Zane on Discord, or Zeno on this site, is the head admin at this point in time. He is very likely to be the strongest brawler on this site. However, don't let that intimidate you. He can and will answer questions about rules, and can probably give you a few tips. Just don't ask too often, as he doesn't like repeating his answer to the same question to the same person many times in a row. He is very punctual about his wording, and if he doesn't say something about a situation, you don't assume what it means, or what's possibly there. His strengths also don't just stem from knowing the rules, he is currently the one of the oldest active members of this site, probably having been here for just over 8 years, as of this writing. Only challenge him if you want him to test you to see how far you've come. Just watch out, he will say stuff that you probably don't want to hear when the battle's over, but it's important to listen to his advice on how to become better. Additionally, he also has many accounts. Noland Hardy is the most likely you'll see, so be on the lookout if you want to ask him something.
Blaze Hayes (blazebrem): Blaze is more of a wild card than anybody else mentioned. She is definitely a stronger brawler than I am, but it's likely due to more experience on her end than any effects on her cards. She also makes much heavier use of the basic effects than me, Kane and Keto, from what I've seen. Both Kane and Keto have their higher tiered cards, while I have lots of options, but Blaze knows her way around effects that are more likely to make you want to scream at their effectiveness. She's strong, but not an unbeatable god like Kane. She's quick and cunning, but doesn't have the most powerful cards out there, like Keto's. She's also very adaptable to every situation, but not quite to the same flexibility as someone who specializes in using any of the six attributes at any time. Blaze is not the strongest in any category, but she is an all around brawler who can show anybody around the block, excluding Kane.
Final Words
And that's it for this guide. All you need to know to get started should be found in this. However, I have a few final words for anybody who has read this. This will sum up everything talked about in this guide, so it can be considered a tl;dr.
Take your time when it comes to this site. Take your time with your character to make sure you answer every question presented. Take your time with your creations, and don't try to go too big too quickly. Finally, take your time with the rules. Make sure you learn them well, and make sure you know where every rule is so you can ask about it. At least know the difference between the different rules. If you take your time, you will be much better for it.
Character Creation
Moderator Shiragariyonaka (// ;シラ), otherwise known as Shira, has already made a very comprehensive character creation guide. I will link it here. I'll go over the main points.
Subject Name: This is just you putting your name down. Nothing more, nothing less. You will put it again when you get to the Name line.
Race: Most people who join this site put themselves as human, but some have gotten creative with their race.
Personality: Don't even bother just putting something like 'shy' or 'smart yet dumb'. Those don't cut it when it comes to this site. We are primarily an RP site, after all. Brawling might be fun, but it's only fun in context. Add some flavor to your character's personality. 'I'm smart, but I can't approach people very well.' is far better than just saying 'Smart and Shy'. In the words of Keto, 'A human personality cannot be summed up in a sentence.'
Character Traits: This is your good side and your bad side, your best self and your worst self. Arrogance is a Negative Trait usually, while Book Smart is a positive trait. Can't get simpler than that.
Strengths and Weaknesses: Is your character capable of performing under pressure, or do they fall to pieces when confronted with danger? That's the kind of stuff you put here. If you're quick of tongue and sharp of wit, you'll be an excellent talker. But on the other side, if you're flakey and weak-willed, you'll likely run away more often than not or get convinced to do something you know you shouldn't.
Character Story: Where did you come from? Who are you? Why are you the way you are? These three questions should be answered in this section. If any of these are left unanswered, then you need to add more.
Starter Bakugan/Cards: This is really simple. Pick three Bakugan from the Bakugan List, 4 Ability Cards from the ones you're given to select, and 3 Gate Cards from the list of cards given. And don't just take the same card all 4 times. There are limits to what you can do with one card, after all.
The Rules
Now that your character is made, it's time for the next step, and the one that most people dread the most. It's time to talk about the rules of the site. Some are self explanatory, such as No Spamming and No pornographic media. However, some, specifically those in the Battle Rules, can get kinda confusing when you first read them. I'll go over some of the most confusing ones here.
Battle Rules 2 and 9: Here we go with the first set of seemingly conflicting rules. Battle Rule 2 states that you may use up to 3 Bakugan per brawl, but no limitation on Gates and Abilities. Battle Rule 9 then states that Each player is allowed to use 4 Ability Cards, 1 Special Card, and 1 Fusion Ability per round/battle. So, the first time you see them, you're likely to scratch your head. This one is easy to explain. They don't conflict. It's all about the wording. A Brawl is a collection of rounds/battles in the same posting thread. In essence, assuming nobody loses all of their Life Points, the battle can continue on infinitely, and each player can use any number of unique abilities throughout it. But, in each individual round, each player can activate a limited number of cards. Thus, they seem in conflict, but they actually aren't.
Battle Rule 10: This may seem to conflict what I just stated, but it doesn't. Remember, a Brawl is made up of a number of rounds/battles. So at the end on every round, you'll regain all of the cards you used, along with any restricted effects.
Battle Rule 12: Here's a doozy of a rule. It seems very complex when you first read it, and your brain just kinda slows down when you do. It's incredibly simple. Until a you say that you don't counter a card, you can say that you counter it and play a card that allows you to counter it, assuming you haven't exhausted your limited effects! Let's set up this scenario:
Player 1 plays a prevention ability to keep player 2 from playing Normal Abilities.
Player 2 plays a Negation that's a Normal Ability to stop the prevention from taking place.
Because Player 2 countered it, it never went into effect, thus allowing Player 2 to cancel it. However, if it went like this:
Player 1 plays a negation ability to stop player 2 from gaining a fifth Normal Ability slot with their last card.
Player 2 plays a negation ability using the extra slot to counter the effect.
This throws up a huge red flag to everybody playing because it's an illegal move. Player 2 does not have the Normal Ability slot to play the negation, thus they cannot negate. It's that simple.
Creations
So, you have your character, and you've read the rules. You're now ready to make your own Bakguan and cards. However, I will warn you away from trying to make stuff that sounds really complicated, which really only raises your power by 200 Gs. Don't do that. It got one of my friends on this site into a lot of trouble with staff and essentially made them quit because of it. If you are using a paragraph to explain your effect, you're doing too much. Only in specific circumstances, such as with exceptionally powerful cards, do you need more than a sentence or two for the effects. And no, until you have a very firm grasp of how card creation works, you should not experiment too much with overpowered effects. Keto's specially named cards may be appealing, but they are not for new people to try and make. This goes double for Copyrighted effects. They're fancy and flashy, but they do not denote a good brawler. Instead, focus on your basic effects. G-Power Gains, G-Power Decreases, Advantage, Protection, Prevention, Negation. Those 6 will be your lifeblood on this site. I believe I only need to explain Advantage, Protection and Prevention. The other 3 are explained within the starter cards you are given.
Advantage: You are considered winning even if you have a lower power level. This can be a very critical effect that can turn the tides of battle in an instant. Instead of your opponent beating you by 2000 Gs, you are now beating them by that amount, requiring your opponent to give immediate action lest they lose.
Protection: You can throw anything you want at this. G-Power decreases, preventions, you name it. It will all bounce off and take no effect for as long as protection is active. Protection can be as open ended as 'I now have protection' to 'I have protection from any G-Power change as long as we are not the same attribute, I have a higher power level, and I have advantage.' Naturally, the more open ended the better, but if your opponent has a knack for winning one way, it's possible you can literally overwhelm them with a more specified protection. This can, however, be negated by a negation effect at any time, so use it wisely.
Prevention: You want to keep your opponent from gaining any more Gs, right? A Prevention does just that. You specify what's prevented, and it gets prevented. You want to prevent Pyrus Abilities? Boom, you have a card. You want to prevent the activation of normal abilities? You got it! It's an incredibly simple effect that can profoundly affect the battle.
Battles
You have your cards and your Bakugan. You feel like you understand the rules, and your character has been approved. You're now ready for what the majority of people who used to use this site always did. You are ready to brawl. Now, before you go proclaiming yourself the most powerful brawler ever, take a step back and enter the Gym. Post that you would like to have your first battle, set your Gate Card, and brawl in. State your G-Power, and wait. Somebody will come to battle you eventually. It might take a few seconds, it might take a day, but someone will respond. I'll list some of the more active members of this site and how they will brawl against you.
Atom (Me): If I don't see others around, I'll likely take you on myself to make sure you have the basics down pat and teach you a few tips and tricks I've picked up over my time on this site. Now, you may think it unfair that someone several ranks above yourself battles you, and you're not wrong. It'll usually be that way. However, I take pride in my self-given title as 'Teacher of Beginning Brawlers'. I will not use anything above what you can get yourself unless you specifically request it or it seems like you're more than ready for more advanced cards than the shop cards. You tell me the battle you want, and I'll likely be able to cater your experience accordingly. Just don't ask for a throw-away battle that you can win easily. That'll get you a full force, 100% battle from me. No holds barred.
Keto (aegis): Keto will likely be able to teach you further than a majority of people on this site, but his strengths aren't advanced battle strategy and outwitting the opponent with carefully laid traps. Usually, Keto will just be able to bombard you with his own powerful abilities that he can seemingly pull forever. His list of copyrighted effects is likely longer than this entire beginning steps guide! However, just like me, you could probably ask him for a sparring battle rather than a full out slaughter. Just keep in mind that Keto is an admin. Additionally, the person who currently uses the Keto account has decided to quit the site, so asking them to battle via PMs will likely give you a bunch of nothing. But, if you can catch him when he's on in any one of his numerous accounts, you might be able to get an answer out of him one way or the other.
Kane Ultio (kane): Kane, also known as Zane on Discord, or Zeno on this site, is the head admin at this point in time. He is very likely to be the strongest brawler on this site. However, don't let that intimidate you. He can and will answer questions about rules, and can probably give you a few tips. Just don't ask too often, as he doesn't like repeating his answer to the same question to the same person many times in a row. He is very punctual about his wording, and if he doesn't say something about a situation, you don't assume what it means, or what's possibly there. His strengths also don't just stem from knowing the rules, he is currently the one of the oldest active members of this site, probably having been here for just over 8 years, as of this writing. Only challenge him if you want him to test you to see how far you've come. Just watch out, he will say stuff that you probably don't want to hear when the battle's over, but it's important to listen to his advice on how to become better. Additionally, he also has many accounts. Noland Hardy is the most likely you'll see, so be on the lookout if you want to ask him something.
Blaze Hayes (blazebrem): Blaze is more of a wild card than anybody else mentioned. She is definitely a stronger brawler than I am, but it's likely due to more experience on her end than any effects on her cards. She also makes much heavier use of the basic effects than me, Kane and Keto, from what I've seen. Both Kane and Keto have their higher tiered cards, while I have lots of options, but Blaze knows her way around effects that are more likely to make you want to scream at their effectiveness. She's strong, but not an unbeatable god like Kane. She's quick and cunning, but doesn't have the most powerful cards out there, like Keto's. She's also very adaptable to every situation, but not quite to the same flexibility as someone who specializes in using any of the six attributes at any time. Blaze is not the strongest in any category, but she is an all around brawler who can show anybody around the block, excluding Kane.
Final Words
And that's it for this guide. All you need to know to get started should be found in this. However, I have a few final words for anybody who has read this. This will sum up everything talked about in this guide, so it can be considered a tl;dr.
Take your time when it comes to this site. Take your time with your character to make sure you answer every question presented. Take your time with your creations, and don't try to go too big too quickly. Finally, take your time with the rules. Make sure you learn them well, and make sure you know where every rule is so you can ask about it. At least know the difference between the different rules. If you take your time, you will be much better for it.