Hopefuls before JEDI?

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Galen Sol
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Re: Hopefuls before JEDI?

Post by Galen Sol »

I truly appreciate the bumps to this topic, because I know that it will help out at least SOME people on their journey to joining our wonderful community in roleplay. I figure I should at least share my own experience and answer my own question now, given how much time I've spent with JEDI and how much more time I have ahead of me to contribute.

Being a hopeful was a mess for me, it was something that I both hated and really enjoyed. I joined with the hope that I wouldn't be restricted to waiting for an application to process before I became a member of the community. I thought it was all just a waiting process, then I'd be invited, but I was clearly wrong. Being a hopeful isn't just a period of waiting for an RPmod account, membership or features, it's about development. It's an experience only you can cherish once it is gone, and it is a great one.

For me, Galen first met his mentor Silas and two of a group of his best friends, Karmarie and Dithaal, on the first day I logged in. I thought Silas was the coolest, before I ever knew about his being a Matukai or beast with telekinesis. I was never drawn to his powers, merely how he treated me and how Galen's friends played with him and expressed some ideas back and forth, just like children would. As a hopeful, I had no idea about the Jedi's missions or what they actually did in this community, so I had no expectations for it outside of an interesting roleplay, and boy they delivered.

I got into the zone of caring for Galen as a character, and as a hopeful, developed up a story for him and played it out according to his nature. How would a young teenager act, after his parents had died and he was thrust into some foreign place, expected to wear robes and be friendly to others, and study an ancient code? It felt odd and, as I said, foreign. Galen was distant, always saying a couple of words and then shying away while he dealt with his internal struggles. Then I began to open him up, show others that I had sides of Galen that hadn't been seen, ones that are now more commonly seen than any other: his silly, sweet, considerate and happy sides.

The more I began to develop him as a character and get over his flaws, the more I felt connected to others and when my initiation came, it was an absolute shock. Sebastin Creed (Or Sebastian Creed, as I thought it was then :P ) walked right up to me, stood there, and invited me to the center of the room. I wasn't even expecting it, I just felt a shock through my heart and got so jittery, wondering if I'd finally be able to join my friends as a full member of the community. I did, of course, and it was one of the greatest moments I've ever experienced in a roleplay in a long, long time. The feeling, so satisfying, was intense and I couldn't help but wonder just when I was going to learn something cool, like Force Jump or survival skills.

As for becoming a Padawan, that's another story entirely. Even with less than a month/IC year as an initiate in Galen's case, I was able to enjoy many things while in that stage of Galen's life, and it had to be funner than anything. I still have a picture from my apprenticing.
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If you've had a great connection to people in JEDI and set your mind to something, as I did to becoming Silas' Padawan, then you'll definitely achieve what you set goals for. You need to feel your place, not just let it come to you, because otherwise you'll be unhappy with what you've got and not want to roleplay it. As it stands, I've only got a couple of goals left before my JEDI experience is entirely complete. Choose your own path, don't let your path choose you. You CAN mold your story to your liking, it just takes a bit of creativity and ingenuity.

As I said, it's all a matter of development, not waiting to become an Initiate/member of the community. It's just a stage of your character's life, and one that should be treated tenderly, as you'll most likely miss it as I do, thinking back on it. Heck, I was only an initiate for a month, so I didn't get to enjoy that much, but I am grateful for being recognized and appreciated as a member of the community. I've made my own mistakes during my time here, but there's one thing JEDI is full of, and that is forgiveness, and for that, I don't think there's a chance in high hell that I'll ever leave this community. It's been a good ride so far, and I still have a long, long time to go with Galen. He is my child, he is my creation, and when his time comes to pass away, I will no doubt shed tears and reminisce over all of the good times I've had with him. I love Galen, his character, what I've done to progress him, all the pain and happiness he's been through and what goals he's achieved.
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Kha Rae
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Re: Hopefuls before JEDI?

Post by Kha Rae »

My last characters hopefull stage was hard. Being in the pacific time zone meant most of my time on the server was alone or with one other person at a time, who was on for maybe an hour or less. (I did manage to get some time with the rest of the group, here and there.)


It's difficult to show your dedication and also spend hours walking empty halls alone. But I did it. The only thing that got me through it knowing from my previouse JA RP experience, that the next ranks would make it worth it.
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Zakarie Di'Vosk
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Re: Hopefuls before JEDI?

Post by Zakarie Di'Vosk »

Going back to the ''Zelai Kol'iva'' days. I must admit my days as a hopeful were some of the best. It was the only real chance to do whatever you wanted, and get away with it. I remember sneaking through the halls with buckets of water to the arena and making sand castles. Sneaking into the knights dorms and being caught numerous amount of times. Also remember sneezing over Kenta. It was the days where you actually can behave like a child, and just enjoy it; Because they don't last long.

If you spend your days as a hopeful, solely waiting for Initiation, then you will find yourself locked in this stale vortex of boredom and lack of interest. You need to spend these important days on your character, roleplaying and enjoying the atmosphere that this amazing community provides. Before you know it, you'll be Initiated. Don't just connect to show your activity instead you should try bring your own adventures to the server, don't just follow others roleplay. Create your own unique roleplay that you enjoy. Every day you roleplay on that server is a new world of discoveries, some of which can drive your character's path in certain directions.

I had many close peers who'm to this day are still with the community, some even leading the clan. Zelai was a character I thoroughly enjoyed, he was different and unique, I created him the way I wanted him to be, and enjoyed roleplaying with the character. It was a shame that real life situations and commitments took there toll, which led to my departure, however I still admit to this day that my hopeful stage was the best part of JEDI. I was Initiated alongside Rui, Saos, Rian, Aria, Jade, and Wynne. Great memories came from my days, forming close bonds with your peers. I was quite common to be around Rui and Saos. We had a sort of three musketeers theme going. Infact I still have a drawing hanging about on this ancient computer of mine.

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If you wan't to take any notes from what I am writing, then look at it like this. Being a hopeful can be tough, but it is only yourself that will make it tough. Don't allow other people's OOC opinions influence your character's progression. This was a major downfall to Zelai. I became sensitive to other peoples thoughts, allowed them to decide what path I should take and before I knew it, Zelai was trying to do everything, in the end it became to much and I lost interest in the character, because I was to busy trying to focus on pleasing others than actually just creating the character I wanted. I allowed the character to become an abstract of others opinions. Making the character lose its uniqueness and no longer become a joy to play. So my biggest suggestion for your character, is to make sure you know what particular path you want this character to go down. Now by this I don't mean restrict him to the point where you limit his roleplay. No matter what, a character will go through live changing events, and maybe some specific event that could divert his path slightly. But it is always good to have a base template to work from.

Hope this helps.

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Zevaros Sazen
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Re: Hopefuls before JEDI?

Post by Zevaros Sazen »

I'm still a hopeful, but I can say I wasn't expecting to get what I got out of my first two days.

Which involved Zakarie making Ivu and Zev fly, then shooting at Zak with a blaster provided by Karm, then running a drill with an angry droid on Karm's ship, then being in a simulation where I shot and killed people before being cornered by two Sith.

Then on the second day I got to NPC for a class on the settlement.

Over all I say it's been a pretty productive first two days for me. :lol:

The long quiet times do kind of suck though, that's for sure.
Name: Zevaros Sazen // Race: Echani // Homeworld: Eshan // Born: 346.27 // Initiated: 355.06 // Padawan: 356.13 ABY // Master: Kadvarr Tirladdik
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Ivunorin
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Re: Hopefuls before JEDI?

Post by Ivunorin »

Oh goodness, this is a rather interesting one as I've gotten to play it from two different angles. One one hand was Aelon who was akin to a shapeless mound of clay, on the other hand is Ivu who is far more akin to mound of clay that's rather dried out... The former required but merely the hands to shape him, the latter requires a bit more than just guidance.

The Hopeful stage -- I feel -- is one of the more important ones in JEDI. In both of mine they have been the 'trigger', the spark of life that has brought a concept to life and from there been given form. In this stage you should allow your character to develop as it is here that they will be making their first friends, their newfound interests, and perhaps even marking themselves for the future.

Something to keep in mind from an OOC perspective is that this will likely be the first time your character has seen a Jedi in the flesh as well as seen them 'invoke their magical abilities'. Most people in the galaxy at large still refer to Jedi -- and Sith -- as magic users, sorcerers with ancient ways, monks with peculiar beliefs. It's here that their idea of the world may very well be flipped upside down as it has been with Ivu.

Keep hope for the days of initiation, I've done it as two characters so far and cannot say how rewarding it has been. The... 'Original iteration' of this post -- this is like revision three -- had quite the extensive period where I talked about just how moving Aelon's initiation was for me because it wasn't just 'ok cool, now I can go beat up holograms with a lightsaber and duel people', no, it was like seeing my child -- for lack of better words -- going to school for the first time, or perhaps even taking their first step. It was a coming of age and a time of change, Aelon felt so proud of himself because he had achieved something that all of the spectacular people around him once did and now he was on a path to such wisdom and experience as they.

Ivu was in a similar boat for his initiation however it was far less formal and much more personal... Chiss have a very strict society in which you effectively do what you were either born into or adopted by for your entire natural life, he being an Inrokini felt that the highest echelon of his life would be the design and manufacture of technology for the glory of the Ascendancy, but now, he's on his way to becoming a Jedi, a person who's highest calling is to defend and protect the galaxy; whilst he didn't have his journal at the time, I wrote a bit of a short story of sorts regarding how excited he was after Cael had given him a lightsaber, a lightsaber that matched his favourite colour, mind you... Such a thing after Cael just spoke of destiny and the Force was quite moving for the little guy.

But! I digress. My advice -- should you wish it -- would be not only to speak to fellow members but to make their initiation matter. Find something for them to strive for, to live up to, to aspire to be! Understand that their initiation isn't simply a 'here's your saber now go' deal but something deeply personal that they'll likely remember for the rest of their lives as the start of something positively spectacular.

I think Aelon's wordiness has really worn off on me. 8P
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Chascerci'vunor'inrokini // Species: Chiss // Homeworld: Csaus //
Born: 348.7 // Initiated: 354.25
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Alanya Sgall
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Re: Hopefuls before JEDI?

Post by Alanya Sgall »

Gotta say, waaaay back in the day, it was tough. Back in the JK2:JO days, I followed Alkaiser from a semi-RP clan we'd been in that dissolved to ::JEDI:: about a month before the move to JK:A. Of course, I wanted to keep playing with my new friends, so buying it was a must. Then it was time to start ACTUALLY role-playing, and not just dueling with some story segments here and there.

::JEDI:: was my first experience with role-playing and making a character, and it showed. I know I was impatient at times, because I wanted to get my lightsaber and start really playing again. That, and at the time, I think I was around 12'ish or so? So yeah, big learning experience for me.

I think I went thru 1-2 characters and a revamp by the time I stuck with little Alanya. My first (and best! ^_^) Master was Arkallon. I spent all my free time on the server, hour by hour, day by day. Unfortunately, due to real world issues, Ark wasn't around much, usually managing only 2-3 hours ever 3-5 days or so. There were times that I wouldn't see him for 2-3 week stretches. In the end, this did end up hurting my character progression, because at the time I believe we had to have our Masters' approval for classes and to be granted EXP for activities. As such, people I'd been initiated with were being promoted left and right, and I was at maybe a 3rd of their level.

However, the times Arkallon was around were some of my best times in ::JEDI::. We may spend 15 minutes doing exercises and training, and then spend an hour or two having philosophical discussions in-character. I always looked forward to our talks more than any of the actual trainings.

Also, as a Hopeful, not being able to participate in Raulos' Midnight Rocket Mayhem "training" sessions was highly disappointing. Those were always fun nights. :D

I think the hardest part of being a Hopeful was just the fact that you couldn't really be involved in all the fun activities, since you have no lightsaber and no Force powers. Sure, someone might give you a blaster for a training session or such to help out with, but the folks with the lightsabers usually had most of the fun. But I think it's an important step in the ::JEDI:: community, as when you were bored you couldn't just go kill hologram NPC's, you'd have to go play your character. You would have to go out and track down others to interact with, whether they were other Hopefuls to play games with, Padawans to talk to about whatever, or Knights and above to pester for an impromptu class. As a player, you don't have any gameplay mechanics to fall back on when the server's slow, so you'd work on improving your character, or your backstory, or your characters' future, or on improving your own roleplaying skills.

But yeah, being a Hopeful can be extremely boring if you let it, but it's one of your best times to expand your knowledge of the ::JEDI:: community and your own role-playing talents, as well as setting up your character for the long-term. Just remember, as long as you keep improving your character and polishing your role-playing skills and keep active, you'll hit that Initiate status.
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Eronnoronnorononn
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Re: Hopefuls before JEDI?

Post by Eronnoronnorononn »

This topic was so helpful and encouraging to me during my Hopeful days, (which was up until yesterday :o ) I just have to give my two cents. Everyone else pretty much covered all the general advice, so I'll just add this:

It's called "Hopeful" for a reason. I knew my experience wouldn't be enjoyable if all I did was wait to be initiated, instead, I took the time to really think about my character and most importantly, enjoyed the RP regardless of my status! Get lost in the immersion, and before you know it- :o
Born: 360.00 ABY
Species: Ithorian
Home: Skor II
Language: Squibbal, Basic
Initiated: 367.22 ABY
Apprenticed: 374.06 ABY
Mentor: Zakarie Di'Vosk
Padawan Sibling: Narael Undine

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