Throwing out an idea here: Should the Battle Host be a separate account that the current person leading the storyline posts from?
In the past there was never really any trouble determining who the Host was. I'm just thinking that the whole idea of a separate account for the Battle Host would give whoever is leading some separation from their other avatar/ego. The rules/taboos for this extra login would have to be established before being put into effect, obviously. Just thinking with my mouth/keyboard open.
I am not allowing multiple accounts. So no, Battle Hosts will lead with their current account.
One thing that I'd like to make Mention of and hopefully something we can do onward
Battle Host = Host of the Battle.
Battle host ≠ Your character leads the others by the nose around your adventure.
A Battle host is a huge responsibility. Just as a Dungeon Master or Game Master in Pen and Paper. In Previous Board Battles experiences, the battles were centered around characters with others following the lead. I think that is a mold that needs to be shattered and discarded. It's a Battle Host's job to provide an engaging story that everyone can partake in and put aside personal egos. Not tell the story of a single character, say for example, a character named 'Far'ass Gingerspud' and have everyone else in that character's little world and their actions mean very little.
That doesn't mean hang up your character for the board battle while hosting. Just don't let 1 character overshadow the rest.
I also disagree with having people hang up their characters when hosting a battle. I always kinda personally thought that being the Battle Host was an opportunity to showcase your character a little bit. Not exactly steal the show, per say, but to bring the other characters into your characters universe and expand upon the things that your character has done. And our past board battles have been able to do that while still allowing the other characters to expand their plot as well. The Bonds of Betrayal was a fantastic story. But it was set in the Upper Umbra and was very much focused around Tamrissa and Fei. The Weaver of Destiny was epic, and a lot of characters had epic moments. One of my character's major plot points stemmed from that very battle. yet it was in set in Soul Reaver's home world, and Soul was essentially the driver. Chaos and Clutchfiend even had my character's name in the title, for christ's sake.
But it was our first foray into the 40k-themed mythos of Cameron's universe, and I very much enjoyed seeing other character's reactions to that, even more so then I did expanding my own character's story. The one story that I DO feel was handled improperly, The Eye of Terror, was not because I was too focused on my character's part in it, but definitely because I tried to make it too grand, and dragged it on WAAAAY too long. Not having Cameron in that story would have not made that any different. In fact, Cameron was absent a good portion of the begining of that one, and I was mostly operating through NPCs. So that had nothing to do with it's failure.
Now granted, not EVERY story that someone hosts needs to be set in their own universe. People who have hosted multiple times can only tell so many stories in the same universe before it gets old and stale. But setting the battle in your own universe is great for first time Battle Hosts, as it's much easier to write and get passionate about something that you've already been working on forever, and it gives that character it's moment to shine, and for people to learn things about the character that they might not have known before. I also feel that characters that have had the central role in a battle at least once tend to be fleshed out much better then characters who haven't. And giving a first-time Battle Host the chance to showcase their character a bit also makes people INTERESTED in Battle Hosting. Without that, we're going to end up with the same two or three people hosting every battle forever. Obviously your battle shouldn't be completely focused on yourself, but if you can showcase your character and still have an entertaining story that others are interested to play, it would be a disservice to everyone for us to just say "No, not allowed."
Wow. Wall of text. tl;dr: No alternate accounts, Definitely dislike making players hang up their characters for Battle Hosting, Battle Hosts should have the freedom to showcase their characters if they so choose, in moderation. Granted, this is all just my opinion.
Except the no alternate accounts, bit. That's already in my rough draft of the rules. WAY too many alter-ego accounts on the old boards.
