Hello everyone.  I wanted to address the current Board Battle rules, and the pace of the current Epic Board Battle.

The current rules were put in place post-Eye of Terror, because I believe that for people to be adequately invested in the story/boards, the main plot needs to move forward at a semi-reasonable pace.  During the Eye of Terror we would often only have one post every few months at best from the Battle Host, and we saw a number of people drop off the boards during this time - I believe the two were related.  The Board Battle is a tandem story, and meant to be a collaborative thing: if one person is holding everyone else up, then that isn't fair on everyone else and makes them feel disengaged.  The situation was made worse by the fact that there was also no effective way to deal with a situation where the Administrator is the one holding things up.

I felt it was necessary to basically come up with a way of enforcing a "at least once a month" posting schedule for the Battle Host (and the same for all the players).  That's effectively what the current rules are asking people to do.

Let's fast forward to now.
Previously I've been chasing people up to post, but to be honest that's really something the Battle Host should be doing mostly, not just me.  After Veldanya's post in June I let things play out to see what would happen.
Between Veldanya's last post and the one before, we had a 3 month gap.
Other than myself, everyone took more than 1 month to reply to the post.

If we'd followed the rules (which we didn't), the following would have happened:
- Every player (except mine in this case) would have had their character god-modded by myself or Veldanya, and would have been put on 'Probation' (so they would have had to post within 3 weeks after Veldanya's next post
- I would have stepped in after 1 month had passed to God-mod the Battle Host
- If I didn't step up and do the above within 1 week, anyone could God-mod the Battle Host

Of course, this would be a bit of a ridiculous situation - it most likely would have meant that Veldanya or myself would have had to God-mod 75% of the active players.

Vedanya has made it clear to me in a private conversation that they have a lot of stress on them at the moment, so the Board Battles are low on their list of priorities, and the current inactive battle rules just feel like an additional deadline/stress for them on top of everything else.  This is fair enough.  However, they have also made it clear they do not want to hand off posting responsibilities to someone else, as they understandably want to see their own plot-line through.
This leaves us, one again, in a very similar situation as we had during The Eye of Terror, which is a situation I personally am not keen to repeat.

So, an open question to both players and Battle Host: what do we do about it?  I'm open to ideas, but here are some of my own.  Most are not mutually exclusive:

a) Relax the rules.  Let things play out as they do.  The purpose of the rules was to "make the board battles fun again(tm)" by making sure people actually posted, not to stress everyone out and make them miserable.
- Personally I don't like this idea, as I do firmly believe the slump in interest directly corresponds to a lack of posting.

b) Give Veldanya a hospital pass on the rules, given their difficult circumstances, for a timeframe they propose.  During this time hosting duties won't be given to anyone else and Veldanya can post as little (or as much) as they want.  Agreement to this would be by majority vote in a hidden poll.  Once the time is up they'll let us know if they need it extended further, and we vote again.  I'll add such an option to the rules for the future.
- I think this is a fair option and workable given the number of active players we have.  This is a collaborative thing, so people should have their say, and it also means we have an option that will give Veldanya the breathing room they need right now.

c) Change the rules so that the Battle Host doesn't have to post within 1 month of their own last post, but rather within either 1 month of their own last post or within [timeframe] of the last PLAYER'S post, whichever is longer.
- This reduces the stress on the Battle Host if people drag their feet with posting - which has been happening regularly.  The longer [timeframe] is, the less stress is on the Battle Host.  On the other hand, it also results in slow-posting players possibly leading to an even longer month gap between Battle Host posts, which gets worse the longer that [timeframe] is.  While I can see some benefit to this rule (having myself had a couple of occasions where people only post a day or so before my own 'host deadline' was up), it does reduce the pace further.

d) Since Veldanya has other priorities, I make it my job to remind people to post.  If they've posted, I'll probably start bothering people to get their posts up within a couple of weeks or so (please let me know the best way to contact you so I can do this).
- This places more responsibility and work on me, but I'm not under as much stress as Veldanya right now.

e) I enforce the players' side of the rules myself and will god-mod people that take more than 1 month to post from Veldanya's post.  This is so that when Veldanya DOES want to post, they don't run into a situation where there are still other peoples' posts pending.
- Again this places more responsibility and work on me, but I'm not under as much stress as Veldanya right now.

or, the option that IS mutually exclusive with (a), (b) and (c):
f) I enforce the rules as written for everyone.
- This would certainly ensure better pace, but based on my observations of the last set of posts, would make this a one-man show, with me basically posting for everyone, which isn't really what this is all about.  Not my favourite option.

I'd like everyone's opinions on the above and any other ideas that you may have.  Once I've got everyone's feedback we'll decide how to proceed.

"Strange....a strange one it seems."

The woman squints her eyes slightly at the statement from the armored form.  She then closes her eyes as if thinking but just then all hell breaks loose as the Companions take the proffered "first strike".  Scowling slightly she slips her guns into their holsters and holds her hands close together, palms facing each other.  An orb of ice begins to form between them before.  A moment later she smirks and spins in place, practically slinging the orb in the direction of her opponent.  The moment the orb leaves her hand shards of ice begin to rapidly fire from within it, the orb racing towards its target before sailing over and circling back around, continuing to speed around the room as ice shards continue to fly from within it.  The Seraphim seems to stand stoically even as his comrades charge in against the armored form.  His glowing eyes travel across the room as he grips his hammer tightly and crouches down slightly as if preparing to leap.

A deep chuckle comes from the armorerd figure even as the giant shimmering fists come at him.  In a flash his one of his greatswords is front while the other is behind, the Orkish assault crashing against the weapons with a resounding boom of force just as the sand spears come flying in at their target.  A faint purplish shield forms around him, the barrage of ice shards shattering against the barrier.  The large crystal at the center of the room suddenly flashes and thrums, seeming to pulse with a dark insidious power.  A moment later the figure seems to melt into the floor in a pool of shadows, the spears embedding themselves deep into the floor.  The figure reappears standing atop the crystal, the dark glow of the crystal seeming to flow up into him as he chuckles. 

"Ah very well done.  You may have even succeeded at one time, but my Lord is with me now.   Let us see, perhaps a....test of your reflexes."

The figure vanishes and it is at this point that Jharm finally reacts, launching himself forward, his hammer glowing brightly as he charges at the crystal itself.

"By the Light, your Lord shall fall....and you beside him!"

The hammer smashes into the crystal, a spiderweb of cracks radiating from the point of impact.  A pulse of shadowy energy erupts from the crystal before the cracks seemingly vanish.  There is no time to react though as a  portal appears and the armored figure springs forth.  At the last second the Seraphim manages to block one of the greatswords with his hammer but the other slips in and leaves a large gash across the warriors chest, silvery blood splashing from the wound and down onto the floor.

"Yes! Just so!  Hehe, I have always wanted to say that."

He then chuckles once more as similar portals manifest by each of the other Companions and a similar figure suddenly leaps from within, greatswords slicing through the air towards their respective targets.

Yeah, Gulgrim's not the kind of Ork to let an opportunity for a free shot pass him by, apologies if Jharm wanted the honorable first blow.

Phaerys steadily advanced with the rest of the Companions as they gained further ground in the assault. He darted here and there, providing support where it was needed most. One moment, two more of his alloy spears shot through a gap between Soul Reaver's Cruelbeasts to impale several more Shaitan. Soon after, the ones in front of Kitharsis' sandstone elementals began to stumble under the now unbearable weight of their armour, making them easy prey for crushing fists.

As the battle raged on, the group's smaller numbers in the face of the enemy meant that Phaerys couldn't afford to stay in the back lines forever. The Ataran surged forward, his last remaining spear brandished in his grip. Tendrils of fiery plasma extended from his form, pouring into any gaps in the armour of any Shaitan unfortunate enough to be close by, melting them from the inside out.

It had been a bloody fight, but in the end they had reached the walls. The main Seraphim forces were now providing support, even as the green tide of Orks continued to crash against the Shaitan army. Artillery fire rained down like the hammer of a vengeful god, splitting the gates asunder and allowing the Companions entry. Thus began the next phase of their assault.

Now within the enemy's stronghold, Phaerys kept pace as Jharm led the way. Soul Reaver had sent his own minions back to deter any would-be pursuers. Had it not been their only escape route, Phaerys would have blocked off the passage behind them as well for good measure.

They went further deeper into the fortress, eventually coming into some kind of large hall once Jharm had breached the doors. Inside was their objective... and a guardian assigned to defend it. The armoured figure's offer of allowing the Companions to make preparations before the fight came as a surprise to the "metallic automaton being" in question. Was this mere bravado, or did it truly have the power to back up its confidence? The Ataran was not about to let the advantage go to waste.

Phaerys broke down his last spear into so many tiny, razor-thin shards, drifting together into a clump in the palm of his hand. Next he imbued them with great heat, causing the shards to glow a bright orange and the surrounding air to shimmer. All the while, he studied their new opponent in detail, performing cursory scans of the entity's armour and comparing observable data with his own knowledge. Perhaps there was a weakness in the material, or a means to disrupt its magical nature...?

The Cruelbeasts move in careful formation, displaying coordination and skill at arms belying their feral appearance, the Daemonspawn lending their strength and flabby bulk wherever it may be needed to shore up the advancing line.

Once enough space has cleared, the Fire Daemon, Steelheard, and Blightwing the Shadowlord coalesce just in front of Soul Reaver.  Blightwing points a regal, taloned finger and shouts a guttural order.  Without hesitation, the line of Cruelbeasts part while the Fire Daemon purses his lips and spews forth a roaring blast of fire through the gap, igniting several of the Shaitan and forcing the rest to fall back further.  The Steelheart then charges forward, the few Shaitan counterattacks ricocheting harmlessly off its metallic flesh, swinging its enormous mace in huge sweeping arcs.  Bones crunch and ragdoll bodies fly metres through the air, lifelessly hitting the ground with a thump several second later.

The Daemonic forces surge forward through the gap, sinister balefires of Daemon magic flickering from Blightwing's fingers to sow bladed agony amidst his enemy.  They move swiftly and efficiently, Soul Reaver responding with blade and magic wherever the foe tries to rally.  He knew that speed was of the essence - the enemy had to be kept off-balance, or the small, elite force might find themselves overwhelmed.  He trusted that Phaerys would have no trouble keeping up.

Fortunately the Shaitan seemed unprepared for the sheer power that was being arrayed against them: from the corner of his eye Soul Reaver could see Kitharsis' sandstone creations pounding enemies into paste, while Ork Roks screamed down from the skies, belching forth hordes of green-skinned warriors who made up for their lack of discipline and marksmanship with noise, numbers and bloodthirsty enthusiasm.

With all the chaos around them, it is not long before Soul Reaver's forces reach the keep just behind Jharm.  In a flash of light, the seraphim blasts the doors open.

Soul Reaver issues orders to Blightwing - the Daemons were to prevent any Shaitan from attacking their rear.  They would continue to do as much damage and sow as much chaos among the enemy as possible, but if necessary, would ensure they could fall back to the more defensible keep entryway and hold it for as long as needed.  With his commands issued, Soul Reaver runs after Jharm into the heart of the keep.

He halts a few steps behind the seraphim.  He takes in the room, the crystal, and its Shaitan defender.  The creature was clearly powerful and seemed confident in its abilities.  Arrogantly, it invites Jharm strike first.

Soul Reaver would not waste free time if it was given.  He steps behind Jharm, where he begins to chant, mana surging through his veins.  His eyes fixed forward, he holds one hand facing up and partially open.  His fingers tremble with effort as motes of white light begin to gather and arc above his palm...