I am Jon. Ask me anything.

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Darren Shaw"]

I don't know. I really don't. That's not something I'm good at or have ever really enjoyed. The few exceptions have been Master/student relationships where the two characters had preexisting history, if that helps.

[member="Spencer Varanin"]
I was 14 and loved reading. In 2002, a friend of mine linked me the RP forum on the Sony Star Wars Galaxies board, and suggested I might like it. I got hooked immediately.

My inspiration? I write a whole lot of different things. I couldn't really say. For something like Spencer/Ashin or Jorus/Alna, I was a newlywed IRL and still trying to figure out how to actually be a spouse. Writing helped me get a better idea of how to explore relationship aspects like trust and consideration and constant effort and shared/diverging interests. I dunno, that's one example.

 

[Vora Kaar]

[member="Jorus Merrill"], Thanks for any input you have.

Another question, Of all of the characters you have played, this board, or any before it, do you enjoy writing the most? And why?

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Anora Shaw"]

Gotta be Jorus. Freewheeling idealist struggling to define himself in a pragmatic galaxy; achieving his ambitions and realizing there's more to life; tackling the big ethical questions in a fairly blue-collar way.

 

[Allyson Locke]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

I do enjoy Spencer and Ashin a ton.

Have you ever thought about writing a Star Wars Novel - maybe something towards the current canon and be published?

 

[John Shepherd]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

Is this how you shoot a blaster rifle?

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Spencer Varanin"]

I looked into it. It's a pretty crazy process and not for everybody, and it's a 'don't call us, we'll call you' kind of thing. As I understand it, the general idea is:

- Get noticed as a writer who can churn out decent quality science fiction fairly quickly.
- They contact your agent.
- Eventually you get a deal and you write the book they tell you to write.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="John Shepherd"]

I don't know, but I really want to see you find out.

 

[John Shepherd]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

*a pigeon hands you a letter*

Got sent to the hospital​

Will tell your results later​

Sincerely,​

Shepherd​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

What's your least favorite character archetype?

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

I'll have to think about that a sec. It's not really something I've considered.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

I'd have to say my least favorite character archetype on Chaos is the overbearing Jedi puritan, the 'Jedi dick.' I've seen it done competently ([member="Ryan Korr"] comes to mind) but it usually comes off as an ugly kind of wish fulfillment. Just winds up being uncomfortable to read and be around.

 

[Edward Vyperion]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

Yo Jon, it's Ryan, otherwise known by Jay Scott Clark as "Vyperion" and I wonder something. Why don't I ever see custom droid models used often when I'm here?

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Miss Ryona Gallant"]

Welcome back.

I can't speak to other people's motivations, but personally, I would make a custom droid model for two reasons: NPC tool/pet/plot appendage, or PC. I've only ever had one droid PC, MSE-007. In general I don't enjoy writing droids, because for me, droids and robots and AI aren't people, with very few exceptions. Even WALL-E and R2-D2 and so forth struggle to cross that instinctive divide for me. As a result, I have a real hard time writing AI or droids as PCs. I suspect most people do.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

What mark have you left on the board that you are most proud of?

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

I've never really thought about it like that. A few things come to mind.

Probably the biggest one would be what I've done to popularize fringey/Outer Rim/Unknown Regions RP settings while creating places for diverse writers and characters. The Levantine Sanctum, Lords of the Fringe, Vagrant Fleet, Outer Rim Coalition - all heterogeneous, all middle of nowhere. It's been really cool to see disparate random groups become tight-knit communities and lasting friendships.

My other thought would be the innovative thread types I tried to popularize. I've seen people get a ton of use out of the lessons learned from the 25+ Weekend Treasure Hunts, Deep Black Sea, and the ExGal Hunt. Those threads and mini events brought in thousands of posts from all sorts of people. Folks reported tons of fun with no pressure and virtually zero angst.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

Do you feel there's anything you've done that's had a negative impact on the site?

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

I like stirring the pot and I like change. That's often led me to spur big radical actions, invasions, skirmishes, that might not have happened in the same way or with the same fervor. 'Res Publica Delenda Est' was me, for example. Bad feelings have arisen on occasion, and a good chunk of that is on me.

I've been merciless over the years with a few people who were being jerks. That's contributed to several of them leaving the site when they could have been better integrated into the community instead. Reyven Samoth, Iscariot, Dista, a couple others. Not my finest hours.

 

[William Bradley]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

Can you help train me some force stuffs?

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Felix Hardy"]

Sure. What character would you want trained? That would affect who I could bring to bear.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Felix Hardy"]

Also, fair warning, I suck at training threads and often prefer training missions, groups, etc.