Difference between revisions of "The Napping Cat's Dream"
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(NCD closed 6/30/09; changed article to past tense and added section on the closure.) |
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| − | [[Image:MZDM-letterhead.gif|right|frame| The Napping Cat icon (also used for the ENTER forum).]]'''The Napping Cat's Dream''' | + | [[Image:MZDM-letterhead.gif|right|frame| The Napping Cat icon (also used for the ENTER forum).]]'''The Napping Cat's Dream''' was a forum-based [[role-playing]] community which grew from one forum dedicated to the [[Master Zen-Dao Meow]] webcomic, to having its own server and thirteen distinct forums. |
The forum began as the ''Mystical Messageboard'' in January 2000. In February 2001 it moved to [[The Nice]], expanded to thirteen forums in March 2002, and moved to its [http://www.masterzdm.com current site] in April 2003. | The forum began as the ''Mystical Messageboard'' in January 2000. In February 2001 it moved to [[The Nice]], expanded to thirteen forums in March 2002, and moved to its [http://www.masterzdm.com current site] in April 2003. | ||
{{rating-14-button2}} | {{rating-14-button2}} | ||
| − | ''Master Zen-Dao Meow'' | + | ''Master Zen-Dao Meow'' featured [[anthropomorphic]] [[characters]]; not surprisingly, [[furry]] characters made up a sizable portion of The Dream's population, as well. However, there were many [[human]] characters (as well as other types of fantasy beings) amongst The Dream's denizens. |
| − | [http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/showflat.php?Number=333372&keyview=yes The Dream Rules] | + | [http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/showflat.php?Number=333372&keyview=yes The Dream Rules] stated that there is to be no excessive profanity, graphic sex talk, or pornography. For the most part, violence was kept at a reasonable level for the thread it occured in. Most threads would merit a "TV-14" rating on television, at worse. |
| − | The Dream | + | The Dream was administered by [http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/showprofile.php?User=433 Karol Luis], [http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/showprofile.php?User=19 Furilius Pitch], and [[DataBank|Krinele Fullin]]<ref>[http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/showprofile.php?User=2173 The NCD profile for Krinele Fullin]</ref>. |
== Premise == | == Premise == | ||
| − | In game terms, The Napping Cat's Dream | + | In game terms, The Napping Cat's Dream was a multiverse of infinite realities inside the mind of a sleeping feline. Each '''player god''' ("PG", the player in real life) was represented by one or more '''avatars''' (characters). Avatars were required to be original creations; they could not be directly taken from other fictional universes - e.g. you could have played a psychic warrior with a sword of light, but not a [[wikipedia:Jedi |Jedi]] with a [[wikipedia:lightsaber|lightsaber]]. |
| − | A PG | + | A PG could have more than one avatar; this condition was often referred to (tongue-in-cheek) as "MAD", or Multiple Avatar Disorder. |
| − | Each thread in The Dream is its own continuum; what | + | Each thread in The Dream is its own continuum; what happened to an avatar in a given thread did not carry over to other threads, unless the PG wished it to be so. The threads were moderated by the PG who created them, referred to as the '''God Moderator''' (GM); as with any RP session, the GM had overall control of the scenario. |
| − | There | + | There was no set theme or genre in The Dream's role-playing threads, especially those in the PERFORM forum. Other types of threads were posted to their specific boards; threads with no particular forum set for them often wound up in MEET. |
== Forums == | == Forums == | ||
| − | The main page of The Dream | + | The main page of The Dream featured, at one time, the ''Master Zen-Dao Meow'' comic, and related side projects, animated in Flash. |
| − | The thirteen forums | + | The thirteen forums were: |
| − | * ENTER - this is where new players | + | * ENTER - this is where new players came in and learned the rules and customs. |
* MEET - general discussion and light role-playing. | * MEET - general discussion and light role-playing. | ||
* FLIRT - romantic role-playing. | * FLIRT - romantic role-playing. | ||
| Line 34: | Line 34: | ||
* PITCH - advertisements from members (webcomics, commissions, etc.) | * PITCH - advertisements from members (webcomics, commissions, etc.) | ||
* REFLECT - personal reflections and emotional discussions. | * REFLECT - personal reflections and emotional discussions. | ||
| − | * FIGHT - | + | * FIGHT - never opened for its intended purpose; was to be the home of the "Messageboard War". |
| − | * SETTLE - threads detailing the homes folks | + | * SETTLE - threads detailing the homes folks created in The Dream. |
* PERFORM - the main role-playing forum; in-depth role-plays. | * PERFORM - the main role-playing forum; in-depth role-plays. | ||
| − | * PONDER - | + | * PONDER - featured the ''Master Zen-Dao Meow'' comic in HTML, along with side projects. |
* ESCAPE - messages from members leaving The Dream, temporarily or otherwise. | * ESCAPE - messages from members leaving The Dream, temporarily or otherwise. | ||
| − | New avatars | + | New avatars started their Dream experience in the ENTER forum, often with a personal thread describing how they found their way into The Dream. Once an avatar posted substantially thirty times (in a start thread, or elsewhere in ENTER), they could be sponsored for full access by an already-authorized avatar who has over 100 posts. An authorized avatar was one that had been sponsored ''and'' approved for full access by the administrators. |
== Psychedelic Avatars == | == Psychedelic Avatars == | ||
| − | Over the years, the board's administration | + | Over the years, the board's administration awarded artwork in the form of "Avatar Cards" to various avatars who made excellent contributions to The Dream as a whole through role-playing, art, or discussion. These avatars were referred to as '''Psychedelic Avatars'''. |
| − | Outside of the recognition, and the fact that PA with the lowest number in The Dream's official chat | + | Outside of the recognition, and the fact that, at one time, the PA with the lowest number in The Dream's official chat acted as moderator in lieu of one of the administrators or forum moderators, there was no other special functions assigned to Psychedelic Avatars. |
| − | The first thirteen cards (#0-12) in the series | + | The first thirteen cards (#0-12) in the series depicted characters from ''Master Zen-Dao Meow''; the first card awarded to an avatar was for [http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/showprofile.php?User=60 Dork Lord], on April 8, 2001. |
For the majority of the run, the cards were awarded by [http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/showprofile.php?User=17 Val, also known as the "Dancing Yin"], one of the avatars from the comic. Her announcements of new Psychedelic Avatars included a brief description of the avatar who was "ascending" to Psychedelic status, often in well-written verse. | For the majority of the run, the cards were awarded by [http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/showprofile.php?User=17 Val, also known as the "Dancing Yin"], one of the avatars from the comic. Her announcements of new Psychedelic Avatars included a brief description of the avatar who was "ascending" to Psychedelic status, often in well-written verse. | ||
| − | The card series came to an end with Card #500, on December 31, 2004, as the cost of commissioning the artwork had started to become | + | The card series came to an end with Card #500, on December 31, 2004, as the cost of commissioning the artwork had started to become prohibitive. The last forum avatar to receive a PA card was #494, [http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/showprofile.php?User=3832 Thalamasa]; the remaining six cards were characters or concepts in ''Master Zen-Dao Meow''. |
== Adventure Cards == | == Adventure Cards == | ||
| − | Whole threads are sometimes recognized for exceptional role-playing with the awarding of an "Adventure Card". The first Adventure Card was awarded for [http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/adventures/adventure.php?id=1 Tales of Rhiann], in 2001. This series | + | Whole threads are sometimes recognized for exceptional role-playing with the awarding of an "Adventure Card". The first Adventure Card was awarded for [http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/adventures/adventure.php?id=1 Tales of Rhiann], in 2001. This series continued, although not on a set schedule, for the life of the site. |
== Crossovers == | == Crossovers == | ||
Avatars from other web comics appear in The Dream from time to time; for example, there have been crossovers between The Dream and the [[Gaming Guardians]] in the past, as The Dream is one of the "gaming systems" the Guardians defend. | Avatars from other web comics appear in The Dream from time to time; for example, there have been crossovers between The Dream and the [[Gaming Guardians]] in the past, as The Dream is one of the "gaming systems" the Guardians defend. | ||
| + | |||
| + | == The Cat Wakes Up - Site Closure == | ||
| + | |||
| + | In January 2009, the administrators started moving older, inactive threads to separate archive boards.<ref>[http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/showflat.php?Cat=&sigs=&Board=MEETA&Number=641262&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1 "Napping Cat Archives", 07 Jan 2009]</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | In April 2009, Krinelle Fullin announced a new, upgraded forum structure would be set up.<ref>[http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/showflat.php?Cat=&sigs=&Board=MEETA&Number=643158&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1 "Where Things Are Going (Plans Thread)", 07 Apr 2009]</ref> During the discussion of the new structure, Furilius Pitch posted the following : | ||
| + | |||
| + | ''"The MZDM motif (the icons, the cat's dream premise, the characters, the ENTER-ESCAPE themed forum structure) will not be retained. The hope is that there is enough core participants left here to carry over into the new forums and seed a new RP community. Any current MZDM avatars can be re-registered in the new system (by their original creators only)."''<ref>[http://www.masterzdm.com/NCD/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Board=MEETA&Number=644181&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&keyview=&sigs=&o=0 Furilius Pitch, 19 May 2009]</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | As of 31 May 2009, the Dream was closed to new threads, with the remaining active threads copied to the MEET forum to allow for their orderly completion. The Napping Cat Chat was shut down on 15 June 2009, and The Dream as a whole was finally closed to all activity as of 30 June 2009. It is Furilius Pitch's intention to allow the archived Dream to remain up for a time, but the site will eventually be brought down completely. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The successor site to the Napping Cat's Dream, [http://lucidiafantasy.com Lucidia Fantasy], is still a work in progress (as of 11 July 2009); the web chat application is active, as is a character profile system. The message board portion of the site is actively being worked on. | ||
== References == | == References == | ||
Revision as of 21:39, 11 July 2009
The forum began as the Mystical Messageboard in January 2000. In February 2001 it moved to The Nice, expanded to thirteen forums in March 2002, and moved to its current site in April 2003.
Master Zen-Dao Meow featured anthropomorphic characters; not surprisingly, furry characters made up a sizable portion of The Dream's population, as well. However, there were many human characters (as well as other types of fantasy beings) amongst The Dream's denizens.
The Dream Rules stated that there is to be no excessive profanity, graphic sex talk, or pornography. For the most part, violence was kept at a reasonable level for the thread it occured in. Most threads would merit a "TV-14" rating on television, at worse.
The Dream was administered by Karol Luis, Furilius Pitch, and Krinele Fullin[1].
Contents
Premise
In game terms, The Napping Cat's Dream was a multiverse of infinite realities inside the mind of a sleeping feline. Each player god ("PG", the player in real life) was represented by one or more avatars (characters). Avatars were required to be original creations; they could not be directly taken from other fictional universes - e.g. you could have played a psychic warrior with a sword of light, but not a Jedi with a lightsaber.
A PG could have more than one avatar; this condition was often referred to (tongue-in-cheek) as "MAD", or Multiple Avatar Disorder.
Each thread in The Dream is its own continuum; what happened to an avatar in a given thread did not carry over to other threads, unless the PG wished it to be so. The threads were moderated by the PG who created them, referred to as the God Moderator (GM); as with any RP session, the GM had overall control of the scenario.
There was no set theme or genre in The Dream's role-playing threads, especially those in the PERFORM forum. Other types of threads were posted to their specific boards; threads with no particular forum set for them often wound up in MEET.
Forums
The main page of The Dream featured, at one time, the Master Zen-Dao Meow comic, and related side projects, animated in Flash.
The thirteen forums were:
- ENTER - this is where new players came in and learned the rules and customs.
- MEET - general discussion and light role-playing.
- FLIRT - romantic role-playing.
- LEARN - tutorial threads on various subjects, Dream or RL.
- CREATE - artistic endeavours.
- DEBATE - lively debate, mostly on RL subjects.
- PITCH - advertisements from members (webcomics, commissions, etc.)
- REFLECT - personal reflections and emotional discussions.
- FIGHT - never opened for its intended purpose; was to be the home of the "Messageboard War".
- SETTLE - threads detailing the homes folks created in The Dream.
- PERFORM - the main role-playing forum; in-depth role-plays.
- PONDER - featured the Master Zen-Dao Meow comic in HTML, along with side projects.
- ESCAPE - messages from members leaving The Dream, temporarily or otherwise.
New avatars started their Dream experience in the ENTER forum, often with a personal thread describing how they found their way into The Dream. Once an avatar posted substantially thirty times (in a start thread, or elsewhere in ENTER), they could be sponsored for full access by an already-authorized avatar who has over 100 posts. An authorized avatar was one that had been sponsored and approved for full access by the administrators.
Psychedelic Avatars
Over the years, the board's administration awarded artwork in the form of "Avatar Cards" to various avatars who made excellent contributions to The Dream as a whole through role-playing, art, or discussion. These avatars were referred to as Psychedelic Avatars.
Outside of the recognition, and the fact that, at one time, the PA with the lowest number in The Dream's official chat acted as moderator in lieu of one of the administrators or forum moderators, there was no other special functions assigned to Psychedelic Avatars.
The first thirteen cards (#0-12) in the series depicted characters from Master Zen-Dao Meow; the first card awarded to an avatar was for Dork Lord, on April 8, 2001.
For the majority of the run, the cards were awarded by Val, also known as the "Dancing Yin", one of the avatars from the comic. Her announcements of new Psychedelic Avatars included a brief description of the avatar who was "ascending" to Psychedelic status, often in well-written verse.
The card series came to an end with Card #500, on December 31, 2004, as the cost of commissioning the artwork had started to become prohibitive. The last forum avatar to receive a PA card was #494, Thalamasa; the remaining six cards were characters or concepts in Master Zen-Dao Meow.
Adventure Cards
Whole threads are sometimes recognized for exceptional role-playing with the awarding of an "Adventure Card". The first Adventure Card was awarded for Tales of Rhiann, in 2001. This series continued, although not on a set schedule, for the life of the site.
Crossovers
Avatars from other web comics appear in The Dream from time to time; for example, there have been crossovers between The Dream and the Gaming Guardians in the past, as The Dream is one of the "gaming systems" the Guardians defend.
The Cat Wakes Up - Site Closure
In January 2009, the administrators started moving older, inactive threads to separate archive boards.[2]
In April 2009, Krinelle Fullin announced a new, upgraded forum structure would be set up.[3] During the discussion of the new structure, Furilius Pitch posted the following :
"The MZDM motif (the icons, the cat's dream premise, the characters, the ENTER-ESCAPE themed forum structure) will not be retained. The hope is that there is enough core participants left here to carry over into the new forums and seed a new RP community. Any current MZDM avatars can be re-registered in the new system (by their original creators only)."[4]
As of 31 May 2009, the Dream was closed to new threads, with the remaining active threads copied to the MEET forum to allow for their orderly completion. The Napping Cat Chat was shut down on 15 June 2009, and The Dream as a whole was finally closed to all activity as of 30 June 2009. It is Furilius Pitch's intention to allow the archived Dream to remain up for a time, but the site will eventually be brought down completely.
The successor site to the Napping Cat's Dream, Lucidia Fantasy, is still a work in progress (as of 11 July 2009); the web chat application is active, as is a character profile system. The message board portion of the site is actively being worked on.
References
- ↑ The NCD profile for Krinele Fullin
- ↑ "Napping Cat Archives", 07 Jan 2009
- ↑ "Where Things Are Going (Plans Thread)", 07 Apr 2009
- ↑ Furilius Pitch, 19 May 2009
