Review: When Stars Collide

When Stars Collide

Sailor Moon AU

3-3-3 Adult

Forum

Icyboards

5

All

31 December 1969 - 11:00 PM

Between 250-350

High

All

Very original

This site is beautiful! It is obvious a lot of care has gone into the appearance and it has paid off!

The colour scheme is very easy on the eyes and the graphics blend wonderfully with the simple tables and mix of pastel colours. It is a light skin with darker headers. The buttons are the default MYBB buttons but these do not detract from the overall appearance.

The recent makeover has two thumbs up from me! Nice job!

Simple and sleek.

I found out all the info I need to begin very easily. The information topics are linked to in the sidebar, high up it as well so they are not buried and dead easy to locate.

The info topics themselves are simple too and easy to follow. Even if you skim the layout makes them easy to pick out and the info is easy to locate with the page and text.

The forums are organised in a logical fashion and I was able to easily locate where to post a character and find relevant info in order to make a character and get to know the rules and atmosphere of the board.

The only tiny negative I have is the naming of the forums. "Henshin, Yo!" appears to be the category for applying and plotting, but the forum names and category name are no indication of this IMO, but luckily the forum descriptions clearly outline them as such. It is my personal preference in the naming of things to have the name be a descriptor in and of itself, but fans of the series would likely see this as a nice touch of canon (I assume?), so I reckon this little neg point can probably be ignored.

It is linked to in the sidebar and any Sailor Moon fan should be able to figure out what the setting is because of the info topic.

Also in the sidebar is clear info on the current timeframe. ^^

They outline the boards position in the fandom and how canon events and info relates to the forum setting. They mention the past and the present so it should be easy to establish your character in the setting.

Overall it seems well informed without being overly complicated or convoluted.

The must reads are very well presented and not too overwhelming, The Magical Girls/Boys! How to guide is very informative and a great explanation of this particular mechanism. It is clearly important to get this right and rather than you struggle the info is readily available.

The rules have a simple layout, sound neutral and are easy to understand, thus they are just what any new and genuinely interested roleplayer needs.

The setting info is informative and not overbearing or overwhelming.

The FAQ is a little RP focused and could probably do with more OOC type of Q&A's like MYBB specific info and link to the How To's the forum has for IC things. Generally though it is a good document.

The canon roles list is simple and appears to be up to date - though this is hard to tell, so an edit to say when it was last updated or an "edited by" tag at the bottom would be helpful.

The RPing is nice to read and active and the members seem to be having a lot of fun IC!

The admin is Cosmos. Their profile seems to be lacking and at first glance the only way to contact them privately is via PM which is a mechanism that guests do not have access to.

The cbox is active and the admin is active in it too, so contacting them there seems to be a good option, however the Help Desk (the help forum) is not guest friendly. This is something I feel could be changed - or perhaps adding a guest friendly questions and help forum? When I was on (12pm GMT) there was no one else there, so if I needed an answer there and then I would not get one. Saying that I think it is unreasonable to expect a staff team to be on 24/7 - yet because of their current set up a guest has no way to leave a private message for staff and they might be afraid that a cbox might bury their question, since they might have to come back a few days later when the cbox has swallowed their question and any potential answer. Giving them a place to post a topic they can see an admin's reply in is better, IMO.

Looking around the forum and the cbox the admin seems very friendly and approachable.

The Application Template is run of the mill, very typical of the RP world, which is a bit long for my liking but this might suit the fandom (of which I am not familiar with).

According to the forum description on the main page the "Planet Power, Make Up!" is where the canon list can be found and also where all applications are to be posted.

Since I can only see acceptance posts from the staff I assume that either the accepted profiles did not need edits or the process is done via PM. Either way it is not obvious and you would have to post your completed application to find this out. ^^

Overall I found the forum pleasant and easy to get into, but I think I would have to be familiar with Sailor Moon to truly appreciate.

To answer the admins specific queries in their review request:

Are there too many rules? Not enough? --- In my opinion you have a nice balance between IC and OOC expectations and they are formatted well and easy to read. Any more and you have too many, any less and you miss out important info. They are just right. ^^

Is the premise a little too ... out there? --- I like how individual you have made the setting, using what you love about the fandom and adapting it to forum roleplay. I say be confident about your approach because it is unique - the adult take on the fandom is interesting. Out there is good!

Are there too many "canons"? Not enough? Should I add more? Admittedly there are quite a few and hardly any are taken. Perhaps make the list smaller and add the ones you need the most to insure you get them first and then have a line stating that for any not on the list someone should inquire about them.

Finally, since it allows adult material (with [M] in thread titles) this is definitely for the mature fan and they clearly outline this in their musts reads. In the sidebar it says;

We pride ourselves on putting a fairly unique twist on the classic Sailor Moon lore. This is not your little sister's magical girl story.

^ this, for me, sums up When Stars Collide. And this is a very good thing, IMO. It lives up to its promises, so what more can you ask for in a game, hm?