In this update/announcement I'd like to layout my plans for the immediate future of our website. 

The Rona

I guess my ticket was pulled from the hat this time around and I've been experiencing the lovely coronavirus for the past couple of days. It seems to be mild but darn I am tired. You'd think you wouldn't feel like you slept at all if you just slept 14 hours. But the opposite is true. Aside from that, a small, dry cough and terribly sore back and leg muscles (which may be a combination of the Rona and spending so many hours lying down either sleeping or listening to podcasts). Anyway, that's the reason why I have and probably will be a little more absent these days.

Site Development

Back-end: There have been a number of issues concerning the back-end of the website. Most concerningly of them is the inability of anyone but me to manage members. I've asked the forum developers how I can fix this, that was just before I got sick, so if it involves a lot of coding, it'll have to wait.

User profiles: currently, the website is running two different kinds of software for the forum itself and your user profile. I've been pretty successful in combining the two but there are some things I find wanting still. For one, your private messages aren't indicated on the forum-end, so unless you visit your profile you're unaware you got any. There are some other smaller things. The main drawback of using the forum's built-in userprofile is that there is no private messaging and the possibility of adding customised fields (such as for your RP character) aren't there either. I'm currently looking into options to expand the forum's standard profile with these abilities (there are some paid options for that) and then switching over to that. Another advantage to this would be the possibility to have signatures (yay). More on that, later.

Roleplay Development

All of you who came to Roleplay already, thank you for giving this a shot. In the past, I've had a particular view on roleplaying which was, let's say...contentious? I know a lot of people liked that kind of thing but also that there were people taken aback by the amount of commitment it would take. They just wanted to sit back in the evening and post. To put any worries at ease, I'll put my thoughts on paper here:

• Unit Leaders can decide whether they want to use an RP system, or not. This includes accepting hand-crafted Character profiles, free of any systematized rating.
• Unit Leaders are the first line assessors of Releases and Powers and Abilities of their Unit's members. GM's only come in if problems arise with a particular Character's powers and abilities and after the Unit Leader has had a chance of fixing it themselves.
• There ARE the Universal Godmode Rules to keep everyone playing the same game. Any RP system or hand-crafted profile has to fit inside these rules.
• I am working on an online character rating system, which I think bridges the gap between those who love working to build-up their character and those who like hand-crafting their Character's profiles. It will also be a more-or-less continual growth system with the intention that it would take you multiple years to fully max-out. 
• I'll be discussing with the Game Master's about fleshing out the regulations around second characters and which positions GM's themselves can hold in a Faction.
• Managing how fast people can climb through the ranks of a Unit. For instance, to require Unit Leaders to keep their new members in the lower bracket for at least one month. 

When we've got some of the kinks ironed out, we'll be advertising our Bleach RP to a wider audience than just the MaV facebook. We have a good option in mind already where there may be people interested in a refreshed RP.

You may discuss this, give your thoughts or feedback in the Community Development forum.