Finally made it to my laptop to actually type this up. I started on the phone, but it's a pain in the ass on there. >_>' I apologize for the wallie ahead of time. U_U
1. A type of Ninja Academy would be ideal here, if Inch's idea is to work, but before I speak on that as a whole, let me bring up a smaller, similar suggestion I had. I recently suggest a suggestion similar to this in the sensei group, though it's a bit more radical than this. My idea was to have each Sensei who specialize in certain fields (as when we apply for the position, it tells us to list things we specialize in) to teach the fields they specialize in. I, for example, specialize in Water, Earth, and Lightning Releases, and the subfields of Taijutsu and NB Taijutsu. I know how to use each of the five elemental releases effectively, though I am very proficient with the three aforementioned elements. I'm more comfortable teaching these over Wind and Fire, though I admit I am learning more about both these releases everyday. There are some sensei who have a greater understanding of certain elements than other sensei, this is well known amongst rp members as when issues over the usage of certain elements and jutsus are used, most times those specialized sensei are the ones contacted for their input on this. My suggestion was to have Sensei who specialize in certain elements teach only those fields. Now before you go ape shit over this, think about it.
Let's say we have 10 Sensei, each taking on 10 new students, 2 in each element. That's all fine and dandy, but every Sensei has different teaching methods and though we each should have a mastery of the basic five elements, we can't pretend like we don't have a preferred element to teach as we may know more about that element or are just simply better at using/explaining the element. Those 10 Sensei, instead of having 10 multi-elemental students, would take on 10 of a certain element, or 5 of one element, and 5 of the next element. With the first method I said, it would be, in total, 10 fire students, 10 water, 10 earth etc etc. With the new method, it would be 10 fire students, 10 water, 10 earth, etc etc. So what ultimately changes? By having sensei who specialize in the elements be the main teachers of it, so to speak, we'd ensure that most new members learning are able to learn each element from those who fully understand it and can give detailed opinions on jutsus, and techniques and just general information that they might not have learned from another Sensei who specialized in an opposite element. It doesn't change much, though I will not lie, I'd be hella more interested in teaching an element I like than one I have to teach due to my Sensei title. Like when Naruto discovered his elemental affinity and went to Asuma for further help in developing it, or Sasuke learned from Kakashi on how to better use his lightning abilities.
Now, I'm getting closer to addressing Inch's idea, but first, as I said earlier, a form of Ninja Academy is needed. This could be in the form of a revamping of the teaching system that Inch suggested, or even like the NB Battle Academy thread that Scary Yamato made for newer members that for some reason was deleted or moved to the hidden sections ( ===>
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). If I remember right, he had sections for a lot of the basics, including movement, ninja tools, explaining Rei's Rules and Restrictions, and more. If even this thread was bought back and actually used, a lot of problems could be fixed regarding training and the RP in general. His next post was due to be on the Time-frame, and quite frankly, that shit is long overdue. I can't tell you how many fights I've had to check in the NW for timeframe issues and other shit that could be overlooked, but that's neither here nor there. The point being, that an Academy, or really, a thread detailing certain things in depth will help A LOT. A post about timeframe, taijutsu in general, the different elemental releases (though these don't have to be covered in depth as that's the point of having Sensei anyway lol), Elemental KG, and other things that every ninja should know that isn't really covered in elemental training could be included. Going over this thread and the posts that may be related to whatever training is in session could be a great start to training and once training is over, can work as a great refresher for people.
Now, in regards to Inch's idea, if this is to work, in any form or shape, it will first require patience from the students. Students change their teachers very frequently here, in a rush to get the basics mastered. If you aren't replying fast enough, bam, you're replaced. You are gone for a few days or week, bam, you get replaced. You end up going to a rock concert and get so shitfaced, you're near comatose for a few days and can't reply due to pain from kidney poisoning, bam, you're replaced. Well, maybe not in the case of the last one, but you get the point. If Naruto and the rest of Team 7 changed Senseis because Kakashi was always late and things, well, the series would not progress the way it is now. There'd be no Sasuke and Naruto rivalry as they likely wouldn't be around one another enough to push the other to victory. Students are anxious to fight, which I understand fully. But they should stick with one teacher the entire process of learning an element as many senseis/sempais have different methods to teaching. You don't want to have a ninja with 4 different methods of training in one element, leading to a sometimes counterproductive learning of the element.
Now, let's assume that my Ninja Academy idea is evolved from a thread to a reworking of the training grounds, in conjunction with Inch's idea (as that is the only way I could see it working, having an actual academy to teach in). I'll use a default ninja name here to show how he and his 'class' would go through the academy and subsequent things.
Naruto and the rest of the Konoha 11 enter in the Academy at Genin rank (obviously it happened the other way around in the manga/anime but due to the post count shit, we can't really do much unless it is ultimately changed). They begin their ninjutsu training, learning them and basic Taijutsu of up to C rank while being in the Academy. They also learn the fundamentals behind roleplaying, such as the dreaded timeframe discussion, freeform taijutsu, weaponry usage, etc etc. Upon reaching chuunin rank and learning Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, they take a small test (generic test really, asking what is taijutsu, how to use certain ninja tools, blah blah blah and the chakra paper test included) to better assess what their elemental affinities are because at this point, Chuunin have two. Then, we have to 'graduate' from the Academy and move on to being eligible to join in the NW roleplay and starting elemental ninjutsu training in a newer...school, so to speak, under their elemental Sensei. I say we make this, starting in taijutsu and ninjutsu training a prerequisite for learning elements, because learning the elements and then receiving taijutsu and ninjutsu training is very backwards. You're supposed to learn basic ninjutsu before elemental ninjutsu. It's like riding a Harley before you get on a bicycle with training wheels. Very backwards, eh?
Upon 'graduating', the students are assigned a Sensei, whom they stay with until their elemental training is done. Now this is where it gets iffy, because of timezones differences, real life issues, and general relationships between the teacher and students. Some students may not be readily able to give replies within the time that the teachers want and vise versa. My solution? Have Sensei's and Sempai's teach jointly, instead of just allowing them to take on their own students. They could still do so, yes, but say the Sensei isn't able to make daily replies or quick replies every few days. The sempai could drop in, point out whatever flaws may or may not be present, and advance the training a few posts until the sensei is able to reply again. This will ultimately lead to a closer relationship between the student, sempai, and sensei. This way, each sensei could still have their specialized method of training while simulatenously allowing some basic structure to the training system. Going back to my original idea (first and second paragraph), once the Konoha 11 (12 counting Sasuke) students 'graduate' or are allowed the chance to learn elemental releases, the ones with elemental releases are grouped together in a thread. Let's just say there are 5 sensei's who specialize in fire. These six senseis would then divide the list of 12, each taking an even number on, in this case 2 apiece. They would teach those 2 students the elemental releases in their own methods and once finished with what they can learn at their rank, they undertake a small test (battle test or whatever last task the sensei wants them to complete) in which the sensei deems that the students have actually learned things instead of just replying to gain each element. This would essentially make it so that students who aren't demonstrating that they are learning and are just replying to jutsus are held back until they show they understand what they are learning and show actual knowledge in the field. Once the test is completed, the students are basically cycled on to the next Sensei who specialize in their secondary element and so on and so forth until mastery of the five is completed.
For this to work as smoothly as possible, I URGE moderators to consider abolishing the post count promotion system as it just leads to unnecessary spamming. The students would be promoted through training, learning one element completely before starting on another. Through this, students would likely master an element faster, Sensei's would have less threads to manage, and overall, a sense of actual roleplaying might arise. O_O
I think I might have rambled on and lost track of my main goal with this post and might have even contradicted myself a few times here and even might have suggested some very idiotic goals, but if you tl;dr anything from this let it be this: We need a Ninja Academy or at the very least, a thread to fully explain some of the things that cause many problems due to poor understanding and knowledge. Bring back SY's Battle Academy thread. O__O My post is sketchy here and there after re-reading it but my main issues with the RP lie within the NW and battling in general lol
