Mega Man Battle Network UNIVERSE was a roleplay forum set in the world of the titular series "Mega Man: Battle Network", though taking place in an Alternate Universe, to ensure no plotholes caused by discontinuity with the at-the-time still-ongoing video game series.
It ran for well over 6+ years with a very dedicated playerbase, but ultimately died out due to the old blood dying off to go do life-stuff while the dwindling popularity of MMBN itself meant new blood was difficult to impossible to bring in.
For anyone interested, Admin-1 commented about most of these tropenotes on twitter: https://twitter.com/DJFlare84/status/1229704375121084416
Tropes that have appeared in the general lifetime of MMBNU include:
- Alternate Universe -
- Special Mention goes for most of Admin 1's characters, who while frequently are epic-level Badasses in-verse, their personalities are more like that of a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass. More likely his characters have a severe case of Obfuscating Stupidity.
- Chest Insignia - Like in the main universe. A description of the Navi's chest insignia is included in many character profiles. Subverted, in that often if not most of the time, the chest emblem isn't found on the Navi's chest.
- Cyberspace - Nearly all the action takes place on the internet.
- Darker and Edgier - The RP is a fair bit darker than the games it's based on, not shying away from things like blood. Bleeding was even a status effect in an older iteration.
- Dark Is Not Evil- For a while in the past, there were two "Kharmatic" elements you had to earn, called Radiance and Shadow, based on how the player's Navi character acted. Admin 1 himself even made a mention that a Bad Navi could get Radiance by believing they were doing the right thing. By that logic, it's safe to venture a guess that a Good Navi who was a complete Jerkass could get Shadow.
- Digital Avatar - The V-Diver, a human with special equipment which lets them control an Internet persona directly.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors - Similar to the one in the games, but tweaked slightly. For reference, Fire beats Nature beats Elec beats Aqua beats Fire. Also includes the tactical elements: Edge beats Wind beats Tracking beats Stealth beats Modify beats Life beats Smash beats Obstacle beats Edge. More information can be found here.
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Game-Breaker - A Target/Smash attack is undodgeable and unblockable, among others. Admin 1 does not approve of these shenanigans, though. - Geo Effects - Standing on certain panels has various effects depending on your element.
- GMPC - All of the admins have characters. They follow game rules like everyone else though.
- Hired Guns - Criminals don't get a salary the way citizens do, so they earn money by taking jobs, generally of a less-than-legal variety.
- Leitmotif - Many character profiles include a battle theme, generally from other sources.
- Mascot Mook - The Mettuar's in this too, along with a few other viruses and chips from the canon universe.
- Original Character - Since it's an alternate universe, characters from the main Battle Network 'verse aren't allowed in any form. Admin 1 himself has broken this rule at least once(maybe. Nobody is sure on the details), but he's the goddamn Admin.
- Actually, Admin 3 broke the rule(sorta) in a previous version of BNU by calling in a few of the main Battle Network cast from a different Alternate Universe of Battle Network (namely an earlier incarnation of BNU itself). This was looked over seeing as it was his big huge "I'm leaving the site" story thing that was somewhat awesome. Granted he didn't make full profiles and they were like NPCs, but they still showed up.
- Power Copying - Like in the canon series, viruses will drop cards that allow you to duplicate their attacks.
- Readings Are Off the Scale - Every major BNU boss. The RP doesn't have Stats like HP, so its safe to say that all the bosses' power ratings are ridiculous and "off the scale". Hell, even some of the key members back in the old days...
- Red Baron - Most of the better known Navis, and sometimes even Net Ops, have awesome nicknames or special monikers they and others call them as a sign of respect. Almost as much a staple of the site as the Leitmotifs.
- Theme Naming - NetNavis always have .EXE at the end of their name. Appending -Man to the end of a name isn't required but encouraged.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill - So, what happens when the two most powerful Net Navis active at the time decide to ram their Wave-Motion Gun attacks against each other? Apparently, they come out almost perfectly unharmed, though slightly worse for the wear in the looks department... but the resulting shockwave that occurred a moment before completely deletes an innocent bystander several MILES away from the two.
- We Can Rebuild Him - Since Battle Network had navi "versions", various members followed suit. Every time a person needed more power there was the "Training Time" and then the version upgrade.
