Role Play General Chat

WHY IS IT SO QUIET IN HERE! *ECHO, Echo, echo..."

 

CAUTION: LONG POST AHEAD. BEWARE.

I strongly disagree with this. (It's nothing personal. I'm just going to use this as a starting point, if you don't mind. Sorry.) :redface:

A character's growth should be internal. New abilities, weapons, armor, powers, etc are only superficial and players who require such "bells and whistles" to maintain interest in their character probably weren't very invested to begin with. I'm not very fond of the idea of a story that has to give out free prizes to keep writers interested.

That may sound harsh, but I've seen far too many games where players feel the need to "power up" after every major battle/scene/chapter of the story. It usually results in a bunch of OP chars who aren't challenged by anything. The story becomes bland because every obstacle they face can be stomped into oblivion or hand-waved away by some fantastic new ability they've acquired. The players end up quitting out of boredom, because they've exhausted the world's supply of awesomeness and nothing can touch them. The action and epicness can only escalate so far.

Stories are far more engaging when the characters have established abilities and stick to them. I have RP'd on sites that have persistent worlds, where people will play the same character for YEARS and never develop a new ability. It's the changes in personalities that keep the game fresh and exciting. Developing rivalries, romances, and arch-nemeses. Hell, one of my characters got married in a game I played. He started out as a brutal, trash-talking, foul-mouthed, swordsman and ended up falling in love with an elven maiden. (But was still brutal and trash-talking, but slightly less foul-mouthed, LOL.) I played that character (and a dozen others) for about five years and the only "power up" he ever got was a new sword, when his old one broke.

I think a lot of players are quick to intro a character without getting into the character's head and REALLY thinking about what that character wants and will want in the future. FantasticFox makes an excellent point about conflict being a major driving point. I think this is what made Atlantis so exciting; characters like Ruddyman and Bellphim, whose goals run entirely opposite to the others.' Even when all the characters are working together, they don't need to be best buds. Ivanna Testarossa in Eximius Coventry is a perfect example of that.

Every character wants something and has his/her own ways of getting it. One of the problems I see (often with newer players) is that they're too quick to give that ‘something’ to their character, or they give it to them with no strings attached. If your character gets exactly what s/he wants within the first twenty posts, why continue playing?

My character in New Atlantis is trying to gain her freedom. She has been a slave to the New Atlantis police for a decade, so freedom is what she wants more than anything. But if she is freed and there are no strings attached, what's left for that character? Well, she has an estranged daughter she wants to reconnect with. She has past crimes she wants to atone for. She has major issues with authority and concepts of “justice.” My point is, she’s not done just because she gets one thing. No one is. If you know of anyone in real life who is completely content with his situation, please, tell me about him. (And tell me where he’s buried, LOL.) People just aren’t like that; there’s always Something Else, right up until the day they die.

Before giving a character a new item, ability, or "state of being" (i.e. "freedom") you have to think about what effect(s) it will have on that character, as well as the other characters and the story as a whole. It can be one of the more complex aspects of writing, but also one of the most important. Haven't you ever seen an interesting story arc fall apart because Character X gets a new ability that makes the whole thing a cakewalk?

Too often, I see players try to bring in a character who is built to handle it all. They have a superpower or magic spell for every situation. They're smart. They're eloquent (or think they are). They're good-looking and kind-hearted and fighting for peace and all that Good Stuff. With characters like those, what is anyone else to do? Stand back and enjoy the show?

In my opinion, the ideal RPG begins with a flawed character and ends with a differently-flawed character. The purpose of conflict is to make your character look in the mirror (metaphorically-speaking) and ask his/herself "am I the person I want to be?" The answer should always be 'no.' Otherwise, why bother? They can get fancy prizes along the way, but it shouldn’t be the focal point of his/her development. The real changes take place on the inside. Even in the absence of a GM, your character has personal goals s/he is striving toward or personal demons s/he is running away from. Conflict is never in short supply if you know where to look: inside.

 

Very well put AnonyMouse. I tried to say something similar but you made a better point and put it much more eloquently!

 

@ AnonyMouse: I see what you mean, and I'm sure your thoughts are much more accurate than mine, since I have very little experience with forum-based RPGs (in fact, this forum is my ONLY experience, and it's only been a few months). My theory was only based off what I had personally experienced myself, so I'm sorry if it seemed extremely incorrect.

The only issue I might have with your opinion, is that this causes RPGs to rely very heavily on the writing abilities of the players. Not every player will know how to create and role-play such a character due to their lack of writing abilities (although it might just be me ). This might eventually force a 'cherry-picking' of users who are adept at this kind of role-playing. It's one thing to tell your players to have a flawed character with his/her goals and conflicts, but it's an entirely different thing to have them actually do it. With this method, the only thing keeping players from becoming disinterested in a game is themselves, which really can't be relied on.

To be clear, I'm not saying your opinion is incorrect, in fact it's probably much more correct than my own opinion stated before. What I'm saying is that there's no real way of truly implementing this into the RPGs to prevent them from dying out. You can tell players to do so, and hope for the best, or you can 'cherry-pick' the good role-players to keep a game going, both of which are not very good solutions.

I might have missed something, so don't take this for granted.

 

Another factor in keeping RPG gaming active is keeping each game on a fixed schedule, with a well-defined beginning and end. Marathon games with a grand scope to try to capture that "epic" nature, falter and die through attrition. New players may feel a bit lost jumping in midway through, and players present at the start can drop off through boredom or due to the requirements of outside life.

I've seen it happen to the forum RPGs here, and I've seen it happen in offline RPG's like AD&D.

I'm not very invested in the WF RPGs. I do think their greatest value and relevance to writing is getting writers to think and act improvisationally. Keeping a brisk pace in play favors the improv factor by limiting the time to plan a response to an unexpected development.

This is a writing site, not a gaming site, so if the RPG section is to remain alive, it must offer something more than straight gaming sites. So I agree that quality writing should be an expectation of the players. Perhaps each game could end with recognition of the best writing by a participant player, or dsomething of that nature.

 

working on an rpg at the moment, i am trying to incorporate some of the ideas everyone has discussed the last few days. It seems fairly complex at the moment but i think with all the fantastic writers we have we can make it work.

 

It's been interesting to read all of your opinions on RPGing. Thought I could nudge in and say a few things too.

I've only been RPGing here since January, but had read and looked at the RPG forum all the way back in Aug 2011 when I joined. From the get-go I saw that besides the plot, it was all about the characters. Characters are the life and breath of any story, and the characters I read made me want to join in and create my own.

I think to have an interesting character we need to first remember (create) where they have been. Their lives started before the story and their past effects the future. Even their emotions and feelings are effected by it. How they perceive other characters and how they react when they are thrust into different circumstances reflect their views.

YES! I agree with this wholeheartedly. I love conflict and tension between characters too. In stories, I think verbal fights are better than physical ones. And if characters don't fight right away, they still have those opinionated thoughts of each other. It's humorous to read other character's opinions of your character, especially if you, the writer, agree with them. Dialogue keeps the story fast paced. You begin to anticipate what the characters your own character hates are going to do or say next. Though, as much as the characters hate each other, we all know they are forming a relationship.

And, like AnonyMouse pinpointed, if characters don't have conflict with another character, they can have always have conflict with themselves. We all have that inner something that we've always lived with, our thorn in our sides. Even if the character hasn't felt a certain way in ages, make them feel it! Even if the character hasn't done something in ages, make them do it! Don't be afraid to be your characters own enemy.

Overall, RPGing has helped me improve in character development (not to mention my writing too). When I first started playing, I hadn't realized how attached I would get to a character, or how much a character would annoy me. I love creating characters so unlike myself or my life. I mean, I don't think I'd be friends with some of my RPG characters.

Last thing I'm going to comment on, promise.

I agree with this, Cogito,--it's hard when your character is in the middle of a conversation or scene with another character, and you have to wait for days until you get to write again. You're stuck until that person replies, or if you can possibly draw yourself out of the situation, you're now forced to find a way for your character to do something else. (But if you were the only one with that character, that makes it harder) It causes the story to drag, which may cause writers to think it's over and not come back.

It would be awesome if ones got recognition for their writing, or at the end there were awards for best character, best scene, ect. It would reconnect us as writers of the same story, and looking forward to that could get us to the finish.

Sorry for my long blabbing.

 

@CheddarCheese
My thoughts aren’t more accurate than yours. If anything, they’re all over the place. (Did you see how long my post was? Yeah, I’m a rambler…)

You’ve brought up a very good point. RPGs do rely heavily on the writing abilities of the players, the same as any narrative medium would. I initially got into roleplaying as a means of improving my character development. It can also improve your ability to improvise and find plotlines or interesting tangents you didn’t even realize were there. (Nod to Cog’s post above.) Once you get into the GMing side of things, it also teaches worldbuilding skills and you can learn a lot about managing reader expectations. Players are both readers and writers, so a good GM has to know which way the wind is blowing.

In short, roleplaying is a tool which can make us better writers. But I’d be a fool to think every writer who roleplays is already top-tier. I would also be a fool to think every writer is doing it to get better. The fact that it’s fun as hell means not everyone is in it for a lesson. And that’s why I try to keep the lecturing and advice-giving to a minimum… unless a thread pops up where someone asks how to make the games better, in which case I’ll come running.

I’d rather lead by example. When a writer reads something they like, they will (usually) (try to) follow suit. If they don’t like the writing, the writer's opinion/advice/lecturing isn’t worth the time it would take to type it. That applies to any craft.

Better writers tend to make better games. There’s no easy way around that. You’re absolutely right in saying there’s no way to implement the suggestions I’m making. I'm not expecting anyone to run out and just do it simply because that AnonyMouse guy said so. I'm only providing food for thought. It's something to think about, not something to do.




@Cogito
Those are all excellent points. I think the schedule aspect will solve itself when people are posting and active. It is also the GM's responsiblity to keep things "on track." This comes right back around to what others were saying about objectives and goals. The story should be going someplace and reach a definite end. (Unless it's a persistent world. But even those have story arcs nested within them and each arc has a definitive ending.)

As for your second point, I have always felt the discussion threads were perfect for that sort of thing. We don't need a definitive "best player" or "best character," or "best scene" award, but players should give one another a pat on the back and say "hey that scene was great," or "I really like the way your character responded to _____." I like the idea of end-game superlatives, but we should also encourage one another along the way. The positive amtosphere makes everyone feel welcome.




@ JessWrite
Ditto. Why does everything you post make me feel warm and fuzzy?

 

@AnonyMouse And, why does everything you write make me laugh silently at my computer screen? More than once my family has walked by and asked what's so funny...but, thanks.

To the thoughts on RPGs relying on writing abilities, I completely agree. I'm a teen girl so I can easily write a teen girl. But, if I try to write a 65 year old woman who's son left her at a nursing home, and is struggling with depression....yeah I'm not sure where to begin.

I do think you can learn a lot by jumping out of your comfort zone, you don't have write what you know, but it some cases it can help you. It keeps the story real, if you yourself have felt what your character is feeling. I'm not saying I'm as angsty as Avery, but I have been snippy and angry before. Dara is another story...I don't exactly know where she came from. (I think I take inspiration from my crazy, peppy friends.)

Since writing RPGs, my writing has gotten a lot better. I can actually see how I've improved. I've learned about sentence structure, spelling, grammar, get this...I've even learned how to properly use a semi-colon! I've learned about how to get in a character's mind and how to form a distinct voice in dialogue. I've learned not by only what I've written, but what you all have written too. All of sudden I'm reading, and I start to hate a character...why? I re-read and find out. I begin to love a character, and realize it's because of how they are portrayed. I love RPGs because it's the good old fashion learning while having fun. And, talking with other writers who are passionate about the same story is a plus.

 

Hello friends,

Just an FYI... I will be gone the next 4 days. Feel free to NPC my character if you need to.

 

Okay folks! I'm trying to get some of the RPGs back up and running. Posted on Coventry! Need some help on Kalicas! I would love to continue Asilli, but I am the last one to post from my group!

 

A RPG Idea

Awesome Nature, I hope that Eximius can get up and running again!

Okay…last night I thought up a new RPG idea. I know that we may not need to start one right now, but I wanted to get your opinion on it. I’m not sure how it even came into my mind, I guess you can come up with a lot when you are just lying in bed bored.

Here is the premise:

Salem, Massachusetts hasn’t always been a peaceful city. The schools vaguely teach about it, but the city had once been a land of war, teeming with powerful beings. Witches. Now, more than 1,000 years later, supposedly the witch race has been demolished. Roxy Xalider's immediate and extended family have been in hiding for centuries, the younger generation being the first to live a worry-free life out in the city. But, when their secret is revealed, 13 year old Roxy and witch in training, is the only one to escape the Government, CIA, and SWAT Team that invaded her home. Alone, distressed, and overcome with grief, Roxy seeks refuge at the one place the best heroes and heroines lurk--between the crisp pages of a book. After breaking into the library after closing hours, she uses one of her more powerful spells, to summon several characters out of their books with the hope that they may help her save her family. But, has Roxy summoned more egos than she can handle? And, will she be able to convince them to come to her side?

~~~~~~~~~

There you have it! Ideas are still rolling around in my head, but that’s the gist of it. In the story you would be one of those book characters. It could be a character out of your own book, a book you’ve always wanted to write, a real published book, or even your favorite FanFic character. The character can come from any genre--Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, Crime & Murder, Horror, Romance, Historical, Adventure, ect. You can be a non-fictional character too, like part of the government or part of Roxy’s captured family if you'd prefer.

The story would begin with your character in their home world (book), before being pulled out and placed in Massachusetts. Roxy isn’t that great with her powers yet, so your character may show up in the library or a few blocks away depending on what kind of character he/she is.

It would be a character driven story, simple plot but complex characters.

Would any of you be interested?

 

RPG proposals should be posted directly in the RPG forum, with all rules laid out. The proposal will be approved or disapproved by the RPG moderator, and you will then find out if the currently active RPG players are interested.

 

Oops, sorry! I'll do that...my first time being a GM. You can take my proposal down here if need be.

 

I don't see any problem with you posting a partial idea Jess, though I suppose that soliciting for interest doesn't do a lot of good since you can never tell what will actually happen till you start a game.

If you would like you can PM me your ideas directly with or without the entire rules and we can talk about how to flesh them out and get them approved. You idea sounds interesting and I'd be glad to help out.

 

OMG! Jesswrite I love that idea!! I would definitely play that! In fact, I'm going to start a character template for it, just in case!

 

Sounds like an interesting idea and with the other RPGs dieing/dead we could do with some new ones.

 

@Naturemage LOL, thank you for your enthusiasm!! I'm currently making changes to the template with Hawken's help, but I'll try to submit it to be approved sometime soon.

@MrMr Thanks! Yeah, maybe a new one will give the RPGs a boost.

 

Jess, YES, Yes, Yes!! That idea made me so excited. I've been wanting to bring my favorite character into a story somehow for a long while. Please do it!

P.S. I'm back!

 

Welcome back LtW! For some reason, it always feels quiet to me when you're gone.

And, thanks, I'm happy you liked the idea! (I remembered you posted something around those lines a few months ago, which sorta sparked the idea for me!)

It's official, and will be up soon, so get ready peoples!

~Jess

 

YEAH!

 

Hey all, I am new to this sight but not rp,though it been a few years, and I am really keen to get involved in some rp. It is whoever a little intimidating to come in to one that is in full swing... There is not only the catch up reading, which is great mind, but there is the problem of timing and all that of adding a new character into the mix and how they would fit in.
Not quite sure what my point is but yer I am totally keen to get on with the writing. So I guess if anyone is looking at starting a new rp or can think of a quick in on one of the others I am all ears!!!

 

the storytime one has just started yesterday ish

 

Hi Amelyn,

Like SpitFyre mentioned, I created a brand-new RPG called Spellbound Story Hour on Saturday. It's still in the very beginning and accepting new characters. We'd love to have you! Feel free to message me.

~Jess

 

Get your next post up jess