The next level in RP, personal thoughts.
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Lifecrafter
Member # 7557
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written Friday, November 16 2007 07:38
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I have been thinking on the current state of RP, and I've had an idea *Gasps of astonishment* So-far the RP's we've had are long and complicated affairs with long, complicated posts about the worlds, characters and situation. In these RP's there have always been a general lack of players due to the difficulty in creating and mantaining a full-on character and remembering all the details. Now, I put it to you maybe is the time to take it to the next level. Since Dikiyoba's stories present an ideal basis why not have a new RP in the spiderweb forums itself. No rules apart from the useual, no powergaming or hijacking. It would be much easier for others to play, as their characters are all laid out for them. Basically, everyone could particiapte, the stories played out in the same way as Diki's stories are, with the boards portrayed as real worlds, spambots being balls of metal advertizing porn and real estate deals, a moat. You get the point. This, in my opinian at least would be a perfect RP if properly controlled. What do you think? Posts: 942 | Registered: Sunday, October 8 2006 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 32
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written Friday, November 16 2007 09:16
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There are a variety of problems with the RP's; however, I don't see this as a feasible solution, since none of the issues are really addressed. -------------------- Lt. Sullust Quaere verum Posts: 2462 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00 |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Friday, November 16 2007 09:29
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And in fact, said issues might be exaccerbated because people would take everything personally. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central "Making poorly-sourced claims is not the same as determining something." Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
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Lifecrafter
Member # 6388
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written Friday, November 16 2007 10:32
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The Arena is dead; history is over. Get used to it. Posts: 794 | Registered: Tuesday, October 11 2005 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 2984
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written Friday, November 16 2007 10:49
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quote:That's what we've been doing for over 6 years. -------------------- The Noble and Ancient Order of Polaris - We're Not Yet Dead. Encyclopedia • Blades Forge • Archives • Stats • RSS (This Topic / Forum) • Blog • NaNoWriMo Did-chat thentagoespyet jumund fori is jus, hat onlime gly nertan ne gethen Firyoubbit 'obio.' Decorum deserves a whole line of my signature, and an entry in your bookmarks. Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Friday, November 16 2007 11:00
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Flame on you crazy forum! —Alorael, who is now roleplaying spam. Isn't he good at it? In real life he actually never spams at all. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Friday, November 16 2007 11:12
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For a proper forum role-play, like I would have any clue about that, we would need many more emoticons, plus the ability (don't ask) to insert links into older posts, including those available only on external websites. -------------------- Synergy, et al - "I don't get it." Thralni - "a lot of people are ... too weird to be trusted" Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Friday, November 16 2007 12:09
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Student of Trinity walked into General. "I've never had time for an RP before, but someone just gave me an idea: we could roleplay ourselves, being here, in this forum!" "How would that work, SoT?" everyone asked. So he gave an example. quote:"So you see," SoT concluded happily, "petering out would be our only hope." -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 8030
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written Friday, November 16 2007 16:12
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quote:Has everyone forgotten about the death match? -------------------- "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two sevens." Daniel 9:25 Posts: 1384 | Registered: Tuesday, February 6 2007 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 6785
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written Friday, November 16 2007 16:39
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quote:Slarty would like us to since he got sucked into Avernum 5 and won't surface for months to give the results. Posts: 4643 | Registered: Friday, February 10 2006 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Friday, November 16 2007 20:17
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Which is completely acceptable, really. I'd like to get a nice, quick RP rolling for once... MoS was the last good one, and it was only finished with several month-long gaps in it. The trouble is everyone starts writing novellas after a while, and then people stop participating in a timely fashion. MoS only worked because the players hit a very strong collective vibe very early on, and because we really, really, really wanted to finish the thing. That's why I liked the Avernum Reloaded RP. People were participating, posts were usually fairly short, didn't guess too much about others' characters, and posts were frequent. Then TM let a bunch of rakshasi loose and everyone dropped before a few of us could put together a reasonable plan. Sadly, this is why I think Legends of Divinity can't really work that well at this point. Characters have come and gone, there are too many really long posts mixed in with short and stupid posts. Players have popped in and out (I am part of this problem, as is ET for other reasons), and it's developing gaps worse than anything MoS ever had. This is also why I think the Down to Earth RP didn't take off... far too much exposition, too many limitations to let the new people prone to powergaming in (thankfully some of them can be saved before going insane, as Zephyr's character Caecus in MoS did). It would've been cool, but it was too limited to attract anything but the more experienced RPers with more real-life time commitments. Anyway, a Dikiscript-esque RP is the last thing we need here. That would entail lots of short, insubstantial posts with too much meta-gaming. Zero exposition (how would we pick an opening narrator), nothing at all to stop powergaming, and people would get angry and lose the group-mind far too soon. My two cents, plus interest. -------------------- TM: "I want BoA to grow. Evolve where the food ladder has rungs to be reached." Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Friday, November 16 2007 20:48
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While I didn't like the rakshasi, I wouldn't blame them for the Avernum RP's demise. People were working with them. I had a whole story arc planned about how the Gobby God who was telling Glogroth what to do was actually one of the rakshasi. Several players who initially put in a lot of energy and got others involved in their storyline dropped out for different reasons. In turn, this made the players they were working with less invested. (I was the primary interacter with most of the Pralgadian players before falling prey to my tempestuous RL romance, for example.) There were also a few players whose factions were starting to look hard to play with (Infernal's tens of thousands of liches with teleport spells, or whatever it was) and a few others were so geographically isolated it was hard for them to interact with others (Ephesos, you come to mind there). I think it was just so large that nobody felt like its success hinged on their own participation; but in fact, because most players only interacted with a handful of others, its success did hinge on every single player participating. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central "Making poorly-sourced claims is not the same as determining something." Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 6670
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written Saturday, November 17 2007 00:06
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As I recall, posts died down because it was finals week, and things never picked up after that. I think TM, Alec, and Infernal spent time being banned, which didn't help. But yeah. I miss RPs, but this semester has a bigger workload, the next looks tougher, and I'm starting to have a life in meatspace. Maybe the problem is we're looking for a Mountain of Shadows clone (only RP I've seen finish on Spiderweb). I only caught the tail end, but it was good. It was a sweeping epic that started with the basic description "Here's some kingdoms, a town, and a mountain with a demon and treasure", and ended with a setting that included an assassin who melded himself with a demon, a sentient library that drew its power from the enslaved spirit of a mountain, and a druid possessed by a rogue portion of said mountain. Like, awesome. But maybe it was too big, too sweeping. I wasn't around at the beginning, but the party didn't even enter the mountain until halfway through, if I remember correctly from my reading. Maybe the lesson to be learnt is to have short, small, well-defined settings with a time limit. For example, say we are all residents (soldiers, courtiers, quartermaster, etc.), of a castle that is under siege. Reinforcements are coming in a week. Until then, it is our job to fend off the attacks, rat out the spy that may be revealing our plans to the enemy, and perhaps do some reconnaissance of our own. Such a RP would have a real life limit imposed, such as one week real time for one day game time, or a five page maximum for the entire RP. Can anyone see something like this working? In exactly one month, I'll be done all my finals for fall semester... -------------------- "Port Kane Control, this is Viper YYZ-2112. I've been dogfighting Polarans for over two months. Requesting a leave of absence. Over." Posts: 1509 | Registered: Tuesday, January 10 2006 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 32
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written Saturday, November 17 2007 05:46
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I think a time limit would help out. It would end this feeling that the RP is just lingering on without actually going anywhere. This happens to most RP's because people refuse to accept it when the RP is dead. Post length should also be limited. People lose interest when others start writing small novels. If I wanted to know what your character has been doing every minute for the past five years I'd ask... -------------------- Lt. Sullust Quaere verum Posts: 2462 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 4248
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written Saturday, November 17 2007 07:19
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Writing a novel of a band of mercenaries gave me an idea a while back. People riding a weather balloon should look down once November is over. -------------------- Life is a neverending carneval where everyone has multiple costumes. I just hope mine are pleasing to the eye. Posts: 617 | Registered: Tuesday, April 13 2004 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Saturday, November 17 2007 09:15
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The weather balloon RP should probably make an appearance, and I really like Dintiradan's siege idea. -------------------- TM: "I want BoA to grow. Evolve where the food ladder has rungs to be reached." Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 5360
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written Saturday, November 17 2007 10:44
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Nalyd likes it when people start writing novellas, and when the RP drags on for months. But he would guess that he is the minority here, and will quietly go away. The time limit does not appeal to him. -------------------- May the fires of Undeath burn in your soul, and consume it. Posts: 1636 | Registered: Wednesday, January 5 2005 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 4248
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written Saturday, November 17 2007 10:51
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In my experience, most RPs will drag on for months and almost all of them will have their fair share of novellas. There's definitely a point at which it gets tedious, but that depends from the players. I've seen boards filled with experienced roleplayers where posts of thousands of words are encouraged in, as long as those words are quality ones. As for the timelimit, depending on the nature of the RP it might actually be a good thing. I think the next RP should definitely have one, just for the experiment if not for anything else. PS: man, if I wrote my nano with as much gusto as forum replies, I might actually get it done! Oh well, can't help it; I'm a sucker for communal story-building... -------------------- Life is a neverending carneval where everyone has multiple costumes. I just hope mine are pleasing to the eye. Posts: 617 | Registered: Tuesday, April 13 2004 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 5360
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written Saturday, November 17 2007 11:02
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A communal world-building before the actual creation of characters or plot might help as well. -------------------- May the fires of Undeath burn in your soul, and consume it. Posts: 1636 | Registered: Wednesday, January 5 2005 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 4248
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written Saturday, November 17 2007 11:05
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Agreed. It'd be a nice change of pace to draw the maps before you need them for once. -------------------- Life is a neverending carneval where everyone has multiple costumes. I just hope mine are pleasing to the eye. Posts: 617 | Registered: Tuesday, April 13 2004 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 4574
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written Sunday, November 18 2007 14:00
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Wow. Dintiradan's idea is good, and I think it's a step in the right direction that we're finally discussing how to mend the problems as a community. Well, seeing as we're here, I'll voice my idea: A highly magical society, ruled by a kingdom. At the center of the continent there is the Vale, where all magic originates from, which is also the center of civilization (the capital, magic academy, etc). The Blind Sage then finds out that the Vale will implode in approximately six months. Unable to do anything, the King is killed by rebels, who then try to seize control. The Magic Academy is dismantled, mages of all sorts become poor, banditry and piracy is on the rise, attacks by previously unknown foreigners, etc. The new government isn't strong, and everything is being dismantled. The only group that's gotten any thing good from the situation are the Anama (who will be here since this is Spidweb). What's more, monsters previously sealed with magic are being loosed on the world... Thoughts? -------------------- Here will be the pet choices: Potatoe Salmon, Pet Rock, or Sabre-toothed Lime? Posts: 1186 | Registered: Friday, June 18 2004 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 8030
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written Sunday, November 18 2007 15:58
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Who's going to accept the part of Anama? A whole vale imploding sounds too unrealistic, even though RPs are built on imagination. Not all of the mages should turn dissident, perhaps they should attempt to cooperate with the Anama to restore a peaceful state. -------------------- Jesus is a pacifist. Posts: 1384 | Registered: Tuesday, February 6 2007 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Sunday, November 18 2007 17:06
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quote:Spot the error, win a prize! -------------------- TM: "I want BoA to grow. Evolve where the food ladder has rungs to be reached." Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
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Agent
Member # 4574
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written Sunday, November 18 2007 17:31
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quote:Seeing as the Anama would be best prepared, living a life without magic for their whole existence, I'd imagine it would be the most sought after position. Imploding may not be the right word choice. Perhaps died out. Anyways, I wanted the Vale, being the source of magic, to cease. The mages would be losing their power, in a literal sort of way. Where they would have once been the most powerful people in a city, they are now just men in smelly robes and funny hats. Sure, they'd be able to do some good for a while, but they'd be living on borrowed time. I had envisioned this RP as a character RP more then anything else, FYI. -------------------- Here will be the pet choices: Potatoe Salmon, Pet Rock, or Sabre-toothed Lime? Posts: 1186 | Registered: Friday, June 18 2004 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 8030
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written Sunday, November 18 2007 17:39
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I see, so the Vale isn't destroyed but in a state of anarchy. So are the Anama entrusted with restoring peace and quelling the dissident mages? -------------------- Jesus is a pacifist. Posts: 1384 | Registered: Tuesday, February 6 2007 08:00 |