Structure

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We need something here to work. As you would have guessed, I very much like PBP Rp'ing here on SP, and I want to continue. However, it seems that ever time an Rp game is set up, it quickly falls down. What i think we need to do is make some kind of structure before hand. We need to get the people we need, think of what to do, and then do it. As Aik once said - "None of this running around in Taverns meeting each other crap."

The first thing we need are people. Who is ready to be a dedicated player and join in on the Rp?

Next, we need a general structure. Where do we want the RP to go, what will happen (In general) and why we have anything to do wiht the story.

And Lastly, we need to work together to make it happen. Dedication is the key.

Well, as you well know, this is my opinion. If you agree, let me know. Firstly, as I said, we need to know who will play. Well?

 

I enjoy the PBP RPs, but there are times when I don't get a chance to post, usually weekdays (weekends tend to be the times I post), and by the time I get a chance, the RP has moved a lot further on. Personally, I find using chat is better for RPs, as people tend to get more involved and everything moves much quicker. Also, there is the added excitement of having to think on your feet.

 

I would like to make an outside observation. You say, in the second bullet, that a general structure is needed, that, say, some sort of unified vision toward the plot of the "story" and how this "story" will begin, run, and end.

The funny thing I find about this is that if this is done as a whole, everything is predictable, since the players already know and have a consensus on the direction of the game. Of course, with the more popular sorts of RPG's in the market (e.g. D&D and White Wolf), it is given that there is someone who runs the game; he creates how the game will begin, run, and end, and the rest play characters immersed in the game. Of course, this person I am talking about someone fulfills the same role as D&D's Dungeon Master or WW's Storyteller.

Otherwise, it seems that what you have is a group of people who have decided to write a short novel with an agreed "general structure." If your particular games haven't been able to keep running after a few weeks, maybe it's time to looking at how the published systems approach roleplaying.

Okay, so this took some chutzpah, especially when I'm not interested in playing these games right now, but you aren't allowed to get mad because I've offered condescending advice of chevalier-quality and because I've posted this smiley.

 

Oaz is somewhat right - making a roleplay linear doesn't sound like something that most people are going to jump for. So let me introduce you to a concept.

It's called a bang. Someone (a GM is it's a GMed game) drops a situation on a character which forces the player to make a decision about how their character will respond - often in such a way that it will address a theme which the player is interested in exploring with the character.

To go along side this is the kicker - which is a bang which the character comes up with themselves usually at the beginning of the game. This is especially effective if you don't care whether all the 'main characters' have to stay together and are open to making up new ones on the fly to go with what other people are doing.

Something else: Scene Framing. This is like the cuts from scene to scene in movies. When things start getting slow - discuss it quickly in the OoC thread and jump to the next interesting scene. Get to the point of what you're after and don't let it bog.

Keep multiple characters running - this is PBP, take advantahe of the format. If one character has nothing to do, use another - keep the flow to advance the story. Make new ones if another player's character needs some support, or to bring in a new story arc.

Having a central GM which everyone needs to refer back to would be, of course, a Bad Idea - but if not everyone is equal with the make-****-up-as-you-go skills it might be useful to have those people who are as recognised as those moving along the plot. And if you have a heap of story arcs going in the one RP - someone to summarise what's going on so that people don't get confused and don't have to read through ten pages worth of posts every time they log on just to keep up - this is quite essential if you're running a fast game (though ideally it shouldn't grow that fast with only one story arc moving or people miss out on entire scenes because of timezones).

Uh ... okay, end waffle now. Oh - and no, I'm not dedicated

On the other hand - having a few non-dedicated people around to throw in some flavour when they feel like it might be handy - the odd NPC which they control and bring in at need/when they feel like it. *shrugs* Might work, the call for Absolute Dedication just isn't going to work for everyone.

 

I really got into the Station Phoenix RP, but just as The Kilted One, I don't have a huge amount of time that I can devote to posting (and even less for chat).

So, good luck with your next one, Lantus.

Maybe I'll try the "non-dedicated person playing the odd NPC" route as Aiky suggests above...

 

It's hard to keep something going over the long term. We have one going in the SPS Forum which mostly works because there is no structure. It started as a sort of Random Babbling for our avatars and developed from there into an interesting but mostly incomprehensible story. It's fun.

Any structure you come up with has to account for the fact that not everybody can commit to posting every day.

 

I am one of the participants in the SPS RP. I post this because I think we have been successful.

It is certainly not structured. We play off each other's posts. It has been a lot of fun. There are times when it lags and times when it moves very quickly. The main theme is that it centers around the Copper Coronet shortly after the BG II period. This something we all know well.

We respect one another. There are seven of us presently. We have had people fall by the wayside. We have almost 600 posts by now on the RP and almost 500 on the OCC. We also set up a thread for information re the character we are playing. Individuals go off on their own adventurers which we hope will bear some relationship to the overall theme that has developed. I think part of the reason we have kept going is that no one is the STAR. And I repeat --We Respect Each Other. The current players have my permission to use my character if for some reason I am not available because I know they will not abuse her.

Sometimes I have had a story line in mind that got tossed out because of what someone else posted. That is part of the fun. It is a real adventure because you never know what will happen.

The only rules I remember being set were:
1)Play to your avatar (which doesn't pertain here)
2)No SPer can die.


I have taken a look at the role play here but have not volunteered mainly because I didn't feel I fit.

We are all involved in RL either through school, work or family. Which means we are limited to when and how often we can post.

Would it work here? It might if the particpants agreed to take the fun seriously. By that I mean remember that it is all in fun and don't arbitrarily manipulate other people. Make sure you stay in character and keep your sense of humor.

Did I mention that you should have a sense of humor?

 

The SPS Copper Coronet RP works mainly because we have no idea what is going to happen next!

 

lol Harbourboy, I love you.

 

Can you crosspost the starting post over into here? Would like to see how it happened.

What you have there is probably brilliant - but I doubt it could be recreated with the intention to create it. It sounds like a one-shot thing, like, for example, Pirates of the Sorcerean. The attempted sequels flopped pathetically, because it's impossible to recreate an impulsive unstructured game by using forethought.

And if impusiveness is the key (which I don't believe it need be), then the RP Corner is going to be dead until someone has a brilliant thought and gets straight to it, and other people need to share that enthusiasm before it gets forgotten.

And of course, certain groups of people just don't work. If someone has a playing style which I absolutely can't stand, I'll just 'forget' to post. I am highly selective when it comes to who I actually play with (which you might know if you're a chatroom person ). Not sure if other people (besides, mayhap, Deathmage) feel this urge to play with only people who match their own style completely ... but what can I say, I'm anal

 

Ok then, Aikanaro, here it is, the first ever post in the Copper Coronet thread:

posted by Shalladeth. Ah, the memories....

 

Aha - I get it now!

So it works on the same basic model as the 'Let's sit around in a tavern' RPs, but expanded into plots and waffle?

*Remembers the Tavern of Infinity, and that ... other one - Dusty Dwarf Inn or something?*

They're cool, but when done a few times ... if there was enough players something like that could make a good base for many adventures. A common hub, of sorts. But then you'd have to find something general enough that can be moulded by whoever wants to go off on a tangent.

One of my more ancient RPs - 'Berekelkin' was an attempt at this. It was a setting of a small town which the players were supposed to shape in their own image by what theyw anted to do. There was no real need to do the adventure party all stick together thing. The hub being the town itself (and also serving for most of the action). Needless to say, it didn't work, but something similar could kick some severe arse...

 

Yeah, it started off as just some lamo drunks hanging out in a bar, but it has evolved into several 'out-of-tavern' experiences, which all seem to be loosely based around some plot by followers of Shar to do something evil in Athkatla (but we have no idea what they are up to yet).

The added twist is that we all have to play our avatars, so that requires some inventiveness on the likes of Morgoroth, to justify why a mindflayer is wandering around above ground.

The all-time funniest character was Takara, but he has since vanished on some turnip related mission and is presumed drunk.

 

A game played in a forum such as this one cannot be a PnP or chat room game. Unless you restrict it to people living in similar time zones we come from everywhere. If everyone is on at the same time how do you decide who posts? To me it would make more sense to go to 'Minstrel's Medallion' if you can be on at the same time.

I like the concept of the Lonelywood RP But it seems to have died because the person who started it has disappeared.

I am no Games Master/Mistress but if I were to start a RP I might do the following.

1) Something similar to Lonelywood. Using the town as a hub for the story.
2) Set in Faerun.
3) Magic and magic enhanced equipment allowed but no Uber characters.
4) No manipulation of other characters without the permission of the creator.
5) No public fighting. Use PM. Public fighting turns people off.

I do think a good GM is needed to keep the 'story' from becoming too fragmented and to keep things moving when it stalls. Maybe even two people who can work together.

I think new people should be encouraged to join. This is a hard one.

 

I found that there is no direction to the campaigns that have been attempted. They've all had a similar idea of starting in one place and waiting for something to happen.

This isn't a slight on Lantus, but whenever you start a campaign, you say that you want so and so and other certain members and that might turn off other potential players. They might be interested but then they see that you already have seix players in mind and they decide not join because it could get over croweded.

The Portson campaign could of been really good, but it needed direction, instead of having all the characters milling about give a general plot line. Some one is killing courtesians/dockworkers whatever, a pirate crew invades the city. Something that gives the players something to work with.

Same with the Lonelywood game. Instead of having every meet in the tavern and start there say that the barbarians have declared war because someone stole a holy relic. Or that the Orcs are invading and have the players search for the leader of the orc horde.

It's hard to start a game with no direction. It kind of leaves everyone sitting around thinking about what can happen and no one doing anything to make something happen.

 

Benan, I agree with a lot of what you say. I think that the person who starts the game should have a plot in mind. However if it is too structured it takes the spontineity out of the game.--As Oaz posted above.

The biggest problem I see to a forum game is the time element. Not that we are in different time zones but the amount of time that someone can devote to a game.

I can understand why someone might want certain people to game with but in a forum game this seems to be a liability. 'Real Life' just gets in the way. Without fresh blood to fill in the cracks the game falls by the wayside.

But encouraging new players isn't enough. Wading through dozens, even hundreds of posts to figure out what is going on is not impossible but certainly discouraging.

Possibly 3 or 4 threads are needed to help with this. These ideas come from Isshy...

1) A Character Sheet thread.
2) A summary of the game as it progresses.
3) OCC thread
4) the RP itself.

I would love to join a RP here.

 

I would also be interested in joining a game as a player. Never done it before, but I'm up for it.

 

So to sum up what you are all saying, there are two things that are needed for a good forum RP:

1) A direction. The campaign must be set on some kind of direction from the begining, to prevent all that "sitting around thinking about what can happen and no one doing anything to make something happen". To me, this is the most important of the lot. If a proper direction is set from the word 'go' then there is no real need for a GM or anything like that, IMO.

2) A constant player basis. Whether this be shifting constantly, as people come or go, or the same people. A constant player basis is needed to keep the plot from stagnating. I like the 4-thread idea that Nakia suggested - it certainly has strong grounds to it.

• One thread be used for RPing - this is generally is the one that grows large, and which new players (and returning old players) probably don't want to have to spend hours and hours reading through to catch up to the plot.
• Plot Summery thread - this is a brilliant idea. Have some regulars who prehaps once a week post a plot update, with all the major events and everything in summerised form. I guess it would be something like this (although that's for a D&D game, not freeform/forum). This forum would allow players who wish to join to get a quick over view, and decide if it's for them or not.
• An OOC thread - this is certainly needed. I'm sure we all know perfectly well that some kind of Admin work is required to keep these games running smoothly.
• Character Sheet thread - now, to me this isn't vital. Characters can be described in the other two IC threads, or even the OOC one. But it is nice to have.

Now, let's say we were to put together a rough aim or a 'plot hook'. Something like a mysterious plague strikes the land. Or rumors of a cult of Cyric begin circulating in the small town of X. Something along those lines. So once the scene is set, characters can begin to be rolled up in a seperate thread, and then the RP can begin.


I will put together the 'plot hook' if needed. A small town based in Faerun somewhere (probably Rashemen, if no one minds. A map can be found here and if anyone needs some info on it, give me a yell. It's the plaec where Minsc and that lady came from in the BG series). With some sort of 'plot hook' in there. Then if things to get too off track, I could simply introduce an NPC or something to 'push' the game onwards.

[Edit] Something along the lines of this, but fleshed out more to include much more of a plot, and more background into the country for those of you who are unfimilar with it.

[ May 28, 2005, 00:57: Message edited by: Rotku ]

 

Methinks the plot summary and character sheets (if necessary - in a freeform game character sheets are rather pointless) could all be included in the OoC thread instead of having their own.

 

I am one of the members of the SPS RP session as well. The idea of having seperate pages for plot summaries and character sheets is two fold.

1. It allows for each player to update their posts instead of just posting new ones over and over again.

2. It makes it easier to catch up on the action if you are new, or returning after a break. Wading through 20+ pages of an OCC can be a little daunting.