Also, you might want to take a gander at this thread
for more inspiration.
Also in terms of what I like, I like fluidity in a roleplay. I hate when the plot is pretty linearly laid out and you just chug along the tracks. I prefer when you can like, just do whatever, and the GM rolls with it and takes off in whatever direction you go. World of Heroes (The reboot by kkhohoho) was a good example (At least towards the start. At the end, some people actually complained it was too open, and then it just got all railroady to appease them), since like, at a random point, I just had my character try to investigate some random Nazi villain by showing up at the Nazi Party HQ in a beekeeper's outfit (filled with bees), calling himself the "Buzz Bomber", and the GM was like "Yeah, sure, why not?" and then things just went off in a totally different direction that involved blowing up McDonalds and then some other players and I having a barrel of laughs.
Oh yeah, humor, humor's good too.
edited 24th Apr '14 11:35:46 PM by nman
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Fist
Its about time we had a thread like this. Thanks Neo!
Now onto business.
About Linearity vs. Openness/Free Form/Iufuggino:
I think Free Form may be the best way to go, while the GM has a general direction of where the story should go. In other words the GM should adapt the plot on the fly to make it so that no matter what they do the plot will continue to move. A plot line that's too rigid may leave the players confused as to what the GM wants, because we very well can't read minds.
In addtion to this, I think that the GM should remember that they're not the only author of their RP's plot. Yes the GM controls events and such, but what truly matters at least in my opinion is what the players do. And that's making the characters react, and deal with the situation at hand. Every character is "hopefully" going to have a unique way of dealing with things, something that they can add, and shouldn't be forced into an entirely new way of thinking, to solve a problem. They should be flexible enough with their own abilities and experiences to get done what needs to be done in their own way.
And speaking of characters, I do believe that momentum has alot to do with longrunning R Ps staying as longrunners and not petering out. I find that once a character has several relationships with other characters, its hard to put that one down and play another. That last part of the sentence probably only counts for R Ps in which switching characters is frequent and expected, liked Our Avatars Are In A Room Together and We Are Our Avatars. However, I think the point stands that once a character is settled in so to speak it becomes easy to play them and keep them around, because you become invested in them and their ever changing relationships. For an example, no link sorry unless you feel like reading 11,000 pages, I've played a character who's gone from a loving if somewhat awkward, parent daughter relationship to bitter enemies, and back again, and I simply can't stop playing her for the life of me.
TL;DR: G Ms don't be inflexible, you're not the only authors here, and consistent characters contribute to the life of an RP.
edited 25th Apr '14 12:37:33 AM by Azure
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850
Seconding Azure's point about the G Ms not being the only authors, but from a different angle: you may not be the only author, but neither are your players, and in the case of original settings, you are the final word in what stays and what goes. Absolutely don't be afraid to accept suggestions for worldbuilding or to ask people if they want to contribute to the world. Working on a setting together with people is some of the most fun you can have, and new opinions and new thoughts are a great way to differentiate the cultures on two distant continents or two different races and so on.
At the same time, respect yourself and the work you've put into your setting. If your players aren't willing to give you or your setting the simple courtesy of respecting tone or thematic consistency, you have no obligation to bend over backwards to make their suggestion fit.
It's been fun.
Pretentious Git
A Beautifully Written Annoyed Leader-Dude
Oh, poor Hobbes. You were screwed from the beginning, my dear friend. I'm still sad I never got to use my dream plan for Hobbes taking out Jaedong by swarming him with remote control harvest/construction drones, and then self-destructing them all at once. "SCV rush, bitch." To which Jaedong's dying words would be annoyance that Hobbes used the tactic name inappropriately. XD
Also, I don't always godmod. But when I do, I get held up as an example of good writing. 
Seriously though, this right here?
Stepping casually between the silver-haired Cent and the moron he had the displeasure of calling one of his own, he deflected the other man's blade with a deft maneuver of the back of his hand. The move was second nature to him, and it unbalanced the other man so that he toppled forward. Hobbes checked the man's stumble with his left arm and turned towards Jaedong with an expression of iced fury.
Don't do that. That should read:
Stepping casually between the silver-haired Cent and the moron he had the displeasure of calling one of his own, he moved to deflect the other man's blade with a deft maneuver of the back of his hand. The move was second nature to him, and would unbalance the other man so that he toppled forward if it worked. Hobbes prepared to check the man's stumble with his left arm and turned towards Jaedong with an expression of iced fury.
The difference is subtle, but important. In the first example, I've robbed another player of their agency by announcing what their character did without giving them the chance to decide for themself. In the rewrite, I've still communicated what I want to happen, but I've left it open-ended to the other character's player as to what actually happened, allowing him to either follow my lead or do his own thing, taking my actions and intent into account.
What matters in this life is much more than winning for ourselves. What really matters is helping others win, too. - F. Rogers.
つ ◕_◕ ༽つ HELIX
Absolutely. That situation, I'd give it a pass because 1. It was me on the other side and I was okay with it, and 2, the other character was physically superior in every way. But yes, even despite that, give the other character a chance to respond.
Still, I thought it was a great piece of writing all things considered.
-Grin-
It included "Space Grammy" which makes it amazing all on its own.
つ ◕_◕ ༽つ HELIX
We should reboot Mythril Aces
State of Mind
We should.
But until then, here is a guide for writing, writing characters, writing scenes, writing settings and all those useful little tidbits you might need!
Perpetually Disappointed
Oh man, I hadn't heard from you guys in ages. I can give curmudgeon-y old Hydrall a kick.
I just finished my Finals and life is going awesome with a summer lull just coming up. We might actually do this thing.
Edit: Aeris Gaiden, especially the Fed branch, I think is one of the better spin offs I've seen. The Cents fell apart due to difficulties with individual players but did managed to move forward for a while. Feddies on the otherhand are something I'm still able to look back at and chuckle about and talk with the players who I still see around. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13041212910A30014400&page=1
edited 26th Apr '14 11:34:36 PM by Fauxlosophe
Mé féin ag daṁsa faoin ngealaċ seanrince gan ċeol leis ach ceol cuisle. DS FC: 4141-3472-4041, feel free to add me.
The Sword of the Morning
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I have risen from my slumber to give my support. You have my axe.
Aeris Federation was one long glorious campaign of weaponized anarchy. We had enough mental issues to power a new wave of psychological theory.
edited 29th Apr '14 5:45:08 PM by rabbitRider
Your legacy shall drift away, blown into eternity, like the sands of the desert.
JAU brutally peer-pressured me into posting my thoughts here suggested I should put my thoughts here.
All the RPs I have been in that haven't been total nightmares have had five main things
- Possibility for progression - Characters are not static and have some way to change their own capabilities throughout the game.
- Player free agency with decisions, including the possibility of making poor decisions and not winning in a situation.
- Players who laugh at failure instead of bitching.
- GMPCs are more like NPCs
- A unified goal for PCs that they want to work together on, but can be ignored to focus on sidequests and jumped back onto at later times.
edited 12th May '14 12:14:14 AM by nman
つ ◕_◕ ༽つ HELIX
<3 Jau.
And that's interesting. A lot of R Ps that sort of died I feel are ones that are railroaded. Now, done well, it can be fun and stuff, and that's really the only way to get a straightforward coherent plot, but a more open-world RP where the actions of the characters actually matter to what happens seems to be accepted as the most liked type of RP.
THE SLORG!
I can agree that railroading is in general extremely hard to do right, but I want to clarify here what I mean by "railroading", as I've noticed that some people have slightly different opinions or ideas of what exactly what "railroading" is.
Railroading, to me, is when a situation is presented in which no matter what the player characters do, the outcome is exactly the same. Simply moving the plot forward along a linear path does not seem like railroading to me, but rather keeping the plot coherent, so long as said plot is flexible in its operation. For example, say for the plot of your game, you need the characters to arrive at a certain town and witness a man getting hanged. To railroad it would be to simply have that happen; not railroading would be allowing the players to decide on their own how to get to the town, and change their perspective of the scene appropriately depending on their actions and choices. Do they attend the crowd to see the hanging? Do they simply glimpse it from down the street as they go about their own business? Is one or more of them alongside the man to be hanged at the gallows?
And how does it end? Do they attempt some bold, daring rescue? Do they attempt to use diplomacy and charisma to earn the man's freedom? Do they attempt to distract the executioner with some bizarre display and attempt to sneak the man out? Do they simply let it happen? Does one of the characters say "Stop! Let me pull the lever!"?
The important part is that they make the decisions, and in so doing, their participation actually matters. It's not that they should succeed at everything they do; in fact, I submit to Nman's idea that an RP wherein the player characters can actually fail at tasks is much better than an RP where they always win. It's that they decide to mold the story in their own way; because if your players aren't allowed to change the story, then why not just write a novel instead?
edited 12th May '14 6:18:55 AM by FirockFinion
You are reading this.
Perpetually Disappointed
It depends, I'd say. I think the best way is like a videogame with multiple paths; your decisions affect how something happens, maybe even when and if something happens. However, you want to have an arc like a story otherwise it's just people fucking around and they will eventually get bored.
I tended towards Sandbox often and I found those game petered out, especially as the general planned plot would peter out; either completed or somehow made untenable. After that, I'd hoped that the several small plothooks would keep things going but without a major and clear arc things will peter out.
I tend to plan a handful of set points in plot. If you are invading a kingdom, you need to a. rally an army, b. win the big battle, c. Deal with the aftermath. Same with saving a prince, where you have to a. find the culperate, b. find a means to get there, c. meet your foe and try to win back the prince. These are cliché plots, but they give the idea; how you do it is fairly open, but there are certain fixed points which serve as chapters and acts that have to happen regardless of what the players do, if they are to achieve their goal.
If the rails are lost here, then it's because someone is ignoring the basic conceits of the campaign and everyone else is listening to them. I've never had it happen but that's when you either kick out a trouble maker or let the campaign die because otherwise you're doing something different from what you wanted and you might as well start from scratch to make something that everyone /does/ want to play rather than retailor your setting awkwardly.
The second point which I think is critical but I rarely see pointed to is what I think of as "Phase II" of world building. That is rebuilding it in response to characters; look at potential for character development and arcs; if the rogue is an anti-social loner, peak through her backstory! Maybe she has a partner who was worse and will be a foil! Or maybe, her partner gave up his old misanthropic ways and is now happier and achieving a lot of good! Who knows, but so long as it might push the character forward, go for it. I think this sort of thing avoids the worst parts of Railroading because now your world is necessarily reactive; if you aren't doing this then you will hit trouble because, inspite of what people may say/think, they will get bored of playing the same character for long if there is no growth.
However, inspite of being built around the characters, this is still a fixed point for the P Cs; you'll want them to need something off these people. Even Good R Pers can overlook plothooks if they have to search for them and miscommunication can mess with stuff. So, you do want to have some plot related reason to tie them to this and make them pay gravely if they respond to character growth with stabbing comrades in the back and just running for gold.
Past that is what is optional, though if you are wise to can make it much more fixed than it appears. You can list a wide choice of options but have many amount to the same things; I usually like to give 2-4 options that will be substantial different when the P Cs have a major crossroad. To return to the conquest RP; Whether they tried to win armies by persuasion, law or even force is all possible. If they go in a different direction, there's often a reason that they shouldn't; Maybe recruiting Goblins was a bad idea because they dislike you and will just throw things at you until you leave or maybe they're just an awful army. Maybe it will piss off the Noble who /would/ have supported them and they now have as an enemy because Goblins were jerks to him.
In the absolute best cases though, you can build up towards consequences that will happen after the set play; maybe the Goblins realize they've crushed most of the human forces and maybe the Kingdom would be nice to have all to themselves.
Ultimately though I find D Ming is a huge shell game; I need the player's eyes somewhere and moving towards something. If they're willing to follow along, I can make them feel like they're on the ball and ahead of the game; maybe make some big changes and operate unexpectedly. Maybe even force you to up your game and adapt to them a little. At the end of the day though, you need to keep them heading towards where you want them to, without them understanding why or even realizing you are doing it.
Once it gets to railroading an explicit "You can't do that." It's either because the players have missed the point of the campaign and aren't in the mood to follow or you've been too scant with your details that you can't adjust slightly. Ideally in this, you should be able to just say "I haven't sketched out that part of the world" and have them shrug and aim elsewhere. If not, you're going to hit problems.
edited 12th May '14 9:58:07 AM by Fauxlosophe
Mé féin ag daṁsa faoin ngealaċ seanrince gan ċeol leis ach ceol cuisle. DS FC: 4141-3472-4041, feel free to add me.
THE SLORG!
That's pretty much what I meant, yeah; though see this is why I specified what I meant when I think of railroading. What you describe as railroading, (A GM telling a player "you can't do that.") and what I describe as railroading, (A GM ending a certain scene in a specific way, no matter how much the players try to change it.) don't exactly line up; there's some crossover between our definitions in some cases, to be sure, but they aren't the same.
Also I personally wouldn't describe railroading as any instance in which the GM tells the player "you can't do that", because that would include telling godmodders to stop autohitting and ghosting. That's not really railroading; that's enforcing good rules. I realize now you may have meant just when the GM is telling someone they can't go someplace they haven't fleshed out yet, but I'm gonna put that out there anyway.
You are reading this.
Can I call for a round of applause for Fauxlosophe? That was impressive as hell.
It's been fun.
THE SLORG!
Well if you insist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=barWV7RWkq0
edited 12th May '14 10:21:07 AM by FirockFinion
You are reading this.
Perpetually Disappointed
Yeah, I original meant it to build on the idea you put forward and try to show how to build a campaign with limited fixed point control for the plot.
Railroading as I meant it was specifically disbarring parts of the plot in contrived ways, not every executive DM order. I think it's better in a small group to just explain that you really don't have enough notes for them to spend a month of R Ping in the Ice Elf Kingdom that you drew out to fill in space, though it's tempting to have an avalanche [which would be the more obvious and explicit railroading]. Or trying to prevent them from killing a Duke who is actually important to the plot and you'd really rather be on at least talking terms with them. There are tricks around it often [I've only really gotten stuck a couple of times] but sometimes it's a bit too late without major changes.
Godmodding or other faux-pas isn't really railroading, just "You can't do plot because it would mess with what I laid out waaaaay to much" fiats.
Thank you.
I honestly expected the Shinji montage. "Congradulations!"
edited 12th May '14 10:34:26 AM by Fauxlosophe
Mé féin ag daṁsa faoin ngealaċ seanrince gan ċeol leis ach ceol cuisle. DS FC: 4141-3472-4041, feel free to add me.
Hello! I'm neobowman, your friendly resident Overlord.
I'm putting together this thread to gather up ideas that people have. What their opinion of an awesome roleplay is and how to achieve an awesome roleplay. Also, I'm terrible at making and maintaining roleplays so having a list of examples to follow would really help me, and I hope it helps everyone else too.
I'm sure all of you know how often roleplays sort of fall apart. There are those that never get off the ground, getting only one or two signups. There are those that get started but die on the first page. There are those that look good for a while but will die off and disappear into oblivion. And then there are the long-runners. The long lasting Epics that are truly great fun to be a part of. You get home from work/school and can't wait to check up on the responses to your post. I want to dissect what makes this sort of amazing roleplay so that we can all improve our roleplaying together.
I'll be including some examples of what I think is great roleplaying from my own experience and how that experience was created. Feel free to mention your own examples. Anything from Signup posts that really got you interested in the roleplay, to really great posts that make you want to reply immediately. Anything goes. If you think something really moved the roleplay forward in a positive manner, put it up.
It doesn't even have to be examples. If you have ideas or thoughts, feel free just to mention them here. If I find some cool ideas that I (or the general thread's opinion) totally agree with, I'll put it up in the front here. Here are a couple of examples to get us started. These ones are my own opinion and feel free to point out if you agree or disagree with them.
Awesome Opening Post
This one is recent. Aether Cross: The Brave Frontier, G Med by Ragna The Saviour. What makes this post so interesting is that it starts out with a letter. Addressed to YOU. Your character. YOU have responded to this letter to go on this journey. It immediately brings YOU into the action and compels YOU to get a move on. Start doing things and respond to this call to action. It brings attention to the situation at hand, the quest and who is addressing them.
It follows the initially quoted section with the start of the action. We're introduced to the two Gm characters, the setting, their relationship with each other. Setting aside the fact that it's an excellent opening post, it's just clean writing overall as well. It's well written, elegant, and a great followup to the letter section.
A Tightly Knit Playerbase
Cheating a bit because I'm not linking a single post, but the entire thread (no, you don't have to read it all).
Dragonblood has a special place in my heart as one of the R Ps that I really enjoyed and loved thoroughly throughout its run. I'm willing to bet every GM hopes to get lots of players but with Dragonblood, it was of how everyone interacted, not only in the RP and its discussion, but in our own Skype conversation. We planned out ideas in advance, talked about the RP and just had a blast every day, even when not posting in the RP. This made it much more fun to post, to see where we'd go next, and to experience the adventure together. Also, Renegade was an amazing GM and he guided us through that fantastic world with a lot of dedication and poise.
A Beautifully Written Annoyed Leader-Dude
Wryte is playing a character, Hobbes. Hobbes is a commander of a military squadron, including this dude called Jaedong. Jaedong's been a thorn in his side and a general asshole ever since he was assigned to Hobbes's squad. Now, after Jaedong tries (and fails) to defect to the other side, Wryte beautifully portrays his character's actions and emotions. It's not only extremely well-written, but it perfectly portrays the character's mood and character, showing his absolute disgust with Jaedong and keeping the dialogue witty and short. This type of stuff is a dream to reply to because it makes the story more colorful and interesting.
There's a couple of other stuff I don't have examples for at the moment.
-A direct action to another character. It's hard to RP when you have nothing immediately to do. Having the characters interact and mingle is one of the best ways to drive the characters', and the roleplayers' actions.
-A spin-off. It's always fun to play around with an established universe. Even if the characters aren't the same, if it's set in the same universe or at least a parallel one, it's more likely to start up better, though it doesn't necessarily promote longevity. Examples include the million Fate R Ps, the Madoka R Ps and others.
-A decently paced plot. If the plot is not moving, the story has stagnated. You need to keep the events coming along. Character interaction is great but unless the story progresses, things will get dull. This is what slows down a lot of great R Ps that I've seen. The focus becomes less on the plot and more on the characters. While that's not necessarily bad, it will slow down the RP and can make people lose interest. Ideally, the characters should express themselves THROUGH the plot. The more pauses, the less interest. Don't wait for people to post if they have nothing interesting to post.
POST YOUR OWN IDEAS PEOPLE! DISCUSS AND FROLIC AMONG YOUR FELLOW RPERS!
edited 24th Apr '14 11:23:35 PM by neobowman