I'm hoping the Pengu allow this thread ^^;; It's not a roleplay thread, but I'm asking a roleplay-related question that drove me crazy with curiosity. Why do you guys do roleplaying? There's got to be a reason why people (me included) want to spend time on roleplay, and still stick around after a long time.

For me, roleplaying is a way to de-stress, improve my English and have fun interacting with other roleplayers through my characters. There's a certain challenge in roleplaying that keeps me around, even though sometimes I may get bored. But yeah, that's the reasons I have for roleplaying.

PS. Are such threads allowed, Peng?

I like writing. Interacting with other writers is fun. Plus the added factor of making things explode, and playing a game with intelligent characters.

Similar reasons as Shroom. I like writing and putting a lot of thought into developing storylines and characters along with other writers as skilled and more skilled than I.

I've always loved writing, and this is one way to do this and have fun with other people. Writing is usually not an interactive thing, and this is one way that I can do it with other people, and find out ways to improve on my writing techniques.

There's never been one in the history of my modship, buuuut... It's getting replies, and no harm done, so yup, it's allowed.

Personally, I write in Roleplays because I simply can never bring myself to finish a story on my own. I love writing with other people; it makes everything a little more original.

I RP because I never know what to expect from my characters interacting with other's characters. Not only is it fun, but it is something that I've been doing for a long time. It's good to see I'm not the only person who has an imagination. I've joined certain roleplaying forums because of this and it is the reason why I still RP.

One reason why I believe others stop posting in a RP post is because certain factors become non-existing. It can be suspense, expectations, or whaterer has a RPer want to continue participating in a post. So I believe it will take a very very well-organized and ORIGINAL story to hook players to keeping active in a roleplay. I emphasize ORIGINAL since many seem to drop out because they are just getting into the same situations over and over, so the fun is just taken out of it. I believe that if we all converse with one another of the favorite things we like to do in RP's, we may be able to create the ultimate, or nearly ultimate, RP post.

I've seen plenty of very similar opinions here compared to my own.

Writing is a release for stress, a great way to make some friends, and an awesome way to test ones creativity and skills as a writer.

I write because I love to write. It feels right. It feels good. It relieves stress, and allows me to experience a world completely different from the reality we live in.

As for RPing, I RP because you never know what to expect. Something you might never have thought up would occur to someone else just like that. You never know whats going to come up.

Also, like Pen, I have a ridiculously hard time finishing my own storites =P So posting in an RP or writing one allows a collaborative mix of story that can be short/long and (ideally) enjoyable.

=)

Roleplaying..not something I have done here recently, but to me it is relief. I mean, I do get tired or roleplaying, but I think when I do it is because I try to control the story way too much and not let it flow. Normally I roleplay in the ones I create, and when I create them I make them too strict. Major flaw.

But...roleplaying in general is just a way to do what I can't. I can express my imagination and creativity, which school sometimes doesn't allow (depending on assignments). I can be someone else, get away from real life. Video games do the same to me, but in a different way. This way I have control over my choices, my path, and my ending. Where it goes, not even I know.

I, like many other people on here, love writing. I think thats where many of us get the want and love of forum roleplaying; its a completely awesome experience to be able to craft a story with other people, and interact with characters. Sure, its fun writing and controlling all my characters, but its a thrill to be creating a story, yet all the meanwhile have no clue what could happen next.

I don't RP a lot, but when I do it's just for interaction and reading.. because there are excelent RPers here and the RP replies are always worth reading.. I love to read too.. Especially those choose your own ending stories, and RPing is just like it. In in RP, if you say something, someone else will say something different then they might have planned, thus the ending is different in each RP. I bet you could start up a old RP and have people make new charecters and it would be a different ending because the possibilities are endless. Plus, RPing is just downright fun and time consuming. xD;

Why I RP?

Back when I first joined, I used to live in this forum. Obviously, I like writing. ^^ As pretty much everyone else has said, it's a way to reduce my stress, get my thoughts out, and let my imagination just go to town, give a high-five to a hobo, and continue on with his party.

Really, I write because it's fun, and when your doing it with more people, the fun intensifies.
Example: Throwing together a storyline background for two or three characters. It's just fun to come up with these with other people, (even if all they do is agree with you. ^^;;) and by doing this, your making friends.

Working together on the storyline for an RP with many people (say, 6-7) is great, because people throw in their ideas, that no one else would have thought of, and it turns out to make the storyline that much better.

Two cents on the subject, thrown in. =p

I have a huge imagination and if I didn't write my head would explode.

Been RPing like this for 6+ years, I really enjoy it. Something that I can do to get away from my own life for a bit.

People ask me too join and pester me till I post...

The list of pestering people include

Penguin
Seraph
Angel
SoulsFayth
Seluna
Cresent...

But I enjoy it just generally too busy too RP..

Glad I'm one of them, SR. XP

Erm... I don't want to waste space and let this thread sink to the tail end of this forum so I'm turning it into a thread for discussing roleplay related stuff, as we don't really have such a thread except the FAQ but that's like question and answer for the not so general stuff.

Alright, my next curious question: What kind of plot do you guys generally like? On the same note, what kind of character do you like?

For plot -wise....have you ever played Legend of Mana? (by the way, just using the game as an example, not specifyinng that it is the only game of its type) I liked how all the different types of stories tied into each other so easily, while not causing any flaws in the storyline at all. Such varieties of stories in such a non-linear game would make a great plot, if organized and constructed properly. If the stories all have something in common, such as people hating a king or various different warriors from all over the world who, despite their own lives and conflicts, all want a single item, then this type of non-linear plot would be an excellent RP.

For characters, it depends greatly on the story. If two armies are going against each other, however, this really doesn't apply as you have to choose one side or another. I've played many types of characters, cool, funny, evil, nuetral, all of them, so behavior really isn't specific for me.. For placement in the story, I like to put my characters in an important part, because I like to interact and be able to change the way a situation goes with just a single action from my character. Plus, I'm good with keeping up with the storyline.

I like a plot that moves slowly enough to allow room for character development, yet quickly enough to keep everybody interested. A major IC post once a week from the creator is good enough. As for characters, some of you have probably noticed already but I love playing the brooding psychopath who's trying to deal with his own demons and his real life and keep everything together. I'm trying to do other things though.

Plot- I'm generally up for anything.

Characters- I like to play young characters that can be more easily molded as time goes on. The young naive good natured human, there are so many places you can take that character depending on what happens to him/her. A twisted evil mage, a valiant knight, a crude mercanary, etc.

I RP to do something interesting when I can't come up with a story myself.

Plots. I want realistic plots nowadays. I am rather bored and tired of this evil magician trying to release some demons from the underworld while commanding an army of orcs. No. Tha'ts been done so many times, I grow sick of it. I liked Metonian Sun for this reason. We didn't spend all our time battling the evil alien force, we spent it in bootcamp, in a form of psychological warfare, between our characters, their peers, etc. The plot needs to be slow enough that you don't get into a battle every few posts. That is just plain annoying. No world is a constant battle.

Characters... I like my characters to be either polite by keeping to themselves, or rude by being brutally honest. Mostly they are young.

Next questions for discussion, something that I have been wanting to know for quite some time due to the recent drop of activity again:

Do you ever lose interest in the roleplays you join? If you do, when and why does that happen? And also, somewhat related... why do activity of the roleplay forum drop once in a while?

I do lose interest in the roleplays I join, once in a while but doesn't happen all that often. I lose interest when the other roleplayers doesn't seen very enthusaistic in going on with it. And I think why the activity of the forum drop once in a while because a number of roleplayers are busy with their own life, and those who aren't busy lost interest or can't post because somebody's supposed to or because they simply can't think of something to post.

Once in a while!? Once in a while!? It hasn't been 'active' for a year and a half!

I tend to only lose interest in a roleplay, if those I enjoy writing with stop posting. That's really the only reason.. See, as long as they're posting, they'll be prodding me to post as well. I need motivation.

o.o For me it's once in a while, peng. The activity has a tendency to seemingly jumpstart then dies after a short moment, then try again some time later... >.< Actually my question should be more specific, like why is the roleplay forum so quietly lately with like only a trinkle of activity?

This answer is simple. WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS! The movie industry is running out of ideas, which is why they're doing stories on comic books and remakes of past movies(son of the mask?! Come on!)
Video game developers are focusing more on gameplay than story now since just about every idea has been done. People are getting bored. Trends are coming back. The whole world is going insane as orginality loses its touch among us humans! Can anyone stop this?!

Also, I think people who would like to write stories kind of get worried and not create a RP here because they feel that the quality or their idea will not fit right in our environment. Think about it. Will someone who likes to make a sports story actually come here and create a RP on this? No, because most of the RP's we create are fighting based, magic based, or whatever. Some people like realism and would like to mimic it. Our fantasy-like ideas may probably drive them from this forum easily. Secondly, it's the heart to write a story. Not many out there want to sit down and write hundreds of words just to describe some place in their story and so they think they are not cut out for RPing.

So, there's my simple answer.

Simple. The creators are losing interest. Everybody's going off and doing their own thing. Look at Absolute Truth. Or even Moonseeker. The creators haven't been posting and the RPers are left clueless.

*shrug*

T.T I have not lose interest in Moonseeker. I just forum-banned myself for two weeks because my late assignments are too way overdued and I really need to get it done and hand it up. Turns out my motivation really suck, so I'm still working on two of it (I had four of them). In simpler words, my lack of time management and motivation screwed up my schoolwork and roleplays. T.T But I'll post soon... hopefully by Sunday of this week...

Yep. That's exactly what's happening.

For me in particular, it's a matter of time. I have other projects and writing to do these days, so RPGing has taken a backseat to all of these other things. I'm running out of the free time I once had, and the free time I'm holding onto is used up writing fiction in the Writing Forum. Of course I'm still interested in RPGs.

And in response to Vex Core: Are we really running out of ideas? No, it's just that we're running out of mainstream ideas. We just need to spend more time stepping out of the 'box' when it comes to our RPGs. Maybe change the format of how we play before we change what kind of plots we use.

I roleplay to get out all my creative frustration out. It is also a good way to test character and world ideas.

My favorite plots are those where both side are corrupt to some degree even if the main character is on one side of the military doesn't mean he's on the good side. I especially like the ones that have no evil people just conflicting ideas. I'm also a fan of heroes fighting the over zealous religious militaries... DAMN YOU RELIGION!!! *pulls out greatsword* I WILL SMITE THEE!!

As for character, I just love the tortured hero. The one who's life is so screwed up no matter how strong and powerful he is you just wouldn't want his life.

And I do often loose intrest in RPs... usually if the story gets cheesy or is moving far too slow. Or just cause I don't want to do it anymore. Often times its cause a lack of interaction with other player characters.

EDIT: Why the hell are you getting your ideas from movies in the first place. Movies are a bad source for RP ideas usually... games sometimes especially if they are RPs. But books are the best place. Animes are the same as books somehow (probably because they orginate from manga). And Comics are a very good place to get story ideas... aslong as you find a good comic... you should check out Marvel's Exiles... the world they are in keeps changing so you can get alot of ideas from that comic. Though I think the Exiles Mimic is kinda cheesy... (Hopefully they'll soon be getting Sabretooth on their team... and even if its a wuss as Sabretooths go ITS STILL FREAKING SABRETOOTH AND HE'LL STILL RIP YOUR FREAKING LOWER JAW OFF IF YOU PISS HIM OFF!!!)

No, the best ideas always come from within.

I have not started one or currently participate in one, but I like to write and such and have a decent imagination. So thats why I want to rp. I hope I can find another new member or someone who dosn't mind me to start one with so I can get a feel for it and get good at it. but, yea, it's just becuase I like to write, and I feel that this will help me build my imagination becuase I'm not controlling all characters, I have to build off of what other characters are doing. so... thats my reason

oh, reply to this thread or pm me if your interested in starting a rp with me. I have one in mind.

Hi, I've been a member of this forum for something like four days and I was wondering...what happened to all the rping? From what I gather there WAS a ton of things happening. Now I can't find anything with ANY activity. Did everyone drop off the face of the earth?

It sucks spending so much time on an idea just to have it drop. At any rate I wish there was some way to bring people together.

Forget that I wish I came when things where busy!!!! When ideas were fresh and people were excited. Excitement why can't people get excited?

/end rant

Maybe I'll go try and create a world for the 'expanded rp' thing that I don't quite grasp.

Erm...I'm going to start an OOC thread soon...so could anyone give me advice on how exactly do I write the first post of an OOC thread?

Sole, an amusing thing to note about this particular forum, is that people will join RPs very quickly, once they start. There will be a flurry of activity in the beginning. But, after a short while, everyone seems to get lazy, and no one posts. Activity has always looked like this in here, just look at the dates that most posts were made on.

To answer the lack of activity, Rpers we work with started to be either busy/slack off and therefore we "may" lose interest in the RPs. However, there are some who are the "currently waiting and ready whenever the person he is waiting post" I set a rather long time-waiting list, 3 weeks or longer and I may just go ahead without you, that's sorta my style ^^;; (Will be posting for FH,MS pretty much soon including Illenia*might consider not waiting anymore*)

Inactivity is really annoying. man, I wish people would not start an rp if they are going to be inactive. I really want to finish one, but when you are waiting for someone else to act, it messes you all up. Then, everyone else slowly loses interest and the rp dies. I don't think that posting should take days to come up with something. Maybe we just come up with stuff at different rates, but dag, it can't take days to post something in an rp. And for those who scream, "I have a life" thats total bull for an excuse. I have a life too, but I find time to post in my rp if I start one. I post either at school in study hall, or at home before I go to sleep. Now, I can understand it if you can't get to a PC for a few days, thats fine. But if you don't have your own PC to begin with, then don't start an RP. And if you are prone to lose interest in stuff like RP's then don't start one. Ahh, the topic just frustrates me, sorry for fuming like that.

It's okay to be frustrated over the lack of activity, The Keeper ^^;; You don't have to apologise for the fuming... as you called it. I frequently had such moments too, when faced with inactivity, and ranted as well. Few times over. ^^;;

I agree with much of your points. Almost all. But I myself have experienced how life could interfere into roleplaying. There was a point of time in the past when I was so busy, I had no time to even log onto the computer just to check email. And it lasted for a good week. So sometimes, one really can't help it. But otherwise, I agree with what you say, Keeper. ^^

It is in my experience that a character minimum such as 4000 can be a bit excessive, especially in scenes where characters interact with one another. Actually it literally forces people to play other people's characters.

What I would propose is simple, drop the minimum post to say 2 paragraphs, 4 sentances each at least, or a much shorter character limit. This way people can play their own characters, and not be forced to run other people's characters in order to meet the character requirement for posting.

Another thing I would propose is making it optional for the creator of a topic to institute a character maximum. People don't necessarily want to read a short story for every post that comes out. They want an RP.


I believe the combination of these two effects would increase activity in general. People could write posts faster, more interaction can be made between characters while their own player actually controls them solely. It would at the same time fix things for those who don't want other people talking for their character, as only the creator knows how they would truly react.

Then even those with little time will be encouraged to post more because it wouldn't require the effort to write a short story.



I mean I could go into a lottle of little details and greatly increase my post length so I didn't have to control other character or speak for them in a post, but that is a bit of a hassle on my part. I try to stay away from it as much as possible even with the character minimum as it is, which is why my posts tend to be shorter.

This way it also doesn't take people days to write up a post. They'd do it more often, and things would flow much better. Let's face it, we're not all the best of writers, and some have to spend quite a bit thinking up ideas for the longer posts that we have.

This is not to say that I discourage long RP posts, but when interacting with other characters, shorter posts I find work a lot better. This way it doesn't feel like several story tellers, each made a character and are telling the story together, this way the players aren't story tellers working together, they are players participating in a roleplay.

Huggi ^^ I took your word into consideration and you'll see it in the rules when they get updated. There is no default minimum character limit from now on, unless roleplay creator sets them. Hope you will introduce and enjoy your way of roleplaying more with the rules change.

The way I look at it is that it's really hard to get down on people for inactivity. Sure they made a commitment when they signed up but things often come up. Real life is rather unpredictable, which is one of the things that makes it fun, and oftentimes things happen very fast. I know that I for one, make all kinds of plans and promises without thinking at all about what my online obligations are. Thats one of the fun things about the web. Most things can take a backseat to whatever may come up in real life and not suffer much. The flexability is built into the attraction.

Plus when you consider the minimum poost sizes you guys set... jeeze. Anyway, once I actually get to participate in an RPG here I'm sure I'll be able to comment a bit more relevantly(SP?).

Edit: Plus, i know that I for one cannot say that I've never lost interest and gone inactive in an RPG.

ok, im not sure this goes here, but i got a few questions about this place's rp. ive noticed you guys have OOC topics and IC topics, now what is that? at other forums, its been done a little differently, we had a profile thread where everyone posted a profile and such, then after that we just made rps as we seen fit made up our own storylines and everything, how is things done here?

First of all, welcome ^^ Rohan and Linall. ^^;; For some reason I totally missed this thread until Rohan posted in it. o.O;

I totally agree with you, Linall, about inactivity. I can't really do much about it but I really do wish to try and minimise that. And you'll notice that the default minimum character limit is abolished ^^ though some roleplays still retained quite high a character limit. ^^;

Rohan, to answer your question: The OOC for background story and character profiles for that particular roleplay, as well as questions and answers and miscellanous posts such as announcements and the such. The IC is the actual roleplay itself. We seperate them so that it's easier to read the roleplay, without having to manually filter out the non-roleplay posts. You'll get used to it easily ^^ if you intend to stay.


Does it work better that way? To have character profiles first then creating the roleplays as seen fit? I'm a bit dubious about it since I'm not sure if I participated in such roleplays before or not. Won't that result in a lot of roleplays? Oh by the way, nice signature, Rohan. ^^

Ok thats what i thought about the ooc and ic.. OOC= out of context / IC=in context......just didnt wanna say that and feel stupid



to me, haveing a profile thread where you can create multiple characters makes thing go alot smoother, and yeah, it would probably result in alot of roleplays, but isnt that a good thing? with more roleplays, the more people can get into different storys and interact with different characters.

example: we create the profiles thread, and i would post my rp character in there, lists detailed information, hair color/style, eyes, weapons, occupation, alignment, things of the sort, having my rp character posted to where people can read about he/she, others can easily get the feel of that character and his/her attitude but im sure you know what im getting at.

then you can go make your own rp topic with your own storyline that others could join, or instead of making a rp yourself, you can just join in on someone elses. its not as complicated as im probably making it sound.

oh and thanks, i do my own sigs and avs

We call it In Character and Out of Character... but for some reason, I feel that 'context' sounds better and more accurate. o.O;

So each roleplay have a profile thread where they make their own characters? Then if they feel like it, they create a roleplay and the others will join with their own characters if they're interested? Am I getting it right? What about setting? Created along with the character, or with the roleplay? Or there's already one?

Hmm, I'm not certain if a lot of roleplays is a good thing ^^;; since I haven't really experienced it myself. But won't it require more roleplayers and time (effort) to have many roleplays up and running actively?

You're good with making sigs ^^ you should do more, they are very nice. Oh and... I visited your intro thread ^^;; and noticed something about a roleplay central. Would it be a roleplay forum or something?

giving each RP a character thread, an OOC thread, and an IC thread would be a little too much I think. I know that Illenia has it like that, but I think that the OOC/IC threads work just fine.

Huggi, I think this is a creating character first, then create roleplay or something like that. Not an additional character profile thread. But yes, I agree that it is a bit space consuming for each roleplay to have OOC, OCC and IC threads.

Im still not sure why you all have OOC threads then IC threads seperate, the way i usually rp is i just do it ya know, follow the storyline with my character and if i have anything to say or discuss i just put an OOC:

but it looks like you guys are missing my point.

this is my forum, Final Haven

that link will take you to the rp section of the forum, just so you know im not advertising just trying to help things seem less confusing. after people post a character in the profiles thread, say i was gonna make an rp, you guys were asking about the setting the storyline and such, normally whoever creates an rp explains the setting and reveals some of the story in the first post. here ill give you a link of one of the rps that i made on another forum again, not advertising. SEF

You know, if you have to mention twice in a post that you're not advertising... Then you're probably advertising.

However, while I do sort of agree about the profiles thread, the OOC(It's actually 'Out of Character' and 'In Character', not 'context') serves to outline things IN ADDITION to simply character profiles. It's a place for RP moderators(not the RP Forum Mod, but I mean the maker/caretaker(s) of the RP itself) to post updates, such as upcoming hiatus, delays, requests, as well as advice, constructive criticism, and references(eg, My character has a gun that can do such and such, here's what it looks like, here's what it can actually do, see links LA and TI).

So, yes.

Pwned.

Or providing Sel with something she queried and providing us with an example of what he's talking about.

Like I ever actually read anything, dope.

Also, two things, Rohan(and these are actually constructive, honestly):

I'm not a huge fan of the style your RPs use:

"Jove: I'm not a huge fan of the style your RPs use.

Rohan: I guess that's just a matter of preference.

Jove sighed, though a smile came up shortly after.

Jove: Yes, I suppose that is true. However, your RP tends to work as more of a script, rather than a story. An interesting idea, I suppose, but not really the way I'd like to read a book or the like."

That'd be a conversation 'twixt you and myself it were RPed in 'your style'. It looks more like an IM conversation than a story(that's really what RP is, when you think about it). All it takes is for me to take "Jove sighed, though..." and change it to "Jove: *sighs, then smiles*" and boom, IM convo.

Interesting style, but... I dunno.

As for the profiles thing... I KIND of agree with you, but that profile thread would work under one circumstance, best: A single continuity.

Obviously, we don't have a single continuity here. There are several worlds, several stories within those worlds, and several characters within each story. If we had fifty people post characters in there, it would be difficult(and annoyingly time consuming) to look through a huge long thread that would be, eventually, hundreds of posts long(people would post multiple characters, over time, as they came up with new ideas) just to find out what the characters in your RP were like.

You know... something seriously boggles me. It's supposed to be summer holidays for quite a number of you, right? Then why the lack of activity? It's understandable for some, but even though they are busy they tried to post. So I'm terribly curious as to why the others are not posting. Do enlighten me please? ^^

Oh... if none of the options listed is the reason for your particular inactivity, please do add in why. I really wish to know, then I can see if I can do something about it, and not worry incessantly over something I don't know.

Jove, I've roleplayed with (not in) that style before. True, it's script-like and doesn't feel like our kind of roleplaying, but it's simpler and quicker to the point. Unlike ours, where we can go round and round in circles describing birds, skies, emotions and everything else without moving the plot one inch. So there are pros and cons. Really.

As for the profiles thing... I'm interested, and once I figure out how it could work for us, I may want to try it out. Of course, I won't allow a huge mess to appear just because of it. But I'll try to see if we can try out a new way of roleplaying. 'Kay?