So, What's Keeping People from Actively RPing These Days?

[Hobaginator]

I don't know what you guys are talking about I'm in an RP 20 posts strong since like two weeks ago. Feels good bro.

[DragonHeart]

If you have to ask...

Nah, jk. I had someone else in mind. Actually a couple of someone elses.

There's also a huge difference between character development and literally playing your own story out independently of everyone else. For example, say we're doing some war campaign RP and your character is a general. It's fine if your general never once interacts with anyone else's characters as long as his actions (battle strategies, etc) directly affect other player's characters. But sometimes you get that one person playing a general...in another war, on say another continent or something. Completely irrelevant to anyone else. That destroys any cohesion the story has, especially if that one person attracts one or two other people to their parallel campaign, but then the two groups never meet and their actions never affect one another. It's kind of like, what's the point? More than a few stellar RPs have been destroyed this way.

[Quistis]

DH has a good point. I always try to involve every single character in the plot so they become connected and the RP becomes much much more interesting for everyone.

[Yoko]

DH has a good point. I always try to involve every single character in the plot so they become connected and the RP becomes much much more interesting for everyone.

YEES!!! I full heatedly agree with this. I am still in that RP that has been going on for two full years now *Loud cheer*, and it has been going strong BECAUSE everyone is involved in the same plot and each character plays a part in the madness. I would link you to it, but my sig is gone for the moment. I am very proud of that RP.

Mind you, we started it at a time with popular interest. The creator of the RP is kicking everyone's ass to make sure it goes strong. What we need here is a motivator and one hell of an interesting story that keeps people interested for more than one post each. If that happens here, then I would be more than happy to join one. I also enjoy ones that have to do with Final Fantasy. The one I'm in is Spira related and takes place three months after the fact. Spira is probably one of the easier places to write for really. If it isn't complicated, more people might be interested. That's what I've found with RPs. As long as it is simple yet captivating. Those are the best.

[Quistis]

Well I am willing to participate if such an RP can be started. Right now I am out of ideas O_O

I also dont remember a lot of FF stuff anymore..it's been many years since I actually played an FF game so I may have to play catch up if it is FF related. The only reason I am still here is not my FF fandom anymore but more because of the members/community ^^

[Yoko]

It's been years since I touched FFX. It doesn't stop me from getting imaginative, right? However, I've never been one to actually make the RP with regards to plot and scenarios. I'd rather just focus on my character and leave the surprises. I don't like knowing everything that goes on.

ALSO, Miss DragonHeart. I have read over your posts. It would be phenomenal if you started to RP again. Jus sayin.

[Quistis]

DH is a vet RPer *sage nod*

Well if we have people dedicated enough I bet we can whip up something. I am on here regularly just not during weekends so I am fairly reliable when it comes to posting actively in RPs

It doesn't have to be a long and complicated setting either. We just need a situation and the complication to start with (yes I got that from a how-to make a graphic novel book).

[Order]

Order walks in, sits down, sips a cup of tea pretentiously and nods to himself.

"Thats why RPs die."
Order continues to ignore obvious plot queues made by other players, does not bother to tailor his writing to the feel of the story and writes with a monotone voice.

"All it takes is a little bit of communication. Whoever initiates the RP should focus on having some sort of plan for challenges and at least allude to them, if not lay them out clearly before things get started."
Order drew his consealed dagger,
"And for the love of god, can we make the combat and interaction with NPCs interesting and fun?"

[loaf]

Order, I'm pretty sure we are talking about Story RPs, not the Battling ones.

[Hobaginator]

Order, I'm pretty sure we are talking about Story RPs, not the Battling ones.

Hobaginator pops up from behind the bar counter with a bottle of Jack Daniels.
"I'm not hearing any difference." He replied to Loaf, and proceeded to drink the entire contents of the bottle. "Besides, a story RP can turn into a battle RP in like one post, see watch--" Hobaginator smashed the bottle over a random patron's head and shrieked: "BAR FIGHT!" His victim collapsed in a bloody heap. Hobaginator shrugged. "See what I mean? Any bar scene in an RP has the opportunity to have a battle segment included, it's a rule you know. (Bars are the water coolers of TFF's RP; therefore I assume all dialogue takes place in one unless otherwise specified.) But my point is that anything can happen in a story, sure you could specify a 'type' but RP's tend to die due to lack of creative wiggle room just as well as no sense of direction. There's nothing wrong with sandbox RPs. Linear RPs usually take a lot more communication to keep moving otherwise they branch off into retarded step children of the original RP. It's all about knowing the style and feel, having a good group, communication and participation. All of these things will build interest. Gay characters kill RPs faster than anything -- and by gay, I mean homosexual. Who remembers Jet Pack Soldiers? Also characters who are generic and have no personality I.E. Kujaff9, xXSephiroth99196Xx, 247cloud247, etc... Dialogue with no point other than d*ck sucking, such as ['Hi Kuja!' Sephiroth said as he curtsied. Then they hugged.] Or pointless dialogue in general such as [Cloud walked in and sat on a bench. He looked around. 'Hi!' He said to whoever was standing in front of him.] You get the point. The reason RP is cool is because it takes a certain level of intelligence, talent and skill - just like all forms of art that aren't retarded." With that, Hobaginator collapsed on the floor in a drunken stupor.

[Enigma]

A strong RP community is something I've never managed to find unfortunately. Granted, I'm new here in terms of posts but I've been elsewhere and had this exact problem.

I honestly think that it may only take 1 great RP with the right mix of people to get things rolling again. When people see the success, it gives them the confidence to start their own and really gets creative juices flowing.

[DragonHeart]

The god modding rules about combat and such were added back when we had a lot of newbies who didn't understand how our system worked. I don't always follow those rules personally, but it really depends on who I'm writing with.

And most of my RPBs were more like RPs that just happened to have a lot of combat in them. I've always found RPBs to be more difficult to write well because of how hard it can be to form a cohesive story within the confines of a battlefield. I've had some good ones, though. Most of them probably don't exist anymore, sadly. Or are hidden, if the Clan/Forum War forums haven't been deleted yet.

I'd be happy to make time for an RP; I can always use the writing practice. Depending on who's still around we can either resurrect an older one or just do something new. Eve definitely didn't deserve such an early death, for example, I just don't know if Hyz is still around. Either way.

[cetra_aeris]

I agree that I miss the RPing base of TFF. I pop in here from time to time to just kinda peek around, but I don't really interact much anymore. Not that my little one is getting older though, I have more free time and I've felt to the urge to RP gain. I miss writing with several of you here. Though I could probably only join one RP and keep up with it decently, I would love to try and get one started. especially with some of us posting here.

I agree that the "ultimate evil/save the world" theme is getting a little old. Story line wise, something shorter and less long term might be good for starters. I know one of the things I hated when trying to RP was when people would just up and leave in the middle, when their post was crucial to what was going on. Yet, I can't complain too much because I know crap happens and I've done it a few times myself. <<;

When I first joined TFF I did alot of Final Fantasy based RP's, so I'd be cool with doing that again since I haven't in a while. However, I also strongly enjoy original Rp's and what not. They are a double-edged sword though, with being high in mystery and possibilties they can also be hard to keep up and quite a bit of work.

All said and done, I miss RPing here, alot of the members were always fun to RP. Though I agree with Andromada, some people would get a little too serious taking some of the fun out of it. So what we all need is a good rp, with a note so long term storyline that isn't too serious but with opurtunity for advancement. Right?

(I could possibly some up with something but before I even try, I wanna see how many might be on board. Perhaps a group collaboration would even be better to incorporate several ideas)

[Secret Weapon]

Probably people having lives or jobs could be the reason. I havent done many of them so I guess that would be something on my list to do know im back actively here.

[LocoColt04]

I'm reviving this thread because I was about to start a new one asking more or less the same thing.

I was having a bit of a conversation elsewhere and realized how much I miss writing interactively with you lot. I noticed a trend in a lot of these replies... everyone got to the point of lurking, so nobody posted. Nobody wanted to do something new because nobody posted. Nobody posted because nobody was trying something new.

I think if we can get all of the RP lurkers to lurk at the exact same time when somebody posts a new idea, it could be brilliant. I feel like a big part of why the RP community has died is because everyone is afraid of the exact same thing: starting something which can't even get off the ground.


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[loaf]

I still think about The Numbers and Divided. I loved those RPs so well, I had long stories for my characters and how they changed. I procrastinate or lose interest when I get home.

[LocoColt04]

That's a big part of my thing too. I hit that "veg out" phase and never really recover from it. But I don't want it to be like that any more. D:


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[Freya]

Actually, I miss the RPs as well, though I've only been active in one so far. But I realized a while ago that I'd like to start one. And then, when I sit down and try to create a setting and story... I don't want to anymore. Mostly because I fear that, as Loco said, nobody will be posting in the RP. (And also I haven't had a super-awesome idea yet.)

Maybe all the ones interested in reviving could sit down together (like in Skype or any other messenger) and discuss the idea of a new RP. Iiif we have about 2-3 people who will be leading the RP, there is a high chance that at least ONE of them will be motivated to write something every once in a while.

Anyone interested?

[LocoColt04]

Nah, I'm not interested in the slightest.

trollface.jpg

We should try to organize a Skype call for a revival. I don't even care if everyone involved is a good writer - if your IDEAS are good and you can successfully communicate them in your posts, bring it on.


» Sent via Tapatalk 2 on my Galaxy S2

[loaf]

I really want The Numbers to be revived lol. That's the main one I liked. I'm down for a Skype conference, has to be after 6pm PST tho on weekdays.

[Heartless Angel]

I'll join damn near anything anymore, all the places I RP are pretty much dead now. I need my fix.

[Yoko]

I'm down for a skype call, too. 6 pm PST would be 9 pm EST, which is doable for about an hour. Then I would have to pass out because I'm a party pooper.

As for where I spend my RP time. I RP on another forum. I mentioned what it was a few posts ago. I can barely work on that because of work and I'm sick at the moment. I was also a part of Divided, but lost all of my ideas.

[loaf]

I still have my Divided ideas, my characters development, and events that happen. I was actually thinking about it Friday at work.

[Aerif]

Freakin' time zones.

Ach well, if something significantly interested you nice people will let me know right? RPing makes up at least 50% of my post count here, and has probably had a profound effect on my career choices. Weird how you don't notice those things, right?

Brief post, because I shouldn't even be spending time on this with deadlines coming up in a matter of days.

[01habbo]

I hope you guys don't mind me giving my thoughts here, I don't really post on this forum much, but love roleplaying and writing. I have been interested for quite a while in starting up an RP here but been put off because; 1. My grammar is awful it doesn't matter how many times I check my posts I will always post up something full of mistakes, mostly silly typos. 2. Different forum, different rules, I've been a bit scared to even put up an idea I don't want it to conflict with this forum's rules but then again I don't want it to go into the informal roleplaying forum because of quality and quantity of posts, it's kinda silly to be scared but I always tend to be like this with a forum I don't normally post in. However, if no one minds I would like to post up my idea as a sign up thread and just see if there is interest, I can see there is a big gap for an RP to fit in this forum and if I can get a dead forum to RP then I can certainly have a crack in getting this forum to RP.

[Heartless Angel]

I still have my Divided brainstorming sheet saved as well.

[Hyzenthlay]

Loaf, I'm pretty sure that the Numbers won't be back. I haven't seen Fehrant around for quite a while and he was the only person who had any idea of what direction it was taking. In fact, I haven't even seen him online on MSN for well over a year.

As for my RP- Divided is a difficult one because although my heart truly wants to continue it I find it difficult to find time to write. I know I have the time. It's just a matter of using it when it's there and not procrastinating or deciding to take a break before I've even let my fingers hit keys. I'm really glad that you guys still think about it. I was reading it all just the other day. As always I'm open on solutions of how to get it going again. I should really just pull my finger out. God knows that I had a really good time writing it. everyone that took part was great and Lucid gave me some of the best content ideas I've ever had. Anyway, it is what it is.

I'm always lurking around anyway and I know that if I put my mind to it that the time is there for me to take, and use, on creating something with you guys. I spent like 20 hours last month playing Happy Wars and I hate that game, I only played it because I was trying to escape from doing any real work. I'm pretty tired of blaming a busy schedule on not writing more; especially when I used to live in the RP forum on here for nearly 6 years and never had a problem when juggling school and/ or jobs. I am busy, I do have a life outside of RPing but there is definitely space for it.

I'll commit to setting something up. I'm not sure about speech-Skype because my speakers are buggered but I'm open to try something. Maybe just type on skype like we all used to with MSN, I can do that.

EDIT:

I'm reviving this thread because I was about to start a new one asking more or less the same thing.

I was having a bit of a conversation elsewhere and realized how much I miss writing interactively with you lot. I noticed a trend in a lot of these replies... everyone got to the point of lurking, so nobody posted. Nobody wanted to do something new because nobody posted. Nobody posted because nobody was trying something new.

I think if we can get all of the RP lurkers to lurk at the exact same time when somebody posts a new idea, it could be brilliant. I feel like a big part of why the RP community has died is because everyone is afraid of the exact same thing: starting something which can't even get off the ground.

I completely agree with your logic, sir.
Hyz.

[Andromeda]

I haven't RP'd in a while with no real concrete reason. The last one I was doing was the one Dragonheart started up and I liked it, but then I got to a point I didn't know how I wanted to respond and kept delaying things. Got to a point where I forgot about needed to come up with an answer. I clearly still write, so I don't know why I haven't put some time into RP'ing still. Probably part of it is that all of people I enjoyed playing with no longer participate either. I also stopped making my own because I'm pretty sure mine end up driving away people.

I miss having the TFF Royalty around, though it was difficult to maintain people's interest. Which happens to be the biggest killer for people. They lose interest after the first couple of posts.

[Odin1199]

Mainly, it's because people don't know the boundaries. If one made clear what they can RP about and what scenarios, boundaries they could revolve around, people would have a better idea and would be more confident.

[Andromeda]

The idea of RPing is that there are no boundaries. I'm not restricting anyone from doing anything. So there should not be a feeling of "I don't know if this is fine". Everything is welcome. I don't say what you can and can't RP because its not my place to tell you what you can RP about.