TFF and Roleplaying

[Xithor]

I'd be happy to assist in a revival of RPing in the forums. I'm studying for an August MCAT this summer but that's only like 3 hours of my days and I'm usually still coming onto TFF every few hours just to check for new developments in threads. I'd love to get back into role playing, it was fun when I used to do it and I enjoyed it.

[Meier Link]

Yeah I know and have seen what you are talking about more times then not here at TFF and at other places. It is a shame. Then again one good completed story is worth 100 that never get more then a page in. I have seen that here also in very rare situtions.

Sucks and I guess it is an inevitable fact. Still if the forum did pick back up I would like to try my hand at it. Never been to much in to doing it until I came here and read through some of the more serious RPs and talked to soem of the more serious RPers. Most of the forums I have been a part of in the past had very limited RPs/RPBs and their RPers were novice compaired to some of wha I have seen here haha.

[Andromeda]

Well if you want there is the Tournament of Heroes. I have been wanting to make another go at it, but time's been a bit of a factor among the increasingly declining RP population. I was going to be revising the rules to take in to account what happened the last time, but it never really materialized.

If you can get some people up for that and to actually be active which was the other problem. The activity dropped off faster than a lead weight over a cliff. >.> I had to actually cancel it because I think Dragonheart was the only one still going or something.

TOH is a safe environment to start off in where completion is only a few posts away. Though I think that matter was a little lost on people. People are used to long term RPing, that a RP that only lasts for 10-15 posts is a little foreign to them. So I think it was a little difficult for people to actually understand. That and they had to re-introduce every new round, which was unnecessary. But it is all habits dropped into people from years of RPing here.

We don't even do TOA anymore, but Loco generally ran that one.

[Imposter]

To your credit Andro the TOH and it's short completion should actually promote people to put more into their posts.

It is true though that commitment is always going to be a very hard thing to encourage in the rp forum. I mean it's the internet and there isn't really anything keepin' someone posting.

I would agree that if the rp forum did start to pick up it would bring some interest to lurkers like me.

[Andromeda]

Yeah, I was going to say where you've been Atma. Used to see you around RP Forums a pretty fair amount and even in a few of my RPs as well. It makes me wonder how many lurker RPers are around here. If all you lurker RPers came out of hiding and took place I'd imagine the population would probably double. ^^

Heck, another thing you can do is start up a RP Club in the Club Forums. We've had plenty over the years. And they have always been a good source of RPing, that and fan club RPs (though I think I already mentioned that before).

I almost want to just put up a register for all of the RPers just to see how many we actually have out there. You can put down your RPs, preferences, experience and availability or something. Make yourself known to people and they might come calling to invite you. The RPB Forum does have a register, though it made a little more sense for them since it was for characters and not the actual RPBer.

It might actually shed some light on the actual population size.

[Aerif]

The 'Spotlight Theatre' used to be the only place on TFF that I actually actively posted in. Which is probably why I'm so lurky nowadays.

The TOH was a good idea but it had too man people who just weren't committed, as I remember there was no need for judging the first round as only half or less of the entrants actually made a post, meaning that everyone was advanced to the final round.

I've had a few ideas for RPs for a while but didn't post them since there was a very good chance that would likely never reach a 10th post what with the activity in the forum.

I noticed from this thread that people liked open RPs, but the very definition of that makes it a little hard to employ. Open RPs based on exisiting media are easy since everybody will probably know the world where the RP takes place, so there won't be any large discrepencies between the creator's view of the world and some of the actual posts made. Though obviously this is a problem for people like Andro who prefer original-world RPs.

I like the idea of an RPers register, although there would be the same problem that every list on TFF has, how to keep it up-to-date. You'd probably need some strict-ish rules on the register to keep it accurate or else you mind find that half the people on the list don't even visit TFF anymore, this wouldn't happen right away but it likely will happen at some point.

[Magi of Worlds]

Thank you for your input everybody! I really appreciate it! I just wish the rest of the population here were as die hard about RPing as we are! Oh well, you win some and you lose some! Speaking of an RP only group, I've made one! Its called Roleplayers of TFF so join today if you love RPing!

[Imposter]

Isn't it funny how any talk of rping brings us lurkers back into it Aerif?

I have to agree with Aerif on the idea of pre existing worlds. I mean it is easier when people have the same idea of a world because the picture of it has already been in the mind of each person. Although I do not especially like characters that have already been created. Actually thinking back I think of two roleplays that I've been in that made it a decent stretch in activity were both roleplays revolved around Final Fantasy.

My thoughts on a registry are mixed though. I mean knowing how many rpers are still around would be kinda nice and it might promote some activity but it kinda feel that it'll cause a serious rift in certain people joining roleplays. Those that are more experienced will get all the invites and leave those that aren't in the dust, I'm not even sure if there a new members posting there but it could happen right?

[Andromeda]

The most experienced RPers might get the most invites, but I think that the most experience RPers also tend to be selective with the RPs that they join as well. So even if they get an invite they may not accept it. The younger and less experienced RPers tend to jump on everything because they still have that burning passion to just go out and do everything. I had that once. ^^; Now I'm old and tired. >.>

But seriously, it could also open up doors for people. If you find someone of like interests on the list that can be a good thing. Or something that normally gets ignored now it featured with the accessibility of everyone else. It may even show everyone that RPing is not so much dead. That we actually could have a lot of people, they're just not present. Who really knows.

Like I said it's a thought that I had while posting here. One which I may end up doing even more so in light of some potential plans I have for the RP Forums.

[Unknown Entity]

I'm happy to assist too. I have no solid plans this summer just yet, and nothing else going on, and I'm always logged in here, so I might as well. ^^;

I have to agree with Aerif on the idea of pre existing worlds. I mean it is easier when people have the same idea of a world because the picture of it has already been in the mind of each person.

Pre-existing worlds are good like that. I remember reading an RP somewhere set in the Elder Scrolls world, which was interesting, and from the pages I read, followed names of people/towns/cities/places/etc very well. However, I guess with RPs like that, you'd need to have some sort of knowledge of the world anyway - to a person new to the world, it may as well be an original.

Original ones are alright too. It's nice to see some creativity. However, with those, I like to see a more... free RP. That doesn't involve God modes. Ugh.

Also, seeing as we're on the subject of RPing... what happened to the TOA? I must have been somewhere or something since the '08 one... that was fun. ^^;

[Andromeda]

Loco can provide his reasoning, since he has been running TOA for a while. But I think the reason was that the last TOA ended up collapsing under zero activity about halfway through the tournament. So I think Loco took it as a sign that the interest was not there anymore. So he has not been holding them anymore.

I'm pretty sure the original RPs don't have god modding going on. If they do it needs to be reported, but god modding should not be happening. Though do understand that god modding has a different definition in the RP Forums when compared to the RPB Forum's definition of the same word.

[Victoria]

Well actually they're two different things.

RPing = God Modding
RPBing = God Moding

They sound really similar, but they're really different.

But that's besides the point. =D!

I'm here to help with the regeneration of RPing! =D

[Merlin]

The problem with a registry is the same problem as other sign-up sheets. Lot's of people sign up but hardly anyone shows up. If you want a registry of people, they need to be dropped if they are inactive after so long. Perhaps not delete their post, but at least mark it in big red letters "INACTIVE" or something.

[Andromeda]

This is true Merlin. Though the registry is meant more to just be a listing of the RPers. I could probably work in something that is not as detracting as inactive. Saying inactive is accurate, but part of the hope is that those inactive people may get poked or called or something changing their inactive to active. But I would imagine if someone just saw inactive they more often than not would just end up ignoring them. And getting ignored is not really helping them.

It's an idea so it is completely open to suggestions on how to present it.

[Merlin]

How about "probably won't last 3 posts". Oh sorry, I guess that isn't too helpful. But it is accurate.

I might focus on creating a story thread before I move into RPing again. I haven't been writing in ages.

[DragonHeart]

Just musing a bit here, but do you think another part of the problem could be the RP forum's traditional bias towards fantasy RPing? Fantasy is rather niche even if some forms of it (movies, mainly) have gone mainstream. Perhaps if we had a wider assortment of genres there would be more people interested in joining in.

~DragonHeart~

[Merlin]

I should start up the murder/mystery one I created ages ago. People seemed interested in it. I think it was for a tourney or something? I don't recall.

But yeah, trying to make everything sci-fi / fantasy is a bit limiting of the scope.

[Magi of Worlds]

I kind of agree with the registry idea Andromeda has put forward. It sounds like a good way to get people who are normally inactive or those that just cruise through the sites to get involved. And here is my opinion on DragonHeart's response. Isn't it our (the members of TFF) responsibility to make different genre's of RP's? Let's start a Revolution in RPing people!

[Andromeda]

Well I think some of that comes from the RPers who actually take part in the forum. I do think it is true to an extent that the RP Forum is viewed as a fantasy centered area, a stigma that I've tried repeatedly to prove false. Unfortunately, all of my personal attempts to do something different outside of fantasy have generally collapsed quickly.

I mean I even tried to get you, Dragonheart, into one of the sci-fi RPs I was doing that had fantasy elements as well, but you said you were more or less uncomfortable with doing sci-fi RPs despite my own encouragement that you didn't need that much sci-fi familiarity. So I think it is on part of the RPers as well to try new things.

It was one of the reasons why I really enjoyed the stuff that Strong Bad did back a few years ago with his comedy RPs. They were silly and out of box unique and helped to prove you could do something else that wasn't fantasy.

I tried to run a murder mystery a few years back set as a bit of a period piece on a train. I even ran a more supernatural one set in modern times.

It is another reason I sponsor the TFF Ball, to show people you can RP and have fun with something that isn't fantasy. People seem to enjoy themselves as well. It tends to draw a pretty good crowd of people.

[DragonHeart]

Well Magi, I believe part of the problem with that has always been that the most active RPers are also most dedicated to fantasy writing, myself included. I'm willing to branch out though; I've been starting to do so in my reading, might as well give it a go with my writing too.

I had an idea for a non-fantasy RP some years ago as well, it was futuristic but not science fiction really, since the setting was an actual concept design I saw on the Discovery channel. I suppose I can try and track down my original source, see if I can work it out more. It would have been more of a thriller type thing, if I recall correctly.

ETA: Yes Andro, I remember that as well. I was not very confident with my writing outside of fantasy; part of being a perfectionist. Having some minor publishing success has changed my views on it quite a bit, though. One doesn't have to be perfect so long as you tell a good story. Now that I realize that, well, I'm ready to try again.

~DragonHeart~

[Magi of Worlds]

Sounds interesting DragonHeart. Let me know when you do get that thing set up, I might just join it if it looks interesting enough for me!

[SOLDIER #819]

We've had a no asterisks rule since before I joined. Asterisks work out for chatrooms and things, but all it is just shorthand. When you have time to write out something without being pressed for time, like in a chatroom, you can take the time to give a well thought out action.

I'm sure a lot of people view forums as just a chatroom... I don't really disagree with them either. The more active forums are usually dominated by short posts no longer than a paragraph. People don't want to take more than 2 or 3 minutes per post, and between planning your action and typing out a fleshed out paragraph or two you're looking at a longer time span. It ends up becoming a time-consuming commitment fast, especially when you're younger and your comp time is limited.

Super short posts, asterisks, and other forms of short hand may not have the quality most regulars here are looking for, but it certainly doesn't hurt activity. If people feel so strongly about quality control they should just make them private... which they do. Though I'm not sure why given how small the pool of RPers is here.

[loaf]

Then how about 2 RP boards, one for people using Asterisks and one where you don't.

[Victoria]

That actually sounds plausible.

A Basic RP forum for asterisks and short RPs and whatnot.
And then an Advanced RP forum for the RPs we all know and love.

[SOLDIER #819]

We only have like two or three active RPs right now so dividing everything seems like overkill. Those that come along and RP with short hand or whatever won't even bother to make the distinction, so there's no need to make it any more confusing than necessary. Why not just use the same forum and have people mark the RPs with something like *PRIVATE* or *READ GUIDELINES FIRST* like always.

... That way every RP will be forced to use asterisks in one way or another.

If it ever got to the point where we had to divide the forums to reduce clutter... that'd be a day worth celebrating. It just doesn't seem like the right time. But if it allows asterisks in some form, then by all means.

Edit: I'd make the two Tournament and Factions forums invisible. Maybe move Spotlight Theatre up past the Reviews section... It's so low. And hey, why not merge it with Auditorium. But I'm getting off-topic.

[Storm]

Oh yes, I would love to RP again sometime soon, and like others before me have said, the lack or RP activity is one of the reasons why I am little more of a lurker these days.

I'm not a fan of asterisks and 1-sentance RP posts, but unfortunatly there are a number of people who can barely string a sentance together who wish to RP. I do like the idea of having a seperate forum/sub-forum for these kinds of RPs, so they will not annoy people who like to write paragraphs, yet will still (possibly) breathe some activity into the RP forum. Hey ho, who knows, maybe these people will develop into proper RPers.

I've been thinking of making an RP thread for a while, but my ideas are either unoriginal or I can't quite build on them enough to feel comfotable with. There are also the ideas I want to keep exclusively to writing novels. I'm also not much or a Roleplay leader, more of a contributor.

It really is nice to see that there is still a keen interest in Roleplaying!

[Heartless Angel]

I recently encountered a similar death of Roleplaying on my own forum. I have made many attempts at reversing the disaster, which may be of some help here. First of all, advertisement. When i make a new on, I put a link in my signature telling people it exists and to check it out. Half of our problem there was, that nobody ever looked to see what was there. Also, I started writing my RPs with other people, working with someone else ensured I'd at least have one person interested in the game, and I can get one going, or keep one alive with just two people. Auhtority figures endorsing RPs seemed to help alot too, 3/5 of my mods there became fairly active RPers, and the legions of noobs trying to kiss ass follwoed them... not that that's anything new, but I found a way to make it work to our advantage for a change <.< But really, the main thing was just getting word out that new RPs existed; asking a few friends to participate, just to get one going, alot of people who never really showed interest suddenly discovered they enjoyed RPing, and a few even started making their own. Don't know if this would work here, but can't hurt to try.

[Andromeda]

There's a lot of ideas being thrown out. I'll be trying to take as many of them back to Loco as I can to discuss on some things to do. I am currently waiting to hear back from him after about a week of silence from him, which is unfortunately normal. I will be trying to act on what I can do myself as I evaluate the merits of each.

I encourage you to keep throwing out suggestions. They may not all work out, but the more ideas the better off we'll be in the long run with options. Better to have too many options than not enough.

[Magi of Worlds]

I encourage you to keep throwing out suggestions. They may not all work out, but the more ideas the better off we'll be in the long run with options. Better to have too many options than not enough.

Exactly. Keep throwing your ideas out there people. I especially like Loaf and Heartless Angel's ideas. Two different areas for RP's sounds good and so does having Mod's participate more often.

[Andromeda]

Well I already do participate in the forum and so does Shadow when I twist his arm. ^^; The rest take part during the TFF Ball I know, or a fair amount do. I think the only ones that haven't really is Dawezy and Cain. I know that Violet RPs elsewhere, but I don't think I've seen her actually RP here outside of the Ball, though it may have just been a while since she has. I believe the same is the case for Shadow who RPs somewhere else, which certainly isn't suited to what we do. ^^; Shadow knows what I'm talking about and we'll just leave it at that.

It would certainly be nice to see the other mods taking part. Though there is something to be cautious about if there are follower types hanging around that you want to draw in. One of the problems that faced Forum Wars and Clan Wars was that it was seen by the people on the outside as a status symbol. Sure they got a lot of members to join, but they did nothing. They just wanted to be able to put in their signatures that they were a member. So you do have to be careful about you are trying to attract and if you're getting them for the wrong reasons.