Random Topic V3

[The Kingpin]

Recommendations are always welcome, you know. Just because there isn't anything currently that interests you, doesn't mean you can't change that.

[Godzilla Forever]

*washes up dead to the random topic*

[The Kingpin]

Normally I would smack you for that, but at this point, I don't really see the point in it.

Also, you do NOT have my permission to die. Not yet.

[Iceking]

Been a bit busy with my living skills program. I can at least find time to get on after classes wrap up for the day and on weekends.

[Pyronychus]

On a completely random note though, where is everyone?

I'm still alive and usually check in once a day or so. Not that it makes much difference though, at my current posting rate of 2 to 3 per decade. XP

[Doc 42]

Bit o exams, bit o side projects, but mainly lots of vidya. Hard to beat the quick n easy fix that games provide. RPGs and E-wars still hold a place in my heart however they are stifled by lack of motivation. I find RPing is best done in bursts of activity. A little bubble of action and drama. Unfortunately, most RPGs and e-wars also require a degree of constant activity to give context to those action bubbles. I find this approach is isolating and boring.

In this Sites better moments, these bubbles of activity were frequent and often occurred over extended periods. They were fun and acted as rallying points for less commited players who often flocked to them to get in on the action. This is good, as it sets the stage for several different bubbles to rise of what was just one

For example, take group of characters who come together during one action bubble, and later, two of them become involved in a dispute, separate from the rest of the group. These two characters then draw in more activity from others outside the original group.

The great part is you don't need the whole group involved, the other players who are taking it easy can exist passively in the background, because the action bubble that originally brought them together is essentially over, they are just assumed to be present even with sparse activity. If they are not the focus of events they are not mentioned, just as how in a book, you don't hear every single person's story being told simultaneously, only the hero.

Rping is not hard. We are all good writers, when something occurs, we can often quickly decide exactly how our own characters will react, and then act that out relatively quickly. On the other hand, building up a character devoid of interaction is tiresome and feels more like work. RPGs should be about drama, action and laughs, and for that you need people to interact with.

That's not to say things were perfect previously, we had a lot of trouble from those 'action bubbles' which resulted in them being much less effective. Primarily, was a lack of tact on the part of the players attempting to enter a bubble in progress. People coming up with completely contrived and often stupid reasons to involve themselves. It was never annoying to have more people to RP with, however it was very frustrating when people just barged in nonsensically. The problem is easily rectified however, by taking care to plan your entrances well, or by simply PMing the other players and saying you want in but aren't really sure how to go it, so they can make it easier, for example with a change of location.

I really didn't mean to carry on with a wall of text, but I honestly miss RPing. There were lots of fun times and truly impressive events, and I think with a more laid back attitude and more interaction between players, we could get some fun stuff going here. We're creative people, generating ideas is not difficult for us. However, time and much more commonly, motivation, are issues.

I think most of us can agree that a quick, light hearted fight with someone else's character over a day or two sounds much more appealing than trying to build filler for a grand plot that's been going on for months with no progress.

[The Kingpin]

Agreed. Sums up my thoughts on things precisely, to be honest. I mean, the RPGs are still here, the potential is still there. Only thing missing is the actual interaction, or motivation to do so. Perhaps people think that they simply HAVE to have grand backstories and winding plots and character history to be able to join in on anything, or perhaps they just feel it may be too much work, for one reason or another.


Regarding the context, sure, for the core characters of a certain action bubble, to quote the phrase, perhaps they would have to have context [in order to initiate the bubble in the first place], though IMO that doesn't mean that people can't 'encounter' the situation as a random bystander or passer-by, and subsequently get drawn into it. That was how a lot of these situations worked out in the past. they could then, as you said, spark activity in the form of follow up activities and interactions between characters involved in those situations, even if said activities are completely unrelated to the action 'bubble' that brought them together in the first place.


It's a shame motivation's dropped lately. I think that's more or less the only problem [well, aside from time, obviously]. The RPGs themselves are still active and open as they ever have been, and the potential for creativity is still there. It's just a case of time, and motivation. I'm still just as motivated to it as I've always been, and will probably stay that way for quite a while [It's reached a point where I have trouble imagining how I managed to last all those years prior to starting the site. The pleasure gained out of writing these stories and creating these characters is a motivator in itself, for me]


On a semi-related note, I may well copy paste your post and put it in Site Stuff, because you have quite honestly hit the nail on the head. That is the foundation of RPing right there, summed up clearly and neatly

[Doc 42]

Motivation's dropped just because the RPGs don't offer enough. Takes too much work for too little reward. I miss just hopping into GEW and picking fights with people only to have them escalate into massive 5 way brawls

[The Kingpin]

Mm. Well, honestly, I would be willing to accept advice, requests and opinions on what people would want to improve the RPGs. Problem is no one does, and I can only do so much on my own

As for GEW, that technically could still happen. Problem is there aren't enough participants.

[Giratina93]

That is... very insightful. As KP already said, a clear and concise summation of what RPing is all about. Yes, the lack of motivation has struck me as well (That, and job hunting has just started for me, so it's only going to get worse on my part.) but I do keep envisioning and planning out more things for plots. I want to make good characters, to improve my skills, and to create an intricate plot... but I just can't bring myself to do that.

As for GEW, yeah, all that's needed to rectify that problem is more participants...

[Turbo Tyrannophonic]

Gentlemen...how do we fix ISS?

Because it really needs fixing.

[Pyronychus]

Lately I've been thinking up ideas for a silly comic involving budgies fighting a war, but the longer I think and the more complicated the ideas become, the less motivation I have to make it happen because it feels like it'll turn into work. The same goes for a bunch of recent ideas for RPGs, only one of which is actually semi-happening, (and I'm glad it is.)

Maybe if I didn't feel like the RPGs were too complex for the level of ideas in my head, I (and maybe others too) would have an easier time jumping in and staying there longer.

I dunno. Maybe I'm not helping.... >_>

[Turbo Tyrannophonic]

RPGs and E-wars are as complex as you want them to be, basically.

I mean, there are people who just go around killing **** and that's all. Granted, it isn't exactly smiled upon in the more story-based RPGs, but such a basic existence is usually allowed.

And then there are people like me who enjoy weaving a tale so complicated that even I get confused.

So yeah do whatever the hell you want in that regard.

[The Kingpin]

What the dog said.

[Doc 42]

I agree with Pyro to a point. However, as the dog and KP have said, it isn't really mandatory, its not something built into the RPG, its just a result of how RPing is done on this site. The way it's almost always been done;
You make a character,
You have some introductory posts, fleshing them out a bit
You do some backstory stuff with them, maybe even a personal plot for yourself, and hope others might join in as you go.
Then once you've got your character established, you're have them interact with other players.

Yet it happens me almost every time, that I think I can get all that done in the first week or so if making a new character, but time and time again, I just lose motivation to actually do it. I know what I WANT to happen, but getting there just feels like work. Hell, there just isn't any motivation. Nothing good comes from all that stuff, very few care about it, including yourself.

Solo introspective posts are good every now and again, but the bread and butter of RPGs is and always has been interaction. It gets very tiresome to try move something as contrived as a solo, character development plot along.

I think we need to change this formula, into one that focuses on getting into the action as quick as possible. You either make a character, or have one doing nothing, you find some activity your interested in, then you just take part in it. Even something as simple as having your character approach another and talk about the damned weather.
That stuff motivates itself, because all of a sudden, anything goes. Because of the random element introduced by the others, you don't know exactly how things will work out. You can try guide it in a certain direction, but ultimately, its up to fate. There is what encourages you to post, the desire to see what happens, like reading a book.

Reading a book is a good example to use as well, because often those posts require very little planning and thought by us. We KNOW our characters, we automatically step into their shoes, and as we read something, we already know how the character will react and we just do it, it comes naturally, as easy as reading to some of us.

That's largely how old ISS worked. People just interacted constantly. When there was lots of activity, it was fun and things got done, then where there was a lull in stuff to do, things relaxed until someones arrival or departure would inevitably lead to other things changing too and more activity beginning.

A lot of it was simply throwing people together into a melting pot and watching with glee as the drama unfolds.

[Turbo Tyrannophonic]

Clearly we just need to organize a knitting activity group in ISS.

Surely Crusher and Thrasher can put aside their differences twice a week to come together and make a sweater with the rest of the island.

[The Kingpin]

They'd have an argument on the length of the sleeves though.


But yeah, I completely agree with Doc on this point. By now I have probably begun to sound like a broken record [Just think, give it another decade or two and that phrase will probably not be recognised by the majority of the world population ] on the topic of interaction. It is the core of any RPG. Without interaction, it ceases to be entertaining, because you step out of the random, variable world and into the controlled, invariable one. And that's when the boredom starts. I still laugh when I think back to the utter madness that went on during the infamous ISS Group [aka, Darkness, Sandstorm, Steeltalon, Blade, Silver and Switchblade, with a few less permanent characters like Thorn and Redtooth, and briefly, Crusher]. Or the fiasco between Darkness, Scar, SharpClaw, Exile and Crusher. Or the Power Rangers [Clawfist, Softfoot, Sandstorm, Quicktooth, Darkfang and Shadowleaf]

[Turbo Tyrannophonic]

Power ranger raptors copyright @ me.

Gibbe mone ple-azi.

[Pyronychus]

Power Rangers? Lol. Don't think I was around to see them. Were they early on in ISS or did I just miss them somehow?

[Doc 42]

Power Rangers? Lol. Don't think I was around to see them. Were they early on in ISS or did I just miss them somehow?

They were the characters I entered the RPG with, a small tight knit pack of rather violent raptors, the dog dubbed them the power rangers, because they were fairly eccentric and tended to use ridiculous and impractical schemes and tactics. They were pretty cool though. Steeltalon was rolling with them for a short while, while she was still batshit crazy and borderline suicidal, as a result of Riptide. She fitted right in. lol

They broke up and disappeared for a while (I went on holiday) but then trickled back, starting with Sandstorm finding and joining up with Steeltalon and Darkness.
Most of them gradually died off, but you were definitely around for some of that. Clawfist harassed the group briefly and was killed in a fight. IIRC, he killed Shadowleaf (Sandstorms mate) while he was at it. Sandstorm and Softfoot both survived the RPG, settling contently in New York.