Experiences God save the fantasy section.

This certain type of roleplay is popular because it's easy to manipulate. A lot of teenagers (AND people of other ages on the site) enjoy the setting because it's an environment they can relate to. Making a thread to bash a type of roleplay people enjoy does not make your roleplay or your roleplaying style any better. I understand that it can be annoying if no ones paying attention to your roleplay, and it's completely fine if you don't like that type of roleplay, but to make a thread making fun or putting down the whole thing to boost your confidence about your roleplay isn't very tasteful.

If a discussion like this continues, this thread may be locked. I would suggest talking about what roleplays you want to see more of rather then what's happening right now.
 
This certain type of roleplay is popular because it's easy to manipulate. A lot of teenagers (AND people of other ages on the site) enjoy the setting because it's an environment they can relate to. Making a thread to bash a type of roleplay people enjoy does not make your roleplay or your roleplaying style any better. I understand that it can be annoying if no ones paying attention to your roleplay, and it's completely fine if you don't like that type of roleplay, but to make a thread making fun or putting down the whole thing to boost your confidence about your roleplay isn't very tasteful.

If a discussion like this continues, this thread may be locked. I would suggest talking about what roleplays you want to see more of rather then what's happening right now.

I would debate that this discussion is completely irrelevant to your points in favor of shutting down this topic. First of all, this thread is entirely made up of a group of people who chose to participate in a discussion about current trends in the roleplay community, no one was forced to join this thread to discuss this topic, and none of the content is affecting the outside community except as a discussion forum for those who are discontented with the current norms. While it may be considered "bashing" a genre, no one has been specifically called out and no harm has been done to any person, inside or outside of this thread. It is not a discussion to put down a setting for the sake of making their own setting more appealing, we've already established that those individuals on this thread simply prefer roleplays that are not centered around a certain setting and are discussing alternatives that could be made that are appealing and wholesome to the community that desires some more variety in their roleplay options.

No offense to you as a moderator or an individual, but taking the information on your profile into account, it seems you view this thread as a personal attack on a setting you would enjoy. My advice would be simply to walk away and ignore this if it upsets you, the least tasteful thing by far on this thread is having a moderator step in and decide what opinions are allowed to be discussed on a site where diversity and creativity are meant to be encouraged. I would believe that as long as no direct harm is coming to the type of roleplays we are discussing, this is a perfectly viable conversation to have among players who are observing what is popular to the community but not necessarily appealing to us as individuals.

If the title of this thread was "Is anyone interested in fantasy that does not involve a school or academy setting?", the exact same conversation could take place and there would be no problems. There are multiple threads across the entire site making fun and outright slamming of various media, trends, personal and political views, and they continue to do so unhindered. I would think that a thread which is actually discussing content relevant to the site and its community would have more place among its discussions rather than be forbidden. I ask you to look introspectively and see if the problem is actually in this thread, or if it's in your own views on the topic, in which case I ask you as an unbiased site moderator if it is truly as harmful as you see or if that is your own opinion taking precedence over your duties to the site as a whole.

I rest my case.

Edit: I will agree that a more positive tone would be appropriate, all of my contributions to this discussion have been aimed towards adding content that fills the desired setting, but my ultimate case is that as long as this discussion is not directly detracting from the settings which are being discussed, there is ultimately no harm in showing disapproval with a setting that is not as desirable to some as to others.
 
I would debate that this discussion is completely irrelevant to your points in favor of shutting down this topic. First of all, this thread is entirely made up of a group of people who chose to participate in a discussion about current trends in the roleplay community, no one was forced to join this thread to discuss this topic, and none of the content is affecting the outside community except as a discussion forum for those who are discontented with the current norms. While it may be considered "bashing" a genre, no one has been specifically called out and no harm has been done to any person, inside or outside of this thread. It is not a discussion to put down a setting for the sake of making their own setting more appealing, we've already established that those individuals on this thread simply prefer roleplays that are not centered around a certain setting and are discussing alternatives that could be made that are appealing and wholesome to the community that desires some more variety in their roleplay options.

No offense to you as a moderator or an individual, but taking the information on your profile into account, it seems you view this thread as a personal attack on a setting you would enjoy. My advice would be simply to walk away and ignore this if it upsets you, the least tasteful thing by far on this thread is having a moderator step in and decide what opinions are allowed to be discussed on a site where diversity and creativity are meant to be encouraged. I would believe that as long as no direct harm is coming to the type of roleplays we are discussing, this is a perfectly viable conversation to have among players who are observing what is popular to the community but not necessarily appealing to us as individuals.

If the title of this thread was "Is anyone interested in fantasy that does not involve a school or academy setting?", the exact same conversation could take place and there would be no problems. There are multiple threads across the entire site making fun and outright slamming of various media, trends, personal and political views, and they continue to do so unhindered. I would think that a thread which is actually discussing content relevant to the site and its community would have more place among its discussions rather than be forbidden. I ask you to look introspectively and see if the problem is actually in this thread, or if it's in your own views on the topic, in which case I ask you as an unbiased site moderator if it is truly as harmful as you see or if that is your own opinion taking precedence over your duties to the site as a whole.

I rest my case.

Edit: I will agree that a more positive tone would be appropriate, all of my contributions to this discussion have been aimed towards adding content that fills the desired setting, but my ultimate case is that as long as this discussion is not directly detracting from the settings which are being discussed, there is ultimately no harm in showing disapproval with a setting that is not as desirable to some as to others.
I apologize for the misunderstanding, I didn't choose my words carefully enough. What I was trying to get across in my post was that linking specific roleplays and then starting a discussion on why that certain roleplay is bad compared to others is not okay. Talking about what you like and don't like is completely fine here- but targeting and linking roleplays is not. I don't enjoy fantasy highschool roleplays myself anyways, and in no way I felt this as a personal attack to anything I would do. As a moderator I have to take aside my personal feelings and detach myself from the situation to show indifference and handle the situation maturely.

For instance, a "Worst Roleplay Experiences" thread is fine as long as it doesn't call out users or roleplays directly. As a staff team we try to avoid censorship of opinions, because as you said, it's a creative platform where people can share their ideas and improve their writing styles with other users. I was trying to clear things up a bit and move the topic in a more positive environment because the original discussion went a bit too far.
 
I heard somethin' about a separate genre for academy roleplays, and that sounded like cool beans to me. :coolshades:
I don't know if ye want to do anything with that or not, but ye.
 
because it's an environment they can relate to
Actually, I never understood this.

I thought you youngsters hated school, but now you want to roleplay it. My 21-year old brain cannot comprehend this revolting cultural trend.
 
Mostly because they're in highschool currently (:
Yeah, nothing like a depressing stage of life that causes a large part of suicides and generates more angst than God's Omniscient mind can comprehend.

Not only do you have to live through it! Now you can roleplay it to double the angst!

(I'm just being satirical, no offense. Don't kill me XD)
 
Actually, I never understood this.

I thought you youngsters hated school, but now you want to roleplay it. My 21-year old brain cannot comprehend this revolting cultural trend.

I think the idea of high school is more appealing than the actual thing. Or rather, it cuts out all the boring work that's associated with high school and only focuses on social drama or the more interesting aspects. I personally was not a fan of high school though, so even with more fantastical elements it's not my go to genre. I do see the appeal for other people when I break it down into the components of the rps themselves though (heavy social interaction, easy to set up and integrate new players, easy to force characters together who have different motivations, etc).
 
Actually, I never understood this.

I thought you youngsters hated school, but now you want to roleplay it. My 21-year old brain cannot comprehend this revolting cultural trend.

It might be more of the setting and social environment that school offers that they're mainly interested in (at least, I'd hope so). You can never quite get that many people you know and are able to talk to under the same roof at any other point in life. If they're roleplaying out mainly classes, though, any rp's doing this are bound to fail.

Classes should be skipped altogether (with the exception of a P.E. class if something exciting's going on in there), and you should probably be focusing more on after-school interactions. Better yet, you can add a supernatural element that has nothing to do with school in general that really drives the plot along.

Take Persona 3, for example. Half of the time, you're battling Shadows in Tartarus at night with your classmates. The other half has a setting at your character's new high school, but classes are far from the main focus. Most lectures are skipped altogether, and the ones that aren't are taught by professors with...interesting things to say, are pretty short, and help increase Charm and Academics (two stats that make you able to interact with more people as they increase). For the most part during school life, you're dead-set on increasing the level of your Social Links (your bonds with other people), putting the focus on interactions and stuff after school. Furthermore, these interactions come into play during your outtings to Tartarus: the stronger the bonds with other people, the stronger the monsters you can summon.
 
I apologize for the misunderstanding, I didn't choose my words carefully enough. What I was trying to get across in my post was that linking specific roleplays and then starting a discussion on why that certain roleplay is bad compared to others is not okay. Talking about what you like and don't like is completely fine here- but targeting and linking roleplays is not. I don't enjoy fantasy highschool roleplays myself anyways, and in no way I felt this as a personal attack to anything I would do. As a moderator I have to take aside my personal feelings and detach myself from the situation to show indifference and handle the situation maturely.

For instance, a "Worst Roleplay Experiences" thread is fine as long as it doesn't call out users or roleplays directly. As a staff team we try to avoid censorship of opinions, because as you said, it's a creative platform where people can share their ideas and improve their writing styles with other users. I was trying to clear things up a bit and move the topic in a more positive environment because the original discussion went a bit too far.

Apology accepted, I also apologize for assuming you took it as a personal attack. I agree that the original content was negative and downplayed a setting that other players enjoyed, but other members had stepped up and talked about improving the environment we were discussing, rather than simply turning it into a bash fest. Thank you for taking the time and effort to explain yourself and the views of the staff in a clear and open manner, I appreciate what you must go through to keep all sides from tearing each other apart without stepping on anyone's toes. As long as the brush is broad and no one is specifically being attacked, I see no problem with differences in opinion, but as you said, when people and their content are being directly targeted, that is where the line is drawn.

Actually, I never understood this.

I thought you youngsters hated school, but now you want to roleplay it. My 21-year old brain cannot comprehend this revolting cultural trend.

To an extent, I can see wanting to play variations of academy or school settings. Fantasy universities and uncommon studies allow someone currently in that position, a student in reality, to explore a world they are currently a part of differently, maybe they hate their current school life, but love the idea of having an alternative they would enjoy, which is why series such as Harry Potter are so immensely popular. I think where this discussion got off track was the original premise. It is not the quality of school roleplays that is the problem, there are very many that are very good, some of my own first experiences on this site were in a fantasy academy setting, I even created my own that was rather intricate and detailed if I may say so. I think the complaint of this thread is rather the quantity of them, and how they tend to be so popular that they choke out the more detailed stories that require more effort and dedication to maintain.
 
It might be more of the setting and social environment that school offers that they're mainly interested in (at least, I'd hope so). You can never quite get that many people you know and are able to talk to under the same roof at any other point in life. If they're roleplaying out mainly classes, though, any rp's doung this are bound to fail.

Classes should be skipped altogether (with the exception of a P.E. class if something exciting's going on in there), and you should probably be focusing more on after-school interactions. Better yet, you can add a supernatural element that has nothing to do with school in general that really drives the plot along.

Take Persona 3 and 4, for example. Half of the time, you're battling Shadows in Tartarus at night with your classmates. The other half has a setting at your character's new high school, but classes are far from the main focus. Most lectures are skipped altogether, and the ones that aren't are taught by professors with...interesting things to say, are pretty short, and help increase Charm and Academics (two stats that make you able to interact with more people as they increase). For the most part during school life, you're dead-set on increasing the level of your Social Links (your bonds with other people), putting the focus on interactions and stuff after school. Furthermore, these interactions come into play during your outtings to Tartarus: the stronger the bonds with other people, the stronger the monsters you can summon.

Actually, I would disagree and say that the reason I find school roleplays so boring personally is that they don't focus enough on the classes and always center around the drama and activity around a school setting. If a school roleplay actually took the time to develop classes with requirements and tasks to be completed in a certain manner, fantasy or superhero or otherwise, I would join it in a heartbeat. But that digs into the realm of detail and planning that most roleplay creators are afraid to tread for fear of driving away players. It requires an actual commitment to a school setting that your characters don't just get to goof around and do what they want, they have expectations and deadlines and they have to balance what their character wants to do with what they have to do. It's that level of depth that draws me in, and unfortunately, most of the school roleplays I have seen recently have shunned going deep on any level, resorting to shallow character relationships, cheap drama, and loosely using the school as a setting to work their characters around rather than actually making it the central plot focus of the story.
 
Actually, I would disagree and say that the reason I find school roleplays so boring personally is that they don't focus enough on the classes and always center around the drama and activity around a school setting. If a school roleplay actually took the time to develop classes with requirements and tasks to be completed in a certain manner, fantasy or superhero or otherwise, I would join it in a heartbeat. But that digs into the realm of detail and planning that most roleplay creators are afraid to tread for fear of driving away players. It requires an actual commitment to a school setting that your characters don't just get to goof around and do what they want, they have expectations and deadlines and they have to balance what their character wants to do with what they have to do. It's that level of depth that draws me in, and unfortunately, most of the school roleplays I have seen recently have shunned going deep on any level, resorting to shallow character relationships, cheap drama, and loosely using the school as a setting to work their characters around rather than actually making it the central plot focus of the story.

Yeah, that's all well and good, but...

Think realistically here. Given the majority, I don't think as many people would be willing to roleplay out actual lectures, tests, papers, etc. That might fall into the realm of too much detail—a realm that a huge majority would rather not enter.
 
I think it just goes back to:
What do I understand?
For instance, I would be lost in most fandom RPs.
But if someone did a Halo fandom RP, weeelll then!
But since everyone's been to high school, most people can understand that.
And since everyone's heard the high school drama stories, they can understand those as well!
Meanwhile, a fleshed-out, quality fantasy world that no one knows anything about (except the GM) is harder to understand, and therefore, hard to RP.
So for a quick, fun RP they go with an academy RP or a simple RP (academy is more common, so that's what shows up more).
Meanwhile, people who are willing to stick with it to the end and make a story together will pick the quality RP, but they're fewer and farther between.
Most people want entertainment.
 
Yeah, that's all well and good, but...

Think realistically here. Given the majority, I don't think as many people would be willing to roleplay out actual lectures, tests, papers, etc. That might fall into the realm of too much detail—a realm that a huge majority would rather not enter.

Perhaps not that level of realism, no, the effort required to create that much content would be nearly impossible for a single creator alone, but a group effort with players as both teachers and students is not uncommon to work around just that. Perhaps full lectures and taking notes and having your characterrequired to study are a bit too far for a roleplay, but my point still stands that most school roleplays I have witnessed tend to revolve around the school rather than actually use it to its full potential.

My favorite roleplay to this day is one of the first I joined called "Wormingshire Stories", set in a magical academy for novice mages, there were missions to complete to pass classes, and a wide variety of character backgrounds, an intricate plot line, but enough leeway that characters all eventually formed their own miniature plots and motives that were all mixed together to form this detailed story. I loved it, I played both a student and a teacher, and they were entirely separate for the whole story, the student was completing tasks and trying to pass classes while interacting with other students, and the teacher had full control over his students' teachings, given free reign to develop classes and requirements of his own for them to succeed. Two halves of this story, both equally important but entirely separate, but all the plot lines lead back to using the school itself as the focus, not just a playground for the characters to interact outside of.
 
High school was shitty. All I did was punch kids around, and beat them up good. There, fantasy readily fulfilled. Kapoot.
 
Mostly because they're in highschool currently (:
That's more of a downside for me Ghana reasons why I'd want to participate in it.
High school kind of sucks ass.
It's like a huge popularity contest.
And everyone's losing.
 
I actually have a great fantasy role play idea! It doesn't involve with any school related fantasy guilds or medieval! I feel disappointed seeing how fantasy genre is already seen as "just an academy" role play. If I get to piece my idea a bit better maybe I could turn things around a little bit better?
 
Perhaps not that level of realism, no, the effort required to create that much content would be nearly impossible for a single creator alone, but a group effort with players as both teachers and students is not uncommon to work around just that. Perhaps full lectures and taking notes and having your characterrequired to study are a bit too far for a roleplay, but my point still stands that most school roleplays I have witnessed tend to revolve around the school rather than actually use it to its full potential.

My favorite roleplay to this day is one of the first I joined called "Wormingshire Stories", set in a magical academy for novice mages, there were missions to complete to pass classes, and a wide variety of character backgrounds, an intricate plot line, but enough leeway that characters all eventually formed their own miniature plots and motives that were all mixed together to form this detailed story. I loved it, I played both a student and a teacher, and they were entirely separate for the whole story, the student was completing tasks and trying to pass classes while interacting with other students, and the teacher had full control over his students' teachings, given free reign to develop classes and requirements of his own for them to succeed. Two halves of this story, both equally important but entirely separate, but all the plot lines lead back to using the school itself as the focus, not just a playground for the characters to interact outside of.

Oh boy, throwback to that amazing RP. It was such great fun and god do I miss it Sticks. Maybe one day something like that can arise but more so with the right people maybe.
 
In regards to high school, I think it's such a go-to setting because it's ripe with the ingredient that makes fiction interesting: conflict.

You have the internal conflict of being a teenager and going through the uncomfortable process of figuring out your identity. And you have the external conflict of hormonal kids being forced into the same environment. Not to mention conflict with authority figures who the kids may not respect.

It's kinda like how nobody wants to, say, be an orphan in real life because it sucks. But you can hardly find a coming-of-age story without a dead parent. Misery makes for good fiction.
 
Fantasy Academy type RP's should have their own subgenre forum perhaps.

Although I have participated in a few of those types in the past, I have no desire whatsoever to become a part of one, unless there is another aspect that adds to it.

While I have nothing against the 'teenage' trope in fantasy, it is something I do not wish to Roleplay and wish to avoid in my own RPs. Having a minimum age of 18 for a character is a great way to do that.
 
My current quest is a coming of age story set during the PC's high school years. I choose that setting for the conflict between your family and becoming an adult. I'm focusing more on broken families and society expectations with a dash of romance.

I put the quest on this site because there are so many school rps. Though I think I only picked two or three players from general RPNation. Most of my players I recruited from real life and knew from other websites.
 
Here's an original roleplay in the fantasy section...
https://www.rpnation.com/threads/re...hemed-original-adventure.331052/#post-7839948
Spread the message, and we can help retake the fantasy section. This guy is in my current fantasy roleplay "two thousand seventy one". The more people that take part in these roleplays with original settings, the more people will go on to create their own original roleplays. The time is nigh my friends! Revolution!
 

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