Advice/Help Group Role-Playing

[Little Tree]

Hi. I’m here to pose an inquiry due to my own ignorance. Can anyone enlighten me?​

To be quite frank, I have never done a group role-play. I wouldn’t even know where to start— or how to, for that matter. My questions here today are:

What are the pros? What are the cons? Are there any people who prefer one or the other? Why?

 

[ashwynne]

I used to do group roleplays and now do exclusively 1x1. I'm sure my list will vary from some other people, but this sums up my experience with group RP's.

Pros:
- a wider variety of characters to interact with
- plot can evolve in more interesting ways when you have 3+ people involved
- more frequent replies/more stuff to reply to
- plot can handle multiple moving pieces since there are more player characters to facilitate this
- A good GM can keep the story flowing really well and facilitate player interactions

Cons:
- If one person becomes inactive it can gum up the whole operation
- Reliant on a GM to facilitate things which can be a problem if GM has RL issues that pop up and/or can lead to the whole thing collapsing if the GM loses interest/decides to quit.
- Prone to collapse when people apply/make characters but then don't actually commit
- Prone to dying off if established players bow out later on
- Sometimes a little too fast paced for roleplayers to keep up with
- Can be stressful having posting time requirements
- Because you have a wide net of players being pulled in, you sometimes end up with people who are incompatibile with you/get on your nerves/godmod/etc.

It does largely come down to a good GM (game master). A lot of the cons can be resolved when you have someone diligent running the show, though the issues of it collapsing with the removal of a player/players still holds true. I think of group RP's a lot like Jenga... remove the wrong piece and the whole thing comes toppling down.

As for why I prefer 1x1....
- Equal division of labour between players which takes the load off and creates a feeling of ownership of the story that tends to keep people invested
- More individual control over the story events when there isn't a GM
- Only have to worry about one person staying interested in the story
- Posting frequency doesn't have a deadline attached to it since there's only two of you
- In general, I've had much better results in keeping a 1x1 running for a long time as opposed to group RP. 1x1's can last for months to years, a group RP that lasts a few months or more is usually pretty rare.

 

[Little Tree]

Fascinating insight! Thank you for the response. I can see how group-roleplays can be incredibly stressful and frustrating. However, would you say it’s perhaps worth it to try it out? You did have some decent pros to the option too. Would you say it’s easier, maybe even better, if the group remains as small as possible?

 

[FoolsErin]

Fascinating insight! Thank you for the response. I can see how group-roleplays can be incredibly stressful and frustrating. However, would you say it’s perhaps worth it to try it out? You did have some decent pros to the option too. Would you say it’s easier, maybe even better, if the group remains as small as possible?

Ehh, I mean I’ve been in pretty big group rps before that rolled just as nicely as any average D&D party sized one. I think it’s a matter of what the GM can handle more than anything.

Edit: Though do take into account the fact that the roleplays in question were much more planned out and organized, so take this with a miniature pinch of salt.

 

[Little Tree]

Ehh, I mean I’ve been in pretty big group rps before that rolled just as nicely as any average D&D party sized one. I think it’s a matter of what the GM can handle more than anything.

Edit: Though do take into account the fact that the roleplays in question were much more planned out and organized, so take this with a miniature pinch of salt.

Thank you for the insight. I’m learning something new today :3

GM position must take quite the organization skills. Thank you for responding. I appreciate it.

 

[ashwynne]

Fascinating insight! Thank you for the response. I can see how group-roleplays can be incredibly stressful and frustrating. However, would you say it’s perhaps worth it to try it out? You did have some decent pros to the option too. Would you say it’s easier, maybe even better, if the group remains as small as possible?

I do think it’s worth it to try it out if you’ve never been in one before. You might find you really really love it and there are definitely plenty of pros.

Group size is not as important as a good GM. Because the GM is approving players in the first place the cohesion and quality of the group will depend on their ability to choose people wisely. I tended to steer clear of groups that have unlimited spots or don’t require character sheet approval by the GM. It’s a bit more stressful on your end knowing your character application will have to be approved, but again it usually means the quality of the players will be higher and the fact that they needed to put in effort to get in will usually mean they stick with it for longer.

Really, it comes down to YOU being discerning about the groups you prefer. I usually try to go through the posts of the GM to see how their previous roleplays have gone/been set up and of course take a peek at the other people applying to the RP. If everything checks out and the group seems comprised of a good mix of people then I’ll apply.

 

[Little Tree]

I do think it’s worth it to try it out if you’ve never been in one before. You might find you really really love it and there are definitely plenty of pros.

Group size is not as important as a good GM. Because the GM is approving players in the first place the cohesion and quality of the group will depend on their ability to choose people wisely. I tended to steer clear of groups that have unlimited spots or don’t require character sheet approval by the GM. It’s a bit more stressful on your end knowing your character application will have to be approved, but again it usually means the quality of the players will be higher and the fact that they needed to put in effort to get in will usually mean they stick with it for longer.

Really, it comes down to YOU being discerning about the groups you prefer. I usually try to go through the posts of the GM to see how their previous roleplays have gone/been set up and of course take a peek at the other people applying to the RP. If everything checks out and the group seems comprised of a good mix of people then I’ll apply.

Thank you for shining some light on the entire process and giving me tips on what to look for. It does seem like something interesting to try, so I am grateful for the advice.

Lovely username, by the way.

 

[ashwynne]

Thank you for shining some light on the entire process and giving me tips on what to look for. It does seem like something interesting to try, so I am grateful for the advice.

Lovely username, by the way.

Hopefully it's helpful to you! And I mean... the worst possible scenario is that the RP never takes off or dies after it's been started. As long as you're mentally prepared for the possibility of those two eventualities you won't have a problem

And thank you!! It stems from the elvish name I made for myself back in middle school, glad someone else likes it too!

 

[Crayons]

On the matter of group size, I tend to prefer rp groups of 2-4 players per scene max. It's easier to keep things focused and together. A good small group can work equally well as a 1x1 and not require GMing. I find that good group RPs are definitely harder to find than 1x1s but I like the range of characterisation you can get when your character interacts with more different characters than just the one partner's. Also sometimes groups can be less intense and more casual which is sometimes what you want. (Also sometimes it isn't!)

 

[just_patches]

As the above said
Group rps are good since it can blossom into a nice small community and you have multiple characters to bounce off one another
The downside is that it's a group project. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link, as they say, and a group can fall apart if 1 person doesn't put their part in

 

[Little Tree]

Hopefully it's helpful to you! And I mean... the worst possible scenario is that the RP never takes off or dies after it's been started. As long as you're mentally prepared for the possibility of those two eventualities you won't have a problem

And thank you!! It stems from the elvish name I made for myself back in middle school, glad someone else likes it too!

Ah, that’s the reason it reminded me of LOTR. Even your profile picture brings forth that fantasy-esque aesthetic.

 

[Little Tree]

As the above said
Group rps are good since it can blossom into a nice small community and you have multiple characters to bounce off one another
The downside is that it's a group project. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link, as they say, and a group can fall apart if 1 person doesn't put their part in

I see. That being said, is it hard to make it smooth? With multiple people, does the story come out repetitive? Jagged in cases of flow too?

 

[Crayons]

I see. That being said, is it hard to make it smooth? With multiple people, does the story come out repetitive? Jagged in cases of flow too?

I think it's less likely to become repetitive. 1x1s seem to have a greater likelihood to get stale as your characters have to hang around with each other allll the time. But that's in the long, long term.

Flow very much depends on the group you have and how well the GM (if any) keeps things moving.

 

[Little Tree]

I think it's less likely to become repetitive. 1x1s seem to have a greater likelihood to get stale as your characters have to hang around with each other allll the time. But that's in the long, long term.

Flow very much depends on the group you have and how well the GM (if any) keeps things moving.

Thank you for clarifying.

 

[Idea]

What are the pros?

Pros:
-Variety: Group RPs have a greater variation of perspectives, interests, characters to interact with etc...
-Sharing: If you're someone who likes to share your work and see how others interact with it, groups are a good place for that
-Plots involving several characters tend to work better when there is a different vision for each character, rather than two players trying to run a platoon of NPCs
-OOC activity: If you're someone who enjoys chatting, hanging out with a group, etc... as much as you enjoy RPing, by my experience at least this tends to actually happen more with groups. A group RP that is properly active will have OOC activity every day, whereas 1x1s tend to be a lot more bound to the IC activity dates to define OOC activity as well.
-Degree of control of agency: In group RPs you can either be a player or the GM. The role of GM has a lot more control over how the roleplay is run overall, getting to decide rules, setting, NPCs etc... whereas a player is thus relieved from those responsibilities unless they speciifcally want to take them on. By being given the freedom to choose your preferred, you can often sit on a role which better fits with your style as a roleplayer.

What are the cons?

-Greater instability: because of a number of issues, such as one player's ability to hault the process, schedule differences, occasional need for coordination in greater numbers etc... group roleplays are simply much more vulnerable to issues based on incompabitlity or chance.
-Less thematic control: Whether as player or GM you have less control over the exact theme of the roleplay. As a player you can only search for existing proposals and are to some extent bound by the decisions of the GM in terms of themes, plot, setting etc... On the other hand, as a GM you are bound to what players are willign to work with. Nomatter how much effort you put into something, if you can't make it work for the players, then you aren't getting off the ground.
-Less personal: The focus and interest in an 1x1 roleplay is on the two players involved, they are (in theory) invested in each other as much as themselves. Group RPs are much more "every man for themselves" except when it comes to the collective of everyone, so there is less intimacy, less room for negotiation and tweaking of things etc...
-Some plots just don't work well with groups.

Are there any people who prefer one or the other? Why?

Personally I like to always keep a bundle of both in my current active RPs. I love the ability to customize my experience better in 1x1 to better suit my roleplaying style, but group RPs are also pretty refreshing. I get to do more in them of one of the reasons why I roleplay rather than just solo write, getting to share my ideas and the experience of writing with other people, and sometimes I just like to do a project with a bit bigger scale and may perhaps need a group or more variety to be worth it. For instance, a boku no hero RP (a fandom that is basically a superhero school for any that don't know) isn't nearly as fun to me 1x1 as it is with the variety of interactions and possibilities in a group.

 

[Little Tree]

Pros:
-Variety: Group RPs have a greater variation of perspectives, interests, characters to interact with etc...
-Sharing: If you're someone who likes to share your work and see how others interact with it, groups are a good place for that
-Plots involving several characters tend to work better when there is a different vision for each character, rather than two players trying to run a platoon of NPCs
-OOC activity: If you're someone who enjoys chatting, hanging out with a group, etc... as much as you enjoy RPing, by my experience at least this tends to actually happen more with groups. A group RP that is properly active will have OOC activity every day, whereas 1x1s tend to be a lot more bound to the IC activity dates to define OOC activity as well.
-Degree of control of agency: In group RPs you can either be a player or the GM. The role of GM has a lot more control over how the roleplay is run overall, getting to decide rules, setting, NPCs etc... whereas a player is thus relieved from those responsibilities unless they speciifcally want to take them on. By being given the freedom to choose your preferred, you can often sit on a role which better fits with your style as a roleplayer.


-Greater instability: because of a number of issues, such as one player's ability to hault the process, schedule differences, occasional need for coordination in greater numbers etc... group roleplays are simply much more vulnerable to issues based on incompabitlity or chance.
-Less thematic control: Whether as player or GM you have less control over the exact theme of the roleplay. As a player you can only search for existing proposals and are to some extent bound by the decisions of the GM in terms of themes, plot, setting etc... On the other hand, as a GM you are bound to what players are willign to work with. Nomatter how much effort you put into something, if you can't make it work for the players, then you aren't getting off the ground.
-Less personal: The focus and interest in an 1x1 roleplay is on the two players involved, they are (in theory) invested in each other as much as themselves. Group RPs are much more "every man for themselves" except when it comes to the collective of everyone, so there is less intimacy, less room for negotiation and tweaking of things etc...
-Some plots just don't work well with groups.



Personally I like to always keep a bundle of both in my current active RPs. I love the ability to customize my experience better in 1x1 to better suit my roleplaying style, but group RPs are also pretty refreshing. I get to do more in them of one of the reasons why I roleplay rather than just solo write, getting to share my ideas and the experience of writing with other people, and sometimes I just like to do a project with a bit bigger scale and may perhaps need a group or more variety to be worth it. For instance, a boku no hero RP (a fandom that is basically a superhero school for any that don't know) isn't nearly as fun to me 1x1 as it is with the variety of interactions and possibilities in a group.

Quite astounded by the feedback I’ve received for my questions— so first off, thank you for sharing your advice. I’m really happy to hear about everyone’s opinions.

I have so far decided it may be worth my time to, at least, dip my fingers into a group role-play and “test the waters” for myself.

I can definitely see what you mean by having a group to do certain things can be more fun, with the ooc chatter and plot devices that come available. It does seem appealing.

Once more, thanks for your insight!

 

[Idea]

Quite astounded by the feedback I’ve received for my questions— so first off, thank you for sharing your advice. I’m really happy to hear about everyone’s opinions.

I have so far decided it may be worth my time to, at least, dip my fingers into a group role-play and “test the waters” for myself.

I can definitely see what you mean by having a group to do certain things can be more fun, with the ooc chatter and plot devices that come available. It does seem appealing.

Once more, thanks for your insight!

But of course!

I do recommend joining over creating a group roleplay if you're starting of course. Gming is quite an ordeal and some experience from the perspective of a regular player definitely helps.

 

[Little Tree]

But of course!

I do recommend joining over creating a group roleplay if you're starting of course. Gming is quite an ordeal and some experience from the perspective of a regular player definitely helps.

Noted! If I end up liking it and become more experienced, then maybe I will organize one myself.