Viewpoint Need all your guy's and gals opinion

[beetle]

Does it really matter if your RP idea is cliche or if it's a more unique or original idea as long as you're having fun?

 

[Crow]

I don't think anyone wants RPs about high school. The people that say they do want RPs about high schoolers.

That is true. No one's ever schooling and most of the RP is in recess or the arcades or whatnot.

Arranged Marriage
Harvest Moon
Harry Potter
Twilight

Harvest Moon

That's oddly specific. I don't see all that many. Were they the rage at some point?

Basically, all ideas at this point are variations on older ideas, so don't sweat if your idea is like someone else's as long as it isn't outright plagiarism.

I mean, if you want to look at it that way, we have been plagiarism since the dawn of written word. The first books, were written about ancient greek/roman plays that were eventually turned into myths and legends. Those turned into fables. Eventually turned into tall tales. Eventually turning into television series. Oh man, like as an avid writer I couldn't help but slowly clap. It is liberating to see someone finally admit, all writers draw from other writers and that even means the greats. I've been watching some great lectures about traditional story and I just had to be like. *clap clap clap* We can finally stop feeling guilty about being unoriginal. It's in our gene's to copy others.

While that is very true, these ideas being transferred from region to region, culture to culture, they slowly get distorted into new things. For instance, the depictions of the Chimera were derived from pictures of lions with their paws up. Over time, the lifted paw was imagined as a wing then a goat head, the tail as a serpent due to its shape, and here we are. A cool-looking monster just because a drawing of a completely normal lion was misintepreted.

And even those distortions were based on other ideas. One cannot intepret a goat or a snake if goats or snakes didn't exist.

So all things considered, striking a balance is the best way to go. It's difficult to make something truly new, but you can certainly try.

 

[Franklin]

That is true. No one's ever schooling and most of the RP is in recess or the arcades or whatnot.




That's oddly specific. I don't see all that many. Were they the rage at some point?




While that is very true, these ideas being transferred from region to region, culture to culture, they slowly get distorted into new things. For instance, the depictions of the Chimera were derived from pictures of lions with their paws up. Over time, the lifted paw was imagined as a wing then a goat head, the tail as a serpent due to its shape, and here we are. A cool-looking monster just because a drawing of a completely normal lion was misintepreted.

And even those distortions were based on other ideas. One cannot intepret a goat or a snake if goats or snakes didn't exist.

So all things considered, striking a balance is the best way to go. It's difficult to make something truly new, but you can certainly try.

I've been role playing fifteen years off various platforms. I'm going off that fact and not just this site. *shrugs* The question didn't specify RP Nation. These role plays run rampant through out the internet. I also find these topics uninteresting and generic. There is no plot line to work with. They eventually just peter out and die.

 

[AntarcticRomantic]

Late to this conversation, I know.
I'm with Cosmo and others on this point: who cares if the roleplay you create is cliché? Chances are you aren't alone in wanting to write about those things. Rather than be a bit nervous about what others may say, go for it. Some of the best writers have written about what has interested them the most, and sometimes it takes a cliché to build something great.
Yeah, almost no one enjoys high school, but there's something fun about writing about an angsty teenager. Are vampires overdone? Sure, but there's a reason why people love writing about them so much because of the appeal they hold.
It's also fun to take these cliché's and add a minor twist or genre-cross that will make it fun an enjoyable. I mean, look at My Hero Academia; it basically operates off of high school tropes and superhero tropes as well. Twilight took vampires and added diamond skin. Things like that.

Roleplaying should be enjoyed, and act as an opportunity for growth. I think it's more important to have fun than it is to worry about tripping over a cliché.

 

[Gowi]

execution is more important than originality or innovation

 

[CecilDMMasters]

“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.” Mark Twain

Like many things cliché is only a bad thing if done incorrectly or lazily. Think of it this way. I saw a thing of people talking about half-this and half-that characters. That's not a bad thing on the concept itself but like a lot of concepts it has developed a stigma from a section of the fandom due to certain things. Mainly either the laziness of the idea, or because a section of the fans also fall into the creeper fandom base.

On any idea you need to put thought into it.

-Are you only using the cliché because it looks awesome to you at first glance, or have you actually thought it through. If someone starts asking you questions can you elaborate on it? Do you have at least a firm enough base you can you have a clear creative discussion. Or did you just grab from several movies and books and shove the ideas together and figure the bare concept would sell.

"My character is a half orc half vampire half elf!."
"Does this happen a lot in your world? Or did something have to happen that allowed this? Was he born half or is this some curse? What are his weaknesses and strengths? What effect does it have on his life?"
"He's a super powered hybrid with no weaknesses WOW POW COOL!"

-Is the market literally already saturated. Because if it is then you really need to work on a new concept to draw attention. Taking your target audience isn't already about to scream hearing the idea again.


I've seen some people work with ideas that at the base were something I would pass on and work them into a really great idea by character development and story telling. I'm in a long term RP at the moment I was really hesitant on because frankly the idea sounded way too out there. But they were asking for help to build a character and I decided to go for it and they have really made the idea quite fun. Throw in some basic natural laws and personality and you can make a story work no matter how cliché, over the top or odd.

 

[Mesalia_RP]

There's a great video on "cliches" that really gets into detail about them here.

A big point the video makes is that the cliche is only bad if it takes your reader out of the story. The same can be applied to RP. if it takes you out of the RP then the cliche could be worked around and adjusted to subvert the cliche.

 

[rainywrites]

oh, there's only eight ideas! don't worry about being unoriginal, especially in rp. be as cliche and repetative as you want. as long as you and your partner(s) are happy, that is!