Resolved: Thanks <3

[Retro Nova]

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When I first started truly embracing my love for role playing. I thought academy role-plays and school type role-plays were awesome. I indulged in them frequently and even started one at one point. But now the Fantasy Thread specifically is overrun with them, and there are so many now that their not really unique or have plots that haven't been thought of before. Most of them are for either, "Gifted humans", monsters, Demi-gods (Greek mythology), or supernatural being academies that don't really have decent plots or premises to go off of other than the students that go to the school and what the school was made for. I just want to know what the appeal is of Academy roleplays that everyone and their mom wants to make one now, even though there will be in all seriousness a few dozen already made. Most being recently made. I'm not downing those roleplays. I've just become slightly irritated with them popping up everywhere.


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[yuckeroni]

i think the appeal of academy roleplays is that, it's much more common and simple that you could pretty much write anything without being scared or worried that you did something wrong? it just seems so easy and not at all complicated like any other rp. at least, that's what i think.


personally im not a fan of academy rps and i just don't like them, i don't really get what the appeal is either.

 

[ApfelSeine]

I enjoy academy roleplays on occasion. It's a confined setting, making it easier to set up character interactions, and it's straightforward. I play a lot of other types of roleplays of course, but I think academy roleplays work for what they are. A school setting is a simple, non-distracting backdrop to whatever the characters want to do. A good school based roleplay should be character centered.


A big drawback to there being so many academy roleplays is that the majority of them are uninspired. They're set at a school so that the ages can be restricted to children or teens, or just because there needed to be a setting. Unless a lot of thought is paid into what characters will do at the school, then there is little point to setting it at a school. Having them spend all their time in classes is boring, and most people who create school rps don't bother to think about how to draw the characters together. Maybe a group project that characters have to work on or perhaps some kind of social drama to play around with. Better than having a school centered roleplay, perhaps having the setting focus on a particular club, or a particular class which the characters share in order to better facilitate the interactions may work better. Also, having a character who gossips or stirs up trouble can lend itself very well to a school setting. So having an rp set at a school can be done well, and sometimes it is. I think the fact that there are so many distracts from the good ones though.


Thinking about mixing fantasy with school settings... I do have to wonder why people do that so often. I mean, I'm not surprised to see many school rps under a modern tab, but just giving people magic powers seems to serve no purpose other than to make the characters special in some way. It seems to me to be a bit of a handicap used to make it easier to create a unique character who doesn't have a particularly unique personality. At least, that's how I often see it. If the magic powers are worked into the plot in some way, then the setting might actually make sense. I suppose the best policy is to judge each rp on it's own merit, and not automatically judge it for using a popular setting or plotline. A fun experience can often come from trying something you'd never think to explore after all.

 

[Retro Nova]

I enjoy academy roleplays on occasion. It's a confined setting, making it easier to set up character interactions, and it's straightforward. I play a lot of other types of roleplays of course, but I think academy roleplays work for what they are. A school setting is a simple, non-distracting backdrop to whatever the characters want to do. A good school based roleplay should be character centered.
A big drawback to there being so many academy roleplays is that the majority of them are uninspired. They're set at a school so that the ages can be restricted to children or teens, or just because there needed to be a setting. Unless a lot of thought is paid into what characters will do at the school, then there is little point to setting it at a school. Having them spend all their time in classes is boring, and most people who create school rps don't bother to think about how to draw the characters together. Maybe a group project that characters have to work on or perhaps some kind of social drama to play around with. Better than having a school centered roleplay, perhaps having the setting focus on a particular club, or a particular class which the characters share in order to better facilitate the interactions may work better. Also, having a character who gossips or stirs up trouble can lend itself very well to a school setting. So having an rp set at a school can be done well, and sometimes it is. I think the fact that there are so many distracts from the good ones though.


Thinking about mixing fantasy with school settings... I do have to wonder why people do that so often. I mean, I'm not surprised to see many school rps under a modern tab, but just giving people magic powers seems to serve no purpose other than to make the characters special in some way. It seems to me to be a bit of a handicap used to make it easier to create a unique character who doesn't have a particularly unique personality. At least, that's how I often see it. If the magic powers are worked into the plot in some way, then the setting might actually make sense. I suppose the best policy is to judge each rp on it's own merit, and not automatically judge it for using a popular setting or plotline. A fun experience can often come from trying something you'd never think to explore after all.

I cosign everything you just said. I do like academy roleplays as well, but for most of the reasons above I've grown to find them irritating.

 

[Xun Digital]

Here's the appeal of Academy-type fantasy roleplays:


It's a sandbox style roleplay that is beginner friendly. The entire premise of the academy is, for the most part, open ended. Academy roleplays are also very easy to get into, and within a confined setting, you can easily interact with anybody reasonably quickly.


It's not everybody's cup of tea, but it certainly is a lot of people's. Which is why it's so popular.

 

[Dusky]

I have been involved in precisely two "school" RPs in my time. As has been mentioned before, their strengths lie in a distinct setting and a clear reason for characters to interact. Everything feels a lot less contrived, in that respect. For many they are also appealing because they are relatable.


For GMs in particular, one might create a school RP despite there already being so many because they want to branch out into GMing and would like to start off with something easy to manage.


In any case, I think people forget there are ways to have the same elements of a school/cafe/etc RP without actually using a school/cafe/some other stereotype, especially in fantasy. I have a roleplay which is very focused on a high class gambling house; the characters are basically indentured servants. It has a lot of the same things that are appealing about school roleplays: distinct and limited setting, clear reasons to interact, and so on. But there isn't a school in sight.


EDIT: I mean there is a training dojo but it's not "in sight" as it's several hours away on a train and none of the roleplay takes place there, ehehe.


I think people also forget that not every "school" RP has to revolve around the school, necessarily. I'm in a roleplay right now based in a school, but the school exists within a broader, well-thought-out setting with external influences directing the plot.


tldr: People like it because it's convenient. c;

 

[Ophirius]

Some people enjoy it, it's easy to get into, done. The goal with roleplaying is to have fun, lmfao and ya'll be judging each other bcs of what they find entertaining.

 

[Grey]

As it happens I wrote something about using schools as framing devices effectively - Anomaly has already covered a lot of what I'd say elsewise.