Viewpoint Things you wish you'd see more in RPs?

[CecilDMMasters]

I love playing multiple characters too. There has never been a time when I just play one character.

It's is a lot more fun. For many reasons. More plot to explore. More talent in a group without over using someone. And it can allow using characters as secondarys you know would be disruptive and ultimately un-fun for your partner on their own or in too high a dose.

Plus when both people use multiples you have more chance of character clicking and getting that nice platonic friendship I like in an RP

Oh, yeah, I want to see more platonic friendship RPs. I really don't like romance RPs. So forced.

 

[Crayons]

Yes, it can get rather dull, and kind of . . . I guess forced might be a good word, when in a long term all the incidents have to somehow find their way to one person. It makes more sense at times to have a character come in to introduce a plot point instead of the "someone is a mcguffen magnet. "

Or if someone gets hurt why not realize the group needs a healer instead of someone suddenly having healing talent because the plot demands it.

I don't think I've ever played a 1x1 where we haven't had multiple characters or at least a cast of NPCs. Is only playing the one character and nobody else actually a thing?!

Downsides: When the other player has more fun playing their characters interacting with each other, than interacting with yours.
When you've set up a romance plot and the other player is more attracted to an NPC you're playing who is their character's brother. :/ <- Admittedly this was kind of the 1x1 from hell, and pre-made romances are always a bit iffy. XD

 

[Nue]

It's kinda morbid when I say it but I really want a death game (think battle royale, danganronpa, ect.) RP where characters like.. actually die? I've tried hosting a few but they either don't get off the ground, or people are reluctant to let their characters die. I get why; but it still sort've ruins the point of the RP.

 

[CecilDMMasters]

I don't think I've ever played a 1x1 where we haven't had multiple characters or at least a cast of NPCs. Is only playing the one character and nobody else actually a thing?!

Downsides: When the other player has more fun playing their characters interacting with each other, than interacting with yours.
When you've set up a romance plot and the other player is more attracted to an NPC you're playing who is their character's brother. :/ <- Admittedly this was kind of the 1x1 from hell, and pre-made romances are always a bit iffy. XD

Yes, some people only want to play one character. Or if you're playing in there setting ask you only play one character. It hardly ever works for a long term 1x1 for keeping a story moving.

Yeah, kinda had that before. My character is ignored for the most pert. The thing that annoys me is when they keep inching on the dang scene. Instead of finishing with their freaking lovey duffey scene, argument, the character cooking, they keep halting like they want me to do something. Then pretty much ignore my reply or something close to it. If I were to edit it to how it would be written in a book with the character's interaction and then skip to a scene starting with "As they talked there companion tried in frustration to snap them out of their own little world . . . ."

As I ranted in WHAT YOU CANNOT STAND IN CHARACTERS? I've also had the other person play characters so socially awkward or mentally damaged they couldn't even move a scene. Something that can quite easily be fixed by multiple character RPs where they can have a care taker for the character like this. And have actual things happening during the time that character is refusing to cope with whatever the problem is. On the other end I have had secondaries that are not socially outgoing, and had people drawn to them instead of my actual main. How that works can vary greatly.

Romantic RPs make no sense to me. As they seem to be made to pre-mediate a love story as the sure thing before you have character interact. I can't see the flow of getting into a character when you have to guarantee they will fall in love with someone you haven't even see what they are like. I kind of find who a person loves to be a pretty big character trait.

Also, I'm not a romantic person and real cutey romance I am better when I control both. Telling people that I would be a boring romance partner as I would get uncomfortable with RPing the stuff leading to the fade to black usually turns most people away. At this point I am sternly never doing romance as the two times on Online RPing I've tried it has ended the RP. The first I allowed a side NPC that worked for a main marry a guy. The actual thing was he could have the character. But he kept wanting me to play her as it's why his character liked her. So it sounded like it would just be as it was, only she lived with him and they were married. AS A MERE SIDE CHARACTER. His character was a far secondary. Then they tried to shove out our actual mains and turn it into an abusive relationship once they married. Like some PTSD save the soldier husband soldier plot. But They seemed to miss the point of that all together. instead of her knowing him ahead and him coming back broken and her trying to save the person she knew he really was, it was more like a manipulative ploy to get a marriage so she couldn't escape.

The second I agreed with a good online friend to ship a secondary that seemed to be compatible and were going through a hard time. Once they were out of danger instead of them healing together and all the things previously talked And they started having him PTSD mentally abuse her. While not letting any plot with my mains get started. And the thing that pissed me off they had a doctor who seemed competent before refuse to separate them to separate rooms even when it was brought to his attention that his behavior was actually destroying all the others in the room. And when I threw in the towel and tried to talk out fixing it kind of blew me off whenever I mentioned the mains. Frankly, I am mean as heck to my characters and play some evil villains. Had all kinds of messed up societies and NPCs. But I roleplay to get in my characters heads. And when the RP turns into me suppose to be playing a main who is suppose to fall in love and marry someone emotionally abusing them while still loving them makes me sick thinking about it.

I blame it on beauty and the beast

 

[rae2nerdy]

Honestly I find having a central point of view keeps things organized and flowing properly. I will occasionally bring in NPCs as necessary for the plot but for the most part I just flesh out the world as I go

Which is the way most people I know who write one character do things. It’s not literally only two people in the entire universe surrounded by nameless extras. It’s a story that switches between two central points of view with a cast of side characters that come in as necessary.

As the idea is to keep a unified voice from the narrator not to make a world where there are only two named people.

Granted the distinction might just come down to world building experience and influence. Most of the books I read have a singular point of view protagonist but a rich cast of side characters that flesh out the world. Plus I focus on world building/plot over character so I am naturally inclined to make the world feel lived in

 

[CecilDMMasters]

I've always been way too disorganized to run RPs, so I'm pretty much at the mercy of what the people who are capable of doing so want to RP about, and it's kind of grating having to do similar plots because they're popular. I know this is massively hypocritical of me, complaining about the lack of options for RPs when I'm not contributing anything, but there are several ideas that I want to use but can't and I grow more frusturated by the day. Does anyone else feel similar? Are there things that you wish were more popular on this forum?

For me, I want to see more school RPs that aren't about elite private schools. You don't see any drama from preexisting relationships, cliques, sleepovers, irresponsible use of class knowledge and all of that when everyone's attending to the school to be the best at whatever thing that it's for.

Also, superhero RPs with room for crazy origin stories. I get that having all of the superheroes get their powers from the same place means less balance issues and such, but there are a lot more possible dynamics if your team is made of an alien renegade, a ghost possessing an abstract sculpture, and a reincarnated Mesoamerican goddess.

Finding superhero RPs where everyone is in agreement can be hard. For me it's mainly a matter of finding someone who isn't trying to be over the top cool and write how much their super heros can do anything. Including destroying a city when their are alternatives that don't make the people they saved homeless. (Or dead if you want to be real) Actual story and interaction take second place to them trying to make a character look cooler than yours. Or they have a villain they make clear only their character can stop. But anything you throw in they get to stop too.

I've also come across the people wanting to control the concept of the world and demanding you rewrite your characters to fit into their OCD logic of how or usually demanding flat out making a new one. Ones I've seen are all powers are actually from some dark god, people descended from some race or actually science experiments conducted back in World War two and leaving a hidden gene that's only now arising. The last after discussing my character they sales pitched the idea like I agreed before I heard it and sent me a form to fill out. Or people actually call you out for not being a computer expert if your character is. Or not knowing how some science works in real life.

And then I had an RP where we had people from other worlds, psychic computer experts, and cybernetic wizards. They had characters all I'm sure were ripping off a super hero show. It allowed for plot and character interaction and a good level of fun vs actually looking at the consequence of actions.

 

[SP3CT3R]

Finding superhero RPs where everyone is in agreement can be hard. For me it's mainly a matter of finding someone who isn't trying to be over the top cool and write how much their super heros can do anything. Including destroying a city when their are alternatives that don't make the people they saved homeless. (Or dead if you want to be real) Actual story and interaction take second place to them trying to make a character look cooler than yours. Or they have a villain they make clear only their character can stop. But anything you throw in they get to stop too.

I've also come across the people wanting to control the concept of the world and demanding you rewrite your characters to fit into their OCD logic of how or usually demanding flat out making a new one. Ones I've seen are all powers are actually from some dark god, people descended from some race or actually science experiments conducted back in World War two and leaving a hidden gene that's only now arising. The last after discussing my character they sales pitched the idea like I agreed before I heard it and sent me a form to fill out. Or people actually call you out for not being a computer expert if your character is. Or not knowing how some science works in real life.

And then I had an RP where we had people from other worlds, psychic computer experts, and cybernetic wizards. They had characters all I'm sure were ripping off a super hero show. It allowed for plot and character interaction and a good level of fun vs actually looking at the consequence of actions.

Yeah, that's the thing. People are too focused on speedrunning the plot and don't want to make room for banter and shenanigans.

 

[CecilDMMasters]

Yeah, that's the thing. People are too focused on speedrunning the plot and don't want to make room for banter and shenanigans.

Trying to give info your character has on villain. They just want to go and start a fight with a guy who pick pocketed someone. Try to talk about a plan. They already know where the villain is and want to rush in. You try and respond to them having given epic info on themselves and they suddenly run off to something. They don't typically describe to much and often don't really give much on the character that isn't cool and not much of the thought process. Plus the characters usually suddenly have the skill set your character has on top of their own. Becasue they usually made an awesome character who does it all. And they know everything no matter what.

Yeah, had that a lot in RPs. Superhero RPs tend to attract the worst of it with nothing but showing off and you start to imagine your partner as sitting at the computer going "WHAM BAM POW! MYCHARACTERISCOOLERTHANANYTHINGANYONEELSEHAS!"

Characters interacting and sometimes doing something normal, when they aren't normal, is a lot of the fun! One barter was bad about having the hero group have to suddenly go to public charity events.

 

[Jannah]

It's kinda morbid when I say it but I really want a death game (think battle royale, danganronpa, ect.) RP where characters like.. actually die? I've tried hosting a few but they either don't get off the ground, or people are reluctant to let their characters die. I get why; but it still sort've ruins the point of the RP.

I've done Hunger Games so it's definitely possible to do these kinds of RP's.

 

[SP3CT3R]

Another thing: more fantasy that isn't set in generic medieval kingdoms. I want to see more underwater palaces, enchanted forests, and floating islands.

 

[JokerValentine]

I've come out of retirement for a brief moment just so that I can perhaps give my two cents. As covered in crap as they are, it's the best that I can offer.

Sometimes it's not about answering the question so much as it is shaping the question. When I consider this matter, I tend to think about why I roleplay in the first place. I think that it offers for a lot of us an opportunity to be what we want to be. For some, it might involve a specific idea or realm that they'll do over and over. I'm not here saying that's exactly a wrong thing either. That's honestly me in a nutshell, but I consider it something I continue to work on. The point of this horse-shit of a reply is for me to try to say that I totally understand the frustration. For me, it's not a matter of topics or ideas, it's about how one goes about roleplaying in the first place.

The sign of frustration, I think, is good first step to have. You feel a certain way about what you see around you, and you might not like that. But from what I've read, it sounds that you don't feel that you're capable of GMing. Trust me, neither am I. As a matter of fact, every single project I put out bombed. But you don't need to have a great idea or to be a great leader to be a good roleplayer. I think what makes a good roleplayer is to have ideas. This is a two way street though. Sometimes you have a concept in your mind, something that is quite different from the rest. But also, you're building off of others. For me, roleplay is about the interaction. I think that if everyone were to focus less on their personal development and more on that of others, we would be so much better off. For me, a failing RP is one where everyone is personally competing for something, at the expense of other players. Does this mean you have to let your character lose in a fight or a game? Hell no! But the thing is that we don't need to explot every opportunity like we're playing a game. We should not be afraid to make mistakes, have regrets, totally fuck up, because in a roleplay, you are not you.

So, when I consider why certain ideas are so popular, I too have this frustration that it's all the same. Academy RP's have always been popular, and people really do like it. And at times it definitely looks sort of repetitive and stale. I think that a lot of people have not enough confidence, or either won't or can't do it. It's not anything that's a detriment or a poor quality, it's not like you're any less of a roleplayer, it's just what it is. Maybe we don't want to change, or think that we can't, or know that we can't. Maybe it's just not that big of a deal for something and I just ate an unhealthy amount of crack before writing this. But the point is that everyone just seems disinterested in new ideas, or they want to have that one REALLY good plot in a setting or topic that they're super passionate about.

I've seen a lot of good things on this thread from people who have commented. For example, take it slow. You don't need to stick to a path when you're in the forest. Take a shit wherever you please, who's gonna arrest you, the tree police? We have literally an entire sphere unbounded to create in, and what frustrates me and it seems like many others here is that we're too narrow. Not just in our ideas, but also in our concept of growth.

So, let's get to the important bit. What do I wish to see more in RP's? I want to see people come in with an idea of how they roleplay, their strengths and weaknesses, and just understand that it's not about the self, it's about everyone. It's about giving that one person an opportunity to explore their character a bit more in an interaction. It's about creating a funny or witty dialogue. It's not about trying to avoid messing up either, so long as you learn from it. I think that if you look back at your old stuff and slap yourself across the face and say "what was I thinking," it's a sign that you grew. I wish I was better at growing, and I hope that that might be something I can at least share to others.

Lastly, improv. I think having the ability to create and adjust on the fly is a key thing. You have a character, you have situations, how do they react? And not just how they react, how can they react and keep the fun and the energy going? I think sometimes when we get a little bit too dry, it kills the roleplay. There's sometimes got to be at least a hint of direction, but even moreover, there's got to be activity in the moment. Not only that, but everyone's got to push and be pushed. Everyone's got to be engaging, active, and play their role as best as they can. Even if it's not that good, it will get better.

I really apologize if none of this makes sense. I'm tired.

TLDR; Boomer Jim here thinks that kids these days should have a sense of roleplay philosophy, and come up with some way to engage with people and their ideas, and strive to stand out and bring the heart. Something like that.

 

[Jannah]

Another thing: more fantasy that isn't set in generic medieval kingdoms. I want to see more underwater palaces, enchanted forests, and floating islands.

I personally think a Middle Eastern inspired high fantasy story would be cool.

 

[SP3CT3R]

I've come out of retirement for a brief moment just so that I can perhaps give my two cents. As covered in crap as they are, it's the best that I can offer.

Sometimes it's not about answering the question so much as it is shaping the question. When I consider this matter, I tend to think about why I roleplay in the first place. I think that it offers for a lot of us an opportunity to be what we want to be. For some, it might involve a specific idea or realm that they'll do over and over. I'm not here saying that's exactly a wrong thing either. That's honestly me in a nutshell, but I consider it something I continue to work on. The point of this horse-shit of a reply is for me to try to say that I totally understand the frustration. For me, it's not a matter of topics or ideas, it's about how one goes about roleplaying in the first place.

The sign of frustration, I think, is good first step to have. You feel a certain way about what you see around you, and you might not like that. But from what I've read, it sounds that you don't feel that you're capable of GMing. Trust me, neither am I. As a matter of fact, every single project I put out bombed. But you don't need to have a great idea or to be a great leader to be a good roleplayer. I think what makes a good roleplayer is to have ideas. This is a two way street though. Sometimes you have a concept in your mind, something that is quite different from the rest. But also, you're building off of others. For me, roleplay is about the interaction. I think that if everyone were to focus less on their personal development and more on that of others, we would be so much better off. For me, a failing RP is one where everyone is personally competing for something, at the expense of other players. Does this mean you have to let your character lose in a fight or a game? Hell no! But the thing is that we don't need to explot every opportunity like we're playing a game. We should not be afraid to make mistakes, have regrets, totally fuck up, because in a roleplay, you are not you.

So, when I consider why certain ideas are so popular, I too have this frustration that it's all the same. Academy RP's have always been popular, and people really do like it. And at times it definitely looks sort of repetitive and stale. I think that a lot of people have not enough confidence, or either won't or can't do it. It's not anything that's a detriment or a poor quality, it's not like you're any less of a roleplayer, it's just what it is. Maybe we don't want to change, or think that we can't, or know that we can't. Maybe it's just not that big of a deal for something and I just ate an unhealthy amount of crack before writing this. But the point is that everyone just seems disinterested in new ideas, or they want to have that one REALLY good plot in a setting or topic that they're super passionate about.

I've seen a lot of good things on this thread from people who have commented. For example, take it slow. You don't need to stick to a path when you're in the forest. Take a shit wherever you please, who's gonna arrest you, the tree police? We have literally an entire sphere unbounded to create in, and what frustrates me and it seems like many others here is that we're too narrow. Not just in our ideas, but also in our concept of growth.

So, let's get to the important bit. What do I wish to see more in RP's? I want to see people come in with an idea of how they roleplay, their strengths and weaknesses, and just understand that it's not about the self, it's about everyone. It's about giving that one person an opportunity to explore their character a bit more in an interaction. It's about creating a funny or witty dialogue. It's not about trying to avoid messing up either, so long as you learn from it. I think that if you look back at your old stuff and slap yourself across the face and say "what was I thinking," it's a sign that you grew. I wish I was better at growing, and I hope that that might be something I can at least share to others.

Lastly, improv. I think having the ability to create and adjust on the fly is a key thing. You have a character, you have situations, how do they react? And not just how they react, how can they react and keep the fun and the energy going? I think sometimes when we get a little bit too dry, it kills the roleplay. There's sometimes got to be at least a hint of direction, but even moreover, there's got to be activity in the moment. Not only that, but everyone's got to push and be pushed. Everyone's got to be engaging, active, and play their role as best as they can. Even if it's not that good, it will get better.

I really apologize if none of this makes sense. I'm tired.

TLDR; Boomer Jim here thinks that kids these days should have a sense of roleplay philosophy, and come up with some way to engage with people and their ideas, and strive to stand out and bring the heart. Something like that.

Honestly, you're right about none of this making sense. But I speak enough makes-no-sense to get by, and I think I kind of get what you're saying?

Like, the two things I mentioned wanting more of in my original post were both concepts that drastically complicate roleplays, if introduced, and I think it's telling.

I just want chaos. I want drama, misadventures, interpesonal conflicts, and moments of vulnerability. A lot of other people, the ones in the RPs I'm complaining about, probably want more order. They want to see what they can do with their characters in a situation and test their creative mettle against problems in a controlled environment, while I want to just... leave my characters unattended and see what happens when I let them write themselves.

And now that my third eye is wide fucking open, I think I can see why things play out the way they do. A lot of people tend to run things like Boku no Hero Academia when you put "School" and "Superheroes" together, where all of the characters have powers that follow one set of rules and do things as a team because they're all in the same boat and would rather stick together. And that's a lot easier than the characters being divided, getting into trouble, and setting off on their own. Not to mention all of the backstory stuff that can show up in play. Come to think of it, I vaguely remember that kind of stuff happening more often back when the site was more liberal with hosted projects, since it was easier to run RPs with several subplots then.

Thank you, Boomer Jim, for allowing me to synthesize a reasonable theory as to why I feel so dissatisfied with the roleplays I see.

 

[BackSet]

Platonic 1x1s (I once had an idea for a 1x1 (that I'd never put into action because I don't like 1x1s) where two players play the main male character of a romantic movie/sitcom and his snarky friend)

Mysteries. I like mysteries.

More comedy. I'll be out here making quips and one-liners and everybody else will be playing characters that are brooding or something. I dunno.

 

[SP3CT3R]

More comedy. I'll be out here making quips and one-liners and everybody else will be playing characters that are brooding or something. I dunno.

My character: look at this showoff
Their character: Are you challenging me?

 

[BackSet]

My character: look at this showoff
Their character: Are you challenging me?

The answer is yes. Give me your best shot. [pun related to character's name/power]

 

[SP3CT3R]

The answer is yes. Give me your best shot. [pun related to character's name/power]

Begone shounen protagonist

 

[BackSet]

Begone shounen protagonist

But... puns.

 

[defenderofberk]

Platonic 1x1s (I once had an idea for a 1x1 (that I'd never put into action because I don't like 1x1s) where two players play the main male character of a romantic movie/sitcom and his snarky friend)

Mysteries. I like mysteries.

More comedy. I'll be out here making quips and one-liners and everybody else will be playing characters that are brooding or something. I dunno.

My characters are often so sarcastic that they have the other members both laughing and trying to punch them

 

[InsanityAddict]

An odd one to start off with: weird aliens.

I‘m a sucker for oddities. I love conceptual xenobiology. I like seeing how biology impacts psychology and how psychology impacts society. I like to see bizarre abominations and their skewed moralities. I like to see harsh, exotic environments create harsh, exotic creatures. But I perfectly understand why this is uncommon. Working around such bizarre physical and mental landscapes is a workout for a novel, let alone for an RP. Not to mention that any super biochemically different species might not even be able to survive in the same area as humans, which is an issue for most settings. But I would really, really appreciate it if the barest modicum of thought was put into the relationship between environment, biology and society when it comes to alien species.

Oddly specific and complex I know, but again, I’m a sucker for oddities.

 

[Hopper]

Mysteries but I do get why these aren't as frequently done as it is quite hard to do it in a group setting unless it's making it up as everyone goes. Also mysteries where characters can actually die.

Role plays where characters have different motives and will flat out betray each other and have secrets, really wanted to do a GoT type roleplay where the characters weren't all good people but also weren't obviously bad as grey characters are pretty fun.

Superhero type roleplays that start off as fun goofy ones but then the bad guy emerges from the shadows and it's more of an overarching thing.

Hunger Games type thing where characters can actually die.

His Dark Materials/HP type stuff where it's a group of kids/teenagers with a mission/destiny and the rp plot grows with them.

Really wanted to do a medieval fantasy type thing with fate and a group of people trying to destroy fate and the gods and it would have been them trying to avoid the fates laid out for them.

Also more SciFi type stuff.

 

[Reid]

I wish that more people were down to do something simple, not always complex all the time. Sometimes i just want to roleplay some good old fashioned shit without all the bells and whistles but I feel like what I want to rp seems "boring" to people. Im starting to wonder why I even keep bumping my thread or coming back here to be honest.

 

[Crazy Trey-n]

Platonic 1x1s (I once had an idea for a 1x1 (that I'd never put into action because I don't like 1x1s) where two players play the main male character of a romantic movie/sitcom and his snarky friend)

Mysteries. I like mysteries.

More comedy. I'll be out here making quips and one-liners and everybody else will be playing characters that are brooding or something. I dunno.

Pretty much +1 to everything here! Not quite a fan of 1x1's either (for reasons, of course), but platonic, worldbuilding and adventurous ones seem rather interesting. Pretty much to cooperatively craft a story. A few of the more bookworm-ish friends of mine and I will exchange ideas around a campfire when we're outdoors for a nightly trip, which is as close to it as I've been able to get. Fun to stretch the creative noodle.

Also, mysteries +2. Hard to get them right sometimes and even more so in a roleplay setting with a group, but even more satisfying if you can pull it off/solve it.

 

[BackSet]

Superhero type roleplays that start off as fun goofy ones but then the bad guy emerges from the shadows and it's more of an overarching thing.

I tried that once. We didn't even get to the point where the main bad guy showed up.

 

[Hopper]

I tried that once. We didn't even get to the point where the main bad guy showed up.

It's why I've never tried, I feel like it would be hard to get to that point - plus I've never GM-d before.