Not a Complaint

[Mr kikonos]

Ok i'll start out by saying that i love enworld and the fact that even with the complaints it is still running and not on a shelf, now i'd also like to ask why everyone is complaining so much about things? i mean we're all Roleplayers and what not or we wouldnt be here at all. so with this i want to ask what could be done besides swallowing some pride and not haveing a razor sharp tounge to help everyone get along better, kinda like how can we bond to make a better community as a whole.

I'm posting this partly because of the zombie outbreak thread that was closed because of harshness of words.
Thankyou all
Mr. Kikonos

 

[Annoince]

working with it. Trying to keep the complains to the selfs not throwing it on everyone else. Its hard to say whats really bugging people in the background, it could be that they just want something to complain about. its hard to say.
In the zombie out break it was more so just pointing fingers. at things that didnt need to be pointing fingers at, and to something else. It can happen from just self defence to just plan ticked.
Im not saying I havent pointed fingers at someone.
So basically think before complaing?

but yea. thats my opinion. I think its on topic if not my bad.

 

[BRANDIA]

It's human nature. Put any group of people into an enviroment and let them interact and there is friction. People like to stamp a mark on their enviroment and make it theirs. When everyone is doing that there will be clashes, That's why any place needs rules. The same rules for everyone. People and specialy young people hate rules..they rebel they push and complain and want to stretch. It's all part of life..let it wash over you calmly and it realy isn't that bad.

 

[Elf_Ariel]

I'm not one to ever think a complaint should be kept to yourself. That just makes it fester and boil.

I do like/try to have a constuctive thought pattern. If you dont like something, think about it first, and come up with a solution you yourself can implement to solve the problem. Failing that, then put forth the issue, for others to try and solve. Then comes the hard bit, accepting the advice that others put forward, and trying their plans of attack. No matter how silly, vague, wayward they might seem; there's a chance they might actually work, else the suggestion wouldn't have been made imho.

I also believe...for a community this large there is a lack of willing DMs...as well as a lack of base level characters/players. Everyone wants to play, but we all want to be the best too. It's a little like going to a party, and trying to wear the shortest skirt. Eventually someone wears none and we're all screwed. Now this is not a jibe at DMs. I dont envy their positions, in fact I salute them for their bravery, dedication, knowledge and selflessness. I myself, am starting to fit into those shoes and I'm finding out first hand, just how difficult organising and running an RP is. You're forced to be adaptable, which leaves you open to having your hard-work storyline ruined by someone who just wants to be king-pin popular.

The lack of storylines, puts us all on edge. We love being here, but when it gets boring, we pick up on all the faults and cracks and suddenly they are a big deal. Close your eyes, imagine, challenge your way of thinking, and...

...DO something about it!

 

[Tharivious]

I also believe...for a community this large there is a lack of willing DMs...as well as a lack of base level characters/players. Everyone wants to play, but we all want to be the best too. It's a little like going to a party, and trying to wear the shortest skirt. Eventually someone wears none and we're all screwed. Now this is not a jibe at DMs. I dont envy their positions, in fact I salute them for their bravery, dedication, knowledge and selflessness. I myself, am starting to fit into those shoes and I'm finding out first hand, just how difficult organising and running an RP is. You're forced to be adaptable, which leaves you open to having your hard-work storyline ruined by someone who just wants to be king-pin popular.

And, as I'm quickly learning, adds more of a workload to an already overloaded schedule. It's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding to see a plan come to fruition, especially when you start to get to know different people as the plot grows and expands that you can actually get along with. You might run into one or two people that just want to monkeywrench for the sake of being a monkeywrench, but those types are fairly easily avoided once identified.

I may not be a DM in the same sense, but my part in coordinating Sril've Cress is quickly becoming a full time job (soon to be more so, but that's another story). Between what goes on in the chats and what we're setting up elsewhere, it's taking up a good four or more hours a day writing and planning with the other players (for me at least), not counting chat time, but it's been well worth it. The connections you make while working on this sort of thing are just too good to complain about the time the effort takes, monkeywrenchers aside.

The lack of storylines, puts us all on edge. We love being here, but when it gets boring, we pick up on all the faults and cracks and suddenly they are a big deal. Close your eyes, imagine, challenge your way of thinking, and...

...DO something about it!

Couldn't have said it better myself. There's nothing that solves the problems one has like actively repairing the ones that you yourself encounter and leading by example.

 

[Nugan]

While I think that argument and debate play an essential role in shaping and reshaping any community, I agree that, when possible, the best solution is often to create something of your own.

In terms of creating storylines, it may be worth mentioning that nearly all of the storylines that players still remember--the Adepts, the Viles, the Alliance, the Redeemers, Apathy (I hope), Sril've Cress, etc.--were group storylines. I think this is because group storylines effectively sidestep both of the concerns Ariel mentioned. They don't need a single "DM" to direct their progression, since each member of the group develops their own trajectory based on the goals of the group and their own character's motivations. They are also inclusive, allowing everyone to participate without having to feel like a minor NPC in someone else's story. (In fact, groups tend to disintegrate when these principles break down and members start to feel either totally incapable of impacting or directing the story, totally controlled by the group's leader, or like superfluous foot soldiers in one player's plans.)

Since, as far as I can tell, there do not seem to be many open, active guilds or groupa operating in ISRP at the moment, this might be an avenue worth exploring for someone who wants to start a storyline.

 

[Ruthia]

I hate to point out but, there are several storylines on ISRP now. The Adepts/Lords is a current running one for example. Yet it seems anytime an Adept is seen on site all other players leave the room. That tends to make a storyline go sour real fast. And the attitudes that cause that affect also cause other newer guilds to fall through, as I saw with one I started a while back. Or even better, the people who constantly say "Well they only RP with friends so I'm not RPing with them. They run a closed storyline." Hearing things like this constantly thrown in your face has a tendancy to make people say "Well everyones just going to complain about it anyways so why should I try?"
I, personally, feel this is why many storylines have failed or left ISRP....the community doesn't seem to want anything that takes time to acctually do.

Course, this is all IMO and not a complaint....Just pointing out what I've seen and been submitted to in the past.

 

[Elf_Ariel]

It takes times and considerable effort to build a storyline. And I believe, what a lot of people miss, is the fact all storeylines begin with friends. I mean hell, I'd have no chance of getting anything off the ground, if it weren't for the folks I've already met and cherished via ISRP. On the other hand, I am a very open person. I -try- to actively invite folks into my RPs, be they first met or otherwise. Some accept, and some decline, but for the most part, recruitment, for me at least, is an OOC process.

But perhaps I'm a little one sighted:
Is there such a thing, as an RP that is not a group RP?
Essentially it is a game, played with multiple participants. Sometimes, you have a limit to participants, and sometimes you dont. For instance, the RP I just ran, the murder mystery dinner, was certainly a group RP. It also had a minimum and maximum number of players. On the other hand, if you hadn't signed up before hand, you couldn't really participate; because, well, there was a lot of information to process and apply to your character. I didn't really say -no- people weren't allowed to join us, but it was required that they abide by the storyline; which is not often something you can pick up in five minutes.

My answer to Ru is this...*huggles* You know I love picking on you. Involve them anyways. If someone comes up to you and says: ehhh this RP is so groupy. Have an answer like: Yeah but I have this part *example* do you think you have anyone suitable? If their reply is no, give em a few more options and if they -still- turn you down, then you know to let their issues wash over the shoulders. You -cant- help folk who dont want to help themselves.

The key to involvement in an RP, is having open places for people/characters that suit them. That little insight is becoming a major learning curve for me. But we all try...at some point, to make up for what we see is wrong. I dislike the thought of single DMing...in fact it horrifies me to think I'm the only one in control (which is silly, I know...but still). Hence I ask a lot of questions to people behind the scenes. I'm weird I guess, in a sense that I'll take several peoples/characters goals and help them fulfill em. On the other end of the stick, as a player, it is often -way- easier to let someone do all the planning and you just -play-. And I would know, I've been doing it for years ;-).

 

[Nugan]

Is there such a thing, as an RP that is not a group RP?

What I meant was a storyline designed around an in character group or organization, versus a storyline designed around advancing a linear, preplanned plot or centered on the life of a particular character. Both of these latter types, while certainly interesting with a small group, are going to run into the difficulties that you named once you expand their scope beyond a few friends and remove a DM. Whereas a storyline based around a larger in character organization, like the ones I named, does not have to be linear or centered in the same way as the other types, and thus is useful when you're pitching a storyline to a larger field of potential players.

Does this mean that I think that all ISRP storylines should be based on in character organizations? No, as I said, the other types work very well when you have a small cluster of players. However, since the discussion was about getting more people active in storylines, a new in character group (or two opposed groups, a la Viles vs. Alliance) might be a good idea.

 

[Mr kikonos]

However, since the discussion was about getting more people active in storylines, a new in character group (or two opposed groups, a la Viles vs. Alliance) might be a good idea.

Ok on a side note since Nugan has brought up IC groups, what kind of group is someone going to want to join that could compare to the Adepts or the Viles or even the Darkness...
In my personal opinion i think like a previous poster said "it all starts with Friends" and then as your friends bring their friends you in turn have more people to interact with.