Open Poll: Why Don't You RP Anymore? (NO SPAM!)

[WillBaseton]

It's recently come to my attention that a lot of RPGWWers have ceased partaking in the activities that make this forum great. Of course, I mean the RPs. Be it recently or long ago, many members of our esteemed group have simply dropped the RPing torch for some reason for another. So as not to be rude or confrontational, I ask you: If you no longer RP, is there a reason why? If so, can we change Gaera to help? This is not meant to be a personal attack at anyone, simply a way to better understand how we can make RPing here more suitable for everyone.


Edit: If you still DO RP, feel free to leave ideas on how to improve our RPing experience as a whole! <p>

---

Dragons own you. Don't even waste your time trying to argue.

"Why the hell are goons with swords so rare these days?" - Jak Snide</p>Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=squintzaltec>Squintz]&nbsp; at: 9/10/03 4:21 pm

[Jak Snide]

Well, I hardly CI as much as I used to. This is because, simply, there are people who just put me off. Not mentioning any names (since I'm not stupid in this regard) but I just don't like RPing around some people. Their characters may be hard to take seriously, and thus I find RPing hard, or I may just not like the person, plain and simple.

Another thing that bugs me about CI is that it's so hard just to get one started. People bitch about how they don't have any characters here, so and so wouldn't be there and so on. And people ask for "not another bar RP". The alternatives are Doma Park and the castle (which has limited access, thank you very much) unless people throw reason to the wind somewhat and BS a reason that their character might be outside Doma. I've sat in chats for 1/2 an hour waiting for people to settle on a location where everyone is happy and they have a character.

As for organised RPs, I don't have a problem, so eh.

[5orbus]

So far the only RPs I have taken part in have just died after a week or so, and secondly, I am currently sharing an extrememly dodgy (ie bust) computer with my family, however soon I will be at uni, so should have more time to post. Sharing the computer means that the only time i can really get online is late at night, when I am not really thinking well enough to RP generally.

[LadyDragonClawsEDW]

I'm in the same boat as Jak with much stuff...and I kinda don't lik ewalking into RPs where I don't know any of the characters whatsoever... <p>

---

One hat to rule them all.</p>

[Jak Snide]

It's not just not knowing the characters. Sometimes that doesn't matter. If I know a character, and dislike them personally, I won't be able to RP well with them.

Also, Kate reminds me of another thing. "Walking in." Joining a CIRP once it's going is something I hate doing. Firstly, if the CI is going well, I need to force my way into the goings on, which disrupts things for other players. If it's not, I've got to try and start something up, which is normally equally hard, given that nobody's talking already, and are thus not in the right mood for RPing.

[Wolfbelly]

Well, to be quite honest I don't like most of the people who I RP with. Yes, it can be fun. yes, it can be exciting. Sad to say, most of the time I find it a little agravating.

That, and school. And work. And the fact that I didn't RP much to begin with.

[pd Rydia]

School. <p>

---

<span style="font-size:xx-small;">-=- "Zoooooom...Zoooooom...CRASH! Enthusiasm counts. Never be afraid to try."
-=- "All cookies are good, dum-dum." -- Binky
-=- "Kazootles!"

{RPGWW -- an RPing community} -- {Hogwarts RP} -- {RP Boot Camp}
{Rydia's Pocket Dragon Encyclopedia} -- {StarDragon Oekaki}</span></p>

[SALSAlys]

I think the others have already touched on a lot of stuff. *shrug*

I still arpee quite a bit, but when I don't, it's usually do to the fact that I use AIM for MORE than just chat arpees, y'know. I have chats with friends too, or about homework, and I'm too lazy to make more than one sn. Yep, school's busy.

And... yeah. Sometimes, it feels just awkward arpeeing with characters I don't know that well.... although to be fair, I make plenty of chars who people don't know much either, but still— it makes starting a real CI difficult. Not all characters are super-social, y'know. I tend to have less of an issue with the players, though. *shrug*

[Endesu]

Lack of interest.

I'll still do board, and I'll still GM my own little plotlines.

But I'm iffy on CIRP. On one side, I have good memories of it, on the other, it isn't quite as much fun anymore.

Not sure why. :D <p>

---

There was a hole here once. Now it's gone.</p>

[EKDS5k]

Sex (or the pursuit thereof) > RPing

What? It is.

[BrainWalker]

I kind of share the anti-CI sentiment that's been raised so far in this thread. It's always the same stupid "bar scene" thing, or, failing that, a massive argument about where else people should be. The P in RP stands for playing. It's supposed to be fun. Why can't people just get along and be a bit more loose about that sort of thing? I mean, it's just a little CI.

As for actual RPs... it's a little overwhelming. I'm so totally out of the loop that I have absolutely no idea what's going on in Gaera, or what's led up to what's going on in Gaera, or why any of my characters would have anything to do with any of that stuff. I like creating characters and watching them grow and interact with other RPers, but... it's hard to get my foot in the door.

Plus I'm lazy.

Then there's life. That always gets in the way... especially when chat RPs go into the wee hours of the morning. School, church obligations, and hanging with friends all have to take priority. <p><div style="text-align:center"></div></p>

[Uncle Pervy]

I have found the whole "Sitting in Bars" thing to be a false perception.

Most RPs take place in the streets or the park nowadays. Sometimes they lead to to establishments, sometimes they don't.

If you have a problem finding somewhere to go...Go Here and find something. The Guide was made for a reason. And when you make a new place, PLEASE update it. <p>------------------
Greetings, large black person. Let us not forget to form a team up together and go into the country to inflict the pain of our karate feets on some ass of the giant lizard person.
</p>

[Deeum]

<blockquote style="padding-left:0.5em; margin-left:0; margin-right:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; border-left:solid 2">. And people ask for "not another bar RP". The alternatives are Doma Park and the castle (which has limited access, thank you very much)[/quote]

>_>
That one was at me I'm pretty sure.
I just dislike Bar rps. It got old a repeative after a while. Not to mentioned boring as hell when you get asked the same questions as every other time you walk into the bar be it old or new comers. I'm not expecting action to come from it. I'm aware that its just for the soul purpose of CI. Walking into a bar, sittind down, and ordring a drink as you happen to 'notice' someone else. Its fine for other people I'm sure. Just for me it's lost its spark.

Other reasons:Lack of intrest in RPing can factor into this. I just never want to anymore.
Its fine once in a while, but lately with all thats going on, and me missing so much. I just don't see a point in trying to do anything anymore.
Its like, the knights of doma have doubled since I last recall. When I start Rpin with someone who happens to be a knight also, its pretty damn hard to think of an excuse on why I haven't known them. Not to mention keeping it original other then ".
Its tot he point where I say "Fuck it, I'm not going to RP anymore" <p>

---

<div style="text-align:center"><span style="color:black;font-family:verdana;">StarDragon Studios - Livejournal
S-D.Net Oekaki - Elitist Bastards

---

</span>

</div></p>

[Jak Snide]

On a quick note, that wasn't aimed at you, Sarah, since the last time you and I were in a CIRP room together is beyond my memory's limits.

[Vampire Jester Jinx]

lack of interest 1. 2) quite a few of the people i enjoy rping with no longer do, or are not on at the same time as i. 3) lack of rps where THINGS HAPPEN. i'm really getting sick of ci. that's why i'm digging the second gen right now, because quite a few of the rps are gmed. and that's cool. 4) it's not just rping that i've lost interest in, i find it hard to get that much into rpgww as a whole anymore. <p>

---

<div style="text-align:center">

"Oh the funky horror!" ~ Happy Noodle Boy</div></p>

[SALSAlys]

Mm. Just wondering now what other people define as 'things happening'. I've talked with Phil a bit about this, but...

*shrug*

Right, what makes an arpee where things happen? GMing included, but other sources as well.

'Cuz for me, I like the GMed arpees because they DO have structure and yes, 'things happen'. We go new places, see somebody, go do this, do that, whatever. We have a purpose. Doesn't always have to be a great big one like "SAVE THE UNIVERSE, PEOPLE!" or combat-oriented, but just like looking for a fern to heal a friend, finding a lost child, etc.

[Jak Snide]

Although it's just a spontaneous idea, why not organise "lite" RPs for those times when you've got a few hours spare. Lys has the right idea about what sort of things can go on.

Addressing BW's point of being "out of the loop," you can always ask, IC, about something you and your character don't know about. Gives the other characters something to talk about, too.

[SALSAlys]

...although I guess I never really thought about it until Jak pointed it out, 'lite' arpees COULD be a very good thing. o.o I was looking through a bunch of my old notebooks and sketchbooks, found scribbles to myself which were small RP ideas I had thought of, then tossed because they didn't seem 'expandable' for something major.

Wonder how many other people had snippets of ideas like that? Because it doesn't HAVE to be major, but it's still 'something happening' and should give at least some leeway for people who are tired of thinking up grand big arpees. And a bunch of those can be juggled about.

[Besyanteo]

I do RP, it's just... kinda rare. My characters don't have much to do or talk about these days, because I went and worked out most of their personal problems already. >.>;
I have been taking advantage of the idea of a lite RP, which forshadow the bigger plot event that's been stewing in my mind for a while. But, being/trying to be evil is going to get old pretty quick. >.>; I suck at being Evil. ...
ANYWAY.

Reasons I dislike First Gen: The majority of the time, my characters, who at some point became too focused on themselves, see no one they know, and thus don't interact. Kinda like were I at a Restuarant, chances are I wouldn't start talking to people at the next table. Just my business.

Reasons I dislike Second Gen: It's a future based RP, where the characters I have are based on the past. So theres entire histories from TWENTY YEARS they should know, and don't. Considering a few of them practically don't age, and know similar people, this does cause a problem. After that, everyone else they could meet is already in their own little world, and it's again not their business to bother them.

Reasons I dislike DF: Oh lordy where to begin. I don't know my limitations, there are aparently niegh invincible chars running about, situations make no sense to me, and on a purely personal note, I can't seem to make my characters do their old thing of meeting new people, so they can have their own little world, which is nobody else's business, which is all I can ever seem to do. o.o; <p>_______________



Look at all the jello. :D</p>

[SALSAlys]

Myeaka. Jason-san's right, and I guess I didn't think about it that much. o.o

Ever notice how certain 'cliques' of chars kind of build up? Like when you're RPing with a couple friends, you tend to have characters who interact only with certain other chars of your friends?

It's like... if I know a friend's going to use a certain character, then I may use a certain character as well, partially because they already know eachother, and partially because... it's just easier, I guess. Although it can get stagnant after a bit. o.o

[Idran1701]

On BW's out-of-the-loop problem: This is another reason why I began the timeline, because I was having the same problem, and not everything could be asked IC. Hopefully, it's at least somewhat useful for this purpose, but if anyone has any suggestions on how it could do this better, go ahead and offer them. <p>

---

"Never let your morals get in the way of doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin</p>

[Jak Snide]

Cliques form naturally between people in real life, and thus they do between characters as well. They also do between RPers, although it's not impossible to be part of more than one.

[Archmage144]

You know, I really do wish people wouldn't bitch about the "bar RP" deal, and I've noticed that a lot of people have one of the following accompanying reactions to it:

1) If you say "fine, let's do a streets RP instead," they say "alright, sounds good."
2) If you say "fine, let's do a streets RP," they say "no, let's do something interesting and different."

I'd like to stress that it's my opinion that the setting/location of a CI RP is almost completely and totally irrelevant. Granted, if every single RP took place in the Jade Dragon, it might start to wear on a few people, but honestly...why does the location/setting make any difference whatsoever, aside from whether or not a character can be there in the first place? People who complain about how we don't RP in "exotic" locations (Nekonia, Inustan, Baron, whatever) need to answer the following questions for me:

1) What does RPing in that location for a simple CI offer over RPing in any other location?
2) How should our characters get there, and why should they stay there?

More than anything else, on that point, I'm curious. <p>

---

<div style="text-align:center"></div>

</p>

[LadyDragonClawsEDW]

Also as for DF RPs, a bunch of people dropped out of those and then a bunch of people came in with characters I don't know or characters I can't stand and I just can't get into it anymore. Yeah sure the Rosalie thing was never resolved but now it's just gotten to the point where I just don't care anymore.

And Lex brings up another good point as to why I don't CI much anymore: NOTHING HAPPENS IN THEM. I can only go through so many times of RPing Aya drinking, Kyra wandering around the park, and Nayaa running around at night biting off the heads of rats before it gets way too old.

One of the solutions as I see it to this problem is to introduce conflict, draw in some plotty things, people sure won't mind, I'll tell you that, just don't do it to the point as to where, say, Darksoul the lord of hell and purgatory suddenly appears in the middle of doma in a storm of hellfire and demands to take over the place! Have someone having a party, throwing a ball, a music concert, just something interesting! <p>

---

One hat to rule them all.</p>

[Archmage144]

I think a lot of people are afraid to do things that involve them being any sort of pseudo-GM.

However, you give me an idea...a number of them, in fact. <p>

---

<div style="text-align:center"></div>

</p>

[Jak Snide]

Are they to be shared, or kept for evil purposes?

[Celeste of Elvenhame]

lack of free time keeps me from participating in a lot and the lack of time to get mysefl familar enough to adapt or create characters <p>---------------Celeste of Elvenhame --------------- </p>

[Uncle Pervy]

Psuedo GMing is fun. I've done it before; Guided CI is the term I like. Combine it with the Doma Guide and it's not too hard to do stuff.

Also, on the nature of having nothing to say...I find characters' private lives to be a vast untapped resource. Stories about stuff they did during the day can be interesting. Inverse always has tales of dealing with his employees, Enlil has tales of interesting homeless people she has met. Pervy and Fresca talk about criminals they have dealt with a little things in the castle. Dr. Roward sometimes complains about his neghbors. Zemekis goes on and on about family life...

See what I'm getting at? With a bit of imagination, it's not hard to give a character something to talk about. The trick is not to be too...overblown with it. <p>------------------
Greetings, large black person. Let us not forget to form a team up together and go into the country to inflict the pain of our karate feets on some ass of the giant lizard person.
</p>

[Archmage144]

Or overly dramatic, depending.

And they aren't evil things, Jak. o_O I prefer to keep evil out of CI, for the most part. <p>

---

<div style="text-align:center"></div>

</p>

[Jak Snide]

Well then, if they aren't evil....why not share them here? Hell, if they're good we could use them.

[WillBaseton]

Wow. I'm quite surprised at the response my little post has recieved. As I have said before to several people, I'm in the same boat as the people who're bored of NOTHING ever happening. The "lite RP" idea is good, but, as stated earlier, too many RPers fear GMing, it seems. We need to get everyone to start swallowing their pride and dishing out miniplots. World-saving things DON'T NEED TO HAPPEN. After all, parties, concerts, carnivals, those things ALL MAKE SENSE as locations for RPs. Why restrict RPs simply to two or three locations? From what I can tell, many of you share my opinions on RPing, but just didn't speak up. I'm glad that my impatience is leading to something GOOD for a change. Thank you, everyone. And if anyone else has ideas, please continue posting. I'm sure we can revive Gaera RPs to their former state if everyone helps out. <p>

---

Dragons own you. Don't even waste your time trying to argue.

"Why the hell are goons with swords so rare these days?" - Jak Snide</p>

[Choark]

Hmm Lets see...

1) I once constantly RP'ed almost every other day for a near 6 month period - and not just 1 or 2 hours either but a lot of the time going onto 6. This got tiring and honestly at one point I just needed a break, the brain had had enough. Goes for taking control of CI's as well and doing my own thing. I've just have been drained of a lot of ideas and no more are coming to me head at the moment.

2) University work. Lots of it. It drains the will to do RPing and sometimes it fuels it. But when I have a lot of it, Uni comes before this board. (In fact I'll probably start RPing more when University is back on as thats what normally gets me in the mood)

3) I got tired of CI's. Not the location, as some people (or at least AM did) pointed out the location normally means very little and I have characters in a bag I can whip out at any time and be anywhere. No I just got tired of contant nothings. A lot of CI's I got in was all introducing characters and moaning on about what had happened in there life and that was it, and I was meeting new people every other day - so I had to introduce myself a lot - and let other introduce there chaarcters. This is fine for the large part but it gets really annoying after a long while so now I tend to lurk and see whats actually happening before doing anything. - Strangly I really want to be in a world saving thing OR at least a cool treasure hunt or something - or did.

4) The RP's full. Happened a lot. Intresting RP's just get full up real quick like (course they do) - even intresting CI ones, and thusly it'd just be rude (or not plain allowed) to throw my characters in.

5) I can't, nor will I likely to much in the future, do the midnight to seven in the morning thing anymore. I just can't at the moment, so that cuts me out of a lot of RP's cause of the time zone diff.

6) I'm doing something else. Like sketching, learning some Flash (which unforantly I haven't actually done much of ... ho-hum ), Going out, Anime, hanging with friends and all that.

7) Not in the mood or blank state of mind. Really seems this happens a lot now. Brain has gone blank, can't think of what to say, character just pops out of my head, can't concentrate, that sort of thing. I feel this is happening I normally leave.

8) Work. No more said on that.

This is a peek into the lots of reasons why I hardly RP at the moment. Just a lot of excuses really *shrugs*

[Banjooie]

Ah. Here we are. I'm surprised nobody bashed Will for this. That's okay. I won't either.


Here's -my- main reasoning.

I don't make new characters well. I don't. The ones I do have, I do very well, in my opinion.

What this leads to is Banj has 8 characters in Gaera.

7 of which were made roughly the same time, with the exception of Diran.

Now. Because of this, the Neo Vanists are very well developed.

Everybody either knows everything that the Neo Vanists are up to, or knows absolutely nothing about them. The former becomes agitating, and the latter becomes tiresome, as they ICly explain themselves every damn minute.


Dark Future? Meh. Derek was, originally, a joke character. But yeah, he grew. And got bothersome to play, and the difficulty for me and making new characters peeks in.


Oh!

But surely, you say, your Neo Vanist issues can be solved if only you would partake in this god-blessed Second Gen which is TEH GREAETSEST ROLEPALYPALY IDEA EVAR!1111!!!!1!one

It's fucking ridiculous. You want to know why? Because we're going to do second gen for a little while, and somebody's going to come up with the absofuckinglutely brilliant idea of third gen. And everyone will flock to that, when in reality people, the only difference is people have different characters. Everyone started screaming about AU Gaera, at Ash, if I recall, a while back. Now we're doing the same thing, it's just that ours is vaguely connectable to the previous timeline.


This is also exactly what we were arguing about before with RPs being predictable: What's the point of a board RP if you can't, legitimately, have any sort of char development that would throw off a second gen RP?

By doing even one of these goddamn things, you've severely restricted char growth. I did one or two, then realized this. So, y'know what?

If you people continue in this vein, you are never insulting Ash for any RP idea he has -ever-. Got it?

Ash: If you feel the urge, after reading, to bitch about how your timelines were related to Main Gaera's, you have missed the point. Please re-read until you understand that my point was that it's okay if they do it because they can officiate it. <p><Chat> <Matto says, "What's up?"
<Chat> <Prince_Herb says, "Angst."
<Chat> <Prince_Herb says, "Drama."
<Chat> <Prince_Herb says, "Betrayal."
<Chat> <Prince_Herb says, "Plushies."</p>Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=banjooie>Banjooie</A]&nbsp; at: 9/11/03 9:16 am

[Jak Snide]

Quick Note: 2nd Gen's been branded AU for the purposes of continuity. You don't have to carefully consider what your characters are doing because it might affect something 20 years down the line. And if anyone bitches at you for "fucking up 2nd Gen" or the like (which I doubt has happened), you can tell them to piss off.

[Banjooie]

Then we come into the issue of what precisely affects and doesn't affect second gen. Or, more properly, the history of second gen. <p><Chat> <Matto says, "What's up?"
<Chat> <Prince_Herb says, "Angst."
<Chat> <Prince_Herb says, "Drama."
<Chat> <Prince_Herb says, "Betrayal."
<Chat> <Prince_Herb says, "Plushies."</p>

[Jak Snide]

Whatever the hell the players decide? Can't say "what's happened" has come up too much in my experience, besides "that old adventure" and so on.

The one exception is the ongoing discussion of whether Valth was destroyed by Vaniyakna and his army, or a giant magical lizard which rose from the depths of the sea.

[FF Fanatic 80]

Well, it's no secret that I've had this problem for awhile. It's not really due to any one thing, when I think about it, but more a combination of things. I'm not quite sure what can be done to fix these, so I may ramble.

1) I'm stuck in the situation of trying to take Dan/Stephan/Midoku/Jonas/etc and reintroduce them to people. It gets kinda annoying doing that several times, and I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything with them if they're always meeting strangers in bars/on the street/in the park and just talking. Its fine a few times, but after awhile it just seems pointless. I miss roleplaying them with characters they know over a few RP's and stuff happening.

I'd like to be able to get some consistent RP's going with characters mine know well, like Hakaril, or Choark, etc, but I'm just not sure how that's possible now.


2) Working Hours. When plotty things do happen, I'm just not around at the same time as the people who can or when they start up. Good luck finding a non-full chat RP past 8:30pm ~_~;


3) Addiction to a game problem. A friend got me into a MMORPG called Dark Age of Camelot back in November, when he and some mutual friends of his were already in the 'end game' ALA: Lv 50. By the time I got my own character to Lv50, they had quit the game. Now I just can't seem to get myself to up and quit this myself, I'm almost in the habit of logging on and going to thwack on monsters for XP or PvP with my Friar now. It kinda reminds me of when I have a new RPG and do nothing but play it nightly until I win the game. Unfortunatley, you can't win MMORPG's >.>;;

So... dunno what to do here. I could just quit and my characters would still be there if I ever wanted to renew my subscription, but I can't seem to bring myself to click the cancel button. Kinda feels like everything I've done the past year was for nothing. So there's another time occupier. v.v;;;


4) Lazyness. I've tried several times to get myself to write up more for Baron, or my charactes for a bio page, or update sprites, or even finishing a backstory fanfic of Daniel and Stephan's father. I just... don't feel like it, like my brain gets the message 'this involves work' and I lose all interest and watch TV/chat/play games. Its kinda tied to the 1st problem as well, it doesn't feel 'worth it' to bother.


...so wee, that's some of it. I'd post more but I gotta stay employed ^_^;;;

*fwips for great paycheck*

[Ajil6]

I don't RP because they always *die*. And I don't like that at all. I don't do Chat RP's very well, because, well, yeah, all Bar RP's, and I sometimes feel, well, out of place in the RP. XD Which I have touched on a lot. I guess I don't have much to offer in the way of a plot point. XD <p>[--------------------------------------------]
FETUS. I am a FETUS.</p>

[Divinegon2130]

I do participate in CI RPs, actually, when they're around, but I always feel like someone (whether it's me or not) is forced to inject some sort of action and plot to get the thing going, at which point it's not truly CI - it's probably closer to the guided CI that Pervy's brought up. I'm not saying that's bad, I'm saying it's just not the same.

Another reason CI RPs don't seem to be enough for me is, as some have pointed out, it tends to be character introductions and whining about personal issues, at least to many of my characters. I rarely encounter a situation where I have a character that knows one that's in the RP and not already occupied, which would allow me to carry things a step further.

Now, as for my stance on second gen, it's because, up until very recently, I've just been unable to think of a character idea (I think of it personally as very improper to use one character in two different timelines of the same RP world, as I find it hard to keep timelines separate), and now that I have one, I can never find a second gen that's GOING. As for Dark Future, I originally had a character idea a long time ago, but I've dropped him due to my concern that he really wouldn't work out as a viable character in DF (which means I need to talk to someone very familiar with DF before I can jump in).

The other reason I wouldn't RP is that I've found a lot more to do, and yes, my time has been taken up with school, schoolwork, and work study. <p>

---

<span style="font-size:medium;"> Current Quotes: </span> <span style="font-size:xx-small;"> <br />
"Are you kidding? Good thick mane, strong shanks, white teeth, you'll be beating them off with sticks." - Dalis (WhiteWereFox)
"Video games won't breed in captivity." - KnightsofSquare
"OK, how do shadows echo, Kelne?" - Idran (Idran1701)

View my online journal here. </span></p>

[Uncle Pervy]

Div: I'll try to keep you name in mind when the next Second Gen CI comes up.

<p>------------------
Greetings, large black person. Let us not forget to form a team up together and go into the country to inflict the pain of our karate feets on some ass of the giant lizard person.
</p>Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=unclepervy@rpgww60462>Uncle]&nbsp; at: 9/12/03 9:20 pm