[Discussion] Community RPG Anyone?

[mr. peasant]

Let's see... as of late, we've been talking about the same topics again and again, discussing about our discussions and Gradius is trolling. And we're feeding him!! Ladies and gentlemen, it's official: We, as a community, are bored.

To those who still remember, a few SC:L members attempted at starting a Starcraft RPG some time back. However, for one reason or another, things didn't work out. Seeing as how we haven't much else to talk about, anyone think we should take another crack at it?

If so, what races would you like to play? What should its setting be like? Discuss!


To the mods: Posted it in the Off-topic Lounge even though this is Starcraft related since I wasn't sure where this ought to go. That said, the original RPG thread was in the Lore forum. Feel free to move this wherever should you feel it more appropriate.

[Arkalis]

I read about it when I joined SC:L, and I wanted to join but for that time it was dead. I would like to join this time and help to keep it alive.

[Sarov]

The fact that the community has been bored is a fact that I've known for a long time and noticed a long time before that.

Anyways, back on topic. The problem is not that things didn't work out but that most people. I say "most people" because I am actually used to RPs conducted solely online with multiple people (anywhere from two to a dozen or more). Sure, Visions of Khas may have played D&D for a long time but that is much different from online RPs, and even more different from PbP (play-by-post) RPs. The problems with online RPing are:

- everyone must be on at the same time (if it is a "real time" RP, meaning chat-rooms rather than forums)

- everyone must post at least once every few days or less depending on the availability of people (if it is a play-by-post RP on a forum)

While these two facts are obvious, most people don't actually think about what they mean. In a play-by-post RP, whether on a forum or through e-mails, everyone is not on and RPing at the same time. This means that if people advance the plot or have their characters leave the area, it makes it harder for the other players to get back in.

These types of RPs should not be plot based and should be "Free form". In other words, instead of there being an over arching plot liked D&D, it should be played within a certain point in the StarCraft timeline. So, if you played during the first game, the "plot" would be that game. A problem with this is that you have to be very careful in making sure that the players' actions do not shift the storyline, assuming you want to keep as close to the cannon storyline as possible.

Another problem is that in a fandom as large as StarCraft, you run the risk of player's never meeting up with the others. It does take place in a sector of space with dozens of planets after all. Yet another problem is character choice. There are countless factions and countless "units" so letting someone play a powerful Dark Templar when there are people playing simple marines is dangerous. You need to try and get a balance of RP potential without making one character vastly stronger than the other.

As for myself, one of the problems I absolutely loathe and despise is "God-modding". Particularly numbers 1, 2, and 3. Do not take control of my character no matter what you want to do. It's happened before I believe, and it annoyed me. This of course brings up other problems:

- If people cannot automatically hit someone or further the conversation without risk of going too far, the RP bogs down and there is more time spent on simple things like conversations and combat.

- [Solution / Answer] This is not actually a problem that should be complained about but a natural occurrence in these types of online RPs. If a conversation is taking a while then ask them whether they can speed it up or not - or just talk to the person period.

Of course, there are other problems that I could list and explain but I'll let people reply to these ones firsts.

Besides that, I would love for there to be another RP. I love RPing and it's something I've been doing for most of my life.

Being a person who has not only a long history of RP experience but running D&D (and nWoD, etc) as well as online RPs (and moderating them), I think I can help with some of these problems. Maybe even to help come up with rules as well.

[Arkalis]

Well, I've only played on real-time RPs in the Starcraft Custom Map Community like Cortex. Never this type, but I have patience and would like this to become something.

Perhaps we can use my defunct Roleplaying Social Group I made.

[Sarov]

RPing is a lot of fun but admittedly, online/forum-based RPs take much more work. But the pay-off is worth it. I think one of the problems that the RP didn't last long was that a lot of the members were/are in college/university. Either studies or exams took up their time (besides homework).

[Arkalis]

Maybe we can stack up a good Rping momentum in this holidays

[mr. peasant]

Another problem is that in a fandom as large as StarCraft, you run the risk of player's never meeting up with the others. It does take place in a sector of space with dozens of planets after all. Yet another problem is character choice. There are countless factions and countless "units" so letting someone play a powerful Dark Templar when there are people playing simple marines is dangerous. You need to try and get a balance of RP potential without making one character vastly stronger than the other.

Essentially, the problems here are that the SC universe is so wide that characters may never meet and that characters may be vastly different in power. The solution to this is simple in that the GM should simply determine a setting, fixed in time and place in which the game is run in. For instance, the game could be set on a Terran colony besieged by the new Zerg invasion, in which a small group of Protoss have arrived for unknown reasons. This limits the play feld, allowing greater opportunity for players to meet and interact, and limits what kind of characters can logically appear in such a setting.

As for myself, one of the problems I absolutely loathe and despise is "God-modding". Particularly numbers 1, 2, and 3. Do not take control of my character no matter what you want to do. It's happened before I believe, and it annoyed me. This of course brings up other problems:

The solution to this is somewhat straightforward, on the condition that you do not feel the need to completely micromanage every event that happens to your character. As the game does not take place in real time, such a stance makes interaction with said character diffcult.

A possible solution I'd like to put forward is to create a list of notes at the end of each post as to the conditions required to interact with your character/scenario. It can vary in the level of detail, from '<insert PC name> is in a bad mood' to 'don't harm <insert NPC name>'. Of course, these notes can be put in a spoiler tag so as not to spoil the surprise for those not directly involved.

[Articorse]

I agree with mr.Peasant's suggestion to limit the playing field. Basicly the GM should make a good setting to begin with. I think we should also follow the following restrictions:

- Canon characters should be restricted to cameo appearances only.

- Zerg characters are out of the question. Zerg are my favorite race both lore-wise and gameplay-wise, but the only sentient zerg are those in control, so...

- We should stick to either an all-terran line-up or an all-protoss one. Having a plausible mixed group would be nigh-impossible in my view. Not to mention the huge differences in strength, as Sarov said. If one character is a Zealot and another is a Marine... well, that's not exactly fair. Then again, if someone can make it work, why not?

- I realize this is a bit dickish of me, but I think we shouldn't allow anyone, who can post less than once every three days(or so), in. Or if they do participate, they should play characters that are not integral to the plot and only appear every once in a while.

- We should gather a relatively small group of people. 5-6 would be ideal, 10 at the absolute maximum. Considering this is probably all going to take place in one thread, having 15 people posting will be anarchy. But if we can get a sub-forum or something, then this restriction, as well as the previous one, aren't necessary.

Excluding these, if we have a creative GM, I think we can make a small group to RP with.

[mr. peasant]

- Canon characters should be restricted to cameo appearances only.

That's definitely sensible. Even if canon characters do make a major appearance, they should be strictly NPC. That way, everyone gets to use them with no one being allowed special 'dibs' over them.

- Zerg characters are out of the question. Zerg are my favorite race both lore-wise and gameplay-wise, but the only sentient zerg are those in control, so...

Well, I wouldn't say they are completely out of the question - especially since there are sentient Zerg; specifically Queens and Overlords/Overseers. That said, one needs to be very cautious before attempting one, and the GM confident on the player's writing abilities. I don't see it as being any different from playing say, a schizophrenic.

- We should stick to either an all-terran line-up or an all-protoss one. Having a plausible mixed group would be nigh-impossible in my view. Not to mention the huge differences in strength, as Sarov said. If one character is a Zealot and another is a Marine... well, that's not exactly fair. Then again, if someone can make it work, why not?

It all depends on the setting. And personally, I prefer the idea of having both, Terran and Protoss playable (with the Zerg appearing as well) to some extent as the three races are what make the Starcraft setting, well, the Starcraft setting.

- I realize this is a bit dickish of me, but I think we shouldn't allow anyone, who can post less than once every three days(or so), in. Or if they do participate, they should play characters that are not integral to the plot and only appear every once in a while.

- We should gather a relatively small group of people. 5-6 would be ideal, 10 at the absolute maximum. Considering this is probably all going to take place in one thread, having 15 people posting will be anarchy. But if we can get a sub-forum or something, then this restriction, as well as the previous one, aren't necessary.

I think a better compromise is to simply have those unable to fully commit to be more willing to have their characters 'tag along' with whatever the ongoing situation is. Otherwise, their characters would wind up getting sidelined.

As for the numbers, it's definitely sensible to keep the numbers small. However, the primary challenge is to recruit a good number of players to begin with. As it stands, aside from yourself, the only ones who have expressed interest are Arkalis and Sarov. That's still too few, in my book anyway,

[Arkalis]

- Canon characters should be restricted to cameo appearances only.

Totally agreed; if none present the better

- Zerg characters are out of the question. Zerg are my favorite race both lore-wise and gameplay-wise, but the only sentient zerg are those in control, so...

This has been proven true, unless there is some story of a Zerg that broke out of control, in which either case the other characters will probably shoot it on sight.

- We should stick to either an all-terran line-up or an all-protoss one. Having a plausible mixed group would be nigh-impossible in my view. Not to mention the huge differences in strength, as Sarov said. If one character is a Zealot and another is a Marine... well, that's not exactly fair. Then again, if someone can make it work, why not?

I agree in a part, but limiting the playing field too much may make it pretty straightforward. As you all said, the GM is who will decide if he or she can make it work.

- I realize this is a bit dickish of me, but I think we shouldn't allow anyone, who can post less than once every three days(or so), in. Or if they do participate, they should play characters that are not integral to the plot and only appear every once in a while.

It isn't dickish; though somewhat cold it is. Most RPGs die of inactivity of the pivotal or main characters. Limiting them could be a solution but the GM should decide how much to restrict their role.

- We should gather a relatively small group of people. 5-6 would be ideal, 10 at the absolute maximum. Considering this is probably all going to take place in one thread, having 15 people posting will be anarchy. But if we can get a sub-forum or something, then this restriction, as well as the previous one, aren't necessary.

Alot of people in a thread will be chaos, true. Getting a sub-forum may be far from reachable considering the limits of SC:L. A social group may be the ideal but various threads will diverge the main plot. Probably a small group of people as you say will be the best for it to work.