Post by CMPunkCMPunk on May 1, 2018 22:06:41 GMT -5
Okay, guys. This is it. The best idea I've had yet, by far. Over time I have struggled to come up with ways to evolve the concept of a forum based game. I've experimented with quite a few formats, and had tons of fun with all of you. However, I've never once figured out a way in which we can all have our cake and eat it too. That, my friends, ends today. I have figured out a way that I think truly can give the best of all possible worlds.
Naturally, everyone loves making their own character. It's why customization has become such an ubiquitous trait in our video games, to say nothing of our day to day IRL lives. Sure, it's fun to see someone else's story, like a Geralt of Rivia or a Commander Shephard, and influence it in your own way, but this is a different kind of appeal from the type of traditional roleplaying that goes on in something like Dungeons and Dragons - IMO one of the supreme formats, but also one which I prefer to play in real time. I myself have been known to spend tons of time making sure my character is absolutely perfect before sending them out into Skyrim, or the Mojave, or Lordran or w/e. There's simply nothing like taking a character from a thought in your mind and weaving a brand new tale with them.
However, there's also something to be said for a tight, crisp narrative. Watching a story come together, linking a variety of disparate elements and focusing on a core narrative that jives well with all of them. Yes, I think we've all appreciated the joy of seeing more planned stories as well - stories that lacked the ultimate, go-anywhere, do-anything freedom of a Persona or an Elder Scrolls. However, I have come to learn over the years that there's so much that can be done with such a format - pacing, in particular, can be done just right, hitting the story beats at just the right times for maximum emotional impact, developing the characters and dialogue to an extent that freeform storytelling doesn't always have, and making sure that there's as little filler as possible.
I would like to propose an option that lets us enjoy the traits of both of these formats. I propose a brand new game variety, which would be a Hybrid of the style this site was based on and the CYOA format. In this proposal of mine, players would individually come up with characters all on their own, to fit a particular theme of sorts. The player characters could be crew on a starship exploring the final frontier, or they could be the population of a settlement trying to survive in a challenging post-apocalyptic environment, or a group of valiant superheroes, responding to threats in a city of your choosing, or it could even be something weird like a squad of Ocean's Eleven/Lupin the 3rd style criminals trying to keep one jump ahead of the bread line and one swing ahead of the sword, or freedom fighters taking the battle to their oppressors in a vaporwave-influenced cyberpunk dystopia. Those are just some of the possible applications. Ultimately though, the crux of what would happen is that even if not every character appeared in every scene, there would be a rich pool of characters for you all to be invested in, and which could be used to tell shorter-format stories. Episodic, like. Not necessarily giant grand epics that would take forever, but digestible Episodes that we could enjoy as a shared community experience. And here's the best part - specifically, if I went through with this concept, I would be in direct communication with each of you, making sure I'm portraying them just like you expect me to, and that I'm taking their personal characterization in directions you would have. As well, I would provide each player with a veto slot to be used, for example, if the overall voting has made a selection which affects your character and which you are 100% against. Maybe you think it's out of character for them, or maybe you think it's dangerous to their well-being, or maybe you just dislike it. Either way, I will not force people to see their characters do things they hate against their will.
This format is not perfect. It is less free than a traditional game is, no question of it. But I believe it to, at the very least, be worth investigating and attempting.
Feedback would be appreciated on this subject, which I've been tossing around my head for a while.
#ClickbaitTitle #SorryNotSorry
Naturally, everyone loves making their own character. It's why customization has become such an ubiquitous trait in our video games, to say nothing of our day to day IRL lives. Sure, it's fun to see someone else's story, like a Geralt of Rivia or a Commander Shephard, and influence it in your own way, but this is a different kind of appeal from the type of traditional roleplaying that goes on in something like Dungeons and Dragons - IMO one of the supreme formats, but also one which I prefer to play in real time. I myself have been known to spend tons of time making sure my character is absolutely perfect before sending them out into Skyrim, or the Mojave, or Lordran or w/e. There's simply nothing like taking a character from a thought in your mind and weaving a brand new tale with them.
However, there's also something to be said for a tight, crisp narrative. Watching a story come together, linking a variety of disparate elements and focusing on a core narrative that jives well with all of them. Yes, I think we've all appreciated the joy of seeing more planned stories as well - stories that lacked the ultimate, go-anywhere, do-anything freedom of a Persona or an Elder Scrolls. However, I have come to learn over the years that there's so much that can be done with such a format - pacing, in particular, can be done just right, hitting the story beats at just the right times for maximum emotional impact, developing the characters and dialogue to an extent that freeform storytelling doesn't always have, and making sure that there's as little filler as possible.
I would like to propose an option that lets us enjoy the traits of both of these formats. I propose a brand new game variety, which would be a Hybrid of the style this site was based on and the CYOA format. In this proposal of mine, players would individually come up with characters all on their own, to fit a particular theme of sorts. The player characters could be crew on a starship exploring the final frontier, or they could be the population of a settlement trying to survive in a challenging post-apocalyptic environment, or a group of valiant superheroes, responding to threats in a city of your choosing, or it could even be something weird like a squad of Ocean's Eleven/Lupin the 3rd style criminals trying to keep one jump ahead of the bread line and one swing ahead of the sword, or freedom fighters taking the battle to their oppressors in a vaporwave-influenced cyberpunk dystopia. Those are just some of the possible applications. Ultimately though, the crux of what would happen is that even if not every character appeared in every scene, there would be a rich pool of characters for you all to be invested in, and which could be used to tell shorter-format stories. Episodic, like. Not necessarily giant grand epics that would take forever, but digestible Episodes that we could enjoy as a shared community experience. And here's the best part - specifically, if I went through with this concept, I would be in direct communication with each of you, making sure I'm portraying them just like you expect me to, and that I'm taking their personal characterization in directions you would have. As well, I would provide each player with a veto slot to be used, for example, if the overall voting has made a selection which affects your character and which you are 100% against. Maybe you think it's out of character for them, or maybe you think it's dangerous to their well-being, or maybe you just dislike it. Either way, I will not force people to see their characters do things they hate against their will.
This format is not perfect. It is less free than a traditional game is, no question of it. But I believe it to, at the very least, be worth investigating and attempting.
Feedback would be appreciated on this subject, which I've been tossing around my head for a while.
#ClickbaitTitle #SorryNotSorry
