PL: The EPIC OOC XI [closed]

[Tiltjuice]

Exactly. Bran, as Tilt has stated, the point of these exercises is to collect useful, meaningful data that the GMs, CoOPs, and that other players can use when planning story arcs and when figuring out what characters and players should be involved in story arcs.

Complaints about disliking certain events or story arcs, while taken into account, can only really help us if we understand why these complaints are happening, and data on preferences helps us separate disliking the subject matter from disliking how the event or arc is playing out.

Well, I mean, I don't really have a preference, like I said. I'm willing to be in any sort of story as long as my characters don't fall by the wayside and are forgotten. I went through PL for a few years without being in any major story, I'm just grateful to be included in stuff again that feels like it has meaning. It's why I don't have a least-favorite genre, it's why I appreciate both light and dark (Light is fun when there's no dark to be had at the moment)

Remember that deaths (including player character deaths) are now permanent. Under EPIC, RP has consequences.

With that in mind, kindly rethink your answers. The questionnaire isn't limited to genre preference.

Agy - can you add this back to the thing as a reminder?

[Tiltjuice]

In other news...Old French meets MLP. Great success!

[Highfort]

I'm seeing a lot of noncommittal answers on what preferred genres you guys have and on the consequences question.

Allow me to clarify:

Choosing preferred genres and light or heavy doesn't preclude you from being a part of other genres or doing events that are the opposite of light/heavy (whichever you chose). You can do light-consequence events and select heavy, it just means that from a GM, CoOP, and player perspective we'll understand that you prefer heavy consequence events. Likewise, me saying I prefer grit and serious-toned roleplay doesn't preclude me enjoying a good comedic romp every once in a while, it just means I might not enjoy these things as much and thus be less-inclined to select them for events I would be a part of.

Please, please, avoid giving non-committal answers unless you are 100% committed to a balanced mix. Middle ground is fine if you really are middle-ground, but if you do have a preference then please do us a favor and list it. It's for your benefit and it's to help us understand what you want to get out of this RP.

For instance, I am for a balanced mix of different tones - that's part of what attracted me to PL in the first place - but I do have preferences which I listed in my app because those are tones I would prefer to do as a long-term trend. I will participate in comedic events (Zalgofest, Carnal Carnival, etc) but as a general rule of thumb I prefer to do serious and gritty events in-general, with other tones reserved for experimenting.

EDIT: I added clarification to the app so future applicants understand the implications between light and heavy roleplay (see below):

Please keep in mind that heavier-content roleplay can involve permanent character death if missteps occur or as part of a story arc, so if this is not for you then more likely light-content roleplay is up your alley. Not all heavy-content roleplays will involve death - not all heavy-content roleplays are dangerous - but keep in mind that with PL EPIC, we are favoring a permadeath system and moving away from the constant character revival of PL Classic

[Primordial Luxa]

1) What is your preferred tone/flavor of RP? Serious tone, incredibly fictional ficition.

2) Do you prefer light or heavy-content RPs? Light.

3) Do you prefer a more linear storyline or one which offers multiple branches for exploration? Multiple branches that all stem from and converge on the beginning and end of the same story.

4) Do you prefer stories run as encapsulated events or as part of emergent, free-form roleplay? Encapsulated

5) What is your preferred posting frequency? Once per day

6) What is your preferred response frequency? Once per day

7) What is your preferred post length? 2+ paragraphs.

8) What is your preferred response length? 2+ Paragraphs. But really I just want to know what my character would know, see and sense. Less than 7 paragraphs is preferable at that point it always seems to get tedious.

9) What is your favorite genre? Weird Fiction, Cosmic Horror, Cosmic Action, Grimdark, Cyber Punk, Military

10) What is your least favorite genre? Pure Comedy, Anime,

QUESTIONNAIRETAG A@#P%$) This is not a question and has been intentionally left not blank.

[Giovenith]

I'm seeing a lot of noncommittal answers on what preferred genres you guys have and on the consequences question.

Allow me to clarify:

Choosing preferred genres and light or heavy doesn't preclude you from being a part of other genres or doing events that are the opposite of light/heavy (whichever you chose). You can do light-consequence events and select heavy, it just means that from a GM, CoOP, and player perspective we'll understand that you prefer heavy consequence events. Likewise, me saying I prefer grit and serious-toned roleplay doesn't preclude me enjoying a good comedic romp every once in a while, it just means I might not enjoy these things as much and thus be less-inclined to select them for events I would be a part of.

Please, please, avoid giving non-committal answers unless you are 100% committed to a balanced mix. Middle ground is fine if you really are middle-ground, but if you do have a preference then please do us a favor and list it. It's for your benefit and it's to help us understand what you want to get out of this RP.

For instance, I am for a balanced mix of different tones - that's part of what attracted me to PL in the first place - but I do have preferences which I listed in my app because those are tones I would prefer to do as a long-term trend. I will participate in comedic events (Zalgofest, Carnal Carnival, etc) but as a general rule of thumb I prefer to do serious and gritty events in-general, with other tones reserved for experimenting.

Were my answers specific enough?

In other news...Old French meets MLP. Great success!

This whole MLP situation reminds of that one episode of Spongebob where Sandy was trying to fit fun things in before hibernation, and...

Sandy: Spongebob, come on, we're going for a ride through the park!~
Spongebob: Jee, that sounds safe! I mean fun! *gets on the bike*
*bike speeds off dangerously*
Spongebob: I think you said we were going for a ride through the park, Sandy!
Sandy: We are! The Industrial Park!

"I thought you said we were going to Equestria, Gio!"
"We are! Pre-classical Equestria!"

[The BranRiech]

I edited.

I hope me saying I'm not a fan of grimdark doesn't exclude me from anything.

[New Aksarben]

Really good way to explain my own distaste for anime based characters, and most of the genre. One of the few anime's I've watched recently is One Punch Man which thankfully is almost meant to be an inversion of the normal anime tropes. I'd also recommend that to just about everyone, too. Really good show imo.

Also updated mine to be a bit more specific, and to be less noncommittal for some things. But I really am not picky in terms of Genre, I'm interesting in just about everything as long as its well thought out and such.

[The Carlisle]

1) What is your preferred tone/flavor of RP? A mix of serious and comedic. Comedy to get in those light-hearted moments but also to alleviate some tension from a more serious storyline. Serious is good for overarching storylines and to give people a goal.

2) Do you prefer light or heavy-content RPs? A mix of both. To me, PL can work both as there are many people on it with different goals and tastes and the ones that do can help pair off and fulfill each others wishes. Light content side stories with little to no consequence are a good distraction and a time to have some fun. But the bigger, whole-RP spanning story should be heavy. Side stories that connect to it should matter, as it allows people with different tastes to affect the RP in a way. Action should have consequences, as it allows our characters to evolve and also affect the RP, negative or not.

3) Do you prefer a more linear storyline or one which offers multiple branches for exploration? Multi-branching stories are good to give people room and options. There should be an end goal, but the journey there should have multiple paths. And maybe the end goal changes based upon decisions as well. That is what is most fascinating about RPs like this, the story can change on a dime to something else based on what the characters do.

4) Do you prefer stories run as encapsulated events or as part of emergent, free-form roleplay? I prefer encapsulated events. I know who I'm RPing with and having someone else guide the story unlike leading on my own. In free-form, people need to take the lead more and I'm not so comfortable with that.

5) What is your preferred posting frequency? Ideally 2-3 times a day. I currently do 1-2.

6) What is your preferred response frequency? Same, 2-3.

7) What is your preferred post length? I strive to have at least a minimum of 2 paragraphs. Minimum of 3 sentences per paragraph. Sentence length can vary

8) What is your preferred response length? Two paragraphs, at least three sentences each. Sentence length can vary.

9) What is your favorite genre? Anime-style adventure story, with elements of fantasy, science fiction, and reality. Thriller/action stuff is also good.

10) What is your least favorite genre? High fantasy. I don't mind elements of it, but there is so much I can take. Ex. Warhammer and DnD fantasy. Rifts and Shadow Run are closer to what I can take.

QUESTIONNAIRETAG A@#P%$) This is not a question and has been intentionally left not blank.

[Highfort]

Were my answers specific enough?

Very specific, I liked the explanation although it wasn't needed. Clarification is always good. Your answer was actually why I mentioned middle ground as being okay provided one is actually on the middle-ground. Although you favored light, you do also enjoy heavy-consequence events and you explained why you did so, which is helpful when planning events or story arcs.

I edited.

I hope me saying I'm not a fan of grimdark doesn't exclude me from anything.

We're using this data to understand what events to run, so the entire point of asking what people like and don't like is to ensure we don't exclude them, Bran.

Also, I think you might misunderstand the issue between light/heavy, since you didn't actually use the edited questions and stuck to the original questionnaire pre-edit: light roleplay is roleplay with little if any effect on the wider world and setting (no character death, no destroying or creating new buildings, no shifting in political affiliations or alliances, etc) while heavy roleplay shapes the world and setting by altering it, which includes character death.

"Meaningful but without character death" would technically mean you are favoring heavy-consequence RP, since it's difficult to make something meaningful if there's no consequences or changes to the world from the event.

[The BranRiech]

I think it still applies then. I appreciate a good story where there aren't any consequences (No character deaths, and maybe the world is altered in a small way), but I also do like events where characters can die, and the world can be changed in a drastic way. I'm just not a fan of GM's who go out of their way to try and kill people off. I don't mind the idea of death hovering over our characters at all, I just don't want it to be forced upon us (Characters dying should be if said character fucks something up, or if it would be reasonable for them to die, not just because the GM wanted to kill someone)

Again, this is why I don't like surveys.

And I was getting a little irked at all the edits. I went to post Swith's survey, then was told to wait. I went to post yours, and was told to wait again. I was a little annoyed.

So sorry about that.

[Giovenith]

Really good way to explain my own distaste for anime based characters, and most of the genre. One of the few anime's I've watched recently is One Punch Man which thankfully is almost meant to be an inversion of the normal anime tropes. I'd also recommend that to just about everyone, too. Really good show imo.

Also updated mine to be a bit more specific, and to be less noncommittal for some things. But I really am not picky in terms of Genre, I'm interesting in just about everything as long as its well thought out and such.

Miyazaki once said, "The problem with anime is that it's all written by otakus." He has a point. It's a case of The Inmates Running the Asylum - too much of modern anime is specifically designed to pander to already-existing anime fans, way too consumed with the in-group tastes, jokes, and memetic trends and archetypes, and not concerned enough with actually creating a unique work of art.

I liked the explanation although it wasn't needed.

That's alright, that's pretty much a summary of what everyone in my life at some point says to me.

[New Aksarben]

Really good way to explain my own distaste for anime based characters, and most of the genre. One of the few anime's I've watched recently is One Punch Man which thankfully is almost meant to be an inversion of the normal anime tropes. I'd also recommend that to just about everyone, too. Really good show imo.

Also updated mine to be a bit more specific, and to be less noncommittal for some things. But I really am not picky in terms of Genre, I'm interesting in just about everything as long as its well thought out and such.

Miyazaki once said, "The problem with anime is that it's all written by otakus." He has a point. It's a case of The Inmates Running the Asylum - too much of modern anime is specifically designed to pander to already-existing anime fans, way too consumed with the in-group tastes, jokes, and memetic trends and archetypes, and not concerned enough with actually creating a unique work of art.

I liked the explanation although it wasn't needed.

That's alright, that's pretty much a summary of what everyone in my life at some point says to me.

People say the same to me Gio, I go into much more detail than needed for things most people don't even think about

I've heard corruptions of that quote, but never that quote itself. It is very true though, most modern anime is just crap. There's a few gems, but increasingly rare as it becomes almost formulaic to pander to fans.

[The BranRiech]

Is it fair to say that I like the art-style of anime, but not the cliche storylines of most of them?

*Looks around at everyone shitting on Anime*



Nah. I've still only ever watched one anime that I think was absolutely awesome (Code Geass), and I suppose that sums up my anime experience. I've never really had a bad experience with it. I liked Code Geass, and I like how characters are drawn (So much that I imagine PL in anime art style)

[The Carlisle]

Miyazaki once said, "The problem with anime is that it's all written by otakus." He has a point. It's a case of The Inmates Running the Asylum - too much of modern anime is specifically designed to pander to already-existing anime fans, way too consumed with the in-group tastes, jokes, and memetic trends and archetypes, and not concerned enough with actually creating a unique work of art.



That's alright, that's pretty much a summary of what everyone in my life at some point says to me.

People say the same to me Gio, I go into much more detail than needed for things most people don't even think about

I've heard corruptions of that quote, but never that quote itself. It is very true though, most modern anime is just crap. There's a few gems, but increasingly rare as it becomes almost formulaic to pander to fans.

I think its a problem with the system itself, where producing anime takes a lot of time and money so they go for short stuff of genres and tropes that appeals to wider audiences. Its not about producing a good work of art or literature, but producing a product the masses can easily digest and eat.

[Swith Witherward]

1) What is your preferred tone/flavor of RP?
Light or serious, romantic, grimdark, comedy. All good.

2) Do you prefer light or heavy-content RPs?
Either, although I prefer it if there are consequences. I don't mean "always frosty, be on guard" by that, either. What I mean by consequences is that the player pay attention to all the things characters pick up. For example, if I draw a weapon on Ocho and fire, and he manages to dodge, I can expect my character to lose her arm. Likewise, if a character makes an offhand remark that stings my character's ego, I'll carry that along as part of her development. Imagine our characters as socks from the dryer. Static-filled socks attract stuff. It sticks, and pulling those elements off produces a crackle. The elements are what help us shape our character into something very 3D, and conflict/consequences are essential to that process.

I don't do F7 light, but I really do enjoy well-timed, zany stuff.

3) Do you prefer a more linear storyline or one which offers multiple branches for exploration?
Multiple branches. I don't mind a game on the rails if the result is something wonderful. I love a heavily layered story.

4) Do you prefer stories run as encapsulated events or as part of emergent, free-form roleplay?
Both encapsulated and emergent. My emergent style usually evolves into an off-the-cuff, encapsulated story for either grins or character development. Emergent stories for the sake of wasting time (ie chitchat nonsense that does nothing to develop a character)... well, please don't invite me to participate in that. My PL characters aren't designed for it, and these sorts of stories are meant to be multi-post-per-day things. I can't keep up with that.

5) What is your preferred posting frequency?
Once a day, or else once every other day. Will post more often if necessary, but no guarantees. This is for PL and my other character RP. I prefer weekly for war/faction/Nation RP. I'll also ask players to cover for me if I'm having a bad health day. I don't want to stall other players.

6) What is your preferred response frequency?
Once a day or else once every other day. I never mind if players are stalled due to real life. Keep me updated and don't stall us too long, though. More than 4 days? Please allow me to move my character out of the scene or let me progress the scene for us.

7) What is your preferred post length?
Minimum 2 paragraphs, no maximum; prefer medium-heavy description and character movement as well as dialog. I'll drop shorter ones in if we need to rapidly move, or if there's absolutely nothing to write but fluff. I'll try to weave things in for other players to work off of.

8) What is your preferred response length?
Similar to above, provided the paragraphs are tight and well written (NO TEXT WALLS and NO EXPOSITION related to meaningless shit, like how blood red armor is, and how the shade matches the skies of Myass, and the armor is snug, and the armor is purdy, and the armor is light, and then there's the shield!...). Show, don't tell, unless the telling is necessary to the plot. I don't mind lighter description and more dialog if it moves the plot along.

I prefer to interact with players that match my style.

9) What is your favorite genre?
Science-based (real world physics applied), high fantasy (Tolkienesque), transhuman/cyberpunk, diesel/steampunk, Victorian era, whimsical, grimdark. Just about anything, really, minus the stuff below.

10) What is your least favorite genre?
Anime (especially "Japanese high school"), FPS walk-through, characters turned into babies/toddlers, gorn, Tindr-esque "twue wuv" fucking bullshit (in other words, really shitty attempts at porn or romance).

As Gio stated, anime on NS and other gaming forums is usually presented by weeaboos. "Everybody wants to be the story's troubled little victim and it's top badass at the same time."

I don't mind an anime character provided the player realizes PL isn't anime-based. Anime based drama-trauma only works when you interact with other players running that concept.

Anime characters can come across as extremely racist to Japanese people when run by gaijin players. The Japanese poke fun of their own culture at times. This doesn't transfer well when a white person does it. There have been occasions where I've read posts in RPs and cringed because they were unintentionally insulting to the Japanese. In other words, if you're white and roll in with a black character, referring to him as a "Nigger" and then having him eating watermelon IC... woah, just about the most insulting thing you can pull.

Most western players don't have any grasp of the sexually repressed Japanese culture. Rape is a big element in Japanese porn and the majority of westerners don't have a grasp on the why and how, instead using it to further a romance with "She was shocked, but she enjoyed it and now she had conflicting feelings towards him/her". I see this mostly in F7 threads.

If we must go with anime, go heavy. "Kawaii desu-ka!" bimbo girls stuff annoys. Epic stories with incredible depth are preferred. They're poignant and beautiful, but this is because the story and characters are portrayed as very real and very grounded in their element.

Swithbonus Q:
As a GM or Player, what is your pet peeve?
When I pour my heart out into a post to give players all the elements they need to progress a story... and they go ignored, or the player only reads the first paragraph or only skims for their character's name instead of reading all the posts from everyone involved in the scene or in the immediate setting. My next closest one is having to timeskip a story because players have lost interest instead of seeing it through.

QUESTIONNAIRETAG A@#P%$) This is not a question and has been intentionally left not blank.

[Swith Witherward]

Nice post, Torsi! Thanks for letting me godmod Audette along.

[Torsiedelle]

De nada, Swith. I was going to suggest something along those lines anyways, lol. Didn't want to get ya too caught up.

[The Carlisle]

Are Gio and Kale far enough to not hear what is happening with Torii and Drova?

[Giovenith]

Are Gio and Kale far enough to not hear what is happening with Torii and Drova?

I don't think so.

[The BranRiech]

Nah, Drova's just being awkward by asking Torii in front of everyone.

[The Carlisle]

Okay, thanks!

[The BranRiech]

I'll get a post out tonight before bed, don't want to bog things down.

[Northwest Slobovia]

1) What is your preferred tone/flavor of RP? (comedic, serious, romantic, etc) Serious, but I will go mad if there's no comic relief.

2) Do you prefer light or heavy-content RPs? Poorly posed question. As others are getting at, there's a difference between risk/heaviness (the magnitude of possible changes to characters and the world) and tension (the sensitivity of the setting to making to those changes).

Allow me to illustrate the four possibilities. Combat is a frequent occurrence in RPs, so it's a good example:

• risky and tense: gunfighting with realistic rules (characters can die, and can be killed by single shots)
• risky but not tense: D&D melee combat (characters can die, but have so many hit points that single massive hits can be absorbed)
• not risky but tense: martial arts tournments or sparring (characters essentially can't die, but can be knocked out of the match y a single blow)
• not risky nor tense: cartoon combat (characters can't die, and they can drop anvils on each other for twenty minutes before they start to see stars and birdies)

With that in mind: I prefer massively heavy RPs (fate of the world is in characters' hands, but they might die for the cause) with moderately high tension (changing the world takes effort, but so does killing a character).

3) Do you prefer a more linear storyline or one which offers multiple branches for exploration? <Picture of a fractal tree goes here> I have deep and abiding hatred for playing a character in a poorly-written novel (a linear RP).

Edit: Some clarifications:

• I judge branchiness by the number of possible story endpoints, not but by intermediate branches that end up in the same place. A story that runs on rails clearly has only one ending (literally linear), but so does a story with a bunch of middles but only one end. This is simply another way of saying I want risky/heavy stories. I want my characters to have agency and the end of the story depend on what they do.
• I don't mind if light/non-risky stories are linear.
• I don't mind if comic relief is linear. Is there risky, tense comic relief? I'm not sure.

4) Do you prefer stories run as encapsulated events or as part of emergent, free-form roleplay? Either, with the caveat that "free-form" in PL seems to have the connotation of "neither risky nor tense" (ie, chatting).

5) What is your preferred posting frequency? Somewhere between a post a day and a post every other day. However, I don't object to blitz play from time to time. But also see below for post lengths.

6) What is your preferred response frequency? Somewhere between a post a day and a post every other day. However, I don't object to blitz play from time to time. But also see below for post lengths.

7) What is your preferred post length? A couple of paragraphs at least, and as long as necessary at most. All stories have a natural length, and writing them to other lengths makes messes of them.

However, I've come to appreciate the joy of collaborative posting. Those break all the rules: they usually involve what amount to a bunch of little posts a day. They also clear up some of the redundancy in IGO-UGO conversations or scenes with a lot of action.

And extra-special bonus: they allow scenes to be played out without the dreaded death-by-timeskip that afflicts too much serious character development in PL. (Swith and I lovingly feed and care for our joint pet peeve.)

8) What is your preferred response length? Professional-quality novellas See previous answer.

9) What is your favorite genre? Fantasy (especially high fantasy), but I like tech too.

10) What is your least favorite genre? I'll join the anime hate parade, and I can't see the point of playing FPS-inspired games as RPs. I do have a computer which can play FPSs, y'know.

QUESTIONNAIRETAG A@#P%$) This is not a question and has been intentionally left not blank.

[Primordial Luxa]

1) What is your preferred tone/flavor of RP? (comedic, serious, romantic, etc) Serious, but I will go mad if there's no comic relief.

2) Do you prefer light or heavy-content RPs? Poorly posed question. As others are getting at, there's a difference between risk/heaviness (the magnitude of possible changes to characters and the world) tension (the sensitivity of the setting to making to those changes).

Allow me to illustrate the four possibilities. Combat is a frequent occurrence in RPs, so it's a good example:

• risky and tense: gunfighting with realistic rules (characters can die, and can be killed by single shots)
• risky but not tense: D&D melee combat (characters can die, but have so many hit points that single massive hits can be absorbed)
• not risky but tense: martial arts tournments or sparring (characters essentially can't die, but can be knocked out of the match but a single blow)
• not risky nor tense: cartoon combat (characters can't die, and they can drop anvils on each other for twenty minutes before they start to see stars and birdies)

With that in mind: I prefer massively heavy RPs (fate of the world is in characters' hands, but they might die for the cause) with moderately high tension (changing the world takes effort, but so does killing a character).

3) Do you prefer a more linear storyline or one which offers multiple branches for exploration? <Picture of a fractal tree goes here> I have deep and abiding hatred for playing a character in a poorly-written novel (a linear RP).

4) Do you prefer stories run as encapsulated events or as part of emergent, free-form roleplay? Either, with the caveat that "free-form" in PL seems to have the connotation of "neither risky nor tense" (ie, chatting).

5) What is your preferred posting frequency? Somewhere between a post a day and a post every other day. However, I don't object to blitz play from time to time. But also see below for post lengths.

6) What is your preferred response frequency? Somewhere between a post a day and a post every other day. However, I don't object to blitz play from time to time. But also see below for post lengths.

7) What is your preferred post length? A couple of paragraphs at least, and as long as necessary at most. All stories have a natural length, and writing them to other lengths makes messes of them.

However, I've come to appreciate the joy of collaborative posting. Those break all the rules: they usually involve what amount to a bunch of little posts a day. They also clear up some of the redundancy in IGO-UGO conversations or scenes with a lot of action.

And extra-special bonus: they allow scenes to be played out without the dreaded death-by-timeskip that afflicts too much serious character development in PL. (Swith and I lovingly feed and care for our joint pet peeve.)

8) What is your preferred response length? Professional-quality novellas See previous answer.

9) What is your favorite genre? Fantasy (especially high fantasy), but I like tech too.

10) What is your least favorite genre? I'll join the anime hate parade, and I can't see the point of playing FPS-inspired games as RPs. I do have a computer which can play FPSs, y'know.

QUESTIONNAIRETAG A@#P%$) This is not a question and has been intentionally left not blank.

This reminds me how much I want to try collaborative posting.

[The BranRiech]

Mmm, what time is it IC right now?