Traveller's Cafe 4: Brainstorming, Discussion, Tea, Advice

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

A tad. Can you elaborate; I gather it's a bit like a dungeon crawl.

I don't have anything planned in particular, it's just an RP where there's a team of survivors of a plane crush or something, and they have to explore the ancient ruins while somehow try to make it out of the place alive.

I was thinking of something similar a while back. A turn-of-the-century RP in the early 20th century about searching for the lost kingdom of Prester John.

[Harbertia]

I don't have anything planned in particular, it's just an RP where there's a team of survivors of a plane crush or something, and they have to explore the ancient ruins while somehow try to make it out of the place alive.

I was thinking of something similar a while back. A turn-of-the-century RP in the early 20th century about searching for the lost kingdom of Prester John.

That does sound interesting.

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

I was thinking of something similar a while back. A turn-of-the-century RP in the early 20th century about searching for the lost kingdom of Prester John.

That does sound interesting.

I thougt it did. You could even tie it into politics, as some believed Prester John would help Europe defeat the Ottomans. The story could play out in Africa or India.

[Eclius]

That does sound interesting.

I thougt it did. You could even tie it into politics, as some believed Prester John would help Europe defeat the Ottomans. The story could play out in Africa or India.

I was thinking something more modern, but that could definitely work, long as we add traps and stuff. You got the idea.

[Harbertia]

I thougt it did. You could even tie it into politics, as some believed Prester John would help Europe defeat the Ottomans. The story could play out in Africa or India.

I was thinking something more modern, but that could definitely work, long as we add traps and stuff. You got the idea.

I too was thinking more modern- like that tomb raider trailer I linked to.

[Dayganistan]

Well I've essentially completed typing up an OP for an RP but I don't know if I actually want to post it because I'm worried nobody will want to join.

[Harbertia]

Well I've essentially completed typing up an OP for an RP but I don't know if I actually want to post it because I'm worried nobody will want to join.

What's can you tell us about the RP you have in mind?

[Dayganistan]

Well I've essentially completed typing up an OP for an RP but I don't know if I actually want to post it because I'm worried nobody will want to join.

What's can you tell us about the RP you have in mind?

It's a war RP, but I've tried to make it a little more accessible than the ones that focus on elite special forces troops by having it focus on Kurdish militia and foreign volunteers fighting alongside them against ISIS in Syria. I feel it's more accessible than other war RPs because if you're not comfortable RPing an elite soldier, you don't have to and not knowing what you're doing won't count against you as much. If it's successful, I'm hoping that it will be an RP that follows the story of the same characters from 2014 through to the present day. I was originally intending some mechanics as well related to looting equipment off of enemies and getting better equipment, but I've decided to just leave a lot of that up to individual players with occasional OP intervention.

All in all, I think there could be a market for a more "casual" war RP experience without the high levels of knowledge required to RP a special forces soldier, but I'm still not totally sure it would take off.

[Ravio]

Would anyone be interested in helping me set a roleplay?

[Ravio]

Would anyone be interested in helping me set a roleplay?

https://www.nationstates.net/nation=rav ... id=1052676

[Dayganistan]

Well I've essentially completed typing up an OP for an RP but I don't know if I actually want to post it because I'm worried nobody will want to join.

Went ahead and posted anyway, won't know if you don't try I guess
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=446302&p=34314373#p34314370

[Harbertia]

Well I've essentially completed typing up an OP for an RP but I don't know if I actually want to post it because I'm worried nobody will want to join.

Went ahead and posted anyway, won't know if you don't try I guess
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=446302&p=34314373#p34314370

Indeed I consider it a shame that we couldn't give some insight ahead of time. I almost - well I'll say it now - It sounds familiar- did you try this idea before or mention it earlier? I remember comments like ... like... eh... I can't remember now. I must have been mistaken. It was something about having to carefully - yeah my memory is flawed at the moment.

[Harbertia]

Been tired this week end.

I've got to work tomorrow but thought I'd ask another question for advice.

I'd like to try an RP concept I've tried so many times before- and each time I've failed for some reason.

An RP where players take on the role of a teenage classic monster.

Each attempt has thus far been- a school RP- and has failed because of- lacking school.

So this time I'd like to have that scenario but no school, so Summer Vacation I guess.

Any advice before I try to refine the concept further? I've had trouble trying to balance the horror elements in such RPs- players opting for- characters that end up doing something that causes a reaction from the world they live in- a negative reaction.

Well- actually that only happened once because I had this 'Magic World' divided from the 'mundane world' and the characters decended from folks who didn't travel to the magical world but stayed on Earth.

That's a mistake I plan to avoid this time- as someone didn't read the lore enough to realize that 'Demon' in the RP stood for 'Demi-Human'. (deman = demon) and though the magical world to be ruled by a Demon King who he summoned into the world and he just ran off on this concept and an RP of 12 players dropped to only having three- I too left- leaving that player in charge. It was horrible. I can provide links to my previous works if one thinks that will help in providing advice to me or one can just give advice now off hand based on their own experiences or things they have witnessed with RPs regarding Vampire, Werewolf, etc teenagers.

You can even ask what I'm finding inspiration in to get a better idea of what I'm going for in regards to atmosphere, tone, and world logic.

[Dayganistan]

How do you get more people to join an RP? I've posted in the advertisement thread already. How long should you wait before calling it a failure and giving up?

[Pax Nerdvana]

How do you get more people to join an RP? I've posted in the advertisement thread already. How long should you wait before calling it a failure and giving up?

I'd say give it a couple weeks.

I was thinking something more modern, but that could definitely work, long as we add traps and stuff. You got the idea.

I too was thinking more modern- like that tomb raider trailer I linked to.

You have my attention, although I will not be available for much of the next month or so.

[Dayganistan]

How do you get more people to join an RP? I've posted in the advertisement thread already. How long should you wait before calling it a failure and giving up?

I'd say give it a couple weeks.

I guess the whole name recognition thing is true. I don't really have a core group I RP with because I can go up to half a year without participating in a single P2TM RP so there's not really anyone who would join just because it's me and nobody I'd really know to invite either.

[Esternial]

I'd say give it a couple weeks.

I guess the whole name recognition thing is true. I don't really have a core group I RP with because I can go up to half a year without participating in a single P2TM RP so there's not really anyone who would join just because it's me and nobody I'd really know to invite either.

It depends how you rate "failure".

If a few people sign up (1-5) I would say you've got a decent enough group to start off. Lots of new beginnings have to start off small, and I don't see why you really need a huge group to have a good, wholesome Rp'ing experience. A small group maybe even allows more cooperative worldbuilding, without a dozens of ideas potentially clashing. Hell, there have been RPs with one two or three participants (often in International Incidents) that run swell. There's less chance folks will have a big backlog of posts to catch up on and less of a risk they'll feel "out-of-the-loop" and lose interest. Small and big RPs both have their pro's and con's and each is worth investing in.

Cancelling your plans each time you don't hit a pre-imagined "minimum" seems kind of a waste of time, for yourself and the people that have decided to take an interest in your ideas. It also doesn't set a good precedent for people that pay attention to that kind of thing, and they might no longer bother to sign up if they think you'll just drop it.

[Dayganistan]

I guess the whole name recognition thing is true. I don't really have a core group I RP with because I can go up to half a year without participating in a single P2TM RP so there's not really anyone who would join just because it's me and nobody I'd really know to invite either.

It depends how you rate "failure".

If a few people sign up (1-5) I would say you've got a decent enough group to start off. Lots of new beginnings have to start off small, and I don't see why you really need a huge group to have a good, wholesome Rp'ing experience. A small group maybe even allows more cooperative worldbuilding, without a dozens of ideas potentially clashing. Hell, there have been RPs with one two or three participants (often in International Incidents) that run swell. There's less chance folks will have a big backlog of posts to catch up on and less of a risk they'll feel "out-of-the-loop" and lose interest. Small and big RPs both have their pro's and con's and each is worth investing in.

Cancelling your plans each time you don't hit a pre-imagined "minimum" seems kind of a waste of time, for yourself and the people that have decided to take an interest in your ideas. It also doesn't set a good precedent for people that pay attention to that kind of thing, and they might no longer bother to sign up if they think you'll just drop it.

It's just super discouraging when some RPs can get loads of interest and have their OOC threads at 5+ pages within a day when with mine I've only had one completed application posted after 2 days, and 13 posts in the OOC thread most of which are mine.

[Esternial]

It depends how you rate "failure".

If a few people sign up (1-5) I would say you've got a decent enough group to start off. Lots of new beginnings have to start off small, and I don't see why you really need a huge group to have a good, wholesome Rp'ing experience. A small group maybe even allows more cooperative worldbuilding, without a dozens of ideas potentially clashing. Hell, there have been RPs with one two or three participants (often in International Incidents) that run swell. There's less chance folks will have a big backlog of posts to catch up on and less of a risk they'll feel "out-of-the-loop" and lose interest. Small and big RPs both have their pro's and con's and each is worth investing in.

Cancelling your plans each time you don't hit a pre-imagined "minimum" seems kind of a waste of time, for yourself and the people that have decided to take an interest in your ideas. It also doesn't set a good precedent for people that pay attention to that kind of thing, and they might no longer bother to sign up if they think you'll just drop it.

It's just super discouraging when some RPs can get loads of interest and have their OOC threads at 5+ pages within a day when with mine I've only had one completed application posted after 2 days, and 13 posts in the OOC thread most of which are mine.

Let me respond with the following:

Why? If other people get loads of interests, good for them. RP'ing isn't about getting the most interest and getting the most signups. It's about enjoying a writing/RP'ing experience with others. Quantity does not make up for quality, and being envious of other threads serves no useful purpose unless you're into self-deprecating masochism.

Just always remember to not lose sight of why you're RP'ing.

There's no point in being discouraged by other threads if you should be focusing on your own. Give your own RP some love instead of leering at others.

[Harbertia]

It's just super discouraging when some RPs can get loads of interest and have their OOC threads at 5+ pages within a day when with mine I've only had one completed application posted after 2 days, and 13 posts in the OOC thread most of which are mine.

Let me respond with the following:

Why? If other people get loads of interests, good for them. RP'ing isn't about getting the most interest and getting the most signups. It's about enjoying a writing/RP'ing experience with others. Quantity does not make up for quality, and being envious of other threads serves no useful purpose unless you're into self-deprecating masochism.

Just always remember to not lose sight of why you're RP'ing.

There's no point in being discouraged by other threads if you should be focusing on your own. Give your own RP some love instead of leering at others.

hhha that image speaks to me. So often I've been hosting an RP only to be lured away into joining another and - well- seeing my interest in my own RP deminish.

[Talchyon]

It depends how you rate "failure".

If a few people sign up (1-5) I would say you've got a decent enough group to start off. Lots of new beginnings have to start off small, and I don't see why you really need a huge group to have a good, wholesome Rp'ing experience. A small group maybe even allows more cooperative worldbuilding, without a dozens of ideas potentially clashing. Hell, there have been RPs with one two or three participants (often in International Incidents) that run swell. There's less chance folks will have a big backlog of posts to catch up on and less of a risk they'll feel "out-of-the-loop" and lose interest. Small and big RPs both have their pro's and con's and each is worth investing in.

Cancelling your plans each time you don't hit a pre-imagined "minimum" seems kind of a waste of time, for yourself and the people that have decided to take an interest in your ideas. It also doesn't set a good precedent for people that pay attention to that kind of thing, and they might no longer bother to sign up if they think you'll just drop it.

It's just super discouraging when some RPs can get loads of interest and have their OOC threads at 5+ pages within a day when with mine I've only had one completed application posted after 2 days, and 13 posts in the OOC thread most of which are mine.

Consider these points.

1) Perhaps you might telegram players who have been in your previous RPs. You also might telegram players who you respect but who haven't played with you. People who like war RPs.

2) Discord server is good. A lot of people like that and expect it.

3) for your RP specifically, you have to realize that most people won't know a thing about the geography of this and only slightly more will remember a detailed history of events.

Because of that, I would suggest making a helpful summary of simple historical events and also a map of the area. Offer it as a way to help the simple minded and uninformed (like me. It was too out of my element and confusing to know what to do. That would be a lot of research to learn that culture to make a character. Maybe make that as a list of good hints for character construction.)

[Dayganistan]

It's just super discouraging when some RPs can get loads of interest and have their OOC threads at 5+ pages within a day when with mine I've only had one completed application posted after 2 days, and 13 posts in the OOC thread most of which are mine.

Consider these points.

1) Perhaps you might telegram players who have been in your previous RPs. You also might telegram players who you respect but who haven't played with you. People who like war RPs.

2) Discord server is good. A lot of people like that and expect it.

3) for your RP specifically, you have to realize that most people won't know a thing about the geography of this and only slightly more will remember a detailed history of events.

Because of that, I would suggest making a helpful summary of simple historical events and also a map of the area. Offer it as a way to help the simple minded and uninformed (like me. It was too out of my element and confusing to know what to do. That would be a lot of research to learn that culture to make a character. Maybe make that as a list of good hints for character construction.)

Alright, so I guess most of what I'm interested in is too esoteric for p2tm. Noted. Probably not gonna bother again then.

[Harbertia]

Consider these points.

1) Perhaps you might telegram players who have been in your previous RPs. You also might telegram players who you respect but who haven't played with you. People who like war RPs.

2) Discord server is good. A lot of people like that and expect it.

3) for your RP specifically, you have to realize that most people won't know a thing about the geography of this and only slightly more will remember a detailed history of events.

Because of that, I would suggest making a helpful summary of simple historical events and also a map of the area. Offer it as a way to help the simple minded and uninformed (like me. It was too out of my element and confusing to know what to do. That would be a lot of research to learn that culture to make a character. Maybe make that as a list of good hints for character construction.)

Alright, so I guess most of what I'm interested in is too esoteric for p2tm. Noted. Probably not gonna bother again then.

That's not what he's saying; you just need to educate the players and you've gotten interest in your RP- no need to abandon those who have joined. Just give some links to youtube videos on the topic.

[Talchyon]

Alright, so I guess most of what I'm interested in is too esoteric for p2tm. Noted. Probably not gonna bother again then.

That's not what he's saying; you just need to educate the players and you've gotten interest in your RP- no need to abandon those who have joined. Just give some links to youtube videos on the topic.

Right. I am not wanting you to stop OPing. Just help those of us who are not as well versed in your interests to be able to learn enough to feel semi competent.

YouTube or other informative links would be great. Consider it as a way to help beginners. If you do, it would be more user friendly and you may get more players.

[Dayganistan]

That's not what he's saying; you just need to educate the players and you've gotten interest in your RP- no need to abandon those who have joined. Just give some links to youtube videos on the topic.

Right. I am not wanting you to stop OPing. Just help those of us who are not as well versed in your interests to be able to learn enough to feel semi competent.

YouTube or other informative links would be great. Consider it as a way to help beginners. If you do, it would be more user friendly and you may get more players.

I don't know if that's really going to help. I'm convinced it's a matter of having a core group of people who will join to initially get it off the ground more than anything else. Which I don't because I join an RP like once every 4 months and get to make maybe 2 posts in it before it dies.