Roleplay

[Furr]

The default rooms (aside from the cafe and OOC-Lobby) ARE freeform.

[Familiar]

I've had thoughts about hosting a Library room in respect to the old default one just for kicks.

[KitDreamer]

I said freeform rooms, not default rooms. :|

[Kade]

Okay, I don't get what's so complicated about this. Chill out, trolls/douchebags.

I would like to see more user-made freeform rooms.
No, I am not in disagreement with Auvic's statement of, "I'd like to see more decent freeform players." That'd be nice too.
Thanks for the rude reminders, but I'm completely aware that the default rooms are also freeform rooms. Those settings just get kind of repetitive (imo).
In no way am I trying to imply that TK does not have enough default rooms. No need to get all defensive.
And yes, I'm completely aware that as a user I can make a usermade freeform room.  I used to do exactly that pretty frequently, actually, and I've been thinkin' about doing it again (if I can find the time).
I'd just like to see more of it. Not just from me, but from others. But that's just me.

Pitch in particular does a good job of generating freeform RP in non-default rooms, imo.

Again, chill.

[SilverStreak]

I think I'm picking up what Kade's putting down, but permit me to digress a moment to suggest that perhaps it's not the quantity of freeform rooms that needs improving, but perhaps it's just straight-up freeform players we need more of.

There appears to be, to me, some kind of inherently inbred exclusivity amongst genres and time periods, with players increasingly "crafting" one-time-use, archetypal, "disposable" characters, to play a specific role in some half-cooked plot that spins its wheels in the 'recruiting' phase for about 3 weeks. More alarmingly, this is the rule, and not the exception, and this seems to, by and large, satisfy people... otherwise it wouldn't be so insanely popular. Right?

Hell, "back in the day" you'd get a loose premise (if you were lucky), and a setting, with no restrictions on character type, and everything else got made up on the fly. I suspect fewer than 10% of TK's general population would be capable of sustaining this. Anyone is welcome to prove me wrong though.

Let's think crazy for a second.

What if there were no OOC rooms anywhere?

What if users were restricted to how many profiles they could register?

What if every room were automatically considered freeform unless otherwise noted?

Man, I must be losin it...

[CaptainRobin]

Gonna go ahead-- crapshoot here, tell me I'm wrong if I am because I'd rather hear it early-- and guess that the lack of a freeform presence majority on the site depicts a general want for structured RP.

As for the allegations of bad players, etc., I'm going to be "that guy" as I tend to be and offer that the various OOC behaviors in the default rooms and on the forums has ultimately discouraged many new people from RP. I mean, what can you expect from a new player? Most new players don't even get a chance to get a feel for the community-- they're just flamed on the spot and told their characters are shit. If your first actions weren't to immediately spout "ANYTHING THAT ISN'T THIS OR THIS SUCKS" or to start threads like this and fights within, people might be more thrilled to RP here. A person and their character are, as many folks are quick to defend, two separate entities and should be taken as such... but it's not really trend-setting when the present parties won't make that step first. You can't expect people to follow a non-present lead. So what if they're an annoying person?-- Plenty of annoying people write great characters. I guess, likewise, being a familiar part of the community doesn't mean your writing is automatically interesting.

As it seems to me, most people are more content to OOC on TK than anything. The predominant OOC communities are welcoming and easy to get into and typically demand far less than the IC communities, from what I've gathered. Other than Silvermoon, Aeradia (did I get that right?) and that other one... Aquarian Empire?... there doesn't seem to be a lot of RP that goes down.

Granted, I don't visit so frequently anymore... so there might be another big RP room or one of the defaults might be always active or something. I don't really know. Last I checked, those were the three bigs. And... well, Silvermoon's always there. Like, always. Unless I'm mistaken, it's a wholly free-form community with... some level of moderation, likely to settle disputes? (I cannot fathom the structure of a universe that contains Solid Snake, Dragonball Z characters and the Sailor Scouts, in any event.)

My point remains: if you want 'more' of anything, you might try being a bit more welcoming. It's well and all to hate something and have your preferences, but it's really not... you know, smart to shoot yourself in the foot and then bitch that you can't walk. Or in this case, act unwelcoming and vicious and then claim there's no interesting new players around.

What scares me is that I know posting this is futile. I think I might be a masochist.

[KitDreamer]

I think I'm picking up what Kade's putting down, but permit me to digress a moment to suggest that perhaps it's not the quantity of freeform rooms that needs improving, but perhaps it's just straight-up freeform players we need more of.

There appears to be, to me, some kind of inherently inbred exclusivity amongst genres and time periods, with players increasingly "crafting" one-time-use, archetypal, "disposable" characters, to play a specific role in some half-cooked plot that spins its wheels in the 'recruiting' phase for about 3 weeks. More alarmingly, this is the rule, and not the exception, and this seems to, by and large, satisfy people... otherwise it wouldn't be so insanely popular. Right?

Hell, "back in the day" you'd get a loose premise (if you were lucky), and a setting, with no restrictions on character type, and everything else got made up on the fly. I suspect fewer than 10% of TK's general population would be capable of sustaining this. Anyone is welcome to prove me wrong though.

Let's think crazy for a second.

What if there were no OOC rooms anywhere?

What if users were restricted to how many profiles they could register?

What if every room were automatically considered freeform unless otherwise noted?

Man, I must be losin it...

Shards already did it. barring freeform everywhere

[Jason Baane]

TK has plenty of freeform rooms if you're willing to look.

But, as a matter of course, you have to be willing to accept a certain level of silliness in freeform. Fads flush in, fads flush out. Usually depending on popular culture. Taking Silvermoon, for example, we repeatedly run into periods where a certain genre or franchise is ridiculously popular. That lasts for a few weeks, and then most of it's characters get bored and leave to make way for the next fad. Mass Effect was a recent fad. Bleach is one that's currently going and I do not expect they will be around very long considering that they're just using the room as an Arena and little else. We also get spikes of DC/Marvel super heroes. Sometimes the Sonic fandom makes a brief appearance with the excuse that there is a chaos emerald in some ancient lunar ruins or something. We've had Doomguy, we've had Duke Nukem, we've had Dragonball and Sailor Moon. Harry Potter and Full Metal Alchemist. Not to mention the non-canons.

In my experience, this is how it always is in freeform rooms. Not everyone is going to like everyone else's ideas. If you can't maneuver yourself around that, then perhaps freeform is not your actual preferred mode and you would do better in a closed RP. Freeform is, after all, the wikipedia of role-playing. If you're unwilling to contribute, you really shouldn't be complaining.

[SilverStreak]

TK has plenty of freeform rooms if you're willing to look.

But, as a matter of course, you have to be willing to accept a certain level of silliness in freeform. Fads flush in, fads flush out. Usually depending on popular culture. Taking Silvermoon, for example, we repeatedly run into periods where a certain genre or franchise is ridiculously popular. That lasts for a few weeks, and then most of it's characters get bored and leave to make way for the next fad. Mass Effect was a recent fad. Bleach is one that's currently going and I do not expect they will be around very long considering that they're just using the room as an Arena and little else. We also get spikes of DC/Marvel super heroes. Sometimes the Sonic fandom makes a brief appearance with the excuse that there is a chaos emerald in some ancient lunar ruins or something. We've had Doomguy, we've had Duke Nukem, we've had Dragonball and Sailor Moon. Harry Potter and Full Metal Alchemist. Not to mention the non-canons.

In my experience, this is how it always is in freeform rooms. Not everyone is going to like everyone else's ideas. If you can't maneuver yourself around that, then perhaps freeform is not your actual preferred mode and you would do better in a closed RP. Freeform is, after all, the wikipedia of role-playing. If you're unwilling to contribute, you really shouldn't be complaining.

This is my favorite part about freeform, actually.

[Jason Baane]

Freeform by its very nature isn't prone to make sense at any point. If you aren't going to create a closed setting with a limited time period and set genre, then you're looking down the barrel of time-space buggery where everyone's the victim in one way or another.

Even if we cut canon characters out of the mix (let's say that TK bans them for some reason outright,) any given freeform room is going to have the potential to be all over the place with characters across the spectrums of race/species, time periods, locals (including intersteller, possibly from as far away as wholly different universes or planes of existence) and cultures.

So, really, I think what you're looking for is a closed room with strict rules as to what is allowed and what is not.

[KitDreamer]

Draco, chill buddy. It isn't 1994 and it isn't Something Awful. The whole 'FURRIES MUST BURN IN HELL' thing is pretty passé, now.

Also you can't have freeform without the randomness. That's kind of the point of freeform. You can either freeform or you can have structured, restricted RP.

Thing is though, Structured, restricted, story driven and goal orientated RP is always more fun.

Which is half the reason I hardly ever RP on here any longer. Mostly because I get regular RP in real life, AND I'm helping create a whole new roleplaying game system and setting, so my time is pretty much taken up with stuff that could actually make money and is also actually fun. :3

[SilverStreak]

Some of the best "plot-driven" RP I've participated in has been freeform.

Some of the worst "plotless" RP I've participated in has been "structured."

Some of my old freeform hangouts also used to mandate the usage of original characters, and original characters only.

Freeform can be anything and everything (hence the usage of 'free'), let's not limit ourselves by blanketing it as "random," "silly," "plotless," or "nonsensical." I've participated in/created freeform settings that had plots, and made plenty of sense.

In my mind, the biggest element of freeform is the lack of a DM; the plot/adventure is built cooperatively with each player chipping in a piece of a puzzle, with no single character gratuitously taking the spotlight.

Pushing multiple settings and genres together becomes an added bonus that keeps the monotony low (at least in my opinion), and also tests the skill of any given player. It is also my opinion that a player's capacity to "roll with the changes" and adapt to any given assortment of genres/characters/races/elements in one setting is a greater measurement of skill and ability than any amount of DMing/structuring/planning will ever be.

[Kade]

In my mind, the biggest element of freeform is the lack of a DM; the plot/adventure is built cooperatively with each player chipping in a piece of a puzzle, with no single character gratuitously taking the spotlight.

QFT.

I get pretty tired of spoonfeeding people storyline, which in my experience is a bigger problem in non-freeform RP than in freeform.

[Auvic]

I think....you....just might....need some.... more....ellipses...

[1337]

Only returned... to this thread... for... dramatic ellipses... indicating... Shatner... over... dramatization...