09-02-2018, 05:42 PM
not to rehash the human roleplay situation , but... i'm going to rehash the human rp situation. it's kind of obvious that even though it was just 'redone'/'rebuilt' for the purpose of raising activity, i'd argue that activity might even be worse than it was before? personally, i love the concept of human rp, but the current (and previous) execution has been incredibly offputting, and i know for a fact that others feel the same.
first i want to explain what i perceive to be the current issue, and then i'd like to suggest that we reframe the current human game. i don't want to go through the entire rebuilding process again, nor do i want to get rid of the current groups/boards, but i think changes need to be made that would make the human rp different than what it has been in the past.
the current problem with the human groups is that it is structured and framed exactly like the animal groups. the truth about animal rp is that it actually has more lore and built-in worldbuilding because it takes place within the modern human world; though certain technology may not exist, it's still framed within the knowledge that humans have/do exist, even if they are not present. this allows there to be human items, evidence, structures, and history even if it isn't always explicitly mentioned. the animal groups simply live within this world with their own unique group organizations, and it works because animals don't really have the capacity for super advanced civilizations (and neither does roleplay of this style allow for that). human rp, on the other hand, doesn't benefit from this built-in lore because it is set up with the same structure as animal rp (small, individual groups living on their own with bare-bones structure, unlike real human civilizations which are typically much more complex with their government and religious systems and economies and etc) except the backdrop of a more advanced civilization to flesh this out doesn't exist. the best way i can explain this is to compare the current groups' organization to gangs, except there's no larger surrounding society or environment, which makes the world as a whole feel empty, barren, and lifeless.
if i could suggest a way to 'fix' this issue with the human roleplay, i'd want to reframe the entire thing as probably taking place in the real, modern world. the groups themselves would be kept, but they'd now be gangs or small, tight-knit communities of some kind? this solves the issue of a fleshed-out backdrop (again, the modern world) to give context but also retains the roleplay structure and nature of the current groups. ideally, they'd all be in a relatively small but varied area with a central point and the groups sprouting off (like they could all be near or inside a city but you could have different sections and landscapes bordering if that's something people would need to have). this is getting a little in-depth now and really what i wanted to do was just present a new way to frame human rp that would make it more interesting to be in, but i also think that this would bring a lot more interest to the table. even the other human rp section would benefit because you could have characters who aren't in these groups but simply in the nearby area who interact with them (or don't, or maybe just in more interesting and complex ways). i'm super willing to discuss these ideas more and offer up additional suggestions/thoughts, but i think i've already rambled enough! i get the feeling that this might not all make sense, so if i need to clarify just let me know!
to shift gears now, i wanted to contribute a bit to the discussion about adding new ideas as well! i like the idea of traditional boards or perhaps fandom ones, but i'm not sure that they'd get a lot of traction. for more niche topics that people might want to rp, i'd suggest making a general board for them (just other rp?) and using prefixes. if they are really popular then i'd say considering implementing individual boards. of course, the issue with this is that people might be turned off by rping in unboarded sections, but i just am not sure that there would be enough interest to sustain boards specifically geared towards fantasy or fandom rp (but traditional warriors might!).
first i want to explain what i perceive to be the current issue, and then i'd like to suggest that we reframe the current human game. i don't want to go through the entire rebuilding process again, nor do i want to get rid of the current groups/boards, but i think changes need to be made that would make the human rp different than what it has been in the past.
the current problem with the human groups is that it is structured and framed exactly like the animal groups. the truth about animal rp is that it actually has more lore and built-in worldbuilding because it takes place within the modern human world; though certain technology may not exist, it's still framed within the knowledge that humans have/do exist, even if they are not present. this allows there to be human items, evidence, structures, and history even if it isn't always explicitly mentioned. the animal groups simply live within this world with their own unique group organizations, and it works because animals don't really have the capacity for super advanced civilizations (and neither does roleplay of this style allow for that). human rp, on the other hand, doesn't benefit from this built-in lore because it is set up with the same structure as animal rp (small, individual groups living on their own with bare-bones structure, unlike real human civilizations which are typically much more complex with their government and religious systems and economies and etc) except the backdrop of a more advanced civilization to flesh this out doesn't exist. the best way i can explain this is to compare the current groups' organization to gangs, except there's no larger surrounding society or environment, which makes the world as a whole feel empty, barren, and lifeless.
if i could suggest a way to 'fix' this issue with the human roleplay, i'd want to reframe the entire thing as probably taking place in the real, modern world. the groups themselves would be kept, but they'd now be gangs or small, tight-knit communities of some kind? this solves the issue of a fleshed-out backdrop (again, the modern world) to give context but also retains the roleplay structure and nature of the current groups. ideally, they'd all be in a relatively small but varied area with a central point and the groups sprouting off (like they could all be near or inside a city but you could have different sections and landscapes bordering if that's something people would need to have). this is getting a little in-depth now and really what i wanted to do was just present a new way to frame human rp that would make it more interesting to be in, but i also think that this would bring a lot more interest to the table. even the other human rp section would benefit because you could have characters who aren't in these groups but simply in the nearby area who interact with them (or don't, or maybe just in more interesting and complex ways). i'm super willing to discuss these ideas more and offer up additional suggestions/thoughts, but i think i've already rambled enough! i get the feeling that this might not all make sense, so if i need to clarify just let me know!
to shift gears now, i wanted to contribute a bit to the discussion about adding new ideas as well! i like the idea of traditional boards or perhaps fandom ones, but i'm not sure that they'd get a lot of traction. for more niche topics that people might want to rp, i'd suggest making a general board for them (just other rp?) and using prefixes. if they are really popular then i'd say considering implementing individual boards. of course, the issue with this is that people might be turned off by rping in unboarded sections, but i just am not sure that there would be enough interest to sustain boards specifically geared towards fantasy or fandom rp (but traditional warriors might!).