Ryan44
03-08-2007, 05:14 PM
This is the suggestion/RPer comment thread that FeralKitty advised me to create.
Its main purpose is for RPers to make comments about the Roleplay thread--and thus not have to make them in the RP thread itself.
Another purpose for this thread is for RPers to make story suggestions, or otherwise any suggestions for the improvement of the Roleplay thread.
I hope--as FeralKitty said--that these changes to the PIF RP will make it more enjoyable to read and to take part in.
Thanks.
Ryan44,
P.S. Here's my notice about the new PIF RP changes:
An announcement from Ryan44,
************************************************** ************************************
A few things have come to my attention. First, the matter of Roleplayers (I'll use RPers from now on for the sake of brevity) roleplaying the characters of other players--which zach3116 pointed out to me. Second, a letter from FeralKittty, PIF moderator and an avid reader of our RP thread, suggesting a few changes/ improvements for the Piñata Island Roleplay thread. And third, the matter of whether the non-linear story path the thread has used should be shelved in favor a more linear main story. I think I'll tackle each as I go along. In effect, it appears that PIF RP may be headed for a few changes.
1. RPers Who RP Other RPers' Characters
Throughout this RP thread, as well as on the old RP thread, it seems that Roleplayers have sometimes roleplayed the parts of other players' characters in their posts. Examples include the Bob and Medic story (which Dragonache may or may not resume), the Hudson and Hannah story (which, similarly, is on hold), and the Poet and Pasha story.
For the most part, RPers have not objected to others using their characters. In my case, I've been open to fellow RPers using my character, Hudson, in their stories, even giving him dialogue. I've used Hannah, with FA's permission, in my posts for the Hudson and Hannah stories. I've seen Dingomutt play Pasha's part in Ponocky's absence during the first parts of this new RP thread, without any objections from Ponocky.
However, a special qualification has entered my mind: that created characters hold more meaning for RPers than do show characters--that is, RPers are the experts of their own characters, whereas a show character’s personality may be well-known by all the RPers, and thus it may not matter as much who plays Les, Hudson, Fergy, etc. I guess I should have understood that only those that created their own characters fully know them, fully understand them; and I shouldn't have used Friendly and Dreamer in my earlier post. For that, I am sorry.
2. FeralKitty’s Suggestions for Improvement
Feralkitty sent me a letter, which, oddly, was not personally addressed to me--I guess it was meant for all Rpers. It offered two suggestions for improvement and ran thus:
As an interested reader of the roleplay thread, I'd like to offer a couple suggestions that would make it more enjoyable to read.
People seem to talk out-of-character a lot. What if you had another thread for the RPers, where they could post messages to each other? This way, readers of the roleplay don't have the story "interrupted" by OOC comments.
The other minor thing, and it seems new, but there seems to be a lot more quoting (quote boxes) happening. I think most readers and RPers can remember what's happening in the story, and don't need to be reminded of previous lines.
These are minor things, but I think the thread would become a more enjoyable story, without distractions.
It's really been one of my favorite threads to read, and it's great that it got started back up over here.
The first of FeralKitty’s ideas is for the creation of a separate thread for Rpers to discuss the RP, one that will negate the need to post non-related comments on the RP thread itself. I’ll take FeralKitty’s advice and create the new RP suggestion thread right now. I think I’ll name it the “Piñata Island Roleplay Story Suggestion and Roleplayer Comment” thread.
The second proposal by FeralKitty seems to be an offshoot of the first: an end to the constant quoting of other RPers’ posts. I agree; we should try to tone down on the constant quoting, since it seems to break the flow of the story.
I guess I have no problem with FeralKitty’s advice. I’ll implement it as soon as I get the chance--and with the agreement of fellow Rpers, of course.
3. PIF RP Stories: Linear or Non-Linear? Plus, is PIF RP Too Lovey-Dovey?
The final point regards whether the open-ended structure of the PR thread, which has been a hallmark of the thread since its origins at the old VPF, should be modified to be linear, to a have a more-ordered story, perhaps a main story. Should we abandon the amalgam--the mixture--we have of side-stories in favor of one unified main story? Or should we keep our side-story, but no main story, approach? The onus is on us (MGS4 allusion).
In my opinion, we probably should pursue a more liner/main story structure. It would help give order and far more meaning to our RP actions--rather than having random, disconnected events happening simultaneously with little overall story progression.
But then again, isn’t Piñata Island a zany, anything-goes kind of place?
One last thing I’ll deal with is the subject that IZ and the recently departed Twingersnap brought up: the “over-saturation” of the PIF RP thread with “lovey-dovey” stories, with romance stories. I said before that I didn’t necessarily disapprove of love stories, but that I welcomed all types of stories. However, I’m aware that some RPers may not agree, so I may have to rein in a bit on the romance to try to accommodate other story-types. Still, for the moment, all Rpers are welcome to continue their romance stories to their conclusion. Those of us that enjoy them will thank you in advance.
Conclusion:
I’ve dealt with a few issues dealing with change for PIF RP, and I’ve come up with a few solutions. (1) Rpers should not RP the created characters of other Rpers; (2) quoting of previous RPers’ posts should be discouraged; (3) non-RP related comments should be left for a separate RP suggestion thread that will be created; (4) and that a main story/linear structure be used. I believe that the above changes may, as Feralkitty said in his letter, “make it more enjoyable to read“--and more enjoyable for Rpers take part in, in my words.
I will now leave the floor open for fellow Rpers to discuss the changes I recommended above, and for Rpers to make their own suggestions.
Thanks.
Ryan44,
[Edit: Poll deleted at OP's request - FeralKitty]
Its main purpose is for RPers to make comments about the Roleplay thread--and thus not have to make them in the RP thread itself.
Another purpose for this thread is for RPers to make story suggestions, or otherwise any suggestions for the improvement of the Roleplay thread.
I hope--as FeralKitty said--that these changes to the PIF RP will make it more enjoyable to read and to take part in.
Thanks.
Ryan44,
P.S. Here's my notice about the new PIF RP changes:
An announcement from Ryan44,
************************************************** ************************************
A few things have come to my attention. First, the matter of Roleplayers (I'll use RPers from now on for the sake of brevity) roleplaying the characters of other players--which zach3116 pointed out to me. Second, a letter from FeralKittty, PIF moderator and an avid reader of our RP thread, suggesting a few changes/ improvements for the Piñata Island Roleplay thread. And third, the matter of whether the non-linear story path the thread has used should be shelved in favor a more linear main story. I think I'll tackle each as I go along. In effect, it appears that PIF RP may be headed for a few changes.
1. RPers Who RP Other RPers' Characters
Throughout this RP thread, as well as on the old RP thread, it seems that Roleplayers have sometimes roleplayed the parts of other players' characters in their posts. Examples include the Bob and Medic story (which Dragonache may or may not resume), the Hudson and Hannah story (which, similarly, is on hold), and the Poet and Pasha story.
For the most part, RPers have not objected to others using their characters. In my case, I've been open to fellow RPers using my character, Hudson, in their stories, even giving him dialogue. I've used Hannah, with FA's permission, in my posts for the Hudson and Hannah stories. I've seen Dingomutt play Pasha's part in Ponocky's absence during the first parts of this new RP thread, without any objections from Ponocky.
However, a special qualification has entered my mind: that created characters hold more meaning for RPers than do show characters--that is, RPers are the experts of their own characters, whereas a show character’s personality may be well-known by all the RPers, and thus it may not matter as much who plays Les, Hudson, Fergy, etc. I guess I should have understood that only those that created their own characters fully know them, fully understand them; and I shouldn't have used Friendly and Dreamer in my earlier post. For that, I am sorry.
2. FeralKitty’s Suggestions for Improvement
Feralkitty sent me a letter, which, oddly, was not personally addressed to me--I guess it was meant for all Rpers. It offered two suggestions for improvement and ran thus:
As an interested reader of the roleplay thread, I'd like to offer a couple suggestions that would make it more enjoyable to read.
People seem to talk out-of-character a lot. What if you had another thread for the RPers, where they could post messages to each other? This way, readers of the roleplay don't have the story "interrupted" by OOC comments.
The other minor thing, and it seems new, but there seems to be a lot more quoting (quote boxes) happening. I think most readers and RPers can remember what's happening in the story, and don't need to be reminded of previous lines.
These are minor things, but I think the thread would become a more enjoyable story, without distractions.
It's really been one of my favorite threads to read, and it's great that it got started back up over here.
The first of FeralKitty’s ideas is for the creation of a separate thread for Rpers to discuss the RP, one that will negate the need to post non-related comments on the RP thread itself. I’ll take FeralKitty’s advice and create the new RP suggestion thread right now. I think I’ll name it the “Piñata Island Roleplay Story Suggestion and Roleplayer Comment” thread.
The second proposal by FeralKitty seems to be an offshoot of the first: an end to the constant quoting of other RPers’ posts. I agree; we should try to tone down on the constant quoting, since it seems to break the flow of the story.
I guess I have no problem with FeralKitty’s advice. I’ll implement it as soon as I get the chance--and with the agreement of fellow Rpers, of course.
3. PIF RP Stories: Linear or Non-Linear? Plus, is PIF RP Too Lovey-Dovey?
The final point regards whether the open-ended structure of the PR thread, which has been a hallmark of the thread since its origins at the old VPF, should be modified to be linear, to a have a more-ordered story, perhaps a main story. Should we abandon the amalgam--the mixture--we have of side-stories in favor of one unified main story? Or should we keep our side-story, but no main story, approach? The onus is on us (MGS4 allusion).
In my opinion, we probably should pursue a more liner/main story structure. It would help give order and far more meaning to our RP actions--rather than having random, disconnected events happening simultaneously with little overall story progression.
But then again, isn’t Piñata Island a zany, anything-goes kind of place?
One last thing I’ll deal with is the subject that IZ and the recently departed Twingersnap brought up: the “over-saturation” of the PIF RP thread with “lovey-dovey” stories, with romance stories. I said before that I didn’t necessarily disapprove of love stories, but that I welcomed all types of stories. However, I’m aware that some RPers may not agree, so I may have to rein in a bit on the romance to try to accommodate other story-types. Still, for the moment, all Rpers are welcome to continue their romance stories to their conclusion. Those of us that enjoy them will thank you in advance.
Conclusion:
I’ve dealt with a few issues dealing with change for PIF RP, and I’ve come up with a few solutions. (1) Rpers should not RP the created characters of other Rpers; (2) quoting of previous RPers’ posts should be discouraged; (3) non-RP related comments should be left for a separate RP suggestion thread that will be created; (4) and that a main story/linear structure be used. I believe that the above changes may, as Feralkitty said in his letter, “make it more enjoyable to read“--and more enjoyable for Rpers take part in, in my words.
I will now leave the floor open for fellow Rpers to discuss the changes I recommended above, and for Rpers to make their own suggestions.
Thanks.
Ryan44,
[Edit: Poll deleted at OP's request - FeralKitty]