((OOC - Discussion tiems!))

[sharpestscalpel]

((OOC - So, this mirror game is an off-shoot of the very first online RP in which I've been involved. I've done a lot of table-top, some LARP, and some single-player computer-based RPG but using LJ this way kind of fascinates me. And I was thinking about that and thinking about the things that I love and the things that have been driving me crazy and I started to wonder:

What does your ideal online RP look like?

I'm posting this here because I'm interested in the thoughts of other players but also, if anyone wants to speak on it, the thoughts of readers. It's such an interesting performative way of playing and I'm pondering the back-end portion of it, the meta of it, the tendency of myself to forget that other people can read any of this, that sort of thing. Let's assume that all discussion is out of character - if, you know, there actually IS discussion and not just me rambling along in my little corner here.

To me, the best RP is a form of collaborative story telling. It becomes a tapestry of lots of different stories that all touch on and influence each other. I feel like there are some barriers to that in this format (LJ) - but that in other ways this format is ideal for games that result in a collaborative narrative.

And now we've started Twittering and I'm kind of in love with the idea of a game that works across social networking platforms. But the drawback is that then you have to put in the work to make it happen across social networking platforms and readers have a hard time following everything. I used to play a table-top game that involved a lot of websites and internets research, though, and it was phenomenally fascinating. I'm not sure where the trade-off is for that.

Anybody? Bueller?))

Comments

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much my take on the Twitter outlet. It's silly commentary and in-character observations about stuff, rather than plot events the way a post and ensuing comments can be.

[dilithiumwanted.livejournal.com]

That and there's a mundane side to life onboard the Enterprise. That really, really mundane side doesn't often get explored, because frankly, it doesn't need to be explored in depth.

Scotty's got the day off, because he said so. He's spending it working on the ship. Surprise, surprise. Scotty gets behind on his paperwork because he works on the ship so much, has to do stuff with Keenser, has to have some sort of downtime, and/or fix the ship because it's exploding right before his eyes. I don't need to write posts about this sort of thing, because really, it would be boring (And no matter how much you fucking love your job, it occasionally gets boring). The extra bit of characterization is fun to explore anyways: How would Scotty express boredom at work or in general, frustration at huge amounts of paperwork for a small change, etc. This sort of thinking is important to keeping Scotty from being a walking one-dimensional cutout that gets wet and asks for sandwiches and towels while sprouting catchphrases.

[sharpestscalpel.livejournal.com]

That and there's a mundane side to life onboard the Enterprise. That really, really mundane side doesn't often get explored, because frankly, it doesn't need to be explored in depth.

Honestly, I wish the mundane stuff got explored more! I think that's where the most character development happens. The really interesting details, you know?