++Comments thread: Official RP++

**AbstractPagan** · June 14th, 2007, 04:44 AM

Hey everyone I thought it would be nice to hear your comments on our little RP we have going on. I now this is an artwork community and we have posted some artwork, but critiques on the artwork is something we would not mind either, but since art can also cover writing, I figured everyone could add a few peanuts on what we have done. We will be wrapping it up eventually and I would like to see how everyone feels it is going to end as well as other comments. Cheers!

**Jason Rainville** · June 19th, 2007, 03:58 PM

In all honesty I don't know why this is here in the challenge area. The lounge or games/movies or hel even community activities would seem more applicable.

I didn't go over your rp, but in my experience it's much easier to rp when there's a set world lore. the folks over at Tabrien always needs more people. The rp threads are no longer active and it would be good to see more activity in there.

**kovah** · June 19th, 2007, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by Rhineville

In all honesty I don't know why this is here in the challenge area. The lounge or games/movies or hel even community activities would seem more applicable.

I didn't go over your rp, but in my experience it's much easier to rp when there's a set world lore. the folks over at Tabrien always needs more people. The rp threads are no longer active and it would be good to see more activity in there.

Initially it was the 'challenge' to draw the scenes that occured in the rp. So people could combine their artistic interested and have a practice at illustrating scenes in the story that they didn't nessecerly have any control over as well as a character development exercise.

And it was spawned from a thread that appeared in the thunderdome. Since there was interested at the time and i didn't have permission to post in the the thunderdome this seemed like the next logical place.

As for the world lore, it was ment to be as open as possible so people would have the maximum range of enviroments, characters, races and settings to flex their artistic fingers in. By creating a world lore we were automatically thinning down the options available to the artists.

If you did happen to take a gander at the rp you would see some the examples of the arts that came out of it especially in the first few pages. Though life commitments have somewhat taken over and some people had to leave and had better things to do than draw pictures for an rp. I just happen to like Rping and am pleased at how it is progessing wether or not there are pictures being drawn for it.

EDIT: Just had a quick look at the Tabrien thing and i cant read the text (easily) in the threads because of the wood effect background. Which unfortunatly puts me right off. Also the amount of text i will probably have to read to get into the story is another turn off

**Jason Rainville** · June 20th, 2007, 03:22 PM

Ah, I see, that makes more sense.

Well, if you guys ever do want to be part of Tabrien join on up, I think we're still looking for writers and rpers (I haven't been a part of the official lore writers for a while) so check in if you like.

EDIT: Didn't read the above post: Wood tex? It may be for the background, but for post backgrounds it's a solid colour (at least that's what I see) and yeah, the original project was a lot of lore, and rp's that eventually developed into short stories.

**kovah** · June 20th, 2007, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by Rhineville

Ah, I see, that makes more sense.

Well, if you guys ever do want to be part of Tabrien join on up, I think we're still looking for writers and rpers (I haven't been a part of the official lore writers for a while) so check in if you like.

EDIT: Didn't read the above post: Wood tex? It may be for the background, but for post backgrounds it's a solid colour (at least that's what I see) and yeah, the original project was a lot of lore, and rp's that eventually developed into short stories.

meh at second glance its not *quite* wood but i find it distracting.

**Jason Scanlon** · June 24th, 2007, 11:25 PM

i have some confusion relating to the fact that the setting as it turned out does not really resemble the one chosen in the poll. there doesnt seem to be any sort of robot culture at all (or even an indication of sentience) and i got a different mood from the initial description than i do from the game, which i know is extremely subjective. was that idea scrapped in favor of more flexibility?
criticismwise its the general problem i have with online games (or i suppose games in general). Specifically i just read about a group of characters (or warriors to be precise) provided with swarms of soulless enemies to destroy, perhaps a chase once in a while, though this died down a bit later on. the storyline was weak in the beginning when it seemed like the characters were forced into a team with suggestions that some of them knew each other but no background as to how. obviously any opinion i write is filtered through my own preferences.

**kovah** · June 25th, 2007, 03:33 AM

During the course of the rp it was decided to move from the city into the wilderness area which was also mentioned in the description. It was perhaps due to the small amount of players that the robot culture and background was not completely explored before we moved the characters out into the wilderness.

I suppose if there is a good reason as to why the characters know each other no one questions it - especially with these kind of games as more details can be added a little later on. Adding too much history all the time can ruin the flow of the rp so often its not done then forgotten about.

i dont know how much you have read of the rp, but i think this one is quite a strong storyline, mainly due to the wide array of characters.

**Jason Rainville** · June 25th, 2007, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by kovah

meh at second glance its not *quite* wood but i find it distracting.

What the hell? It shouldn't show up like that. Might be a problem with a difference in what guests/members see, because when I'm logged in It's a solid background. Thanks for bringing that to our attention, I'll pm the admin about it.

Weird :o

**kovah** · June 25th, 2007, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by Rhineville

What the hell? It shouldn't show up like that. Might be a problem with a difference in what guests/members see, because when I'm logged in It's a solid background. Thanks for bringing that to our attention, I'll pm the admin about it.

Weird :o

well glad to be of some help

**AbstractPagan** · June 25th, 2007, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by .61803

i have some confusion relating to the fact that the setting as it turned out does not really resemble the one chosen in the poll. there doesnt seem to be any sort of robot culture at all (or even an indication of sentience) and i got a different mood from the initial description than i do from the game, which i know is extremely subjective. was that idea scrapped in favor of more flexibility?
criticismwise its the general problem i have with online games (or i suppose games in general). Specifically i just read about a group of characters (or warriors to be precise) provided with swarms of soulless enemies to destroy, perhaps a chase once in a while, though this died down a bit later on. the storyline was weak in the beginning when it seemed like the characters were forced into a team with suggestions that some of them knew each other but no background as to how. obviously any opinion i write is filtered through my own preferences.

Well initially I was going to go into the sentience of the robots and the culture, but as I found out reader's don't care if they're smart, just that they get their rears kicked by the main characters. Though I will say in defense (not that it is needed) that the Major is the closest thing to robotic sentience in this culture, though I have reason to say he is not the only one. Perhaps if we venture into the city we could cover that a little more. Sentience is "the readiness to perceive sensations; elementary or undifferentiated consciousness." Unfortunately, even highly advanced AI (artificial intelligence) may never achieve that, because consciousness is an organic trait exclusively. That's my 2 pennies.

**Jason Scanlon** · June 26th, 2007, 07:16 AM

That makes a lot of sense kovah. I imagine if all of the players had remained on board, more would have been revealed. Although every character was in the process of fleeing the city from roughly the beginning, this did not need to be a hindrance in exploring anything imaginable; you guys did a good job of drawing that sequence out. I concede that the 'non-action' scenes didnt really kick in until the characters made it out of the walls. As a whole, though, the main plot was combat oriented with the exception of some conflicts within and between player characters. There was prophecies of battle, preparation for battle, and healing after battle but the theme was very apparent. this is fine as its obviously what the players were into and the characters were all combat oriented. the characters were interesting and diverse, but i dont think the plot does them justice.

AbstractPagan, i would hesitate to say that this is what the 'reader' wants as i found myself in that position and would have to disagree with such a generalization, particularly since i voted in large part for that aspect of the setting (there wasnt a whole lot else so specific). Also i would think that the players' enjoyment should count for more. im sorry, that could easily be what you meant.
i myself will not suggest that i know the nature or origin of consciousness, but will say that i have not heard from any of the numerous men and women more qualified than i a single confident explanation of the phenomenon. theres some good reading on this subject (and inevitably some not-so-good.) more interesting stuff should come up with a google search on 'organic computers'.

I hope i dont come off as a jerk and i apologize but i swear this is the most useful stuff i could think to write. ill shut up about now.

edit: for some reason i imagined the Major as a Vaderesque cyborg

**kovah** · June 26th, 2007, 11:13 AM

I have found really in the Rp's that i have participated in that as a general rule, its either violence or romance that ends up as the main theme throughout an rp. Since none of the characters were really romantically compatible

violence is/was the theme of the day.

As you say allot more could have been done to explore the city and the various aspects of it but in many ways there was just far too much that could have been explored and led to a dead end. Perhaps in a few months a new rp could get started up again and there could be more exploration into the finer details of the environment the characters are placed in.

**Jason Scanlon** · June 26th, 2007, 08:35 PM

I agree that this is the trend but dont quite understand the significance of that beyond the fact that these are visceral and relatable subjects, particularly from the mindset of wish fulfillment and escapism. If that is what motivates your play, then there is clearly no problem, but id hate to see anyone confining themselves to what theyre accustomed to or believe to be doable simply due to general trends and not acting according to their own desires out of fear of failure. im not sure if thats actually the case but you comment struck me as odd. i see no evidence that you guys are incapable of exploring any type of story that inspires you and didnt perceive any unavoidable dead ends in the story. perhaps a less linear plot is not your thing. often such feelings of familiarity or sense of tradition can hamper creativity. However, the roleplay provides the precise conditions for every player to project his desires onto the story, so it is unlikely that you guys not get what you want out of it. as such it seems impossible to me for an external critique of the roleplay to be given if it is not a critique of the fiction that is desired. the only criterion must be the players' satisfaction. peace.