The RPG Soapbox: Let your voice be heard!

Got an idea on how to make the games better? Then sound off, here, in the RPG Soapbox!

Inspired by recent discussions between myself, Byrd, and Keyser Soze, this shall be an ongoing suggestion box of sorts. Where you, the players, get to help shape the RPG forums for the future generations to inherit our blood, sweat, and sticky socks.

So let's begin the discussion.

 

The final season idea has merit. And the tv analogy is apt because, if the final season gets a huge influx of activity, it might merit not ending the game (like how Magnum PI was given a final season, and then brought back for another by viewer demand).

Unless every game is limited in length, continuity is always going to be an issue. But I think continuity not only gives games more meaning to writers, it can be a good challenge to new writers. The problem is, the history is never recorded and maintained anywhere. We have a great wiki for the games that is never kept up to date. All it would take is a paragraph or two at mid and end season about your character, but players (including myself) are too lazy or uninterested (or even ignorant of it) and don't keep it updated.

Right now in CaH, Hound is being awesome and going through and building a page by page summary of the game. That might be too much detail, but for someone like me who came in late in the game, and season, it'll be an invaluable resource.


Another idea would be to limit how long someone can keep a player. Maybe a two or three consecutive season limit, thereby giving new players a chance at their favorite characters. Even though I'm guilty of it for various reasons, a story shouldn't really take more than three seasons to tell. Now, a player could ask the GM if they can go longer, and if no one has shown interest in the character, keep it past three. But it might just be easier to have a static limit. If you can't get your ducks together to tell a story in three, then don't, or figure out a way to make it work.



I do like the idea of the single season games. New players have fun with their favorite characters, old players get to dabble in new stories. And, hopefully, by having fun with their favorite characters, they get the urge to play different characters in the main games.


What might also help to give new players a shot is that veteran players do not get first dibs on characters. Perhaps they should have to wait a week before applying for anyone so new players can have some fun (not sure how this would work with multi-season arcs).


Just a couple of ideas that popped into my head while reading this. I have others, but this isn't really the place for them.

 

One of my first suggestions goes hand in hand with an IM chat I had with Byrd, which is that - going off of wieg's idea for a three season limit on characters - there should be an exception made in the case of player-created continuity. Players who have devoted their time and energy to building up a character from the beginning should be allowed to play that character as long as they want, be it a consistent player for One Universe, Ultimate DC, or Create-A-Hero (which goes without saying).

Now, in the case of big games? Different story. No matter the character, three seasons is more than enough ample time to play someone and keep it interesting. Both Byrd and I played Nightwing for a season and a half in World Of Heroes, and it felt both long and rewarding enough to quit after awhile and hand it off to someone else.

 

As someone who has been playing The Joker for 7 seasons now, I shall hide quietly in the corner....

 

Surely you can't last three more years, you sick bastard!

 

I don't know about OU, but I pretty much have my mind made up about doing a finale next season in DC. This coming season will mark our ninth one. All good things come to an end and I really want to end it with a bang and then move on to a new DC RPG.

 

I hadn't planned on keeping Sinestro for 5 seasons. I've been trying to wrap it up since the third, but things just wouldn't work out for whatever reason. And yet it ended up working perfectly when it did.

 

I actually think that Create-a-Hero is the way of the future for these games, as it avoids the major issue that the big two have, which is "But I want to be Spider-Man!" But then there's schmucks like me who think, "well, maybe, one day, eventually, I'll be able to get SuperFerret published, so why expose that material to the obviously thief-filled internet before I have copyrights?"

 

Personally I'd say three seasons seems a bit too long.

 

Personally, I'd say, shut yer ****e mouth!

 

I'll be honest: four years and a half into my time in the RPGs and superheroes and superhero stories are getting stale for me. That's why I've been into playing cops these past few years. I'm tired of being superheroes.

As much as I want to do a cops and robbers, or a western-themed RPG....those things don't last long on the hype. Other than the two big ones, nothing's lasted past a few seasons.

 

Try using the Poor Man's Copyright. (Although, it doesn't work in the US, but it might work in the UK)

But, really, once you put your work on a tangible medium like paper, it's considered copyrighted.


And it looks like it only cost $35ish to register the copyright.
http://www.copyright.gov/docs/fees.html

 

Personally, I'm in love with the mythology of the superhero, and I think that there's no limit to the stories one can tell within that scope.

 

Agreed.

That said, I personally have more fun with characters that I looked up to as a kid rather than characters that I'd make myself. I really haven't had a great luck with my short-lived CAH characters.

 

I live in the US, so there goes the Poor Man's Copyright, and I know it's not expensive to have it done, but I've got to actually finish my first story before doing it. Also, I'm a perfectionist with a short-attention span.

 

Create-A-Hero's not getting canned is it?

 

Okay, so I really like the conversation between Keyser, MB, and Byrd.

I think the idea to close out all the majors is a great idea. But I also think there should be at least one continuing game in each section. I don't want to lose those great moments, and I don't want to lose the dedication people put into the characters they love, which shows in the amazing writing quality.

And with the one-shot or short term games, I don't think there should be more than 2 in each section. That way those don't die out like unattended cattle like the multitude of games we have now do. That way there is a small sample size for newbies to choose from, and restricts veterans from over extending themselves. Also, every game should be brought forth in the ideas thread, rather than having a thread for every idea.

As for character term limits, I think 2 seasons should be the max. 3 is a ton. I've been here for like 3 years at this point, and I've only done 3 seasons in OU, which is my one major game. If it wasn't for a stroke of luck, I never would have been able to get Spider-man, and I'd hate to have to wait 3 seasons to get the chance in a new game.

Overall, I think we've got a great core of posters here, and there's no reason why we can't get more. This is a fixable problem we have here, and smart people to fix it. I don't think we'll have a problem.

 

I don't think you have to wait until it's finished to register. Heck, the second you write the idea on a piece of scrap paper it's technically copyrighted anyway. But maybe you have to, I don't know.

 

And yet 2 seasons sounds too short

 

I'd prefer to have the idea fully finished before considering getting it copyrighted.

 

What about these short-term RPGs? How long should they be, exactly? Most seasons we have last anywhere from a year to maybe two years. Some, like CAH and Star Wars, go longer. How long do they need to be to make sure everyone stays active and into them while making sure to tell a well-rounded story?

 

You want Jim Gordon?! You'll have to pry him out of my cold, dead hands!

 

I think that's another thing that should be addressed, actually. How long each season lasts. Maybe we should establish a set maximum limit in terms of time? Like nine months or so. I'd say six months, but it seems a little shorthanded.

 

I love the idea of short, one-shot RPGs.

As for season lengths, I say the shorter the better as it (hopefully) would encourage people to get more posting done before the season finishes

 

Nine month seasons would be good (and fitting )

We could take two months off for the holidays, and build up for the next season, and a month, if needed, at mid-season if things start getting slow. Because if there's one thing that'll get a player to either post or drop someone they've just been clinging to, it's to threaten to not let them post.