RPing pet hates

[Gravekeeper]

How about this, You pack it with a simple system,(PM me if you want help with it), and make a version allowing the "crap ton of set up"

That way you can sell a cheap version and if people like it enough they can buy the complete version.

Its already set up that way. Game designer is my side job thus I do not require assistance, heh. ;p

Its just a bitch for a new user regardless of how intuitive I make the set up because of how time consuming it is. By default it handles a universal D20 system and allows for rule input ( it can conform to all editions of AD&D as well as Pathfinder ). The biggest issue is database input. To get the most out of it you basically have to enter all of your rule books into it. So you'd have to run off and download all these databases, which someone would have to make and that someone can't be us for legal reasons. ;p

I'm not saying its not a nifty tool, just that all things considered it would never be more than a niche application and likely do little commercially.

Everywhere I've RPed, controlling someone else's character without their consent is seriously taboo and is part of godmoding.

This was always the cardinal sin in every RP I was ever in or ran myself as well. Taking any control away from another player was utterly taboo.

[Skunkle]

By "controlling someone else's character", I assume what is meant is, for example, describing your action and then, with it, describing how another character reacts and/or what it does to them?

That was something you'd see occasionally in the AOL RP stuff. One thing called Furcadia (think MUCK plus visual environment, all anthropomorphic characters) has what's called the "rule of cool" - that is, if someone walks up and does something to you, and you don't approve, you're welcome to pretend it didn't happen. Not that this isn't done elsewhere, I simply don't usually see it written up.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Everywhere I've RPed, controlling someone else's character without their consent is seriously taboo and is part of godmoding. It's generally considered to be rude, and a way for someone to have their character be all powerful; for example, if they constantly have their character hit other characters but with no returns.

[SkullKing]

Interesting, how do you prevent abuse of someone's character then?

The only times I Roplayed over the internet, controlling someone else´s character was expressly forbidden. It was a small group though.

[Android Kaeli]

The rules are actually far from strict; she'd have a horrible surprise if she ever went to a forum that was exclusively RP based.

I get that a lot with the rules I have set up, which in reality is just an updated version of the old RP forum rules anyways. Almost ALL of the rules that I have, were there well before I even came back to this site's forums as a mod again -- with the exception of a couple of rules that I made up as a way to cover my butt.

Then again, I also state in these very rules that there are exceptions to every rule but ONE: if you aren't comfortable with other people being able to control your character for a post or two, GTFO now 'cause that's not changing and has been since well before I took the job. I know not everyone likes it, I don't mind RPing with or without it, but yea....

[Andara Bledin]

How about this, You pack it with a simple system,(PM me if you want help with it), and make a version allowing the "crap ton of set up"

That way you can sell a cheap version and if people like it enough they can buy the complete version.

That's actually a pretty awesome idea.

Also, there are a couple of systems out there that are open source, so you could include base setups for those without worry over copyright issues.

^-.-^

[SkullKing]

How about this, You pack it with a simple system,(PM me if you want help with it), and make a version allowing the "crap ton of set up"

That way you can sell a cheap version and if people like it enough they can buy the complete version.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I recently had a character profile submitted to me that was so damn awful, I had to tell the potiental player to either get his shit together with the profile or just stop while he was ahead. It roughly took about five times before I eventually told him this; there was no reason for him to be so stupid when it came to creating a profile for a freaking character. Especally when some of the same crap I had told him at the beginning, he didn't bother to correct or re-worded it so that it sounded better but even a person who wasn't overly familiar with the things he was trying to put into the profile could tell him themselves to fix.

I've had someone do that; this girl basically appeared out of nowhere (she'd never RPed on the forum before and registered an account just to post on the RP) and submitted this profile which was full of awful, flowery prose and her intro was about four paragraphs describing how beautiful and talented her character was. -.- She also godmoded a bit as she described how other people's characters reacted to hers. As the RP owner, I told her to repost her character profile as it simply would not do; the character was a stone cold Mary Sue and she was not allowed to godmod. She sent me a PM saying huffily that she was an experienced RPer on her own forum, thanks very much, and there was nothing wrong with her character.

Needless to say, that approach didn't wash either with me or with the other players. I messaged her back to say that while I welcomed new RPers, as far as the forum rules went, they were for everyone to follow, not everyone cept for her. She then said she didn't want to join after all... and then posted her own RP which completely plagurised mine and had her revolting Mary Sue take centre stage. -.- I closed it, and she posted a b*tchy thread on the forum saying that she was leaving cuz we were too strict. The rules are actually far from strict; she'd have a horrible surprise if she ever went to a forum that was exclusively RP based.

[Gravekeeper]

One of the biggest issues with it though, is the inability to conform it to any game system ( and thus, lawsuits! ). The bots were RP management tools which is fine and dandy. The apps were game management tools which required a fark ton of user set up because we can't use an existing commercial game system. We can only give the tools for people to enter said game system on their own.

The alternative is to use our own game system, but then people would complain they can't use <insert game rules here>. So the options for game management are actually kind of limited unless we allow for a crap ton of set up. -.-

[SkullKing]

They were all written in good ol' C+, then a friend of mine ported them to PERL. However, we are both actually licensed Apple developers too. iPod/iPhone apps are not problem at all for us. In fact I did design a number of gaming app tools, but we really didn't think we'd find much of a market for them so we never put them together. Thing is, while the Apple install base is massive, the Apple store is complete, total and utter shit. Shit layered upon shit layered upon shit. To the point of being near impossible for any worthwhile app to tread water in said shit unless it gets picked up in the main stream media ala Angry Birds. Which itself is a complete rip off of someone else's game. Much like 90% of the App Store. -.-

Gaming utility apps would largely get lost in it and it'd be up to us to struggle to advertise them by ourselves.

There is some truth in that, however, a few forum posts in RP Forums would probably give you a lot of attention without much work. Plus ex- P&P Roleplayers are always on the lookout for new tools.

Plus it won´t be a single-player application so once someone is interested they would show to more people.

Not saying it would be an instant success, but I think it would probably be worth the time, especially since you already made it.

[Andara Bledin]

There's likely a huge opportunity for someone to develop tools for structured RP via internet/chat/forum for those of us who want to play but aren't near the people we want to play with.

^-.-^

[Gravekeeper]

Thing about the creepy furries is, most furries aren't very creepy. The creepy ones, a small percentage of the fandom, are the ones who get the press - partly because they make the loudest stink, and partly because the net trolls nab anything they do and spread it around like it's an epidemic.

Which is precisely my point. The most visible/extreme segment has co-opted everything else and a Furcon is a visual spectacle the media could never resist. Sure, anime has its weird fetishes, but its been around quite a lot longer and honestly it isn't as visible. Plus, it is looked upon with similar disdain by the media in its country of origin.

Thing is, cosplaying is fairly accepted these days and to those that don't accept it they just see some sad nerds dressing up like nerd characters. Its just seen as a progression from Trekkies who were also viewed as sad nerds dressing up as nerd characters. But a Furcon on the other hand draws quite a bit more attention then a pudgy nerd dressed like Spock. The costumes are far more elaborate, draw quite a bit more attention and are not of established recognizable characters. They also co-opt something that already existed in western culture. Specifically, mascots.

Thus the exact same action is precieved differently from the outside between the two groups. Sad pudgy nerd dressed as Sailor Moon striking sexy poses is just viewed as a sad lonely nerd. Someone in a fursuit doing it though is "Oh god, is that Tony the Tiger? What the hell is he doing?" -.-

Hence the media loves it.

Oh, and by the way... People don't really have sex in fursuits.

I didn't say that they did, however if I were you I would not be willing to place that bet on Google.

Even as a furry, though... Lizards don't get bewbs. A human girl with a tail and ears is called a nekomimi, and is NOT an anthropomorphic critter. She's just a girl wearing ears and a tail (but please, please don't ask how that tail is probably temporarily "attached").

I'm aware of the terms. I was discussing the outside perception. Reptiles do get bosom'd up quite a bit though.

The vampire character stereotype-- do you mewan the player, or the character?

The player. Its one thing to be playing V:TM, it's another when you have one player that will try to cram a vampire character into anything you're playing. -.-

You should totally market both of these. With people doing more online gaming, they'd both be really awesome as part of a gaming framework.

They were all written in good ol' C+, then a friend of mine ported them to PERL. However, we are both actually licensed Apple developers too. iPod/iPhone apps are not problem at all for us. In fact I did design a number of gaming app tools, but we really didn't think we'd find much of a market for them so we never put them together. Thing is, while the Apple install base is massive, the Apple store is complete, total and utter shit. Shit layered upon shit layered upon shit. To the point of being near impossible for any worthwhile app to tread water in said shit unless it gets picked up in the main stream media ala Angry Birds. Which itself is a complete rip off of someone else's game. Much like 90% of the App Store. -.-

Gaming utility apps would largely get lost in it and it'd be up to us to struggle to advertise them by ourselves.

[Android Kaeli]

I oversee a forum-based RP, have been for a couple of years now -- it's based on a long running console game series.

One of my biggest peeves is when I have to send a profile back to the player, stating that the character profile in question does not fit the storyline. Because of the nature of the game series and the time frame in which I set the storyline in, there may or may not be limits to the type of character that can be played. However, I have been flexible about characters -- I really don't care what kind of job the character has, what their background is [for the most part anyways], who their parents were, or what kind of skills/weaknesses they have. While there are some limitations, it's not so much so that characters can not be created from what time frame the storyline is.

I recently had a character profile submitted to me that was so damn awful, I had to tell the potiental player to either get his shit together with the profile or just stop while he was ahead. It roughly took about five times before I eventually told him this; there was no reason for him to be so stupid when it came to creating a profile for a freaking character. Especally when some of the same crap I had told him at the beginning, he didn't bother to correct or re-worded it so that it sounded better but even a person who wasn't overly familiar with the things he was trying to put into the profile could tell him themselves to fix.

What was so horrible and awful about this profile that I was glad he stopped after the fifth or sixth time? Lets just say that this person was trying to submit a character that sounded like it was taken from a currently popular ninja anime/manga series and was trying to pass it off into a video game world where the most ninja-like thing in it is the all female band of thieves that only has one male born into it every generation or so, of which is the main villian of most of the series regardless of when the game was set in.

[Skunkle]

Pen and paper RP characters, I can't really see a reason to want to sexualize. The characters I mention are mostly used in chat-based play that's usually of the slice-of-life variety in a modern-day setting; even the few that exist in a Medieval sort of setting are used in life situations, not in "go out on an adventure" or "crawl a dungeon" type stuff. Sex tends to be a part of interpersonal stuff, eventually.

I've only ever seen a few disturbing things, after attending over 30 cons, half of those being furcons.

[Andara Bledin]

Really should have marketed that bot. Hell, maybe I still should.

I also had another one that handled combat that had both a basic and a complex advanced combat system.

You should totally market both of these. With people doing more online gaming, they'd both be really awesome as part of a gaming framework.

Oh, and by the way... People don't really have sex in fursuits.

People haven't even done 90% of what's been reported. There's a report of a huge something that went on at one of the earlier Confurences, and I have it on good authority from one of the major people in the story that it never happened. Or anything even remotely like it that could have been sensationalized. From what I can tell, the story was made up out of whole cloth by a bunch of bitter burned furs with axes to grind.

As for the whole sexy character thing... I don't think I've ever sexualized any of my pen and paper rp characters. Actually, I don't think any of the crew I gamed with ever did, either.

The closest I've ever gotten was when the boyfriend and I had a brother sister team who happened to also be lovers. And the reactions from others when they figured out both types of relationship was awesome.

^-.-^