Is originality dead?

[Walker of Darkness]

I guess the point I was trying to get as was that I am tired of seeing fandom roleplays. Just gets repetitive seeing the same thread over and over.

A fandom RP is one thing, as in, I consider a fandom RP one that uses Cannon Characters(and mostly cannon, next to no, if any, original characters) and it's just a slightly different story line made by the players. Yes, these can get boring after a while. But then you have the In Universe RPs, which you might also consider a fandom, but I do not. While the world and setting, maybe even the time frame and events, are from the work, the characters and the new story are all their own.

Take, for example, a Soul Eater RP I'm working on and playing in. Granted, Soul Eater is not as often done as many other fandoms, but it is still set in the world and has a somewhat similar story to the base work. But the entirety of the cast is full of original characters and set in more of an Alternate Universe. The characters are deep and complex, each one having to deal with something different about them selves as well as personal growth, but the story line itself follows the same idea as the base work, only in it's own and different way.

On the topic of creativity and originality, nothing can be imagined from nothing, you can not create in a vacuum. Everything is inspired from something else. I spent the last three days writing up an entirely new religious sect for a D&D game, and after all was said and done, I found it reminded me greatly of the Justice System from Judge Dredd, but was still it's own even so. I'm writing a character background for another one, a classic disgraced noble turned rogue, but with a twist of my own tossed in. Even such things as what I defined as fandoms have a degree of originality. Original does not mean 'never done before', this is a misconception, it means 'new'. A new story, a character, a place, a power, just adding or twisting something from the base work makes it new to it, thus, original. Again, take my example of a Soul Eater RP. From this prospective, other than the setting and some lore, the RP is, in fact, almost wholly original.

But this is all a matter of opinion, what one person thinks is original, another may think is not or over done, no matter how many twist or changes are made.

[Christiefries]

Am I unoriginal because I'm hosting an RP based on a TV show...?

....Yeah, probably haha

But I think it's okay for people (and me...) to have fan-made RPs, so long as there's leniency with character creation and the story line, so there can at least be SOME creativity involved. Like, I make people pick up one original character then have the option to make their own character that didn't even appear in the series. And even with the original, it can have a different history, appearance, personality, etc.

[monstahunta]

In my personal experience originality is in every thread just as much as it isn't in any thread at all. Is that cryptic enough for you? What I am saying is quite simple. Even the Fandom-Rps seem unoriginal as they potentially use canon characters or a pre-created world the original comes from the potential new characters created by players or the new story created by the GM. But how original are these epic ideas that we create? In all seriousness, even the most original ideas are influenced directly more often than not from things that we have encountered from our every day lives. Perhaps we saw a television show or a movie, read a book that inspired this idea in our minds. From that very first point we start writing we are lost in a world void of originality grasping at whatever our minds can find which are ultimately influenced from things that we probably don't even remember. We use maps and character pictures as a basis for our creations from time to time, and the question arises does that diminish one's originality? Absolutely, to a certain extent when we use other people's work even as combined with our own ideas that are no more original than that other artists work. Even when we think our ideas are supremely original, they are ultimately influenced by an exponentially growing amount of ideas and influences.

On another note, if you are looking for something that doesn't seem so overdone and cliche`, I too am working on an epic tail that hopefully will be ready for an Interest Check by the first of December. From there I will give it a week before I get the OOC up and subsequently another week before the IC will be up. This is hopefully going to something attune an epic adventure that could ultimately rival an older FF game. But of course, that would be a pair of big shoes to fill.

This. Even things that seem "Original" are mostly a bunch of un-original ideas that are jumbled together. Or even things that seem original can be un-original ideas that are arranged in an original way. A truly original idea is one that would probably get you locked up in a loony bin for thinking, because it's so far out there that no one's ever heard anything like it before, hence, "Original."

[Hagazussa]

I guess the point I was trying to get as was that I am tired of seeing fandom roleplays. Just gets repetitive seeing the same thread over and over.

Okey but why look at them then? If you are talking about roleplays where one play cannon characters and just muck about with them, I am not to big a fan of those either, but it do not annoy me that they exist, just like I have no interest in sports what so ever, but it do not annoy me that they exist, some players enjoy those kinds of roleplays and I see no problem with that, focus your energy on joining or creating games that do interest you.

[Kagamine]

As it's been stated in many threads like this, fandom RP's (since that's what I'm pretty sure what you're referring to when you say "lacking in originality") thrive because they're easy to understand. They utilize a pre-made universe and concept rather than having the GM make up their own, which can be quite useful considering that way the RPers joining won't have to spend time trying to learn some complex world or setup- if they're a fan of the series, then they know all they need to know, generally. It's the same reason why overused tropes such as wolf pack, high school and zombie apocalypse threads are so common- people have seen it enough times and, hey, they understand it. On the other end of the spectrum, the more original ideas are harder to understand due to the very definition of original- "never seen before". It's new, it's something potential RPers have to learn, and it can be confusing, which is why the most original ideas, most often fail, while more overused ideas and fandom RP's fill up the forum. It's not that no one's coming up with original ideas, just that the non-original ideas have a higher success rate, and for good reason. Not a bad thing, just how it is.

Basically, this is why there are so many fandom RP's. They're easy to understand. Fans of the series don't need to know anything new, they just need to know the world they are already familiar with as fans of the series. Meanwhile, when a GM tries to pitch their original idea, it can be harder for players to grasp, because they don't know it as well. There's a small gap between a fandom RP and an overused trope like a high school RP in terms of "originality" and also how hard it is to grasp, but when you bring in more complex, unheard of ideas, that's when they're harder to understand. It's why "original" RP's are hard to find and fandom RP's fill up the boards. The former can be hard to pull of successfully, and the latter has a higher success rate.

Also, [2] to what Hagazussa said. If you don't like fandom RP's, then just don't join them.

Also, casual has the most fandom RP's out of any section. Last I checked it was more than half fandom, whereas when I checked free and advanced, their percentage of fandom RP's was pretty minimal in comparison. If casual's not giving you enough "originality", then perhaps you want to try the other sections?

[Hagazussa]

Basically, this is why there are so many fandom RP's. They're easy to understand. Fans of the series don't need to know anything new, they just need to know the world they are already familiar with as fans of the series. Meanwhile, when a GM tries to pitch their original idea, it can be harder for players to grasp, because they don't know it as well. There's a small gap between a fandom RP and an overused trope like a high school RP in terms of "originality" and also how hard it is to grasp, but when you bring in more complex, unheard of ideas, that's when they're harder to understand. It's why "original" RP's are hard to find and fandom RP's fill up the boards. The former can be hard to pull of successfully, and the latter has a higher success rate.

I am not a big fan of playing cannon characters, I do however like to play in an established setting, that be a setting from books, roleplaying games, movies, TV show, comics or whatever. Now I have no problem with setting that is home made, but I then prefer the ones with allot of detail in them for that give me more hooks to make a character around. For example if I am making a character for Star Wars, or World of Darkness or for that matter some anime series then I have allot of background information to work from which helps my creative process, but if all I know about the GM's custom setting is that it is a modern horror setting and there are vampires then I have fewer things to flash my character out with. So I am not a fan of playing cannon characters, but making custom characters in established settings that I like.

[Ezri Thoth II]

I would not say "role play is dead." It does change from topic to topic. Like myself, I do like role play with Star Trek type stories. But, I understand when there is not any new television or movies -- it does go into a decline. My feeling is, there are a great deal of role players from europe that want to understand english. Picking characters or ideas that was great during the 1990's have a harder time getting new role players interested when they themselves are in their twenties.

[Christiefries]

Pfft. I wish there was a Star Trek one going on I could join. >_<

[Hagazussa]

I would not say "role play is dead." It does change from topic to topic. Like myself, I do like role play with Star Trek type stories. But, I understand when there is not any new television or movies -- it does go into a decline. My feeling is, there are a great deal of role players from europe that want to understand english. Picking characters or ideas that was great during the 1990's have a harder time getting new role players interested when they themselves are in their twenties.

I do not completely agree with this, some things like Star Trek is as relevant today as it was fifteen years ago, the series and movies are classics, the same go for Star Wars and several other settings that is just to ingrained in our culture to be forgotten. Yes there are rarer things that not to many know or care about, but Star Trek, no that is about as popular as even even if not allot of new material is being made for it anymore.