Hello, everyone. Headphones here =3

Today my mind conjured up an idea, which I think is a bit strange and maybe a bit crazy, but I'm going to ask anyway about people's opinions.

Lately, I haven't gotten any proper writing done.
When it comes to role-plays, I only stay in the Advanced section (it's my own preference), but I haven't seen anything that could grab my attention as of late. Because of this, I tried opening a role-play, but that didn't last long. I opened another and the Int.Che.'s still out, but this topic isn't about self-advertising, so I'll leave it at that.
Since I'm currently in a less trilling period of role-playing, I decided to pick up my book projects (stories that I want to publish one day), however, I have noticed that I am slightly out of shape.

Right now I need something to get me going. Something to get me motivated, to light the spark and from then on my fire will burn. Music and inspirational videos are nice, but they rarely work on me. But then I wondered...

While taking a small break from writing on one of those book projects, I remembered a simple plot I had thought up two days ago. It wasn't something I planned to work on or turn into a role-play. Simply a delightful little tale to imagine yourself into. Then, as all writers do, I started the endless line of "what if" ( What if this happened? What if she didn't say that? And so on.). Soon enough, I ended up with different scenarios and at that moment I thought to myself how wonderful it would be if I was able to turn that into an RPG with visual novel elements, like the games "IB", "The Witch's House", "The Gray Garden", etc. However, my realistic self walked into the room and reminded me that I can only draw with pencil and paper, thus neither a visual novel, nor an RPG would work out well. At that very moment, a strange thought crossed my mind. Yes, I couldn't create digital drawings. Yes, I wasn't good at coding. And yes, I consider myself a good writer.
What if I made it into a play-by-post opinion-based game?

Allow me to explain how it would work. I create a post and at the very end I write down two or three choices, labeled A, B, C, etc. Once the post is up, I allow the public to vote on which of the presented options should occur. Should the character lie or tell the truth? Should they stay or leave the room? Such decisions and many more would be left for the viewers. I will go along with the majority's vote and create another post. Every decision made is a point for or against something. Depending on them the story may or may not have a good end. The endings will be predetermined, like in any visual novel and RPG with such elements, and will have different lengths.

Why this might be a good idea? I believe that it could bring together all types of role-players, those who are strictly in Advanced, like myself, and those of Casual and Free. It'll be like we're all playing a game together. Not to mention it's a great compromise for me XD I'll get to practice writing, get my consistency going, make something like a visual novel and get to play with everyone else =3 I enjoy role-playing with others, because I can be in a group and witness different opinions, styles and personalities. This won't be the exact same thing, but in its heart I think it will be the same.

I want to hear what everyone thinks about this. It won't be possible without the opinion of other players, after all. =3 And even if it doesn't work out, hey, I'm still interested in hearing what people think.

Heya Phones!!

The best way to get back into the rythym and flow of writing and rping is, of course, to be writing. We always get down periods with lack of inspiration but the best way to pick that back up again is by of course writing. And this is an absolutely wonderful way to do so!

I did something similar to this once before on an old forum in a humorous, comical fashion - styled in the same way as old PC 'choose your adventure' type games but with humorous situations and results, allowing other posters to choose and determine the actions of what happened. It was shortlived, but most importantly of all it was a lot of fun. Let me link a few segments beneath a hider.



I'd imagine yours might be more serious in tone, but it is a fun game to play. :)

Also! Don't be afraid or dismissive of Casual, Phones. Whilst rps in that section might not write posts to the lengthy extent of Advanced, it doesn't mean the rp concepts, writing or players are in any way worse, and I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice by missing out on playing with some decent rpers and people in that section. :) It's also always good writing practice as well, and can help you get back into the motion of writing. :)

Hope you're doing well, Phones! <3

Patch! Grandpa! I still haven't forgotten you and it certainly is delightful to see you haven't forgotten me. ^ ^

Thank you for showing your support. Those Skype chats payed off, huh. XD Don't think I'm dismissing people from Casual and Free. On the contrary, I'm inviting them and interested in gathering opinions, if this play takes off.

I will strive to be more serious than that, but your example was certainly funny X3

Cool idea. I'd definitely be onboard with that, but now I have to wonder what section you would post it in.

Nice point, MadAsshatter. I was wondering about that, but thought I wouldn't bring up the question until I knew that this was a project with at least a small possibility of success. X3
It certainly wouldn't be in the General section, since that is only for Int.Che.s, nor in Free, Casual or Advanced. Not in Nation, Arena or 1x1. The only section that is left is Tabletop, but I don't believe it would entirely fit in there even then. Still, a place will always be found, so long as there is interest ^ ^

Member's Lounge sounds as fine a place as any.

This sounds like your talking about Storygaming, a concept that I engage in on a site dedicated to such things, and where a handful of aspiring writers work together to better their writing. You idea is nearly identical, save in a Storygame, the readers make their own suggestions rather than you giving the options, and those are what's voted on. Your version is a bit more restrictive, still relying almost entirely on your own imagination rather than giving the readers an actual hand in the creative part of the process, but as I have noticed in RPers the distinct lack of such motivations, I see your way working better here. Don't get me wrong, there are a select few RPers who are, and please don't hate me for this, on par as far as creativity and actual writing talents go, but over all I have found such exceedingly difficult. Not many people feel at home on the other site I spoke of, mostly occupied by writers, and those who seriously aspire to be.

All in all, I wish you best of luck in your endeavor, and if you find you enjoy doing this, please feel free to shoot me a PM about the other site I spoke of :P

PopeAlessandros said
This sounds like your talking about Storygaming, a concept that I engage in on a site dedicated to such things, and where a handful of aspiring writers work together to better their writing. You idea is nearly identical, save in a Storygame, the readers make their own suggestions rather than you giving the options, and those are what's voted on. Your version is a bit more restrictive, still relying almost entirely on your own imagination rather than giving the readers an actual hand in the creative part of the process, but as I have noticed in RPers the distinct lack of such motivations, I see your way working better here.

Phones' suggestion is probably the best, yeah. Not neccessarily so much because of RPers' creative motivations, but that sometimes you get people just offer derailing, trolling suggestions which border on the completely stupid and/or offensive. It depends on how well it's set up and established to be more serious minded at the start though I guess, and how well people can respond to that.

Saying that though, giving people the opportunity to make suggestions other then Phones' own can help lead the story into creative new ways that could help inspire her story even further, so both options have their pros and cons.

Sounds riveting.

So, how is this going for you?