The point though, reasons aside, is that what is "good" or "better" is entirely subjective and an opinion, not fact.

I don't care for anime or superhero rps. That doesn't mean I'll say my tastes are better than what is currently popular in the int checks.

Magic Magnum said
Like I said though, you can't really do the 'special snowflake' hero RPs. But the one's that focus on many mutants and heroes flourish. Those are the one's I've seen happen on the guild constantly. As for Heroes and X-Men not counting? I think we might be having a miscommuncation now.When I think superhero RP I'm thinking anything that gives people special powers and abilities, but still was to be in modern society and it can't be something that the everyday person posses.But I assume you're thinking more directly "Man flys on cape and sends the evil scientist to Jail" sort of concept.And if we're defining superhero RPs that way then I have to agree, it is greatly uncommon compared to anime RPs.

If you read my very specific word choice, I say that it does not 'feel' like a superhero concept. It may fall under that classification, especially expansive elements of the latter, but it doesn't feel like it.

Superheroes suffer from Superman, who is 'thee' Superhero when you think of the genre. Only one person can be Superman.

When I see superhero mentioned, I'm not eager to jump in and participate. To reiterate as well, the scope of powers in superhero threads feels harder to define versus named techniques, which is also why I tend to shy away from the genre. I feel like the broad scope many people utilize as powers leaves too much interpretation.

Being perfectly honest, the popularity of super heroes seems to be shifting. DC has been getting a number of complaints with superman and batman, while Marvel has gained nothing but high praise for their work. And all the works either involve a group of heroes, or a solo hero who is also part of a larger group elsewhere (avengers). So the idea of superman being "thee" hero is getting weaker, the popularity and fan base just is not as high anymore.

I will fully admit that any super hero RP though, may you go the super man route or the avengers route has serious power scaling issues. It would take a skilled and controlled group of players to properly handle and manage abilities and their use. But at the same time, let's remember the whole point of the genre is for insanely powerful people. I can completely get why that may draw people off (and is probably a big reason for people not doing hero rp's). But I still find it to be a more popular topic than anime (unless if you look at free, free tends to go anime crazy).

For now though, I think Superman would be the #1 episode on Family Feud if you asked someone to name a superhero.

I'm not sure I'd say it is more popular than an Anime topic (otherwise Yog wouldn't likely have been complaining about it)...

I learned roleplaying through combat initially, so I have a natural aversion to the category. I usually don't find the scope of the powers to be adequately enough defined to ensure balance in most instances (often it is intentionally too vague).

Wow a lot of you made really generalizing statements about superheroes and it tells me none of you read a lot of comics. Superheroes can be written in any fictional genre. There are magic and fantasy heroes, aliens and sci-fi heroes, mystery and anti heroes.

@ Innue, the x men are superheroes, most superheroes deal with social problems of many different types, superheroes are among some of the most relevant kinds of fiction outside of realistic fiction in the history of storytelling. Most people dismiss superheroes because they're American and have never really picked up a comic.

Just to throw my two cents here, both sides of whatever 'this' is are generalizing both of these very fine mediums of art. Anime and Comics may have their differing values and storytelling techniques, but both have a wide range of genres to work with. I don't think either side of'this' really appreciates how far the two differing subjects have grown. In fact, there ARE superhero anime and manga, and there is a wide variety of comic books that don't deal with just heroes and villains and their associated tropes.

All in all though, it's about if the subject inspires someone to actually get on here and write up a CS, get involved in whatever universe they make up. And most importantly, enjoy themselves.

Also just to rage about something, when your GM goes MIA on you. X_X

MaskedHeroZ said
Just to throw my two cents here, both sides of whatever 'this' is are generalizing both of these very fine mediums of art.

Couldn't agree more XD

Kindof had a GM go MIA on me recently. Thing is, they're technically still around, they're just not doing much of anything to move the RP out of limbo. I can actually understand why they might have given up on it, but it still sucks.

Personal problem; having a hard time understanding where the border between player and character ends. It seems like whenever I have a character get hostile with another character in an RP, it always spills out into the OoC. I mean, I'm quite aware there should be a division between that sort of thing, but it always seems to happen with me. Do I just have bad luck, or is there more to this?

MaskedHeroZ said
Just to throw my two cents here, both sides of whatever 'this' is are generalizing both of these very fine mediums of art. Anime and Comics may have their differing values and storytelling techniques, but both have a wide range of genres to work with. I don't think either side of'this' really appreciates how far the two differing subjects have grown. In fact, there ARE superhero anime and manga, and there is a wide variety of comic books that don't deal with just heroes and villains and their associated tropes. All in all though, it's about if the subject inspires someone to actually get on here and write up a CS, get involved in whatever universe they make up. And most importantly, enjoy themselves. Also just to rage about something, when your GM goes MIA on you. X_X

I'm not dismissing it at all. I just do not generally prefer these concepts for the reasons I've outlined. I thoroughly enjoy both mediums for their storytelling techniques and frequently many of the superhero genre's movies. I do not, however, like roleplaying in a majority of their universes.

Yog Sothoth said Wow a lot of you made really generalizing statements about superheroes and it tells me none of you read a lot of comics. Superheroes can be written in any fictional genre. There are magic and fantasy heroes, aliens and sci-fi heroes, mystery and anti heroes.@ Innue, the x men are superheroes, most superheroes deal with social problems of many different types, superheroes are among some of the most relevant kinds of fiction outside of realistic fiction in the history of storytelling. Most people dismiss superheroes because they're American and have never really picked up a comic.

Apparently the specificity of my wording is still being missed.

I am STILL not arguing against the merit of the genre because of them not being relevant kinds of fiction. I very much enjoy the genre, but NOT in the instance of roleplaying. It has a wide range of avenues it can explore. I've explained this fairly well too for why I don't enjoy it.

I feel you are missing the overarching point in response to your commentary made by Vanq and others.

Yog Sothoth said
Wow a lot of you made really generalizing statements about superheroes and it tells me none of you read a lot of comics. Superheroes can be written in any fictional genre. There are magic and fantasy heroes, aliens and sci-fi heroes, mystery and anti heroes.@ Innue, the x men are superheroes, most superheroes deal with social problems of many different types, superheroes are among some of the most relevant kinds of fiction outside of realistic fiction in the history of storytelling. Most people dismiss superheroes because they're American and have never really picked up a comic.

No one is saying superhero rps are bad or worse than X. People are saying they don't like to rp them. If there's a lack of interest in the rp boards, then its just a time where the general mood has swung away from these things. Its one thing to complain that what you like isn't popular/common on the forum. I get that, I'm sure we all do and have experienced something similar.

Its another thing to sit there and try to argue about why people should want to do them. Or imply that they're stupid somehow for not wanting to. But honestly, at this point, you're willfully ignoring the difference.

Cuco said Personal problem; having a hard time understanding where the border between player and character ends. It seems like whenever I have a character get hostile with another character in an RP, it always spills out into the OoC. I mean, I'm quite aware there should be a division between that sort of thing, but it always seems to happen with me. Do I just have bad luck, or is there more to this?

I don't actually have that much experience with that kind of situation, but I believe the "border" gets broken mostly due to a lack of communication. If it just happens out of the blue, the other person might feel like you're doing it simply because you don't like them. I'm pretty sure I know what incident you're talking about, and I don't quite recall if there was any discussion about it. It's too easy to see yourself in your character and and up getting offended when someone doesn't like them. Correct me if I'm wrong about this.

Random issue: people who say they'll do things but then just disappear without a word and then apologize a few days later. If you complain about not having anything to do and and then we make plans to do something, it's implied that we're going to follow through with it, and if we don't, you tell me.

Sen said
I don't actually have that much experience with that kind of situation, but I believe the "border" gets broken mostly due to a lack of communication. If it just happens out of the blue, the other person might feel like you're doing it simply because you don't like them. I'm pretty sure I know what incident you're talking about, and I don't quite recall if there was any discussion about it. It's too easy to see yourself in your character and and up getting offended when someone doesn't like them. Correct me if I'm wrong about this.

Well at first, I had assumed that it wouldn't go anywhere since nothing had been said OoC, and so hopefully it was just between the two characters. Then it was inferred that my character had acted unreasonably, and I just couldn't accept that. Maybe it would mean nothing to someone else, but I can't roleplay well when I neither understand nor accept how something has developed, and things as they are, I'm not entirely unconvinced the character hasn't been written off as some kindof monster (and by more than one person) just for using strong language. That's why, for me, it's become more than just a disagreement between two characters.

More than anything, I'm exasperated that I've managed to land myself in this position again, since I feel like I've been here too many times to count. So much so I had a feeling it would end up this way before it happened, really.

Innue said
I'm not dismissing it at all. I just do not generally prefer these concepts for the reasons I've outlined. I thoroughly enjoy both mediums for their storytelling techniques and frequently many of the superhero genre's movies. I do not, however, like roleplaying in a majority of their universes.Apparently the specificity of my wording is still being missed.I am STILL not arguing against the merit of the genre because of them not being relevant kinds of fiction. I very much enjoy the genre, but NOT in the instance of roleplaying. It has a wide range of avenues it can explore. I've explained this fairly well too for why don't enjoy it.I feel you are missing the overarching point in response to your commentary made by Vanq and others.

Well if we're just talking about superhero rps then I would say that they're really great at bringing creativity, what I love about superhero rps is that you can have a very diverse cast of characters and can come up with some very interesting material, just would say that superhero rps make up some of the best OC rps in my opinion

Personally, I don't really like genre-alising(new word, ha) rps. Exactly because of the argument that just played out. Not because people have different opinions as to the values or usefulness of a genre, as personal preference is a thing, whoot!, but because a lot of the terms like superhero or anime or others don't have distinct definitions that everyone goes by. And, a lot of the time the term itself has a connotation that can either raise or lower expectations before ever a synopsis of the idea being presented is given. That might just be me not knowing all the different terms and specific genres out there, but I always think that using keywords from the synopsis would work better. Admittedly, if you're wanting to write a story with superheroes in it, then that's kind of a no brainer. And I suppose a term like fantasy, that encompasses a broader scope, doesn't need as careful a definition... I dunno.

I also find myself getting annoyed when someone lists pairings in place of the plots they said were coming in an interest check. That might just be me being nitpicky though.

I think I have a pet peeve with certain terminology being used.

Whenever arguments happen, since they tend to kill RPGs.

A major contributor, especially in crossover RPGs, is when powerlevels are compared. Essentially "my dad can beat up your dad".

A major contributor, especially in crossover RPGs, is when powerlevels are compared. Essentially "my dad can beat up your dad"

I always fixed that by immediately creating un-achievable bars. I have a chat-based roleplay that still go on in a universe of a roleplay I started years ago that has became so extended I might as well forfeit ownership of it. It all started, and maintained itself, because of three "S-tier" individuals, and I just plain never allowed RPC's to be S-tier. Basically, make someone have the biggest dick, and anyone that's there to stroke their own is just gonna skip the roleplay. Although it throttles activity at first, it successfully secures health. The strongest character, if I recall, boasted teleporting up to 9 times in one second and controlling electricity to such a degree he could finitely override your central nervous system to control your own body while also being able to conjure plasmatic jetstreams a few meters in diameter to disintegrate anything they touched. He was broken, he was meant to be, and because he was no one tried to push the benchmark.

Now that, is a damn fine use of electricity.

@ Everyone claiming superheroes and anime are being generalized.

I barely commented of the lore/subject matter of anime or super heroes themselves (outside of that there are some solo heroes, and some group heros. That's not a generalization, that's observable numbers. Batman = 1, Avengers = More than 1, therefore group). I mainly commented on the general popularity and interest of the fields, not the content of the fields themselves.

So, feel free to say that I may be generalizing peoples opinions on those genres. But do not claim I'm generalizing anime or super heroes themselves. Cause I never did such a thing. Unless if you count "Having powers, and then do anything you want" as generalizing. But in which case you better have a damn good reason to explain how "anything you want" = generalizing.

Yog Sothoth said Wow a lot of you made really generalizing statements about superheroes and it tells me none of you read a lot of comics.

Thank you for your well worded, and represented argu...

Yog Sothoth said Most people dismiss superheroes because they're American and have never really picked up a comic.

Nevermind.

Superhero RP's can be fun, but I rarely find heroes wrote well-enough for my tastes. I often see characters meant to justify their powers or meant to fit the theme of their powers, and the depth ends there. This isn't universal, and that's another problem, actually. A lot of the time you will have these fantastic characters with great depth. So much that they can reference back key events or even minor influences from their childhood into present day decisions. But, those characters exist within the same setting of the ADHD Speedster that was part of some freak accident because he was running on two days without sleep while interning for his Masters at 22, and literally having no other depth. None. No familial ties, no youth history; he was just a stressed out kid with attention issues and an insanely fast work pace trying to finish uni ASAP. That's being GENEROUS, in fact. So, when you put that in contrast, it just creates this illusion or observation that some heroes are "better" than others even if they aren't more powerful, and that's never healthy, it always causes in-fighting. On top of that, there's always the guy trying to play the de facto hero, like Robin, but after following through with the RP for a while, another character is better liked and less impulsive, and there becomes a huge conflict when they want a new leader.

Superhero RP's, in my experience, can be some of the most fun, but simultaneously they capture the attention of far different kinds of writers at different stages in their life as well as often have VERY strong conflicting themes that just can't easily be dealt with.

Prince said
Superhero RP's can be fun, but I rarely find heroes wrote well-enough for my tastes. I often see characters meant to justify their powers or meant to fit the theme of their powers, and the depth ends there. This isn't universal, and that's another problem, actually. A lot of the time you will have these fantastic characters with great depth. So much that they can reference back key events or even minor influences from their childhood into present day decisions. But, those characters exist within the same setting of the ADHD Speedster that was part of some freak accident because he was running on two days without sleep while interning for his Masters at 22, and literally having no other depth. None. No familial ties, no youth history; he was just a stressed out kid with attention issues and an insanely fast work pace trying to finish uni ASAP. That's being GENEROUS, in fact. So, when you put that in contrast, it just creates this illusion or observation that some heroes are "better" than others even if they aren't more powerful, and that's never healthy, it always causes in-fighting. On top of that, there's always the guy trying to play the de facto hero, like Robin, but after following through with the RP for a while, another character is better liked and less impulsive, and there becomes a huge conflict when they want a new leader.Superhero RP's, in my experience, can be some of the most fun, but simultaneously they capture the attention of far different kinds of writers at different stages in their life as well as often have VERY strong conflicting themes that just can't easily be dealt with.

That sounds like more of a talent issue than just a superhero rp issue, I have run to many of those problems with other rps. I think the solution can be solved if the gm just has good standards. I think any roleplay where characters can have special powers there is always going to be a risk of having characters who are not well developed. I don't mind simple characters as long as they're fun and not jerks for the sake of being cool. Role-playing should be about having fun not making it like we're creating best-selling novels.

Magic Magnum said
@ Everyone claiming superheroes and anime are being generalized.I barely commented of the lore/subject matter of anime or super heroes themselves (outside of that there are some solo heroes, and some group heros. That's not a generalization, that's observable numbers. Batman = 1, Avengers = More than 1, therefore group). I mainly commented on the general popularity and interest of the fields, not the content of the fields themselves.So, feel free to say that I may be generalizing on those genres. But do not claim I'm generalizing anime or super heroes themselves. Cause I never did such a thing. Unless if you count "Having powers, and then do anything you want" as generalizing. But in which case you better have a damn good reason to explain how "anything you want" = generalizing.Thank you for your well worded, and represented argu... Nevermind.

I'm sorry if came off as aggressive, it's just that superheroes have been stereotyped for years and it's wrong for people to do that without giving them a chance, so I am what you might call a comic book crusader.