How to make a user made setting accessible?

[AlienBastard]

Seeing the talk in the thread complaining of fandom RPs, I saw the potential for a new topic sprouting from the subject.

In the thread a argument was put out in favor of fandom RPs; that they are inherently more accessible due to the common knowledge the RPers will have of the setting i.e not needing to read 10,000 words of history in order to know what the hell is going on.

It's a surprisingly good argument truth be told, since there's truth to that. I know this since I made RPs no one played due to needing to read a short story's worth of info to know what to do.

Since it's harder to make a accessible original setting, I believe a discussion on how to effectively make a setting people will pay attention to be a productive one.

I'll start with my current stance.

I believe that there should be some familiarity of some sort for players at the start, and save the crazy for later and that with role-plays the world building should be collaborative in nature for the most part since a RP is like a collaborative story anyways.

[Kestrel]

The tl;dr version is to bring in some familiar elements as hooks and reference points, identify early what people can and can't do, and reveal relevant information as you go rather than info-dumping from the get-go.

Backstory is solved by giving people the present situation, and explaining the more in-depth why as you go. I don't open an interest check to read how your universe was created, just tell me about the on-going conflict.

The main debate I think is the tools and puzzle pieces you give to a player to start with. If you have an octopus/flamingo hybrid race that possesses a pseudo-hivemind and lives exclusively in communities of fifteen... Well, good luck finding players to play it right without at least a small info dump. Which is something I'm afraid you can only pull off in advance and some 'high-casual.' Taking Brovo's Legend of Renalta, or Kadeaux' nation engines for example; that would just not work anywhere but advanced. For the one and sole reason that advanced as a stereotype, has less eye for instant gratification and gets a lot more joy from crafting and creating. Whereas the casual stereotype generally has a shorter attention span and as such both desires and provides smaller chunks of information because they generally value the interaction-parts of their posts far more. How much info you dump depends on your intended audience. The general rule is that the 'lower' the section, the less info-dump you want.

The broader your audience the more important accessibility becomes. This is why you start playing megaman with just shooting lemons instead of a full arsenal. Start simple and allow players more tools as the RP advances and new elements are introduced. Perhaps your guy's sword is infused with magic from the blessing of the elf queen for saving her from bandits. Perhaps you can create a new character of said octopus/flamingo lovechild race after some interactions with their culture. etc. This goes even for advanced, which is fairly important to note. Gaining new elements and tools to play with also encourages a sense of progression, be these elements story- (applicable IC knowledge) or game elements (you sword now shoots fire.)

Though really, progression is mostly important for holding up an RP. When it comes to fandoms vs. original, he main issue is getting interest.

[Pachamac]

I would also advise in the opening parts of an interest check to offer medium/fiction/etc that the rp may resemble in a way and that, if users enjoyed those, they may enjoy the rp too. It sort of bridges the 'people know what they're getting' aspect of fandom media and making it easier to progress into reading and digesting the user made setting if they have an idea from the outset it might be something they'd enjoy. Seeing a large ooc full of information becomes less of a turn off if I know it might be something I'd enjoy.

Kestrel is right in that dumping a buttload of information from the outset is not a good idea and that it should be dripfed into the narrative where it's suitable and neccessary, it's far better to show then tell and having it relevent to the ongoing plot and IC at hand and the characters people are playing is far, far better then expecting someone to read a world bible at the start. Also, GMs should be prepared to make allowances for interested players to present characters and ideas that don't fully match the rp's lore and to actually be understanding and accepting of that rather then possibly nitpick and tear things down - afterall, an rper doesn't the lore as well as the GM does. Obviously if it contradicts with the main important parts established in the ooc that's one thing, but if it's otherwise a minor detail that is not going to affect the current rp campaign then it should be left alone and accepted.

[Rhona W]

The main RP I run, GEARs, is an original setting, but I deliberately mention what influenced me, and other things that are similar to give people an idea of what to expect.
There's still a pretty big chunk of info in the OOC, but it doesn't seem to scare people off too much, and I'm certainly not lacking in player participation. I had to close the RP to new members, since I kept getting requests to join.

[Dervish]

Silverwind Blade said
The main RP I run, GEARs, is an original setting, but I deliberately mention what influenced me, and other things that are similar to give people an idea of what to expect. There's still a pretty big chunk of info in the OOC, but it doesn't seem to scare people off too much, and I'm certainly not lacking in player participation. I had to close the RP to new members, since I kept getting requests to join.

^ This right here is the golden ticket. Listing influences can do a lot to draw interest in a game, or at least give people an idea of what kind of themes they should be encountering.

[Brovo]

Use common tropes and stereotypes and use the "keep it simple, stupid" method of writing a non-fan based universe.

Complexity will arise through interaction and exploration of the world. The more complex the world, the higher the bar is set for people to surpass in order to achieve entry into that world, and the more time they will need to invest to truly understand it. Ergo, the simpler the world, the larger the potential audience, the more ideas and view sets you will obtain, the greater the variance in characters they create, the greater complexity becomes when disparate characters encounter the same situations together.

ex: If you are making a fantasy universe, make sure you have an easy method of entry, use plot elements or races everyone is familiar with, that they can use to then explore the more unique elements of your universe. Don't be afraid to then take the more unique elements and have them get discovered over the course of the story.

Anything else I can answer? :3