Why do cities, particularly NYC and California based cities (and cities based off of those), appeal to roleplayers so much?

[Strawberry425]

Like, as someone who goes to NYC daily, I get it. I can get it. I live in NYS, I love NYC.

But for all you people outside...what is it that gets you about roleplays based here, or in Cali based cities? Or in cities based off those cities?

It's easy to spot you all from the amount of fallacies I've watched play out in city roleplays. Unfortunately, quick wikipedia searches can't teach you everything you need to know.

Some of the greatest hallmarks of city novices have been gang RPs in a contemporary NYC setting, and alleyways, once again, in a contemporary NYC setting. Oh boy...buildings in the city practically kiss. Whatever alleyway you've found is coming from straight out your butthole. Nowadays, spaces between buildings are filled with areas for people to sit and enjoy the air outside. Me and my friend came across a "waterfall" hangout cozily tucked in between two buildings just three months ago.

Cali...I can't speak for Cali. From what I know, there's more crime there. Maybe it'd fit a contemporary city gang rp...idk, because I don't know how their cities function.

But anyway...so what's the appeal? What gets to you people who have never visited these places that so badly makes you want to either make an rp, or play in an rp, were NYC, Cali cities, or something like them, are the setting?

EDIT: Also why base cities off of these, or chose these, when there are many other, apparently better and easier to live in cities than these. Espc. NY. Apparently every other city is better for living. What we're good for is tourism, but we really do hate tourists, they're dumb af.

[NuttsnBolts]

From the perspective of someone that lives in Australia, NYC and California are the one a that get the most publicity, followed by Vegas and maybe Washington DC.

I could say the same about Sydney. Heaps of people know the city but don't know about Newcastle, Wollongong or even Taree further north, but each of those are well established areas.

I suppose it comes down to ease as well so people know the style and structure of the city.

[Goldeagle1221]

Because no one wants to go to Detroit. Actually un all honesty its probably simply just familiarity of the name that attracts people.

[Sypherkhode822]

Semi-incoherent rant about to begin
As a proud NorCal Bay area kid, I actively try and avoid playing RPs set in the San Francisco Bay Area (or read/watch/play any media set there) because of how wrong everyone gets it.
My personal take on it is that it's the entertainment industry. What two places have the highest collection of writers and actors? New York and L.A.
People write about what they know. People who live in these places will make movies about those places, because regionalism is alive and well. And so it gets shipped around the country, and then everyone watches it, and they learn of these places through the films or whatever.

And people aren't all that original, truth be told. So when it comes time for THEM to make an RP/book/film/whatever, they'll be inspired by the last movie they saw, and think that New York/L.A/SF are the cool and mysterious places, and then they'll set the story there.
Last time I played a game in the SFBA, I ended up making a map to show the spatial relationships between everything, because goddammit people it's fucking impossible to get from Stanford to Napa without preparing for a year long journey through traffic.
Or people will ignore the existence of Oakland (unless it's a crime show, in which case they'll ignore the fact that much of Oakland is just nonviolent suburbs) . Or they'll fail to understand that Marin county is what's on the other side of the Golden Gate, and only mention the charming little town of Sausalito, because that's directly where the ferry runs to, so that's what they'll see if they go on a tourist trip.
The list goes on and on. I personally find it really hard to play a game anymore that is set in the contemporary and real world, because the knowledge that I am so grandly fucking up the geography of that place is too much for me to bear.

TL;DR:
People like to talk about where they live. The two main centers of global entertainment are in NYC and California. The people who live there like to set stories where they live. Those stories are shipped across the world. There is now a meta-narrative about these places. People from elsewhere, wishing to have work viewed similarly to mass media, will imitate them in setting. And this causes a lot of amusement from the people who live there, because they will horribly, horribly fuck things up, because they are not from there, and have no clue about what it's actually like. SO SET YOUR CONTEMPORARY RP IN WHERE YOU LIVE.

ALSO: Anyone who refers to San Francisco as 'Frisco' is a disgusting tool who deserves to die a peasants death.

Rant: END

[Vilageidiotx]

Yeh, it's definitely the entertainment industry. That, and I think some people (AKA kids and tools) think that NYC and California are the height of glamour and coolness, and that nothing glamorous or cool can ever happen anywhere else ever.

At the same time, I could see why people wouldn't want to RP in their local areas all the time. I mean, half of the fun is learning about new shit and researching. It would just be nice to see more of these things in places like... Minnesota, or Mexico City, or the Florida Keyes. Places with a general reputation that isn't just bland commercialism.

[Ellri]

People tend to take places that they are familiar with. Or think they are familiar with. But when the RP is not set as being the "truth", the real world, you can be creative with geography. You can throw in that awfully convenient alley if that makes the story better, despite it not technically existing.

We personally don't know American cities that well, so we'd prefer fictional places, as that won't annoy people as much if they do know a city's layout well.

Of course, if playing in an existing city, Wikipedia isn't our prime source for setting scenes. A map is.

[Jig]

I don't find them appealing, precisely because I know nothing about them.

As a result, I always end up playing an immigrant if I particularly like everything else about the game, so I can justifiably not speak the lingo and generally be a little bit out of step with everything else. It does get a bit tiring, though.

[Enarr]

Those are the two most heavily populated places in the US so far as I know. It appeaks to people because there is huge room for diversity there. I live in Fort Wayne, it doesn't look nearly as congested and doesn't feel anywhere near as exciting as the oceans of concrete on opposing tips of the US. They have very distinct culture that a lot of people are familiar with. And there's the fact that people like to reference other stories.

[Vilageidiotx]

I live in Fort Wayne, it doesn't look nearly as congested and doesn't feel anywhere near as exciting as the oceans of concrete on opposing tips of the US.

@Nightrunner

I would say basing something in Fort Wayne would be way more interesting, if only because it doesn't usually get attention.

[Dinh AaronMk]

Because no one wants to go to Detroit.

@Goldeagle1221

You totally should go to Detroit and view its great Berlin-esque wall.

Really, an RP set in Detroit during its post-war hayday would be interesting to see. It'd be more racially intense than anywhere down south and would be THE city that built America.

Yeh, it's definitely the entertainment industry. That, and I think some people (AKA kids and tools) think that NYC and California are the height of glamour and coolness, and that nothing glamorous or cool can ever happen anywhere else ever.

At the same time, I could see why people wouldn't want to RP in their local areas all the time. I mean, half of the fun is learning about new shit and researching. It would just be nice to see more of these things in places like... Minnesota, or Mexico City, or the Florida Keyes. Places with a general reputation that isn't just bland commercialism.

@Vilageidiotx

We need some NOLA too. NOLA is a fun city. Although for the highschool RP crowd that I feel may dominate this sort of thing I don't think it's the best city to end up in. Because well, really: most of the fun shit down there is geared towards the drinking crowd, you can't really do much if you can't drink or have money to throw away in the French Quarter, which you'd only visit as a native if you work there.

I can't speak for the wards or even the infamous Lower Ninth. But even then NOLA has a lot of color that's sadly forgotten and neglected by a youth generation so caught or Skrillshit. New Orleans is the city of the Second Line, and is pretty much the only place the Second Line exists.

[Goldeagle1221]

@Dinh AaronMk That wall is frightening.

EDIT: and New Orleans is a great city, filled with culture. I would do an RP based in it or off of it.

[Dinh AaronMk]

@Goldeagle1221

Detroit almost elected a Klan mayor too.

I say "almost" because it was a write in campaign in the 20's and most people spelled his name wrong so he wasn't elected anyways. But they still threw a shitfest.

[Goldeagle1221]

@Goldeagle1221

Detroit almost elected a Klan mayor too.

I say "almost" because it was a write in campaign in the 20's and most people spelled his name wrong so he wasn't elected anyways. But they still threw a shitfest.

@Dinh AaronMk

Detroit is a place, and that is scary. Did you know the original pronunciation of the city was "Dae-Twah" or something of that sort.

[Dinh AaronMk]

@Goldeagle1221

I'm an hour/forty-five minutes outside of the city. Of course I know that.

[Goldeagle1221]

@Goldeagle1221

I'm an hour/forty-five minutes outside of the city. Of course I know that.

@Dinh AaronMk

I'm sorry.

[mdk]

Cities have their own mythos. Las Vegas -- where crazy shit happens. New York -- the city that never sleeps. LA -- the world's largest parking lot. Writers care more about the connotations associated with a city than the city itself. So if a gangster story needs a setting, the first place you look is Chicago, even though the day-to-day in Chicago proper is just like anywhere else. That reputation of organized crime is like writing capital, and it makes sense to take advantage of it.

[Sprokkelhout]

Mostly the familiarity to most people, as I think was already mentioned here. I always get the impression they indeed appeal to people a lot more than lesser known cities, so whenever I have an RP take place there, it's mostly to get enough people to at least get it going.

..
Well, that made me sound a lot more pathetic than I intended it to.

[Gowi]

<Snipped quote by Dinh AaronMk>

I'm sorry.

@Goldeagle1221

All of this Detroit hate! What is this? I mean, yeah it’s crime-ridden and has a lot of issues I could not easily list but as a Metropolitan in the Downriver who has some experience here: it’s not as scary and bad as people think it is. There’s a lot of history and character here (my father has been living here since 1951 when my grandfather moved from Springfield IL to Detroit MI) that I am proud of.

But yeah, love writing urban scenarios whether it's uptown/downtown/whatever.

[tsukune]

Personally I don't find NYC or LA that appealing at all, but with the marketing propaganda thanks to Hollywood or the entertainment industry in general, they seem to be the most convenient locations to set any (modern) fictional story in.

I mean, anyone here interested to do RP set in...say, Hong Kong? /shrugs

[Jozarin]

I think it's definitely because potential roleplayers come from worldwide, and if you set a game anywhere else (that really exists), you'll find that one player (you, probably) will know the place intimately, and everyone else will have less of a clue than they would about NYC or SF.

TL;DR: It's better to have everyone having the same misconceptions about a place than no-one having an idea at all.