Ammokkx

How do you feel about the level of character diversity you’ve experienced?

I'll chip in with another perspective real quick as I take a brief break from studying:

Honestly? I don't really care too much, if at all, about recurring motifs in characters. I'm actually super apathetic to other people's OCs, and not really for the reason of me being the most self-centered guy on earth(even though I am), but more for the reason that I have no guarantee how long I'm sticking around other people. CSes more often than not fall into several trappings, including my own on more than a single occasion(and a friend's given me insight in how I distinctly make one of three archetypes worth of characters usually). I'm not really here to go all "REEE" at CS quality though; it's more to say that the core concept for a character barely interests me, if at all, when it comes from another person. The exception to this is when the concept is beyond cool, making me unable to look away, or so bad I can't look away for different reasons.

"But Ammokkx, if you don't care about other people's characters, why are you RPing?"

Good question. Idk myself. But if I had to try and give an answer: Through the course of the RP, I usually start caring once the characters in question get going and rolling and engaging with others. Only once the dynamics of the cast start to settle in place, do I start seeing the other characters as actual entities rather than temporary nuisances before the RP's untimely demise. Therefor, I also barely look at what external gimmicks a character may have. To me, characters are no more than a voice in a room. Unless it is something you can absolutely not get around, such as being wheelchair bound or interacting with a blind dude, my characters are about as indifferent as I am on the subject. Even in the aforementioned two cases, unless the RPer makes a note to remind you of those facts at every turn, I'm prone to just skim over it and treat the other character as just about anyone else, only paying special attention to the fact if a situation were to come up in which it is relevant again.

I just care much more about a character's actions rather than a character's nature. Usually, unless I'm in a Gming position, this just means that I skim other people's sheets at best and only read them more thoroughly once an actual interaction happens IC.

I'd say I've gotten more 'generic' in my characters the longer I've RP'd, too. While in the past I wasn't shy of going with 30 something gruff dudes(no old ladies tho; only once did I get a chance to play an adult vampire woman), now I'm more prone to just playing 16-18 y/o teens in settings fit for 16-18 y/o teens. Whether that's because I've become more of a weeb over time or because I've not had an original RP concept allowing for older characters stick out to me, remains to be seen. Since a character, to me, is so unquestionably defined by their role in the RP proper, I've also gotten more vague on CSes as I await the day to play them IC.

Ironic, then, that almost all of my favorite characters are more concepts than they are execution. Granted, 3/4 had some basic relations blooming in their short-lived RP which are the foundation of this favoritism, but I didn't get to go much in detail. The 4th, then, is one that never even hit the IC, and is to this day, still a complete 'what if' where I just went all-out with designing her gimmicks in the character sheet.

Please Reserve Free Sections ONLY for Free RP!!!

At the moment I'd almost be inclined to suggest reducing the amount of sections and just doing away with free, casual and advanced and instead make one section; group roleplays. Because as it stands everyone throws their roleplay into casual anyway because you wanna catch a lot of fish and you need to catch a big net for that. Why go fishing in free/advanced where there are far less fish? You don't fish in a lake when you have the Atlantic ocean available to you.

@Odin

I'm not in favor of this because I've seen what happens on RPNation.

That site has absolutely no standards and it shows in the RPs, as you can't find a decent one underneath the absolute heaps of nonsense. The tag system is worthless as it's bloated to all hell and people barely utilize it correctly. The reason Casual is the most populated is because Casual is the middle ground option, but the other two main sections still have their population that checks them. Additionally, the simple psychology of having a "barrier" makes it easy to intuitively guess where your RP belongs. While some may miss the mark on occasion, generally people post their stuff in the right place. I know how to spot some people that frequent both free and Casual, and honestly, they're the ones I keep the closest eye on because I know their RPing priorities are completely different from mine. That's not to say they're worth less than me, but they most certainly look for different things in the hobby, comparatively.

If there's one of the three sections hurting, it's advanced, but advanced has always been like that. Its never been a section with very many RPs, but the ones that are there usually find their players pretty quickly due to the small pool, and make for some cohesive groups.

It may be just because I constantly check in on RPN, but seeing how that site's organization strays further and further from clear separation, it's also just met with a consistent quality drop across the board. There's a reason I frequent this site more; the nature of the distinctions cultivate a culture I'm generally much more of a fan of.

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

Operating a mortuary

Danganronpa Alternate: Apologies to Hope (Reboot) [Deader than Disco]

Truth Bullet unlocked - Aurel Fuchs’ and Momoe Mizuno’s Account
The two claim to have been unable to sleep due to being stuck with each other. For this reason, they both claim it’s impossible for either of them to be the murderer, as they were together the whole night. Additionally, both heard a loud clanging sound during nighttime.

Chikako inserted herself into the conversation. "Wait, why couldn't it be the fish hook?" she asked. "I mean, the monokuma file says that she died from blood loss, so even a fish hook could be stabbed in and do the deed..."

"No... that's impossible," Ayu commented to correct the other girl. "Me and Hiroki checked Naomi's wound... it runs much deeper and wider than what the fish hook could do." The girl finished her argument, but wasn't yet done talking. She turned to another in the courtroom "...Momoe. You're the only one who didn't come to the crime scene. You're still hiding something," Ayu accused her. Momoe shot daggers at the smaller girl.

"How the hell would you know?"

Ayu didn't respond. Momoe groaned and pinched the area between her eyes, feeling another wave of drowsiness wash over her. She was much too prideful to let it show much beyond that point, though, and straightened her posture. In this new pose she also crossed her arms, her chin up, as if she was looking down on everyone else. "It's true I haven't played all my cards yet..." she offhandedly mentioned and was then interrupted by a loud voice.

"Spit it out already!" Taka aggressively badgered her, but let out a small yelp when Momoe's death stare had fixated on him in response.

"One more like that and you'll be the next corpse," Momoe growled at him. Taka shut his mouth, and then she continued. "I ran into Hibiki at the docks while you lot were dealing with Naomi's body. Now I dunno if it's quite what we're looking for here, but... ah, what the hell? Why don't you tell 'em, four-eyes."

How to engage other players effectively

-You can't waifu them all, don't even try.

@BrokenPromise

i beg to differ

--

Serious contribution to the topic: If I GM, my preferred way of getting people to do stuff is to put them all in the same room or general area, and give them 1-3 things to do, depending on group size and types of characters. Everyone will gravitate to an event and naturally form bonds; whether those become cliques later is a problem to deal with down the road. Generally I like to be as loose as I can with my players, though, unless someone is actively fighting against what the collective wants to be doing and is clearly not engaging with the bigger picture.

As a player, though, if I don't immediately have something I can insert my character into, I just talk to people and ask around what I can join with them. There's usually someone that isn't doing anything, and even if there isn't, there's usually a way to get your character involved in a group activity in some way. Sometimes I'll even just solo with the GM for a bit if my character starts in a far-off location, but the end goal is then to contrive me into the group at the end of that tango.

Usually I've never had too much trouble getting characters to interact, but that may be down to my personality of just being very involved in the going-ons. I'm not the most vocal person in any RP, but when I do speak up, it's usually to plan something out for the IC or asking people if they want to post. As broken said, just communicating does most of the work.

Who Do You Write Like?

I apparently write like JK Rowling and Stephen King.

Vyce

Agatha Christie, Anne Rice, Stephen King, and Daniel Defoe.

Briza

Right, from writing a short thing from scratch, I apparently write like Stephen King.

Majoras End

Cory Doctorow, Stephen King and Dan Brown.

Ammokkx

I think @Altered Tundra put one of my writing samples through this and I think it was Stephen King.

Hero

Who Do You Write Like?

Cory Doctorow, Stephen King and Dan Brown.

Don't think this thing is entirely accurate.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread

Played SMT Devil Survivor way back, but only ever did Naoya and Amane's route. Never really did all the endings. Recently got a hold of Overclocked to re-play it, because I do genuinely like the game.

I also kinda forgot this game has dogshit pacing.

Not in terms of the story- the goddamn atmosphere and sense of tension is great, but my god the actual levels are not well designed. It takes ages to get out of the early demon stage, and then it's a decent curve until the last day when the demons levels spike insanely hard, alongside the difficulty of the game. Don't even get me started on dipshits like me who went Naoya route first playthrough- which is actual grindfest hell.

I love this game, but DeSu2 did the levels it had way better but too bad that game's bosses fucking suck

Danganronpa Alternate: Apologies to Hope (Reboot) [Deader than Disco]

Taka's eyes twitched, his legs shook. He couldn't help but respond with shock and appall. "Crossdressing pri-?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Taka snapped back at Snow. While he was busy fuming hard enough to put an entire industrial district to shame, Momoe calmly tapped her finger on her chin.

"Tinkerbell's got a point..." she calmly responded, a wry grin on her face. "You may have been sleeping- but I didn't. Isn't that right, Aurel?" she posed the question. Momoe didn't give him much time to reply though, instead opting to continue her little retort: "Neither of us has slept a wink ever since the cuffs cropped up. We were too busy lovingly staring into each-other's eyes- I just can't get him out my mind!"

As Momoe snickered, Chikako shouted from the other end of the room. "So, what of it? Couldn't you guys have separated while everyone else was asleep?"

"Not even for a moment. Betcha if I tried, the thief would just follow me around like a puppy anyway. Can't say I blame that lack o' trust though," Momoe replied. "That knocks down the suspects list by two, yeah? Let's make it three, though, just for the princess. Shirou," Momoe leaned forward, her right elbow resting on the counter. "you like doing some exercise in the morning, right? I saw you from outside my cabin. Far as I could tell you didn't come anywhere close to Naomi's."

What is the Strangest Thing That You've Done for an RP?

's not the first nor the last time I've checked out H doujins as ref material