what's on your mind: RP Edition

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Got so bored, I started making my own roleplay site. Will never open, but it’s a fun exercise.
i don't want to say that i hate that this is a mood i'm having but. maybe this could be a fun exercise to try just to do it.
I think it's a nice way to make yourself think about "what would encourage people to write on my site?"

For my site's setting, the world is covered with endless water in every direction, and humanity ekes out a living on these drifting islands that seem to have a will of their own. There are habitable islands ("World Vessels") and uninhabitable islands ("Destruction Vessels").

The distinction is made by Destruction Vessels being enveloped by a strange mist and the presence of vicious creatures. When in a Destruction Vessel's mist ("Destruction Zone"), some humans are granted supernatural powers they can use only while within the Zone. Whenever World Vessels draw close to a Destruction Vessel, these people are thus tasked with protecting their Vessel from invasion by these creatures.

This has a few levers. If I want to focus on slice-of-life, I can just cut out the Destruction Vessels entirely and focus on how humanity makes a living on these World Vessels, and perhaps add some exploration into what these Vessels are, and who even named them that. (I have backstory, yo)

For those who like powers, the Destruction Vessel mechanic means I can let them have those without having to answer awkward questions of how a society is transformed by the presence of super-powered individuals (like in Hero Academia) without diminishing the role of "normal" people. If I want to lean into Dungeon-esque mechanics, I could have World Vessels anchor to Destruction Vessels to enable exploration on these mysterious islands.

I'm having a lot of fun considering what could appeal to this sort of writer and what could appeal to another, and a lot of "what would personally excite me" and the plots you could theoretically have on my site. Some of those plots I will be able to carry over to other sites too, so I'm already laying groundwork for future characters here.

Nothing gets the creative juice flowing like doing something creative.


EDIT: It looks like halfway through I lost my train of thought and just started rambling, but I'm going to leave it up anyway. 
last edit on May 17, 2024 7:10:52 GMT by traveller
"Once upon a time I was a baker and everybody was impressed. But I didn’t need approval because I already knew I was the best. Everything I made was a masterpiece - it all taste like heaven! But then unfortunately I turned seven."
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i don't want to say that i hate that this is a mood i'm having but. maybe this could be a fun exercise to try just to do it.
I think it's a nice way to make yourself think about "what would encourage people to write on my site?"

For my site's setting, the world is covered with endless water in every direction, and humanity ekes out a living on these drifting islands that seem to have a will of their own. There are habitable islands ("World Vessels") and uninhabitable islands ("Destruction Vessels").

The distinction is made by Destruction Vessels being enveloped by a strange mist and the presence of vicious creatures. When in a Destruction Vessel's mist ("Destruction Zone"), some humans are granted supernatural powers they can use only while within the Zone. Whenever World Vessels draw close to a Destruction Vessel, these people are thus tasked with protecting their Vessel from invasion by these creatures.

This has a few levers. If I want to focus on slice-of-life, I can just cut out the Destruction Vessels entirely and focus on how humanity makes a living on these World Vessels, and perhaps add some exploration into what these Vessels are, and who even named them that. (I have backstory, yo)

For those who like powers, the Destruction Vessel mechanic means I can let them have those without having to answer awkward questions of how a society is transformed by the presence of super-powered individuals (like in Hero Academia) without diminishing the role of "normal" people. If I want to lean into Dungeon-esque mechanics, I could have World Vessels anchor to Destruction Vessels to enable exploration on these mysterious islands.

I'm having a lot of fun considering what could appeal to this sort of writer and what could appeal to another, and a lot of "what would personally excite me" and the plots you could theoretically have on my site. Some of those plots I will be able to carry over to other sites too, so I'm already laying groundwork for future characters here.

Nothing gets the creative juice flowing like doing something creative.


EDIT: It looks like halfway through I lost my train of thought and just started rambling, but I'm going to leave it up anyway. 


I just want you to know this all sounds excellent and if I weren't already maxed out on my capacity for rp, I'd join
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I just want you to know this all sounds excellent and if I weren't already maxed out on my capacity for rp, I'd join
Glad to hear it! This is still mostly an exercise of the mind, though. Current issue to tackle is, "How to handle an accessible system for lore expansion by writers?"

Like, by design there are a few mysteries in the world, and I'd like to have players be given the option to explore those, but in a way that makes it feel special to them. If I just chucked in a thread with "extra information" to read, it feels cheap since everyone has access to that. But if I offer to PM people with the info, I'm kinda putting them on the spot to express interest and ask for it, without knowing if anyone else already has, you know?

And maybe if I have two people who want to discover what makes the Vessels move, I may want to give each a piece of information and they have to get together to find out.

But how do you introduce such a system that is clean and accessible without unintentionally "filtering out" people by traits unrelated to the roleplay?

Really fun to think about.
"Once upon a time I was a baker and everybody was impressed. But I didn’t need approval because I already knew I was the best. Everything I made was a masterpiece - it all taste like heaven! But then unfortunately I turned seven."
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I just want you to know this all sounds excellent and if I weren't already maxed out on my capacity for rp, I'd join
Glad to hear it! This is still mostly an exercise of the mind, though. Current issue to tackle is, "How to handle an accessible system for lore expansion by writers?"

Like, by design there are a few mysteries in the world, and I'd like to have players be given the option to explore those, but in a way that makes it feel special to them. If I just chucked in a thread with "extra information" to read, it feels cheap since everyone has access to that. But if I offer to PM people with the info, I'm kinda putting them on the spot to express interest and ask for it, without knowing if anyone else already has, you know?

And maybe if I have two people who want to discover what makes the Vessels move, I may want to give each a piece of information and they have to get together to find out.

But how do you introduce such a system that is clean and accessible without unintentionally "filtering out" people by traits unrelated to the roleplay?

Really fun to think about.


Here's how I might do it:

Set up an "event hub" thread for the mystery, with an initial hook. Have players respond in-character with what their character wishes to investigate and why, and based on that response, DM them with a morsel of information. The players can see which other characters have joined the investigation, and can plot threads based on that. During the threads as the players share information and delve deeper into the mystery, inject some GM posts to provide plot twists and eventually, rewards: backstory on the mystery, a plot hook to investigate in the future, a useful resource/item (if your site has a resource mechanic), and/or simply a thematically appropriate cosmetic trinket. After the thread is done (or has progressed "far enough" that you consider it plot relevant), add a summary of the relevant additions to the event hub.

This would seem to solve all your problems: The extra information feels special because the players earned it through roleplay, the players know which other players are involved in the investigation without having to reach out directly and risk rejection, and the players don't need to use any systems other than the forum's own posting features (plus plotters/discord/DMs, whichever your site prefers to use for plotting).
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we need a list of free resources somewhere. while making my site, since I'm on a tight budget, I've had to search high and low for free use resources. (and I appreciate every single one of you that does your thing for free!)
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With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
What are things that you do to stay motivated to write?

I know for a fact that part of my energy slump is coming from work burnout, but I'm also wondering if I'm feeling writer burnout from things like feeling too slow to keep up and wondering if I'm enjoying what I'm writing or if I'm just trying to roll the boulder up the hill because I know I'll never be able to be caught up. I've been a little more self-critical lately, looking at stuff and thinking ah man I just produced more garbage

Anyone read anything lately or get sucked into any games or pick up any new hobbies that have reinspired you and help bolster motivation???
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What are things that you do to stay motivated to write?

I know for a fact that part of my energy slump is coming from work burnout, but I'm also wondering if I'm feeling writer burnout from things like feeling too slow to keep up and wondering if I'm enjoying what I'm writing or if I'm just trying to roll the boulder up the hill because I know I'll never be able to be caught up. I've been a little more self-critical lately, looking at stuff and thinking ah man I just produced more garbage

Anyone read anything lately or get sucked into any games or pick up any new hobbies that have reinspired you and help bolster motivation???


ngl hard same tho on "is this work burnout or writer burnout" bc i oscillate between that like every two weeks haHA-

but generally what i do when i want to get reinspired / motivated to write is to consume some media i know has similar themes / plot beats / character arcs / concepts to what i'm personally struggling with. I.E. having to flesh out a plot that deals with oppression and what might lead people to furious extremism and bitterness = picking up x-men 97 a few weeks ago. last year, when i was writing a character's foray into trying to figure out their identity and struggle to become a better person amidst all their heartache and tragedy, i picked up disco elysium.

seeing how a piece of media i enjoy / will likely enjoy does smth i wanna do helps a lot in figuring out what i want to do / how i want to do it. on the flipside, if i feel like i can't commit to picking up new media, i tend to think about characters from media i already enjoyed and go over to ao3 LOL. just toss in a "character study" tag, read a quick fic that delves into the character (and ideally, one that has bomb writing), and find inspiration in that to move forward.



coming soon.
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What are things that you do to stay motivated to write?

I know for a fact that part of my energy slump is coming from work burnout, but I'm also wondering if I'm feeling writer burnout from things like feeling too slow to keep up and wondering if I'm enjoying what I'm writing or if I'm just trying to roll the boulder up the hill because I know I'll never be able to be caught up. I've been a little more self-critical lately, looking at stuff and thinking ah man I just produced more garbage

Anyone read anything lately or get sucked into any games or pick up any new hobbies that have reinspired you and help bolster motivation???


I do not experience this often and this solution does not work for everyone. When I am having trouble I sometimes just start a post with the knowledge I am okay backtracking if I am not satisfied. My other suggestion would maybe even try finding writing warm ups to gauge if your brain is willing to cooperate. You can try music, turning off notifications, etc. However, if progress is not happening, then do something else and see if you can come back to it. Forcing yourself is not a great solution, but for me it has helped my brain begin rolling and get engaged with what I want to write. In general, it is more about finding ways to incentivize or inspire your brain to start the project. I can bet there are multiple unique methods to do this. I figured I would provide mine since I do not know enough about burnout hampering writing, I do know how I get myself in the mood. I know starting the first line is the hardest part, but once I have it, it flows out usually.
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What are things that you do to stay motivated to write?
I write. \o/

But mostly, creative endeavours beget creative endeavours. I know there's people who firmly believe in waiting around until inspiration comes to them, but I like to hunt down inspiration and grab it by its spindly neck, dragging it kicking and screaming to my office chair so we can get around to Writing That Stuff We Want to Write.

So I write other stuff. Maybe I'll write a poem. Maybe I just do some worldbuilding. Or I write a brief character vignette. If you opened your writing medium of choice and the entry field is entirely blank, just start writing something, then keep going till you hit a beat that makes you think, "Hey, I wanna explore this one more!"

It's okay if you write some garbage for a while, because none of us are winning Pulitzer prizes for our roleplay posts and no one is really going to expect us to churn out our very best all the time.


Also, jfyi, there are lots of accomplished writers who just go, "Aw man, this is garbage," then it wins some sort of literary prize. We're our own worst critics, focusing on all the things that aren't right, while overlooking all the things we do great.
last edit on May 19, 2024 9:26:09 GMT by traveller
"Once upon a time I was a baker and everybody was impressed. But I didn’t need approval because I already knew I was the best. Everything I made was a masterpiece - it all taste like heaven! But then unfortunately I turned seven."
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What are things that you do to stay motivated to write?

-snip-



Music. Endless amounts of a variety of music. But also searching for art of fcs i already have, or new ones that I would like to use later. Bolsters up the muse and the desire to write. Staying motivated just means music with headphones so I can block out all other distractions.

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What are things that you do to stay motivated to write?
Two sides to this, imo.

If the issue is my mental state in general, I give myself a small break to recharge. I go on a walk. I have a conversation with friends. I take a nap. I make sure I've eaten something decent. And then, when I've done things to care for me the writer, I check how it feels to write again. (If this mood is continuing into a proper slump, I avoid adding in new threads until I've gotten in a more manageable place. I am then very picky about taking on threads I feel confident I have muse for. I might also ask to archive some threads I'm consistently struggling with.)

If it's that I feel uncreative, I revisit favorite media like other people mentioned. I read new things, or watch new things, or make a playlist that really speaks to the mood I want. I often choose to read other people's threads to see what other people are doing, to be honest, which makes me feel tied to the site still even if I'm not writing myself. I prioritize writing the threads that give me the most creative muse, and I find that writing a post for one of those encourages me to write a post for another thread.

But sometimes, I just write rough posts. I give myself permission to lower my standards. Or I DM the other writer like, 'I'm unsure where to take this post -- should we talk about where we want this thread to go?'